Theosophy and Rosicrucianism
GA 100
25 June 1907, Kassel
Translator Unknown
X. Further Stages Of The Development Of Our Earth
Let us consider to-day the transformation of the ancient Moon into the present Earth. But first of all we must draw attention to an important phenomenon of the Moon development. When this development drew towards its close, when. everything, which I have already described to you had more or less taken, place, the ancient Moon and the Sun were reunited. The ancient Moon found its way back, as it were, to the Sun, and as a result a uniform body arose. These two celestial bodies which were reunited then passed over into a kind of latent planetary existence. Out of this came forth the fourth metamorphosis, which did not immediately resemble our present Earth, for the present condition of our Earth was prepared gradually and slowly. A study of the Earth in particular can give us a clear conception of the cosmic law that later conditions of development must in a certain way repeat conditions which have already existed. Before the Earth became our present planet—after awaking from its latent planetary condition—it had to repeat briefly the Saturn, Sun and Moon conditions. Of course, this development took a somewhat different course than in the case of the three planets themselves.
Upon Saturn we found the first foundation of the sensory apparatus which we now possess; During the first repetition of the Saturn Condition these sensory forms had progressed so far that a kind of human shape could develop; but during this metamorphosis the automatic sense-apparatus did not as yet possess an etheric body. The etheric body was embodied during the repetition of the Sun condition, and the astral body was added during the third transformation, the repetition of the moon condition. During the third phase we once more have Sun and Moon as separate bodies in the cosmic space. But the beings who lived upon them had in the meantime developed further; they had gradually prepared themselves for the experiences which awaited them upon the Earth. There, a fourth member was added to the three bodies which the animal-like human race possessed upon the ancient Moon, and this fourth member was the Ego.
But this course of development did not take place so quickly. While the earth was passing through its Saturn epoch, the automatic sense-apparatus of man had to mould a form enabling it to absorb the Ego. During the Sun repetition the etheric body also transformed itself, so as to be able to become the bearer of an Ego, and during the Moon repetition the astral body underwent a change enabling it to take in the Ego. These members waited, as it were, for the moment when they could take in the Ego.
What we were able to pursue thus far, was the separation of the Sun from the Moon. Then comes a stage which more closely approaches our present development, namely the separation of the Moon from the Earth. Two bodies emerge from the ancient Moon: one which consisted of the worst material in regard to its beings and substances, was thrown out into the cosmic space, and the other formed the present Earth. It was necessary to eliminate that which would have hindered the beings from their further development and this part which was cast out became the present Moon. After the elimination the Earth existed as an independent cosmic body. This entailed powerful cosmic events: first the separation of the Earth plus Moon from the Sun, and then the separation of the Earth from the Moon. These two events prepared our present development.
I have led you as far as the point where our Earth became an independent sphere. Let me now lead you to this point by following another direction, so that you may have a clear idea as to the exact position of this point in regard to our Earth. Let us go back from the immediate present into the past; let us go back from the present form of the Earth which you all know, to a past condition. Even natural science draws attention to the great differences between the present and the past aspect of our Earth. All this, to be sure, is based on hypotheses, but in this field natural science meets spiritual science to some extent. Natural science says: Huge virgin forests once existed in the regions which we now inhabit, their climate was one which we now encounter in Equatorial zones and gigantic animals lived in those forests.
According to the statements of modern natural science the face of our Earth once presented quite a different aspect from the present one. The ice-age followed the tropical climate and preceded the present temperate one. Every book on geology contains these facts. I am only telling you this in order to show you that the face of our Earth underwent great transformations in the course of certain epochs of time and that now it presents an entirely different aspect from that of the past.
As far as the external aspect of the Earth is concerned, natural science, which only disposes of the combining intellectual power, of apparatuses, etc., can only look back upon a few thousands of years. The descriptions of a clairvoyant looking back upon the past development of our Earth must, however, differ from those of natural science though a kind of harmony ,will one day be established between natural science and spiritual science. Natural science draws attention to a fact which a clairvoyant can ascertain without any doubt namely that the face of our Earth has not only changed in regard to plants, but that continents and oceans once existed in regions of our Earth where they no longer exist. Huxley, for instance, pointed out that a whole part of Great Britain has already been submerged by the ocean four times. Thus the face of our Earth constantly undergoes a transformation. In volume 12 of “Kosmos” you may, for instance, find an article on the so-called old continent of Atlantis, where a scientist who completely adopts the standpoint of natural science proves, through the configuration of the flora and fauna in Europe and in America, that the present Atlantic Ocean must once have been a continent, and that great parts of Africa must in those times have been covered by the ocean. On the other hand, the continent of Atlantis existed, in the West, stretching between the present Europe and America. This scientist only speaks of the fauna and of the flora of Atlantis, which is of course natural. But even if remnants of the ancient human beings, who were our ancestors could be found (they must exist at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean), it is not possible to-day to investigate to such an extent the bottom of the ocean. The clairvoyant, however, can look back as far as the time of Atlantis, and he knows that this ancient Atlantean continent, which Plato describes, really existed. Essentially speaking, the whole surface now covered by the Atlantic Ocean was once Atlantis, and this continent was inhabited by the physical predecessors of the present human race. Of course they had a rather different aspect from the one imagined by modern natural science.
We should not in any way compare them with the present apes; though psychically and physically the Atlanteans greatly differed from modern men, they were not apes. Apes did not exist at that time, for this animal species, only arose much later; simply through the fact that certain human shapes of that time remained behind at the stage of development which had then been reached, and afterwards degenerated, sinking down to a lower stage. Darwinism consequently makes a great mistake, which is, however, easy to detect. If we have before us two men, one upon an imperfect stage of development and the other a man who applied his faculties in order to perfect himself, and if we are told that these two men are relatives, we shall not say: They are relatives, and consequently the more perfect man descends from the less perfect one. Yet Darwinism comes to such a conclusion: The perfect and imperfect specimens stand side by side; one developed upwards by applying his faculties in the right way, while the other led them down and thus became decadent. That is how apes the descendants of human beings, confront man. An ape is a caricature of man, but he is not like a human being.
At the time of Atlantis there existed an entirely different human race, which gradually developed towards a higher stage. But certain men remained behind in there development, and because the Earth itself underwent changes, these beings also changed; they degenerated and became a caricature of man—they became apes. These lower beings, the apes, are consequently degenerated specimens of higher beings who had become decadent.
If we study the Atlantean man, an observation of his psychic qualities will give us the best idea of his way of living.
All that modern men are able to do—to think logically, to calculate, etc.—all this arose much later. Logic, power of judgment, etc. were unknown to the Atlanteans. But on the other hand, they had a soul-quality which has now become decadent; they had an almost inconceivable power of memory. They could not calculate twice two is four, nor make this calculation over and over again through intellectual power, but they could bear in mind the result obtained by multiplying two by two, and they were always able to remember this result. This is connected with an entirely different constitution which existed on that ancient continent. If you wish to have an idea of the physical aspect of that continent, imagine a mountain valley filled with thick fogs and mists: The Atlanteans never saw an atmosphere which was free from moisture. The air was always filled with water. When the ancient Atlanteans came over into Europe,they preserved the memory of this condition and they called the land of their ancestors.“Niflheim”, which mans the land of fogs.
When the last third of the Atlantean epoch drew towards its close, the Atlanteans began to notice that they were Egos. The Ego foundation had indeed existed for some time, and the Atlantean even had a certain feeling for the Ego, but only during the last third of the Atlantean epoch he learned to say clearly: “I am an Ego.” This is connected with the relationship of the etheric body with the physical body.
If you observe these two bodies, you will notice that they more or less coincide, but the etheric body slightly protrudes above the physical body. Between the eyebrows there is a point which constitutes a centre for certain forces and streams of the etheric body, and this corresponds to a definite point in the physical brain. These two points must coincide; on this depends the capacity of being able to experience oneself as an Ego, to calculate, combine, etc. In the case of idiots, f0r instance, these points in the head do not coincide, and when this is the case, man's power of judgment no longer functions properly. In the case of the Atlanteans these points did not coincide, and this is still the case to-day with animals. If you observe the head of a horse you will find that these two points are far apart. In the Atlantean, the etheric head protruded and his physical head had a retreating brow.
But the Atlantean had something which man lost when the etheric body and the physical body began to coincide. The Atlantean still possessed dull clairvoyance, but he was, for instance, unable to count up to five. All his judgments were based on his capacity of remembering incredibly distant times. And that old clairvoyance appeared as the enhancement of our present dream-life. Imagine the highest enhancement of this dream-life: this would lead you to the conceptual capacity, to the ancient, dull, dream-like clairvoyance of the Atlantean. When the Atlantean walked over the earth; he could indeed see the human beings in their physical involucres more or less as we see them to-day, but this perception had in a certain way a misty and foggy outline. The Atlantean could, however, perceive something which we cannot perceive. When we meet someone today, we do not see anything special of his inner being, we can only see what his features reveal to us; a gloomy expression will tell us that he is sad and will enable us to guess something of his state of mind. But when an Atlantean encountered someone who had evil intentions towards him, a brown-red vision rose up before him, and if that person loved him he saw a blue-red vision. A kind of colour vision harmonized with the psychological state of the other person; the Atlantean could still perceive something of what took place in the inner being of other men. An Atlantean walking along, who saw a terrible red-brown fog rising up before him, ran away, for he knew that a dangerous animal was approaching (perhaps it was still far away), one that would surely devour him.
The ancient Atlantean clairvoyance even had a physical foundation. For the Atlantean considered that only his close relatives belonged to him (to a far greater extent than was the case later on). Small communities existed which did not extend beyond the family circle. It was of greatest importance to marry only within this restricted family circle. These marriages between closely connected relatives produced a blood mixture which preserved the etheric body's capacity to receive spiritual influences. Had the Atlantean attempted to marry outside his family circle, he would have suppressed his clairvoyant faculty and, astrally speaking, would have become an idiot. It was a moral, ethical law to remain within the blood-ties of one s family. Before the Atlantean was able, to have a definite experience of his Ego,he said “that am I” to his whole blood-brotherhood. He considered himself as a part of the whole blood-brotherhood, even as the finger is a part of the hand.
But something else is based on this fact. The Atlantean could not only remember his own experiences, but also the experiences of his father, grandfather, great-grandfather, etc., reaching far down the line of the generations, as far as the founder of his family. Everything which came from there, everything which streamed through the line of the generations was experienced as a unity. This can show you how greatly developed was the memory of the Atlanteans! Everything was based upon memory. Later on we shall see how man lost this powerful memory because he broke through the circle of close marriages.
An Atlantean soul necessarily required quite a different physical nature and environment than is the case to-day. He needed an environment described, for instance, in the legendary “Niflheim” of the ancient Germans. Legends and myths are not in any way based upon so-called popular fancy or poetic invention. The origin of such legends can be clearly traced. The Atlanteans still possessed an ancient, dull clairvoyance, and the events which were later on related and preserved (though frequently in a distorted form) in the legends and myths of various nations really occurred.
The transmigration of the Atlanteans to the East has been preserved wonderfully in a cycle of European legends. Man could not say “I” to his individual personality, when he still lived on the ancient Atlantean continent. Consequently egoism, which later on constituted the foundation of social life, did not exist among the Atlanteans. The inhabitant of Atlantis considered as his possession everything which belonged to all his blood-relatives and he felt that he was a member of this blood relationship. Then came the transmigration to the East. Man's Ego-consciousness emerged more and more, and with it, human egoism. Man once lived far more in the external world than within his own being; Nature still formed part of his being. He felt as if he were embedded in Nature, as if he were a part of Nature. With the acquisition of his Ego-consciousness, the world around him became narrower and narrower; he separated himself from his environment little by little and the Ego emerged more and more.
This was at the same time connected with a process of Nature. When the old Atlantean looked up to the sky, he could not see the sun as we see it to-day; thick masses of fog filled the air, and when he looked at the sun and at the moon he saw an immense circle of rainbow colours. Then came the time when the Atlantean could perceive the sun and the moon as such. But there was one phenomenon which was unknown to the Atlantean—the rainbow. When the waters of Atlantis began to leave the atmosphere, when rain alternated with sunshine as is the case to-day, then the Atlantean learned to know the rainbow, for there no rainbows in the moisture-filled atmosphere of ancient Atlantis. Now bear in mind that great stretches of land were laid bear by the great Atlantean flood, and this has been wonderfully preserved in many legends, particularly in the Bible. Consider the deep truth contained in the Bible words: “And when the waters had departed, Noah saw the rainbow”. Only when the atmosphere became freed from the fogs and mists of Atlantis, could the sun appear to man in its present form. This process accompanied the narrowing of man' s being, so that he became confined within his own self, within his Ego.
For reasons which have a profound meaning, spiritual wisdom defines the light flooding through space as the etheric gold, and gold is looked upon as the condensed light of the sun. The ancient Atlanteans were taught by their teachers that there is a connection between the light of the sun and gold, and they took in the following image: “The light of the Sun, the gold of the sun, shines forth! It envelops us with a ring which frees the Ego, bringing about the fact that we no longer experience ourselves selflessly as a part of Nature”. Among the Atlanteans the Ego was still dispersed within clouds of mist, but now it began to enfold him like a ring.
The mists of Atlantis left the atmosphere, they were pressed down and appeared in the West as rivers. For the descendants of the Atlanteans, the Rhine was nothing but mist which descended from the air and then flew along as a river. In the Rhine they perceived the masses of water still permeated by light; in the Rhine they felt the presence of the sun's gold, which exercised such a pure and selfless influence upon the inhabitants of ancient Atlantis. They saw this gold in the Nibelung treasure of the Rhine, and anyone who strove to gain possession of this treasure, was their enemy.
Richard Wagner, who describes this in music, was not clearly conscious of this truth, but nevertheless he was inspired by this powerful, encompassing fact. Remember the Prologue to “Rhine Gold”: Is the wonderful organ-theme in E sharp not the point where the Ego enters humanity? But even as the plant does not know the laws according to which it grows, so the poet does not require the full knowledge of what he writes. We must think of the creative artist as one who is inspired by forces which stand behind him. In this case, a conspicuous artist has felt something which must again enter mankind. We can therefore see that even in art the same spirit which lies at the foundation of spiritual science streams into human culture. We can see it flowing into it from two directions. This is how we should consider life as a whole.
We have traced human evolution as far back as Atlantis. Let us now consider a few more details. At that time men did not build houses such as they exist to-day, for they could utilize to a far greater extent the forces which existed in Nature. Masses of rock were moulded together with that which existed in the environment, and constituted dwelling places which resembled natural houses. The further back we go, the more we come across men endowed with clairvoyance and possessing an image-consciousness. In a visionary form, in pictures which rose up before their souls, they could see the feelings of those who lived round about them. In the early Atlantean epoch, even the human will presented quite a different aspect. To-day you can stretch out the finger of your hand through your will, and this action is connected with your thinking. But in the early Atlantean age the body was a far more supple mass. The Atlantean could not only stretch out his finger, but he could even make it longer or shorter; he could easily make his hand grow when he saw a small plant, he could make it grow through an effort of his will. He disposed of a kind of magic. He also had a strange connection with the animal world; he still perceived something which later on could no longer be perceived and he exercised a fascinating power over animals through his gaze.
If we go back still further, we reach an age in which even Atlantis did not exists; people then lived upon a continent designated as “Lemuria”. It stretched south of our present Asia, as far as Africa and Australia; this was the continent inhabited by our ancestors when they were Lemurians. Their body was far softer than that of the Atlanteans and their will, far more powerful. But the ground under their feet was most unsteady; fire eruptions, volcanic powers continually upheaved it; ancient Lemuria was a kind of fire-country.
If we go back still further, we reach a time in which the osseous system began to develop out of a boneless mass, and then comes a time in which the earth had not yet developed the present mineral kingdom; everything was in a constant state of flux and reflux.
The further back we go into the evolution of the earth, the greater is the degree of heat which we encounter. We reach an age in which the forms now constituting our solid earth were in a liquid state, like mercury or molten lead. The solid state only developed in Lemuria. Thicker and thicker grow the messes of mist. This was not a sea of fog, but a thick ocean of hot steam, containing, all kinds of molten substances whirling within it. Man's predecessor could already live in certain parts of this steam, but he of course possessed quite a different constitution from the present human being. We thus reach a time in which man lived in a kind of primordial ocean, in a warm, fiery-watery element. The earth's kernel was enveloped by a kind of primordial ocean, containing the germs of everything which developed later on.
This was the aspect of the Earth immediately after the Moon's exit from it as a separate body.
We have now gained insight into a course of development reaching to the time in which the Sun first severed itself from the Earth and from the Moon; and when the Moon severed itself from the Earth, leaving it in the condition described above.
To-morrow we shall once more consider this process which I have set forth just now from two aspects, and then we shall consider the further development of man and of the earth, reaching as far as the present time.
Zehnter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Heute wollen wir die Umwandlung des alten Mondes in unsere Erde einmal in Betracht ziehen. Vorher müssen wir aber noch hinweisen auf eine wichtige Erscheinung der Mondenentwickelung selber. Als diese ihrem Ende zuging, als also alles das mehr oder weniger sich abgespielt hatte, was ich gestern beschrieben habe, hat eine Wiedervereinigung des alten Mondes mit der Sonne selbst stattgefunden. Es fiel sozusagen dieser alte Mond wiederum in die Sonne zurück, so daß es jetzt wieder den einheitlichen Körper gab. Dann ging dieser Körper wiederum über in eine Art Schlafzustand des Planetendaseins, und es trat neuerdings hervor die vierte Metamorphose; das war nicht etwa gleich dasjenige, was unsere Erde darstellt, sondern es bereitete sich erst langsam der Zustand unserer Erde vor. Wir können uns am besten bei unserer Erde über ein kosmisches Gesetz klarwerden: daß die späteren Zustände in einer gewissen Beziehung das wiederholen müssen, was vorher schon da war. Bevor unsere Erde nach dem Aufwachen so recht unsere Erde werden konnte, mußte sie noch einmal kurz wiederholen den Zustand des Saturn, der Sonne und des Mondes. Allerdings verlief diese Entwickelung in einer etwas andern Weise als bei den drei Planeten selber.
[ 2 ] Wir haben gehört, daß auf dem Saturn die erste Anlage vorhanden war zu den Sinnesapparaten, die wir in uns tragen. Bei der ersten Wiederholung waren diese Sinnesformationen schon so weit vorgeschritten, daß eine Art menschlicher Gestalt sich herausbildete; doch hatte bei dieser Metamorphose jener automatische Sinnesapparat noch keinen Ätherleib. Bei der Wiederholung des Sonnenzustandes gliederte sich der Ätherleib ein, und bei der dritten Umwandlung, der Wiederholung des Mondenzustandes, der Astralleib. In der dritten Phase haben wir wiiederum Sonne und Mond getrennt im Weltenraume schwebend. Die Wesen waren etwas höher entwickelt, weil sie immer mehr der Vorbereitung dessen entgegengingen, was sie auf der Erde durchmachen sollten. Zu den drei Leibern, welche die Tiermenschheit auf dem Monde hatte, gesellte sich das vierte Glied hinzu, das Ich. Das ging aber nicht so schnell vonstatten. Während die Erde ihre Saturnzeit durchmachte, mußte der ganze menschliche automatische Sinnesapparat die Gestalt ausbilden, die es ermöglichte, daß dann das Ich aufgenommen wurde. Der Ätherleib bildete sich während der Sonnenwiederholung so um, daß er Träger des Ich werden konnte; und während der Mondwiederholung gestaltete sich auch der Astralleib so um, daß er das Ich aufnehmen konnte. Es war so, daß diese Glieder gleichsam warteten auf die Aufnahme eines Ich.
[ 3 ] Was wir schon haben verfolgen können, war ein Heraustrennen von Sonne und Mond. Dann haben wir es zu tun da, wo es schon nahe unserer eigenen Entwickelung zugeht, mit einer Auseinanderspaltung von Mond und Erde. Aus dem alten Mond werden zwei Körper: der eine, der aus dem schlechtesten Material bestand, das an Wesenheiten und Substanzen vorhanden war, wurde hinausgeworfen in den Weltenraum; der andere ist unsere heutige Erde. Was die Wesen gehindert hätte, eine weitere Entwickelung durchzumachen, mußte ausgeschieden werden, und das bildete den heutigen Mond. Erst dann war die Erde als ein selbständiger Weltenkörper da. Wir stehen hiermit vor gewaltigen kosmischen Ereignissen: die Trennung der Sonne von Erde plus Mond; und dann wiederum die Trennung der Erde vom Mond. Diese zwei Ereignisse bereiteten unsere gegenwärtige Entwickelung vor.
[ 4 ] Ich habe Sie bis zu dem Punkte geführt, wo unsere Erde eine selbständige Kugel wurde. Ich möchte Sie jetzt von einer andern Seite her zu diesem Punkte führen, damit Sie genau orientiert sind, wo dieser Punkt für unsere Erde liegt.
[ 5 ] Gehen wir jetzt einmal von der unmittelbaren Gegenwart in die Vergangenheit zurück; gehen wir also zunächst aus von der Gestalt der Erde, die Sie alle kennen. Selbst die Naturwissenschaft weist hin auf beträchtliche Unterschiede zwischen dem früheren und dem heutigen Aussehen der Erde. Es beruht zwar alles auf Hypothese, aber wir können erfreut sein, daß sich heute schon die Naturwissenschaft mit der Geisteswissenschaft etwas darin begegnet. Die Naturwissenschaft sagt: In den Gegenden, wo wir heute leben, waren riesige Urwälder mit einem Klima, wie es heute am Äquator herrscht; mächtige Tiere waren da anzutreffen. Ganz anders hatte das Antlitz der Erde ausgesehen nach dem, was die Naturwissenschaft heute sagt. Nach dem Tropenklima, das damals herrschte, vor dem heutigen gemäßigten, war die Glazial- oder Eiszeit, und so weiter. Das sind Dinge, die Sie in jedem Geologiebuch bereits finden können. Ich erzähle das, um Sie darauf hinzuweisen, wie wir uns durchaus vergegenwärtigen müssen, daß sich das Antlitz der Erde in gewissen Zeiträumen mächtig ändert und ganz anders aussieht. Die Naturwissenschaft, die nur den kombinierenden Verstand, ihre Apparate und so weiter zur Verfügung hat, kann nur auf eine Reihe von Jahrtausenden auf das äußerliche Aussehen unserer Erde zurückblicken. Wenn aber der Seher zurückschaut, muß er es zwar in einer etwas andern Weise schildern, aber es wird schon jene Harmonie zwischen Naturwissenschaft und Geisteswissenschaft einmal kommen. Die Naturwissenschaft weist uns schon heute auf die Tatsache hin, die der Seher mit Entschiedenheit behaupten muß, daß das Antlitz der Erde sich nicht nur verändert hat in bezug auf Pflanzen und so weiter, sondern daß ganz andere Gebiete unserer Erde von Land oder Meer bedeckt waren, als es heute der Fall ist. So hat Huxley darauf aufmerksam gemacht, daß ein ganzer Teil von Großbritannien bereits viermal unter Wasser gestanden hat. Dementsprechend sieht das Antlitz unserer Erde immer wieder ganz anders aus. — Sie finden zum Beispiel im «Kosmos», Heft 10, eine Abhandlung über die sogenannte alte Atlantis, wo ein Gelehrter, der ganz auf dem Boden der Naturwissenschaft steht, aus der Konfiguration des Pflanzen- und Tierreiches in Europa und Amerika nachweist, daß, was heute Atlantischer Ozean ist, früher Land gewesen sein muß, und daß in jenen Zeiten große Teile von Afrika nicht Land, sondern Meer gewesen sein müssen. Dafür aber bestand im Westen von uns das Land Atlantis, das sich zwischen Europa und Amerika ausbreitete.
[ 6 ] Der Gelehrte kommt zwar nur dazu, von einer Pflanzen- und Tierwelt zu sprechen, aber das ist ja auch ganz natürlich. Selbst wenn Überreste da sein sollten von jenen alten Menschen, unseren Vorfahren - sie müssen sich auf dem Boden des Atlantischen Ozeans finden lassen -, so kann man ja heute noch nicht den Meeresboden so weit durchforschen. Der Geistesforscher sieht zurück bis in der Zeiten Wende und weiß, daß wirklich dazumal die alte Atlantis, von der sogar Plato noch berichtet, vorhanden war. Es war im wesentlichen die ganze Fläche, die heute Ozean ist, die alte Atlantis, und da wohnten die physischen Vorfahren des heutigen Menschengeschlechts. Allerdings sahen sie ziemlich anders aus, als es sich die heutige Naturwissenschaft vorstellt. Doch dürfen wir sie keineswegs vergleichen mit dem heutigen Affengeschlecht; die Atlantier waren seelisch und auch körperlich sehr verschieden von dem heutigen Menschen, aber Affen waren sie nicht. Das Affengeschlecht gab es damals noch nicht, das ist erst zu einer späteren Zeit entstanden, und nicht anders als auf die Weise, daß gewisse Menschenformen in der damaligen Zeit zurückgeblieben sind auf der damaligen Entwickelungsstufe, und dann heruntergesunken sind auf eine noch niedrigere Stufe. Der Darwinismus macht nämlich einen Fehler, der aber sehr einfach einzusehen ist. Wenn jemand zwei Leute sieht, von denen er hört, sie seien verwandt, der eine sei ein unvollkommener Mensch, während der andere, der seine Fähigkeiten gut angewendet hat, ein vorzüglicher Mensch ist, wird er nicht sagen: blutsverwandt sind sie, also stammt der vollkommene Mensch von dem unvollkommenen ab. — So aber ist die Schlußfolgerung der Darwinisten. Es stehen jedoch der Vollkommene und der Unvollkommene nebeneinander: nur hat sich der eine hinaufentwickelt, indem er seine Fähigkeiten gut angewendet hat, der andere hat sie heruntergetrieben, ist in Dekadenz geraten. So auch stehen sich die von den Menschen abgezweigten Affen und die Menschen selbst gegenüber. Der Affe, der dem Menschen begegnet, erscheint diesem wie eine Karikatur eines Menschen, nicht wie ein Mensch. - So war zur Zeit der Atlantis ein ganz anderer Menschenschlag vorhanden, dieser hat sich höher entwickelt. Gewisse Wesen blieben dabei zurück. Und weil die Erde sich verändert, so blieben auch sie nicht auf jener Stufe stehen, sondern sie kamen herunter, verkümmerten und wurden zu der Karikatur des Menschen, zu dem Affengeschlecht. So sind die niederen Wesen verkommene höhere, die in Dekadenz geraten sind.
[ 7 ] Wenn wir den Menschen der Atlantis selbst betrachten, werden wir uns am besten klar, wie er lebte, wenn wir auf seine seelischen Eigenschaften eingehen.
[ 8 ] Was der heutige Mensch kann - logisch denken, rechnen und so weiter -, ist alles später entstanden. Logik, Urteilsvermögen, das alles war dem Atlantier noch völlig fremd. Dafür hatte der Atlantier eine Eigenschaft der Seele, die heute beträchtlich zurückgegangen ist, nämlich ein schier unbegreifliches Gedächtnis. So rechnen, daß er nach der Regel gelernt hätte: zwei mal zwei ist vier, und aus seinem Urteil heraus diese Rechnung immer wieder vollzogen hätte, das gab es nicht. Aber er konnte sich das, was es gibt, wenn man zwei mal zwei zusammenlegt, merken und sich immer wieder daran erinnern. Das hängt nun zusammen mit einer völlig andern physischen Beschaffenheit jenes alten Kontinentes selber. Wenn Sie sich diesen Kontinent seiner physischen Beschaffenheit nach vorstellen wollen, bekommen Sie am besten ein Bild davon, wenn Sie an ein Gebirgstal denken, das von dichten Wasserdämpfen und Nebelmassen angefüllt ist. Es gab für den Atlantier niemals eine wasserfreie Luft. Die Luft war immer geschwängert mit Wasser. Die alten Atlantier haben sich die Erinnerung daran erhalten, als sie nach Europa herüberkamen; daher nennen sie das Land, in welchem die Vorfahren lebten, Niflheim. Erst gegen das Ende des letzten Drittels der atlantischen Zeit fingen die Menschen an, gewahr zu werden, daß sie ein Ich sind. Die Anlage dazu war schon längst vorhanden und ein gewisses Gefühl davon auch. Aber klar und deutlich aussprechen: Ich bin ein Ich -, das lernte man erst im letzten Drittel der atlantischen Zeit. Dies hängt zusammen mit dem Verhältnis des Ätherleibes zum physischen Leibe. Wenn Sie diese beiden Leiber betrachten, sehen Sie, daß sie sich ungefähr decken, nur ragt der Ätherleib etwas über den physischen Leib hinaus. Es gibt nun zwischen den Augenbrauen eine Stelle, die ein Mittelpunkt für gewisse Kräfte und Strömungen des ÄÄtherleibes ist. Zu ihm gehört nun hinzu ein ganz bestimmter Punkt im physischen Gehirn, Beide müssen sich decken, und darauf beruht die Fähigkeit, sich als ein Ich zu empfinden; darauf beruht auch die Fähigkeit, zu rechnen, kombinieren zu können und so weiter. Bei den Idioten zum Beispiel ist die Berührung dieser Punkte im Kopf nicht vorhanden, da decken sie sich nicht. In dem Augenblick, wo sie auseinanderfallen, ist die Urteilskraft des Menschen nicht mehr ordentlich vorhanden. Bei dem Atlantier war es noch das Normale, daß diese beiden Punkte auseinanderlagen. So ist es heute noch bei den Tieren; wenn Sie den Pferdekopf ansehen, finden Sie beide Punkte noch weit auseinanderliegend. Bei dem Atlantier ragte der Ätherkopf hervor, und der physische Kopf hatte eine zurückliegende Stirn.
[ 9 ] Dafür aber hatte der Atlantier noch etwas anderes, das allerdings mit der Eingliederung des physischen Leibes in den Ätherleib wieder verlorenging. Er hatte noch ein altes, dumpfes Hellsehen entwickelt, während er wirklich nicht bis fünf zählen konnte. Alles Urteilen, das er hatte, kam ihm aus seinem Erinnerungsvermögen an unglaublich ferne Zeiten. Und jenes alte Hellsehen stellte sich dar als eine gewisse Steigerung unseres gegenwärtigen Traumlebens. Denken Sie sich dieses Traumleben aufs höchste gesteigert, dann würden Sie zu dem Anschauungsvermögen, zu dem alten dumpfen, traumhaften Hellsehen des Atlantiers aufsteigen. Wenn der Atlantier durch das Land ging, sah er zwar schon den Menschen innerhalb seiner physischen Grenzen, so ungefähr wie wir ihn heute sehen, aber das war in gewisser Beziehung noch nebelhaft verschwommen; er sah aber noch etwas anderes. Wenn Sie heute einem Menschen begegnen, sehen Sie nichts Besonderes von seinem Innenwesen, nur was seine Miene ausdrückt: ist seine Miene finster, so schließen Sie auf sein Traurigsein und können daraus etwas von seiner Seele erraten. Wenn aber der Atlantier einem Menschen begegnete, der etwas Arges gegen ihn im Sinne hatte, tauchte ihm zum Beispiel eine braunrote Vision auf; wenn jener ihn liebte, eine bläulichrote Vision. Eine Art Farbenvision stimmte mit dem Seelenzustand des andern überein; man sah noch etwas von dem, was im Inneren des Menschen sich zutrug. Wenn der Atlantier ging und es tauchte vor ihm ein fürchterlich rotbrauner Nebel auf, so lief er davon, denn er wußte: da kommt - es war vielleicht noch meilenweit weg — ganz bestimmt ein gefährliches Tier, das mich fressen will.
[ 10 ] Sogar eine physische Grundlage hatte das alte atlantische Hellsehen. Der Mensch betrachtete nämlich nur die nächsten Blutsverwandten als zu sich gehörig, aber in einem viel höheren Maße, als das später der Fall war; nur ganz kleine Gemeinden, die kaum über den Familienkreis hinausgingen. Und es war die Hauptsache, daß man innerhalb dieser kleinen Blutsverwandtschaften heiratete. Dieses Heiraten innerhalb der engsten Blutsbrüderschaft ergab eine solche Blutmischung, daß der Ätherleib für das Geistige empfänglich bleiben konnte. Hätte es der Atlantier versucht, aus dieser Blutsverwandtschaft herauszuheiraten, so würde die Hellseherfähigkeit unterdrückt worden sein; er wäre im astralen Sinne ein Idiot geworden. In den Blutsbrüderschaften zu bleiben war etwas, das Sittlichkeit, Moralität war. Bevor man sein einzelnes Ich recht erfühlte, sagte man überhaupt zu der ganzen Blutsbrüderschaft: Das bin Ich. — Wie der einzelne Finger an der Hand, so betrachtete sich der einzelne Mensch zugehörig zur Blutsverwandtschaft. Hierauf beruht aber noch etwas anderes. Der Atlantier erinnerte sich nicht nur an das, was er selbst erlebte, sondern auch an das, was sein Vater, Großvater, Urgroßvater und so weiter bis weit in die Generationen hinauf erlebt hatten, bis hin zum Begründer der Familie. Alles, was von dort herstammend fortlebte, wurde als eine Einheit empfunden. Das wird Ihnen zeigen, wie enorm das Gedächtnis des Atlantiers entwickelt war. Alles beruhte auf dem Gedächtnis. Wir werden später hören, wie der Menschheit das Gedächtnis gerade durch das Durchbrechen der nahen Ehe verlorenging.
[ 11 ] Zu einer solchen Seele braucht es notwendig eine ganz andere physische Natur, ist auch eine andere Umgebung notwendig, wie jenes alte Niflheim, an das sich die alten Germanen erinnern. Keineswegs beruhen Sagen und Mythen auf dem, was man Volksdichtung oder Volksphantasie nennt. Woher diese Sagen kommen, können Sie jetzt sehen. Bei den Atlantiern gab es noch ein altes, dumpfes Hellsehen; dort haben sich diese Begebenheiten wirklich abgespielt, die später wieder erzählt wurden und sich erhalten haben, wenn auch vielfach verkümmert, in den Sagen und Mythen der Völker.
[ 12 ] Das Herüberwandern der Atlantier nach Osten hat sich in wunderbarer Weise in einem Sagenkreis Europas erhalten. Auf dem Kontinent der alten Atlantis konnte der Mensch nicht «Ich» zu seiner einzelnen Persönlichkeit sagen. Daher gab es dort auch nicht jenen Egoismus, der später die Grundlage der sozialen Ordnung gebildet hat. Dem Atlantier gehörte noch das, was die ganze Blutsverwandtschaft besaß, und er fühlte sich nur als ein Glied innerhalb dieser Blutsverwandtschaft. Dann begann die Wanderung nach dem Osten. Immer mehr trat das Ich-Bewußtsein im Menschen hervor und damit die Selbstsucht. Der Mensch lebte vorher viel mehr in der Außenwelt als im Innern; es gehörte die Natur noch zu ihm. Wie in der Natur darinnen, ihr zugehörig, fühlte sich der Mensch. Nun, mit dem Erlangen des Ich-Bewußtseins, wurde es immer enger und enger um ihn, immer mehr scheidet er sich heraus, immer fremder wird er da, und immer stärker tritt das Ich hervor. Das war zu gleicher Zeit verknüpft mit einem Naturvorgang. Wenn der alte Atlantier hinaufsah zum Himmel, konnte er die Sonne so nicht sehen, wie wir sie sehen; dichte Nebelmassen füllten die Luft an. Einen mächtigen Hof mit Regenbogenfarben erblickte er, wenn er auf die Sonne oder den Mond schaute. Dann kam die Zeit, wo der Atlantier die Sonne und den Mond als solche sah. Eine Erscheinung aber kannte der Atlantier überhaupt noch nicht: das war der Regenbogen selbst. Erst als die Wasser der Atlantis die Luft verließen, als eine Verteilung von Regen und Sonnenschein sich bildete wie heute, lernte man die’ Tatsache des Regenbogens kennen. In jener wassergeschwängerten Atmosphäre gab es keinen Regenbogen. Nun erinnern Sie sich, daß die alte atlantische Flut große Länderstrecken freigelegt hat; dieses Freiwerden großer Strecken ist in großartiger Weise in der Sage und besonders in der Bibel erhalten. Denken Sie nur an die tiefe Wahrheit, die in der Bibel enthalten ist, wenn Sie lesen: «Und Noah sah, als die Wasser abgezogen waren, den Regenbogen.» Mit dem Reinwerden der Luft von den alten atlantischen Nebeln war erst die Sonne in ihrer freien heutigen Gestalt für den Menschen hervorgerreten. Das ging parallel mit dem Einengen, dem Zusammenschnüren des Menschen zu seiner Selbstheit, seiner Ichheit. - Aus Gründen, die tief liegen, bezeichnet man in der Geistesweisheit das den Raum durchflutende Licht als das ätherische Gold, und das Gold sieht man an als das dicht gewordene Sonnenlicht. Die alten Atlantier wußten von ihren atlantischen Lehrern, daß das Sonnenlicht und das Gold etwas miteinander zu tun haben, und dies war das Bild, das sie empfingen: Das Sonnenlicht, das Sonnengold kommt heraus! Es umkleidet euch mit dem Ring, der das Selbst herauslöst, der bewirkt, daß ihr euch nicht mehr selbstlos in der Natur fühlt. - Bei den Atlantiern war das Selbst noch in den Nebelwolken verstreut; jetzt legt es sich wie ein Ring um den Menschen herum.
[ 13 ] Die Nebel der Atlantis verlassen die Luft, werden heruntergedrückt und erscheinen als die Flüsse im Westen. Der Rhein selbst ist für den atlantischen Nachfahren nichts anderes als die Nebelmassen, die gesunken sind und nun herunterrinnen. In dem Rhein sieht er die Wassermassen, die noch durchdrungen waren vom Sonnenlicht; das Sonnengold ahnte er im Rhein, das Sonnengold, das in selbstloser, ursprünglicher Weise in der alten Atlantis gewirkt hat. Das war ihm der Nibelungenschatz im Rhein, und feindlich ist ihm der, welcher den Nibelungenschatz für sich haben will.
[ 14 ] Nicht klar sich bewußt, aber inspiriert von dieser mächtigen, umfassenden Tatsache war Richard Wagner, der bis ins Musikalische hinein dieses darstellt. Erinnern Sie sich an das Vorspiel im Rheingold: was ist der mächtige Orgelpunkt in Es-Dur anderes als der Punkt des Einschlags des Ich in die Menschheit? Aber so wenig die Pflanze die Gesetze weiß, wonach sie wächst, so wenig braucht der Dichter das Wissen. So müssen wir den schaffenden Künstler auffassen, der von Kräften, die hinter ihm stehen, inspiriert wird. Hier hat ein bedeutender Künstler gefühlt, was der Menschheit wieder einverleibt werden muß. — So sehen wir, wie vorgesorgt ist, daß auch in der Kunst derselbe Geist in die Kultur einströmt, welcher der 'Theosophie zugrunde liegt. Von zwei Seiten her geschieht es. So muß man das Leben im Ganzen betrachten.
[ 15 ] Wir haben den Menschen jetzt bis in die Atlantis zurückverfolgt. Betrachten wir noch einige Einzelheiten. Damals baute man die Häuser nicht so wie heute, sondern man konnte in viel höherem Maße ausnutzen, was in der Natur selbst vorhanden war. Felsenmassen, die man durch Mitbenützung der dort befindlichen Bäume umgestaltet hatte, fügte man zusammen, so daß naturhaft wirkende Häuser die Wohnungen der Menschen waren. Immer mehr finden wir den Menschen mit Hellseherkraft begabt, je weiter wir zurückgehen; immer mehr treffen wir bei ihm ein Bilderbewußtsein. In Bildern sieht er visionär vor seiner Seele aufsteigen die Gefühle der Wesen, die um ihn herum sind. Auch der Wille ist in der ersten Zeit beim Atlantier noch ganz anders ausgebildet. Heute kann Ihr Wille die Finger spreizen; das ist etwas, was mit der heutigen Kraft der Vorstellung zusammenhängt. In der ersten atlantischen Zeit war der Körper noch eine viel weichere Masse. Der Atlantier konnte die Finger nicht nur ausstrecken, sondern auch länger oder kürzer machen; er hätte leicht seine Hand wachsen machen können. Wenn er eine Pflanze hatte, die klein war, konnte er durch eine Anstrengung seines Willens sie größer werden lassen. Ihm stand eine Art Magie zu Gebote. Auch hatte er ein eigentümliches Verhältnis zur Tierwelt: er nahm etwas wahr, was später nicht mehr wahrgenommen werden konnte. Mit seinem Blick konnte er eine faszinierende Gewalt über die Tiere ausüben.
[ 16 ] Gehen wir noch weiter zurück, so kommen wir in eine Zeit, wo selbst die Atlantis noch nicht da war, wo die Menschen auf einem Kontinent lebten, den man Lemurien nennt. Südwärts vom heutigen Asien dehnte sich dieser Kontinent aus bis nach Afrika und Australien hinüber; den bewohnten unsere Vorfahren, als sie noch Lemurier waren. Sie hatten einen viel weicheren Körper als die Atlantier, und der Wille war bei ihnen viel mächtiger ausgebildet als bei den Atlantiern. Dafür aber war der Boden unter den Lemuriern ein recht unsicherer: er wurde fortwährend durcheinandergeworfen von Feuerausbrüchen, vulkanischen Gewalten. Eine Art Feuerland war dies alte Lemurien. Gehen wir noch weiter in seine Anfänge zurück, so kommen wir zu einem Zeitpunkt, wo das Knochensystem überhaupt erst begann sich herauszugliedern aus der knochenlosen Masse. Dann kommen wir in die Zeit, wo die Erde überhaupt das heutige Mineralreich noch nicht herausgebildet hatte: alles, was heute in den Bergen drinnen ist, haben wir da in einem fortwährenden Hinfließen und Hinrinnen.
[ 17 ] Und je weiter wir den Weg der Erdenentwickelung zurückverfolgen, um so höhere Wärmegrade treffen wir an. Da kommen wir zu Zeiten, in denen die Gestaltungen, die heute festes Land sind, so hinrannen, wie heute Quecksilber oder Blei bei einer höheren Temperatur hinrinnen würden. Das Festwerden entwickelt sich erst bei den Lemuriern. Immer dichter und dichter werden die Nebelmassen. Wir haben es nicht mehr zu tun bloß mit einem Nebelmeer, sondern mit einem dichten Glutmeer von Wasserdämpfen, in denen alle möglichen Substanzen aufgelöst sind und hin und her wirbeln. Allerdings in gewissen Partien dieses Wasserdampfes war schon die Möglichkeit geboten, daß der damalige menschliche Vorfahr leben konnte; nur waren damals die Wesen ganz anders geartet. Wir kommen also zu einem Zeitpunkt hinauf, wo der Mensch in einer Art von Urmeer lebte, in einem warmen, wässerig-feurigen Element. Der Kern der Erde war wie von einem Urmeer umgeben, in dem die Keime zu allem enthalten waren, was später sich entwickelt hat. So sah es also auf der Erde aus, unmittelbar nachdem der Mond herausgeflogen und selbständig geworden war.
[ 18 ] Wir haben einen Einblick in eine Entwickelung gewonnen bis zu dem Zeitpunkte hin, wo zuerst die Sonne sich von der Erde und von dem Mond getrennt hat, dann der Mond von der Erde sich abtrennte und die Erde in dem Zustand ließ, den ich Ihnen eben beschrieben habe.
[ 19 ] Wir werden morgen diesen Vorgang, den wir soeben von zwei Seiten her zusammengefügt haben, noch einmal betrachten, und auch den weiteren Fortgang des Menschen und der Erde bis in unsere Zeit hinein.
Tenth Lecture
[ 1 ] Today we want to consider the transformation of the old moon into our Earth. But before that, we must point out an important phenomenon of the moon's evolution itself. When this was coming to an end, when everything that I described yesterday had more or less taken place, a reunification of the old moon with the sun itself took place. This old moon, so to speak, fell back into the sun again, so that there was now the unified body again. Then this body again went into a kind of dormant state of planetary existence, and the fourth metamorphosis emerged once more; this was not quite the same as what our earth represents, but the state of our earth was only slowly preparing. We can best understand a cosmic law by looking at our Earth: that the later states must, in a certain respect, repeat what was already there before. Before our Earth, after awakening, could truly become our Earth, it had to briefly repeat the state of Saturn, the Sun and the Moon. Admittedly, this development took place in a slightly different way than with the three planets themselves.
[ 2 ] We have heard that the first rudiments of the sense organs that we carry within us were present on Saturn. During the first repetition, these sense formations had already progressed so far that a kind of human form emerged; but during this metamorphosis, the automatic sense apparatus did not yet have an etheric body. During the repetition of the solar condition, the etheric body was incorporated, and during the third transformation, the repetition of the lunar condition, the astral body. In the third phase, we again have the sun and moon floating separately in space. The beings were somewhat more highly developed because they were increasingly approaching the preparation of what they were to undergo on earth. The fourth body, the I, was added to the three bodies that animal mankind had on the moon. But this did not happen so quickly. While the earth was going through its Saturn time, the whole human automatic sensory apparatus had to develop the form that would enable the I to be received. During the repetition of the sun, the etheric body was transformed in such a way that it could become the carrier of the I; and during the repetition of the moon, the astral body was also transformed in such a way that it could receive the I. These members were, as it were, waiting to receive an I.
[ 3 ] What we have already been able to follow was a separation of the sun and moon. Then, as we approach our own development, we find ourselves dealing with a splitting apart of the Moon and the Earth. The old Moon became two bodies: the one consisting of the most inferior material of all the beings and substances present was thrown out into space; the other is our present Earth. Whatever might have prevented the beings from undergoing further development had to be expelled, and that formed the present moon. Only then did the earth come into existence as an independent world body. We are thus confronted with tremendous cosmic events: the separation of the sun from the earth plus moon; and then again the separation of the earth from the moon. These two events prepared our present development.
[ 4 ] I have led you to the point where our Earth became an independent sphere. I would now like to lead you to this point from a different direction, so that you are precisely oriented as to where this point lies for our Earth.
[ 5 ] Let us now go back from the immediate present to the past; let us therefore start from the shape of the earth, which you all know. Even science points to considerable differences between the earth's appearance in the past and today. Although it is all based on hypotheses, we can be pleased that today natural science and spiritual science are already meeting in this. Natural science says: In the areas where we live today, there were huge primeval forests with a climate similar to that at the equator today; mighty animals were to be found there. According to what natural science says today, the face of the earth looked quite different. After the tropical climate that prevailed at that time, before today's temperate climate, was the glacial or ice age, and so on. These are things that you can already find in any geology book. I am telling this to point out to you how we must be fully aware that the face of the earth changes dramatically and looks quite different over certain periods of time. Natural science, which has only the combining intellect, its apparatus and so on at its disposal, can only look back on a series of millennia of the outward appearance of our earth. But when the seer looks back, he has to describe it in a slightly different way, but that harmony between natural science and spiritual science will come in time. Natural science already points out to us the fact that the seer must assert with determination that the face of the earth has not only changed in relation to plants and so on, but that completely different areas of our earth were covered by land or sea than is the case today. Huxley, for example, pointed out that a whole part of Great Britain has been under water four times. Accordingly, the face of our earth looks quite different again and again. For example, in Kosmos, issue 10, you will find an essay about the so-called ancient Atlantis, where a scholar who is firmly grounded in the natural sciences proves from the configuration of the plant and animal kingdoms in Europe and America that what is now the Atlantic Ocean must have been land in the past, and that in those times large parts of Africa must have been sea, not land. But to the west of us was the land of Atlantis, which stretched between Europe and America.
[ 6 ] The scholar only comes to speak of a flora and fauna, but that is only natural. Even if there were remains of those ancient humans, our ancestors, they would have to be found on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and the seabed cannot be searched that thoroughly yet. The spiritual researcher looks back to the turn of time and knows that the old Atlantis, of which even Plato still reports, really existed back then. The whole area that is now ocean was the old Atlantis, and the physical ancestors of today's human race lived there. Admittedly, they looked rather different from what today's science imagines. But we must not compare them with today's ape race; the Atlanteans were very different from today's humans, both mentally and physically, but they were not apes. The simian race did not yet exist at that time; it only came into being at a later time, and not otherwise than in the way that certain human forms at that time remained at the level of development at that time, and then descended to an even lower level. Darwinism makes a mistake, but it is very easy to see. If someone sees two people and hears that they are related, one is an imperfect person while the other, who has used his abilities well, is an excellent person, he will not say: they are related by blood, so the perfect person descends from the imperfect one. — But that is the conclusion of the Darwinists. However, the perfect and the imperfect stand side by side: only one has developed upwards by making good use of his abilities, while the other has driven them down and fallen into decadence. So it is also with the apes, which have branched off from humans, and humans themselves. The ape that encounters man appears to him like a caricature of a human, not like a human. Thus, in the time of Atlantis, there was a completely different breed of human being. This one developed higher. Certain beings remained behind. And because the Earth is changing, they did not remain at that level either, but came down, atrophied and became the caricature of man, the ape race. Thus, the lower beings have degenerated into higher ones, and have fallen into decadence.
[ 7 ] If we look at the people of Atlantis themselves, we will best understand how they lived if we look at their mental characteristics.
[ 8 ] Everything that modern man can do – think logically, do arithmetic and so on – all of this developed later. Logic and judgment were still completely foreign to the Atlanteans. Instead, the Atlanteans had a quality of the soul that has considerably declined today, namely an almost incomprehensible memory. It was impossible for him to calculate in such a way that he would have learned the rule: two times two is four, and would have carried out this calculation again and again based on his judgment. But he could remember what happens when you add two and two together, and recall it again and again. This is connected with a completely different physical nature of that old continent itself. If you want to imagine this continent in terms of its physical nature, the best way to get an idea of it is to think of a mountain valley filled with dense water vapors and masses of fog. There was never any water-free air for the Atlanteans. The air was always saturated with water. The ancient Atlanteans retained the memory of this when they came to Europe; that is why they call the land where their ancestors lived Niflheim. It was only towards the end of the last third of the Atlantean era that people began to realize that they had an ego. The potential for this has been present for a long time, along with a certain sense of it. But to express it clearly and distinctly: “I am an I” - that is something we only learned in the last third of the Atlantean era. This is connected to the relationship between the etheric body and the physical body. If you look at these two bodies, you can see that they roughly match, except that the etheric body extends slightly beyond the physical body. There is now a point between the eyebrows that is a center for certain forces and currents of the etheric body. A very specific point in the physical brain now belongs to it. Both must coincide, and the ability to perceive oneself as an ego is based on this; the ability to calculate, to combine, and so on, is also based on this. In the case of the idiots, for example, the touching of these points in the head is not present, they do not overlap. The moment they fall apart, the person's judgment is no longer properly present. In the case of the Atlantean, it was still normal for these two points to be apart. It is still the case today with animals; if you look at a horse's head, you will find that the two points are still far apart. The Atlantean's ether head protruded, and the physical head had a receding forehead.
[ 9 ] But the Atlantean had something else, which was lost with the integration of the physical body into the ether body. They had developed an ancient, vague form of clairvoyance, while they really could not count to five. All their judgment came from their memories of incredibly distant times. And that ancient clairvoyance was a certain increase of our present dream life. Imagine this dream-life intensified to the highest degree, and you will have a conception of the ancient, dull, dream-like clairvoyance of the Atlanteans. When the Atlanteans walked the earth, they saw man within his physical limits, much as we see him today, but in some respects it was still misty and blurred. When you meet a person today, you see nothing special about his inner being, only what his expression expresses: if his expression is dark, you conclude that he is sad and can guess something about his soul from that. But when the Atlantean met a person who had something bad in mind against him, a brown-red vision appeared to him, for example; if that person loved him, a bluish-red vision. A kind of color vision corresponded to the state of mind of the other person; one could see something of what was happening inside the person. If the Atlantean walked and a terrible reddish-brown fog appeared in front of him, he ran away, because he knew: a dangerous animal was coming – it was perhaps still miles away – that definitely wanted to eat him.
[ 10 ] Even a physical basis had the old Atlantean clairvoyance. Man regarded only the closest blood relatives as belonging to him, but to a much higher degree than was later the case; only very small communities that hardly went beyond the family circle. And it was the main thing that people married within these small blood relationships. This marrying within the closest blood relationship resulted in such a blood mixture that the etheric body could remain receptive to the spiritual. If the Atlanteans had tried to marry outside their blood relationship, their clairvoyance would have been suppressed; in the astral sense, they would have become idiots. Remaining within the blood brotherhoods was something that was morality. Before one felt one's individual self aright, one said in general to the whole blood brotherhood: That is I. Like the individual finger on the hand, the individual person considered himself to belong to the blood relationship. But there is something else that is based on this. The Atlantean not only remembered what he himself experienced, but also what his father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on had experienced, far back into the generations, all the way to the founder of the family. Everything that came from there was felt as one unit. This shows you how enormously developed the memory of the Atlanteans was. Everything was based on memory. We will hear later how mankind lost its memory precisely by breaking the close marriage.
[ 11 ] A completely different physical nature is needed for such a soul, and a different environment is also necessary, such as the old Niflheim, which the ancient Germans remember. By no means are legends and myths based on what is called folk poetry or folk fantasy. You can now see where these legends come from. Among the Atlanteans there was still an old, dull clairvoyance; these events really took place there, and were later retold and preserved, albeit in a much stunted form, in the legends and myths of the peoples.
[ 12 ] The migration of the Atlanteans to the east has been preserved in a wonderful way in a cycle of legends in Europe. On the continent of ancient Atlantis, man could not say “I” to his individual personality. Therefore, there was also not the same egoism there that later formed the basis of the social order. What the entire blood relationship possessed still belonged to the Atlantean, and he felt only as a link within this blood relationship. Then the migration to the east began. More and more, the sense of self emerged in man, and with it, selfishness. Man previously lived much more in the outside world than within; nature still belonged to him. Man felt as if he belonged to nature. Now, with the attainment of self-awareness, it became narrower and narrower around him, more and more he separated himself out, more and more alien he became there, and more and more strongly the ego emerged. This was simultaneously linked to a natural process. When the ancient Atlantean looked up at the sky, he could not see the sun as we see it; dense masses of fog filled the air. He saw a mighty halo of rainbow colors when he looked at the sun or the moon. Then came the time when the Atlantean saw the sun and the moon as such. But there was one phenomenon the Atlantean did not know at all: that was the rainbow itself. It was only when the waters of Atlantis left the air, when a distribution of rain and sunshine formed as it does today, that people became acquainted with the fact of the rainbow. In that waterlogged atmosphere there was no rainbow. Now, remember that the ancient Atlantean flood uncovered great stretches of land; this uncovering of great distances is preserved in a magnificent way in the saga and especially in the Bible. Just think of the profound truth contained in the Bible when you read: “And Noah saw the rainbow when the waters had receded.” With the clearing of the air from the old Atlantic mists, the sun had emerged in its present free form for man. This occurred at the same time as the constriction, the contraction of man to his selfhood, his ego. For profound reasons, spiritual wisdom regards the light flooding the universe as ethereal gold, and gold is regarded as condensed sunlight. The ancient Atlanteans knew from their Atlantean teachers that sunlight and gold are connected, and this was the image they received: the sunlight, the solar gold is coming out! It wraps you in the ring that releases the self, that makes you no longer feel selfless in nature. - With the Atlanteans, the self was still scattered in the clouds of fog; now it wraps itself around the person like a ring.
[ 13 ] The mists of Atlantis leave the air, are pushed down and appear as the rivers in the west. For the Atlantean descendant, the Rhine itself is nothing more than the masses of fog that have sunk and are now flowing down. In the Rhine, he sees the water masses that were still permeated with sunlight; he sensed the solar gold in the Rhine, the solar gold that worked in the selfless, original way in ancient Atlantis. That was the treasure of the Nibelungs in the Rhine to him, and he is hostile to anyone who wants the treasure of the Nibelungs for himself.
[ 14 ] Not clearly aware of this, but inspired by this mighty, all-encompassing fact, was Richard Wagner, who represents this in his music as well. Do you remember the prelude in Rheingold: what is the mighty pedal point in E-flat major if not the point of the impact of the self on humanity? But just as the plant is unaware of the laws by which it grows, so the poet has no need of knowledge. This is how we must understand the creative artist, who is inspired by forces that lie behind him. Here an important artist has sensed what must be re-incorporated into humanity. Thus we see how it is ensured that the same spirit flows into culture in art that underlies 'theosophy'. It happens from two sides. So you have to look at life as a whole.
[ 15 ] We have now traced man back to Atlantis. Let us consider a few more details. In those days, houses were not built as they are today, but much more use was made of what was available in nature itself. Masses of rock, which had been reshaped by using the trees that were there, were joined together so that the dwellings of the people were houses that looked natural. The further back we go, the more we find that people were endowed with clairvoyance; the more we find that they had a pictorial consciousness. In visions, they saw the feelings of the beings around them arise before their soul. In the early days, the will of the Atlantean was also developed quite differently. Today you can spread your fingers with your will; this is something that is connected to the power of imagination today. In the first Atlantean era, the body was still a much softer mass. The Atlantean could not only stretch out his fingers, but also make them longer or shorter; he could easily have made his hand grow. If he had a plant that was small, he could make it grow larger through an effort of his will. He had a kind of magic at his disposal. He also had a peculiar relationship with the animal world: he perceived something that could no longer be perceived later. With his gaze, he could exert a fascinating power over the animals.
[ 16 ] Going back even further, we come to a time when even the Atlanteans had not yet arrived, when people lived on a continent called Lemuria. South of present-day Asia, this continent extended all the way to Africa and Australia; our ancestors inhabited it when they were still Lemurians. They had a much softer body than the Atlanteans, and their will was much more powerful than that of the Atlanteans. But the ground under the Lemurians was quite unstable: it was constantly being thrown into turmoil by eruptions and volcanic forces. Ancient Lemuria was a kind of fire land. If we go back even further to its beginnings, we come to a point in time when the bone system was just beginning to emerge from the boneless mass. Then we come to the time when the earth had not yet formed the present mineral kingdom: everything that is in the mountains today, we had in an ongoing flowing and running.
[ 17 ] And the further back we trace the path of the earth's development, the higher the temperatures we encounter. We come to times when the formations that are now solid land flowed like mercury or lead would flow at a higher temperature. Solidification only developed with the Lemurians. The nebulous masses become denser and denser. We are no longer dealing with just a sea of fog, but with a dense glowing sea of water vapor in which all kinds of substances are dissolved and swirl back and forth. Indeed, in certain parts of this water vapor, the possibility was already offered for the human ancestor of that time to live; only then were the beings quite different in nature. We come up to a point in time when man lived in a kind of primeval sea, in a warm, watery-fiery element. The core of the earth was surrounded by a primeval sea containing the germs of everything that developed later. This is how it looked on earth immediately after the moon had flown out and become independent.
[ 18 ] We have gained insight into an evolution up to the point where the Sun first separated from the Earth and the Moon, then the Moon separated from the Earth, leaving the Earth in the state that I have just described.
[ 19 ] Tomorrow we will take another look at this process, which we have just pieced together from two sides, and also at the further progress of man and the earth into our time.