Spiritual Science and the Modern Occult Revival
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introduction Spiritual Science and the Modern Occult Revival This is a study of an unusual movement in an unusual time. It follows the changing fortunes of an idiosyncratic but influential group of spiritual seek- ers through the wayward terrain of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. The move- ment known as anthroposophy was founded by Rudolf Steiner, a devotee of the occult, in the early years of the twentieth century. Today anthroposophy is esteemed for its efforts on behalf of alternative education, holistic health care, organic farming and natural foods, environmental consciousness, and innovative forms of spiritual expression. At the root of anthroposophy lies an elaborate esoteric philosophy based on Steiner’s teachings. His plentiful books and lectures, which can seem inscrutable to outside observers, form the core of the anthroposophist worldview to this day. Steiner grew up in Austria and died in Switzerland, imparting an international character to his movement while grounding it firmly in German cultural values. In contemporary Europe anthroposophy is recognized as “the most successful form of ‘alternative’ reli- gion” to arise in the last century.1 In much of the English-speaking world, however, the term anthroposophy and the name Rudolf Steiner remain unfamiliar. Even those acquainted with anthroposophy’s public face—through experience with Waldorf schools, bio- dynamic farming, Camphill communities, Weleda or Demeter products—are sometimes surprised to learn of the esoteric doctrines on which these insti- tutions are built. If the external trappings of anthroposophy are not always identifiable, its occult underpinnings are still less well known. Latter-day anthroposophists are often apprehensive about ‘occult’ vocabulary, though Steiner and the founding generation of the movement used it freely. For Steiner’s present followers the practical application of anthroposophical prin- ciples is more important than their historical pedigree, and anthroposophists have earned respect for their contributions to pedagogical reform, their com- mitment to ecological sustainability, and their work with developmentally dis- abled children, among other fields. Anthroposophy’s creative impact ranges from literature and architecture to art and agriculture, from the New Age 1 Stefanie von Schnurbein and Justus Ulbricht, eds., Völkische Religion und Krisen der Moderne: Entwürfe “arteigener” Glaubenssysteme seit der Jahrhundertwende (Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, 2001), 38. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���4 | doi ��.��63/9789004�70�5�_��� 2 introduction milieu to the rise of Green parties. Outstanding cultural figures such as Wassily Kandinsky, Saul Bellow and Joseph Beuys have found inspiration in Steiner’s richly intricate work. Understanding anthroposophy means taking conflicting internal and exter- nal standpoints into account. Steiner promoted anthroposophy as a “spiritual science,” a comprehensive esoteric alternative to mainstream science. This ambitious program was based on the belief that materialism had degraded scientific thought and modern culture, and that a thoroughgoing spiritual renewal was necessary in order to revive humanity’s relationship with the nat- ural and supernatural worlds.2 In the words of an adherent: “Anthroposophy is an occult science arising out of a deep Initiation-Knowledge that has been attained during many centuries, and which is pre-eminently given in the form that is right and suitable for our modern age.”3 Scholars view anthroposophy not as a science but as a variant of Western esotericism, a modern appropria- tion and amalgamation of various European esoteric currents assembled into an “invented tradition.” From this perspective, Steiner was one of the foremost innovators in twentieth century German occultism and “arguably the most historically and philosophically sophisticated spokesperson of the Esoteric Tradition.”4 Anthroposophy emerged as an attempt to establish occult insights 2 See Rudolf Steiner, Spiritual Science: A brief review of its aims and of the attacks of its oppo- nents (London: Watkins, 1914). Sympathetic treatments are available in Robert Galbreath, “Traditional and Modern Elements in the Occultism of Rudolf Steiner” Journal of Popular Culture 3 (1969), 451–67, and Robert Sumser, “Rational Occultism in Fin de Siècle Germany: Rudolf Steiner’s Modernism” History of European Ideas 18 (1994), 497–511. 3 Eleanor Merry, “The Anthroposophical World-Conception: An Introductory Outline” Anthroposophy: A Quarterly Review of Spiritual Science 7 (1932), 289–319, quote on 293. For anthroposophists, Steiner’s teachings “may be called occult science, theosophy, spiritual science, esotericism, or anthroposophy; the name is not of much importance.” “Introduction” to Rudolf Steiner, Investigations in Occultism (London: Putnam, 1920), 16. 4 Olav Hammer, Claiming Knowledge: Strategies of Epistemology from Theosophy to the New Age (Leiden: Brill, 2001), 329. For background see Wouter Hanegraaff, “On the Construction of ‘Esoteric Traditions’” in Antoine Faivre and Wouter Hanegraaff, eds., Western Esotericism and the Science of Religion (Leuven: Peeters, 1998), 11–61; Titus Hjelm, “Tradition as Legitimation in New Religious Movements” in Steven Engler and Gregory Grieve, eds., Historicizing “Tradition” in the Study of Religion (New York: de Gruyter, 2005), 109–25; James Lewis and Olav Hammer, eds., The Invention of Sacred Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008); Andreas Kilcher, ed., Constructing Tradition: Means and Myths of Transmission in Western Esotericism (Leiden: Brill, 2010); Egil Asprem and Kennet Granholm, “Constructing Esotericisms: Sociological, Historical, and Critical Approaches to the Invention of Tradition” in Asprem and Granholm, eds., Contemporary Esotericism (Sheffield: Equinox, 2013), 25–48. .