The Gospel of St. John (Basle)
GA 100
18 November 1907, Basle
Translator Unknown
Lecture III
The ideas contained in St. John's Gospel are so profound that we shall only be able to understand this document correctly in all its parts when we have laid the right foundation for this through the knowledge of the evolution of our planet.
There is a remarkable agreement between the beginning of St. John's Gospel and the first words of the Bible. The first words of the book of Genesis are: “In the very beginning God created the heavens and the earth;” and in St. John's Gospel the first words are: “In the very beginning was the word.” These opening words give the fundamental tone to the whole of St. John's Gospel. The development of the earth can only be understood correctly when it is realised that in it the same laws are at work as in the evolution of the individual human being. The planet visible to the senses is, in the view of Spiritual Science, only the body of the spirit dwelling in it. This spiritual Being goes through repeated incarnations just as man does. Spiritual research recognises three incarnations before the earth reached its present condition. By this we do not mean to say that it had not already gone through other incarnations before, but even to the highest clairvoyant only three preceding and three following incarnations can be known. These, together with the present incarnation, make seven. When we use this number seven we are under no superstition. When a person stands in the open country he sees equally far in all directions. It is the same with the clairvoyant; he, too, sees equally far in time both forwards and backwards. In Spiritual Science these seven incarnations of the Earth are called: Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan. These names signify only conditions of one and the same Being.
Saturn was a condition of our Earth lying in the far distant past. The present planet Saturn is related to the present Earth as a child to an old man, and the Earth was once in the Saturn condition, a child. Again, it must not be thought that in the next embodiment of the Earth humanity will wander over the present planet Jupiter; but in its next embodiment the Earth will reach the condition in which the present planet Jupiter exists to-day.
Between two planetary embodiments there lies a kind of heavenly or spiritual state a Pralaya. The period between two planetary conditions is not a period of rest, any more than is the period through which man lives between two incarnations; it is a time of spiritual activity and preparation for the next life. Outwardly this condition appears to be dim.
When the Earth came forth from Pralaya in order to pass into the Saturn condition, it was not constituted as it is to-day. If we were to take all the substances and Beings contained in the Earth, Sun, and Moon, and form a single body out of them, we should then have what constituted the Earth when it passed over from that dim state into the Saturn condition. It did not come forth as a body without any being; the present humanity was already there, but in a state suited to that of the planet. On Saturn we formed the first foundations of the physical body. We can gain an idea of the physical constitution of man at that time if we try to realize the material condition of the planet. On Saturn there were no conditions of corporeality such as we meet with to-day. There were no solid, fluid or gaseous substances; matter was in a state which the modern physicist would not recognise as being corporeal.
Spiritual Science knows of four states of matter: earth, water, air, and fire or warmth. By “earth” we mean all that is solid; thus frozen water or ice is included in “earth”. “Water” is all that is fluid; thus molten iron or metal is also “water.” Air is all that is gaseous; thus steam would come under the heading of “air.” According to the view of the Physicist of the present day, fire or warmth is only a state of matter, an extremely rapid vibration of its smallest particles. But to Spiritual Science warmth is also a substance, one much finer than air. According to Spiritual Science, when a body is heated it absorbs the substance of warmth; when it cools it parts with warmth, the substance of warmth can condense to air, this in its turn can condense to water, and this to earth. All substances were once present merely as warmth. When the Earth was in the Saturn condition, only warmth existed.
The first rudiments of the human body were also formed out of the substance of warmth, nevertheless certain organs were already indicated even then. Not only did the germ of the physical body exist, but there was also the Spirit, the inmost being of man, the Spirit Man. This Spirit Man rested in the bosom of the Deity, which formed the spiritual atmosphere of Saturn. The Spirit Man was not an independent being, any more than one of our fingers is to-day, only at the end of the Vulcan Period will it be independent.
In the following epoch, the Sun Period, matter—and also the human bodies—had condensed from the state of warmth to the form of “air.” In consequence of this the etheric body of man was added to the existing physical body, and on the spiritual side the Deity descends, as it were, a step further and forms the Life Spirit.
In the Moon Period matter condensed to the fluid condition, and the densest substance might be compared to wax. Man also developed further and the astral body was formed, and on the other hand (from the spiritual side) the Spirit Self. Man at that time did not yet process an ego; he might be compared to the animals of the present day, although he looked quite different from them.
After the period of rest which followed the Mood Period the Earth came forth once more in its present period of evolution, and it then contained within it the substances and beings now contained in the present Sun, Moon and Earth. Man was so far refined materially that his astral body became capable of receiving an ego, for this astral body formed itself into an ego-bearer. On the other hand, the Spirit had so far condensed that it could, as ego, fertilise the lower bodies.
| Saturn | Sun | Moon | Earth |
| Spirit Man | Spirit Man | Spirit Man | Spirit Man |
| Life Spirit | Life Spirit | Life Spirit | |
| Spirit Self | Spirit Self | ||
|
Ego (“I”) Ego-bearer |
|||
| Astral body | Astral body | ||
| Etheric body | Etheric body | Etheric body | |
| Physical body | Physical body | Physical body | Physical body |
The first important cosmic event was the separation of the Sun from the Earth. This separation was necessary in order to provide the higher spiritual Beings with a suitable field of action—those spiritual Beings who till then had been united with humanity and were now ready to pass on to higher activity. These higher Beings had reached the goal of human evolution even during the Saturn Period, and they were then at the stage of evolution which man will only reach in the far-distant Vulcan Period of the Earth. Again, other high spiritual Beings had already reached in the Sun Period of the Earth the sublime condition which humanity will only reach in the Venus Period. These are the Beings who now send down their forces to us with the physical sunlight. These two kinds of Beings separated from the Earth and, taking with them the finest substances and forces, formed the present Sun.
It was a sad time when the Sun was separated from the Earth and the Moon was still within it. There was a danger of man being immersed in mere form, of his spiritual part dying out and with it all possibility of development. If the Sun had remained united with the Earth, this would have caused man to develop so rapidly in the direction of the spiritual that he would not have been able to develop himself corporeally. If, on the other hand, the Moon forces had remained united with the forces of the Earth, all life would have hardened in mere form, the human beings would have become statues and, as Goethe says in “Faust”, a “crystallised people” would have originated.
Through the separation of the forces of the Sun and Moon from the Earth there was brought about the balance between life and form which was necessary for the evolution of humanity. It was only because these forces could from this time forth work upon man from outside that he could continue to develop in the right way. The forces coming from the Sun create and fertilise life; the forces coming from the Moon pour this life into firm forms. The form of the physical body we now possess we owe to the Moon; but the life which sinks into this body comes from the Sun.
It was through one of the Sun-Beings uniting himself with the Moon that these two streams from the Sun and Moon work in the right way. The Beings standing at the stage of the Gods separated with the Sun; that one of these Beings separated himself from the rest and made the present Moon his dwelling place. This Spirit who is united with the Moon is known as Jehovah, the God of Form or the Moon-Deity. This God Jehovah or Jahve so moulded the three bodies of man that they became capable of receiving the drop of the ego. Jehovah formed the human body in his image, “in the Image of God created He him:” (Genesis 1:27.)
The occult schools of all ages have possessed this knowledge of evolution. In the Christian occult school of Dionysius the Areopagite the pupil received this teaching in approximately the following way. His teacher said to him: observe various kingdoms of nature. You see the stones. They are dumb; they manifest neither joy nor sorrow. Observe the plants. They, too, are dumb, they express neither pleasure or pain. The animals have raised themselves above this stage; they are not dumb. If with spiritually sharpened gaze you were to follow their development; you would see that in the sounds uttered by the animals of the far distant past the same is expressed as sounds through the cosmos. The further you ascend in the kingdoms of nature and approach Man the more you will find that sound becomes the expression of individual pain and individual pleasure. To man alone is it given to express in sound that which proceeds, from his individual spirit. The animal bellows forth that which goes on in nature; but sound became word when Jahve had so moulded the human bodies that the spiritual Beings of the Sun could sink into them. When sound becomes word, the Spirit enters into the astral body. Sense and meaning penetrated into sound when the higher Sun-Powers pressed into the forms created by Jehovah. The actual spiritual beginning of man was when the first word rang out in him.
We have now arrived at the point touched upon by the Evangelist John in the first verse of his Gospel: “In the very beginning was the Word.” The highest Spirit united with the Sun, He who sent the Egos to the Earth, is called in the occult teaching: “Christ.” But the Egos, as parts of the Sun-Logos, only streamed gradually into the forms. The “Light” streamed forth from the Sun-Logos, but few received it in those old times; those, however, who received it became different from their fellow-men. They were called children of God or Sons of God (St. John, 1:13). They possessed four principles, physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego, although the fourth, the youngest principle, was still weak and dim. The “light,” however, is to come to all men, but for this time is needed. This is indicated in verses eight to fourteen. But there were a few men who had already received the light to a high degree so that they knew about it and could bear witness to it, and these taught others. Those who bore witness to the “light” from their own experience, those who were able to point out that One was coming Who for the first time would offer the light to all, were in the occult teaching called “John” (Chapter 1:6-7). The writer to one of these “Johns.” In verse eighteen we read: “No man has ever seen God.” That is to say, no one before “Johns,” for He only became personified in Christ Jesus. The Event of Golgotha is the greatest Event in the evolution of Man and the Cosmos.
Dritter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Die einzelnen Begriffe des Johannes-Evangeliums sind von solcher Tiefe, daß wir erst dann diese Urkunde richtig und in allen Teilen verstehen, wenn wir uns durch die Kenntnis der Entwickelung unseres Planeten eine genügende Grundlage hierzu geschaffen haben.
[ 2 ] Es besteht eine merkwürdige Übereinstimmung zwischen dem Anfange des Johannes-Evangeliums und dem der Bibel. In der Bibel heißt es: «Im Urbeginne schuf die Gottheit Himmel und Erde» und im Johannes-Evangelium lautet der Anfang: «Im Urbeginne war das Wort.» Diese ersten Worte bilden den Grundton des ganzen Johannes-Evangeliums. Die Entwickelung der Erde kann nur dann richtig verstanden werden, wenn wir uns vergegenwärtigen, daß bei derselben die gleichen Gesetze zur Geltung kommen wie bei der Entwickelung des einzelnen Menschen. Der uns sichtbare Planet ist für die geisteswissenschaftliche Betrachtung nur der Leib des in ihm wohnenden Geistes. Diese geistige Wesenheit macht ebenso wiederholte Verkörperungen durch wie der Mensch. Für die Geistesforschung sind drei Verkörperungen erkennbar, bis die Erde in den heutigen Zustand gekommen ist. Damit soll nicht gesagt sein, daß sie vorher nicht schon andere Verkörperungen durchgemacht hat; aber für den höchsten Hellseher sind nur drei Verkörperungen, die vorhergegangen sind, und drei, die nachfolgen, erkennbar. Dies macht mit der jetzigen Verkörperung zusammen sieben. In dieser Zahl Sieben liegt kein Aberglaube. Wenn ich auf einem fernen Felde stehe, so sehe ich nach allen Richtungen gleich weit. Ähnlich ist es beim Hellseher, auch er sieht zeitlich nach vorwärts und rückwärts gleich weit. Diese sieben Verkörperungen der Erde heißen in der Geheimwissenschaft: Saturn, Sonne, Mond, Erde, Jupiter, Venus und Vulkan. Diese Namen bezeichnen nur Zustände einer und derselben Wesenheit.
[ 3 ] Der Saturn ist ein in urferner Vergangenheit liegender Zustand unserer Erde. Der jetzige Planet Saturn verhält sich zur jetzigen Erde wie ein Kind zum Greis. Die Erde war einmal im Saturnzustand, wie der Greis einmal ein Kind war. Auch die folgende Verkörperung ist nicht so aufzufassen, als ob die Menschheit je einmal auf dem Jupiter wandeln würde, sondern die Erde erreicht in ihrer nächsten Verkörperung denjenigen Zustand, in dem sich der jetzige Planet Jupiter gegenwärtig befindet.
[ 4 ] Zwischen zwei planetarischen Verkörperungen liegt eine Art von himmlischem oder geistigem Devachan, ein Pralaya. Die Zeit zwischen zwei planetarischen Zuständen ist, ebenso wie beim Menschen die Zeit zwischen zwei Erdenleben, keine Zeit der Ruhe, sondern eine Zeit geistiger Tätigkeit und Vorbereitung für die nächste Zukunft, für das nächste Leben. Nach außen erscheint dieser Zustand als ein dämmerhafter. Als die Erde aus dem Pralaya hervortrat, um in den Saturnzustand überzugehen, war sie nicht so beschaffen wie heute. Wenn man alles das, was Erde, Sonne und Mond an Substanz und Wesenheit ausmachen, durcheinandermischen und einen einzigen Körper daraus bilden könnte, würde man dasjenige erhalten, was die Erde ausmachte, als sie aus jenem dämmerhaften Dunkel in den Saturnzustand überging. Sie trat heraus nicht als ein von Wesen verlassener Körper. Auch die heutige Menschheit war bereits dort vorhanden, aber in einem Zustande, der demjenigen des Planeten angepaßt war. Auf dem Saturn wurde die erste Anlage zum physischen Leib gebildet. Eine Vorstellung von der damaligen physischen Beschaffenheit des Menschen erhalten wir, wenn wir uns den stofflichen Zustand des Planeten begreiflich zu machen versuchen. Auf dem Saturn gab es nicht solche Zustände der Körperlichkeit, wie wir sie heute antreffen. Es gab keine festen, flüssigen oder gasförmigen Stoffe; die Materie war vielmehr in einem Zustand, den der heutige Physiker gar nicht mehr als körperlich anerkennen würde.
[ 5 ] Die Geheimwissenschaft kennt vier Zustände des Stoffes: Erde, Wasser, Luft und Feuer oder Wärme. Erde bedeutet alles, was fest ist; also auch gefrorenes Wasser oder Eis ist für die Geheimwissenschaft Erde. Wasser ist alles, was flüssig ist; also geschmolzenes Eisen oder Stein ist auch Wasser. Luft ist alles, was gasförmig ist, also auch Wasserdampf. Feuer oder Wärme ist nach der jetzigen Auffassung der Physiker nur eine Eigenschaft des Stoffes, und zwar ein äußerst rasches Schwingen seiner kleinsten Teilchen. Für die Geheimwissenschaft ist Wärme aber ebenfalls ein Stoff, nur noch viel feiner als Luft. Wenn ein Körper erhitzt wird, so nimmt er nach der Geheimwissenschaft Wärmestoff auf; erkaltet er, so gibt er Wärmestoff ab. Der Wärmestoff kann sich zu Luft, diese zu Wasser, dieses zu Erde verdichten. Alle Stoffe waren einmal als bloßer Wärmestoff da. Als die Erde im Saturnzustand war, da gab es nur Wärmestoff.
[ 6 ] Die erste Anlage des menschlichen Körpers war ebenfalls nur aus Wärmestoff gebildet, jedoch waren einige Organe bereits angedeutet. Aber nicht nur der Keim zum physischen Körper war vorhanden, sondern auch der Geist, das tiefste Innere des Menschen, Geistesmensch oder Atma. Dieser Geistesmensch ruhte im Schoße der Gottheit, welche die geistige Atmosphäre des Saturn bildete. Er war ebensowenig ein selbständiges Wesen, wie unser Finger ein solches ist. Erst am Ende der Vulkanperiode wird er selbständig sein.
[ 7 ] In der nun folgenden Epoche, der Sonnenperiode, hatten sich die Stofflichkeit und auch die menschlichen Leiber aus dem Wärmezustand in den luftförmigen Zustand verdichtet. In der Folge bildete sich beim Menschen zu dem bestehenden physischen Körper noch der Ätherkörper, und auf der geistigen Seite steigt die Gottheit sozusagen um eine Stufe herunter und bildet den Lebensgeist oder Buddhi.
[ 8 ] In der Mondperiode verdichtet sich die Stofflichkeit zum Flüssigen, und der dichteste Stoff könnte in bezug auf seine Konsistenz mit dem Wachs verglichen werden. Auch der Mensch entwickelte sich weiter, und es bildet sich einerseits der Astralleib aus, andererseits, von der geistigen Seite, das Geistselbst oder Manas. Der damalige Mensch besaß aber noch kein Ich; er war dem jetzigen Tiere zu vergleichen, nur im Aussehen von ihm verschieden.
[ 9 ] Als nach der Ruhepause, welche der Mondphase folgte, die Erde zur jetzigen Entwickelungsperiode wieder hervortrat, barg sie in sich an Stoffen und Wesenheiten das, was die jetzige Sonne, die Erde und der Mond enthalten. Der Mensch war auf der Seite der Stofflichkeit so weit verfeinert, daß sein Astralleib fähig wurde, ein Ich aufzunehmen, indem sich dieser Astralleib zu einem Ich-Träger formte. Auf der andern Seite hatte sich der Geist so weit verdichtet, daß er, einem Wassertropfen vergleichbar, als Ich die niederen Leiber befruchten konnte.
| Atma | Atma | Atma | Atma, Geistesmensch |
| Buddhi | Buddhi | Buddhi, Lebensgeist | |
| Manas | Manas, Geistselbst | ||
| Ich | |||
| Saturn | Sonne | Mond | Erde |
| >Ich-Träger | |||
| Astralleib | Astralleib | ||
| Ätherleib | Ätherleib | Ätherleib | |
| Physischer Leib | Physischer Leib | Physischer Leib | Physischer Leib |
[ 10 ] Das erste bedeutende kosmische Ereignis ist die Abtrennung der Sonne von der Erde. Diese Abtrennung war notwendig, um den höheren geistigen Wesenheiten, welche bis jetzt mit der Menschheit verbunden und nun zu höherer Tätigkeit reif geworden waren, einen passenden Schauplatz zu verschaffen. Diese höheren Wesenheiten hatten das Ziel der Menschheitsentwickelung schon im Saturnzustand erreicht. Sie waren damals schon auf derjenigen Stufe der Entwickelung, welche der Mensch erst in der fernen Vulkanperiode der Erde erreichen wird. Wieder andere höhere Wesenheiten hatten im früheren Sonnenzustand der Erde den Entwickelungsgrad erreicht, den die Menschheit in der Venusperiode erreichen wird. Diese letzteren Wesenheiten sind es, die uns jetzt ihre Kraft mit dem physischen Sonnenlichte zusenden. Beide Arten von Wesenheiten trennten sich von der Erde und bildeten unter Mitnahme der feinsten Kräfte und Stoffe die jetzige Sonne.
[ 11 ] Es war eine trübe Zeit, als die Sonne aus der Erde ausgeschieden, der Mond dagegen noch in ihr war. Den Menschen drohte ein Aufgehen in der bloßen Form, ein Ersterben alles Geistigen, aller Entwickelungsmöglichkeiten. Sonne und Erde, miteinander verbunden, hätten eine so rasche Entwickelung des Menschen nach dem Geistigen hin veranlaßt, daß die Menschen sich nicht hätten körperlich entwickeln können. Wären die Mondkräfte mit den Erdkräften in Verbindung geblieben, so wäre alles Leben in bloßer Form erstarrt. Zu Statuen wären die Menschen geworden, ein «kristallisiertes Menschenvolk», wie Goethe im «Faust» II sagt, wäre entstanden.
[ 12 ] Durch das Abtrennen der Sonnen- und Mondkräfte von der Erde ist jenes Gleichgewicht zwischen Leben und Form gegeben worden, das für dieMenschheitsentwickelung notwendig war. Nur weil dieseKräfte nunmehr von außen auf den Menschen wirken, kann der Mensch sich richtig entwickeln. Die von der Sonne kommenden Kräfte schaffen und befruchten das Leben. Was dieses Leben in feste Formen gießt, kommt von dem Monde. Dem Monde verdanken wir die Entstehung des physischen Leibes, wie wir ihn heute haben, was sich aber hineinsenkt in diesen Leib, das Leben, kommt von der Sonne.
[ 13 ] Diese beiden Strömungen von Sonne und Mond wirken deshalb immer in der richtigen Weise, weil eine der Sonnenwesenheiten sich mit dem Monde verbunden hat. Die Wesenheiten, die auf der Götterstufe standen, sind mit der Sonne ausgeschieden; eine dieser Wesenheiten hat sich jedoch abgegliedert und den heutigen Mond zum Wohnsitz genommen. Diesen mit dem Mond verbundenen Geist nennt man Jehova, den Gott der Form oder die Mondgottheit. Dieser Gott Jehova oder Jahve formte die drei Leiber des Menschen so, daß sie fähig wurden, den Ich-Tropfen aufzunehmen. Den Menschenleib formte Jehova zu seinem Bilde, «zum Bilde Gottes schuf er ihn» (1. Moses, 1,27).
[ 14 ] Diese Entwickelungslehre bildete das Wissen der Geheimschulen aller Zeiten. In der christlichen Geheimschule des Areopagiten Dionysius vernahm der Schüler dieses etwa in folgender Weise: Betrachtet die Reiche der Lebewesen auf der Erde. Ihr seht die Steine. Stumm sind sie. Sie drücken nichts aus von ihrem Leid und ihrer Freude. Sehet die Pflanzen. Noch sind sie stumm, auch sie drücken nichts aus von Leid und Freude. Die Tiere haben sich über die Stummheit erhoben. Wenn ihr mit geistig geschärftem Blick die Entwickelung verfolgen würdet, so würdet ihr sehen, daß in den Tönen der Tiere einer urfernen Vergangenheit das gleiche zum Ausdruck kommt, was den Kosmos durchtönt. Je mehr ihr zum Menschen hinaufsteigt, desto mehr werdet ihr finden, wie der Ton Ausdruck von eigenem Schmerz und eigener Lust wird. Erst dem Menschen ist es gegeben, in den Ton das hineinzulegen, was vom individuellen Geiste ausgeht. Das Tier brüllt hinaus, was in der Natur vorgeht; aber der Ton wurde zum Worte, als Jahve die Menschenleiber so geformt hatte, daß die geistigen Wesenheiten der Sonne sich hineinversenken konnten. Wenn der Ton zum Worte wird, tönt der Geist in den astralischen Leib. Sinn und Bedeutung schlug ein in den Ton, als die höheren Sonnenmächte hineindrangen in die Formen, die von Jahve gebildet waren. Als das erste Wort im Menschen erklang, da war sein eigentlicher geistiger Anfang.
[ 15 ] Hier sind wir nun an dem Punkte, den der Evangelist im 1. Kapitel, 1.Vers berührt: «Im Urbeginne war das Wort...» Der oberste Geist, der mit der Sonne verbunden ist und die Iche nach der Erde sandte, heißt in der Geheimlehre Christus, Die Iche als Glieder des Sonnenlogos strömten aber nur allmählich in die Formen ein. Das Licht strömte vom Sonnenlogos aus, aber wenige nahmen es in jenen alten Zeiten auf; diejenigen aber, die es aufnahmen, die wurden anders als ihre Mitmenschen. Man nannte sie Gottes Kinder oder Gottes Söhne (Kap. 1, Vers 12). Sie bestanden aus vier Gliedern: physischem Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib und Ich, wenn auch das vierte, das jüngste Glied, noch schwach und dunkel war. Das Licht soll aber zu allen Menschen kommen; es braucht jedoch Zeit dazu. In Vers acht bis vierzehn wird darauf hingewiesen. Es waren aber einzelne Menschen, die bereits das Licht in hohem Grade aufgenommen hatten, so daß sie davon wußten und Zeugnis ablegen konnten. Sie belehrten andere. Diejenigen, welche aus eigener Erfahrung und nicht von andern belehrt vom Lichte Zeugnis abgelegt und darauf hingewiesen haben, daß einer kommen werde, welcher zum ersten Male an alle das Licht heranbringt, diese heißen in der Geheimlehre Johannes (Kap.6 und 7). Der Schreiber des JohannesEvangeliums ist ein solcher «Johannes». Im 1.Kapitel, Vers 18 heißt es: «Niemand hat Gott je gesehen ...», das heißt niemand vor Johannes, denn erst mit Christus Jesus wurde er personifiziert. Das größte Ereignis für die Entwickelung des Kosmos und der Menschen ist das Ereignis von Golgatha.
Third Lecture
[ 1 ] The individual concepts of the Gospel of John are of such depth that we can only understand this document correctly and in all its parts if we have created a sufficient basis for this through knowledge of the evolution of our planet.
[ 2 ] There is a remarkable correspondence between the beginning of the Gospel of John and that of the Bible. In the Bible it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” and in the Gospel of John the beginning reads, “In the beginning was the Word.” These first words set the tone for the entire Gospel of John. The development of the Earth can only be properly understood if we bear in mind that the same laws apply to it as to the development of the individual human being. For spiritual science, the planet that is visible to us is only the body of the spirit that dwells within it. This spiritual essence undergoes repeated embodiments, just as humans do. Spiritual research recognizes three embodiments until the earth has reached its present state. This is not to say that it has not already undergone other embodiments before; but for the highest clairvoyant, only three embodiments that have preceded and three that follow are recognizable. This makes seven in total with the present embodiment. There is no superstition in this number seven. When I stand in a distant field, I see equally far in all directions. It is similar with the clairvoyant, he also sees equally far backwards and forwards in time. These seven embodiments of the earth are called in occultism: Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan. These names only denote the states of one and the same entity.
[ 3 ] Saturn is a state of our Earth in the distant past. The present planet Saturn is to the present Earth as a child is to an old man. The Earth was once in the state of Saturn, just as the old man was once a child. Nor is the following embodiment to be understood as if humanity would ever walk on Jupiter, but the Earth in its next embodiment reaches the state in which the present planet Jupiter is currently located.
[ 4 ] Between two planetary embodiments lies a kind of heavenly or spiritual devachan, a pralaya. The time between two planetary states is, just as it is for humans between two earthly lives, not a time of rest, but a time of spiritual activity and preparation for the near future, for the next life. Outwardly, this state appears as a twilight-like one. When the Earth emerged from the Pralaya to enter the Saturn state, it was not the same as it is today. If all the substance and essence that make up the earth, sun and moon were mixed together and formed a single body, it would resemble what the earth was when it emerged from the dim darkness of the Saturn state. It did not emerge as a body abandoned by beings. Present-day humanity was also already present there, but in a state adapted to that of the planet. On Saturn, the first physical body was formed. We can get an idea of the physical nature of man at that time if we try to understand the material state of the planet. On Saturn, there were no such conditions of physicality as we encounter today. There were no solid, liquid or gaseous substances; rather, matter was in a state that today's physicist would no longer recognize as physical.
[ 5 ] Secret Science recognizes four states of substance: earth, water, air and fire or warmth. Earth signifies everything that is solid; thus, frozen water or ice is also earth according to Secret Science. Water is everything that is liquid; thus, molten iron or stone is also water. Air is everything that is gaseous, thus also water vapor. According to the current view of physicists, fire or heat is only one property of matter, namely an extremely rapid vibration of its smallest particles. For esoteric science, however, heat is also a substance, only much finer than air. When a body is heated, according to esoteric science, it absorbs heat; when it cools, it releases heat. The warmth can condense into air, which in turn condenses into water, which then condenses into earth. All substances once existed as mere warmth. When the earth was in a state similar to Saturn, there was only warmth.
[ 6 ] The first formation of the human body was also formed only from warmth, but some organs were already indicated. But not only the germ of the physical body was present, but also the spirit, the deepest inner being of man, the spirit man or Atma. This spirit man rested in the bosom of the Godhead, which formed the spiritual atmosphere of Saturn. He was no more an independent being than our finger is such. Only at the end of the volcanic period will he be independent.
[ 7 ] In the following epoch, the solar period, matter and human bodies had condensed from a warm to an airy state. As a result, the etheric body was formed in addition to the existing physical body, and on the spiritual side, the deity descended, so to speak, by one level and formed the life spirit or buddhi.
[ 8 ] In the moon period, matter condenses into liquid, and the densest substance could be compared to wax in terms of its consistency. Man also continued to develop, and on the one hand the astral body developed, and on the other hand, from the spiritual side, the spirit self or manas. But man at that time did not yet possess an ego; he was comparable to the present-day animal, only differing from it in appearance.
[ 9 ] When, after the period of rest that followed the phase of the moon, the earth emerged again for the present period of development, it contained in itself, in terms of matter and entities, what the present sun, moon and earth contain. Man had become so refined on the side of matter that his astral body became capable of receiving an ego, in that this astral body formed itself into an ego-vehicle. On the other hand, the spirit had condensed to such an extent that it, comparable to a drop of water, could, as an ego, fertilize the lower bodies.
| Atma | Atma | Atma | Atma, Spirit Man |
| Buddhi | Buddhi | Buddhi, Life Spirit | |
| Manas | Manas, Spirit Self | ||
| I | |||
| Saturn | Sun | Moon | Earth |
| I-carrier | |||
| Astral body | Astral body | ||
| Etheric body | Etheric body | Etheric body | |
| Physical body | Physical body | Physical body | Physical body |
[ 10 ] The first significant cosmic event is the separation of the Sun from the Earth. This separation was necessary in order to provide a suitable arena for the higher spiritual beings, who had been connected with humanity until now and had now matured for higher activity. These higher beings had already reached the goal of human evolution in the state of Saturn. They were then already at that stage of evolution which man will only reach in the distant volcanic period of the earth. Still other higher entities had reached the degree of development in the earlier solar state of the earth that humanity will reach in the Venus period. It is these latter entities that now send us their power with the physical sunlight. Both types of entities separated from the earth and formed the present sun, taking with them the finest forces and substances.
[ 11 ] It was a dark time when the sun had emerged from the earth, but the moon was still within it. Man was threatened with extinction in the material form, with the dying out of all spiritual and all possibilities of development. Sun and earth, united with each other, would have caused such a rapid development of man towards the spiritual that he would not have been able to develop physically. Had the lunar forces remained in connection with the terrestrial forces, all life would have solidified into mere form. Men would have become statues, a “crystallized human race,” as Goethe says in “Faust” II, would have arisen.
[ 12 ] The separation of the forces of the sun and moon from the earth has given the balance between life and form that was necessary for the development of humanity. Only because these forces now act on man from the outside can man develop properly. The forces coming from the sun create and fertilize life. What pours this life into solid forms comes from the moon. We owe the emergence of the physical body as we have it today to the moon, but what sinks into this body, life, comes from the sun.
[ 13 ] These two currents from the sun and moon always work in the right way because one of the sun beings has connected with the moon. The beings that were on the level of the gods left with the sun; however, one of these beings has separated and taken the present moon as its residence. This spirit associated with the moon is called Jehovah, the God of form or the moon deity. This God Jehovah or Yahweh formed the three bodies of man in such a way that they became capable of receiving the I-drop. Jehovah formed the human body in his image, “in the image of God he created him” (Genesis 1:27).
[ 14 ] This theory of evolution formed the knowledge of the secret schools of all times. In the Christian secret school of the Areopagite Dionysius, the student learned this in the following way: Consider the kingdoms of living beings on earth. You see the stones. They are mute. They express nothing of their suffering and their joy. Consider the plants. They are still mute, they too express nothing of suffering and joy. The animals have risen above muteness. If you would follow the development with a spiritually sharpened eye, you would see that the sounds of the animals express the same thing that resounds through the cosmos. The more you ascend to man, the more you will find how sound becomes an expression of one's own pain and pleasure. Only man is given the ability to put into sound what emanates from the individual spirit. The animal bellows out what is going on in nature; but sound became word when Yahweh had formed the human bodies so that the spiritual entities of the sun could be absorbed into them. When sound becomes word, the spirit sounds into the astral body. Meaning and significance were incorporated into the clay when the higher solar powers penetrated the forms that were formed by Yahweh. When the first word resounded in man, there was his actual spiritual beginning.
[ 15 ] Here we are now at the point touched upon by the evangelist in 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word...” The Supreme Spirit, who is connected with the Sun and sent the Iche to Earth, is called Christ in The Secret Doctrine. The Iche as members of the Solar Logos only gradually flowed into the forms. The Light emanated from the Solar Logos, but few took it up in those ancient times; but those who took it up became different from their fellow men. They were called the children of God or the sons of God (Chapter 1, verse 12). They consisted of four members: physical body, etheric body, astral body and I, even if the fourth and youngest member was still weak and dark. However, the light shall come to all people; but it takes time. This is pointed out in verses eight to fourteen. But there were individual people who had already received the light to a high degree, so that they knew about it and could bear witness to it. They taught others. Those who, from their own experience and not taught by others, bore witness to the light and pointed out that one would come who for the first time would bring the light to all, these are called John in the Secret Doctrine (chapters 6 and 7). The author of the Gospel of John is one of these “Johns”. In the first chapter, verse 18, it says, “No one has ever seen God...” That is, no one before John, because it was only with Christ Jesus that He was personified. The greatest event for the development of the cosmos and of man is the event of Golgotha.