Sam Fisher

Rudolf Steiner: The Dragon and Beast of the Book of Revelation The Great dragon & the two-horned Beast Steiner identifies the great dragon as Sorath, the Sun-Demon and adversary of Christ, the Lamb. Michael, the countenance of the Sun-Genius, overcomes it and holds the opposing forces chained. The seven-headed, ten-horned beast This represents something different: those who reject the Christ-principle and fall back into their animal group-soul nature. The seducer appears only when such people exist to prey upon. The seducer’s method is the misuse of spiritual power in the service of the lower “I.” Steiner calls this black magic. Ordinary immorality does not require such a monster. What this means for the student today 1. Test your motives. If any insight or capacity you develop feeds your sense of being special, you are falling into the very pattern Steiner warns against. 2. Transform your instincts. Do not suppress them. The beast imagery represents unredeemed animal nature. The dragon only has leverage where that nature is left untransformed. 3. Watch for hardening. Steiner defines 666 as the principle leading to complete hardening in the physical. Be wary of cynicism, contempt, and the gradual closing of your heart. 4. Keep your thinking morally anchored. In Lecture XII, Steiner says the number of the beast is the number of a man, because corrupted intellect darkens the Christ-principle. Thought control and reverence are the countermeasures. 5. Guard your speech and breath. Steiner’s example of how a “horn” would form involves breathing through the larynx, which can serve either the Christ-principle or the old animal forces. This is not a reason for dread. Steiner frames these events within long-term cosmic evolution. In Lecture XII, he emphasizes that most people are nowhere near black magic and can still turn back.