IN our last lecture we pointed to the relation between the spiritual
forces which work in the beings of the kingdoms of nature on earth and
what we see externally. To-day let us shortly recapitulate how that
has been worked out, for it is necessary to examine more closely the
things which form an essential part of our theme, as they will lead us
to what is to be the culminating point of our lectures: a
comprehension of the living cooperation of the beings of the various
hierarchies and their offspring, in the heavenly bodies and in the
kingdoms of nature. We stated that man has the four principles of his
being active on the physical plane; his physical body, etheric body,
astral body and ego. Further on we drew attention to the fact that in
the animal, three principles are active on the physical plane; the
physical, etheric, and astral bodies; while on the other hand, the
group-ego is on the astral plane. Further we saw that with regard to
the plants, their physical and etheric bodies alone are active on the
physical plane, their astral bodies on the astral plane, and the
group-ego on the Devachanic plane. With regard to the mineral, we only
found its physical body on the physical plane, its etheric body on the
astral plane, its astral body on the Devachanic plane, while in the
region we designate as the higher Devachanic plane, dwell the
group-egos of the minerals.
We will now pass on to show more in detail what all this really means.
Till now I have only been able to say that the occult vision which
raises itself to the first of the super-sensible worlds lying above us,
does not find in the physical world with regard to the animal, what he
finds there with regard to man namely, the ego; for that which
in man we call the ego, the I, can only be found for the animal on the
astral plane, in the super-sensible world; there only it has the center
of its activity. Occult science cannot ascribe an ego to the animal in
the physical world. It does not deny an ego to the animal, but states
that what can be designated as the ego of an animal, is only to be
found in the astral world. Objection may easily be raised to the fact
that an ego is denied to the animals, even to the higher animals, on
the physical plane, whereas it might be said, and indeed often is said
that with regard to their actions animals display an
extraordinary intelligence, a quite wonderful comprehension, so that
much that the animals does on the physical plane can be likened to
what man does. Now, those who express themselves thus have not grasped
the fundamental principle of this matter. It would not occur to anyone
who penetrates into these matters, to deny what we call human
soul-forces to animals on the physical plane.
There is no question of that. In this sphere lies the foundation of
manifold mistakes and misunderstandings. Thus, misunderstanding would
at once arise if a certain materialistic Darwinism were to say in our
time: Indeed you Anthroposophists look at the matter as though
man were definitely to be sought on a higher stage of spirituality
than the animal; whereas we see that the animal develops intelligence,
so much intelligence, so much even of a certain instinctive morality
exists in the animal kingdom, that what man has in his soul-forces may
well be but a sort of higher stage of what we meet with in the animal
kingdom. The point of view here involved is quite erroneous. No
unprejudiced study would deny intelligence, even reason, to the animal
kingdom. We need only consider such facts as that man, comparatively
late in his evolution arrived at the discovery of paper. The discovery
of paper by human intelligence is represented in our historical
descriptions as a very great acquisition; and in a certain respect it
certainly is a sign of human progress. Yet the wasps knew this art
millions of years ago; for the material of which the wasps build their
nests is really paper. We can therefore say: That which the
human intellect as such accomplishes, that the animal kingdom already
possesses far, far down in its ranks. It would not occur to an
unprejudiced observer to deny human soul-forces, as such, to the
animal; indeed in the realm of occultism we are even convinced that
sagacity and intelligence in the animals is much surer, more precise,
and much more free from error than in man. The essential point is that
in man all those soul-forces relate to an ego in the physical world,
an ego which is developing itself individually in a physical world,
going through an individual development and education. Now as regards
the animals belonging to any one group, we know that the circle of
their development depends simply on the species, the genus, to which
they belong; but the case of man who develops himself as an individual
is quite different. If we direct our gaze to the animal kingdom, we
find in the animal world the most varied forms, which differ far more
from each other than do the human races. Certainly we find great
differences in the human races, all over the earth, but if we compare
these with the great difference of the animals from the imperfect up
to the more perfect species, we notice how powerful is the
differentiation in the animal kingdom; quite different from that in
man. On what then does this depend? We can best obtain an approximate
answer, if we first of all ask: What causes the variety of groups in
the animal kingdom, the different species, which we find
characteristically spread over the globe?
Occult vision shows us that the cause of the varieties of the animal
species does not simply originate on the earth; rather does the animal
species receive its forms from cosmic space, and indeed the forces
which produce the one species come from a different part of cosmic
space from that whence come the forces which produce another. The
forces which construct the various animal-forms, stream down upon our
earth-planet from the other planets of our planetary system. We may
actually divide the whole animal kingdom into six or seven principal
groups, and these chief groups have the highest group-egos. These have
the impulse for their activity in the six or seven principal planets
belonging to our System; so that the forces which form the principal
groups of the animals work down spiritually from the planets. In
saying this we have at the same time given the concrete explanation of
what is actually meant when we speak of group-egos of the animals. It
means that in the animal dwell spiritual forces, belonging to beings
not to be sought upon the earth itself, but outside the earth in
cosmic space, and indeed primarily in the planetary world. The
Regents, as it were, of the principal group-forms of the animals live
on our planets; they had to withdraw into these planets in order to
work down with their forces at the right distance from the earth and
from the right direction. For only from these directions in space can
that come which builds up the principal animal forms in the right way.
Now if the planets were only to allow these forces to stream down upon
our earth, we should not actually have the multiplicity in the animal
kingdom we now have, we should only have seven principal forms. Once
upon a time, in far distant ages, there were only the seven principal
animal forms; but these seven forms were very mobile, determinable, so
soft and plastic in their formation that they could easily be
transformed; one special form into another and again other forms into
others; this actually occurred at a later period of time. The seven
principal forms date far, far back; but then appeared other forms in
addition to these, and as it were, worked either to strengthen or
hinder the forces of the planets.
I shall now have to explain how these other forces came into being. If
we direct our ordinary vision to the heavenly spaces we may easily
believe that everything is actually of like form; but this is not the
case. If we direct our gaze to a certain direction in space, occult
vision perceives something quite different in one direction from what
it sees in another. Space is by no means a homogeneous affair; it is
not alike on all sides; for different forces work from the different
directions of space. The whole of cosmic space is filled with
spiritual beings of the different hierarchies working in different
ways from various directions on to the earth. In those past ages when
man had a certain original primitive clairvoyance, the following was
clear to him: If at a particular hour of the day I direct my
gaze to one part of the heavens I encounter certain forces, while in
another direction I encounter certain other forces. And men were
also aware that from certain points specially precise and definite
forces worked down from cosmic space, which were of quite particular
importance to the earth. These are all arranged in the stellar circle
of cosmic space which has since ancient times been called the Zodiac.
Men did not then speak without reason of the Zodiac or Animal Circle;
they knew why it was so called. In the heavenly spaces the case is as
follows. The forces which worked down from the planet Mars, for
instance and brought about in the still plastic animal substance, one
of the seven principal forms, worked in a different way according to
whether Mars stood before one sign of the Zodiac or before another.
The Zodiac was divided into Twelve Signs, which represent the
constellations, and according as the Martian forces which affect one
animal form, stood before Aries, or Taurus, or any other
constellation, their influence varied. In this way the seven different
forms were modified. A number of different animal forms were thus made
possible; and if you consider that to this must also be added the fact
that Mars, for instance, can work qualifyingly when he stands before
Leo so that he supplants the Lion in relation to the earth; or that
from the other side he works qualifyingly when the earth is between
the sun and Mars; you see that there are a very great number of
possibilities.
All these forces have worked together to differentiate the seven
original groups of the animal kingdom; so that the whole multiplicity
of our animal forms on the earth arose from the fact that the forces
of the planets are actually the abode of the group-souls, the
group-egos of the animals; and that these beings fulfil their tasks
from these centers, for only from there can they do so. For only
because that particular group-soul of an animal form which was to work
down from Mars selected that position in the heavens can it exercise
the corresponding result upon the earth below. Here lie the forces
which brought about the multiplicity of our animals; and when we use
the expression, The animal group-ego is to be found on the
astral plane, that really means that when occult vision wishes
to seek the group-ego of any animal form, he must not seek for it on
earth, but on one of the planets. That which with regard to man is to
be found on the earth, occult vision can only discover for the animal
outside in cosmic space, amongst the planets. Just as, for instance, a
man who has to accomplish something upon the earth which necessitates
various standpoints, must adapt himself to these, so must the
group-ego which dwells on a planet pass through cosmic space in front
of the Zodiac, in order to differentiate its forces from there. If we
bring the facts just stated into connection with the fact that the
impulse for the animal forms is continually sought to-day in some
principle of the earth itself in the struggle for existence
or in natural selection or the like then the facts which
have come into being through the efforts of Darwin, for example, are
magnificent in so far as he did not go beyond the facts. For
unconsciously Darwinism has described the mobility of the original
animal forms and how they were actually created from the basic forms.
But, according to the whole predisposition of our times, man has
looked away from the fact that the forces which create those forms
work down from cosmic space; and that therefore the creators of the
animal forms are to be sought in the world of the planets which belong
to our planetary system, but are outside our earth.
If we now inquire how this matter stands in relation to man, we can
only receive an answer by first answering that other question: Of what
nature are the spirits which we have now described as the group-souls
of the animals and which have their dwelling-place upon the various
planets? It is then seen that these group-egos of the animals are the
offspring of that category of spiritual beings to which I have
referred in this course of lectures as the Spirits of Motion. Thus we
must look upon the group-souls of the animals as the offspring of the
Spirits of Motion. Now the Spirits of Motion actually gave out of
their own substance the astral body to man, during the ancient
Moon-condition. In order to complete the matter we may therefore say:
This earth was preceded by the Moon-condition, during which man
received his astral body from the Spirits of Motion. In other words.
When the earth was Moon the old Moon, not the present one
(the present moon is only a detached portion of the earth
itself, whilst the ancient moon was an earlier incarnation of our
earth) whilst the earth was in this ancient Moon-condition, the
Spirits of Motion hovered as it were, over this old Moon and allowed
their own substance to trickle in, to stream in to what man had
brought over from previous conditions. So that what man acquired as
astral body which was new to him, for at that time he had only
his physical and etheric bodies was derived from the Spirits of
Motion. The ancient Moon has disappeared; the earth has been formed;
the Spirits of Motion have developed off-spring, besides carrying on
their own evolution. These are the beings we designate as the
group-egos of the animals; they have not taken up their abode upon the
earth but upon the other planets, in order so to work upon the earth
from there as to bring forth the animal forms, in the manner we have
described. This is the special point in what I have stated. That we
can, in a certain sense, describe the group-egos as offspring of the
beings of the Second Hierarchy.
We must now put the following question: These offspring of the Spirits
of Motion work down from the planets upon the animals; do similar
spiritual beings work upon man, upon the human race spread over the
earth? We cannot answer this as regards those spiritual beings we have
cited as the normal members of the several hierarchies; but we have
mentioned a special category of spirits which we have called the
Luciferic Spirits, and we have described the relation of these to the
normal spirits. In our present cycle of time there are Luciferic
Spirits in every category of the hierarchies. Whereas the animal
group-souls are the normal and proper offspring of the Spirits of
Motion, the Luciferic Spirits corresponding to the Spirits of Motion
are those who resisted the normal path, and have remained in
opposition to the normal Spirits of Motion. These Luciferic Spirits of
Motion are grouped on the various planets in relation with the earth,
just as are the normal offspring of the Spirits of Motion. They too,
have their parts assigned to them, so to speak, and have their abode
apportioned to them on the various planets. Just as the group-souls of
the animals dwell on the various planets, so also do certain Luciferic
Spirits of Motion. They have set themselves the task which really
belongs to the Spirits of Motion; that of working formatively from the
planets, so that groups of corresponding beings arise upon the earth.
Just as seven principal animal groups were formed, which have only
been specified according to the relations described, so did the
Luciferic Beings of Motion work from the planets on to the earth to
differentiate the human race, which was actually, in a certain sense,
designed according to a single plan. Whilst in the whole cosmic plan
it was intended that a single human form was to arise throughout the
earth, these Luciferic Spirits of Motion worked down from the various
planets and differentiated the human form all over the earth in such a
way that the forms of the chief individual human races were able to
arise. More details are to be found in my Christiania lectures as to
the special way in which the Luciferic Spirits of Motion work to form
the different races.
Thus we have to distinguish between the offspring of the Spirits of
Motion and the Luciferic Spirits of Motion. But there is something
else besides this! Naturally, we shall now have to ask the question:
Where then are the normal Spirits of Motion now, who, during the
ancient Moon period, gave man his astral body? Where are those
who attained the goal of their evolution at the time of the transition
from the Moon to that of the Earth? Those completely mature Spirits of
Motion, where are they now? The peculiarity of these spirits is that
they too have their actual dwelling-place, or, rather, their field of
operation upon the planets of our system; so that they do not, for
instance, work directly as Spirits of Motion from the Sun, in which
they have their headquarters, so to speak, but first send out their
rays to the planets and from these work back upon the earth. In so far
as we have to do with the true Spirits of Motion, their activity comes
direct from the planets of our system; but of course everything which
works from the planets from those spiritual beings belongs to the
super-sensible, invisible world, as such. Only the effects themselves
are externalized upon the earth; the results appear on the earth.
What, then, do these Spirits do for men, who at one time, upon the
ancient Moon, gave him his astral body from their own substance? This
astral body was preserved as a germ in the earth-existence; and, after
the old Moon had disappeared and an interval had gone by, and the
earth had been formed anew, then this astral body once more developed
from the germ. But the Spirits of Motion themselves have developed
further, to a higher activity. With regard to their offspring, we know
that they have become the group-souls of the animals; those that
rebelled against them took part, as we know, in the differentiation of
the human races. Where, then, do the progressed, genuine,
normally-developed Spirits of Motion reveal themselves? An example
will make this evident.
We know that each individual man is guided by what we call his Angel;
we know that nations are spiritually led by their nation-spirit or
Archangel (nations are quite different from races) we know that the
successive periods of civilisation are led by the Spirits of the Age,
or Archai; and, finally, we know that above the Archai stand that
category of the hierarchies which we call the Spirits of Form; while
above them are the Spirits of Motion. We will think of them as they
are upon the earth, with the time behind them when they gave to man
his astral body and having themselves made their proper progress. Now
in human evolution there is something which goes beyond the character
of the mere Spirits of the Age; something more full of significance,
more important for collective humanity than the sphere of the
individual Spirits of the Age. The Spirits of the Age work upon the
earth for a definite period of time; but there are spiritual
developments in the evolution of humanity as a whole which embrace
wider spheres than that of the Spirits of the Age. These great epochs
of humanity which extend beyond the influence of the Spirits of the
Age, have as their Regent the normally-developed Spirits of Motion.
These so reveal themselves in their activity in the process of the
growth of humanity that they stimulate the great impulses of
civilisation. If we now survey the history of man, the history of
human civilisation, we see that individual men are guided by the
Angels or Angeloi, nations and peoples by the Archangels or
Archangeloi; certain periods of civilisation are guided by the Spirits
of the Age, and also certain spheres (as we shall see) by the Spirits
of Form.
Then, however, we have the collective course of the different
civilizations in human evolution; so that for certain long periods of
time, much longer than those ruled by a Spirit of the Age, the Spirits
of Motion are inspiringly active in great spheres; one Spirit of
Motion working down from one planet at one time, another working down
at another time from another planet. Thus these normally developed
Spirits of Motion so work down from the planets that they succeed one
another in the process of human evolution, and reveal themselves in
the great civilisation impulses in the evolution of the earth which
reach out beyond the sphere of the Spirits of the Age. Thus, for
example, from that Spirit of Motion who worked down from the planet
which present-day astronomy calls Venus, and which ancient astronomy
called Mercury (for these two names have been exchanged), from that
Spirit of Motion came originally that impulse of civilisation which
was expressed in Buddhism. Other impulses of civilisation coming from
beyond the mere Spirits of the Age, came from the Spirits of Motion on
the other planets. Thus, while from the offspring of the Spirits of
Motion come the group-souls of the animals, and from the Luciferic,
Spirits of Motion the racial forms of humanity, these great impulses
of civilisation come from the Spirits of Motion who have attained
their normal evolution. Many other impulses also come from this
direction, but it is important at present to bear in mind, from this
point of view, the impulses of civilisation. Now, here you have in
this development of our whole planetary system something you find
mentioned among the great truths which, as every experienced student
knows, are to be found in The Secret Doctrine of H. P.
Blavatsky. Those who know find indications of this there. On one page
is written Buddha = Mercury i.e., Buddha equals
Mercury. That means the Individuality who was the Leader of Buddhism
was traced back in occultism to the Spirit of Motion who works down
from that planet. He is the inspirer; from him comes the influence
expressed in that stream of civilisation. It is indeed the case that
this remarkable book, The Secret Doctrine, by H. P. Blavatsky,
brings great truths, but they must be recognized in the right way. We
must not simply accept this as a book of dogmas; we must trace each
single thing in it; then only shall we recognize the greatness of this
book. Of all the great truths taught by the true occultist,
significant intimations are to be found in The Secret Doctrine
of, H. P. Blavatsky; and when, through its inspirer there was
inscribed in The Secret Doctrine: Buddha is
equivalent to Mercury that hinted at the great truth of
which the inspirer of H. P. Blavatsky was well aware; that the
individual who, in the twenty-ninth year of his life became the
Buddha, was able at the time symbolically indicated as the
sitting under the Bodhi Tree, to begin to be inspired by
the Spirit of Motion enthroned in Mercury. This individual from being
a Boddhisattva therewith became a Buddha. That means that his spirit
was filled and inspired, not by what comes from the earth-sphere, but
from universal space, from the cosmos. He was thus withdrawn from the
earth-sphere to Nirvana, that is, into a sphere in which the
earth-sphere no longer plays a part. H. P. Blavatsky, in her ordinary
consciousness, knew nothing of many of these things, but her Inspirer
knew them. These things must be drawn forth from the depths of
occultism, and in these subtle and great truths things must not be
confused one with another. Now it is not my intention to assert that
directly a Boddhisattva is raised to a Buddha, a Spirit of Motion
alone works inspiringly upon him; for the beings of the higher
hierarchies work through him also. The essential point is that from
that time onwards the spirits of the lower hierarchies fell away; so
that he could come directly in contact, so to speak, with those beings
designated as the normally-developed Spirits of Motion.
Now before we consider the process of human civilisation from another
aspect, let us pass to the plant-kingdom. In that kingdom we see that
the astral body is to be found on the astral plane, where also are the
group-egos of the animals. This leads back to the real fact revealed
to occult vision with regard to the plants; that not only in their
group-egos, but already in the astral body of the plant, forces are
actively working down from the planetary system, from the stars. Thus,
whereas in the animal the Spirits of Motion are only active in the
group-forces, in the forces which create the group-forms, that which
belongs to the sphere of the Spirits of Motion works in the plant on
the astral body. The offspring of the Spirits of Motion belong also to
this category, only they differ from the offspring of other beings
because they were formed at a somewhat different time, but as
offspring of the Spirits of Motion they work not merely upon the ego,
but upon the astral body of the plants.
We may, therefore, say that forces of the Spirits of Motion or their
offspring work down upon the astral bodies of the plants from the
planets of the planetary system. In every being the astral body is
that which gives the impulse to motion. Belonging to the plants we
have on the physical plane, their physical and etheric bodies. If any
forces whatever were to work upon the plants from the sphere of the
Spirits of Motion, these forces would, as the astral body is not in
the plants, but around them, bring about movement in the plants,
though not movements like those of men and animals, but such as to
draw forth the plants from the earth when they first appear. When you
see the forces developing in a spiral in a plant from stipule to
stipule, you then have the activity of those forces which work down
from the planets. And according as the forces of the offspring of the
Spirits of Motion work down from this or that planet does this
peculiar line which puts forth the leaves vary. This gives a certain
means of studying the actual orbits of the individual planets through
their reflection; and when external science has once recognized this
fact, it will have to correct a great deal of the former astronomical
systems. Certain plants are allotted to the forces of the Spirits of
Motion who work from Mars, others to those who are on Venus, others,
to those on Mercury. They work in here from their planet and according
as they work in from one or the other, they impart to the plant the
movement expressed in their spiral coil of leaves; it is the same
movement which the corresponding planet makes; the absolute movement
it makes in the heavens. If you take an ordinary convolvulus, in which
the stalk itself is twisted, you have in the spiral movement of the
stalk an imitation of the planetary movements which proceed from the
Spirit of Motion. When the stalk is fixed, you have in the stipules
images of those forces which proceed from the Spirits of Motion of the
planets of the planetary system. These forces work upon the plants in
cooperation with the actual group-egos, and these group-egos work in
such a way that we can discover the direction of their forces simply
by connecting the sun with the center point of the earth; that is to
say, together with the forces which come from the Spirits of Motion,
other forces work which go in the direction of the stalk of the plant,
which is always striving towards the center point of the earth. Thus
we have to compose the whole plant out of that which grows towards the
sun or towards the center of the earth and that which winds itself
round and copies in the stipules the movements of the planets. This
corresponds, however, with the real fact that we have to seek the
direct impulse of activity for the group-egos of the plants in the
direction from earth to sun. That is, if now we do not direct our
occult vision to the planet, but to the sun, we shall find the
different group-egos of the plants. These group-egos of the plants are
the offspring of the Spirits of Wisdom, just as the group-egos of the
animals are the offspring of the Spirits of Motion. Thus in the
group-egos of the plants we have to recognize the offspring of the
Spirits of Wisdom.
Now in the course of these lectures I have stated that in the
nature-spirits we have to see the offspring of the Third Hierarchy,
and that in the group-egos we have to see the offspring of the Second
Hierarchy. Now we come, in addition, to the Spirits of the Rotation of
Time, the rulers or regulators of the epochs. We have now reached a
position in which we can allude to the functions of a certain category
of such Spirits of the Rotation of Time. At this point we can state
that certain Spirits of the Rotation of Time unite the forces of
movement coming down from the planets to the plants that work spirally
with the forces which come down from the sun. Both these forces are
brought together at a definite time by the Spirits of the Rotation of
Time, and indeed at that time of the year when the plant progresses
towards its fructification. The spiral principle of movement is united
with the principle which works in the stalk.
Hence in the stamens we have the principle which works spirally, and
the principle which is the direct continuation of the stalk, in the
ovary, in the center of the plant. When the course of the plant is
completed, that is, when the Spirits of the Rotation of Time appointed
to the plants unite their activity the activity of the
planetary spirits with the activity of the Sun-spirit
then in the now completed plant those organs which till then followed
the planets spirally are arranged in a neat circle like the stamens,
while the stalk itself elongates and terminates in the ovary. These
two are then united; the growth of the plant is complete when to the
two spiritual activities of the offspring of the Spirits of Wisdom and
of Motion, is added the activity of the Spirits of the Rotation of
Time, uniting the two spiritual beings in a sort of marriage. Thus in
the plant kingdom we have had an opportunity of becoming acquainted
with the offspring of the Spirits of Wisdom. Further, as you may read
in my
Occult Science or
The Akashic Records,
we must assume
that these offspring of the Spirits of Wisdom have been formed since
the time when these Spirits of Wisdom themselves gave the etheric body
to man from their own substance. That occurred when the earth was in
the old Sun-condition; the etheric body of man was then derived from
the Spirits of Wisdom. But now, since that time, the Sun-condition
progressed to the Moon-condition, and this again progressed to the
Earth-condition. During the Moon-condition the Spirits of Wisdom who
had, during the Sun-period, been able to give man his etheric body out
of their own substance, had already progressed so far that they no
longer needed to develop the capacity of giving anything to man. On
the earth they had progressed to still higher activities. Now it is
not exclusively characteristic of the offspring of the Spirits of
Wisdom, whom we discovered as the group-egos of the plant kingdom, to
give a direct impulse from the sun, that it seems to come not only
from the planets but from the sun; it is also peculiar to the actual
Spirits of Wisdom that they reveal themselves as coming directly down
from the sun to the earth. Now how are the impulses revealed, which
come down from these Spirits of Wisdom who have gone through their
normal evolution?
We have seen that in such a personality as the Buddha, there is a
normally-developed Spirit of Motion working down from a planet and
inspiring him. We now reach the point of seeking for the normal
Spirits of Wisdom. According to the whole spirit of our considerations
we must seek them upon the sun. We must seek them there in the same
sense that we have to seek for the normal Spirits of Motion as working
from the planets, though they, too, have their real habitation upon
the sun. We have to seek the impulse of the normally-developed Spirits
of Wisdom as coming directly from the sun. Now, however, we come to
something peculiar. Certainly with regard to the plants, if we really
investigate occultly, we can distinguish a differentiation because we
are concerned with the offspring of the Spirits of Wisdom; but if we
consider the plants on earth in relation to the Spirits of Wisdom on
the sun, their movements all appear more or less as a vertical union
of the sun with the center-point of the earth. In the plant-forms we
can distinguish what proceeds from the spirits who have their
dwelling-place in the planets; but what we perceive as proceeding from
the Spirits of Wisdom flows together in a vertical line. In a similar
manner and everyone who is acquainted with the occult facts in
this sphere would give precisely the same information it is the
case that in the region we enter when we direct our gaze to the sun
(for we must seek the normal Spirits of Wisdom there) we can no longer
distinguish any differentiations. There we perceive unity. What
proceeds from the normal spirits flows together in a unity. New when
we come to the question: Where is that revealed which proceeds from
the unity of the Spirits of Wisdom who have their dwelling-place
directly upon the sun? Where is that revealed in the activity of the
earth? we thus come to a still wider sphere.
The sphere of such a spirit as the one who inspired the Buddha (the
Spirit of Motion on Mercury) is insignificant in comparison with the
wider, more comprehensive sphere which, in the process of the
development of mankind is directed by the Spiritual Beings of Wisdom
perceived as Unity, and which is to be sought upon the sun If we go
back to the civilisation of ancient India, then we find that the Seven
Holy Rishis spoke of that which each one of them had to give to
humanity from their occult foundations. They were conscious of having
preserved that which, through seven long periods of civilisation, had
been directed by the Spirits of Motion. It was just as though seven
successive periods of time were all at once to unite in the evolution
of the earth, and were so to work that they represented a College of
great Individualities. So it came about that these seven successive
activities of the Spirits of the Planets came to light in that which
the Seven Holy Rishis had to say to humanity; each one speaking what
he himself knew. They did not assert that what they had to give was the
direct outflow of a Spirit of Motion, but they said that it was like a
recollection in the soul of each of what had been given earlier by the
Spirits of Motion. For the exalted wisdom which the Holy Rishis gave
to humanity was the great recollection of the ancient Atlantean
civilizations, only in a new form. At the same time, these seven Holy
Rishis said: above them which we have to give as the
civilizations of the seven successive periods of time, lies something
else which exists beyond our sphere. That which lay above their
sphere, the Holy Rishis called Vishvakarma. Thus they alluded
to something which lay beyond their sphere, and which comprised a
greater earth-sphere than that of the separate Spirits of Motion. As
it was with the spheres of the Spirits of the Age, so did the Holy
Rishis point to epochs of civilisation which lie beyond the sphere of
the individual Spirits of Motion.
Then came the civilisation of Zarathustra; and Zarathustra pointed
again to the same being whom the Holy Rishis had called Vishvakarma,
only he alluded to him in his own way as Ahura Mazdao. The Holy
Rishis knew, as also did Zarathustra, that what is meant by
Vishvakarma represents the Spirit of Wisdom who streams down upon the
earth and encompasses wider spheres than do the individual Spirits of
Motion. Zarathustra too knew that Ahura Mazdao has wider spheres than
the Spirits of Motion.
Then came the Egyptian civilisation; and for certain reasons it became
necessary to say: The present time (that is, the Egyptian present) is
not fitted to direct its vision to that Sun-spirit of Wisdom whom
Zarathustra divined in his own way. Hence the Egyptian civilisation
clothed their concept of the nature of this Spirit in the legend that
when he wished to come down to the earth he was immediately
dismembered. Osiris dismembered by his brother is a reference to that
to which the Holy Rishis pointed in their Vishvakarma. Then came the
fourth post-Atlantean period of civilisation, and pointed out that
that to which every epoch of civilisation had alluded, was, by reason
of certain special circumstances, to be attained in direct vision in
the fourth period of civilisation; that is, it was made possible
through special events of the fourth post-Atlantean period, for a
being to be inspired. The Seven Holy Rishis alluded to the fact that
this being existed. Zarathustra said that the occult vision directed
to the Sun sees this being. The Egyptian civilisation stated that this
being is still so far from the earth that man can only meet him after
death. The fourth period was able to point out that conditions had
arisen in our earth evolution, making it possible that for three years
a human being could be directly inspired by this Spirit of Wisdom.
Hence it was possible to recognize as a fact that the sphere of this
Sun-spirit of Wisdom is much more comprehensive than the sphere of the
Spirits of Motion, for it now embraces the whole collective process of
civilisation on earth. That which was designated in the language of
the Holy Rishis as Vishvakarma, in that of Zarathustra as Ahura
Mazdao, in the Egyptian (if one really understands what stands behind
the name) as Osiris, and which we, in the fourth period of
civilisation designate by the word Christ, is that which
has shone down through the portal of the Sun-spirit of Wisdom. I have
never said that the Spirit of Motion alone shone through the Buddha,
nor do I now say that the Sun-spirit of Wisdom alone shone through the
Christ. He was the portal through which occult vision could be
directed into infinite spheres, wherein are the Spirits of the higher
hierarchies; but the portal was the Spirit of Wisdom, the Sun-spirit
of Wisdom. As the sun is related to the planets, so is the Sun-spirit
of Wisdom related to the Spirits of Motion who, on their part, express
themselves in such Spirits as the one who inspired Buddha. H. P.
Blavatsky intended to express this in her theory; it would never have
occurred to her to identify any of the planetary Spirits of Motion
with the Christ.
It would be a gross defection from the original spirit of the
Theosophical Movement, in which so much that is great and true and
important, so many occult truths have prevailed, if we were to confuse
what we have been able to learn through occultism with regard to such
spirits as reach their height in such a name as that of Buddha, of
whom H. P. Blavatsky so plainly points out in her simple allegation
that he corresponds to the Spirit of Mercury. It would be a breach
with all the original starting points of the theosophical revelation,
with that teaching which in its time was rightly understood and in
which the spirit of Buddha was never mistaken for the Christ-Spirit
if, today, we were to confuse these different beings. It would
be a breach if we did not know through our basic teaching how to
distinguish between those Spirits who guide the growth of humanity in
the course of successive periods of time and reached the summit in
spirits such as Buddha, and that Spirit to whom all the rest, even
Buddha himself, have alluded, and who is the unitary spirit of the
whole earth-evolution, just as the sun is the unitary body of the
whole planetary system. This unitary spirit must, in the sense of the
fourth post-Atlantean period of civilisation, be designated as the
Christ. In the solar system we cannot, in the ordinary sense, speak of
two Suns and say that the Sun which at one time covers the Ram is not
the same Sun which covers the Goat at another time; we must be quite
clear that it is the same Sun which passes through all the signs of
the Zodiac; but that there are different planets, which pass through
the Zodiac. We must also be clear on the following point. When we
speak of the Christ, who passes through the spheres of the different
civilizations of the whole evolution of humanity on the earth, and who
has always been recognized by all religions when they attain their
climax, we must distinguish this Christ-Spirit from the spirits of the
different spheres which reached their summit, as it were, in their
great individualities, even as Buddhism reached its climax in Buddha.
This shows how the objective must first be sought in these matters.
When the western occultist has to allude to this fact he ought not to
be reproached with wishing to forward something which would be a lack
of tolerance towards other religions; for spiritual science has the
task of allowing every religion its right place. When such a reproach
is made, we should not forget that what was demanded of the western
occultists has already been accomplished. Did the Christ-Impulse arise
in the West? Has any western nation brought forth the Christ-Impulse
from its own people, its own races? No; the Christ-Impulse, as an
impulse given to the whole of humanity, has been accepted, though this
Christ-Impulse, in relation to its external presentation, was foreign
to the peoples of the West. The western civilisation first showed that
it had a comprehension of the necessary renunciation of personal
possession. When the West declined the Spirit of Motion from Mars as a
direct Inspirer, when it exchanged that Inspirer for the Christ-Spirit
the Inspirer corresponding to the Sun-spirit of Wisdom
it accomplished an historical and important fact. It is unfair that
the West should be blamed by other religions for intolerance in
respect of this matter. The great Leaders of the other religions
always show that they recognize the Spirits of Wisdom as being more
exalted than the Spirits of Motion. Just those who wish to make their
own Spirit of Motion a sort of Leading-Spirit under another name, who
do not themselves wish to take the step of ascending from their own
Spirit to the Sun-spirit, they can say that intolerance is shown by
those who have already practiced tolerance. Let them first exercise
tolerance in other spheres, that tolerance which the West has already
exercised in exchanging its Spirit of Motion for a Spirit of Wisdom.
Thus a theosophical act was accomplished before Theosophy existed, by
seeing that the individual religions have their rights, inasmuch as no
single impulse belonging to any one single group of humanity is
claimed for the Christ, but only that to which Theosophy also lays
claim, namely, to seek the impulse which is an impulse of humanity as
distinct from the special religions as the Sun-Impulse is from all the
planets. It is from the depths of occultism, my dear friends, that
these facts are thus represented objectively; and if it were ever to
be said that this representation of the Christ-Impulse arises from any
special national or racial interest, or from western interests, such a
remark could only be made through ignorance of the relation of facts,
or through a misrepresentation of them. In all things we must boldly
and sincerely face the objective facts; and this we can only do if we
look into the depths of the worlds becoming. All occult truths show us
finally how cosmic evolution comes about; but we must have the courage
as well as the necessary impartiality to come face to face with this
cosmic evolution. With regard to names whether borrowed from
the East or from the West, whether borne by this or that personal
Spirit, that does not signify to us. What does concern us, what we
must recognize, is that which is at work in the world. Spiritual
science teaches us to see and perceive what works in the world. In
fact, in the field of spiritual science, we have developed the
instinct I might say for finding the right. We must not
always long for new sensations, but try to understand a little of what
lies in the first impulses of the Theosophical Movement. When H. P.
Blavatsky identified the Buddha with Mercury, a great truth was
expressed, which will be so much the more recognized the more the
relation of the Buddha to Christ is recognized in occult spheres; just
as we learn to know cosmic relationships better when we recognize the
relation of the planet Mercury to the fixed star the Sun. These
things cannot be shaken from their foundations through human
prejudices; but they only work aright in the process of civilisation
if we look them impartially in the face. This had to be added to what
was stated today with regard to the Spirits active in the planets and
in the Sun; for these Spirits extend their activity to the earth, and
the world has no idea how deeply much of what must be taught in
popular lectures is rooted in occult foundations. How deeply grounded
is that relation which has just been given of the successive spheres
of civilisation of which the one culminated in Buddha, the other in
call it what you will the fourth epoch of civilisation
called it Christ. In how far the one differs from the other can
only be learnt from the depths of occultism. But occultism also
convinces us how, rightly looked at, the cosmos everywhere offers us
signs for that which is so deeply instilled within our hearts. So we
must say: If we learn the writing spread forth in the
cosmos, in the stars, in their ordering and motions, we shall find
that out from the cosmos everywhere speaks that which permeates our
hearts with truth, love, and that piety which carries forward the
evolution of humanity from epoch to epoch.
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