Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

at a definite time. When the opportunity for incarnation occurs, whena people can be found in the full vigour of youth, in the creativeperiod of life, then the Archangel incarnates in that people just asman incarnates after passing through the period between death andrebirth. Equally, the Archangel senses its impending death, feels theneed to withdraw from the people in question when he perceives theindividual centers beginning to be less productive, less active and tolose their inner vitality. Then comes the time when he withdraws fromthe particular national community, enters into his Devachan, the lifebetween death and rebirth, in order on a later occasion to seek outanother community. Thus, the springtime of a people, the youthfulvigour and vitality testifies to the youth of the Folk Spirit, which heexperiences as a living vitalizing force within him. He experiencesthe decline of the life of a people as the withering of the centers inhis inner field of perception. 5Further details about the activities of such beings are given by Steiner:We must think of (the Archangel) as a higher Being, two stageshigher than man in evolution, hovering over the whole people, issuingdirectives concerning what this people as a whole has to fulfill.The Archangel knows what steps must be undertaken during thecreative period of a people when the youthful vigour and vitalityare the strongest. He knows what aims must be pursued by a peopleduring the period of transition from youth to age in order that hisdirectives may function in the right way. 6The principle of a divine guidance in human affairs is stated herewith unmistakable clarity. Yet the application of it to specific historical casesis not simple. One gains the impression from reading Steiner that the formingof a people under a folk soul in the normal way has much—but perhaps noteverything—to do with the formation of a separate language. Since no newlanguage has evolved in the settlement of the New World by Europeans, itis not clear that a “normal” folk soul has associated itself with this country.As if to support this, Steiner says, rather cryptically:A study of the character of the North American people shows apeople who, for the time being, are under an abnormal Spirit ofPersonality (Archai). 795