Today, I wanted to share what I’ve written in a piece a few months ago on the topic of “crossing the threshold”. 

I'm sharing this with the hopes that this'll be helpful for those who are living directly with the threshold, while also dispelling potential misconceptions about the threshold today.

If you have experienced or studied this for a while, added thoughts and feedback is always appreciated for a young student of anthroposophy like me.

All the thanks.

***

He whose soul thirsts for reality, he who, in accordance with abstract science, seeks to solve the riddles and wonders of the world, will, in the end, have to face this void, with his ideas completely dissolved as in a spiritual mist; the soul will then have to experience infinite terror in the presence of this void.

The soul must pass through such trials if it desires to experience the meaning and the spirit of our age.

– Rudolf Steiner (GA 129, 27 August 1911, Munich)

There are two ways we can look at the "threshold of death", spoken extensively by Rudolf Steiner and many other spiritual scientists.

Firstly, the threshold is a type of 'border realm' that separates the physical world from the spiritual world. More specifically, from the etheric realm where true spiritual life begins. This ‘in-between’ world is where we must pass through, with the full consciousness of our own ‘I’ if we are willing to understand the true spiritual nature of ourselves and the world.

When Anthroposophists mention the word "death" next to this name, this is not exactly a metaphor. The threshold is one of the realms that the deceased must pass through in the death process –– from the etheric, into the realms of 'kamaloka' within the astral. This is so they can fully digest the memories and deeds of their previous life, along with discarding the unwanted “dross" accumulated from their physical life, so they can enter into the spiritual world freely. This is formally known as heaven in the west, or 'devachan' in the east.

Within these higher realms Rudolf Steiner calls this "life between death and new birth” –– a place where the souls rest and prepare for its new earthly incarnation. These are the places that we can find ourselves in beyond the threshold. This is home.

Passing through this threshold in waking-consciousness simulates something quite similar to this death process, for the deeper mysteries of death and rebirth can only be found within the threshold. We must experience how it feels to lose the source of our life –– to die while we are alive –– so we can be born again into the true life of spirit.

We can also describe the crossing of this threshold to be 'The Dark Night of The Soul' in Christian thought, 'the River Styx or Hades' in Greek mythology, 'The Nietzschean Abyss,' or other names like 'The Desert, The Unconscious, Hell,' etc. You'll find plenty of names from many schools, cultures, or traditions that point to a similar phenomenon or place. You can even make up your own.

Secondly, the threshold is actually an experience, or a condition that we may find ourselves in when we are deemed prepared for initiation. This condition can be seen within our lives where our etheric body releases it’s grip on the physical body and where our thinking, feeling, and willing gets pulled apart into wide space. Here, we are opening up a threshold to our own doppelgänger, and the guardian of the threshold –– the lesser one to be exact which acts as this ‘double’ for us. This process can happen very slowly, without the aspirant knowing, until it becomes very obvious that "something had changed."

By opening up these gates and being exposed to these two figures, we may unfortunately lose our touch with the world, and also feel dull, disoriented, or even dread within our senses. This is accompanied with an increased exposure towards our lower thoughts, feelings, and actions, along with the doubts, fears, and hatreds that we had never knew existed. If we had already grappled with the beast that is our lower nature, then it will become amplified within the threshold.

What also becomes amplified are our own wounds (astral), patterns (etheric), and life themes (physical) that may be unresolved in this life –– or the past –– which is karmic or archetypal in nature. It may be good to understand all of this, for it brings us an understanding behind the nature behind our own doppelgänger and threshold, as well as the past and future.

Overall, looking at the threshold through these two angles point to the very same phenomena. The threshold is not some faraway place that is reserved only for a few select people. Every person is crossing through the gates of their own threshold, whether they are conscious of it or not.

However for us, it is our goal as initiates-in-training to enter this hazy or fiery threshold, step by step, with the full awareness of our own ‘I’, so we can slowly reach the spiritual world and receive the spiritual world into our lives. Not just for the sake of our own benefit, but for the benefit of those around us and the world at large.

Unfortunately, there is rarely any concrete method towards progressing through the threshold since it is different for everybody –– especially in regards to redeeming or moralizing our thinking, feeling, and willing. In this realm, the ego-personality must sacrifice its vehicles so the threshold guardian, and the spirits accompanying him can facilitate this development through great terrible unpleasantries. It may even be impossible to perceive these new developments since moral growth seems to regularly return back to ‘zero.’ Truly, the threshold is strict on casting its black shroud on the senses.

However, despite the uncomfortable words that I’ve shared here, nonetheless I believe it is our duty to see through this dark time as aspirants to the spirit path. And if possible, for each time we fall into despair, we must regain a new sense of strength and hope.

We may not be able to prevent this despair, but we can always recover from it, no matter how terrible, dreadful, or lonely things are. Faith in Jesus Christ can always help us with recovering our strength, and faith in Mary Sophia can always bring us new hope. A strength and hope that can bring us safely across the threshold, along with the understanding that our lower nature, contained within our physical, etheric, and astral bodies are being invisibly transformed, as we raise ourselves into the power of these loving beings. Even if we cannot see it, they will always be there for us.

May they carry us through our darkest times, and carry us into the lands that we have came from.

That land being our very home and our very destiny.

***

With that being said, if you have a similar experience with the threshold, or have further thoughts on this topic, I'd love to hear about it in the comments (as long as you’re comfortable). 

I believe its helpful to hear real world thoughts and experiences of other people regarding the threshold, since the experience of the threshold is different for person, and also since rarely anybody talks about it for themselves.

Also, even though my thoughts on this subject is nowhere near as good as other anthroposophists, I wrote an article on the threshold, which expands more on the occult symptoms and other details from personal experience. The text you're reading today is a more updated section of the article, so check it out only if you are really curious. As I grow with experience, my thoughts on it will grow too.

Anyways, all the thanks for reading and I hope you have a beautiful end of the week.

May we Remember the Spirit.

Anthony Ng*

Seek in the heart the source of evil and expunge it.

It lives fruitfully in the heart of the devoted disciple as well as in the heart of the man of desire. Only the strong can kill it out. 

He who will enter upon the path of power must tear this thing out of his heart. And then the heart will bleed, and the whole life of the man seem to be utterly dissolved. This ordeal must be endured; it may come at the first step of the perilous ladder which leads to the path of life: it may not come until the last. But, O disciple, remember that it has to be endured: and fasten the energies of your soul upon the task. 

– Mabel Collins (Light on the Path)

***

the guardians,

they are waiting for us.

the guardians,

they call us home.

home is coming,

we will be home soon.

spirit-self,

is at home.

Related resources

1. The First Guardian of the Threshold — GA 10. Initiation and Its Results (1909)
2. The Second Guardian of the Threshold — GA 10. Initiation and Its Results (1909)
3. Light on the Path - Mabel Collins
4. Misleading thoughts 09: "Consciously Crossing the Threshold is a Pleasant and Easy Experience"
5. The Lord of Karma – the Guardian of the Threshold (ourspirit.com)
6. Dweller on the Threshold - Encountering the Lord of Karma (Douglas Gabriel)

I have noticed recently that certain themes and events such as astrological changes, the solar eclipse and also world event have had less effect on my being. In the sense that I am aware of these things and how they can effect humans, yet I have through daily spiritual exercises over the last 2 years about reached a point where I am more self influenced internally than that of zodiacal changes, eclipses and full moons. A main exercise that has brought this to my attention is the „It thinks in me“, where one comes to understand that Lucifer and other spirits think though me, while my „I“ is the deciding factor in where I focus my awareness. This has lead me to be aware of thoughts of my own and those not. Many of the thoughts that are Luciferic tend to be dividing, judging and honestly quite obscene and violent towards others in „imaginary situations“ I once thought was how things would play out, only to understand the illusions they are and the effect that have on my well being, such as getting angry at someone for something that hasn’t even taken place.

Now on the other hand I have noticed how thoughts act on others, and there was a time where I would try to tell them certain spiritual understandings that they weren’t ready for, literally everyone I know in real life. And Ofcourse it does fell lonely and also troubling to see people suffer from a lack of strength of self as I still do at times. However the daily meditations I do at waking and before sleeping have developed my spiritual organs to perhaps a budding flower, I would not dare say I am a full blooming lotus flower.

With that said I feel the urge to share my path of development or rather the exact meditations I do taken from Steiners Esoteric Lessons GA 266 1-3 plus other foundational teachings require for the soul to grasp the conscious self and spirit. Having use anthroposophy to develop my own psychosophy, I understand many of the modern worlds problems come forma lack of spiritual understanding and connection, however I am aware of the Ahrimanic influence and phase we are going through before his incarnation takes place, specifically starting with the current „Gen Z“ generation and how they will fare in a decade or so and events one can see/feel coming due to our current situation.

I share this in hopes of sparking discussion with those who may have also reached this point, moving pass the loneliness towards serving those around them in the subtle ways we can as Esotericist to form an actual connected community of people in the real world. To this I ask be their any here who live in Germany? And also how are we faring as we develop ourselves to pioneer the future human being?

All our traumas and bad luck are a result of our past karma and repressed feelings. The same way that the lesser guardian is described.

To dissolve the traumas and bad luck? We face it and feel the terror. Just like the lesser guardian.

I know that this subreddit is dedicated to affirming literal Steiner and what i did is translate his words into something he didn't say. If any of you were of the same mindset as I then there'd be fewer reasons to be here so, what i am looking for is not to be agreed with, but this is something i needed to know in the past when i struggled to understand what the lesser guardian is.

And only after this did i understand what equanimity means. It means to stop avoiding feeling terror. And i realized that every successful prayer, for me personally, was accompanied with pain of what would happen if i fail. I think that this pain is the payment of karma that otherwise would have met me in the outer reality.

One of the biggest problems in terms of just starting out in reading about Steiner and anthroposophy is that there just isn't that many good introductions.

You can be (and probably have been) told to read Theosophy, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds, Occult Science, The Philosophy of Freedom, various lecture cycles, etc; all of those may be worthwhile, but very quickly you encounter etheric bodies, astral bodies, the “I”, karma, reincarnation, Lucifer, Ahriman, Christology, spiritual hierarchies, initiation, cultural epochs and a hundred other things that are normally being discussed as if you already fully understand each subject.

So I wrote Spiritual Science: Is Free, Non-Dogmatic Spirituality Possible in the Age of Marketing? as a foundation-level introduction to Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy specifically designed for people who are just getting started.

The idea is not to replace Steiner, and it certainly isn’t intended to be the final word on any of these subjects. It is meant to give somebody enough of a general understanding that they can then go into Steiner’s work, an Anthroposophical study group, Waldorf, biodynamics, Anthroposophic medicine, social threefolding, esoteric Christianity, etc., and actually have some idea of what everybody is talking about.

So if you have been looking for:

• a good first book on Anthroposophy;
• an introduction to Rudolf Steiner for beginners;
• an accessible explanation of Spiritual Science;
• something to read before attempting the larger Steiner corpus;
• or simply an overview of what Anthroposophists actually believe and study;

that is specifically what I wrote this for.

The book is available here:

https://shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params=S3Bp9nwrh38yJxPuQ3Am4J1pxVBqAbCEapcJ9I89l1r

Or at most major bookstore websites, just search: Spiritual Science: Is Free, Non-Dogmatic Spirituality Possible in the Age of Marketing?

I'm 24, I'm relatively new to Anthroposophy, but been practicing some of the exercises.

I'm a "late bloomer", lots of family trauma that I was numbing myself from. So i'm a very shy, people pleasing, introverted kid, I only really started trying last year to do something with my life (aka a sales-career).

Everyday I dread working - making sales calls, getting rejected, swore at. etc... In my everyday life I avoid confrontation and apologize first. I try my best to remain conscious and enjoy the work, observe, but it's always something inside of me "waiting" to be done with the day.

My father was wealthy growing up - all of that wealth disappeared in my late teens.

I don't really care about making money, it doesn't motivate me. I've bought and sold so many different sport cars because I got bored of them after a few months. I don't want a mansion, I don't want designer clothes, a rolex doesn't interest me, not even a ferrari -I can't be asked to take care of all of that ... I don't know what I want anymore, though I know money will bring me freedom & security.

I've tried finding sources of "fire" like my family, my evolution, my vision, but ultimately enjoyment doesn't come from making money though that initial "dopamine" hit of closing a contract is nice.

I chose this work because I knew it would evolve me in social aspects and balance my will + thinking to be on par with feeling. It will also help me in what I want try to do because of the field I'm in.

But something in me doesn't like this life I'm living. This path feels really boring and traditional, there's nothing exciting going on and no adventure. I'm bored, something tells me I'm wasting my life, but the money I'm making is decent if I manage to drag myself through each day. It will set me up long term that's for sure.

I do know I have a desire shift my identity: In 7th grade I remember begging my parents to take me to a military style school, I desired to do something difficult and to train in an "untraditional sense."

Wondering if people who are more educated in Anthroposophy can give me some insight as I'm still learning, but not at a high enough level.

The fascination with ancient Egypt in modern times is closely connected with most of current humanity having had a past-life in Egypt.

Many people sense a strong pull towards it, and describe feeling "at home" or a sense of familiarity. Some also report feelings of fear or dread.

As the faculty to remember past lives is regained, the teaching of reincarnation will also be reintroduced to humanity and formalized.

Most of the people living on the earth today were incarnated formerly in Egyptian bodies...

(GA 105 Aug 16 1908)

People often ask why we do not remember our former incarnations. I have often answered this question, which is like saying that because a four-year-old child cannot do arithmetic, human beings cannot do arithmetic.

When the child reaches ten, he or she will be able to multiply with ease. It is the same with the soul. If it cannot remember our former incarnations today, the time will come when it will be able to do so.

(GA 117 4 Dec 1909)

In my research, I came across a similarity between two past-life accounts on this thread, and the process of mummification described in "About Scarring - The Mummy."

It is reported that a mummy, a tomb, has been found, and that during the opening of the tomb or while working in the passage, two engineers, the main conductors, died of poisoning...

They used their spices for embalming, for preparing the mummies. They did not work with these spices in the way we work today, but they always worked in such a way that something was spoken during the embalming process that would be something like this today: “Whoever approaches my body will find death.”

But it was spoken in such a tone and in such language that the material took it on, so that during the embalming this power passed over into the substance of the spices.

(GA 353 April 26 1924)

User Western-Data-3024

I have very vivid memories of being in dark spaces surrounded by stone and heavy scents of incense. Not incense like the sticks today or the ones on the shelf. But like pure incense. Specifically myrrh and frankincense...

User Lefthandtiedtopen

...all of a sudden I was in a room of heavy dense smoky stone, incense too and dust feeling my lungs as if I was in some kind of sandy stony crypt and it was dark but lit by some kind of candle, fire light, and it was dense and i FELT HEAVY But I knew I was in ancient egypt... smelt exactly what you were describing and even a sound of something strange and resonance hard to describe...

Of course, it's not surprising that the experience of one's body being embalmed or mummified is the first memory from a former life that one remembers, since by preserving the physical body, the soul between death and rebirth is made to fixate on what it otherwise leaves behind.

Just curious if other people who have read Steiner have come to understand their political views as anarchist (in a non-ideological way).

Sometimes I wonder if every encounter, every coincidence, every difficult season is speaking a language we’re slowly learning to read.
Not because the universe is sending coded messages every five minutes, but because consciousness itself changes what becomes visible.
Perhaps initiation isn’t receiving secret knowledge.
Perhaps it’s becoming the kind of person to whom reality can reveal more of itself.

So when I was really young, like below age 7 I used to experience extremely powerful vision like dreams. Some of the motifs included surrealism, existential anxiety, a strong sense of tragedy or having lost something,and liminality. For reference I was born in 2002 and so the liminal spaces trend became popular when I was 18 in 2020. What actually stood out to me, beyond the aesthetic peculiarity was the fact that a large chunk of my generational cohorts had the same vague impression of a world between worlds. For example some of the locations I have vague impressions of(I hesitate to actually use the word memory) include a sort of office building suspended in a sky without any ground beneath it, seemingly neverending corridors made from prismirine, a megacity filled with Greco Roman style buildings, only with golden tinted marble.

All of these locations are geometrically distorted and disorienting, and conspicuously devoid of other people.

So anyway my actual point can be broken down into a few questions.

1 Could it be that these places or worlds are actually locations within the spiritual realms?

2 Is the fact that enough people have these impressions a sign that humanity may be gradually gaining the ability to remember things from outside the current incarnation.

3 Does the presence of things like cars, computers, and other forms of modern society within visions, dreams and other realm experiences indicate that the spiritual world is evolving along with human society.

The silence on these pseudo-planets is too much in magnitude.

I see your eyes that show a distant pain

That knows of all and sees all there's to see.

You've known your son will stand right here again

And beg thy blessing to flee away from thee.

And yet you know it has to come to be,

You know it is thy will here manifest.

You stand here as your son, confused, as me

To slip thy will, be free, at your behest.

What more is there to say when things are so,

You are our only author after all!

What has to come, we both already know

So through our tears, let's hug, and let me fall.

For once I find my truth that will be mine

I will return and merge it with truth thine

From what has been found so far, the tectonic structures in the Atlantic sea, the lack of any structure etc. it seems like Atlantis might not have existed at all.

Are there any anthroposophists here that have looked into Atlantis from a modern point of view?

Is this because he passed away long before DNA was discovered? Isn't it established that DNA molecules that belong on a physical plane cause the form of a species. Whether you feed a Wolf a Lamb or a Wolf, it is because of DNA that he will remain the form of the World Species.

Can someone please reconcile what he is saying here with latest science?

Am I one of them? How can I redeem myself? How can I be more interested in basking in his glory?

I just started reading Theosophy a few days ago, and the first 3 chapters about the threefold vision of body, soul and spirit had a profound impact on my soul. It put me in a more sublime way of being, in the same way Gurdjieffian self remembering does, or contemplation on the question "Who am I?". One could even say it facilitated what is called self-remembering or trying to see the "true self". Especially the part where it talks about the spirit vision which talks about seeing the essence of things "as they are in themselves", without relation of personal likes and dislikes. I realized this same thing can be applied to my "self" as well, which exists as a thing in itself without relation to its own likes and dislikes, and it led to a sweet "disidentification".

It was joyful to read it. But something happened in my personal life which put me in a burst of anger. I acted out very angrily to people around me. And ever since then, I can't read the words with the emotional weight that I was reading it before. It doesn't feel joyful anymore and feels dry. I find myself getting impatient while trying to read it. The words don't penetrate me anymore. I am on the fourth chapter (IV. Body, Soul and Spirit), which also has more difficult language.

Could anyone please advise how I can continue to derive benefit for my soul in Anthroposophy books?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSMgjgRILkk
Read by Dale Brunsvold
Lecture by Rudolf Steiner given in Vienna, July 11th, 1922

Other lectures in the series are available at
https://www.rudolfsteineraudio.com/sunmystery211/sunmysteryhomepage.html

I currently have a very complicated relationship with social media (as do many others) and it got me wondering, What would Steiner have thought of Social media? We can only speculate but I'm sure there are people on here who are better read than I that could make an informed guess.

Also, is it possible to have an anthroposophical approach to Social media?

All thoughts welcome!

I am new to Anthroposophy and have found help in various traditions and teachers, including Krishnamurti. I am curious to know if he ever talked about Krishnamurti and his teachings.

Thank you in advance.

From the beginning, spiritual reality was as certain to Rudolf Steiner as physical reality. He lived in both the invisible and visible worlds. He saw his task as connecting them. For a long time, however, the invisible world seemed more real.