Valentin Tomberg

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Born on the 26th of February, 1900 in St. Petersburg,

Valentin Tomberg made contact at an early age with
idealistic communities engaged in Rosicrucian,
Martinistic and Hermetic teachings.
After the 1917 Bolshevistic Revolution in which he lost
both his parents and brother, he moved to Estonia in
1920 to study comparative religion and philology.
Among other things, he earned his living by working as a farmhand, teacher,
artist, pharmacist and post office clerk.

In 1917 he joined the Theosophical Society. Shortly thereafter he resigned

because the inflexible teachings, with a disregard for the “demands of
reason”, did not appeal to him. He then turned his attention to the
fundamental works of Rudolf Steiner. From 1920 he connected himself with
the active anthroposophical striving.

As we can gather from a letter (1920) it was his inmost desire to become a
pupil of Rudolf Steiner (see; Seiß, W., Untersuchungen zu Rudolf Steiners
Schulungswerk sowie den Erkenntnisquellen Valentin Tombergs [1].
Schönach 2001; p 7). In a letter of 1924 (ibid, p. 12) he asks to be admitted to
the 1st class of the School of Spiritual Science. These letters were never
answered. It has not been determined whether they ever reached Rudolf
Steiner, for whom they were intended.

From 1930 he writes more than 30 essays for the anthroposophical journals;
„Anthroposophie – Wochenschrift für Freies Geistesleben [2].“ (1930, 1931),
„Das Goetheanum – Internationale Wochenschrift für Anthroposophie und
Dreigliederung [3]“ (1930), „Anthroposophie – Monatsschrift für Freies
Geistesleben [4]“ (1931), "Korrespondenz der Anthroposophischen
Arbeitsgemeinschaften [5]“ (1935), Anthroposophische Arbeitsberichte [6]
(1938), edited by Dr. Kurt Piper, Emil Leinhas, Dr. Hans Buchenbacher, C. S.
Picht, Dr. Hans Erhard Lauer and Albert Steffen. (The essays are gathered in
the volume: Tomberg, V., Aufsätze 1930-1938 [7] , Schönach, 3. Edition
2002). In these essays a momentous spectrum of spiritual scientific themes
are unfolded: The Gospel of St. John, The Spirituality of Russia and the east,
Anti-Christianity, Etheric vision, The metamorphosis of thinking, The
Finnish people, The Chinese people, The Mongol people etc.

25th September 1932 he is elected General Secretary of the Estonian

Anthroposophical Society. In the three monthly summer course he gives
12 lectures on Rudolf Steiners book “How does one attain knowledge of the
higher worlds?” Notes on these lectures are unfortunately not available. The
autumn of this year he marries the divorcee Maria Belotsvetov. Together with
her he had already previously been engaged in a common anthroposophical
work.
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[1] Examinations of the works on spiritual schooling of Rudolf Steiner as well

as the sources
of cognition of Valentin Tomberg
[2] Anthroposophy; weekly journal for a free spiritual life
[3] The Goetheanum – international weekly journal for anthroposophy and
threefolding
[4] Anthroposophy; monthly journal for a free spiritual life
[5] Correspondence of anthroposophical working communities
[6] Anthroposophical working reports
[7] Essays 1930-1938

In a letter of September1932 (see: Seiß, W. Der Kampf gegen Valentin

Tomberg, Teil B, Briefwechsel [8], Schönach 1999; P. A 19.1) he asks of Marie
Steiner to grant his wife Maria and himself a year’s stay in Dornach. He
wanted to study at the archives there in order, under consideration of the
contributions of Rudolf Steiner to the theme, to be able to complete a work
about the peoples of the east. He intended to earn his own livelihood by
giving lectures. Marie Steiner, however, turned the request down on the
grounds that in Dornach no lecturer was needed.

From 1931 Tomberg gives lectures in Tallin about the Old Testament.
Because of their esoteric depth these lectures become the cause of
traducements against Tomberg in Dornach as well as the starting point of an
ongoing strife concerning him. Tragically these incidents determined the
comprehensive marginalization of Tomberg which continues to this day
within anthroposophic circles. The lectures were written down by Tomberg
and from November 1933 they are sent in 12 consignments to subscribers
every few months, the last consignment being sent in 1935. They were
followed from 1936 by the 12 Considerations on the New Testament as well as
3 further considerations on the Apocalypse. 12 considerations on the
Apocalypse had been intended, but Tomberg stalls the consignments.
Records or notations for further studies on the Apocalypse have to this day
not been found.

As the work in Estonia cannot be continued due to the antagonism from

Dornach Tomberg in 1939 leaves for Holland where some friends offer to
provide support for him.

He thankfully accepts this offer and during the following Christmas

conference in Rotterdam he lectures on “The four sacrifices of Christ and the
appearance of Christ in the etheric”. Also these lectures are later published in
bookform [9], as are also the lectures held in Rotterdam august 1938: “Seven
lectures on the inner development of the human being” [10]. In Talin,
Estonia, Tomberg produced his first two considerations on the Foundation
Stone Meditation by Rudolf Steiner (in 1936 and 1937/38), which were
augmented by a third contribution in Rotterdam in 1939 [11].

An end is put to the public anthroposophical work of Tomberg in Holland

through the antagonism of Willem Zeylmans van Emmichoven, then General
Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in Holland. He declines Tombergs
esoteric contributions, his karmic insights and his Christian orientation, all of
which he finds impedimental, and he advises Tomberg to leave the
Anthroposophical Society. Tomberg withdraws and with a few friends he
holds the so-called Our Father Course on a weekly basis for more than 2 years
from the outbreak of war in Holland in 1940. (The course is currently being
published by ACHAMOTH Verlag). In this course Tomberg passes on his
extensive knowledge and comprehension of Christian esotericism as he leads
his friends into the depths of the Passion, the Beatitudes, the Wonders, the I
Am sayings and the images of the Apocalypse at hand of the seven petitions of
the Lords Prayer.

In 1944 Tomberg moves to Müllheim an der Ruhr, Germany, to his friends

Ernst and Gertrud von Hippel. There he completes his studies of
jurisprudence. Two works are published in this connection, his
Dissertation, Degeneration und Regeneration der Rechtswissenschaft, [12]
1946 which is republished in 1974, and Die Grundlagen des Völkerrechts als
Menschheitsrecht [13], Götz Schwippert Verlag, 1947 Köln. Tomberg is given
the task to assist in the construction of the Volkshochschule (Peoples High
School) in Müllheim.
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[8] The fight against Valentin Tomberg; Part B; Correspondence

[9] Die Vier Christusopfer und das Erscheinen des Christus im Ätherischen;
Schönach, 3rd Edition 1994
[10] Sieben Vorträge über die innere Entwicklung des Menschen; Schönach,
2nd Edition 1993
[11] Die Grundsteinmeditation Rudolf Steiners; Schönach, 2nd Edition 1993
[12] Degeneration and regeneration of jurisprudence
[13] The foundations of laws of nations as human rights

During this time talks are held with Emil Bock, then head (“Erzoberlenker”)
of the Christian Community, concerning a possible cooperation within
this movement. However, also here no space is found for Tombergs
contribution.

In 1948 Tomberg, with his wife Maria and his son Alex, moves to Caversham,
near Reading, in England. Here Tomberg is given a new opportunity to earn
a livelihood through his employment at the BBC. He is given charge of the
recordings of the broadcasts of the Soviet broadcasting service. In the
evenings he spends his time studying at the British library in Reading.

Tomberg spiritually receives the assignment to engage himself within the

Catholic Church and applies himself to this task. It shall be mentioned here
that evidence has never been found to prove that he in actual fact formally
entered this Church. He placed himself within the Catholic stream as a free
spirit and offered this Church an esoteric foundation shaped of its very own
essence in his work “Meditations on the Tarot”. This work has its source in
the pre-Christian Christianity of ancient Egypt, which was inaugurated and
inspired by the great Hermes Trismegistos. Tomberg himself described
his contribution as adding “the dimension of depth” to the modern
Catholic Church. He chooses to write the work on the Tarot in French
because the hermetic tradition had survived the longest within the stream of
this language. The book appeared anonymously in a German translation by
Mrs. von Hippel in Anton Hain Verlag, Meisenheim am Glan, 1972. Tomberg
indicates that this work has its source in realms beyond that of human reason
as he so to speak from “beyond the grave” reaches over to and addresses “the
unknown friend” (the reader). Later a French version appears in Aubier,
Paris, unfortunately, however, in a modified form. In the mean time many
versions have appeared.

In his later years Tomberg applies himself to the writing of essays which later
appear in a fashion strongly modified by Prof. Martin Kriele in Herder Verlag
under the title “Lazarus komm heraus” (“Lazarus, come forth [14]”)
published by Robert Spaemann. Also in this work Tomberg connects spiritual
teachings with the contents of the Christian faith, in this way again offering
the Church a means of self-knowledge and a way towards an inner deepening
of its teachings. The last lines of the essay “Thy Kingdom Come” from this
book contain words that sound like a legacy to the future:

… “These historians (of the future) will for instance write about the
“condition of the desert” in which mankind is placed in front of the three
temptations; that of power (the power over “all the kingdoms of the world
and their splendour”), that of materialism (“turning stones into bread”), and
the experimental method (the “fall from the pinnacle of the temple”). And
they will recognize and describe great ideological and socio-political
movements and streams as well as epoch-making discoveries and phases of
science as nothing but aspects of these three temptations; indeed they will
even describe these as essential experiences on the path toward
purification.

Then they will pursue the insights mankind has won from overcoming these
temptations and describe the manifold forms of enlightenment that arises
from the winning of these insights. They will do this in order to present the
path towards enlightenment of mankind.

And lastly these chroniclers of human spiritual history will tell of single
human beings and communities of human beings who have led the way
towards consummation; i.e. whose abilities and capacities gave witness to the
fact that the kingdom of humankind is able to merge and unite with the
kingdom of god.”
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[14] Published in English by Lindisfarne Books, 2007, 2nd Edition, in a

translation by Robert Powell

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