Sacred Creation

A Road to Sacred Creation: Rudolf Steiner’s Perspectives on Technology, Vol 1; Gary Lamb, editor, Michael Howard, illustrator; SteinerBooks 2021, 392 pp

review by Matt Cain

Technology’s presence is ubiquitous in modern life, from transportation to personal technologies such as computers, smart phones, and social media. What do Rudolf Steiner and anthroposophy have to say about technology?

In his compendium A Road to Sacred Creation: Rudolf Steiner’s Perspectives on Technology, editor and annotator Gary Lamb and his team of researchers have gathered Dr. Steiner’s references to technology from across his written books and lectures. Not only are there a surprising number of these references in Steiner’s collected works, but they were made as part of the subject of a wide variety of topics, including human and earthly evolution, medicine, education, social renewal, and beings of the higher hierarchies.

Having this in one volume enables the reader to make connections regarding the far-reaching impact of technology and its relationship to humanity which might otherwise go unnoticed. Dr. Steiner’s thoughts on the past, present, and future of technology and how technology will be increasingly bound up with human evolution point to the need for humanity to grasp the significance of this development with clear consciousness. Through this understanding, it also becomes clear that human beings will need to continue to develop ethically and morally so that technology does not lead to our enslavement.

In comparison with many millennia of human existence on Earth, it is only within the past 150 years or so that electricity has become a part of everyday life, and that is now being followed ever more rapidly by newly developing technologies such as gene splicing, artificial intelligence, energy generation, and surveillance technologies, including facial recognition and data mining. Has human evolution kept pace with this insertion of technology into our daily lives? What social, economic, and environmental impact do these developments have on us and our planet? How do we educate our children in such a way as to unfold the capacities they bring into our world to give them the strength to creatively address these issues for the Earth’s future?

Several topics relating to technology are covered in the nine chapters of the book, including the evolution of science and the atomic theories, the past and future relationship of humans to technology, the influences of the Ahrimanic and Luciferic spirits on the evolution of technology, and how we may rightly approach technology through the development of economic, social, and educational forms which can support us in this endeavor. The editor introduces each quote with a summary, providing both a context and a helpful synopsis of Dr. Steiner’s words. This format is unique and forms a subtle rhythmical interplay which guides the reader through many complex issues in a way that harmonizes with Lamb’s strengths as educator, researcher, author, and lecturer.

Also included in the book are several illustrations by Michael Howard which powerfully and artistically create imaginative perceptions of the written content, and which serve as a bridge between artistic, scientific, and moral-ethical domains. They provide the reader with the opportunity to deepen one’s feeling for the concepts which have been elaborated.

The growing, intimate relationship between humans and technology can be somewhat unsettling. However, Steiner makes it clear that “the task of technology is to help humanity develop toward the sixth post-Atlantean epoch” in much the same way that our physical body enables us to gain self-conscious awareness. This awareness will increasingly extend into the physical world itself. In Steiner’s words,

Connections will be created between the human being’s forces of death—which are related to electrical, to magnetic forces, and to external mechanical forces. People will be able in a certain way to steer their intentions and their thoughts into the mechanical forces. Yet undiscovered forces in the human being will be discovered, forces that work on external electrical and magnetic forces.

This points to the need for moral and ethical intention in the use of technology. Not a question of if, but how technology will be developed and used to further our evolution is of the utmost importance. When considering the destructive, antisocial elements which can permeate today’s technology it is vital to understand how we may wrestle it from the path leading humanity into sub-nature and towards a strengthening and raising of human consciousness.

A Road to Sacred Creation outlines a daunting task for humanity, for which Steiner gave many indications, including the development of a threefold social order and Waldorf education. These concepts are elaborated, with ample references as to what these ideas mean, how they can be developed and implemented, and why they are needed for human evolution to move forward.

The author promises to shed more light on technology in volume two, as outlined in many references in this first work, including relationships to the etheric realm and the Christ impulse. In the meantime, one may find oneself making many new connections to other areas of anthroposophical study, for which we can be truly grateful.

Matt Cain is a manager of a community-based farmland initiative and a part-time beekeeper in upstate New York. He previously worked as a financial advisor, public-school teacher, and as a Camphill Village Copake coworker and a member of its board of directors.