THE VIRTUES COME FROM GOD. They are most noble gifts with which the Creator invested the human spirit. Hence the virtues are eternal and do not change. They belong to the abilities of the spirit which are the “talent” entrusted to it and with which it is to “make the most of”. That is to say, the spirit is to make use of its abilities so that they will bring blessing (interest).
But man was not immediately equipped with ready-made virtues; he himself must see to it that they awaken and blossom. For this purpose he again needs corresponding radiations from the Universe, which help him to do so.
The starting-points of these radiations are to be found in the highest heights of the Primordial Spiritual Realm. They are female and male ideal figures, prototypes for all humanity, each of whom personifies one virtue. They send their radiations to the parts of Creation that lie below them, where they are received by many mediators and passed on all the way down to Subsequent Creation, which is described as the World, and which consists of various kinds of matter. Our earth is also a part of this.
For every virtue, for all noble qualities, indeed for absolutely everything that moves a human being inwardly, if only it is pure, these “radiating helps” give stimulus, animation, and strengthening, whether they are, for example: faithfulness, truthfulness, grace, modesty, diligence, heroism, courage, skill, fulfillment of duty, wisdom, humility, or compassion.
The ancient peoples knew the mediators, who come last in the luminous chain of helpers from above, because they were still able to see them with their inner eyes. They called them “gods and goddesses,” because they appeared to them as mighty personalities, superior to themselves in strength and vigor.
The “gods and goddesses” are still there even today, although men have banished them to the realm of the unreal, the legendary. They are, of course, not “gods,” but servants of the Most High, personalities, who in noblest perfection, immortal, young and eternally beautiful, live at the summit of Olympus (Valhalla) that lies below the human Paradise. From thence they work in manifold ways downwards to the material Subsequent Creation, controlling and guiding the forces and elements active in Nature, and thereby having a connecting, driving, and forming influence.
These servants of the Most High, and with them many others besides, stand steadfast in the Laws of Creation, knowing only one task: fulfillment of the Will of God. That rules out the arbitrary actions imputed to them by men.
According to their language, the ancient peoples gave them different names. Thus the Zeus of the Greeks is identical with the Jupiter of the Romans and the Odin (Woden or Wotan) of the ancient Germanic peoples.
Gradually belief in the gods was lost, because the connection with them was disrupted through the ever more prominent materialistic intellectual thinking. The exalted figures faded, and in the course of time they were humanized and pushed aside by images produced by human fantasy.
The “pagan” belief in gods is really nothing other than an intermediate stage in the natural evolution of mankind to the highest stage of the recognition of God. In the struggle for religious recognition, the peoples of olden times had reached this stage, which corresponded to a genuine inner desire for higher development. It brought the highest recognition for the evolution of that time.
The often enforced abolition of this belief in gods, which occurred in the course of Christian conversions, was a great mistake, costing much bloodshed and suffering. Moreover, it gave proof of ignorance about the Divine Laws of Evolution. In the earthly school, which is nothing other than a coarse imitation of the great school of life, the intermediate grades are not suddenly offered the knowledge of the highest grades either, nor is the hitherto-acquired knowledge put aside as useless. For one step must be built on another, not a single one can be missed; otherwise empty faith without inner conviction will result.
Among the various myths and legends that have been handed down, it is not easy to discover the essence of the true working of the gods in Creation, especially in regard to the human spirit, because the many human additions, amplifications, and embellishments hardly allow the essential factor to be discerned.
Hence the following portrayals of some of the gods and goddesses are to be regarded only as approximate accounts.
Thus for example in Zeus (Jupiter), the father of the gods and ruler of the world, we find the ideal image of the kingly ruler, awe-inspiring and majestic, severe and just in the conduct of his high office. In him was seen the personification of the principle of unchangeable order and harmony. The wisdom of his counsel and the depth of his knowledge were held in special esteem.
In Hera (Juno), the female counterpart of Zeus, we recognize the ideal of faithfulness. The high nobility of exalted womanhood finds expression in her. To the female sex in particular she is a faithful and motherly protector. She was revered as the guardian of marriage and protector of women in childbirth, who instilled respect for motherhood in human beings.
Pallas Athene (Minerva) is portrayed as a valiant goddess, with helmet, shield and spear. Her working is unflinching and unshakable, distinguished by sharp-eyed vigilance, reliability, and conscientiousness. She defends, protects, and sustains the motherland, and as “goddess of war” she accompanies the army when it has to set out to defend the motherland.
Apollon (Apollo) is the victorious fighter against all that is impure and evil, against the powers of Darkness; the gift of prophecy is one of his characteristics. For their spiritual upward striving he is said to counsel men with: “Give thyself up.”
In her chaste dignity, Artemis (Diana) shines as an example of purity and propriety. She takes part in enchanting dances with her nymphs in flowery meadows. Young girls especially revered her.
Ares (Mars) mediates strength, courage and the joy of battle. The planet “Mars,” which is in his care, also has a stimulating and inspiring influence, corresponding to its similar nature. Through its radiating forces – as well as through the radiations of the other planets – metals, plants, and stones were formed on earth.
Aphrodite (Astarte, Venus) is the goddess of beauty and fertility. She was sacred to all peoples, who strove for the purity of woman. They also called her goddess of the moon, because its light resembled the light of her sphere. Her radiations dispense grace and loveliness. The myrtle as the symbol of pure love is dedicated to her. Also Venus, her planet, swings in purity and beauty. In its radiations, colors and tones of wondrous beauty are formed in the Sphere of Matter.
Hermes (Mercury), the swift messenger of the gods, delivers the commands and instructions of Zeus. He escorts, protects, and negotiates. The skill with which he carries out his instructions and his humility in serving are examples of true virtues. In his physical and spiritual skill he was portrayed as a living example to the youth of Greece.
Hestia (Vesta) was honored as tutelary goddess of home and family. The hearth fire is her symbol. The nature of this goddess is also pure and clear as the flame. Colonists, who left their native land to found a new settlement, took with them fire from the altar of Vesta, on which burned an everlasting fire, as a symbol of the spiritual link between their homeland and the new colony. In accordance with the pure nature of this goddess, only chaste virgins were allowed to serve in her temple.
What people thought about the gods more than two thousand years ago, thus at a time when belief in them had not yet died out, is worthy of notice.
Cicero (106-43 B.C.), one of the most important orators and writers of ancient Rome, left behind an almost completely preserved work: On the Nature of the Gods (Oxford World’s Classics), in which representatives of Greek schools of philosophy speak about the gods in the form of a dialogue. A few sentences are given here:
“. . . there are also other philosophers, important and famous ones at that, who hold it true that the entire world is kept in order and ruled by divine insight and reason. At the same time – so they believe – the gods also look after the life of men in a counseling and helping way. In their opinion fruits and other products of the soil, changes in the weather, the seasons and the firmament, through which everything the earth produces is made to grow and ripen, are gifts of the immortal gods for mankind. –
“. . . Since this belief in gods has not arisen through teaching, old custom or law, and since the universal agreement of all is firmly established, there must also necessarily be the firm conviction that there are gods, because we have an implanted, or rather inborn, conception of them. Everything that harmonizes with the natural ability of all men will of course also be true. Hence the existence of the gods must be admitted. As this point is almost invariably given unlimited recognition, not only by all philosophers but also by the uneducated, we must certainly admit that there is in us the pre-comprehension of the gods, as I have called it before; or should I call it pre-knowledge?" –
Thus the often reviled and denied “gods and goddesses” are actually men’s best helpers. Their radiations also awaken, further, and strengthen the virtues, which man urgently needs in order again to be worthy of true humanity. –
Above all virtues is the virtue of Divine Purity, which manifests in the human spiritual as true faithfulness. Only in Its ray can the other virtues unfold.
Cultivation of the female virtues, in the first place faithfulness, is the best protection for woman against becoming masculine, as likewise in man the cultivation of male virtues prevents a sliding down into the weakly and effeminate.
Schiller quite rightly said: “And virtue, it is no empty sound; man can practice it in life.” This means that he must acquire it through continuous striving for what is beautiful, noble, and pure. Then he himself, in his human nature, is able to become an ideal figure.
What virtues man will choose is left entirely to him. Whether they be the general virtues that apply equally to womanhood and manhood, as for example humility, modesty and compassion, or the particular virtues of either sex, such as grace, or respectively courage, heroism and adroitness, among others.
Just as with a noble stringed instrument it is left to the player which notes to strike, so the spirit of man is able at any time to call forth special vibrations, which borne by true longing, move out into the Universe. There they make contact with a similar vibration, which works in a strengthening and stimulating, invigorating, and gladdening way, and gradually, according to the prototype of the heavenly virtues, allows the same human prototype to arise on earth.
So should it be, if man had kept to the path of virtue. But this path has become a lonely one. Man makes a “virtue of necessity,” which means that he makes the best on an unpleasant circumstance, rather than occupying himself with the virtues as such.
And yet with this word a far-off chord should touch the soul, if it still carries within it a spark of longing. A chord that breaks through dark veils, giving way to luminous rays, refreshing invigorating rays from eternal, inexhaustible springs that will once again endow man with the impetus for what is ideal and pure, noble and beautiful. |
