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Rudolf Steiner e.Lib
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Man: Hieroglyph of the Universe
Rudolf Steiner e.Lib Document
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Man: Hieroglyph of the Universe
Schmidt Number: S-4096
On-line since: 17th July, 2002
The task underlying our present studies is, in the widest sense, to
try to understand the Universe through the relations existing between
it and Man. I am far from wishing to convey the idea to those who have
had certain glimpses into the Universe during the foregoing lectures
that the truth of these matters can be found in any quick and easy way
such as one hears of in ordinary Astronomy when it tells of the
celestial motions. I would, however, like the friends who have come to
the General Meeting not merely to hear something that comes right in
the middle of a consecutive series, but in these few lectures held
during the General Meeting, also to have a self-contained picture. I
will therefore continue our studies of yesterday, giving indications
of how the conception of the nature of Man leads to the conception of
the Universe, its being and its movements. Of course, this subject is
so vast that it is impossible to exhaust it for the friends who are
now present. It will be continued later. For the benefit of those here
for the first time to-night, I should like to put before them at any
rate a few of the salient features of the subject embodied in previous
lectures.
From other lectures you all know of the relation existing in human
life between waking and sleeping. You know that in the abstract the
relation is something like this: In the waking condition, the
physical, etheric and astral bodies, together with the Ego-being, are
in a certain inner connection; whereas during sleep, we have on the
one side, the physical and etheric bodies united, and on the other
— separated from them at any rate in comparison with the waking
state — we have the astral body and the Ego. This, as you know,
is merely an abstract assertion, for I have often emphasised that as
regards all that belongs to the limb-nature — which is continued
into the inner organisation, and is also the real bearer of metabolism
— all this part of man, connected as it is at the same time with
the human will, is really in a perpetual state of sleep. We must be
absolutely clear that this state of sleep continues in regard to our
inner organism, when we ourselves are awake. We can therefore say that
the ‘Limb-man’ as carrier of the ‘Will-man’, is in
a permanent state of sleep. The Circulation or
‘Rhythmic-man’, which may be described as in the middle
between the Head-organisation and the Limb-man (the latter extending
into the interior of man) persists in a continuous dream state. This
is at the same time the outer instrument for our world of feeling. The
world of feeling is rooted wholly within man's rhythmic organisation
and while the metabolic man, together with its outward extension
— the limbs — is the vehicle of the will, the rhythmic man
is the vehicle of the life of feeling, and is related to our
consciousness in the same way as our dream state to our waking life.
Between waking and falling asleep, we are only really awake in our
life of ideation and thought.
In this way we have set before us the fact that man, in his life
between birth and death, is in an intermittent waking state in respect
to his life of thought, in a dream state regarding his emotions and
feelings, of which the rhythmic man is the vehicle; and he is in a
state of continuous sleep as regards his limbs and metabolic system.
We must realise at this point that really to comprehend human nature,
it is necessary to fix our attention upon the fact of the extension of
the limb-nature into the interior of man. All the processes that are
ultimately connected with the abdominal region, everything connected
with assimilation, digestion, as also with the secretion of milk in
females, and so forth, all these processes are a continuation of the
limb nature, directed inwards. So that in speaking of the will-nature
or metabolic-nature, we do not mean only the outer limbs, but the
continuation inwards too of this limb activity. In respect to all
this, intimately connected as it is with the will-nature, man is
continuously asleep.
This complicates the abstract idea we gain in the first place of the
departure of the Ego and astral body; and it also necessitates a
corresponding comprehension of another important fact.
When the materialistic physiologist of today speaks of the will,
saying for instance, that it manifests in the movement of the limbs,
he has in mind that some kind of telephonic signal is sent from the
central organ, the brain, proceeds through the so-called motor-nerves,
and thus moves the right leg, for instance. This however is quite
unproven — in fact, a quite erroneous hypothesis! For spiritual
observation shows the following: If a man's right leg is raised or
moved by the will, a direct influence of the Ego-being of man takes
place, acting upon that limb, so that it is really raised by the
Ego-being itself; only, the process takes place in a state like that
of sleep. Consciousness knows nothing of it. The nerve merely informs
us that we have a limb, it tells us of the presence of such a
limb. This nerve as such has no part in the activity of the Ego upon
that limb. A direct correspondence exists between the limb and the
will, which latter is associated in man with the Ego-being, and in the
animal with the astral body. All that Physiology has to say in
respect, for instance, of the speed of transmission of the so-called
will, needs to be revised; it should be impressed upon us that here we
have to do rather with the velocity of transmission in respect of the
perception of that particular limb. Naturally anyone initiated
into modern physiology can challenge this assertion in a dozen ways. I
am well acquainted with these objections. But we have to try to rise a
really logical thought process in this matter, and we shall find that
what I say here corresponds with actual facts of observation, while
what is said in physiological textbooks does not.
Sometimes indeed these things are so obvious as to be evident to all.
Thus at a meeting of scientists in Italy — I think it was in the
80's of the last century — a most interesting discussion took
place concerning the contradictions which came to light between the
usual theory of the motor-nerves and the movement of a limb. As
however the tendency to take notice of the spiritual aspect of
things is absent in the physiology of today, even during a discussion
such as this little was arrived at, except that contradictions existed
in the hypothetical explanation of a certain fact. It would be
extremely interesting if our learned friends, and there are such among
us, were to investigate and test the physiological and biological
literature of the last 40 years. They would make extremely interesting
discoveries, were they to take up these subjects. They would find
facts everywhere, which merely need handling in the proper way to
confirm the findings of Spiritual Science. It would form one of the
most interesting problems of the Institutes of Scientific Research
which ought now to be erected, to proceed in the following way:
International literature on the subject should first be carefully
studied. We must take the international literature, for in English,
and particularly in American literature, most interesting facts are
substantiated, although these investigators do not know what to make
of them. If you look into the discovered facts and substantiate them,
there is but one step more needed in the sequence of investigation
— given the right kind of vision in response to which the thing
will, as it were, come out and show itself — and magnificent results
would be arrived at today. Once we have advanced sufficiently to
possess such an Institute, furnished with adequate apparatus and the
necessary material, the facts will be found all around us,
waiting as it were. Today people fail to notice the universal
urge towards an Institute such as I have in mind, for the series of
tests and experiments commenced are always discontinued just at the
most critical moments, simply because people are ignorant of the
ultimate direction of such experiments. Really important foundations
would be laid by such an Institute, foundations for practical work.
People do not dream at the present time of the technique that would
result if these things were actually done, first as experiments and
then building up from them further. It is only the possibility of
putting it into practical effect that is lacking.
This is only by the way. To return to our subject, we have to do with
a portion of man which sleeps even while he is awake. I now wish to
bring to your notice a fact which has played an important part in all
the older conceptions of the Universe. I refer to the assertion that
the starting-point of the lower limbs is under the rulership of the
Moon, while the region of the larynx, which we may consider as
the meeting-point of the higher limbs, is associated with Mars.
The man of today who is deeply involved in the modern conception of
the Macrocosm, cannot of course make anything of such assertions; and
the nonsense which hazy mystics and theosophists of today say or write
about these things should not be awarded any special value, for these
facts lie far deeper than, for instance, the repeated statements of
materialistic theosophy that we have first coarse physical matter, and
then other rather ‘finer’, then the astral still
‘finer’ and so forth. Those and similar things that pass for
theosophy are in reality no spiritual teaching at all, but a spiritual
untruth, for they are nothing more than a perpetuation of materialism.
Statements, however, that have come down to us as remnants of the
ancient wisdom, have power to lead us to a state of real veneration
and deep humility before that ancient knowledge of man, as soon as we
begin to understand its meaning. These indications of an ancient
wisdom persisted, not only till far into the Middle Ages, but even
into the eighteenth century (where they may be found in the literature
of the period), and perhaps into the nineteenth century, though here
they have become merely copies, so to speak, and are no longer the
direct result of an original primeval consciousness. And when these
things are found introduced into quite modern literature, then they
are still more certain to be copies. Up to the earlier part of the
eighteenth century, however, we can still find traces of a certain
consciousness of these things, and here again an association was
thought of as between the nature of the Moon and this region of the
human organism.
What I have just said — that man in relation to his
will-metabolic nature is in a constant state of sleep — is most
forcibly expressed in the lower limbs. In other words, through the
metamorphosis which the arms and hands have undergone, man wrests from
unconsciousness that which is really the sleep-nature of the limb-man.
If to some degree we sharpen our sensitiveness for these things, we
shall perceive what a really remarkable difference exists between the
movement of a leg and the movement of an arm. The movements of
the arms are free, and in a sense follow the feelings. The movement of
the legs is not as free — I mean in respect to the laws by which
we produce their movements. This, of course, is something which is not
always noticed, nor sufficiently appreciated, as exemplified by the
fact that the greater portion of the public attending our performances
of Eurythmy are merely passive observers, and fail to notice that the
leg movements are less articulated and the movements of the arms and
hands more so. The reason for this is that, to understand the
movements of the arms, a certain co-operation of the soul on the part
of the observer is necessary. In our cinema age, people do not want
to give this co-operation. While watching the movements of a dance
where only the legs are in movement, and the arms at most are subject
to arbitrary movements, there is little need either to think or feel
in union with the dancer. This is by the way.
As we have seen, the most intensely unconscious process is in
connection with the movements of the lower limbs. There, man is in a
sense, fast asleep. How the will works into the legs or into the
abdominal region, is entirely missed by man, owing to this state of
sleep. In respect to this process, man's own nature sends back to him
what is a reflection only of the process. Of course we follow the
movement of our legs, but this observation does not make us conscious
of the processes taking place in the nervous system as the will acts
upon it; only the reflection of this becomes manifest to us.
The nature of our lower man turns one side away, as it were, and only
the other side is turned towards us. It is exactly the same with the
Moon. She revolves round the Earth, and is altogether a most courteous
lady, who never turns her back upon us, but shows us always the same
side. She does not show us first one side, and then the other, while
proceeding along her journey round the Earth. Nobody has ever seen her
back. On account of this we never receive anything from the Moon which
may be termed her own, but always a reflected light. In this fact we
have an absolute inner parallel between the Moon-nature and the whole
inner being of man. As we look up to the Moon, we understand her only
as regards her outer formal side, but we should try to feel her inner
relationship with the lower physical organisation of man. The deeper
we go into these matters, the more we find this to hold good. It was
the simple, instinctive observations of the Ancients which enabled
them to realise these inner relations between human nature and the
celestial bodies ...
Now let us take the other fact — that the arms, in their
connection with the upper portion of the middle or rhythmic man, come
awake in a sense in man; the movements of the arms can be taken as
equivalent at least to the dream-state. We feel that the activity of
the arms is related in a much nearer sense to human consciousness than
is the activity of the lower limbs. Hence we find that a man who has
elementary feelings, generally accompanies his speech, which is in
close relation to the middle man, with a gesture of the arms, by way
of emphasis or as a help in explaining his meaning. Speech is closely
related to the upper part of the rhythmic-man. I do not suppose there
are many speakers who use movements of the legs as a help for speech,
or many audiences who would consider such movements attractive!
So if we feel in the right way this necessity or tendency in man's
nature, we can also feel the real relationship between the hands and
arms, which belong to the upper portion of the limb-man, and the
middle-man or rhythmic-man, who has as his spiritual
counterpart, the feeling nature. Quite naturally we try to support our
speech, which is often in danger of becoming too abstract, by gestures
of our arms and hands. We endeavour to project our emotional nature
into our speech.
Today, in many circles — I will not name them — it is
considered a sign of intellectual clarity to abstain as much as
possible from using gesture in speech. We may however, look at the
matter from another standpoint and say: If a person acquires the habit
of putting his hands in his trouser pockets while speaking, it may not
only mark him as a man of linguistic ability, but also perhaps as
being somewhat blasé. That is another aspect of the matter. I am not
speaking in favour of either of these points of view, but you will see
how the nature of the arms clearly indicates their connection not only
with the metabolic limb man, but also with the middle, the rhythmic or
circulation man. This was understood and felt by the Ancients when
they connected the combination of speech and arm-movement with the
sphere of Mars. This planet is not so intimately connected with the
Earth as is the Moon, nor is that which underlies the foundation of
speech and the arm-organisation so intimately connected with the
earthly man as is that which underlies the abdominal and
leg-organisation. In a certain sense we can say: what in its activity
corresponds to the lower limbs, works very strongly upon the
unconscious man. What corresponds to the arms and hands, however,
works very powerfully upon the semiconscious man. It is indeed a fact
that no one with wholly unskilled hands, no one wholly unable to
perform any dexterous movements with the fingers, can be a very subtle
thinker. He would in a sense seek a coarse thought-mesh rather than
fine links of thought. If he has coarse, clumsy hands, he is much more
qualified for materialism than one whose hand movements are more
adroit. This has nothing to do with having an abstract conception of
the Universe, but with the true inclination to a spiritual view of the
Universe, which always demands to be comprehended in finely-meshed
thoughts.
All these matters are taken fully into consideration in a
comprehensive educational science. You would probably be very pleased
if you came to our Waldorf School and visited the classroom where,
from ten o'clock, instruction is given in handicrafts. You would see
the boys as well as the girls industriously absorbed in knitting or
crochet. These things are the outcome of the whole spirit of the
Waldorf School, for it is not a question of writing sundry abstract
programmes, but of taking in earnest that for the whole training of
human knowledge, one should as a teacher know the great difference it
makes to the thinking whether I understand how to move my fingers
dexterously, whether I am able in ordinary circumstances to cross the
middle finger over the first, like a caduceus, or not. The movements
of our fingers are to a great extent the teachers of the elasticity of
our thinking. These things must be followed with understanding and
discernment. It is comparatively easy to acquire facility in crossing
the middle finger over the first with elasticity, making a serpent and
the caduceus, but it is not so easy to do the same with the second and
third toes. In this we see what great distinctions there are in the
whole organisation of man. It is very important to bear this in mind,
for the construction of the foot is intimately connected with our
whole human earthly nature. By the organisation of our hands we
raise ourselves above the earthly nature. We raise ourselves to the
super-earthly. This was felt by the ancient wisdom, for it said
that the lower man belonged to the Moon, but that the part of man
which raised itself above the earthly nature belonged to Mars.
Primeval Wisdom felt the organisation in the whole Universe in the
same way as we feel the organisation there is in man. Materialism,
however, has brought it about that we do not understand man any more.
Again and again I must emphasise that the tragedy of materialism is
that it turns its attention to matter, and all the time understands
nothing at all of matter but simply loses connection with material
existence. For this reason materialism can only cause social harm; for
the socialistic materialists, the Marxists, are, as regards reality,
just talkers. This they have learnt from the middle classes which have
indulged in materialistic chatter for centuries; but they have
not applied it to the social institution, and have remained satisfied
with half-truths. A spiritual philosophy of life will once more reveal
the nature of man, not in the abstract, but as possessing a concrete
soul and spirit, which can work into each individual member of the
human organisation.
One cannot advance in these things without constantly turning to the
other side of life; for this development which our organisation
manifests is two-fold, in so far as the upper man is a metamorphosis
of the lower man from the last Earth-life. There is a point of time
between death and rebirth when a complete reversal takes place, when
the inner is turned to the outer, when what is presented as the
connection between the organisation of the liver and that of the
spleen is changed in the whole structure of its forces into, what
becomes our hearing organisation when we are reborn. The whole of the
lower man appears transformed. We have today in our lower man a
certain relationship between the spleen and the liver. They slide into
one another as it were. What is now the spleen slips right through the
liver, and comes out, in a certain respect, on the other side,
appearing again in the hearing organisation. So too with the other
organs. People say that proofs should be found for repeated
Earth-lives. Well, the methods by which such proofs can be found have
first to be created. Anyone who is able to observe the human head in
the right way, possessing a sense for such observation, comes to a way
of understanding the transformation of the lower man into the human
head; but he cannot understand it without filling in the intermediate
stages of the experiences between death and rebirth.
In this connection very remarkable things are experienced. It may
perhaps astonish some of you when I say that an artist who has become
well acquainted with our conception of the Universe, said: “All
that Anthroposophy says is very beautiful, but there is no proof. De
Rochas, for instance, has given proofs, for he has shown how in
certain conditions of hypnosis, reminiscences of former earth-lives
may arise.” It seemed to he very remarkable that an artist of all
people should have said such a thing. I might have assured him that it
is as though I were to say to him: “My dear friend, your pictures
tell me nothing; show me first the original of them, then I will
believe that they are good”, or something of the kind. That of
course, would be nonsense. As soon as he leaves his own domain,
however, he has no power to understand how out of what he has before
him, out of the true form of the human head, one can arrive at what is
expressed in this human head. The picture must speak through itself,
not through the mere likeness to the original. The human head speaks
for itself. It corresponds to reality. It is the transformed lower man
and points us back to the former Earth-life. One must however first
provide what will make it possible to understand the reality aright.
The physical is thus seen to be a direct expression of the Spiritual.
It is possible to understand the physical man as an expression of the
Spiritual which is experienced between death and re-birth. The
physical world explains itself and brings the spiritual world into
this explanation. But we must first know this, saying to ourselves:
The phenomena of nature are only a half, as long as we have them as
mere sense-phenomena. We must first know this. Then we can find the
bridge and understand the event that gave Earth its true meaning —
the event of Golgotha: then we can understand how a purely spiritual event
can at the same time enter right into physical life. If a man is not
prepared to see the relation of the physical to the spiritual aright,
he will never be able to grasp the fact that the Event of Golgotha is
both a spiritual Event and an Event of the physical plane. When in the
eighth General Ecumenical Council, in the year 869, the Spirit was
eliminated, it was made impossible to understand the Event of
Golgotha. The interesting point is that while the Western Churches
started from Christianity, they took great care that the essence of
Christianity should not be understood. For the nature and essence of
Christianity must be grasped by the Spirit. The Western creeds
set themselves against the Spirit, and one of the principal reasons
why Anthroposophy is prohibited from the Roman Catholic side is that
in Anthroposophy we have to relinquish the erroneous statement that
‘man consists of soul and body’ and return to the truth that
‘man consists of body, soul and Spirit’. The
prohibition indicates the interest taken on that side to prevent man
from coming to the knowledge of the Spirit, and so arriving at the
true significance of the Event of Golgotha. Thus the whole knowledge
which, as we see, throws so much light on the understanding of Man,
has been entirely lost.
How then is an educational science to be constructed for the humanity
of today, when the vision of the true nature of Man has been lost? To
be an educationalist means to solve those sublime riddles which the
child propounds to us, as it gradually brings forth that which has
been laid into it between death and re-birth. The creeds however,
reckon only with the post-mortem life — in order to humour human
egotism; they have not reckoned that human life on Earth should be
regarded as a continuation of the heavenly life. To demand of man that
he should prove himself worthy of the claim made on him before he
entered earthly life through birth, requires a certain selflessness of
view, whereas the creeds have chiefly reckoned with egotism up to the
present. Here, in Anthroposophy, whatever is of the nature of creed or
faith gains, as it were, a moral colouring. Here purely theoretical
knowledge is made to flow out into the higher ethical view and
conception of the Universe. This should be understood by the friends
of Anthroposophy. They should understand that in a sense, a moral
inclination to spirituality is the preliminary condition for a
knowledge of spiritual beings. In our present difficult time, it is
specially necessary that attention should be paid to this moral side
of the nature of the conception of the Universe. If we glance at what
is taking place in the external world, we must say that empty talk,
which is the sister of falsehood, is what has resulted from
materialism, even for the ethical experience of humanity. This would
become stronger and stronger if humanity were not helped by knowledge
which leads to the Spirit, and which must be united with a raising of
man's inner moral sense. We ought to acquire a realisation of how a
spiritual-scientific conception of the world stands to the tasks and
the whole dignity of Man and we should take this feeling as a starting
point of our knowledge. This is only too necessary to mankind today,
and one would like to find new phrases, new forms of expression in
which to describe this aspect of the task of Spiritual Science!
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