The Last Periods before the Division into
Sexes
WE SHALL NOW DESCRIBE the state of man before his
division into male and female. At that time the body consisted of a
soft malleable mass. The will had a much greater power over this mass
than later. When man separated from his parent entity he appeared as
a truly articulated organism, but as an incomplete one. The further
development of the organs took place outside the parent entity. Much
of what later matured inside the mother organism was at that time
brought to completion outside of it by a force which was akin to our
will power. In order to bring about such an external maturation the
care of the parent being was necessary. Man brought certain organs
into the world which he later cast off. Others, which were quite
incomplete at his first appearance, developed more fully. The whole
process had something which can be compared with the emergence from
an egg-form and the casting off of an eggshell, but here one must not
think of a firm eggshell.
The body of man was warm-blooded. This must be
stated explicitly, for in even earlier times it was different, as
will be shown later. The maturation which took place outside the
mother organism occurred under the influence of an increased warmth
which also was supplied from the outside. But one must by no means
think that the egg-man — as he will be called for the sake of
brevity — was brooded. The conditions of heat and fire
on the earth of that time were different from those of later times.
By means of his powers man could confine fire, or respectively, heat,
to a certain space. He could, so to speak, contract, (concentrate)
heat. He was thus in a position to supply the young organism with the
warmth which it needed for its maturation.
The most highly developed organs of man at that
time were the organs of motion. The sense organs of today were as yet
quite undeveloped. The most advanced among them were the organs of
hearing and of perception of cold and hot, the sense of touch; the
perception of light lagged far behind. Man came into the world with
the senses of hearing and touch; the perception of light developed
somewhat later.
Everything which is said here applies to the last
periods before the division into sexes. This division took place
slowly and gradually. Long before its actual occurrence, human beings
were already developing in such a way that one individual would be
born with more male, another with more female characteristics. Each
human being however also possessed the opposite sexual
characteristics, so that self-impregnation was possible. But the
latter could not always take place, because it depended on the
influences of external conditions in certain seasons. With respect to
many things and to a great extent, man was generally dependent on
such outer conditions. Therefore he had to regulate all his
institutions in accordance with such external conditions, for
example, in accordance with the course of the sun and the moon. But
his regulation did not take place consciously in the modern sense,
but was accomplished in a manner which one must call instinctive.
With this we already indicate the soul life of man of that time.
This soul life cannot be described as a true inner
life. Physical and soul activities and qualities were not yet
strictly separated. The outer life of nature was still experienced by
the soul. Each single disturbance in the environment acted powerfully
on the sense of hearing especially. Every disturbance of the air,
every movement was “heard.” In their movements wind and
water spoke an “eloquent language” to man. In this manner
a perception of the mysterious activity of nature penetrated into
him. This activity reverberated in his soul. His own activity was an
echo of these impressions. He transformed the perceptions of sound
into his own activity. He lived among such tonal movements and
expressed them by his will. In this way he was impelled to all his
daily labors.
He was influenced in a somewhat lesser degree by
the influences which act upon the touch. But they also played an
important role. He “felt” the environment in his body and
acted accordingly. From such influences upon the touch he could tell
when and how he had to work. He knew from them where he should rest.
In them he recognized and avoided dangers which threatened his life.
In accordance with these influences he regulated his food intake.
The remainder of the soul life took its course in
a manner quite different from that of later periods. In the soul
lived images of external objects, not conceptions of them. For
instance, when man entered a warmer space from a colder one, a
certain colored image arose in his soul. But this colored image had
nothing to do with any external object. It originated in an inner
force which was akin to the will. Such images continuously filled the
soul. One can compare this only with the flowing dream impressions of
man. At that time the images were not completely irregular, but
proceeded according to law. Therefore, in relation to this stage of
mankind, one should speak of an image consciousness rather than of a
dream consciousness. For the most part, colored images filled this
consciousness. But these were not the only kind. Thus man wandered
through the world, and through his hearing and touch participated in
the events of this world: but in his soul life this world was
mirrored in images which were very unlike what existed in the
external world. Joy and sorrow were associated with the images of the
soul to a much lesser degree than is the case today with the ideas of
men which reflect their perceptions of the external world. It is true
that one image awakened happiness, another displeasure, one hate,
another love; but these feelings had a much paler character.
On the other hand, strong feelings were aroused by
something else. At that time man was much more active than later.
Everything in his environment as well as the images in his soul,
stimulated him to activity, to movement. When his activity could
proceed without hindrance, he experienced pleasure, but when this
activity was hindered in any way, he felt displeasure and discomfort.
It was the absence or presence of hindrances to his will which
determined the content of his sensations, his joy and his pain. This
joy, or this pain were again released in his soul in a world of
living images. Light, clear, beautiful images lived in him when he
could be completely free in his actions; dark, misshapen images arose
in his soul when his movements were hindered.
Until now the average man has been described.
Among those who had developed into a kind of superhuman beings, (cf.
page 96) soul life was different. Their soul life did not have this
instinctive character. Through their senses of hearing and touch they
perceived deeper mysteries of nature, which they could interpret
consciously. In the rushing of the wind, in the rustling of the
trees, the laws, the wisdom of nature were unveiled to them.
The images in their souls did not merely represent reflections of the
external world, but were likenesses of the spiritual powers of the
world. They did not perceive sensory objects, but spiritual entities.
For example, the average man experienced fear, and an ugly, dark
image arose in his soul. By means of such images the superhuman being
received information and revelation about the spiritual entities of
the world. The processes of nature did not appear to him as dependent
on lifeless natural laws, as they do to the scientist of today, but
rather as the actions of spiritual beings. External reality did not
yet exist, for there were no external senses. But spiritual reality
was accessible to the higher beings. The spirit shone into them as
the sun shines into the physical eye of man today. In these beings,
cognition was what one may call intuitive knowledge in the fullest
sense of the word. For them there was no combining and speculating,
but an immediate perception of the activity of spiritual beings.
Therefore, these superhuman individuals could receive communications
from the spiritual world directly into their will. They consciously
directed the other men. They received their mission from the world of
spirits and acted accordingly.
When the time came in which the sexes separated,
these beings considered it their task to act upon the new life in
accordance with their mission. The regulation of sexual life emanated
from them. Everything which relates to the reproduction of mankind
originated with them. In this they acted quite consciously, but the
other men could only feel this influence as an instinct implanted in
them. Sexual love was implanted in man by immediate transference of
thought. At first all its manifestations were of the noblest
character. Everything in this area which has taken on an ugly
character comes from later times, when men became more independent
and when they corrupted an originally pure impulse. In these older
times there was no satisfaction of the sexual impulse for its own
sake. Then, everything was a sacrificial service for the continuation
of human existence. Reproduction was regarded as a sacred matter, as
a service which man owes to the world. Sacrificial priests were the
directors and regulators in this field.
Of a different kind were the influences of the
half superhuman beings (cf. page 96/97). The latter were not
developed to the point of being able to receive the revelations of
the spiritual world in an entirely pure form. Along with these
impressions of the spiritual world, the effects of the sensible earth
also arose among the images of their souls. The truly superhuman
beings received no impressions of joy and pain through the external
world. They were wholly given over to the revelations of the
spiritual powers. Wisdom flowed to them as light does to sensory
beings; their will was directed toward nothing but acting in
accordance with this wisdom. In this acting lay their highest joy.
Wisdom, will, and activity constituted their nature. This was
different among the half superhuman entities. They felt the impulse
to receive impressions from the outside, and with the satisfaction of
this impulse they connected joy, with its frustration, displeasure.
Through this they differed from the superhuman entities. To these
entities, external impressions were nothing but confirmations of
spiritual revelations They could look out into the world without
receiving anything more than a reflection of what they had already
received from the spirit. The half-superhuman beings learned
something new, and therefore they could become leaders of men
when in human souls mere images changed into likenesses and
conceptions of external objects. This happened when a portion of the
previous reproductive energy of man turned inward, at the time when
entities with brains were developed. With the brain man also received
the capacity to transform external sensory impressions into
conceptions.
It must therefore be said that by half-superhuman
beings man was brought to the point of directing his inner nature
toward the sensuous external world. He was not permitted to open the
images of his soul directly to pure spiritual influences. The
capacity of perpetuating the existence of his kind was implanted in
him as an instinctive impulse by superhuman beings. Spiritually, he
would at first have had to continue a sort of dream existence if the
half-superhuman beings had not intervened. Through their influence
the images of his soul were directed toward the sensuous, external
world. He became a being which was conscious of itself in the world
of the senses. Thereby it came about that man could consciously
direct his actions in accordance with his perceptions of the world of
the senses. Before this he had acted from a kind of instinct. He had
been under the spell of his external environment and of the powers of
higher individualities, which acted on him. Now he began to follow
the impulses and enticements of his conceptions. Therewith free
choice became possible for man. This was the beginning of “good
and evil.”
Before we continue in this direction, something
will be said concerning the environment of man on earth. In addition
to man there existed animals, which, for their kind, were at
the same stage of development as he. According to current ideas one
would include them among the reptiles. Apart from them, lower forms
of animal life existed. Between man and the animals there was an
essential difference. Because of his still malleable body, man could
live only in those regions of the earth which had not yet passed over
into the most solid material form. And in these regions animal
organisms which had a similarly plastic body lived with him. But in
other regions lived animals which already had dense bodies and also
had developed separate sexedness and the senses. Where they had come
from, will be explained later. These animals could not develop
further because their bodies had taken on this denser materiality too
soon. Some species of these became extinct, others have perpetuated
their kind to the point of contemporary forms. Man could attain
higher forms because he remained in the regions which corresponded to
his state at that time. Thereby his body remained so pliant and soft
that he could develop the organs which were to be fructified by the
spirit. With this development his external body had reached the point
where it could pass over into denser materiality and become a
protective envelope for the more delicate spiritual organs.
Not all human bodies, however, had reached this
point. There were few advanced ones. These were first animated by
spirit. Others were not animated. If the spirit had penetrated into
them it could have developed only in a defective manner because of
the as yet incomplete inner organs. Therefore, at first these human
beings were compelled to develop further without spirit. A third kind
had reached the point where weak spiritual impulses could act in
them. They stood between the two other kinds. Their mental activity
remained dull. They had to be led by higher spiritual powers. All
possible transitions existed between these three kinds. Further
development was now possible only in that a portion of the human
beings attained higher forms at the expense of the others. First, the
completely mindless ones had to be abandoned. A mingling with them
for the purpose of reproduction would have pulled the more highly
developed down to their level. Everything which had been given a mind
was therefore separated from them. Thereby the latter descended more
and more to the level of animalism. Thus, alongside man there
developed manlike animals. Man left a portion of his brothers behind
on his road in order that he himself might ascend higher. This
process had by no means come to an end. Among the men with a dull
mental life those who stood somewhat higher could advance only if
they were raised to an association with higher ones, and separated
themselves from those less endowed with spirit. Only thus could they
develop bodies which would be fit to receive the full human spirit.
After a certain time the physical development had come to a kind of
stopping-point, in that everything which lay above a certain boundary
remained human. Meanwhile, the conditions of life on earth had
changed in such a way that a further thrusting down would no longer
produce animal-like creatures, but such as were no longer capable of
living. That which had been thrust down into the animal world has
either become extinct or survives in the different higher animals.
Therefore, one must consider these animals as beings which had to
stop at an earlier stage of human development. They have not retained
the form which they had at the time of their separation, however, but
have gone from a higher to a lower level. Thus the apes are men of a
past epoch who have regressed. As man was once less perfect than he
is at present, they were once more perfect than they are now.
That which has remained in the field of the human,
has gone through a similar process, but within these human limits.
Many savage tribes must be considered to be the degenerated
descendants of human forms which were once more highly developed.
They did not sink to the level of animalism, but only to that of
savagery.
The immortal part of man is the spirit. It has
been shown when the spirit entered the body. Before this, the spirit
belonged to other regions. It could only associate itself with the
body when the latter had attained a certain level of development.
Only when one understands completely how this association came about,
can one recognize the significance of birth and death, and can
understand the nature of the eternal spirit.
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