members and friends in the spiritual world for help? I believe that this is possible and necessary, because the Goetheanum must continue to exist for the coming generations to experience. How can we now call upon all those who are in the spiritual world? Approaches will vary, but one avenue may be to remember them in their connection with the Goetheanum; also, one may picture the Goetheanum with these individuals surrounding it as in a circle going from the north to the east, then to the south, then to the west—the direction which the Goetheanum faces with its main entrance—and returning to the north. In our reflection, we may be aware of the three human beings inherent to the Goetheanum: Rudolf Steiner, Christian Rosenkreutz, and Master Jesus, the leaders of Western esotericism who are deeply aligned with the Christ Being.9 Rudolf Steiner expressed that the Goetheanum should always remain connected especially with Christian Rosenkreutz, according to reliable oral reports from early members. The Foundation Stone of 1913 and the Foundation Stone Mantram of the Christmas Conference for the General Anthroposophical Society bring this connection clearly to expression: 9 Rudolf Steiner, From the History and Contents of the First Section of the Esoteric School, 1904–1914 (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), GA 264, lesson of June 1, 1907, p. 312.
EDN—Ex Deo nascimur; ICM—In Christo morimur; PSSR—Per spiritum sanctum reviviscimus
These words may form the seal for our meditative reflection for the Goetheanum. From these reflections, it may be seen that I experience the Christmas Foundation Conference as a very living impulse. Today, the General Anthroposophical Society is extending steadily into other regions of the world beyond Europe and North America. This Society was founded through a highly spiritual deed; and wherever it is present, it forms a protective sheath for anthroposophy which then may radiate out even to those who have yet to discover its existence. This living impulse will continue to be strengthened when we continue to practice this mantram and to experience our heart as the Foundation Stone. Virginia Sease, born in Philadelphia in 1935, earned her PhD from the University of Southern California and has been an assistant professor of German literature at Occident College. She was also a class teacher and co-founder and co-director of the Waldorf Institute of Southern California at Highland Hall School. As of 1984, she has been a member of the Executive Council at the Goetheanum, where she also served as leader of the Section for the Arts of Eurythmy, Speech, Drama, and Music from 1991–2001 and founded the Anthroposophical Studies in English program in 2001. She is in emerita status as of 2015 and has a continuing presence at the Goetheanum and in work with Christological themes.
How Much Truth Can We Defend and Advance for the World in Our Lives? Nicanor Perlas The “Grave of All Civilization” In his lectures on Karmic Relationships, Rudolf Steiner repeatedly warned that if spiritual science does not become a significant force in world affairs, then, at around our time, humanity will plunge into the “grave of all civilization”: This battle, more than any other, is laid in the human heart. There, within the hearts of men, it is and has been waged since the last third of the nineteenth cen30 • being human
tury. Decisive indeed will be what human hearts do with this Michael Impulse in the world in the course of the twentieth century. And in the course of the twentieth century, when the first century after the end of the Kali Yuga has elapsed, humanity will either stand at the grave of all civilization—or at the beginning of that age when in the souls of men who in their hearts ally intelligence with spirituality, Micha-el’s battle will be fought out to victory.1 1 Karmic Relationships, Vol. VI (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009), GA 240, lecture of July 19, 1924.
