{"id":65288,"date":"2025-04-17T17:05:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T15:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/?p=65288"},"modified":"2025-04-23T13:32:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T11:32:18","slug":"rudolf-steiners-group-in-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/rudolf-steiners-group-in-me\/","title":{"rendered":"Rudolf Steiner\u2019s \u201cGroup\u201d in Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The sculpture of the Representative of Humanity, known as the \u201cGroup,\u201d invites an inner conversation, a search for its center\u2014\u201cin me.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

This inner conversation with myself opens up a \u201cword research workshop\u201d (yes, I\u2019d like to call it that). When I observe how Rudolf Steiner\u2019s \u201cGroup\u201d stands within me, I stand before myself. I find these forces within me. Equipped with this perspective and these forces, I now search through untrodden paths in the world of the soul. I wish to attempt a personal conversation with the beings of the Group as they are within me. Engaging with the Group this way offers a different speech and language and has a different effect. It\u2019s helpful to change my perspective on the Group to one where I become more personally involved. Now, I see my courageous self trying to assert itself against overwhelming forces. I try to help myself, to be bold; this brings its own dangers. But the approach is not wrong because these adversaries do enter the stage of my consciousness uninvited. I could just leave my inner stage to them; who wants a constant battle? Or I could intervene, try to become the director of the stage. Then I need an inner dialogue with both of them, eye-to-eye\u2014also dangerous. I must assert myself. Who but me can end this?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the director, I\u2019m struck by how limited their repertoire of texts is\u2014always the same thing, time after time. They become more predictable, even in everyday life. When I spot their familiar lines, do I always recognize their trademark style, their brand? What does it mean to them when I begin to understand them better? It seems that understanding takes away some of their power. This is entirely different with the central figure. When I learn to understand him, he gets stronger; it seems like a paradox. The dialogue between them and my soul is therapeutic. Their footprints appear in my day-to-day situations. When I\u2019m able to talk directly with them, I enter their world consciously. I have to exert myself to stay sober and scientific. I must let them speak to me as they are. This allows me to enter their world. It\u2019s like going to a stranger\u2019s house: I get to see how they live. When I enter their homes, I see their old and already familiar things; I\u2019m actually struck by how eternally boring it all is. For a moment, I feel strange, unclear: what was their temptation supposed to have been? It did exist before; does it still exist? Entering their worlds, I have the peculiar sensation: these are entirely other worlds that don\u2019t correspond with my human world. They seem to come from somewhere else entirely and have a strange character. Despite their undeniable presence, these worlds seem to have something completely out of date about them\u2014or so it seems to me\u2014they appear to be from \u201canother planet.\u201d I do still feel something familiar, and that makes their strangeness even more clear. How can a being be so rigidly typecast? What have I lost in these strange, alien, non-human worlds?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This all makes it easier for me to detach myself from them. I can confront them now, standing before me. With one first step, I leave the region where they could manipulate me and leave me in the dark. Despite a feeling of helplessness, this first step is the step away from identifying myself with them. The mystery of freedom still lies far in the distance. That\u2019s a discovery still to be sought. But the fog has cleared a little. That\u2019s what matters. Now, we can talk. Until now, I always wanted to send you away, but to where? To hell? This new posture of my cognition seems to spare me the pain of wholly separating from Lucifer. But didn\u2019t Lucifer bring this pain? Be careful! They won\u2019t lay all their cards on the table. Life without Lucifer is like a sugar-free diet. And without Ahriman? What\u2019s that like? Life without power?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Christ, everything is different, and I can breathe freely. I come to myself in him, into our and my human world. Freedom is there, and nuance, even joy. The ever-present eternal concerns and determinations of how things must be done are gone. There is the art of human beings. The uncertainty we may feel is connected with what may be fulfilled through us, what wants to come into the world\u2014through us\u2014with Him, in us. There, we\u2019ve arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Night before Easter I<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Love grows through us and we through love;
Love works through longing and desire;
Love urges Self to grow and blossom,
lets body glow in intimate embrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But how does love live in the withering autumn?
When sadness resounds in cold evening breeze,
a wanderer\u2019s song of night to the summer moon,
foretelling how fallen leaves transform all life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So does life lead us through heights and depths;
Farewell\u2019s sadness dreams of more
from this world of beauty, and still… more…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But no song of night leads ever to light anew;
Easter morning lies wrapped in deep sleep still.
\u2026Love grows through us and we through love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In der Osternacht I<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Die Liebe w\u00e4chst durch uns und wir durch sie;<\/em>
sie wirkt durch unsre Sehnsucht und Verlangen<\/em>
in dem sie unser Selbst zum Wachsen treibt und Bl\u00fchen<\/em>
Und unsren Leib ergl\u00fchen l\u00e4sst in inniger Umarmung.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wann aber lebt sie auch in herbstlichem Verwelken?<\/em>
Wenn Traurigkeit erklingt im kalten Abendhauch<\/em>
als Wanderers Nachtlied, das im Sommermond<\/em>
schon ahnt, wie Bl\u00e4tterfallen alles Leben wandelt.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So f\u00fchrt das Leben uns durch alle H\u00f6h\u2019n und Tiefen<\/em>
Und Abschiedstraurigkeit ertr\u00e4umt sich mehr<\/em>
Von dieser sch\u00f6nen Welt und doch\u2026 noch mehr\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doch f\u00fchrt kein Nachtlied je heran ans neue Licht<\/em>
In tiefen Schlaf noch ist geh\u00fcllt der Ostermorgen…<\/em>
.Die Liebe w\u00e4chst durch uns und wir durch sie.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lucifer<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When I wander through human wastelands,
the desert stretches, sand clouding my eye,
tears well up and I long for Your wings of flame
to lift me from this gloom.
And oh, for moments
you grant me an escape in light and warmth
from the dust of neediness,
plunge me into my own unfulfilledness.
You Queen and ruler of lunar love,
you know the human being well;
you know as well your own power.
And is it bliss\u2014so briefly, so painfully\u2014
fills the heart? So brief\u2014
like Icarus, you leave me, plummeting.
Yet still, you bestow strength,
zeal to act, splendor and sweetness,
prestige before other men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So bow before you, I believing,
I may yet be what you give as cloak of light.
But, oh sweet aid, your gift, it does not warm!
So I know now: You care but for yourself;
For you, I am but means, and I allow
my soul your abuse.
So you prepared me:
become a danger to my fellow human beings.
Delivering me to your dark brother.
In the end, you can\u2019t endure the tests of life.
A reliable friend\u2014you\u2019re not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But yet, when again I do myself abandon, to you I call,
for desolate hope abounds again:
Perhaps\u2014after all\u2014 with you salvation will yet grow?
So you come\u2014so long you\u2019ve always come\u2014
again and again, leaving me, burnt\u2014
traitor.
But, there is yet love, love!
But ahhh, what kind?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luzifer<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wenn ich wandere durch das menschliche Brachland
und die W\u00fcste sich dehnt und Sand in den Augen
den Blick tr\u00fcbt und die Tr\u00e4ne quillt,
sehne ich mich nach Deinem Flammenfl\u00fcgel,
der mich der Tr\u00fcbe enthebt.
Und ach, f\u00fcr Momente
gew\u00e4hrst Du Urlaub in Licht und W\u00e4rme
vom Staub der Bed\u00fcrftigkeit
und aber st\u00fcrzt mich in mein Eigen-Unerf\u00fclltes.
Du K\u00f6nigin und Herrscher der Mondliebe,
Du kennst die Menschen gut;
und Du wei\u00dft um Deine Macht.
Und ist es Wonne, die so kurz, so verletzend
das Herz erf\u00fcllt? So kurz nur,
denn dem Ikarus gleich, l\u00e4sst Du mich st\u00fcrzend zur\u00fcck.
Und doch, Du spendest auch Kraft
und Tatendrang und Glanz und S\u00fc\u00dfe
und Ansehen vor den Menschen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dann neige ich mich vor Dir in dem Glauben,
ich w\u00e4re schon, was Du mir schenkst als lichtes Gewand.
Aber, o hilf, Dein Geschenk w\u00e4rmt nicht!
Und ich bemerke, Dir geht\u2019s nur um Dich;
ich bin Dir nur Mittel und ich lie\u00df es zu:
Deinen Missbrauch an meiner Seele.
Und so bereitest Du mich zu:
Dass ich werde zur Gefahr meiner Mitmenschen.
Und lieferst mich aus an Deinen dunklen Bruder.
Du tr\u00e4gst auf Dauer nicht in der Pr\u00fcfung des Lebens.
Ein verl\u00e4sslicher Freund bist Du nicht.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Und doch, wenn ich mich verlasse, dann rufe ich Dich zuweilen,
denn dann f\u00fcllt mich wieder die trostlose Hoffnung
dass bei Dir w\u00e4chst, \u2013 vielleicht doch \u2013, das Rettende auch?
Und dann kommst Du, Du kommst schon so lange
und immer wieder und l\u00e4sst mich verbrannt zur\u00fcck,
wie ein Verr\u00e4ter.
Und doch die Liebe, aber die Liebe!
Aber ach, welche?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahriman<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You say: \u201cJust, say nothing.
You don\u2019t have to lie\u2014just, say nothing.
That\u2019s enough, then you\u2019re done with it.
Why torment yourself?
The important thing is not
to be left out in the cold.
You\u2019ll come up with something;
just don\u2019t get involved. Stay out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI give you knowledge and power
to rule and conquer the world
over the know-it-alls and naysayers.
Is that nothing?
With such astounding things,
you can deceive and subdue them.
You need only scare them\u2014that works.
You will see.
Come to my side, you\u2019ll fare better
in this vale of tears\u2014for that\u2019s all it is.
Don\u2019t be fooled by priests,
who know no better and lie about the hereafter.
Truth is what you like;
There is nothing else, anyway. The rest is nonsense.
You could remember that, finally, I think;
How much more must I invest in you?
Save your soul-coddling for yourself,
I\u2019m not interested.
I want you to do what I tell you.
That alone interests me.
Just do it, I tell you;
the machine must be on time.
All the rest, you don\u2019t need;
it\u2019s just a burden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I say: \u201cI will test for myself
all these burdens what they are, and I will decide.
But what could you give
when it comes to being human,
if, in your view, there are only burdens?
That\u2019s what interests me:
What is your contribution? Do you have something ready,
or is it all about you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ahriman<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Du sagst: \u00abSag doch einfach nichts.
Du musst gar nicht l\u00fcgen, \u2013 sage einfach nichts.
Das reicht doch, dann bist du raus.
Wer wird sich denn qu\u00e4len.
Es kommt doch darauf an,
dass Du nachher nicht im Regen stehst.
Dir wird schon etwas einfallen,
bleibe einfach unbeteiligt und halte dich raus.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ich aber gebe Dir das Wissen und die Macht,
in der Welt zu herrschen und zu siegen,
\u00fcber die Besserwisser und Nichtstuer.
Ist das nichts?
Mit erstaunlichen Dingen kannst Du sie
t\u00e4uschen und gef\u00fcgig machen.
Du musst ihnen nur Angst machen, dann geht\u2019s.
Du wirst es sehen.
Komm auf meine Seite, dann hast Du es besser
in diesem Jammertal, denn etwas anderes ist es ja nicht.
Lass Dir nichts vormachen von den Pfaffen,
die es nicht besser wissen und Dir was vorl\u00fcgen vom Jenseits.
Wahr ist, was gef\u00e4llt,
etwas anderes bleibt dir ohnehin nicht. Der Rest ist Unsinn.
Das k\u00f6nntest du dir endlich auch mal merken, finde ich,
wie viel muss ich denn noch in dich investieren?
Deinen ganzen Seelenschmus kannst du dir schenken,
das interessiert mich nicht,
ich will, dass du machst, was ich dir sage.
Das allein interessiert mich.
Einfach machen, sage ich dir,
die Maschine muss laufen, p\u00fcnktlich.
Den ganzen Rest brauchst du nicht,
das ist nur Ballast.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ich sage: \u00abIch werde wohl selbst pr\u00fcfen,
was Ballast ist, und ich werde es herausfinden.
Aber was k\u00f6nntest Du uns geben,
wenn es um das Menschwerden geht,
wenn es nach Deiner Sicht nur Ballast gibt?
Das ist, was mich interessiert:
Was ist Dein Beitrag? Hast Du etwas parat,
oder geht es nur um Dich?\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Night before Easter II or Unto the Pain<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Love grows through us and we through love,
as if we ourselves were but a gentle breath
by way something, from world beyond,
is spoken, a word\u2014sounding through us, transforming
our hearts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A deep pain still separates us from HIM;
We are yet but an instrument for something
us transcending, not yet tuned for such sounds.
We are only place and hermitage for high work,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

itself only manifesting through deeds of ours.
Our Self alone opens the sluice,
opens itself to the stream that us awaits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way of the Earth leads through His love,
leads us to our love, yet germinating still.
Love grows through us and we through love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In der Osternacht II
oder: An den Schmerz<\/em><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Die Liebe w\u00e4chst durch uns und wir durch sie,
wie wenn wir selbst ein leichter Hauch nur w\u00e4ren,
durch den von jenseits etwas in die Welt
gesprochen w\u00fcrde, ein Wort, das durch uns klingt verwandelt
unser Herz.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ein tiefer Schmerz noch trennet uns von Ihm,
noch sind wir nur ein Instrument f\u00fcr etwas,
das uns \u00fcbersteigt, noch nicht gestimmt f\u00fcr solche Kl\u00e4nge.
Wir sind nur Raum und Klause f\u00fcr ein hohes Wirken,<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

das nur durch unser Tun sich zeigen kann.
Nur unser Selbst kann diese Schleuse \u00f6ffnen
und \u00f6ffnen sich dem Strom, der uns erwartet.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Der Weg der Erde f\u00fchrt durch Seine Liebe
und f\u00fchrt uns unsrer Liebe zu, die erst noch keimt.
Die Liebe w\u00e4chst durch uns und wir durch sie.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Translation <\/strong>Joshua Kelberman
Photo<\/strong> From Shaping Light,<\/em> Laura Liska, 2025.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The sculpture of the Representative of Humanity, known as the \u201cGroup,\u201d invites an inner conversation, a search for its center\u2014\u201cin me.\u201d This inner conversation with myself opens up a \u201cword research workshop\u201d (yes, I\u2019d like to call it that). When I observe how Rudolf Steiner\u2019s \u201cGroup\u201d stands within me, I stand before myself. I find these forces within me. Equipped with this perspective and these forces, I now search through untrodden paths in the world of the soul. I wish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20974,"featured_media":65121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9115,8788],"tags":[11643,8798,11644],"class_list":["post-65288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-consciousness","category-essay-en","tag-ausgabe-16-17-2025-en","tag-deepening","tag-english-issue-16-17-2025"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20974"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dasgoetheanum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}