Riddle of America, The - Waldorf Research Institute

A consideration of the interrelationship of Goethe’s fairy tale,Steiner’s Mystery Dramas, and Baum’s The Wizard of Oz can perhaps putthis ideal of a Goetheanum in the West into a proper perspective. Steiner’sown research into the origin of Goethe’s fairy tale revealed that Goethe’sinspiration derived from his reading of the Chymical Wedding of ChristianRosencreutz and that Goethe’s discussions with Schiller were only the efficientcause for writing the fairy tale. Steiner’s own characterization of“The Portal of Initiation” suggests a similar inspiration, since he says thatthis Rosicrucian mystery drama came through him, not that it was writtenby him. John Algeo’s attempt to view The Wizard of Oz as a theosophical allegory,as discussed above, came about because of his desire to emphasizethe fact that L. Frank Baum was a member of the Theosophical Society andthat his inspiration came from that quarter. If Steiner’s indication aboutthe Rosicrucian influence at the time of the founding of the TheosophicalSociety is connected with Baum’s study of Isis Unveiled before composinghis fairy tale, then perhaps a source of inspiration similar to those of Goetheand Steiner could be discovered for The Wizard of Oz. Goethe’s fairy tale,as illumined by Prokofiev’s research, especially relates to the Russian folksoul and the East. Steiner’s Mystery Dramas lead to the building of the firstGoetheanum in the center of Europe and point to the activity of the centralEuropean archai. Baum’s The Wizard of Oz relates to Columbia, the Americanfolk soul, and the West. All three may be viewed as transmutations of theChymical Wedding, but in accord with a different folk or people. The idealof building a mystery temple is achieved for Central Europe, but it loomsas the ideal of the city of brotherly love hovering over the East until its fulfillmentin the sixth cultural age. On the American continent, the ideal of aGoetheanum in the West would seem to await the return of the Europeanarchai and the resumption of its activity on these shores.Before trying to emulate the last stage of a process (i.e., buildinga Goetheanum), it might be helpful to consider more closely the first stepthat needs to be taken. It is said (and most American Anthroposophists arefamiliar with this idea) that Rudolf Steiner suggested that if he had beenborn in the English-speaking world, rather than the German-speaking one,that he would have chosen Emerson’s essays to build upon rather thanthe works of Goethe. If the source of inspiration for both German idealismand American transcendentalism is kept in mind, then this remark can betaken to refer to the preeminent representative of each cultural movementas the appropriate starting point for a genuine beginning of the process.Anthroposophists in America can do more than help talented and creative340