Category Archives: Esoteric Christianity

Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Shadowy Occult Deception

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The following article about controversial anthroposophist-turned-Catholic, Valentin Tomberg (1900-1973), is an excerpt from my recently published book, The Greater and Lesser Mysteries of Christianity: The Complementary Paths of Anthroposophy and Catholicism (2015). For more information, the book can be ordered from Amazon.com.              

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Meditations on the Tarot: A Journey into Shadowy Occult Deception

Even though, as an anthroposophist, Tomberg was rebuffed in his efforts to be recognized as the esoteric Christian successor to Rudolf Steiner, he still fervently held on to this vainglorious, egocentric delusion throughout his Catholic conversion. His unabashed praise of St. Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises was a subtle contrivance needed to position himself (and the Hermetic “spiritual exercises” of his Tarot book) as the Christian successor to St. Ignatius (and thereby, to Rudolf Steiner). What Tomberg had failed to accomplish as an anthroposophist, he was certain he had accomplished as a Catholic esotericist (even “from beyond the grave”).

It’s perfectly obvious to any sincere esoteric Christian (without a hidden agenda) that Valentin Tomberg cannot hold a candle-flame to the sun-burst of supersensible knowledge issuing from Rosicrucian initiate and “master of wisdom,” Rudolf Steiner. Tomberg’s feeble attempt with Meditations on the Tarot is pathetically obvious.

To begin with, the meditative imagery that Tomberg chooses for his “spiritual exercises” are  coloured woodcut designs from Jean Dodal’s early eighteenth-century version of the Tarot de Marseille, a deck of cards purportedly invented in the fifteenth century in northern Italy. So why does Tomberg refer to these images as “Hermetic”? According to some occult historians, tarot cards (particularly the major arcana) were originally derived from the ancient Egyptian “Book of Thoth,” and later introduced into Medieval Europe by migratory gypsies. As explained by occultist, Manley P. Hall (1901‒1990) in The Secret Teachings of All Ages (1928):

A curious legend relates that after the destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria, the large body of attendant priests banded themselves together to preserve the secrets of the rites of Serapis. Their descendants (Gypsies) carrying with them the most precious of the volumes saved from the burning library―the Book of Enoch, or Thoth (the Tarot)―became wanderers upon the face of the earth, remaining a people apart with an ancient language and a birthright of magic and mystery.

Since the Egyptian god, Thoth, is also known as “Hermes” or “Hermes Trismegistus” (the “Thrice-great”), tarot cards are therefore considered by some occultists (such as Tomberg) to be “Hermetic.” However, even granting that tarot cards had an Egyptian origin, the images of the Tarot de Marseille are entirely Renaissance European: the clothing, the architecture, the furniture, the objects and the people―which include an emperor, an empress, a pope and a papess (female pope)―all did not exist during the ancient time of Hermes.

Even in such a “Europeanized” form, it’s still rather bizarre that Tomberg would choose meditative images loosely derived from pre-Christian Egypt to use as Catholic “spiritual exercises”! For all the areas of concern that have been previously identified with the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises (in Chapter sub-section 4.3), at least most of the meditative imagery was safely taken from the Gospels.

Besides, there already exists within the Catholic Church a safe and effective developmental path leading to union with Christ-Jesus, and that is the sevenfold path of Mystic-Christianity. This tried and true developmental system has been successfully practiced within the various monastic orders for centuries, and exclusively employs meditative scenes from the life of Christ-Jesus―not from ancient Egypt or Renaissance Europe.

Rather than meditating on “The Magician, The Hanged Man, The Devil, The Lovers, The Chariot, The Moon, The Wheel of Fortune” and fifteen other non-biblical images, Mystic-Christianity focuses on the Gospel of John and seven profound events in the life of Christ-Jesus:

  • the washing of the feet
  • the scourging
  • the crowning with thorns
  • the crucifixion
  • the mystic death
  • the burial and resurrection
  • the ascension

Why anyone―especially devout Catholics―would think that meditating on the images of the tarot is a superior method of Christian development, instead of that used in Mystic-Christianity, is certainly difficult to comprehend.

And what exactly is the goal, the end result of the Tombergian tarot meditations? It certainly can’t be mystical union with Christ-Jesus. If becoming Christ-like requires that the disciple follow in the footsteps of the Master, it’s not likely that our Saviour would be leading us through the labyrinthine symbolic imagery of a pseudo-Egyptian deck of cards so that we can finally reach him.

Therefore, one does not need to read very much of Tomberg’s Meditations on the Tarot to conclude that the entire enterprise is a blind occult alleyway leading to spiritual darkness, rather than to the true light of Christ.

Even aside from the shadowy occultism and the unsavory appeal to magic contained in the Meditations on the Tarot, it’s also astonishing how unabashedly arrogant and openly heretical Tomberg appears with certain of his written pronouncements.   Once again on page 4, Tomberg wrote:

The seven sacraments of the Church are the prismatic colours of the white light of one sole Mystery or Sacrament, known as the Second Birth, which the Master pointed out to Nicodemus in the nocturnal initiation conversation which He had with him. It is this which Christian Hermeticism understands by the Great Initiation.

For over two thousand years the Catholic Church has celebrated seven sacraments that are unquestioningly held  to have been established by Christ-Jesus himself, and lovingly entrusted to his body the Church: (1) baptism, (2) confirmation, (3) Holy Communion (Eucharist), (4) holy matrimony (marriage), (5) holy orders, (6) penance (reconciliation), and (7) anointing of the sick. Tomberg here astoundingly claimed to have discovered an eighth, overarching sacrament―the sacrament of sacraments―which he termed the “sacrament of the second birth,” which he also called the “Great Initiation”!

Other pronouncements that Tomberg made in  Meditations on the Tarot, which attempt to combine his brand of tarot-occultism with Catholicism, are just plain silly. For example, commenting on “The Pope” meditation (or “Letter”) on page 119, Tomberg wrote:

The post of Pope or the Holy See is a formula of divine magic―just as the post of Emperor is―in the history of humanity. It is what is meant by the esoteric term Petrus (Peter) … Petrus is the term in the Old and in the New Testament designating the divine, immovable ordinance or formula of divine magic.

I’m sure the present pope, Francis I, would be shocked and amused to learn that Tomberg and his present-day Catholic supporters regard him as the “grand magician” of the “Church of divine magic.”

De-Mystifying the “Mystical Stigmata” of Judith von Halle

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Stigmata

Since 2004, German anthroposophist, Judith von Halle (b.1972), has publicly claimed that she regularly experiences the “bleeding wounds of Christ”―the mystical stigmata―together with inedia (the ability to survive on very little food and water) and clairvoyant visions. Not surprisingly, these claims erupted into immediate sensationalism and controversy within the anthroposophical community; resulting in a deep, substantial and continuing division between influential detractors and wealthy supporters. Von Halle’s most vocal detractor has been prominent Russian anthroposophist, Sergei O. Prokofieff (1955‒2015); while her most public supporter has been well-known German anthroposophist, Peter Tradowsky (b.1934).

In order to understand this heated and often rancorous intellectual polarization, it is necessary to delve deeply into the curious phenomena known as the “mystical stigmata.” Typically, the mystical stigmata are marks, sores or wounds that spontaneously appear on the physical body of a Christian devotee which correspond primarily with the crucifixion piercings of Christ-Jesus in his hands, feet and side. Occasionally these may also include the forehead (where the crown of thorns was placed) and the back (where the scourging was inflicted).

Though St. Paul may have been the first recorded mystical stigmatist, based on the scriptural statement: “I bear on my body the marks [in Greek: ‘stigmata’] of Jesus” (Gal 6:17), St. Francis of Assisi (c.1181‒1226) is most often given the historical credit in 1224. Since that time there have been well over 300 reliable instances of the mystical stigmata being recorded, of which about 60 can be attributed to various saints. Even though many saints have experienced the mystical stigmata, such as St. Catherine of Siena (1347‒1380) and St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887‒1968), the Catholic Church does not consider the mystical stigmata to be an indication of saintliness, or an incontestable instance of a miracle. In fact, the Church is extremely cautious and reserved about reported cases of mystical stigmata; and therefore conducts a thorough investigation into such claims before any official acceptance.

While there have certainly been numerous instances of fraudulent mystical stigmata (such as self-mutilation), so far in authentic instances there has been no conclusive scientific explanation. While hypnotism and auto-suggestion have produced some mild psychosomatic effects, the force of ordinary imagination does not appear strong enough to produce mystical stigmata. Even so, both Church and science are reluctant to attribute non-physical, supernatural causes to mystical stigmata.

So what does esoteric Christianity and the spiritual scientific (anthroposophical) investigations of Rudolf Steiner (1861‒1925) have to say about mystical stigmata? Basically, that these unusual phenomena are indeed the result of an exceptional psychosomatic process. In this case the disciple of Christ-Jesus passionately identifies and vicariously empathizes with the horrific sufferings on the Cross. These excruciating feelings and emotions are so powerfully aroused and held in the astral body that they forcefully impinge on and press into the etheric or life body. Since the etheric body contains the formative forces that determine the shape and life activity of the physical body, wounds will actually corporeally appear. More than mental imagery, then, it is powerful religious emotion that produces the mystical stigmata.

Furthermore, as was the case of St. Francis, certain dedicated followers of Christ-Jesus have been privileged to interweave a copy of the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth into their own astral bodies. As explained by Rudolf Steiner in a lecture given on 6 April 1909 (and published in The Principle of Spiritual Economy; 1986):

In the period spanning the eleventh through the fifteenth centuries the time had come when a copy of the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth was woven into the astral bodies of certain reincarnated souls. From the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries many human beings, for example Francis of Assisi and Elisabeth of Thüringen, had the imprint of the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth woven into them while their own astral bodies—the source of their knowledge—were formed during reincarnation. This enabled these individuals to proclaim the great truths of Christianity in the form of judgments, logical constructs, and scientific wisdom. But, in addition, they were also able to experience the feeling of carrying the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth within themselves.

Your eyes will be opened if you allow yourselves to experience vicariously all the humility, the devotion, and the Christian love that was part of Francis of Assisi. You will then know how to look at him as a person prone to make mistakes—because he possessed his own ego—and as a great individual because he carried a copy of the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth within his own astral body. All the humble feelings, the profound mysticism, and the spiritual soul life of Francis of Assisi become comprehensible if we know this one secret of his life.

Since a replica of the astral body of Christ-Jesus preserves the entire emotional record of the crucifixion, the bearer of such additional astral forces can more easily re-experience the Saviour’s anguish and suffering on the cross. Not surprisingly, then, the mystical stigmata first appeared around the time of St. Francis. It is quite logical to conclude, therefore, that many other Christians who have experienced the mystical stigmata over the centuries did so because of an interweaving with a replica of Christ-Jesus’ astral body.

Also noteworthy in regard to the mystical stigmata is that these phenomena have almost exclusively occurred throughout history within the monastic confines of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. This was because the difficult developmental path of Mystic-Christianity requires prayerful solitude and seclusion from worldly concerns. Though this developmental path differs from Rosicrucian-Christianity, it leads nonetheless to an authentic encounter with Christ-Jesus in the superphysical realm.

According to the research of Rudolf Steiner, the mystical stigmata very often spontaneously occur during the intense meditations of the fourth stage of Mystic-Christian initiatory development, known as “The Crucifixion.”  As described in a lecture given on 27 November 1906 entitled “The Gospel of St. John and Ancient Mysteries”:

[As] a fourth experience he had to develop the feeling that his body was no more for him than any other object in the world. He carried the body with him only as an instrument … In this way the mystic experienced in himself the Crucifixion. He saw himself crucified. The outer symbol was that during the meditation stigmata appeared at the places of the wounds of Christ―in the hands, in the feet and in the right side. This is the blood-trial of the Mystic, the fourth stage of initiation.

From the foregoing information, we can clearly see that the mystical stigmata is an initiatory experience which commonly occurs on the developmental path of Mystic-Christianity that has been historically practiced within the monastic orders of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. Moreover, it is also associated with the replicated astral body of Christ-Jesus. It is not an experience that is common to or associated with the developmental path of Rosicrucian-Christianity.

Since the anthroposophical spiritual science of Rudolf Steiner promotes the Rosicrucian-Christian path of initiatory development, not the path of Mystic-Christianity, the stigmatist Judith von Halle is an obvious anomaly within the anthroposophical movement. If in fact her claims of mystical stigmata, inedia and visionary experience are genuine, then obviously she has been following a Mystic-Christian path of development, rather than the Rosicrucian-Christian path as encouraged in anthroposophy. Since Mystic-Christian development is a “path of the heart”―of affective development―not a “path of the head”―of intellectual development―(as is practiced in Rosicrucian-Christian development), von Halle’s connection with anthroposophy is clearly an attempt to cognitively understand and explain her own mystical experiences.

Some overly-suspicious anthroposophists regard von Halle as a Catholic “Trojan Horse”; that is, a covert means of introducing Catholic practices―such as mystical stigmata, inedia and personal visions―into the anthroposophical movement. And even though her early education included attending a Jesuit-run high school in Berlin, this is hardly proof that this Jewish stigmatist is some nefarious Catholic infiltrator seeking to subvert anthroposophy.

Nevertheless, as demonstrated by both science and the Catholic Church, the anthroposophical leadership has a right and a duty to be cautious regarding claims of mystical stigmata within its membership. As yet, there has been no objective scientific or medical investigation into von Halle’s claims. Of the anthroposophical leadership in Dornach, the only one who has seriously challenged von Halle’s various claims has been Sergei Prokofieff. While some anthroposophists have considered many of his statements and conclusions to be overly harsh, no doubt von Halle would be just as critically assessed under a Catholic Church investigation. Without an objective investigation into her claims, most anthroposophists are left to accept these claims “on faith,” which runs entirely contrary to the scientific approach of anthroposophy.

As Prokofieff indicated in numerous instances, based solely on von Halle’s published pronouncements, her veracity as a reliable esoteric teacher is seriously called into question. One glaringly-mistaken assertion that von Halle has made is that her “alleged” mystical stigmata is the result of incorporating the “phantom” or “resurrection body” of Christ-Jesus. As Prokofieff correctly pointed out, stigmatic effects have nothing to do with the “phantom” of Christ-Jesus, since this perfected physical form is no longer “wounded” in any way (even from past memory). Moreover, as previously indicated, if any vehicle of Christ-Jesus is associated with stigmata, it is a replica of Christ-Jesus’ astral body, not the phantom.

By associating her “alleged” stigmata with the Saviour’s phantom, von Halle is clearly sending the message that her mystical condition is the result of a special connection with Christ-Jesus; rather than just a predictable effect of Mystic-Christian meditation. This of course lends more weight to her pronouncements by fallaciously “appealing to authority.” Furthermore, is von Halle suggesting that all authentic instances of mystical stigmata are physical effects of the phantom body of Christ-Jesus, or just her own? Even if von Halle’s mystical stigmata proved to be authentic, this does not mean that all her visionary pronouncements and explanations are accurate.

Another glaringly-mistaken assertion that von Halle has made is that Rudolf Steiner is also the Master Serapis. While Rudolf Steiner is certainly one of the twelve bodhisattva-masters of the Great White Lodge, he is definitely not Serapis. Steiner has indicated that Serapis and Skythianos are one and the same exalted individuality, but never once suggested that this individuality was he himself.

While Prokofieff has pointed out numerous other mistaken visionary assertions by von Halle, even the two glaring errors indicated here are sufficient to call into question her esoteric accuracy. This should come as no surprise since von Halle (as did Prokofieff) chose to ignore Rudolf Steiner’s clear esoteric admonition: “I had reached the age of 40, an age before which no one in the sense of a master may openly appear as a teacher of occultism. Everywhere where someone teaches earlier than this there is an error (Correspondence and Documents 1901-1925).” When she began to publicly disseminate her esoteric ideas in book form in 2005, von Halle was only thirty-three. Does she think that this strict esoteric requirement applies only to Rudolf Steiner (a bodhisattva-master), but not to herself because she is somehow more advanced because of mystical stigmata?

While Judith von Halle may be a warm and friendly person (as attested to by others), this does not mean that she is an accurate and reliable esoteric teacher. Even without authenticating her alleged mystical stigmata, von Halle can be reliably assessed on the basis of her published ideas. As biblically expressed: “Beware of false prophets … You will know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:15,16). Unfortunately for discerning anthroposophists, von Halle bears bitter fruit.

The Lesser Guardian: Fearful Spectre, Benign Instructor or Ahrimanic Double?

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JesusCastingOut_satanAs many Christian esotericists have discovered, many facts of the supersensible world may appear completely contradictory at first; but after a deeper and more comprehensive investigation, apparent conflicts are entirely reconciled and unified. Such is the case with various descriptions of the Lesser Guardian of the Threshold. Some describe the Guardian as a horrific spectral apparition; some describe the Guardian as a stern but benevolent instructor; while others describe a “double” or “doppelgänger” that is an ahrimanic being who takes subconscious possession of our negative and unredeemed karma. How is it possible to reconcile these three seemingly opposing descriptions?

In Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment (originally written in 1904‒5), Rudolf Steiner states: “the [Lesser] Guardian of the Threshold is an astral figure, revealing itself to the student’s awakened higher sight.” Moreover, it is a “truly terrible spectral being” and “[h]owever horrible the form assumed by the [Lesser] Guardian, it is only the effect of the student’s own past life … [to which the] student’s preparation must aim at enabling him to endure the terrible sight without a trace of timidity.”

It is abundantly clear from Steiner’s research and statements that the Lesser Guardian is initially encountered as a terrifying external apparition. He also states unequivocally that the Christian initiate who intends to consciously enter the superphysical realm in the correct way cannot avoid this fearful encounter with the Lesser Guardian. Nevertheless, the function of the Lesser Guardian is not just to instill gratuitous fear into the unwary initiate, but rather to wisely prevent the unprepared from prematurely and dangerously entering the superphysical realm.

Rudolf Steiner has even remarked that we all unconsciously encounter the Lesser Guardian each time we fall asleep. In fact, it is due to the Guardian’s protective intervention at the threshold of falling asleep that we lose consciousness since we cannot bear the naked sight of our karmically accumulated evil. In a lecture given on 31 August 1913 he stated:

Every night we stand unconsciously before the [Lesser] Guardian. Certainly he is a great benefactor of mankind in not allowing himself to be seen, for very few human beings could endure it … On that borderline the soul has the impulse to see itself as it really is … but this is unbearable. Before the event has become fully conscious, the soul―through its utter loathing―deadens, as it were, its awareness … obliterating its consciousness. (Published in Secrets of the Threshold, 1987)

By encountering the visibly-projected “dark side” or “shadow self” of their subconscious karmic accumulation, sincere Christian initiates are morally impelled to redeem and transform this shameful past-life baggage. By doing so, nascent supersensible perception will not be subconsciously distorted by a veil of invisible evil. It is only after the accumulated evil that comprises the Lesser Guardian’s astral form becomes increasingly redeemed that the hideous features slowly disappear from view and the Guardian begins to assume more and more the role of a benevolent guide and instructor. Should the Lesser Guardian not be redeemed, Steiner records the Guardian’s own stern admonition: “I must become a perfect and glorious being, or fall prey to corruption; and should this occur I would drag thee down with me into a dark and corrupt world” (Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its Attainment).

Once the fearful spectral apparition at the threshold has been sufficiently redeemed, the esoteric truth becomes clear that even from the first terrifying encounter, the Lesser Guardian is actually our own higher self veiled in our unredeemed karmic attire. As Rudolf Steiner revealed in the same lecture quoted above (31 August 1913):

There on the threshold our true ego is able to clothe itself in all our weaknesses, all our failings, everything that induces us to cling with our whole being either to the physical sense world or at least to the elemental world. (Published in Secrets of the Threshold, 1987)

Admittedly, there has been some unfortunate anthroposophical confusion regarding the Lesser Guardian by Rudolf Steiner occasionally referring to this figure as the “double” or “doppelgänger,” as in the following instances:

[T]he phenomenon known as the Guardian of the Threshold―the appearance of the lower double of man … It is a form that is sometimes repugnant and terrible, for it is the offspring of his good and bad desires and of his karma—it is their personification in the astral world … This form must be conquered by man before he can find the higher Self. (Lecture 01 June 1906 in Paris called “The Christian Mystery”)

For man’s life in the physical-sensory world, the Doppelgänger’s effect is such that he becomes immediately invisible through the feeling of shame characterized when man approaches the world of soul and spirit. As a result of this, he conceals the entire latter world also. Like a “guardian” he stands there before that world, in order to deny entrance to those who are not truly capable of entering. He may therefore be called the “guardian of the threshold that lies before the world of soul and spirit.” (Outline of Esoteric Science; Chapter 5: Initiation)

The confusion arises because in other instances Steiner has described a different “double” or “doppelgänger” that exists covertly and insidiously within the human psyche well below the level of conscious awareness. Upon investigation, it is quite obvious that this double is not the same as the Lesser Guardian. In describing this other double in a lecture given on 30 August 1913, Rudolf Steiner stated:

When Ahriman has the chance to make these [subconscious] parts of the soul independent and give them human shape, they confront us in the elemental world as our Doppelgänger or double. We have to be aware that everything changes as soon as we leave our physical body and enter the elemental world … In terms of substance, the double is a large part of the etheric body. We retain part of that body, but another part of it separates off and becomes objective. We look at it and see that it is part of ourselves, to which Ahriman has given our own shape. (Published in Secrets of the Threshold, 1987)

From this description we can see that this other double is an etheric formation, whereas the Lesser Guardian appears as an astral apparition. Moreover, this other double has been unlawfully externalized by Ahriman, whereas the Lesser Guardian has been objectified by our higher self. In addition, though the Lesser Guardian initially appears horrific, his motives are helpful and instructive. The Ahrimanic double, however, is a harmful influence and according to Steiner’s research:

Diseases that come spontaneously from within, not those caused by external injuries, do not come from the soul but from this [ahrimanic] being who is the originator of all organic diseases that arise spontaneously from within. (From a lecture given on 16 November 1917 and published in Secret Brotherhoods and the Mystery of the Human Double, 2004)

Rather astoundingly as well, Steiner’s research has revealed that the electrical activity of our nervous system is not a natural incorporation, but rather an Ahrimanic intrusion. As stated in the same lecture as above:

But the scientists are wrong if they believe that the nervous force which provides the foundation for our inner world of pictures and thinking has anything to do with the electrical currents that course along our nerves. Those electrical currents are the forces that are introduced into our being by the [ahrimanic] being I have been describing. They do not belong to our being at all. There are electrical currents in us, but they are of a purely ahrimanic nature. (Ibid)

And just to make the issue of objectified supersensible figures even more complicated, it appears that under certain circumstances Lucifer can also manifest an externalized “shadow-being” by detaching a part of the etheric body and filling it with the unresolved subconscious karma of childhood and adolescence. To this detached illegitimate entity Rudolf Steiner has given the term, “the Spirit of Youth.” In his own words:

We have to say of a great deal of the karma of our youthful years that it cannot be resolved in this incarnation … Unresolved karma of this kind and the looking back at one’s younger self as though at someone else are both inwardly experienced. Lucifer finds entry here; he can take away a substantial part of the etheric body and, as it were, ensoul it with the unresolved karma. It becomes a shadow-being under Lucifer’s influence … the Spirit of [his] Youth. (From a lecture given on 30 August 1913 and published in Secrets of the Threshold, 1987)

In the same way that the Ahrimanic double is the root cause of spontaneous organic disease in the physical body, the Luciferic shadow-being  is “the originator of all neuro-psychological and neurotic diseases, all diseases which are not really diseases at all but merely, as one says, nervous diseases, hysterical diseases and so on” (From a lecture given on 16 November 1917 and published in Secret Brotherhoods and the Mystery of the Human Double, 2004).

From the foregoing we can conclude how important it is for the Christian esotericist to have a clear and comprehensive understanding of the various objectified figures of his or her own nature―both lawful and illegitimate― that are encountered in the superphysical world. Particularly, as Rudolf Steiner has indicated, our physical and psychological health in the future will depend on this spiritual scientific knowledge.