Envy

Jakob Matham, copperplate engraving of one of the seven deadly sins: Invidia (c. 1600)

Envy (Latin: invidia) or ill-will, as the emotional resentment of the happiness and betterment of others, can be traced back to the luciferic influence in the astral body and is one of the seven deadly vices in the Christian occidental tradition.

„When we envy someone, we are not inclined to indulge in that virtue which goes to the deepest, innermost core of the being, to the divine of the other person. For compassion only has value when we not only have compassion, but when we can appreciate the core, the spiritual essence of the other person. Appreciation of human beings, however, as the basis of compassion, implies that we can accept the merits of the other person and rejoice in the successes, the development of other people. And all this excludes envy. Envy shows itself as a quality that is closely connected with the very strongest egoism of man. Envy is one of the worst influences of Lucifer. Everything that can live in our soul and can be registered under envy belongs to his domain, and every time we have an attack of envy, Lucifer seizes us by our drives in our astral body.“ (Lit.:GA 125, p. 192ff)

Literature

• Beiträge zur Rudolf Steiner Gesamtausgabe, Heft 45 (1974) (Lit.: Contributions 45, p. 5)
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Beantwortung von Welt- und Lebensfragen durch Anthroposophie, GA 125 (1992)
• Rudolf Steiner: Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden, Band I: 1904 – 1909, GA 266/1 (1995)

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