The Rudolf Steiner Archive

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Michaelmas
Conquering the Ahrimanic Forces of Darkness

Michael & His Army Battling the Legions of Ahriman

September 17, 2023

This time of year, we recognize the power of the spirit known as Michael and his victory over the forces that would drag us down. The Michaelmas Festival coincides with the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, September 23, 2023. We invite you to explore Rudolf Steiner’s teachings on the battle of Michael and the Dragon, Michaelmas, and the importance of the seasons in our soul development.

In this article, we highlight Steiner's teachings on how:
  • There arose a revolt of divine spirits seeking free will prematurely before men came into human form. Ahriman, the Dragon, was their leader.
  • Michael banished the super-sensible Dragon to the earthly realm where he did not belong.
  • The battle with the Dragon moved from the outer cosmos into human nature.
  • The Dragon and leagues of Ahrimanic beings repeatedly attack Michael and his army but are always defeated.
  • Both human freedom and our increased materialism resulted from these uprisings.
  • With the Dragon now entrenched in human nature, mankind must fight those inner forces that would hinder our spiritual development. We do this through our will and heartfelt thinking. In this way, we align ourselves with the forces of Michael.
  • While Easter commemorates the death and resurrection of Christ, Michaelmas represents the reverse: the resurrection of the human soul and physical death, like waking up from summer's dreamy slumber and the withering of autumn foliage.

Through our efforts to resurrect our souls, we no longer remain chained to the material realm like Ahriman but can be confident in our death that we will continue to evolve spiritually as intended.

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Recent Additions

Date Added Volume Document Title Document Date
15 Sep GA 260. Foundation Stone Meditation & Rythms (Katz) 26 Dec 1923
06 Sep GA 289. The Ideas Behind the Building of the Goetheanum I 28 Dec 1921
06 Sep GA 289. The Ideas Behind the Building of the Goetheanum II 30 Dec 1921
23 Aug GA 203. Apollonius of Tyana 28 Mar 1921
23 Aug GA 208. Outer and Inner Life 21 Oct 1921
23 Aug GA 208. The World of the Senses, the World of Thought, and Their Beings 22 Oct 1921
23 Aug GA 277. St. John's Tide 24 Jun 1923
23 Aug GA 225. The World of Dreams as a Bridge between the Physical World and the World of Moral Ideas 22 Sep 1923
19 Aug GA 260. Foundation Stone Meditation (Riedel) 26 Dec 1923
12 Aug GA 40. The Calendar of the Soul (Mellett)
11 Aug GA 40. The Calendar of the Soul (Riedel)
05 Aug GA 350. The Development of Independent Thinking and of the Ability To Think Backward 28 Jun 1923
05 Aug GA 350. The Uses of What Seems Boring: The Spiritual World as the Inverse of the Physical 30 Jun 1923
05 Aug GA 350. Developing Honesty In Thinking 07 Jul 1923
05 Aug GA 350. Learning to Live Correctly in the Outer World 18 Jul 1923
04 Aug GA 220. The Need for Christ 05 Jan 1923
04 Aug GA 68. Carnegie and Tolstoy 06 Nov 1908
04 Aug GA 174. Central Europe between East and West 18 Mar 1916
04 Aug GA 101. Christmas: A contemplation out of the Wisdom of Life 13 Dec 1907
04 Aug GA 152. The Path of the Christ through the Centuries 14 Oct 1913
04 Aug GA 184. The Polarity between Eternity and Evolution in Human Life 15 Sep 1918
04 Aug GA 165. The Representative of Life 27 Dec 1915
04 Aug GA 64. The Soul of a People Considered in the Light of Spiritual Science 27 Nov 1914
04 Aug GA 127. The Work of the Ego in Childhood 25 Feb 1911
29 Jul GA 98. The So-called Dangers of Occult Development 05 Nov 1907

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