St. Michael :: Essays Papers

St. Michael Michael is first introduced to mankind through the scriptures written in the Bible. In the book of Daniel, Michael is introduced as one of the "chief princes" of Heaven as well as the guardian of the people of Israel (Daniel 10:13). His name is translated to mean "Who is like unto God," and he is one of the seven archangels of Heaven who is mentioned in the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments. According to Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy and author of the book, The Archangel Michael: His Mission and Ours, Michael was the cosmic being in charge of Intelligence, whereas Michael is associated with light in other circles. This association works itself into a theory that Steiner explains in his book in a chapter titled, Michael, Arthur, and the Grail. In this theory, he proposes that Michael and his hosts of angels that accompany him are all inhabitants of the sun, and that from there, Michael was the ruler of "cosmic intelligence" (Steiner 271), and therefore the provider of all of the thoughts that humans experienced. This intelligence came down upon them from the sun, which he supports with the acceptance that we think with our heads since that is where the intelligence reaches first. And in the time of Alexander and Aristotle when human beings were aware of thoughts - - that is to say, of the content of Intelligence within them -- they did not regard these thoughts as their own, self-made thought: they felt that the thoughts were revealed to them through the power of Michael, although in that pagan era this Michael Being was known by a different name (272). By approximately the 9th century A.D., however, it seemed that human beings were beginning to see their own personal intelligence so that Michael was no longer the bearer of this gift. Now intelligence came from the earth and its inhabitants rather than the sun. But Michael and his hosts have been working to regain his administration of this intelligence by moving "in and through the hearts of human beings (274)." Steiner says that in earlier times than these we live in, people strove for intelligence not by developing their minds, but by seeking out inspirations given to them by cosmic forces, and his example of this is King Arthur.