The Influences of Lucifer and Ahriman
Man's Responsibility for the Earth
In these lectures, Steiner focuses on the vital task of developing the proper orientation toward a free spiritual life. With great compassion and understanding, he shows in telling examples how humanity must walk a conscious middle path between the two “tempting” powers of Lucifer and Ahriman. He describes the incarnation of Lucifer, in the third millennium B.C., from which flowed not only the wisdom of paganism, but also the intellectual consciousness we enjoy today. Ahriman, on the other hand, is shown to be approaching humankind through phenomena such as materialism, nationalism, and literalism, in preparation for his incarnation in our present millennium. It must not be thought, however, that these two powers work separately; on the contrary, they work more and more together. Our task is to hold them in balance, continually permeating one with the other. Steiner says: “Lucifer and Ahriman must be regarded as two scales of a balance, and it is we who must hold the beam in equipoise. How can we train ourselves to do this? By permeating what takes ahrimanic form within us with a strongly luciferic element.” Accomplishing this taks requires a new form of conscious spirituality.
Publisher: Anthroposophic Press
Format: unknown format
