Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

Beyond these two stages he saw the appearance of a third stage arisingfrom the two previous ones. It was the beginning of anative expression–spirit, getting into form, adult and through mentality,for these States, self-contained, different from others, moreexpansive, more rich and free to be evidenced by original authors andpoets to come, by America’s personalities, plenty of them, male andfemale, traversing the states, none excepted–and by native superbertableaux and growth of language, songs, operas, orations, lectures,architecture—and by sublime and serious Religious Democracysternly taking command. 6With these words, Walt Whitman described the appearance of athird stage in the American democracy that contributes to the protection ofthe rights of man and the material welfare of all men. It should completethe growth of the American people in their democracy and their culturallife. He calls the third stage a “native expression-spirit” with inspiration ofthe growth of “language, songs, operas, orations, lectures, architecture andreligion.” It is difficult for our modern consciousness to acknowledge thereality of a cultural source beyond our observations in the natural world.Can a spiritual being exist, amongst the millions of people living on the samepiece of land, that can inspire those people to form a special contribution toall of mankind? If so, how can one learn to understand it?Rudolf Steiner gave tremendous insight into the being of man and hisevolution through Anthroposophical spiritual science. In a series of lecturesgiven in Oslo from June 7 to June 17, 1910, he used this insight to build theconcept of a Folk-Spirit that works into the individual’s inner life throughlanguage, thought, and temperament. It can also inspire the cultural lifeof a people. Whitman approaches such realities with the following words:Subtly interwoven with the materiality and personality of a land, arace—there is something—I can hardly tell what it is—history butdescribes the results of it—it is the same as the untellable look ofsome human faces. Nature too, in her solid forms, is full of it–butto most it is there a secret. This something is rooted in the invisiblewords, the profoundest meanings of that place, race or nationalityand to absorb it and again effuse it, uttering words and products asfrom its midst, and carrying it into highest regions, is the work ofa country’s true author, poet, historian, lecturer and perhaps evenpriest or philosopher. 7310