‘He already sees himself close before the silent place, which fills his spirit with peace and hope. And on the arch of the closed gate, he beholds a mysterious image. He stands and contemplates and whispers soft words of devotion that well up in his heart. He stands and contemplates. What does that mean? The sun sings and the ringing fades away. He sees the sign magnificently erected, which stands as comfort and hope for the whole world, to which many thousands of spirits have pledged themselves, to which many thousands of hearts have fervently pleaded, which destroys the power of bitter death, which waves in many a victory banner. A refreshing spring penetrates the weary limbs. He sees the cross and casts his eyes downward. He newly feels what salvation has sprung forth there. He feels the faith of half a world. But he is penetrated by an entirely new meaning, as the image now appears before his eyes. There stands the cross, tightly entwined with roses. Who has added roses to the cross?’

That is the touching image from Goethe’s ‘Geheimnisse’ (The Mysteries). And we can say, if we are looking for a symbol for anthroposophy, then we can say: that is the cross, to which roses have been added.

This Rose Cross is the image of anthroposophy, because anthroposophy not only gives knowledge, but also demands from the – how shall I say – students that they strive for self-knowledge, and that by acquiring self-knowledge, they also feel the impulse within themselves to educate themselves. And the image for that is the Rose Cross. I spoke in the Dutch video about how nature, at the moment, allows itself to be viewed so incredibly beautifully. And the striking thing again and again is that nature appears completely pure, selfless, and so full of trust and devotion and perseverance also, that it always appears again for us. And in contrast, man appears as, on the one hand, naturally a developed spirit, but on the other hand, we humans are of course still, in a certain sense, also equipped with wild impulses, and we live those out as well.

And that is, in the great world for all of us, what the Rose Cross can mean for the individual human being. The roses in this Rose Cross are the image of the purified soul, of the purified blood. Not a pure blood in reference to race or people or anything like that, but a pure blood that has been purified of all impulses and desires that lead to evil. Because man also naturally has wonderful impulses and desires within him – those we do not need to overcome – those already belong to the rose. And so the image arises of the black-wooden cross, the image of the forces with which we carry out self-knowledge and also derive from it the impulses to educate the own soul, so that it no longer carries within itself this wild impulsiveness, through which it may be capable of much, but also debases itself.

That these impulses are overcome, and that we as human beings bring ourselves to truly, inwardly become a rose – that then has become a central meditation in the work of Rudolf Steiner: that image of the cross with seven roses around the crossing point. Seven red roses, as red as blood, but as pure as the rose. This image has become a central meditative image in anthroposophy, and it is actually also a center for that which anthroposophy wants to bring and can bring. And with Easter we actually celebrate this Rose Cross. First, before Easter, we of course really experienced the cross of suffering. But that should not be the only thing we experience with Easter, because suffering is followed by the resurrection. And this resurrection, we can then become aware of it in that we gain the strength through the resurrection to transform this red blood into red rose juice. And one could imagine that one day a time will come when humanity will be a Rose Cross. That wars will no longer be our daily bread, but that it will be something entirely different for which we will then live. I admit, at the moment it is hard to imagine. But if we do not form images of the future, then our future cannot become reality either. It is indeed well known that in the world in which we live, a lot is worked with scenarios. That people imagine what all might happen in the future and how we, as humanity, can consider this in advance and also think of solutions.

But we human beings naturally also have this ability when we form images of how one day a time could come in which we no longer live the way we do now, but in which we, as humanity, have become an entire Rose Cross.

The poem ‘Die Geheimnisse’ (The Mysteries) – this small passage which I read aloud stands right at the beginning – has moved me very, very deeply. And the image that is depicted there, that the man comes to a gate where he wishes to rest after a long wandering, that there he sees the cross – but not just the bare cross. The cross is entwined with roses. What a wonderful Easter message that is: that one day a time might come for us when the cross is no longer so much associated with death, but with the living, growing, pure rose, as an image for the pure, artistic, knowing human soul.

And there is a poem – with that I would like to close – which Rudolf Steiner had recited. And of course, I cannot recite it like that. But I will also not recite the entire poem, I will only recite the end of it. And that is a poem by Anastasius Grün, in which he describes five Easter festivals on Golgotha, after the Mystery of Golgotha. And one sees then, through history, what all has happened. But the fifth image is depicted in a distant future. And that is again so moving, that I would like to quote it now. For anthroposophy is very, very moving. And it offers us that which our soul so very much needs: feelings that can grow into the future and can create a new humanity.

“Once again it came to pass, that, as he was ploughing,

the farmer struck, as if upon a piece of rock.

And when his spade removed the casing all around,

a wondrous figure of stone appeared.

He calls the neighbors round about,

they look at it, but they do not recognize it.

Ancient wise old man, perhaps you will give news,

the old man looks at it, but does not recognize it.

Even though they do not know it, it still stands

full of blessing upright in their breast in eternal charm.

Its seed blooms all around upon every path,

for what they never knew, was a cross.

They saw not the battle nor its bloody sign.

They see only the victory and its wreath.

They saw not the storm with its lightning strikes.

They see only the glow of its rainbow.

The cross of stone, they set it up in the garden,

a mysterious, venerable antiquity.

Around it roses and flowers of all kinds

climb upward, twining all around.

Thus stands the cross in the midst of radiance and abundance

on Golgotha, glorious, full of meaning,

completely covered by its rose garland,

long since one sees, for roses, the cross no more.”