Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

Salamander” may be taken as a general warning tale for American humanityto cultivate purity of soul and the spiritual willpowers of love and sacrifice inorder to avoid becoming too bound up with the Ahrimanic earth forces andsubearthly fire processes that rise up so strongly from beneath this continent.As Steiner once admonished us, “Whatever is acquired from the subnaturalmust be sacrificed to the supersensible.” 16Endnotes1. A particularly promising alternative interpretation is suggested by RudolfSteiner’s fifth lecture in The Temple Legend (London: Rudolf SteinerPress, 1985), pp. 49-59, given November 4, 1904. There Steiner relates the“Temple Legend” of Hiram and Solomon originally told by ChristianRosenkreutz at the beginning of the fifteenth century and passed downparticularly in Masonic circles. Steiner draws attention to the “Cain”stream of humanity who knows how to handle and understand fire andits related technologies (as Hugo and his men understood the workngof iron in the forge). In addition to the “mysteries of fire,” this streamalso represents “the masterful wisdom which is achieved through theovercoming of earthly passions and desires,” in contrast to the “Abel”stream, “the detached piety which does not concern itself with worldlyconquest” (p. 58). Similarly to the ”Ramapo Salamander,” this legendincludes images of a golden triangle and a combination of mastery overfire and water, which are explained by Steiner. Hiram is enabled to perfectthe casting of the “Molten Sea” (or “Brazen Sea”) by learning spiritually“the mysteries of fire” so that he is able properly to unite water and fire,which refers to uniting “the water of calm wisdom” with “the fire ofthe astral world, wth the fire of passion and desire” (p. 58). The GoldenTriangle, which represents the development of the three higher humanmembers of Spirit Self, Life Spirit, and Spirit Man (or Atma, Buddhi,and Manas), stands for the future, sixth epoch achievement of humanity.It is not clear why this image of the triangle would be associated withfreeing the evil fire spirits in the ”Salamander” tale, unless perhaps theoriginal intention of the tale was to indicate how the achievement ofsuch higher powers of knowing (which neither Amasis nor Hugo carryout) allows one to freely converse with the fiery astral world and itsspirits. An alternative translation of this lecture as well as a wealth ofother material on Rosicrucianism with interpretations by Steiner may be18