THE
YEAR'S COURSE AS A SYMBOL FOR THE GREAT COSMIC YEAR.
[From stenographic notes unrevised by the lecturer.]
Lecture by Dr. RUDOLF STEINER, given on the 31st of December, 1915.
My
dear friends, many secrets of the spiritual world must first be
explained symbolically or half symbolically, although the
images are real and should be taken as realities. It is
necessary to use an imaginative language, as I mean to do
to-day, it is necessary to speak in the form of images which
you can meditate in your soul, because long explanations would
be needed if one were to speak: in the form of concepts and not
symbolically. But those who bear in mind the things which I
shall explain to you to day and who meditate upon them, will
not fail to discover the deeper essence which they contain.
About this time of year we always pass over from one period
into another. To be sure, this may at first appear to us a mere
subdivision of time, but this is not the case. For a deeper
instinct led the people, who had to fix the seasons of the
year, to follow certain great laws governing the course of
time. The festival which marks the transition from an old year
to a new one is celebrated in our part of the world in the
midst of winter, when the plants cease to grow, blossom and
bear fruit. Only certain forest trees keep their so-called
evergreen foliage throughout the winter. The sun unfolds its
weakest power.
We
know that spiritual processes are interwoven with all the
processes which we perceive through our senses. We know that
when we go through the woods we are not only surrounded
by the trees with their green needles or leaves, but that a
soul-spiritual essence weaves and works in the mysterious
depths of life. We have already seen that things which in the
eyes of our “clever” modern people appear as
childish superstition, can be experienced as something
which points to the real essence of the world.
We
are therefore convinced that spiritual forces and influences
lie at the foundation of everything physical, of the solid
substances or of the physical phenomena which we can perceive
through our senses. Let us now look upon the so-called lifeless
an-organic earth, upon everything which constitutes the
earth's mineral kingdom; let us look upon everything
which is not endowed with life. To the materialist these
lifeless substances appear devoid of life. But in every
lifeless object we can see a soul-element, a spiritual
element, so that we can also speak of a soul and spirit
pertaining to our so-called lifeless, an-organic, purely
mineral earth. When we speak of the consciousness of the earth,
we cannot perceive in its geological-mineralogical substance
even the trace of anything that can be compared with
man's muscles and the blood; we can only see the earth's
skeleton, or the earth's solid substance, so that when we
speak of the earth's consciousness, we must think of it as
being contained in the whole earth, which does not only consist
of a skeleton, or of solid parts, but also of water, air, etc.,
which correspond to the muscles, the blood, etc. of man. The
whole earth is endowed with consciousness, with a
consciousness which forms part of the mineral kingdom. We
shall not speak of the change in the earth's consciousness
during the course of the year in a definite region, but shall
instead enter more deeply into the idea that the whole earth is
endowed with consciousness. Let us now turn away our gaze from
the whole mineral earth and observe the plants which sprout and
blossom out of the earth.
If
we study the vegetable kingdom from the standpoint of
spiritual science we must first look upon it as an independent
being in respect to the earth. The fact that the vegetable
kingdom as a whole is an independent being in respect to the
earth, becomes clearly evident if we study the consciousness of
these two beings. We can speak of a consciousness
pertaining to the whole mineral earth, but we can also
speak of a consciousness pertaining to the whole vegetable
kingdom which develops upon the earth. The laws which govern
this consciousness of course differ from the laws which
govern human consciousness. When we speak of the consciousness
of plants, we can only bear in mind a definite region of the
earth, because the consciousness changes according to the
various regions of the earth.
As
human beings we do not notice that there is a certain
parallelism between our consciousness and, for instance, the
consciousness of the vegetable kingdom of the whole earth,
because our daytime consciousness, not our night-consciousness,
is a fully conscious state. In order to simplify matters, let
us say that during our waning daytime consciousness our Ego and
our astral body are within our physical body. I have already
explained to you that in reality this only applies to our blood
and nerve system, but not to the other systems. For when the
Ego and the astral body are, as it were, outside the head, they
permeate all the more the remaining parts of our organism.
Parallel to this we have the fact that when, for instance,
there is winter on one side of the earth, there is summer on
the other side. This too is only a transformation of
consciousness. It is the same with us human beings. But we do
not notice it, because these two states of consciousness are
not equally clear. They have different degrees of strength. The
night-consciousness is a dulled state of consciousness,
practically no consciousness at all, and the daytime
consciousness is a full state of consciousness pertaining
to the other side of our being. Our lower nature is awake
during the night, when our higher nature is asleep, and this is
also the case with the earth, for when it is winter on one
side, it is summer on the other side. When there is a waiting
state of consciousness in one part of our being, there is a
sleeping state in the other and vice-versa.
As
explained just now (this has frequently been dealt with in
other lectures) this only applies to the vegetable
kingdom. In the height of summer the vegetable kingdom
sleeps, because it sprouts and grows; it sleeps, while it
unfolds its physical part to the utmost. And it is fully awake
at that time of the year when it does not pass through any
external physical development. The vegetable kingdom is then
awake. We therefore speak of all the plants upon the earth as a
whole; and this whole is endowed with consciousness.
When we speak of this consciousness, which therefore
constitutes a second state of consciousness permeating the
earth's mineral consciousness, when we speak of this
plant-consciousness; we can really say that in our part of the
world this plant-consciousness is asleep during the summer and
awake during the dark winter season.
But
at this time of the year something else takes place. You see,
these two states of consciousness, viz. the whole
earth-consciousness pertaining to the mineral kingdom and the
whole plant-consciousness are distinct and separate: throughout
the year they are two separate beings. Yet they are not ONLY
two beings, for they permeate each other, so that one is filled
by the other during that time of the year in which we are now
living. When the old year passes over into the new year, the
mineral objects and processes of the earth and the whole
vegetable kingdom have ONE consciousness; that is to say, the
two states of consciousness interpenetrate.
Of
what kind is the MINERAL consciousness of the earth? To-day,
however, we shall not consider its different stages in the same
way in which we shall consider the consciousness of the
plants, which is awake in the winter and asleep in the summer.
What is the characteristic of the mineral consciousness,
of the consciousness pertaining to the great being of the
earth? Those who only rely upon their physical senses and upon
the intellect which they think forms part of the physical
senses, cannot know anything of this great consciousness of the
earth. But spiritual science teaches us to observe the thoughts
of the earth-consciousness, for the earth has thoughts, even as
we have thoughts of minerals, plants and animals, of the air,
the rivers and mountains. The earth has thoughts, in the same
way in which we have thoughts concerning our environment, when
we live in our ordinary daytime consciousness. What does the
earth think? What thoughts live in its consciousness?
In
the consciousness of the earth there are to begin with,
thoughts connected with the whole heavenly space pertaining to
the earth. Even as our eyes look upon the trees and stones, so
the consciousness of the earth looks out into the heavenly
spaces and harbours thoughts of all that goes on in the stars.
The earth is a being that thinks about the stars and the events
connected with them.
The
mineral consciousness thus contains the secrets of the whole
cosmos in the form of thought. Whereas we human beings walk
over the surface of the earth and only think of the stones on
our path or of many other things in our surroundings
which we perceive through our senses, the earth thinks of the
cosmos outside; these are the things which live in the
consciousness of the earth, and as we walk through space we
pass through the consciousness of the earth. The earth has a
far wider consciousness and far greater thoughts than we. And
it is really an uplifting thought to know: “As you walk
along over the surface of the earth, you do not only pass
through its atmosphere, but you pass through the thoughts of
the earth.”
Let
us now envisage something else — let us consider the
consciousness of the plants. You see, plants cannot have great
thoughts like those of the earth, for their consciousness, the
thinking consciousness of the vegetable world (of the WHOLE
vegetable kingdom, not of single plants) is far more limited;
throughout the year it embraces a far smaller sphere pertaining
to the earth — EXCEPT IN THESE DAYS, for at this time of
the year (end of December/early January) the consciousness of
the plants permeates the consciousness of the earth. The
vegetable kingdom becomes aware of the secrets of the stars, it
comprehends the mysteries of the stairs and uses them, so that
in the springtime the plants may unfold again and bear blossoms
and fruits in accordance with the mysteries of the cosmos. For
the whole mystery of the cosmos is contained in the way in
which the plants bear leaves, blossoms and fruits.
But
while the plants develop their leaves, flowers and fruits they
cannot develop thoughts about these processes. They can think
of these processes only at this time of the year, when the
consciousness of the vegetable world unites with the
consciousness of the mineral world.
In
spiritual science we therefore say; Two cycles interpenetrate
at this time of the year, approximately around New Year's Eve.
The
secret of existence consists in the fact that cycles
INTERPENETRATE, continue their development separately and again
interpenetrate. How wonderful is this secret of life! Two
streams of development — the vegetable consciousness and
the mineral consciousness, which take their course separately
throughout the year, unite when one year passes over into the
next. Then they develop separately until the end of the year
when they unite once more. This constitutes the cyclic course
of history.
Let
us now pass over from this mystery, which can fill us with a
deep, sacred feeling of reverence for the secret of the
transition of one annual cycle into the next, let us now pass
over to a still greater mystery. You know that we are living in
the cycle which is connected with the development of the
Consciousness-soul, which was preceded by the cycle
connected with the development of the Understanding or
Intellectual soul and by the cycle connected with the Sentient
soul? If we go back still further, we come to the development
of the Sentient Body. This leads us to the year 5000
B.C.,
when all human thinking developed under the influence of the
sentient body, the so-called astral body.
In
the course of human evolution we shall have to pass through the
consciousness soul, the Spirit-Self, and still higher stages of
development.
At
the present time the consciousness-soul develops chiefly
through the fact that the human being only uses his physical
body as an instrument of perception. This brought us to the
present; climax of materialism (we dealt with this in other
lectures), for we use above all our physical body. But a time
will come when we shall not only use the physical body, but
also the etheric body, even as we once used our astral body,
during the epoch of human development when the astral body
supplied the chief foundation of consciousness.
We
may therefore say: Once upon a time we lived upon the earth in
such a way that our soul passed through a phase in which its
consciousness contacted with the consciousness of our astral
body. Even as at the end of the year the plants' consciousness
passes through the. mineral consciousness, so thousands
of years ago our soul passed through our astral body, through
the consciousness pertaining to our astral body. At that time,
the consciousness of our soul and the consciousness of our
astral body were one. This leads us back thousands of years, to
the year 6000
B.C.
When this state of consciousness began,
humanity on earth celebrated a new year, a great cosmic new
year. Even as the new year now brings with it a union of the
consciousness of the plants with the consciousness of the
minerals, so 6000 years before our Christian ere marked the
beginning of a new cosmic year upon the earth. It was a great
cosmic new year! Our soul's consciousness then passed Through
the astral consciousness. of our body.
What took place at that time? At that time, 6000 years
B.C.,
when our inner soul-consciousness passed through the astral
consciousness of our body, our limited human consciousness,
such as we have it now, extended as far as the consciousness
of the plants at New Year. Even as the plant looks out into
the heavenly spaces, through the fact that its consciousness
unites with the mineral consciousness, so 6000 years
B.C.
the human being saw and perceived an extensive
field of wisdom, during that ancient cosmic NEW YEAR, when his
soul united with the astral body.
From that time comes the lost wisdom (we spoke of this a few.
days ago), the gnostic wisdom which disappeared. We must look
for the origin of this wisdom in the cosmic New Year about 6000
years before our era. This, is the source from which
Zarathustra drew his knowledge; it is the wisdom that illumined
the Gnostics with its last rays, but as already explained, only
a few traces of this gnostic wisdom have remained to us. It is
the winter of the earth, but at the same time a cosmic new year
of the earth, to which we go back.
Now
add about 4000 years to the time which has passed since the
founding of Christianity; this will bring us to a time when we
shall again pass through our astral consciousness, but
upon a higher stage. Our soul will again pass through our
astral consciousness, through a cosmic star-consciousness. Let
us prepare ourselves for this event, so that it may not find us
unprepared.
Let
us prepare ourselves for this Cosmic New Year! By preparing
ourselves for the Christmas Festival, as explained during one
of my last lectures, we prepare ourselves in the right way for
the Cosmic New Year. If the birth of spiritual knowledge lives
within us as a sacred Christmas feeling, we prepare ourselves
in the right way for the new Cosmic New Year, which begins
12,000 years after the old cosmic year.
Twelve months of the year pass by from the union of the earth's
vegetable consciousness with the mineral consciousness,
to another union. Twelve thousands of years pass by from one
Cosmic New Year to the other Cosmic New Year of the earth, from
one passage of the human soul through the astral world to a new
passage of the human soul through the astral world.
In
this solemn hour, we thus look from the new year upon a small
scale to the New Year upon a great cosmic scale, from the
ordinary New Year's Eve to the cosmic New Year's Eve, for which
we prepare ourselves if we try to perceive in the very midst of
winter the light which only streams towards us, as inhabitants
of the earth, during a cosmic New Year. Then it comes to us in
a natural, elemental way.
We
really see the world in its true light if we perceive the
surrounding world not only in the way in which it appears to
our senses, not only in accordance with a materialistic
mentality, but if we look upon the external physical world as a
symbol for the great mysteries of the cosmos.
The
approach of New Year's Eve may therefore appear to us like the
approach of a messenger from the spiritual world, revealing to
us the mysteries connected with the end of the year and
bringing us the following message:
“Behold, in the midst of the dark cold winter season the
vegetable consciousness unites with the mineral consciousness
of the earth. Let this be a sign to you that the earth too has
its own cycle, namely the great cosmic year mentioned by
Zarathustra, which goes from one Cosmic New Year's Eve to the
other, and which we must understand if we wish to grasp the
course of human development.”
Zarathustra speaks of twelve thousands of years, the twelve
thousand years mentioned just now. He described the course of
one Earthly Year, and divided it into four seasons
representing the course of human evolution upon the earth. This
is deeply rooted in the spiritual mysteries.
Let
us fill our hearts and souls with a festive, earnest
feeling, born out of a deeper comprehension of our
spiritual science. Let us unfold within our heart that
inner warmth which can be felt when in the midst of the cold
winter night we hear the message of the Sun-Spirit's descent to
the earth and then learn to know the mystery of the year's
course.
The
thirteen days from the 24th of December to the 6th of January
are the days in which the plants' consciousness unites with the
mineral consciousness. If the human being can transfer himself
into the consciousness of the plants, he can see and dream of
many mysteries which pass through his heart in many forms
— he can have dreams such as that of Olaf
Åsteson.
If
we develop such feelings and moods, we obtain the right
attitude towards the aims of our spiritual knowledge; these
warm feelings which stream through our heart are a
preparation for the New Cosmic Year, and they enable us
to await it worthily, to look forward to that cosmic New Year's
Eve which brings a new cosmic year. In future incarnations,
when our souls will pass through the great Cosmic New Year, we
shall experience it in the right way if the end of the year
which closes the small cycle of twelve months becomes a symbol
for the great end of the year which closes a cycle of twelve
thousand years.
This is the secret of our existence. The things which take
place upon a small scale always correspond to the things which
take place upon a large scale, and upon a large scale the
things are the same as upon a small scale. The small scale, the
course of one year, can only be grasped if it becomes a symbol
for the great cosmic course, for the cycle which
encompasses thousands of years.
The
year is an image for the Aeons. And Aeons are the reality of
symbols which we encounter in the course of one year. If we
really understand the year's course, our hearts will be deeply
moved toy the mysteries of the cosmos, at this time of the year
which marks the beginning of a new year. Let us try to attune
our soul so that it can look into the new year conscious of the
fact that it can bear within it the year's course as a symbol
for the great COSMIC course, which encompasses all the
mysteries pursued, by spiritual Beings who surge and weave
through the universe from aeon to aeon, in the same way in
which the Lesser Gods pursue the mysteries connected with the
development of the vegetable and mineral Kingdoms during the
course of one year.
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