Rudolf Steiner's Vision for the Future - Anthroposophical Society in ...

Consciousness-Soul) back as far as the Renaissance. Michael
contrasted a picture of Leonardo’s Last Supper with a Gothic
painting of the same theme from about a hundred years earlier.
One of the most obvious differences was the new use of
linear perspective to create the realistic spatial illusions in
Leonardo’s painting, representing a new identification by
people of their selves with their physical bodies in space and
with the materialist, scientific world view in general. At that
time it was expression in the visual arts that helped advance
this new bodily identification and step in the evolution of
consciousness.
Today a different side of our human nature is striving to
awaken, and postmodernism is one symptom of the search
for this. Alongside what scientific work can offer, the arts will
become even more important in developing the capacities
humanity needs for the future. In postmodernism art is no
longer a matter of expressing something but of becoming,
where the real work of art is myself. Thus, all areas of life need
to be art. Steiner says that the development of the new “Royal
Art” (which will be a social art) involves achieving control of
the etheric forces. We will need to bring living forces into the
affairs of social life. This will be the next stage in the great
work of transforming the earth itself into a work of art.
In his lecture “Preparing for the Sixth Epoch” (which will
begin to arise ca. 3,500 A.D.) Steiner speaks of three qualities
that must be developed for this age of Spirit Self: a soul life of
brotherliness, freedom of thought, knowledge of the spirit
(pneumatology). The development of Spirit Self involves
transforming our astral body, our still-unfree life of thinking,
feeling, and willing. Every day we have the opportunity to
work on becoming more free in our thinking, feeling, and
willing – or in our art with the qualities of color, form, etc.
Finally, Michael briefly discussed the future human qualities
that can be worked:
1. Perceiving the life forces as qualities (vs. quantities)
in the world.
2. Making the whole earth (including humanity) into
a work of art
3. Developing empathy, i.e., the capacity to enter into
the will of the other
4. Struggling to find the right relationship to every
one’s inner freedom.
5. Capacities to clairvoyantly perceive the spiritual
becoming more mainstream (as will spiritual
science as a result).
6. Learning to build community on a foundation of
free, diverse individuality (vs. on commonality).
In relation to the arts (“the language of the gods”),
Michael pointed out that they provide a schooling to become
very exact (beyond the level of personal likes and dislikes) in
perceiving the qualitative dimension (for example, qualities
of colors, forms, etc.). Although this perception occurs on
the soul or astral level, it is actually an experience of the
Faces 01, 06, 04, 03 – Face designs by Laura Summer and Nick
Pomeroy that were printed onto cloth name tags for the conference. Michael Howard, example of visual music
first issue 2011 • 27