LECTURE
SIX
INITIATION-KNOWLEDGE
WAKING CONSCIOUSNESS AND DREAM CONSCIOUSNESS
Blackboard Drawing 7, August 16, 1924
I have
already spoken of the different states of consciousness which
can be developed out of the forces of the human soul.
Initiation-knowledge is dependent upon the fact that our knowledge of
the world stems from these different states of
consciousness.
Today we
propose to ascertain how man's relationship to the world is
determined by these different states of consciousness. First of
all, let us recall that a single level of consciousness, that of
daily waking consciousness, suffices to meet the needs of everyday
existence. In our present epoch man has the possibility of developing
two further states of consciousness in addition to his normal waking
consciousness, but initially they cannot serve as valid
criteria for immediate purposes of knowledge.
The one is
the state of dream consciousness in which man experiences
reminiscences of his daily life or faint intimations of the
life of the spirit. But in ordinary dream life these reminiscences
and intimations are so distorted, so commingled with
uncorrelated, grotesque images and symbols that nothing can be learnt
from them.
If, with the
aid of Initiation-knowledge, we wish to know what realm man inhabits
when he dreams, the answer would be somewhat as follows: in normal
life man possesses a physical body, the body which is perceptible .to
the senses and which is an object of scientific study. This is the
first member of man's constitution, the member which everyone
imagines he understands, but which in effect, as we shall see later,
he understands least of all today.
The second
member is the etheric body which is described in more detail in my
publications, especially in my book
Theosophy.
The etheric body or body of formative forces is a delicate organization,
imperceptible to ordinary sight. It can be perceived only when man
has developed the first state of consciousness which is able to
accompany the dead in the first years after death. This etheric body
is more intimately linked with the Cosmos than the physical body
whose whole organization is more independent.
The third
member of man's constitution — it seems best to adhere to the
old terminology — is called the astral body. This is an
organization that is imperceptible to the senses; neither can it be
perceived in the same way as the etheric body. If we were to try to
perceive the astral body with the cognitive faculty by means of which
we perceive the external world today or with the insights of
the next higher consciousness that is in touch with the dead, we
should see nothing but a void, a vacuum, where the astral body is
located.
To sum up:
man possesses a physical body that is perceptible to the
senses; an etheric body perceptible to Imagination by virtue of
the forces that can be developed through the practice of
concentration and meditation in the manner already indicated. But if
we try to perceive the astral body with the aid of these forces, we
meet with a void, a spatial vacuum. This void is filled with content
only when we attain the emptied consciousness which I have described,
when we can confront the world in full waking consciousness in such a
way that, though sensory impressions are obliterated and
thinking and memories are silenced, we remain none the less aware of
its existence. We then know that in this void we have our first
spiritual vehicle, the astral body of man.
A further
member of the human organization is the Ego itself. We perceive the
Ego only when the emptied consciousness is progressively
developed.
When we
dream, our physical and etheric bodies are detached from the astral
body and Ego which are in the spiritual world, but we cannot perceive
with the astral body and Ego if we possess only normal consciousness.
We perceive external impressions of the world around because
the physical body is endowed with eyes and ears. At the present stage
of man's evolution we find that in ordinary life his astral body and
Ego, unlike the physical body, are not endowed with eyes and
ears. Thus, when he withdraws from his physical and etheric bodies in
order to enter the dream-state, it is as if he had a physical
body in the physical world bereft of eyes and ears, so that all
around were dark and silent. But it was never intended that the
astral body and the Ego should always remain without organs, without
eyes and ears of the soul. Through spiritual training of which I have
spoken in my books, it is possible to awaken these spiritual organs
in the astral body and Ego and thus to see into the spiritual world
through the insight born of Initiation. Then man withdraws from
his physical and etheric bodies and perceives the spiritual, just as
in his physical and etheric bodies he perceives the physical, and in
a certain sense, the etheric as well. The man who achieves this
insight then achieves Initiation.
Now what is
the position of the ordinary dreamer? Try and imagine concretely the
process of falling asleep. The physical and etheric bodies are left
behind in the bed whilst the astral body and Ego slip out of the
physical vehicle. At this moment the astral body is still vibrating
in harmony with the physical and etheric bodies. The astral body has
participated in all the inner activities of eyes and ears and of the
will in the functioning of the physical and etheric bodies throughout
the day. The astral body and the Ego have shared in all this. When
they quit the body, the vibration continues. But the day experiences,
as they continue to vibrate, come in contact with the surrounding
spiritual world and there arises a chaotic, confused interplay
between the activity of the external spiritual world and the
continued vibrations of the astral body. The individual is caught up
in all this and is aware of the confusion. All that he has brought
with him has left its impact upon him, continues to vibrate and
becomes the dream.
It is
obvious that this will contribute little to the understanding
of reality. What is the position of the Initiate? When he slips out
of his physical and etheric bodies, he is able to obliterate the
reminiscences and after-vibrations that still persist. He suppresses,
therefore, all that proceeds from the physical and etheric bodies.
Moreover through concentration, meditation and the development
of emptied consciousness, the Initiate has been able to acquire
eyes and ears of the soul. He does not now perceive what is happening
within himself, but what is happening in the spiritual world outside
him. In place of dreams he now begins to perceive the spiritual
world. Dream consciousness is a chaotic counterpart of
spiritual perception.
When the
Initiate has first developed these inner astral organs, clairvoyance
and clairaudience, he finds himself in a continual state of conflict
and endeavours to suppress these reminiscences, these
after-vibrations from the physical and etheric bodies. When he enters
into the world of Imaginations, when he has an intuitive
perception of the spiritual, he must fight a continual battle to
prevent the dreams from asserting themselves. There is a continual
interplay between that which seeks to dissolve into dreamlike fantasy
and delude him, and that which represents the truth of the
spiritual world.
Ultimately
every aspirant becomes familiar with this conflict. He comes to
realize that, at the moment he strives to enter consciously into the
spiritual world, he experiences recurrent after-images of the
physical world, disturbing images that intrude upon the true pictures
of the spiritual world. Only through patience and persistence can he
resolve this intense inner conflict.
Now if we
are too easily satisfied when dream images flood our consciousness,
we may readily dream ourselves into an illusory world instead of
entering into a world of spiritual reality. The aspirant, in effect,
must possess an exceedingly strong, intelligent inner control.
Imagine what this demands of him. If we are to speak of spiritual
investigation, or of methods for attaining to the spiritual
world, we must draw attention to these things. If we wish to take the
first steps towards an understanding of the spiritual world, we must
show real enthusiasm for the task. Inner lethargy, inner indifference
or indolence are obstacles in the path of its fulfilment. Our inner
life must be active, lively and responsive. But there is a danger of
losing ourselves in day-dreams, of spinning a web of illusion. We
must be able, on the one hand, to soar into the empyrean on wings of
fancy and, on the other hand, we must be able to temper this inner
activity and responsiveness with prudence and sober
judgment.
The Initiate
must possess both these qualities. It is undesirable simply to
indulge one's emotions; it is equally undesirable to submit to
the dictates of the intellect and to rationalize everything. We must
be able to strike a balance between these two extremes. We must be
able to dream dreams and yet be able to keep our feet on Earth. As we
enter into the spiritual world we must be able to participate in the
dynamic world of creative imagination, but at the same time have firm
control over ourselves. We must have the capacity to be a poet richly
endowed with imagination, yet not succumb to its lures. We must be
able, at any moment in our search for spiritual knowledge, to be
fired by a creative impulse. We must be able to control the drift
towards a world of fantasy and rely upon practical common sense. Then
we shall not become victims of illusion, but experience spiritual
reality.
This inner
disposition of soul is of vital importance in true spiritual
investigation. When we reflect upon the nature of dream consciousness
and recognize that it conjures up chaotic images out of the spiritual
world, we realize at the same time that, in order to acquire
spiritual knowledge, the whole force of our personality must now
enter into the psychic energy that otherwise persists in a
dreamlike state. Then for the first time we begin to understand what
‘entering into the spiritual world’ implies. I said
that dream consciousness conjures up the spiritual. This would
appear to contradict the statement that the dream consciousness also
conjures up pictures derived from the corporeal life. But the body is
not only physical, it is wholly permeated with spirituality.
When someone dreams that an attractive and tasty meal is set before
him and he proceeds to consume it, though he has not a tithe of the
cost of the meal in his pocket, then in the symbol of the meal he is
presented with a picture of the real spiritual, astral content of the
digestive organs. There is always a spiritual element in the dream
despite the fact that the spirit has its seat in the corporeal. The
dream always contains a spiritual element; but very often it is a
spiritual element associated with the body. It is necessary to
realize this fact. .
We must
understand that when we dream of snakes, their coils are a symbol of
the digestive organs or of the blood vessels in the head. We must
penetrate into these secrets, for we can only arrive at an
understanding of these subtle, intimate elements that must be
developed in the soul when we undertake spiritual investigation
through the science of Initiation and give the closest attention to
these matters.
The third
stage through which man passes in ordinary life is that of dreamless
sleep. Let us recall this condition: the physical and etheric bodies
lie in the bed; outside these bodies are the astral body and
Ego-organization. The after-vibrations and reminiscences from
the physical and etheric bodies have ceased. It is only in his Ego
and astral body that man inhabits the spiritual world. But, having no
organs, he cannot perceive anything. Darkness surrounds him; he is
asleep. Dreamless sleep means that we live in the Ego and astral body
and are unable to perceive the vast, majestic world around us. Take
the case of a blind man. He has no visual perception of colours and
forms. So far as these are concerned, he is asleep. Now picture a man
living in his astral body and Ego, but without organs of perception.
In relation to the spiritual he is asleep. Such is man's condition in
dreamless sleep. The purpose of concentration and meditation is to
develop spiritual eyes and ears in the astral body and
Ego-organization. Then man begins to behold the spiritual plenitude
around him. He perceives spiritually with that which in normal
consciousness is lost in sleep and which he must rouse from its
slumber through meditation and concentration. The otherwise
uncoordinated elements must be integrated. Then he gazes into the
spiritual world and shares in the life of the spiritual world in the
same way as he normally shares in the life of the physical world
through his eyes and ears. This is true Initiation knowledge. One
cannot prepare a person for spiritual perception by external means;
he must first learn to organize effectively his inner life which is
normally so chaotic.
Now at all
times in the history of humanity it was an accepted practice to
prepare selected individuals for Initiation. This practice was
interrupted to some extent during the epoch of extreme materialism,
i.e. between the fifteenth century and today. During these centuries
the real significance of Initiation was forgotten. Men hoped to
satisfy their quest for knowledge without Initiation and so they
gradually came to believe that only the physical world was
their proper field of enquiry. But what is the physical world in
reality? We shall not come to terms with it if we consider only its
physical aspect. We only understand the physical world when we are
able to apprehend the spirit that informs it. Mankind must recover
this knowledge once again, for today we stand at the crossroads. The
world presents a picture of disruption and increasing chaos.
Yet we know that amidst this chaos, this welter of dark, obscuring
passions that threaten to destroy everything, the intuitives are
aware of the presence of spiritual powers who are actively striving
to awaken in man a new spirituality. And preparation for
Anthroposophy consists fundamentally in listening to this voice of
the spirit that can still be heard amid the clamour of our
materialistic age.
I said that
in all ages men endeavoured to develop the human organization in such
a way that they could perceive the spiritual world. Conditions varied
according to the epoch. When we look back to ancient Chaldean times,
or to the epoch of Brunetto Latini, we find that men were more
loosely linked with their physical and etheric bodies than is the
case today when we are firmly anchored in those bodies. And this is
to be expected; it is the inevitable consequence of our education
today. After all, how can we expect to communicate with spiritual
beings when we are compelled in many cases to learn to read and write
before the change of teeth? Angels and spiritual beings cannot read
or write. Reading and writing have been developed in the course of
human evolution in response to physical conditions. And if our whole
being is orientated towards purely scientific investigation we
shall obviously have difficulty in withdrawing from our physical and
etheric bodies.
Our present
age finds a certain satisfaction in ordering our entire cultural life
in such a way that we cannot have any possibility of spiritual
experience when we are separated from our physical and etheric
bodies. I have no wish to inveigh against our contemporary culture,
nor do I wish to criticize it. It is the inevitable expression of the
epoch. I shall discuss the implications later; meanwhile we must
accept things as they are.
In ancient
times the astral body and Ego, even in waking consciousness, were
much more loosely associated with the physical and etheric bodies
than they are today. The Initiates, too, were dependent upon
this loose association of the bodies that was natural to them.
Indeed, in the remote past, nearly everyone could be initiated into
the Mysteries. But it was only in the far distant times of the
primordial Indian and old Persian cultures that everybody could be
raised above his human station.
Then, in
later epochs, the selection of candidates for Initiation was
limited to those who had little difficulty in withdrawing from
their physical and etheric bodies — men whose astral body and
Ego enjoyed a relatively high degree of independence. Certain
conditions were a prerequisite for Initiation. This in no way
prevented every effort being made to bring the aspirant to the
highest stage of Initiation commensurate with his potentialities. But
beyond a certain point success depended upon whether the aspirant
could attain to independence in his astral body and Ego easily or
only with difficulty. And this was determined by his makeup and
natural disposition. Since man is born into the world, he is
inevitably dependent upon the world to a certain extent between
birth and death.
The question
now arises whether man today is subject to similar limitations when
embarking on Initiation. To a certain extent that is so. Since
I wish to give a full and clear account in these lectures of the true
and false paths leading to the spiritual world, I should like to
point out the difficulties in the way of Initiation
today.
The man of
ancient times was more dependent upon his natural endowments when he
became an Initiate. Modern man also can be brought to the threshold
of Initiation, in fact, through appropriate psychic training he can
so fashion his astral body and Ego-organization that he is able to
develop spiritual vision and perceive the spiritual world. But in
order to complete and perfect this vision he is still dependent today
on something else, something of extreme subtlety and delicacy. I must
ask you not to come to any final conclusions about what I shall
say today until you are familiar with the content of my next
lectures. I can only proceed step by step.
In
Initiation today man is dependent to a certain extent on age. Let us
take the case of a man who is thirty-seven when he begins his
Initiation and has good expectations of life. He begins to practise
meditation, concentration or some other spiritual exercises, either
under guidance, or independently, in accordance with some instruction
manual. As a result of repeated meditation on some theme, he
acquires, first of all, the capacity to look back over his life on
Earth. His earthly life appears before his inward eye in the form of
a uniform tableau. Just as in normal three dimensional vision objects
are situated in Space — the front two rows of chairs and their
occupants here, over there a table and behind it a wall; we see the
whole in perspective in simultaneity — so at a certain level of
Initiation we see into Time. One has the impression that the passage
of Time is spatial. Now we see ourselves at the age of thirty-seven.
We had certain experiences at thirty-six, at thirty-five and so
on, back to the time of our birth. In retrospect we see a uniform
tableau before us.
Now let us
assume that at a certain stage of Initiation a man reviews his life
in retrospect. At thirty-seven he will be able to look back into the
period from birth to the age of seven approximately, the time of the
change of teeth.
Then he will
be able to look back into the period between the ages of seven and
fourteen, up to the age of puberty. And then he is able to look back
into the period between fourteen and twenty-one and the rest of his
life up to his thirty-seventh year. He can survey the panorama of his
life in spatiotemporal perspective, so to speak. If he can add
to this perception the consciousness born of the emptied waking
consciousness, a certain power of vision flashes through him. He
acquires insight, but his insight assumes widely different forms. The
experiences from birth to the age of seven, from the age of fourteen
to twenty-one, and those of later years evoke different responses in
him. Each life-period responds in its own way; each period has its
own power of vision.
Now let us
consider the man of sixty-three or sixty-four. He is able to look
back over the later periods of his life. The period between the ages
of twenty-one and forty-two appears relatively uniform. Then follows
further differentiation. There are significant differences in his
perceptions between the ages forty-two to forty-nine, forty-nine to
fifty-six, fifty-six to sixty-three. All these periods are an
integral part of his make-up. They represent the spiritual aspects of
his life on Earth. If he develops this inward vision, he sees that
his different insights are dependent upon the level of his being at a
particular age. The first seven years of childhood awaken in him a
different insight from that of the years between seven and fourteen.
In the period of adolescence, from fourteen to twenty-one, it is
again different; the years between twenty-one and forty-two
bring further differentiation, to be followed in its turn by the
somewhat differentiated powers of insight that belong to the later
periods of life.
Let us
assume that we have acquired the capacity to have memory-pictures of
our life experiences and, in addition, have attained the insight
derived from the emptied consciousness which has obliterated
the memory-pictures. The forces of Inspiration now become operative,
so that we no longer survey our life-periods through the physical
eye, but through the spiritual eye, the new organ of vision. Through
Inspiration we have reached a point when we no longer conjure up
pictures of our life-periods with their separate happenings, but
perceive them through spiritual eyes and ears. At one time we see
clairvoyantly the life-period between seven and fourteen, at another
clairaudiently the period between forty-nine and fifty-six, just as
formerly we heard and perceived in the external world when we used
our eyes and ears. In the world of Inspiration we make use of the
power derived from the period between the ages of seven and fourteen
and from the period between the forty-second and forty-ninth years.
In this world the life periods become differentiated organs
of cognition. Thus we are, to a certain extent, dependent upon
our age for the range of our vision. At thirty-seven we are perfectly
capable of speaking from first-hand experience of Initiation, but at
the age of sixty-three we would speak with deeper knowledge, because,
at that age, we have developed other organs. The life-periods create
organs. Now let us assume that we propose to describe
personalities such as Brunetto Latini or Alanus ab Insulis, not
from information derived from books, but from clairvoyant knowledge.
(These examples will be familiar to you because we have already
spoken of them in the last few days.) If we try to describe them when
we have reached the age of thirty-seven, we discover that we
are in touch with them spiritually in the awakened consciousness of
sleep. We can converse with them, metaphorically speaking, as we do
with our fellowmen. And the strange thing is that when they
discuss spiritual matters with others, they can only speak with
them from their present level of wisdom and inner spirituality. Then
we realize how very much we can learn from them. We must listen to
them and accept in good faith what they have to teach.
Now you will
realize that it is no light matter to stand in the presence of a
personality such as Brunetto Latini in the spiritual world. But if we
have made the necessary preparations we shall be able to
determine whether we are victims of a dream delusion or in the
presence of a spiritual reality. It is possible therefore to evaluate
the communications we receive.
Suppose,
then, at the age of thirty-seven we were to converse with
Brunetto Latini in the spiritual world. This should not be taken
literally, of course. He would talk to us of many things; then,
perhaps, we should like to have more precise, more detailed
information. Thereupon he would say: ‘in that case we must
retrace our steps from the present, the twentieth century, back
through the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries, to the century
in which I lived when I was Dante's teacher. If you wish to accompany
me along this path you must wait until you are a little older, until
you have a few more years behind you. Then I can tell you everything
and satisfy your thirst for knowledge. You can become a high
Initiate, but, in reality, you cannot accompany me along this path
into the past by spiritual volition alone.’ — For this to
be possible you must have grown older. If you wish to make certain of
returning without hindrance to the spiritual world with the person in
question, you must have passed your forty-second year at least and
have reached the age of sixty.
These things
will show you the deeper aspects of man's being and the significant
part they play in youth and age. Only when we draw attention to these
things are we in a position to understand why some die young and
others live to a ripe age in their different incarnations. I shall
have more to say about this later.
We have seen
how man, as he develops, progressively deepens and extends his
perception of the spiritual world. I have shown how his relationship
with a being existing as a discarnate soul in the spiritual world,
such as Brunetto Latini, changes with the conditions of evolution,
depending on whether he uses for spiritual perception the organs
developed in youth or in age.
The
panoramic survey of the world and its evolution that unfolds before
the soul of man in this way can be extended to other fields. The
question is: in what way can we enlarge human consciousness, human
insight, and give it another direction? Today I will indicate one
such direction and enter into further details in the following
lectures.
In the
normal consciousness of our earthly life we know only the Earth
environment between birth and death. If there were an end to our
chaotic dream life, if we were to have perception in a state of deep,
dreamless sleep instead of normal consciousness, we should no longer
experience a purely Earth environment around us. But we are, in
effect, endowed with other conditions of perception and
consciousness than the normal.
Let us now
consider the following: our everyday consciousness is related
to our immediate environment. Since we cannot see into the interior
of the Earth our immediate environment is the sphere of normal
consciousness. Everything else in the Cosmos, Sun, Moon and all
the other stars shine into this sphere. Sun and Moon send down to
Earth clearer indications of their presence in the Cosmos than the
other heavenly bodies. Physicists would be astonished if they could
experience in their own way — for they refuse to consider our
approach — the prevailing conditions in the sphere of the Moon
or the Sun. For the descriptions given in the text-books of
astronomy, astrophysics and the like are wide of the mark. They offer
only the vaguest indications. In ordinary life when we wish to make a
person's acquaintance and later have an opportunity of speaking
to him, we do not normally say: I have only a vague impression of
this person; he must retreat to a distance where he is almost out of
sight. Then I shall have a much clearer impression of him and will
describe him.
The
physicists of course have no choice; it is the result of necessity
and they can only describe the stars when they are a long way off.
But a transformed and enlarged consciousness lifts us into the
world of stars. And the first thing we learn from this is to speak of
these worlds of stars quite differently from the way in which we
speak of them in ordinary life.
In normal
consciousness we see ourselves standing here on Earth, and at night
the Moon over against us in the heavens. In order to see differently,
we must enter into another kind of consciousness and sometimes that
takes a considerable time. When we have attained this consciousness
and are able to perceive our experiences, all that we have lived
through from birth to the age of seven, to the change of teeth, with
the consciousness that is in touch with the dead, with a
consciousness that has achieved Inspiration and so become inner power
of vision, then we see a totally different world around us. The
ordinary world grows dim and indefinite.
This other
world is the Moon sphere. When we have attained to this new
consciousness, we no longer see the Moon as a separate entity, we are
actually living in the Moon sphere. The Moon's orbit traces the
furthest limits of the Moon sphere. We know ourselves to be within
the Moon sphere.
Now if a
child of eight could be initiated and could review the first seven
years of its life, it could live in the Moon sphere in this way.
Indeed, a child would not have the slightest difficulty in entering
into the Moon sphere because it has not yet been corrupted by the
influences of later years.
Theoretically
this is a possibility; but, of course, a child of eight cannot be initiated.
When we use
the power derived from the first life-period, from birth to the age
of seven, for spiritual vision, we are able to enter into this Moon
sphere which is radically different from the sphere perceived by
ordinary consciousness. An analogy will help to illustrate my
point.
In
embryology today the biologist studies the development of the
embryo from the earliest stages. At a certain stage in the
development of the embryo a thickening of the membrane occurs at an
eccentrically situated point on the external wall. Then encapsulation
takes place and a kind of nucleus is formed. But whilst this is
clearly visible under the microscope, we cannot say: this is nothing
but the germ, the embryo, for the rest is also an integral
part.
The same
applies to the Moon and the other stars. What we see as the Moon is
simply a kind of nucleus and the whole sphere belongs to the Moon.
The Earth is within the Moon sphere. If the germ could rotate, this
nucleus would also rotate. The Moon's orbit follows the boundaries of
the Moon sphere.
The ancients
who still knew something of these matters did not speak therefore of
the Moon, but of the Moon sphere. The Moon, as we see it today, was
to them only a point at the furthest boundary. Every day this point
changes position and in the course of twenty-eight days traces for us
the boundaries of the Moon sphere. When our inner experiences
between birth and the seventh year become inspirational vision,
we acquire the power to enter into the Moon sphere as our perception
of the Earth is gradually lost.
When the
experiences of the second life-period, between the change of teeth
and puberty, are transformed into inspirational vision, we experience
the Mercury sphere, the second sphere. We live together with the
Earth in the Mercury sphere. The experiences of the Mercury
sphere only become visible through the organ of vision that we can
create for ourselves when we look back consciously and with clear
perception into the experiences of our life on Earth between the ages
of seven and fourteen. With the inspirational vision derived
from the years between puberty and the age of twenty-one, we
experience the Venus sphere. The ancients were not so ignorant as we
imagine; with their dreamlike knowledge they knew a great deal about
these things and they endowed the planetary system that we experience
after the years of puberty with a name associated with sexual
awareness which begins at this period.
Then when we
look back consciously on our experiences between the ages of
twenty-one and forty-two, we know that we are within the Sun
sphere.
When the
separate life-periods are transformed into organs of the inner life,
they endow us with the power to enlarge step by step our cosmic
consciousness.
It would be
untrue to say that we cannot know anything of the Sun sphere before
our forty-second year. We can learn about it from the Mercury beings
for they are fully acquainted with it. But in that event our
experience comes to us indirectly, through super-sensible teaching.
Now in order to have direct experience in the Sun sphere in our own
consciousness, in order to be able to enter into it, we must not only
have lived in the period between the ages of twenty-one and
forty-two, but we must have passed our forty-second year, we must be
able to look back over the past, for only in the retrospective survey
are the mysteries revealed.
And again,
when we are able to look back upon our life up to the forty-ninth
year, the mysteries of Mars are revealed. If we can look back upon
our life up to the age of fifty-six, the Jupiter mysteries are
revealed. And the deeply veiled, but extraordinarily illuminating
mysteries of Saturn — mysteries which, as we shall see in the
following lectures, veil the profound secrets of the Cosmos —
are revealed when we look back upon the events and happenings between
the fifty-sixth and sixty-third years.
Thus you
will realize that man is in fact a microcosm. He is related to those
things that he never perceives in normal consciousness. But he would
be unable to fashion, or to order his life, if the Moon forces were
not active within him from birth to his seventh year. He perceives
later on the nature of their influence. He would not be able to
re-create his experiences between the ages of seven and fourteen, if
the Mercury mysteries were not active within him; nor would he be
able to re-create his experiences of the years between fourteen and
twenty-one — the period when powerful creative forces
pour into him, if he is karmically predisposed to receive them
— if he were not inwardly related to the Venus sphere. And if
he were not united with the Sun sphere, he would not be able to
develop ripe understanding and experience of the world between the
ages of twenty and forty-two, the period when we pass from early
manhood to maturity. In ancient times the system was not very
different: the craftsman served his apprenticeship until he reached
the age of twenty-one, then he became “travelling man”
and ultimately “master.” Thus, all man's inner
development between his twenty-first and forty-second years is
related to the Sun sphere. And all his experiences during his
declining years between the ages of fifty-six and sixty-three can be
attributed to the influences of the Saturn sphere.
Together
with the Earth we exist within seven interpenetrating spheres,
and in the course of our life we grow into them and are related to
them. The original pattern of our life between birth and death
undergoes a metamorphosis through the influence of the starry spheres
which mould us from birth to death. When we have reached the Saturn
sphere, we have passed through all that the Beings of the planetary
spheres can of their bounty accomplish for us. Then, in the occult
sense, we embark upon a free and independent cosmic existence
which looks back upon the planetary life from the standpoint of
Initiation, an existence that in certain respects is no longer
subject to the compulsions of earlier life-periods. However, I shall
speak further on these matters in the following lectures.
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