“The Encounter with Evil and its Overcoming through Spiritual Science” wasn't what I expected. I assumed Sergei Prokofieff's book was about encountering and solving personal suffering. Instead, the book is about cosmic evil and its overcoming through Anthroposophy. In other words, the author gives us another introduction to the extremely complex and convoluted worldview of Rudolf Steiner. I admit that Prokofieff, a leader of the international Anthroposophical Society, is a better writer than Steiner. Still, this is an advanced course, not neophyte material. Only the barest outline of the contents its contents are possible here.
Prokofieff believes that both the forces of death and the forces of evil are stronger than ever before in human history. Bolshevism (by which Prokofieff means Communism in general) and Nazism were the two most dramatic examples. Despite the fall of these systems, the author believes that the worst is yet to come, in the form of nationalist wars and genocides, widespread environmental destruction, rampant euthanasia, and the development of genetic engineering and cloning. A critic might argue that evil has been a constant throughout much of known human history, but I think Prokofieff's position is logical once you accept his “occult” starting point. The real culprit is materialism, which completely severs humanity from the spiritual world, or rather from the Second Coming of Christ, which Anthroposophy believes have already taken place. Christ has returned in the “etheric”, that part of the supersensible world which is closest to Earth. Human evolution can move forward only by contact with Christ in the etheric. Failure to do so will send humanity on a downward spiral of increasing evil, as more and more humans are dominated by demonic forces. From this perspective, then, an evil epoch dominated by materialism is even worse than the preceding ones. It's also possible that Prokofieff regards human cloning as somehow evil in itself, since certain classes of demons attempt to control the physical body.
Prokofieff mentions three classes of demons: Luciferic, Ahrimanic and Asuric. For the first time in human evolution, all three attack at once. Luciferic beings attempt to control our astral bodies, the Ahrimanic beings want to take over the etheric bodies, while the Asuras attack our physical bodies (or rather the supersensible aspect of our physical bodies). The leader of the Ahrimanic demons, Ahriman, will incarnate as a man at some point in the near future. Prokofieff believes that Ahriman will speak English! Even worse, we live in a period esoterically associated with 666, the Number of the Beast, which in Anthroposophy signifies Sorat or “The Sun Demon”, an evil entity with obscure origins. Sorat has taken control over the lesser demons and is preparing some kind of final attack on humankind. The goal of the evil hierarchy is to stop humanity from evolving “the consciousness soul”, a kind of spiritual ego which enjoys supersensible influences in complete individual freedom. (The dogmatic, pro-German Steiner occasionally sounded like a liberal!)
Since evil is an occult force, Prokofieff's solutions to the problem of evil are equally occult. As already mentioned, humans must develop their clairvoyant abilities in order to experience Christ in the etheric. The author spends considerable time speculating about the exact significance of the Foundation Stone or “double dodecahedron”, without ever explaining what this mysterious object might be! I assume he is referring to a spiritual archetype of the actual foundation stone of the Goetheanum, the mystery temple of Anthroposophy erected by Steiner in Switzerland. At the Christmas Conference of 1923 (when the Anthroposophical Society was reformed or refounded), Steiner introduced the Foundation Stone Meditation, by which spiritual seekers can establish a path to Christ. Although Christ is the central character in Anthroposophical cosmology, three other beings play an important role in our epoch: Nathan, Vidar and Michael. Nathan is the unfallen soul of Adam which incarnated as Jesus of Nazareth and was infused by Christ at the baptism in Jordan. Vidar is a Nordic god! Michael is, of course, the archangel Michael.
On a more practical level, Prokofieff admonishes Anthroposophists to continue building their alternative communities as beacons of light in an increasingly evil world. The creation of communities seeking Christ through the Foundation Stone is in itself a way to administer a blow to Sorat, Ahriman and the other evil forces. Prokofieff also believes that society needs to be reformed along the “threefold” lines proposed by Steiner. To simplify somewhat, Steiner proposed a new political-economic system based on decentralization, production for use rather than profit, and spiritually centred education. However, there are no concrete proposals for political action in “The Encounter with Evil”, giving the book a very in-house, esoteric feel. Activists would consider it weird and impractical. There is strong streak of conspiracy theory in Prokofieff's book, which could also be off putting to some people. Bolshevism came to power due to machinations of Western secret societies (presumably Freemasons and Illuminati), the Jesuits are conspiring against esoteric Christianity, and the author considers the Knights Templar to have played an important role in the hidden history of mankind. More disturbingly, he refers to Judea as “Palestine”. The Magi journeyed to “Palestine” to honour Jesus. Really?
Despite the book's gloomy take on things, Steiner must have believed that evil can and will be vanquished. After all, he claimed to know that Earth will undergo three future incarnations, culminating in the “Vulcan” incarnation, during which humans will grow wings and become god-like beings. Clearly, though, we have a bumpy ride ahead of us! On the basis of Steiner's writings, Prokofieff believes that AD 2664 will mark another near-apocalyptic appearance of evil on Earth, this time in the person of Sorat himself, and in an even more distant future, human “white magicians” still battle the “black magicians” under Sorat's influence…
Not sure how to rate this curious book, but since I'm getting used to speculations of this kind, I will give it three.
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