Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 133
With the help of the Akashic record and his professed clairvoyant abilities, he laid out the
evolution of the Earth in a series of epochs and rounds—Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter,
Venus and Vulcan. Earth consists of 7 epochs, and present humankind exists in the later
part of the Fifth Epoch on Earth. Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan, are prophesied future periods.
He taught that believers who develop their ―I‖ will remember each other and reincarnate
together in ―core groups‖ to instruct others in what to ―think, feel, will and do,‖ and that
they will inherit the earth:
To put it bluntly, we can say that the earth and all it can yield will belong to
those who now cultivate their individualities. Those, however, who do not
develop their individual I will be dependent on joining a group that will
instruct them in what they should think, feel, will and do. In the future
development of humanity this will be felt as a regression, a second Fall.
Therefore, we should not regard the anthroposophical movement and spiritual
life as mere theory but rather as something that is given to us now to prepare
what is necessary for the future of humanity. (Steiner, 1990, p. 24)
Steiner‘s lectures are peppered with racism and anti-Semitism. His racist doctrine is similar
to other occult variants like ariosophy, sometimes attracting interest from far-right
publishers and distributors. Peter Staudenmaier studies racism and Steiner texts including
untranslated German lectures such as those recorded in Die Geistigen Hintergrunde des
Ersten Weltkrieges, (1974). (GA 174b). On the Internet discussion group, waldorf-
critics@topica.com Staudenmaier translated some German Steiner text into English (see
posts from September 2002 titled ―skin color and spirit‖ archived at
http://www.waldorfcritics.org/active/archives.html ).He concludes that Steiner accepted as
obvious the basic Theosophical notion that intelligence and beauty are correlated with
―racial characteristics‖ and links this to the classical Theosophical concept that ―primitive
peoples‖ are the ―degenerative remnants‖ of older ―racial forms.‖ Staudenmaier notes that
Steiner subscribes to ―esoteric Darwinism‖ in which inferior ―races‖ of his lifetime were
believed by him to be descendants of the earlier Lemurian and Atlantean root races which
were devolving physically and spiritually toward an animal state. In contrast, the fifth root
race, the Aryans, continued evolving upwards, towards universal humanity. Followers will be
saved from Steiner‘s prophetic, apocalyptic ―War of All Against All‖—when white humanity
will destroy ―colored‖ humanity who has not taken the spirit deep within the skin.
White humankind is still on the path of absorbing the spirit deeper and deeper
into its own essence. Yellow humankind is on the path of conserving the era
when the spirit will be kept away from the body, when the spirit will only be
sought outside of the human-physical organization. But the result will have to
be that the transition from the fifth cultural epoch to the sixth cultural epoch
cannot happen in any other way than as a violent battle of white humankind
against colored humankind in myriad areas. And that which precedes these
battles between white and colored humankind will occupy world history until
the completion of the great battles between white and colored humankind.
Future events are frequently reflected in prior events. You see, we stand
before something colossal that—when we understand it through spiritual
science—we will in the future be able to recognize as a necessary occurrence.
(Steiner, 1974, p. 38, translated by P. Staudenmaier).
In a 1915 sermon in Stuttgart, Steiner said that advanced spirituality is tied to external skin
color and that white skin is a sign of spiritual progress:
This carrying down, this thorough impregnation of the flesh by the spirit, this
is characteristic of the mission, the whole mission of white humanity. People
have white skin color because the spirit works within the skin when it wants
With the help of the Akashic record and his professed clairvoyant abilities, he laid out the
evolution of the Earth in a series of epochs and rounds—Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter,
Venus and Vulcan. Earth consists of 7 epochs, and present humankind exists in the later
part of the Fifth Epoch on Earth. Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan, are prophesied future periods.
He taught that believers who develop their ―I‖ will remember each other and reincarnate
together in ―core groups‖ to instruct others in what to ―think, feel, will and do,‖ and that
they will inherit the earth:
To put it bluntly, we can say that the earth and all it can yield will belong to
those who now cultivate their individualities. Those, however, who do not
develop their individual I will be dependent on joining a group that will
instruct them in what they should think, feel, will and do. In the future
development of humanity this will be felt as a regression, a second Fall.
Therefore, we should not regard the anthroposophical movement and spiritual
life as mere theory but rather as something that is given to us now to prepare
what is necessary for the future of humanity. (Steiner, 1990, p. 24)
Steiner‘s lectures are peppered with racism and anti-Semitism. His racist doctrine is similar
to other occult variants like ariosophy, sometimes attracting interest from far-right
publishers and distributors. Peter Staudenmaier studies racism and Steiner texts including
untranslated German lectures such as those recorded in Die Geistigen Hintergrunde des
Ersten Weltkrieges, (1974). (GA 174b). On the Internet discussion group, waldorf-
critics@topica.com Staudenmaier translated some German Steiner text into English (see
posts from September 2002 titled ―skin color and spirit‖ archived at
http://www.waldorfcritics.org/active/archives.html ).He concludes that Steiner accepted as
obvious the basic Theosophical notion that intelligence and beauty are correlated with
―racial characteristics‖ and links this to the classical Theosophical concept that ―primitive
peoples‖ are the ―degenerative remnants‖ of older ―racial forms.‖ Staudenmaier notes that
Steiner subscribes to ―esoteric Darwinism‖ in which inferior ―races‖ of his lifetime were
believed by him to be descendants of the earlier Lemurian and Atlantean root races which
were devolving physically and spiritually toward an animal state. In contrast, the fifth root
race, the Aryans, continued evolving upwards, towards universal humanity. Followers will be
saved from Steiner‘s prophetic, apocalyptic ―War of All Against All‖—when white humanity
will destroy ―colored‖ humanity who has not taken the spirit deep within the skin.
White humankind is still on the path of absorbing the spirit deeper and deeper
into its own essence. Yellow humankind is on the path of conserving the era
when the spirit will be kept away from the body, when the spirit will only be
sought outside of the human-physical organization. But the result will have to
be that the transition from the fifth cultural epoch to the sixth cultural epoch
cannot happen in any other way than as a violent battle of white humankind
against colored humankind in myriad areas. And that which precedes these
battles between white and colored humankind will occupy world history until
the completion of the great battles between white and colored humankind.
Future events are frequently reflected in prior events. You see, we stand
before something colossal that—when we understand it through spiritual
science—we will in the future be able to recognize as a necessary occurrence.
(Steiner, 1974, p. 38, translated by P. Staudenmaier).
In a 1915 sermon in Stuttgart, Steiner said that advanced spirituality is tied to external skin
color and that white skin is a sign of spiritual progress:
This carrying down, this thorough impregnation of the flesh by the spirit, this
is characteristic of the mission, the whole mission of white humanity. People
have white skin color because the spirit works within the skin when it wants
