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Rudolf Steiner e.Lib
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Occult Science - An Outline
Rudolf Steiner e.Lib Document
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Occult Science - An Outline
Man and the Evolution of the World
The second of the great evolutionary periods the Sun stage
uplifts the human being to a higher level of consciousness than
he attained on Saturn, although compared with man's present
consciousness, his condition on the Sun might still be called
unconsciousness. For it is well-nigh equivalent to the state in which
he now finds himself in absolutely dreamless sleep. We might also
compare it with the low degree of consciousness in which our world of
plants is slumbering today. For supersensible perception there is, as
a matter of fact, no such thing as unconsciousness there are but
differing degrees of consciousness. Everything in the world is
conscious.
Man attains this higher state of consciousness in the course of Sun
evolution through the fact that the etheric or life-body is now
incorporated in him. But this cannot take place until the Saturn
conditions have been recapitulated. Such recapitulation has a quite
definite meaning. When the interval of rest is over, what was
previously Saturn emerges from the cosmic sleep as a new
world-entity as Sun. But the whole situation within which
evolution takes place is now changed. The Spirit-beings whose working
upon Saturn we described have progressed to new conditions. The seed
of man, however, as it emerges on the newly formed Sun, appears, to
begin with, just as it become on Saturn. It has accordingly first of
all to transmute the several evolutionary stages it underwent on
Saturn, in order to adapt them to the conditions on Sun. Hence the Sun
epoch begins with a repetition of the Saturn events, but a repetition
adapted to the changed conditions the Spirits of Wisdom begin
their work of pouring the etheric or life-body into the physical. The
higher stage that man attains upon Sun may be characterized as
follows. The physical body, formed already upon Saturn in its germinal
beginnings, is raised to a second level of perfection, in that it now
becomes the bearer of an etheric or life-body. The etheric or
life-body itself attains, during the Sun evolution, the first degree
of its perfection. But for these stages of perfection to be achieved
the second for the physical and the first for the life-body
the intervention of other Spiritual-beings too is needed, just
as it was for the Saturn stage.
When the Spirits of Wisdom begin with their inpouring of the
life-body, the Sun entity, which until now was dark, begins to radiate
light. Simultaneously the first signs of an inner quickening appear in
the seed of man: life begins to be. What on Saturn had to be described
as a mere semblance of life, is now becoming real life. The inpouring
goes on for a time, and then an important change comes over the seed
of man; it differentiates into two parts. Hitherto, the physical body
and life-body have been in intimate union as a single whole; now, the
physical begins to separate off as a distinct part although it
still remains permeated with the life-body. Thus we now have to do
with a twofold human being. One part of man is physical body,
permeated through and through with life-body; the other consists of
life-body alone. This severance takes place during an interval of rest
in the Sun life, when the light-radiance which had begun to appear
dies down again. It happens during what may be called a cosmic
night. This interval of rest is however far shorter than the
aforesaid interval between the Saturn and Sun evolutions. When it is
over, the Spirits of Wisdom continue for a while to work upon the
two-fold human being, just as they worked on him before, when he was
single and undivided. Thereafter, the Spirits of Movement come in with
their activity; they permeate with their own astral body the life-body
of the human being. The life-body thus attains the faculty to carry
out certain inner movements in the physical movements that are
comparable to those of the saps and fluids in a plant of the present
day.
The whole of Saturn consisted of warmth alone. During Sun evolution
this warmth-substance condenses to a state which may be likened to
that of our present gas or vapor. It is the condition we can denote as
Air. The first beginnings of it show themselves after the Spirits of
Movement have come in with their activity. To supersensible
consciousness the following appears. Within the warmth-substance
delicate, tenuous structures emerge, which are brought into regular
movement by the forces of the life-body. These structures make
manifest the physical body of the human being as it is at this stage
in its evolution. They are permeated through and through with warmth,
and are also enveloped as if by an integument of warmth.
Warmth-creations with air-forms incorporated in them, the latter
engaged in regular and constant movement so may be describe the
human being, physically speaking, at this stage. If we want to
maintain the suggested comparison with the plant of the present day,
we must remember that we are not dealing with a compact plant but with
a form consisting of air or gas, the movements of which are not unlike
those of the sap in the
present plant.1
This evolution is then carried further. After a time an interval of
rest once more ensues; and when this is over, the Spirits of Movement
continue with their work, until it is supplemented by that of the
Spirits of Form, as a result of whose activity the gaseous structures,
hitherto constantly changing, now assume more permanent shape. This
too is brought about through the Spirits of Form pouring their forces
in and out of the life-body of the human beings. Previously, when the
Spirits of Movement alone were working upon them, the gaseous bodies
were in incessant motion; only for a moment did they ever maintain
their shape. Henceforward they will now assume, for a time,
distinguishable forms.
Once more, after a certain time, comes an interval of rest; and when
that is over, the Spirits of Form resume their activity. Then,
however, altogether new conditions appear within Sun evolution.
For now the point is reached where Sun evolution has attained its
middle epoch. It is the time when the Spirits of Personality, who
reached their human level upon Saturn, rise to a higher stage of
perfection, thus transcending the stage of humanity. They attain a
consciousness which, in the regular course of evolution, present-day
man does not yet possess. He will attain it when the Earth the
fourth of the planetary stages in evolution has reached its
goal and the next planetary period will have begun. At that time, man
will no longer perceive around him merely what the present physical
senses communicate to him; he will be able to observe in pictures the
inner soul-condition of the beings that surround him. He will have
picture-consciousness, still however retaining full
self-consciousness. For in his picture-vision, there will be nothing
dim or dreamlike. He will perceive things of the soul in
pictures it is true, yet so that the pictures will express realities
just as physical colors and tones do today. In our time it is only by
spiritual-scientific training that man can raise himself to this kind
of seership. The training will be dealt with in a later chapter.
Such seership the Spirits of Personality attain as their normal gift
of evolution in the middle of the Sun stage. And it enables them,
during Sun evolution, to work upon the newly formed life-body of the
human being in the same way as they worked upon his physical body
during Saturn. As upon Saturn the warmth rayed back to them their own
personality, so now the gaseous forms ray back to them in shining
light the picture-visions of their seership. They behold
supersensibly what is now taking place on Sun. Nor is their
seeing by any means mere observation. For in the pictures that stream
outward from the Sun, it is as though something of that force which
man on Earth denotes as Love were making itself felt. And as we look
in soul more closely, we find the cause of this. Into
the light as it rays outward from the Sun, sublime Beings have mingled
their activity. These are the Spirits of Love (in
Christian language, Seraphim) already named in the preceding pages.
Henceforth they work upon the human etheric body (or life-body) in
co-operation with the Spirits of Personality. The combined activity of
these Beings enables the life-body to take a further step on its path
of evolution. It becomes capable not only of transforming the gaseous
structures which are within it, but of so working upon them that the
first suggestions of a reproductive process appear in the living human
entities. Secretions are as it were driven forth or we might
say, perspired by the already-formed gaseous
organisms, and assume form in their turn in the likeness of their
mother-organism.
Before we can go on to describe the further evolution of the Sun, we
must point to a fact which is of the greatest importance in the whole
cosmic process. In the course of a given epoch not all the beings
attain the goal of their evolution. Some fall short of it. During
Saturn evolution, for example, not all the Spirits of Personality
attained the human stage appointed for them. Nor did all
the human physical bodies that developed upon Saturn reach the degree
of maturity which could enable them to become the bearers on Sun of an
independent life-body. As a result, beings and structures are present
on the Sun, unsuited to the conditions that obtain there. These must
now make good what they have missed on Saturn. During the Sun stage
spiritual perceptions can therefore observe the following. When the
Spirits of Wisdom begin with their in-pouring of the life-body, the
whole body of the Sun becomes as it were clouded. For it is
interspersed with structures which belong essentially to Saturn
warmth-structures that are unable to condense in the proper way to
air. These are the human entities which have remained behind at the
Saturn stage. They cannot become bearers of a normally developed
life-body.
What is thus left behind of Saturn's warmth-substance, divides on the
Sun into two portions. One is as it were absorbed by the human bodies,
and constitutes henceforth, within the human being, a kind of lower
nature. Thus on Sun the human being receives something into his bodily
nature that corresponds in reality to the Saturn stage. Now as the
Saturn body of man made it possible for the Spirits of Personality to
rise to their human level, so on the Sun does this Saturn
part of man render a like service to the Fires Spirits. These rise to
their human stage by pouring their forces in and out of it, just as
the Spirits of Personality did on Saturn. This too takes place during
the middle epoch of Sun evolution, for then the Saturn part of the
human being is sufficiently mature for the Fire Spirits (The
Archangeloi) to pass through their human stage with its assistance.
Another portion of the Saturn warmth-substance separates off and comes
to an independent existence alongside of and among the Sun human
beings, constituting thus a second kingdom, developing a fully
independent, but purely physical body a body of warmth. There
is therefore in this second kingdom no independent life-body to
receive the activity of the fully evolved Spirits of Personality. But
now certain Spirits of Personality have also stopped short at the
Saturn stage; they did not attain there the level of humanity. Between
them and this second kingdom of the Sun, there is a bond of
attraction. They must now relate themselves to this retarded kingdom
in the same way as their more advanced companions related themselves
upon Saturn to the human beings. For upon Saturn these too had
developed only a physical body. But on the Sun itself there is no
possibility for this work to be done by the backward Spirits of
Personality. They therefore separate themselves from the Sun and form
an independent heavenly body outside it. From this heavenly body that
has left the Sun, the retarded Spirits of Personality work upon the
creatures of the second Sun kingdom.. The single cosmic entity that
Saturn was before, has thus become two. Henceforth the Sun has a
second heavenly body in its environment, representing a kind of
re-birth of Saturn as it were, a new Saturn. From this new
Saturn the second kingdom of the Sun is endowed with the character of
personality. Its beings have no personality upon the Sun itself; but
they reflect to the Spirits of Personality on the new Saturn
their personality. In among the human beings on the sun,
supersensible consciousness can observe forces of warmth, whose
working intermingles with the regular evolution of the Sun. Herein we
have to perceive the Spirits of the new Saturn wielding their power.
Observation of the human being during the middle epoch of Sun
evolution reveals it to be divided into a physical body and a
life-body. The latter is the scene of activity for the more advanced
Spirits of Personality, in unison with the Spirits of Love. The
physical body is now intermingled with a portion of the retarded
Saturn nature, and here the activity of the Fire Spirits is at work.
In what the Fire Spirits achieve in this retarded Saturn nature, we
have to recognize the forerunners of the present sense-organs of Earth
man. (It will be remembered that already upon Saturn the Fire Spirits
were concerned in elaborating within the warmth-substance the seeds of
the human senses.) On the other hand, in that which is accomplished by
the Spirits of Personality in union with the Spirits of Love (the
Seraphim,) we have to perceive the first beginnings of man's present
glandular organs.
But now the work of those Spirits of Personality who dwell on the new
Saturn is not exhaustively described in what was said above. Their
activity goes beyond the second kingdom of the Sun; they also
establish a kind of connection between this second kingdom and the
human senses. The warmth-substances of this second kingdom stream
through the human senses in their germinal condition, pouring
continually in and out of them. In this way the human being rises on
Sun to a kind of perception of the lower kingdom that is there beside
him. It is, in the nature of the case, a very dim perception
corresponding in all respects to the dull Saturn consciousness of
which we spoke before. And it consists essentially in varying effects
of warmth.
All that has here been described as pertaining to the middle epoch of
Sun evolution, lasts for a certain time; and then, once more there is
an interval of rest. After the interval, things go on for awhile in
the same way as before, until a point is reached in evolution when the
human etheric body is mature for a united working of the Sons of Life
(The Angeloi) and the Spirits of Harmony (the Cherubim.) To
supersensible consciousness manifestations now appear within the human
being which may be likened to perceptions of taste, and which reveal
themselves outwardly as sounds. It will be remembered that we resorted
to a similar comparison in our description of Saturn evolution. Here
however, on Sun, all that does on in the human being is far more
inward, is full of a more independent life.
The Sons of Life hereby attain the dim picture-consciousness which the
Fire Spirits reached on Saturn. The Spirits of Harmony (Cherubim) are
their helpers in this. They behold in spirit what is now taking its
course in Sun evolution; but they deny themselves all the fruits of
this their contemplation, all feeling of the Wisdom-filled pictures
that arise there, and pour them like wondrous magic scenes into the
dream-consciousness of the Sons of Life. These in turn weave the forms
they behold into man's etheric body, which rises thereby to higher and
higher stages in its evolution.
Again there is an interval of rest. Again the whole arises out of the
sleep of worlds and, after it has continued its course for
a time, the human being is mature enough to be able to arouse within
him the forces of his own. These are the forces which were poured into
his being by the Thrones during the last epoch of Saturn evolution.
The human being now continues his evolution in an inner life which, in
its manifestation to consciousness, may be likened to an inward
sensation of smell. Outwardly, over against the heavenly spaces, he
reveals himself as a personality. We have already seen how at the end
of Saturn evolution, personality manifested like a machine. Moreover,
as at that time the first seed was developed of what is still in a
seedling state even in the man of today, namely Spirit-Man or Atma, so
now and in like manner the first seed is formed of Life-Spirit or
Budhi.
After all this has gone on for a certain time, there is once more an
interval of rest And, as has happened before, after the interval the
former activity of the human being is resumed for a while. Then new
conditions enter in, arising out of a fresh intervention on the part
of the Spirits of Wisdom. Through this the human being becomes able to
feel the first traces of sympathy and antipathy with his environment.
It is as yet not real feeling; nevertheless, it is a forerunner of
feeling. For the inner activity of life, the manifestations of which
could be described as resembling perceptions of smell, reveals itself
outwardly as if in a kind of primitive speech. When an agreeable smell
or taste, glimmer of light, or other manifestation is inwardly
perceived, the human being makes it known outwardly by a sound.
Similarly too with an inwardly distasteful perception. And now, as a
result of all these developments, the true meaning of Sun evolution
for the being of man has been attained. He has reached a higher level
of consciousness than was his Saturn. It is the consciousness of
sleep.
After a while the point has also been reached when the higher Beings
connected with the Sun stage must pass to other spheres, there to
assimilate the potentialities they have implanted in themselves by the
work they have done on the human being. A greater interval of rest
supervenes, such as there was between Saturn and Sun. All that has
been evolved on Sun passes into a condition like that of a plant when
its forces of growth are resting in the seed. But as these come forth
again to the light of day in a new plant, so after the interval of
rest is over, all that was life upon the Sun emerges again out of the
bosom of the worlds and a new planetary existence begins. We shall
well understand the meaning of such an interval of rest or sleep
of worlds if we turn our thought for a moment to some one of the
above-named groups of Beings the Spirits of Wisdom, for
example. On Saturn, these Beings were not yet so far advanced as to be
able to pour forth from themselves an etheric body. The experiences
they underwent there served however to prepare them for this activity.
During the interval they transmitted what had been prepared in them,
into the actual faculty, with the result that on Sun they were ready
to let the life stream out from them and so endow the human being with
a life-body of his own.
Footnotes:
-
The gas appears to
supersensible consciousness through the light-effects which it sends
forth. Hence we might also speak of forms of light presenting
themselves to spiritual vision.
Last Modified: 02-Nov-2024
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