Sergei Prokofieff on Rudolf Steiner

review by Stephen E. Usher

Rudolf Steiner, Fragment of a Spiritual Biography, by Sergei O. Prokofieff, Temple Lodge 2020, 251 pages

Arriving six years after Sergei O. Prokofieff crossed the threshold, this book comes as a beautiful gift to those seeking a deeper understanding of Rudolf Steiner. As the title states, this is a spiritual biography, which means it is a study not only of Rudolf Steiner’s life from his birth in 1861 to his death in 1925, but also of his past incarnations, and indeed of his time in the spiritual world between incarnations. Knowing the real spiritual biography allows one to recognize the true Rudolf Steiner. The author explains that it is important not to confuse Rudolf Steiner with the individualities of other great masters of humanity. One reason for such confusion is that Rudolf Steiner, on a number of occasions, allowed one or another of these masters to speak through him while he lectured. Examples of such occasions are reported in the book. During these occurrences Rudolf Steiner was perfectly aware of what he was allowing to happen, and always with full ego consciousness.

A right understanding of Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual biography—“based on the sole firm foundation of what he himself said” about himself “to the members of the Anthroposophical Society, above all,” about what he said “in connection with the heavenly development of anthroposophy—can open up the possibility of building up a true relationship to his spirit-figure. This means finding him in the spiritual world, which will be of decisive significance for the further development of Anthroposophy on earth.”

The book explains that Rudolf Steiner is a “young soul.” This means Rudolf Steiner had his first incarnation on earth rather late, compared to other souls. Most of us have had incarnations during the period prior to the Great Flood, during Atlantis, and even earlier. We have had many incarnations since our first. Consequently, we have developed much earthly karma. In contrast, Rudolf Steiner first incarnated about 3000 BC in Chaldea, thousands of years after the flood.

In fact, Rudolf Steiner’s entelechy—in his first earthly incarnation—was the figure of one of the protagonists of the ancient Chaldean myth, “The Epic of Gilgamesh.” Rudolf Steiner was then the wild man of the myth know as Enkidu. At the beginning of the myth, Enkidu goes on all fours and lives with the animals in astral consciousness. During the course of the myth he learns to stand upright and develops a strong ego consciousness.

The second chapter of the book is titled “A Spiritual-Scientific Interpretation of the Epoch of Gilgamesh,” where the myth, its spiritual hierarchy of gods, and the relation between Enkidu and the other protagonist, Gilgamesh, the King of Chaldea, is explored. The chapter dives deep into this ancient period, exploring what the two protagonists achieved and the great consequence their deeds had for that ancient time and the future. Among other events from the myth, the book explores the two great battles the protagonists fought against frightful enemies. The one enemy is the Luciferic figure of the Heavenly Bull. The other is the Ahrimanic figure of Humbaba. Though the heroes are victorious in both battles, a consequence of the battle with Humbaba is the untimely death of Enkidu.

Enkidu (left above, right below) and Gilgamesh battle the Heavenly Bull (above) and Humbaba.

Following Enkidu’s death Gilgamesh seeks him in the world of the dead, but is unable to fully reach him. Nonetheless, after his death, Enkidu is able to send inspiration to Gilgamesh regarding how wisely to guide the destiny of Chaldea.

The third chapter has the remarkable title, “Enkidu and the Nathan Soul.” Students of Steiner’s Christology, particularly his lectures on the Gospel of St. Luke, will know the Nathan soul is the youngest soul of all. His first incarnation was as the Jesus child described in the Luke Gospel, who descended from the line of Nathan, the priest, as indicated in the genealogy at the beginning of the Gospel. At the Baptism in the Jordan, the Cosmic Solar Christ descended into this soul, living for three and a half years as Jesus Christ. In the chapter the author writes, “[In] the previous chapter, reference was made to the distinctive affinity of the spiritual destinies of Enkidu and the Nathan soul. The particular resemblance between the two destinies and also their essential differences from one another can help us gain a deeper understanding of the figure of Enkidu...” The chapter explores the similarities and differences in considerable detail.

The book presents convincing evidence that the soul of Enkidu, prior to its first incarnation, participated clairvoyantly in what Rudolf Steiner calls the “Three Pre-Earthly deeds of Christ.” These deeds concern the Cosmic Christ working through the Nathan soul to ward off impending disasters in human evolution prior to the time of Christ’s incarnation on earth. Enkidu’s pre-earthly experience of these deeds of the Christ and the Nathan soul lead to significant events in Enkidu’s earthly incarnations.

Chapter Four bears the title, “A Brief Summary of Rudolf Steiner’s Evolutionary Journey—From Enkidu to Rudolf Steiner.” As the title suggests, the chapter traces the spiritual journey of the Enkidu entelechy after the Enkidu incarnation. After the Enkidu incarnation, he first incarnated as an obscure student of the Mysteries of Ephesus in the Temple of Artemis in the 5th century BC at the time of Heraclitus. This was a quiet incarnation, “a process of calm familiarization with the Mysteries of that time,” an introduction to the Mysteries of the Word and of the future coming of Christ to the Earth.

The Enkidu entelechy next incarnated as the great philosopher Aristotle, who discovered the structure of thought, and brought Mystery knowledge to earth, essentially founding natural science. The chapter offers a breathtaking description of Aristotle and his achievements.

Following the Aristotle incarnation the entelechy appears as another obscure figure, known in the Grail legend as Schionatulander, the squire of Parcival’s father, Gahmuret. Schionatulander dies an innocent death, thereby allowing Parcival to survive and continue the Grail Stream’s evolution. The Grail legend includes a Pietà-like image of the dead Schionatulander on the lap of his beloved, Sigune.

The next incarnation is anything but obscure, it is the great Scholastic, Thomas Aquinas, who develops thinking to its greatest refinement. Aquinas died contemplating these fundamental questions, “How does Christ engage with human thinking? How can it be Christianized? How does Christ Himself lead His own human thinking up to the sphere, where Man can unite with what is otherwise only the spiritual content of faith?”

With the above questions at heart, the entelechy incarnates as Rudolf Steiner, and answers the questions. In part, he accomplished this by reversing the direction leading down to earth life that Aristotle instituted by establishing natural science. Steiner brings about this reversal by creating spiritual science, a free investigation of spiritual reality with the use of higher states of consciousness.

This brief review has only touched the surface of this profound book, a final gift to students of Rudolf Steiner from Sergei O. Prokofieff.

Stephen E. Usher, PhD (seusher@sbcglobal.net) is an an economist with expertise in money, banking, and financial markets. He was for eight years managing director of Anthroposophic Press, and has lectured and written widely on anthroposophical topics.

Note: Prokofieff worked on this book over many years starting in 1984, but he was unable to develop the project as planned. He managed to give an outline of the concept in the last chapter, thus preparing the book for publishing in April 2014. His wife Astrid Prokofieff and translator Simon Blaxland-de Lange did an excellent job assembling the manuscript for this English publication.