pschulek

we believed we were pioneers of truth, mr Dog and I, when we discovered these spiritual teachings. We thought we were dealing with insights never before revealed to dogs and humans on this earth.

But were does the path of life always lead us? To Rudolf Steiner, of course. I thought caninosophy was so advanced, not even Rudolf Steiner would’ve been able to imagine it. Maybe I was wrong.

According to this website of anecdotes, Pschulek was a dog with an attachment to Rudolf Steiner. Or perhaps the opposite was true: Rudolf Steiner was a human being with an attachment to a dog named Pschulek. Pschulek is said to have been the owner of a human being who apparently was a follower of anthroposophy. Possibly, Pschulek was the first known caninosophist in history.

La caninosophie
‘Et voici encore une gentille anecdote du ‘Docteur-Chien’, comme on avait surnommé le fidèle Pschulek , le chien d’un des membres, car il accompagnait toujours le ‘Docteur’ et n’acceptait de monter en voiture qu’après s’être assuré que Rudolf Steiner lui-même y eût pris place. Un jour Rudolf Steiner déclara à ce compagnon fidèle: ‘Pas vrai, Pschulek , qu’un jour tu fonderas une caninosophie?’. (Fred Poeppig, à l’endroit cité précédemment p. 79)

This is all a bit shocking to us. Who was Pschulek? We don’t know anything more about him, except this anecdote. For those who don’t read French, the last sentence of the quote could be translated something like this: “One day, Steiner stated to this faithful companion: ‘Isn’t it true, Pschulek, that you will one day found a caninosophy?” I know of only one photo were Steiner is seen posing with a dog present.

Is this Pschulek?

He clearly had a sense of humour about dogs. (Even though he also believed non-human animals cannot think. A subject of debate on the critics list.) Rudolf Steiner said:

“That is why our sense of smell is inferior to the dog’s. And so you can imagine that when a dog runs over the fields, he finds everything terribly interesting; so many smells come to him that if he were able to describe it, he would say the world is all smell. If among dogs there were a thinker like Schopenhauer (see Note 15 ), he would write interesting books! Schopenhauer wrote a book called “The World as Will and Idea” — but he was a man and his organ of smell had become an organ of thinking. The dog could write a book called “The World as Will and Smell.” In the dog’s book there would be a great deal beyond the discernment of a human being, because while a human being forms an idea, a mental image of things, a dog smells them. And it is my private opinion that the dog’s book — if the dog were a Schopenhauer — would actually be more interesting than the book that Schopenhauer himself wrote!”

We’re pondering the possibility of Pschulek’s canine soul having reincarnated in mr Dog. Although this seems highly likely, given the unexplainable coincidences and the work of the forces of destiny, leading us (mr Dog and I) in this direction, it also puts a weight on the shoulders of mr Dog. Being a guru–whose wisdom is always in demand and whose answers and efforts never appear to be sufficient to quench the spiritual thirst of adherents and admirers–is not a trivial task.