VI. The Third Nodal Point of the “Downfall of Europe”

In what we have discussed briefly in previous chapters, there is concealed a world-wide problem of colossal significance. And the human being must reach through to an understanding of it. For this reason, we will carry out our political analysis also on an Anthroposophical basis. From this arises the need to consider the past from a spiritual-scientific point of view. In all ages of the past the Mysteries played a decisive role. With regard to the Mysteries of antiquity, their methods, their experiences, which had prepared humanity for the coming of Christ, were to “die” after the Mystery of Golgotha, and “become” in the Mysteries of Christianity, to follow the dictum of Goethe. This took place via the hidden paths of esoteric Christianity, which began with the Apostle Paul, Joseph of Arimathea and Dionysius the Areopagite. It was on this path that the Mysteries of the Holy Grail and of Rosicrucianism emerged and, within this stream Anthroposophy was born.

On the external, exoteric path the Roman Church became dominant and finally waged battle against the emergence of the ‘I’-consciousness and its attempts to attain to real experience of the spiritual world. As time went on, this called forth fierce protest from people who, thanks to the growth of their individual consciousness, could not reconcile themselves with it. This was true of the Albigensians, the Cathars and the Knights Templar. But at the same time many people who had preserved the old, not yet individualized clairvoyance, stood in opposition to Rome.

And now the Inquisition appeared. It suppressed the spiritual protest of the “heretics”, which was very bad and an evil stain on Catholicism. It was for this reason that the “red Inquisition” also took trouble to represent its activity as a fight against degeneracy.

The Inquisition did not succeed in wiping out “heresy”, as this was an objective result of the development of the personality. The Inquisition condemned the fruits of this development as heresy, and the relics of clairvoyance as witchcraft, and burnt “heretics” and “witches” at the stake. But in reality, Rudolf Steiner explains, the witches were burnt “for the simple reason that the personalities described as witches were, fundamentally speaking, also mediums, and because through their connection with the spiritual world – albeit in a way that harmonized with materialism – things might have come out that would have been extremely unpleasant for certain people. Thus, for example, it could have become very unpleasant indeed for certain secret societies if the witch, before being burnt at the stake, had pointed out what lies behind this or that society... Those who burnt the witches knew exactly why they were doing so”: because it could have become very unpleasant for them if the world had been able to hear from the mouth of the witch something about their evil activity (GA 173, 26.12.1916).

And, also, how could they have desisted from such an activity if already at that time they were bearers of the degeneracy of the human race, because, instead of developing Christianity, they opposed and corrupted it? Psychically healthy people cannot act like this. It is simply a fact. Given these circumstances, the degenerates were the Inquisitors themselves and not their victims.

Then the protest against Rome assumed the form of the Reformation. A mass movement of this kind could not be brought under control by means of the stake. This is why the Thirty Years’ War was instigated, in the course of which Middle Europe was reduced to rubble and ashes.

The former “heretics” began to organize themselves in societies and Lodges. But times were changing rapidly. The human being himself was changing, in that a movement was taking place away from the revelation of the spirit to the experience of sensory perceptions and to abstract thinking. And within the Lodges there remained, in the place of a real breakthrough into experience of the supersensible, only dead tradition, only conversation about the spirit and trivial play with symbolism.

The “Fathers of Darkness” conducted their campaign against “heresy” in this period, by starting to enter the Lodges themselves, whereby they rose to high degrees, which gave them control over all those beneath them. In this they had no difficulty because, in the Order of the “Fathers of Darkness”, “there are countless human beings of such an advanced spiritual capacity that, if they were scattered in the outer world and did not concern themselves with what is their normal concern (in the Order) but took up external science, poetry or painting, they would, as individual human beings, be revered as geniuses in humanity... These people extinguish their own name, identify fully with their Order and, in addition, hold, as a condition of their strength, to the fact that the world knows nothing of how such a person who goes around in the black robe and the Jesuit’s small hat is trained” (GA 198, 6.6.1920). The ordinary members of the Lodges, in proportion as they acquire power in the world, increasingly prefer the pursuit of pleasure to esoteric work.

Once they had gained occult power in the Lodges, the “Fathers of Darkness” began to fight against them, not by opposing their intentions, but by supporting them – in such a way, however, that they carried them to the utmost absurdity.

Thus, the lofty ideals of establishing a society of freedom, equality and brotherliness on earth changed into what we have today. As a result, the “Brothers of Shadow” deteriorated completely and became an obedient instrument of the political machinations of infernal powers.

At the same time degradation also overtook the “Fathers of Darkness”. Power over human beings became for them more important than Christianity itself, than the Church itself. And the fact that a representative of the “Fathers of Darkness” has now become Pope is a very bad symptom, indicating that the world is indeed standing at the threshold of immense and tragic transformations.

***

We can prepare ourselves for these transformation if we understand the laws of the “Downfall of Europe” in the first two nodal points. In this connection we should view the two World Wars of the 20th century as a single war, a new Thirty Years’ War (1914-1945). Its goal was not so much the gaining of worldly power as the destruction of the Mysteries of Christianity that come to expression in the phenomenon of Christianity, which brings to the world the Christianity of the epoch of its realization (its previous epoch was that of its preparation).

For the purpose of opposing it, strong and radical measures are needed – and such measures are actually taken. Already in 1871 the “Grand Commander” Albert Pike wrote to his friend Giuseppe Mazzini, a co- fighter of Garibaldi, saying that a spirit had told him that there would inevitably be three World Wars. Two of them have already taken place – are we therefore not approaching the Third? (Or may it not have begun already?)

In his letter Pike virtually presents the programme for the setting up of a “New World Order”. The first World War was intended to shatter Tsarist Russia and place it under the control of the “Brothers of the Left”. The second World War was to be unleashed via manipulations with the German nationalists and the political Zionists. As an outcome of this war a State of Israel was to be founded. And, finally, the third World War was to be sparked off by differences of opinion between the Zionists and the leaders of the Islamic world. “The war will be waged in such a way that Islam and Zionism will destroy one another. Meanwhile other countries, which will be further divided over this question, will be forced to fight to the point of complete physical, moral, spiritual and economic exhaustion. The war must be unleashed by nihilists and atheists, after which we will provoke a gigantic social upheaval, the horrors of which will show the degradation of godlessness. The revolutionary minority will be annihilated and the majority, disillusioned with Christianity ... will receive from us the true light of Lucifer’s teaching”.

Pike, who not only used mediums, but was a medium himself, received this inspiration from a spirit of the same kind as “Mahatma”, who sent his communications through the air to Blavatsky, and the “spirit” who whispered the Testament of Peter the Great to Sokolnitsky in the isolation cell of a prison.

This cannot seriously concern us. Important for us is the indication that in Pike’s “prophecy” the signature of both the “Fathers of Darkness” and the “Brothers of Shadow” can be clearly discerned. From the latter comes the “true light of Lucifer”, while the passages about the “nihilists” and the “degradation of godlessness” were doubtlessly inspired by the former. It is a known fact that in the Lodges it is regarded as a sign of bad tone to express oneself in this spirit.

Overall, the “prophecies” of Pike coincide, in terms of their meaning, with our own conclusions. The third nodal point of the “Downfall of Europe” must resemble the first two, suggesting that, to begin with, a revolution must flare up, this time an Afro-Arabian one, which then moves over to “Napoleonic” wars, which are fought to the point of “complete physical, moral” etc. exhaustion. But what is meant by a “gigantic social upheaval”?

In presenting an answer to this question we can be helped by the consideration we undertook, of two world-forces that stand in polar opposition to one another. The conflict between them took on, already in the 20th century, the character of a life and death struggle. Those of the Left still suffer from a nervous tic over all they had to go through when they learned of the “Great Transport Operation”. At that point, their existence was hanging by a thread. For this reason, the name alone – “those of the Right” – puts them into a state of hysteria.

In order to gain the ultimate victory over “those of the Right”, they have for decades been flooding Europe with migrants from Africa and Asia. They have grasped the fact that one can only “annihilate” those of the Right “as a class” – to use the words of those of the Left themselves – if one has destroyed the white race itself. Certainly, the “Fathers of Darkness” would also be glad if their congregation consisted of people of mixed race, but they themselves, the élite, want to remain white. Here, too, Mereshkovsky has told us all the essentials.

Those of the Right understand very well the threat that faces them and are under no illusion that time is working against them. The world is drifting relentlessly leftwards. With the means they have now started to apply they are trying to change this course abruptly. Through parliamentary debate they will not succeed. This path is too long and there is not enough time. Among those of the Left concern is spreading because they see the real danger of a worldwide lurch to the Right. Something must be done to prevent it – and quickly. All this has set in motion the “Tsunami” project.

In principle, the development in the world over the last few decades has suited those of the Left “down to the ground”. They were simply awaiting their hour, which would have come in 20 or 30 years’ time if the races of Europe, with the replacing of the old generation by the new, had mixed peacefully together; the white population would be completely re-educated and thereby enabled to adapt to the future “multi-cultural” world, their Afro-Arabian environment. And this gives rise to the thought that the “Tsunami” may have been instigated mainly by those of the Right, in order to carry to an absurd level the effects called forth by the activities of the Left. To this challenge, those of the Left could only, so as not to lose face, respond with a jubilant Yes! And that is, at bottom, what those of the Right need. As we have explained, they also favour the socialist revolution. This was predicted on a title page of the “Economist” magazine in 2015, in the form of a “tortoise” which, as the commentators rightly understood, pointed to the left-wing socialist Fabian Society. In this situation the interests of the Left and Right, as we have already mentioned, come together. In Europe a revolution of this kind can be ignited if the great war between East and West dictated by the laws of historical development is waged here.

But when it breaks out it will be realized – in contrast to 1917 – by those of the Right with the hands of those of the Left. This will allow them to compromise socialism and the socialists beyond salvation. Then the idea of the Right will be welcomed as the saviour.

Viewed from this aspect, it grows clearer why Right-wing Frau Merkel (socialist Christians are as unthinkable as white Blacks) is fighting so enthusiastically for the creation in Europe of a “critical mass” of migrants. Most probably she has been chosen as an instrument to lead the intentions of the Left completely ad absurdum. Orientation in the socialist direction comes particularly easy to her because of her experience of life in the German Democratic Republic.

The escalating confrontation between Left and Right wing at the present time can be compared to a duel between two irreconcilable opponents. First they confront one another with daggers, then with pistols. But technical progress does not stop, and now we see them fighting one another in aeroplanes. They attack each other fiercely and shoot at one another with machine guns. In this duel those of the Left seem to have noticed that their enemy is stronger and more experienced and that the mass of the population is moving across to the other side. In this battle all rules have, in the course of time, been thrown overboard. Very recently the press of the Left has started to label those who do not think in a leftish manner: the rabble. But this is an expression from the vocabulary of aristocrats to refer to the lower orders. And, what is more, Merkel’s immigration policy is starting to be criticized in Brussels. Is there some rabble there, too? But worse is yet to come: those of the Left are mobilizing Berlin’s Turkish diaspora against those of the Right. This step was to be expected, but it is fatal. It means, to express it figuratively, that our “duellers” are launching a frontal attack! And this, despite the fact that their planes are passenger aircraft and are filled to the last seat with travelers.

Those of the Right have agreed to the all-out attack, because they are still in a position to steer a process over which the Left seems already to have lost control. This is a literal reminder of what happened in Russia between 1917 and 1930 or thereabouts, only with the difference that the years 1917 and 1930 may perhaps be condensed into a single year. And the “gigantic social upheaval” will therefore coincide with the “Napoleonic” wars. This upheaval will be the third “black” Inquisition.

The “Fathers of Darkness” consider themselves responsible for the development (or non-development) of humanity. They advocate a group morality, which enables them to hold human beings by the reins. Moral degradation destroys the soul of the human being, but at the same time he becomes self-willed, renounces all faith, all religion. In this state those of the Left can control him, but by methods that those of the Right reject. The two camps are, after all, antitheses. And ultimately, those of the Right can no longer bear the moral degradation of man, they cannot tolerate the “Devil” of degradation, who has acquired so much power over human beings. Therefore everywhere, in North Africa, in the Arab world many people, figuratively speaking, heap up piles of firewood and pour petrol over them, whereupon others come and set the piles alight. A heap of this kind has been piled up in the Ukraine and set alight, and now the same is threatening to happen in Turkey. But in Europe also, heaps of this kind are piled up. And psychopaths are dancing around them, snapping with their cigarette lighters.

But in the command centres of the Right, self-confidence and cool- headedness reign supreme. A testimony to this is the title page of the first issue of “The Economist” in 2016. What is depicted there is actually a neo-Noah’s Ark.

The “New Atlantis” proclaimed by Francis Bacon, the “ditch of material culture”, is on the point of collapse. It is being inundated by a new world-wide Flood – the “tsunami”. The “Ark” therefore stands ready. The enthusiastic image of Merkel deserves, without question, to adorn the bows of this Ark – or is it an ice-breaker? The ice-breaker is not breaking cold, dead ice – it is cutting up living flesh. That is the “special feature” of our epoch. And it turns out that the “ice- breaker” of Bolshevism was not Hitler, as Viktor Suvorov maintains, but this lady.

The passengers on board the Ark behave in different ways. Mr. Cameron is extremely worried. He wonders: Is it not time to disembark from this “Ark”. But how can one arrange this? Miss Janet Yellen, President of the Federal Reserve Board, is making a face as if she wants to cry out: What’s going on? Are you all completely crazy? Madame Lagarde is in a similar mood. (Women always have more commonsense than men.) M. Hollande wears a tie in the colours of mourning. He has recognized that the downfall of a civilization that, viewed as a whole, is quite wonderful, cannot be avoided, and he has already come to terms with this. Putin has a puzzling inward-looking expression. He is reflecting... But what is he actually reflecting on?

Where, then, is the Ark sailing to? Well, its final destination is, of course, the “Earthly Paradise”; this is why the ship’s command on it is shown in the form of a triangle, consisting of the Pope – the captain, Mme Le Pen – steersman, and the “ice-breaker of Bolshevism”. For the present the “Ark” has not yet reached Paradise, it must survive the impending storm. But what happens then, one must simply not think about. Yet there is hope, all the same: maybe they can still come to an agreement together if they see that there is something like a balance of forces between them; maybe they will postpone the decisive battle till later and, since everything flows and changes, the world will become different, and people will, too. It is important to remember that the incarnation of Ahriman takes place in the course of this sea-voyage.

***

In this situation, what awaits Russia in the new future? The scenario described by us in Part I remains in force. The Ukraine will, at least in part, be united with Russia, but will have to suffer badly before this unification. But in exchange it has been given unlimited freedom to work itself up into a frenzy of Russophobia, but very little bread and warmth. Its leaders, too, have allowed themselves boundless liberties in their dealings with the population.

We found in a newspaper a forecast about our future that is altogether of great interest. There we read: “But in the near future there are all kinds of things we can expect to happen. Technological catastrophes, crossing over into the ecological, can grow to such a scale that atomic bomb explosions are no longer necessary. The frontiers will fall – many of them, in any case. And of the hungry hordes spoken of by Mayakovsky there will be more than enough moving through the country. Climatic catastrophes are more than probable.

At such moments someone in Russia wishes to speak. He tells us: “There is such a Party!” (a slogan of Lenin’s); he rises to leadership of the country and, through terrible cruelty, creates order. Is it not possible without cruelty? I fear it will not be possible. The extent of cruelty is always proportional to that of decay. A revolution – means decay, which means disintegration, the collapse of the time-honoured structure of the old world. Building up again – that is already the overcoming of revolution. And we the nation as a whole, will have to start building up again. Organizing our life....

It is certain that there will arise something that Konstantin Leontiev called “Byzantinism” – the union of spiritual and secular power to form a single whole. It was on this principle that was once based the Orthodox Russian monarchy, which had proclaimed Moscow the third Rome. There will also be features of Stalinism and of Soviet socialism in general. But it will be under no circumstances a reconstruction or a déjà-vu. It will be something new”, etc. A very realistic forecast. Thoughts of this kind, obviously, are also going through the head of Putin on the Ark.

What other noteworthy things can one find in Russia? The idea of founding a “nationalistic International” is gaining ground all the time. More and more often one can see evidence of a positive attitude towards Russia. Here is an interesting photo in this connection.

At a demonstration against the “tsunami” in Germany the slogan resounded: “Merkel to Siberia! Putin to Berlin!” Very ingenious! Sometimes one tentatively wonders whether the project of the “Great Transport Operation” may still be alive today...

In any case – and this is shown by past experience – in the decisive encounters between antagonists on the stage of world events one cannot manage without Russia. Neither side can be victorious in these conflicts without drawing Russia onto its side. It is most probable that, when the dance begins, it will also be involved this time. It is by no means a coincidence that on the Ark the Russian patriarch is standing next to the Pope. Could they not have spoken about these things at their meeting?

Russia will therefore be involved in the conflict, and then will come what is described in Pushkin’s Fairy Tale of Tsar Saltan:

And again we hear the cock loudly crowing: Can you not see the army there in the East?10

So, there we have our scenario (see Part I).

10 This tale has to do with a carefree Tsar (Pushkin certainly means the Russian Tsar), whose kingdom is attacked from all sides by enemies. They cannot surprise him, however, because the Tsar has a magic cockerel that perches on the summit of the palace and, when an enemy army approaches, faces the right direction and calls out cock-a-doodle-do!