THE GODS, OLYMPUS AND VALHALLA

For a long time now attempts have been made to find the right interpretation about the gods known in past ages and their connection with the present time.

Called ones and scholars alike are seeking for a solution which will bring complete clarification!

However this will only be possible if the solution provides a comprehensive and unbroken survey over all the ages, from the beginning of the human race to the present day.

Otherwise it will again remain incomplete.

It is of no value just to pick out the period in which the well-known cults of the Greeks, Romans and Teutons regarding gods were at their height.

So long as the explanations do not also freely and quite naturally embrace all evolution and disintegration they are wrong!

In spite of much cleverness the attempts so far begun have always finally resulted in failure.

They could never stand their ground before the deeper intuitive perception, and without a connection with the previous and succeeding periods could only hang in the air!

Nothing else can be expected when one closely scrutinizes the development of man!

The hearers and readers of my Grail Message should be able to discover for themselves how these matters actually stand!

They have even been partly relegated to the realm of sagas and legends, or efforts were made to accept them only as phantasies conjured up by religious beliefs, formed and thought out through observation of Nature and in context with everyday life.

Yet it should not be hard for the thinker and investigator to find more in the old lore than mere myths!

He must even clearly see the actual happening!

Those who wish to do so should follow my explanation!

Here I would refer back to my lecture: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do!”

In that lecture I briefly described the history of mankind on earth from the very beginning until now.

I also gave a glimpse into the future.

In so doing I showed how midway in the cycle of Creation the animistic, which stands lower than the spiritual, had achieved fulfilment to the highest of its abilities in the World of Matter below it, and in the course of this fulfilment had opened the way for the entrance into matter of the higher spiritual – a process which repeats itself continually in Creation.

I also explained how in the highest animal body developed by the animistic, and called Primeval Man, there was created the opportunity which only then, that is, during the climax of its development, permitted a spirit-germ to enter, which promptly took place.

It is an opportunity which will always be provided anew at this point of development in Creation.

Thus into the most highly developed animal of that time there entered something new, the spiritual, which had never been in it before!

It should not be hastily concluded from the foregoing that this process continuously repeats itself in the same part of the Universe as that part develops further, for this is not the case!

It happens only once in each part!

In the further development the Law of the Attraction of Homogeneous Species also here effectively blocks a repetition in the same part of the Universe.

In this case the attraction of the homogeneous species is equivalent to the admission of spirit-germs to the World of Matter during a certain definite period in its development.

When it has reached a certain state of half-ripeness and receptivity, the spirit-germs whirling about on its border are able to rush like meteoric showers into the World of Matter.

There they are absorbed and enveloped, i.e., neatly protected and retained by the elements which have become receptive for this purpose, which in this case were the most highly developed animal bodies.

It is just the same on a small scale with the chemical process of amalgamation, in which a foreign substance can only amalgamate with the absorbing substance when the latter has reached a very definite temperature, this degree of heat having in turn produced a very special and outstanding state of the absorbing substance which can only be attained at this particular temperature.

The slightest divergence from this exact condition again prevents an amalgamation, the substances repelling and remaining unapproachable to each other!

In this case the homogeneity of the two species lies in a certain condition of mutual maturity, which appears to indicate a great contradiction, but the balance is maintained through the difference in elevation of the two parts to be amalgamated.

The maturity of the lowest point of the spiritual is similar to the maturity of the highest point of the animistic lying below it.

Only at this exact point of meeting is amalgamation possible.

And since in its development the World of Matter unceasingly moves in a gigantic cycle – budding, blossoming, ripening, and decaying through over-ripeness, while the spiritual reposes above it – this process can only be sparked at a very definite point during the time the World of Matter passes by.

It is a spiritual fructification of the World of Matter, which has been developed for this purpose by the working of the animistic, and longingly awaits consummation!

If a certain part of the world in its cycle passes this point, the possibility of spiritual fructification by spirit-germs ceases for this part, and the part following it moves into position.

For the first part, however, a new stage commences in which maturing spirits can later find access to it, and so on.

In this lecture I have no room to unfold the whole world picture, but a serious investigator may well conjecture the further development.

Due to its higher nature the spiritual, even in its then unconscious state, exercised its vital influence in a noticeable manner upon everything as soon as it entered the World of Matter – it began to dominate on its arrival in the World of Matter!

How the spiritual then gradually raised the animal body to the level of the present human body my readers already comprehend!

The animal bodies of the most highly developed race of that time, into which no spirit-germs incarnated, came to a standstill in their development, however, because the animistic element within them had already attained to the highest it could attain to, and they lacked the power of the spirit to advance further.

And with the standstill over ripeness quickly set in, to be followed by retrogression and disintegration!

For these races there were only two possibilities, either development into a human body through the power of the spirit, or decay and extinction.

And as a result these matured animal species became completely extinct!

Let us now follow up the slow development of the at first unconscious spirit-germ to a state of consciousness as a human spirit, and let us accompany it spiritually as step by step it penetrates the coverings enveloping it and the surroundings in which it lives!

This is not so difficult because the process of development is quite plainly visible externally.

One need only observe the human races still in existence on earth today!

The spirit of the most primitive people, for instance, which include the so-called savage tribes, and also the Bushmen, Hottentots, and so on, has perhaps been in the World of Matter just as long as that of other peoples, but has not kept pace in development, or after already ascending in this world or in the beyond has again retrogressed so far that it could be incarnated only in such lowly surroundings.

Through their own guilt and in the natural course of events they either remain or are again on a very low step, as a result of which their outlook upon the non-gross material environment is far from being of an uplifting nature!

The spiritual urge of desiring to see more than that which is on its own step has always resided within the spirit-germ as a part of its essential nature, and therefore has a strong effect even in the lowest stages of development!

This is the living motive power within the spirit, the special element which is lacking in other kinds or species in Creation.

The possibility of thus wishing to see or perceive is always provided, but for one step only above the one it stands upon at the time, and no further.

It is for this reason that the human souls standing on such a low step, who have so sinfully neglected their development, can similarly see or perceive only base entities through clairvoyance!

There are mediums and clairvoyant people among all races, regardless of what step they belong to.

Here I must once more mention especially that when I speak of “seeing” or “perceiving” I really only mean that which is “personally seen” by the clairvoyant, according to my explanation!

But that which the “seeing ones” of all times can actually “see” is only the fourth part at the most of what they see.

And this again can be but one step above their own inner maturity, and no more!

There is no other possibility!

But this circumstance constitutes at the same time a great natural protection for every clairvoyant, as I have repeatedly stated before.

It must not be assumed that mediums and clairvoyants are necessarily so matured and inwardly advanced as are the things which they describe as having “seen”, for the purer and more luminous heights, the happenings and the spirits are shown to them only in living pictures by spirit guides and higher entities!

The clairvoyants, however, erroneously imagine that they have actually experienced all this, thus deceiving themselves about it.

Great surprise is often occasioned by the baseness of the characters of so many mediums, who describe things as though they had experienced and seen them, things which do not at all seem to fit their own characters, or very little!

Therefore I speak here only of the narrow field of actual personal seeing by mediums and clairvoyants!

The rest is not considered!

The mediums and clairvoyants of all times should actually only serve the purpose of helping mankind more and more upwards through their gifts, not as leaders but as instruments!

Mediums could never be leaders because they are much too dependent upon vibrations and other influences.

They are meant to be doors which open from time to time for the purpose of furthering development, rungs in the ladder of ascent!

If you now realize that races standing on a low level of spiritual development can only see into the same base environment, with but little scope in an upward direction, it is not hard to understand that among the lower human races we find primarily the fear and worship of demons!

That is what they are able to see and perceive!

So much for a superficial consideration, but I shall go deeper with my explanation, although in so doing we branch off from the clear survey!

The spirit of the lower human races which has either never been developed or has again degenerated is naturally still spiritually blind and deaf or has again become so.

Such a person cannot see with his spiritual eye, nor unfortunately has this become possible to any man even to this day!

The man still on the lower stage, however, cannot even see with his animistic eye, and just as little with his ethereal eye – he can only see with his gross material eye, which becomes ever sharper in the wilderness through the necessary personal struggle with his fellowmen, the animals and the elements, whereby he gradually learns to distinguish finer and finest gross matter!

Thus in the beginning they notice the phantoms, entities which have only been formed through men’s fear and anxiety, and which are also sustained by these emotions!

These phantoms, which have no life of their own, are completely dependent upon the intuitions of man.

They are attracted or repulsed by them.

Here the Law of the Power of Attraction of all Homogeneous Species takes effect.

Fear always attracts these forms produced by fear and anxiety, so that it appears as if they were absolutely rushing at the frightened human beings!

Since these phantoms are connected with their authors – themselves very frightened human beings – through flexible nourishing-strands, every fearful man is therefore always indirectly connected with the mass of anxious and fearful people, thus receiving additional nourishment which increases his own fear and anxiety all the more, and which may finally even drive him to despair and insanity!

Fearlessness or courage, on the other hand, absolutely repels such phantoms in a natural manner!

Therefore, as is well known, the fearless man always has the advantage!

Is it then surprising if among the lower races the so-called medicine men and sorcerers came into being, whose caste was founded by clairvoyant persons, because the latter were able to observe how such forms, erroneously considered entities with a life of their own, are “repelled” through a little inner composure, by warding off fear through leaps and contortions, or through concentration or courage-instilling exorcisms!

If in our opinion they consequently think up ideas which appear impossible and ridiculous to us, that does not alter the fact that they are doing something which is quite right within the limits of their horizon and their power of comprehension, and that we alone are the ignorant ones who lack understanding for such things!

It happens that among the successors of these sorcerers and medicine- men there are naturally many men who have neither mediumistic nor clairvoyant abilities in any way, especially since this position brings them influence and income, at which men on the most inferior steps grab just as unscrupulously as those of the high white race.

These non-clairvoyant successors then simply imitated all the actions of their predecessors without understanding what they were doing.

They even added a few more follies in order to make a greater impression, because they only valued the respect of their fellow-men!

Thus they became the crafty impostors who seek only their own advantage, and have not the slightest idea about the real meaning!

And today the whole caste is judged and condemned on their account!

This is the real reason why we first of all find only the fear and worship of demons among the lower human races!

It is what they are able to see and what they fear on account of its different nature!

Let us now proceed to somewhat higher stages of development!

Here the ability to see reaches further, be it through clairvoyance or only unconsciously through perception, which is also a part of inner seeing.

Through these higher developments, further enveloping layers are pushed through from the inside upwards by the encased spirits, which are awakening more and more.

These spirits already see more friendly entities or know about them by perception, and thus they will gradually lose their demon-worship.

And so it goes on higher and higher, becoming more and more luminous!

With normal development the spirit pushes ahead further and further!

The Greeks, the Romans and the Teutons, for instance, could see still further!

Their inner seeing reached beyond the World of Matter into the Animistic Sphere lying above it.

In their more advanced development they could finally even see the Lords of the Elementals and of the Elements.

A few mediumistic individuals among them, by virtue of their ability, could even enjoy a closer relationship with them, because these created beings of the Conscious Animistic Sphere have a certain affinity to that animistic substantiality of which man also carries a part within himself in addition to the spiritual!

To see, to feel and to hear the elementals was the highest the peoples could achieve in their stage of development at that time.

It is only natural that these peoples should then look upon the mighty Lords of the Elements, whose activity and nature were so different from their own, as the highest possible, calling them gods, and their high impregnable fastnesses, which really exist, Olympus and Valhalla!

Any outward expression of the inner seeing and hearing of men is always dependent upon their personal ability to comprehend and to express at the time.

Thus it is that the Greeks, the Romans and the Teutons depicted the same Lords of the Elements and of all that is animistic in form and conception, but always in accordance with the views prevailing in their surroundings!

Despite some differences in their descriptions they were the same, however!

If today, for example, five or more really good clairaudients are assembled, and all of them simultaneously hear a very definite sentence spoken in the beyond, then only the sense of what they heard will be rendered uniformly, but not the actual words.

Each will report the words differently, even hear them differently, because even in the reception much that is personal makes itself felt!

It is the same as with music, which is perceived quite differently by the various listeners, yet recognized as being fundamentally the same!

I must only gradually reveal the details regarding the far-reaching secondary phenomena in the relation between earth-man and the Universe, as today it would divert us too far from the subject under discussion!

When in later times called peoples, that is, those who were most highly developed inwardly (intellectual development does not count in these matters), were able to burst through this boundary of the Animistic Sphere as they matured through their experiences, their seeing or perception penetrated to the threshold of the Spiritual Realm!

The natural consequence was that they had to dethrone the past gods as such and replace them with what was higher.

Despite this, however, they unfortunately did not advance so far as to become able to see what is spiritual!

Thus the Spiritual Realm remained closed to them, because the normal course of development was halted at this point, restrained by the ever-increasing growth of intellectual conceit!

Only a few exceptions saved themselves from this standstill, such as Buddha and a few others who, by renouncing the world, succeeded in continuing their development in a normal manner, and in seeing spiritually to a certain degree!

This renunciation of the world, or turning away from mankind for the purpose of further spiritual development, became necessary only through the one-sided training of the intellect, which generally increased its domination more and more and is antagonistic to all that is spiritual.

It was a natural form of self-protection against the increasing spiritual decline, which would not be necessary at all if the general development is normal!

On the contrary, for when a man reaches a certain height in his spiritual development he must continue to strengthen himself through further activity, otherwise he will become lax, which would quickly put a stop to further advance!

Standstill would then ensue, speedily followed by retrogression!

Although the further spiritual development of Buddha and others succeeded only to a certain degree, i.e., it was incomplete, still this greatly increased their remoteness from their fellow-men, so that such normally developed human beings came to be regarded as Divine Envoys, whereas what in fact happened was that only a new conception arose quite naturally through their further spiritual progress!

Those human beings who had risen above the masses (which had halted and partly retrogressed spiritually) stood only at the open door to the Spiritual World, where they could perceive certain things vaguely, but could never see clearly.

Yet they distinctly sensed and intuitively perceived a powerful conscious uniform guidance coming from above, from a world into which they were never able to see!

Yielding to this intuition they now formed the idea of the one invisible God, without knowing anything further about Him!

It is therefore understandable that they regarded this God, Whom they had merely sensed, as the highest spiritual being, because the spiritual region was new to them and they were still standing only on its threshold.

Thus it was that their new idea of an invisible God was only correct as to the fact, but not as to the conception, for their conception of Him was wrong!

The human spirit has never envisaged the God as He really is!

Man thought of Him merely as the Highest Spiritual Being!

And this gap in the further development even shows itself today in that many human beings persistently cling to the idea that they have something of the same nature as they perceive to be their God’s!

The fault lies in the standstill that occurred in spiritual development.

Had this development continued then maturing mankind, during the transition from the old gods of the Animistic Sphere, would not have thought next of this One God as an Invisible God, but would first of all have been able to perceive, standing above the Lords of the Elements called gods, the Spiritual Primordial Beings who have their seat in the Grail Castle, the highest fastness of the Spiritual World.

And in the beginning they would have again considered these Primordial Beings as gods, until they had developed themselves inwardly to such an extent that they would not merely have been able to perceive the Primordial Beings, who are the true images of God, but also to hear them spiritually through mediators.

From these they would have received information of the existence outside of Creation of the “One Supreme God!”

Had their intuitive perception been directed in this manner they would, through further spiritual maturing and development, have finally become capable of joyfully receiving Divine Messages out of the actual Divine Sphere from a Messenger of God, i.e., from outside of Creation, and therefore beyond their capacity to see!

That would have been the normal way!

As it was, however, their development came to a halt on the threshold of the Spiritual Sphere, and even declined quickly through the fault of man!

Thus the time came when, as an act of emergency, a strong Envoy from God had to be incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth, in order to bring to a humanity still too immature for it a Message from the Divine Sphere to help and enlighten them, so that seekers lacking the necessary maturity could for the time being at least pin their faith in it!

For this reason the Son of God, who had been sent to the aid of erring mankind, could do nothing more than demand faith and trust in His Word!

A desperate task!

Christ could not even say everything He wished to say!

Therefore He did not speak of many things, such as reincarnation, and so on!

In these matters He was confronted with too great a spiritual immaturity.

And He Himself sorrowfully said to His disciples: “I would say many things unto you, but you would not understand!”

Thus even His disciples misunderstood Him in many things!

And if Christ Himself already knew while He was on earth that He was not understood by His disciples, it is obvious that later on there arose during the transmission of His Word many errors to which, unfortunately, even today man tries to cling tenaciously!

Although Christ demanded only faith in His Word on account of the immaturity of that time, yet He requested from those who were of serious volition that their initial faith should also become “alive” within them!

That means that they would thereby become convinced!

For he who confidently followed His Word would again progress in his spiritual development, and would thus be bound gradually to advance from faith to conviction as to the truth of what Christ had said!

Therefore the Son of Man will now demand conviction instead of faith!

Also from all those who profess to carry Christ’s Message within themselves and pretend to follow it!

For he who has not been able to replace his faith with the conviction of the truth of Christ’s Divine Message, which is one with and inseparable from the Grail Message, has not attained the maturity of spirit necessary to enter Paradise.

Such a person will be cast out!

Even the greatest intellectual knowledge will not permit him to slip through!

He must naturally remain behind and be lost for evermore!

That in their stage of development mankind in this part of the Universe still stand on the threshold of the Spiritual Realm, the greater part even far below it, is merely caused by their personal lack of volition, their intellectual conceit and their belief that they know everything better than others!

As a result it is absolutely impossible for them to develop in the normal way, as has probably become clear to many persons in the meantime!

The various religious cults of mankind do not originate from phantasy, but indicate sections of life in the so-called beyond.

Even the existence of the medicine-man of a Negro or Red Indian tribe is justified in view of the low stage of development of his people!

That there are rogues and impostors among them does not discredit this fact as such!

Demons, wood-nymphs and sylphs, as also the so-called old gods, are today still in the same place and carry on the same activity as before!

Even the high fastnesses of the great Lords of the Elements, Olympus or Valhalla, were never fairy tales, but were really seen!

However, what mankind has never been able to see, having come to a standstill in their development, are the prime-spiritual Primordial images of God, who also have a lofty fastness which they call the Grail Castle, the highest castle in the Primordial Sphere, and thus in all Creation!

Standing as he did on the threshold of the Spiritual Sphere man could only receive knowledge of the existence of this Castle through inspiration, because he was not spiritually mature enough intuitively to “perceive” it!

All is life!

Only men, who consider themselves advanced, have turned aside and back again towards the depths, instead of progressing!

Now it must not be thought that in a further development the conception of God as taught by Christ and in my Grail Message would change again!

This will remain forever as it is, because there is nothing further!

When entering the Spiritual Realm, which mankind still fails to accomplish today, and achieving perfection therein, every human spirit can ascend to that point where in the end he gains absolute conviction of this fact in his inward experiences.

Then, standing consciously in the Power of God, he could bring about those great things for which he already had been ordained from the beginning!

He would then never again imagine he possessed Divinity within himself!

This delusion is nothing but the stamp and the seal of his present immaturity!

Having achieved a right consciousness he would then feel true humility and a liberating desire to serve, which had always been demanded by the pure teachings of Christ!

Only when missionaries, preachers and teachers begin their activities by using as their foundation the knowledge of the natural development of all Creation, and thus the exact knowledge about the Laws of the Divine Will, without being desultory or leaving any gaps, will they really be able to achieve successes that are spiritually alive!

Unfortunately every religion is now nothing but a rigid form, only holding together its dull doctrine with a great deal of trouble!

After the necessary change, however, the hitherto dull doctrine will become invigorated, burst asunder the cold, dead and rigid forms, and jubilantly and tumultuously flow forth over the entire world and among all peoples!

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