Rudolf Steiner in 1922: A Year of Cosmic Destiny

A TALK BY KARL FREDRICKSON

Sponsored by The Berkshire-Taconic Branch of the Anthroposophical Society

“It is our great task this day to observe how in the world around us it is New Year’s Eve — all is passing and disappearing and dying away; but how in the hearts of human beings who are conscious of their real humanity, of their divine humanity, there must be the mood of New Year, the mood of the beginning of a new era, of the uprising of new life.” ~ Rudolf Steiner’s Final Words in the Goetheanum, December 31, 1922

It has been a century since the First Goetheanum was lost to the world, causing us to reflect on the direction Anthroposophy has taken in the century since then. But what happened in the year leading up to that New Year’s Eve of 1922? And how does it give guidance for the direction the Anthroposophical Movement might take in the century to come?

It is hoped that a consideration of the events that unfolded throughout the year 1922 can help provide us with a deepened understanding of the significance of what arose out of the flames of the First Goetheanum to incarnate as the Christmas Foundation one year later—and how this continues to work in us today.

Karl Fredrickson taught history at the Green Meadow Waldorf High School for 35 years, and now writes and speaks on history and Anthroposophical themes.