The Work of the Brotherhood of Spirit in the Esoteric Section

The work of the Esoteric Section over the years has attracted representatives of different peoples, of different karmic currents. Through the bloodline, the members of the different nations are bearers of a people's karma.

Depending on the people chosen as the experience for incarnation, different conditions are experienced. For in prenatal life, the ego chooses for itself the conditions that can awaken in incarnation the highest forces of evolution of consciousness.

Indeed, there are peoples who recapitulate past stages of the evolution of humanity, as well as peoples who anticipate future stages. There can be both karma bearers of peoples who have had their culmination in the past, such as the Egyptian people, and those who will have it in the future such as the Slavic peoples and the Brazilian people. These currents, whether past or future, are always present.

In the Esoteric Section, members work on all the karmic currents carried, gradually untying themselves from the blood forces, and orienting themselves to the spirit. Thus we move from the brotherhood of blood, from which we all come, towards the brotherhood of spirit.

For in the Esoteric Section different karmic currents come together yearning for the same purpose of serving the spirit, the Christ, working esoterically to be ever more able to serve Him, gradually transcending blood differences to unite in spirit.

It is the esoteric work in the spirit of the Christ that makes it possible to redeem the karma arising from the brotherhood of blood to work in the brotherhood of spirit, which anticipates future stages in the evolution of humanity.

By dedicating themselves to the esoteric work of the Esoteric Section, members allow a new Group Spirit to enter into the community that is thus formed. This Spirit is the Angel of the Ecclesia or 'Community Spirit', who, being able to find a community in which to incorporate himself, can advance in his evolution to Archangel.

Of the Angels of the Ecclesia and the relationship with the spiritual work of the Christ impulse, in fact, John also speaks in Revelation, in his letters to the seven Churches in Asia. These are the seven original communities that carry the Christ impulse and at the same time contrary tendencies from it that must be rectified. Each of the Churches in Asia, in fact, represents one of the eras of culture from the Paleo-Indian to the future American.

By working esoterically in the Christ one enters into the forces of the Eternal Present, and the Angel of the Ecclesia will cause the forces dedicated to spiritual work to work both on the spirit community, that is, towards the future, and on the karma of the people, that is, towards the past. As the forces of blood and thus the karma of the people are redeemed, the Angel of the Ecclesia begins to be able to act upon the Spirit of the People.

In addition, being placed under Michael as the Spirit of Time, the action is further extended so that the national dividing lines disappear. For in the Esoteric Section one meets outside the Spirit of the People and works in the Christ, thus becoming more and more cosmopolitan.

To transcend blood relations, to work the karma of the people by becoming cosmopolitan, was the aim of all of Rudolf Steiner's esoteric work from the time he began his esoteric work, first in the Theosophical Society and then in the Anthroposophical Society. In this regard, let us also bear in mind that, in Steiner's time, personal relationships were much less pronounced than today. Relationships were more formal kept within certain boundaries by stricter social rules.

Therefore, if we really take the Esoteric Section seriously, we cannot allow ourselves to have non-conscious personal relationships. We will not be able to recreate the same dynamics of the blood family, on pain of remaining within our own people's karma. But in the Esoteric Section we will find a spiritual family, whose members are Brothers and Sisters in Spirit, united by a yearning for service to the spirit.

The more in the Esoteric Section we recreate the relationships of the blood family, the more we remain in personality and not in individuality, the less the spirit can be at the centre, the less we can serve it. The more the personality is placed at the centre, the less we will feel united with the Esoteric Section and the work of the Esoteric School and the Misraim Service. The work will become selfish and the Spirit of the Community or Angel of the Ecclesia will gradually push us away from the group.

For we come together to do esoteric work in order to best provide service for the spiritual world and not for ourselves. The work on personality will in fact be a gift bestowed by grace received from the spiritual world during the offering of service. Instead, to the extent that we keep the Spirit at the centre, we can overcome the limitations that result from how entangled we still are in the brotherhood of blood.