'There was a kind of second layer of events behind what I have just told you. This other layer, or story, is like this: Before this lawsuit took place this advocate had become addicted to what one can call the demon of gambling — I knew him well, of course. He used the sums of money entrusted to him, as deposit to gamble with. It was an absolute passion with him, and not long before this lawsuit began he had reached the point where he had gambled away large sums of money entrusted to his care. But he had been promised that if he should win this suit, he would be paid so much that he could more or less balance the difference.
'So he did not faint only out of wounded ambition; he fainted when the jury returned with the verdict after only a quarter of an hour, because his existence had in fact been destroyed. For he had no hope any more of replacing the deposit money he had lost. Therefore his whole existence had depended on the outcome of the lawsuit. He fainted as symbolic indication that he was now completely ruined for this incarnation. He had to escape to America after that, and had to endure a not very enviable existence there for the rest of his life.'
—Rudolf Steiner inArt in the Light of Mystery Wisdom:
—Joseph Mission's poem, 'Advice from my Father for my Travels', in Pictures from the Thought-Life of Austria
The Demon of Gambling in legend:
In the Navajo legendry, Noqoìlpi, the God of Gambling, enslaved many human nations. The people were rescued by the divine gods. Noqoìlpi was expelled from the earth, but was given refuge and re-outfitted by the God of the Americans.
Redeeming the Demon ofGambling:
The influence of the God of Gambling can be redeemed through Gamblers Anonymous. And the suffering of the families of destructive gamblers can be healed through Gam-Anon Family Groups.
Gambling and the Threefold Idea:
Having worked in convenience stores in West Virginia and California, I have seen first-hand what the world of lottery is like. People are so run down—they wish, pray, and beg that the God of the Lottery will bless them.
Though there are deep, individual, karmic reasons why a person may become a compulsive gambler, the Threefold Republic will remove much of the external, systemic pressure to gamble.
For example, the State will no longer be funded by lotteries. The public Rights sector will be fully funded by a yearly transfer of a lump-sum payment directly from the Economic Forum. And the Cultural sector, including schools and hospitals, will be funded only by freely-given donations, and by cultural (educational and medical) benefit coupons directly transferred from the Economic sector to each working Citizen, to be spent for tuition at any school and for any medical treatment.
And everyone will receive a full livelihood from their employer(s), equivalent to entry-level Federal civic servant pay and benefits. This includes the Citizens of Native American identity. If the Original Peoples had not been so degraded by poverty and bureaucratism, not so many would have gone over to the God of Gambling.
Though there will still be distressed gamblers in the Threefold Republic, our governance and school systems will not be cultivating gambling.
