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The Gospel of St. John (Basle)
GA 100

19 November 1907, Basle

Translator Unknown

Lecture IV

At the outset of our studies to-day we must deal with a word that in Spiritual Science is very important. In Christian occult science the Old Moon is called the Cosmos of Wisdom and the Earth the Cosmos of Love. By “Moon” we here mean the Moon Period of the Earth. The reason why the Old Moon is called the Cosmos of Wisdom is because all that was then developed was filled with wisdom. When the Earth Period succeeded the Moon Period the Cosmos of Wisdom was replaced by the Cosmos of Love. When the Earth came forth from the darkness of Pralaya, the rudiments of the human being which had been developed in former periods reappeared—the physical, etheric and astral bodies. On the Old Moon Wisdom had been implanted in these bodies and their mutual relationships; we therefore find wisdom in the constitution of these three bodies. We find the greatest wisdom in the construction of the physical body, less in that of the etheric body, and still less in that of the astral body. If we thoughtfully observe the human body we discover this wisdom in each organ, in each part. For instance, if we study the upper portion of the human thighbone we find in it a network of cells beautifully constructed with a view to their purpose. No engineer of the present day would be able to produce these two columns, which bear the upper part of the human body with the smallest expenditure of matter and force. Wisdom was implanted in the human body as long as the divine Spirits worked upon it. As a rule the physical body is looked upon as the lowest part of man, unjustly so, for the very greatest wisdom can be seen just in the physical body. Only through this wisdom is it possible for the physical body to withstand the attacks continually made upon it by the astral body, and so not break up before the time. The pleasures and desires which hold sway in the physical body when tea and coffee and so on are taken, all these are attacks of the astral body on the physical body, and especially on the heart. It has therefore to be so wisely constructed that these attacks can be withstood for decades. Of course the suitable form of the heart could only be discovered by subjecting it to many transformations.

Wisdom lies at the foundation of the construction of the world, and it is for this reason that our intellect can now seek and find it there. But wisdom did not come suddenly into the world, it was only poured in slowly and gradually; and in the same way love will also permeate the Earth very gradually. The purpose of the evolution of our Earth is to be permeated with love. Love has only begun to permeate the Earth to the smallest extent, but it will spread more and more, and at the end of the Earth Period everything will be saturated with love, just as it was saturated with wisdom at the end of the Moon Period.

When the Moon separated from the Earth the force of love was only contained in it seminally. First of all only those who were related to one another by blood loved one another. This state of things lasted for a long time; then the sphere of the activity of love gradually widened. For the perception and exercise of love a certain independence is necessary.

From the beginning of human evolution two forces have always been active: one that draws together and one that separates (Sun and Moon forces). Under the influence of these two forces man was so far developed that his three bodies, together with the bearer of the ego, inclined towards the Spirit Self, Life Spirit and Spirit Man. But a final union could not have come about without the addition of a new cosmic force. This force, which exercised a specially strong influence after the separation of the Moon, came from another planet, which entered into a remarkable relationship with the Earth. This planet, Mars, made a sort of passage through the body of the Earth when the latter began its evolution. Until then iron had been lacking in the Earth, and through its appearance on the Earth the course of evolution was changed at one stroke. It was the planet Mars which brought iron to the Earth, and from that time it was possible for Man to develop warm blood containing iron. Through Mars the astral also received a new principle, the sentient soul, the courageous soul. When Mars entered, the aggressive element developed in the soul. We have now to distinguish in men the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body and the sentient soul. Red, warm blood was the result of the activity of the sentient soul on the physical body; then the fertilising Ego could gradually be membered into the human being.

“Blood is a very special fluid.” The God of Form, Jehovah, now played a specially important role. He took possession of the newly developed organ, the blood, permeated it with His forces, transformed the aggressive qualities of the courageous soul into the forces of love and made the blood into the physical vehicle of the Ego.

In the beginning each human individual did not possess his own Ego. The same Jehovah-force, the Ego-force, the same Ego worked in all who were related by blood, who preserved the same blood through endogamy (near marriage). A small group of this kind had a common Ego. The individual was related to the whole family as a finger is related to the whole body. In the beginning there were group-souls; the individual felt himself to be part of the family or tribe; and the same Ego lived on through several generations, it was not confined to those who were living at the same time; the common Ego was felt as long as the blood remained unmixed, as long as those who belonged to the same tribe intermarried. Therefore the Ego was not felt as something personal, but as something common to all the members of the tribe. Just as a man now remembers what he has experienced from the time of his birth, the men of that time remembered what the ancestors of the same tribe had done as vividly as if they themselves had experienced it: The grandchild and great-grandchild felt within them the some Ego that had lived in the grandfather and great-grandfather. When we know this we shall understand the secret of the great age of the patriarchs. For example, “Adam” was not the name of a single individual but of the common Ego which flowed through many generations. We have just said that Jehovah made the blood, into the physical vehicle of the Ego. He did this by taking in hand the development of the blood. He expressed His force in the kind of breathing; man became the Jehovah-man through Jehovah giving him the breath. The fact that the man who was supplied with the necessary preliminary conditions had the living breath breathed into him must be taken quite literally. “Jehovah breathed breath into man and he became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). But this inbreathing of the soul did not take place suddenly, it was a process which lasted for thousands of years. Man thus became a breather of air.

On the Old Moon there was something else in place of the breathing of air. Whereas the man of the present day breathes air in and out and thereby has a source of warmth within himself, his ancestors on the Old Moon consisting of physical, etheric and astral bodies; breathed the substance of warmth or fire in and out. Man's predecessors on the old Moon were fire-breathers. Occult Science looks upon all matter only as the expression of spirit. We breathe in and out not air alone, we breathe in the Spirit it contains. Air is the body of Jehovah just as flesh is the body of man. The remembrance of this is expressed in the German legend of Wotan who rides in the Wind. What was breathed in and out on the Old Moon was also spirit.

Upon the Old Moon there were the same spiritual Beings as live upon the Earth; there they lived in fire, but upon the Earth they have become spirits of air. In cosmic evolution Beings remain behind in their development, just as some pupils are backward at school. The Beings who made the Sun their dwelling-place had developed more rapidly and made the transition from fire-spirits to air-spirits; but a great host of beings had not made this transition. The former now worked upon man as spiritual forces from outside, from Sun and Moon. Man takes them into himself through his breath. Between Man and these highly developed Sun-Spirits there are the spiritual Beings, who, it is true, developed very much further than man upon the Moon, but not as fast as the Sun-Spirits and Jehovah. They were unable as yet to influence man through his breathing, nevertheless they endeavoured to influence him. They were the Fire-Spirits who had not completed their task. They worked in the element of warmth and this existed in man his blood. They lived in this warmth.

Thus in the course of his evolution man was placed between the Air-spirits, who live in his breathing (the highest Spirits who permeate him with Spirit), and the fire-spirits who live in the warmth of his blood. They act in his blood as the opponents of the God Jehovah. Jehovah sought to hold men together by love in small groups, He desired to fill them with the feeling of belonging together. But if love had only existed in this form men would never have become independent beings; they would have had to develop love involuntarily. The Fire-spirits directed their attacks against this, with the result that man gained his personal freedom. The small groups of people were broken up. Jehovah's only interest was to lead people together in love, He worked in the blood as the God of blood-love. The action of the Fire-spirits was different; it was they who brought art and science to men. These Spirits are also called Luciferic Spirits. The further course of the evolution of humanity proceeded under the influence of Lucifer, who brings freedom and wisdom to man. Under the guidance of the God Jehovah men were to be led together through the principle of blood-brotherhood. The fact that man has become a free citizen of the Earth,—this he owes to Lucifer. Jehovah placed men in the Paradise of Love; then there appeared the Fire-spirit, the Serpent, in the form which man once possessed when he still breathed fire, and opened men's eyes to what still remained from the Old Moon. This Luciferic influence was perceived as a temptation. But those who were instructed in the occult schools did not look upon this enlightenment, as wrong; the great Initiates have not cast the Serpent down but, like Moses in the wilderness, they have raised it. (Numbers 21:8-9).

That which was revealed in humanity was manifested for a long period through Jehovah as blood-love. Beside this worked the Spirit of Wisdom, a principle which has to prepare something different. Love gradually spread from smaller to larger groups of human beings, from families to tribes and peoples. A characteristic example of this is the Hebrew people, which felt itself as a group which belonged together and called all others “Galileans,” i.e. those who did not belong to the blood. But humanity was to receive not only blood-love but spiritual love, which will embrace the whole earth with a bond of brotherhood. The period during which humanity was held together by the love which existed between relations is only to be looked upon as a period of preparation for what was to come later. The action of Lucifer, too, which consisted in splitting apart the bonds which confined human beings, is only the preparation for the activity of a higher Being who was to come. This higher Being was called in the Christian occult schools the true Light-bearer, the true Lucifer, the Christ.

Let us now go back to the period when the Atlantean humanity lived on the Earth. The Earth had quite a different appearance then. Between Europe and America, where now the Atlantic Ocean rolls, there was land, a part of the Earth which now lies at the bottom of the ocean. Modern science is gradually arriving at the knowledge that a continent once existed where the Atlantic Ocean now lies. In Haeckel's magazine, '“Cosmos,” there is an interesting article on “Atlantis.” Atlantis was inhabited by people who were quite different from those of the present day. The relationship between the etheric and physical bodies was then quite different from what it is now. The clairvoyant sees two-points in the human head, one in the etheric brain, the other in the physical brain, between the eyes, about half an inch below the surface. In the man of the present day these two points coincide, but in the Atlantean this was different; the etheric brain projected some distance beyond the physical brain and the two points did not coincide. It may also happen in exceptional cases in people of the present time that these two points do not coincide and the consequence is—idiocy. It was only in the last third of the Atlantean Epoch that these two points came together, and only from that time did man learn to say “I” consciously to himself. Before that time the Atlanteans could not reckon, think logically or form a judgment; but they possessed a wonderful memory, which extended over generations, and they were dimly clairvoyant. They did not see the outlines of physical objects clearly, but they perceived psychic occurrences. When the Atlantean met an animal he perceived clairvoyantly the attitude of the creature towards him whether it was friendly or hostile. For instance, if he saw reddish-brown colour, he turned away for he knew that a hostile influence was approaching; but if he saw a reddish-violet colour he knew that something sympathetic to him was approaching. He also recognised the value of certain foods to him with the aid of this clairvoyance. The animals of the present day, which have preserved this dim clairvoyance, distinguish in a similar way between the plants in the meadows in respect of their value as food or their harmful nature. The kind of vision man now possesses in dreams is a decadent remnant of the clairvoyance of the old Atlanteans. Among the Atlanteans there was not such a clear separation between the consciousness of waking and sleeping as there is in the man of the present day. Their day-consciousness was less clear than ours; but their consciousness during sleep and in dreaming was clearer. During the early part of the Atlantean Epoch there were also times of complete unconsciousness, which were filled with mighty dream-pictures. In those very early times, too, the Atlanteans were unconscious of the act of reproduction. This took place in a state of complete unconsciousness. When the Atlantean awakened, he knew nothing about the act of reproduction; this process was only shown to him in pictorial images. We are reminded of this by the Greek legend which tells of two people who came to Greece and threw stones behind them, and out of these stones men developed. The act of reproduction was veiled in unconsciousness as long as marriages took place between those who were related by blood. It is due to the activity of the Luciferic Spirits, who opened the eyes of men, that men awakened to consciousness and that they recognized the act of reproduction consciously. Men learned to distinguish between good and evil. Because Men now knew about their love and no longer enquired about the blood-relationship they became independent. Then Jehovah was replaced by Christ, Who brought a higher love into the world and made man independent of the members of their tribe and blood-relationships. This universal love is only just beginning; but when the Earth has one day passed on its being to Jupiter, it will be entirely permeated by this spiritual love. It is to this universal love that Christ's statement refers: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children and brethren, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26). It is the Christ Who pours out this universal love more and more over the Earth. The evolution of the Earth is divided into two parts through the appearance of Christ Jesus,—the blood, which flowed on Golgotha signifies the replacement of the love of relations by spiritual love. This is the connection between Jehovah, Lucifer, and Christ.

Vierter Vortrag

[ 1 ] An den Ausgangspunkt unserer heutigen Betrachtung müssen wir ein wichtiges geisteswissenschaftliches Wort stellen. In der christlichen Geheimwissenschaft nennt man den Mond den Kosmos der Weisheit und die Erde den Kosmos der Liebe. Unter Mond ist die Mondphase der Erde zu verstehen. Die Bezeichnung des Mondes als Kosmos der Weisheit hat darin ihre Begründung, daß alles, was damals ausgebildet worden ist, von Weisheit durchdrungen wurde. Die Ablösung der Mondphase durch die Erdphase bedeutet die Ablösung des Kosmos der Weisheit durch den Kosmos der Liebe. Als die Erde aus dem Dämmerzustand, Pralaya, wieder hervortrat, gingen die Keime auf, die auf dem Monde gezüchtet worden waren, darunter auch die Keime des physischen, des Ätherleibes und Astralleibes des Menschen. In diese drei Leiber und ihre gegenseitigen Beziehungen ist auf dem Mond Weisheit hineingelegt worden. Daher findet sich auch im Bau dieser drei Leiber die Weisheit. Die größte Weisheit liegt im Bau des physischen Leibes, weniger im Bau des Ätherleibes, und noch weniger in dem des Astralleibes. Wer nicht nur mit dem Verstande, sondern mit sinnender Seele die Leiblichkeit des Menschen betrachtet, der wird diese Weisheit in jedem Organ, in jedem Gliede des Körpers entdecken. Betrachtet man zum Beispiel den menschlichen Oberschenkelknochen, so findet man darin ein wahres Netz von kreuz und quer laufenden Balken, scheinbar regellos; aber kein Ingenieur wäre heute imstande, diese zwei Säulen herzustellen, die mit dem kleinsten Ausmaß von Kraft und Stoff den menschlichen Oberkörper tragen. Solange noch die göttlichen Geister an den Menschenleibern aufbauten, wurde nur Weisheit hineingelegt. Man sieht in der Regel den physischen Leib des Menschen als den niedrigsten an, aber mit Unrecht, denn gerade in seinem Leibe tritt die größte Weisheit zutage. Nur durch diese Weisheit ist es möglich, daß der physische Körper die Attacken, welche der Astralleib stets auf ihn unternimmt, aushält, ohne vor der Zeit zusammenzubrechen. Die Leidenschaften, die sich im physischen Leibe betätigen, das Trinken von Kaffee, Tee und so weiter, alles dies sind Attacken des Astralleibes auf den physischen Leib, und ganz besonders auf das Herz. Daher mußte dies so weise ausgebaut sein, daß die Angriffe jahrzehntelang nicht imstande sind, es zu zerstören. Natürlich mußte durch mannigfaltige Umgestaltung erst die passende Form des Herzens herausgefunden werden.

[ 2 ] Nur weil die Weisheit dem Aufbau der Welt zugrunde liegt, kann sie darin von unserem Verstande gesucht und gefunden werden. Aber die Weisheit ist nicht plötzlich in die Welt gekommen, das Hineingießen ist nur langsam und allmählich erfolgt, und ebenso langsam und allmählich wird das Durchdringen der Erde mit der Liebe stattfinden. Dieses Durchdringen der Erde mit der Liebe ist der Sinn der Erdenentwickelung. Die Liebe hat auf der Erde im kleinsten Ausmaß begonnen, sie verbreitet sich aber immer mehr und mehr, und am Ende der Erdphase wird alles ebenso von Liebe durchtränkt sein, wie es am Ende des Mondenzustandes von Weisheit durchtränkt war.

[ 3 ] Als der Mond aus der Erde heraustrat, war die Kraft der Liebe erst im Keim vorhanden. Es liebten sich zuerst nur die Blutsverwandten untereinander. Dies hat eine lange Zeit gedauert, allmählich erweiterte sich der Wirkungskreis der Liebe. Zum Empfinden und Betätigen der Liebe ist eine gewisse Selbständigkeit der Wesen notwendig. In der menschlichen Entwickelung waren von vornherein zweierlei Kräfte tätig gewesen: eine zusammenführende und eine trennende Kraft, Sonnen- und Mondenkraft. Unter der Einwirkung dieser Kräfte wurde der Mensch so weit ausgebildet, daß sich seine drei Leiber mit dem Ich-Träger dem Geistselbst, dem Lebensgeist und Geistesmenschen entgegenneigten. Eine endgültige Vereinigung konnte aber noch nicht stattfinden, ohne das Hinzutreten einer neuen kosmischen Kraft. Diese Kraft, welche nach der Abtrennung des Mondes ganz besonders starken Einfluß ausübte, kam von einem andern Planeten, der in ein merkwürdiges Verhältnis zur Erde trat. Dieser Planet, der Mars, machte eine Art Durchgang durch die Erdmasse, als die Erde ihre Entwickelung begann. Ein Metall hatte bisher auf der Erde gefehlt, das Eisen. Durch sein Auftreten auf der Erde wurde ihr Entwickelungsgang mit einem Schlage geändert. Der Planet Mars ist es, welcher der Erde das Eisen gebracht hat. Von da ab war die Möglichkeit geboten, daß der Mensch sich ein warmes, eisenhaltiges Blut bilden konnte. Auch der Astralleib erhielt durch den Mars ein neues Glied: die Empfindungsseele, die mutartige Seele. Mit Eintritt des Mars entwickelte sich in der Seele das Aggressive. Man hat jetzt also beim Menschen zu unterscheiden: physischen Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib und Empfindungsseele. Die Wirkung der Empfindungsseele auf den physischen Leib war das Entstehen des roten, warmen Blutes. Nun konnte sich nach und nach das befruchtende Ich eingliedern.

[ 4 ] «Blut ist ein ganz besonderer Saft», sagt Goethe im «Faust». Der Gott der Form, Jahve, spielt dabei eine ganz besonders wichtige Rolle. Er bemächtigte sich vor allen Dingen des neugebildeten Organes, des Blutes, durchtränkte es mit seinen Kräften, verwandelte die aggressiven Eigenschaften der Mutseele in die Kräfte der Liebe und machte das Blut zum physischen Träger des Ich.

[ 5 ] Nicht jedes menschliche Individuum hatte anfänglich sein eigenes Ich. Bei allen Blutsverwandten, welche durch die Nahehe, Familienehe, das gleiche Blut bewahrten, wirkte die gleiche Jahvekraft, die IchKraft des gleichen Ich. Also eine solche kleine Gruppe hatte ein gemeinschaftliches Ich. Der einzelne verhielt sich zur ganzen Familie wie ein Finger zum ganzen Körper. Im Anfang gab es Gruppenseelen. Der einzelne empfand sich nur als Teil des Stammes. Man empfand das gleiche Ich nicht nur in den gleichzeitig Lebenden; auch in den verschiedenen Generationen lebte es weiter, solange das Blut unvermischt blieb, solange die Stammesgenossen nur in der Nahehe heirateten. Also man empfand das Ich nicht als etwas Persönliches, sondern als etwas allen Stammesgenossen Gemeinsames. Wie der Mensch sich an das erinnert, was er von seiner Geburt an erlebt hat, so erinnerten sich die Menschen der damaligen Zeit an das, was die Vorfahren derselben Blutsgemeinschaft getan hatten, und zwar so, als ob sie dies selbst erlebt hätten. Enkel und Urenkel fühlten in sich dasselbe Ich wie Großvater und Urgroßvater. So wird uns das Geheimnis des hohen Alters der Patriarchen begreiflich. «Adam» zum Beispiel war nicht die Bezeichnung für ein einzelnes Individuum, sondern für das gemeinsame Ich, das durch die Generationen floß. Es ist oben gesagt worden, daß Jahve das Blut zum physischen Träger des Ich machte. Er tat dies, indem er die Bildung des Blutes bewirkte. Er brachte seine Kraft zum Ausdruck in der Art des Atmens. Dadurch wurde der Mensch zum Jahvemenschen, daß Jahve ihm den Atem gab. Wörtlich ist es zu nehmen, daß der nun mit den Vorbedingungen ausgestattete Mensch eingehaucht bekam den lebendigen Odem. «Jahve blies dem Menschen den Odem ein und er wurde eine lebendige Seele» (1. Moses, 2,7). Dieses Einhauchen der Seele geschah aber nicht plötzlich, sondern ist als ein sehr lange dauernder Vorgang aufzufassen. Dadurch wurde der Mensch zum Luftatmer.

[ 6 ] Auf dem Monde hat etwas anderes dem Atmungsprozeß entsprochen. Während der jetzige Mensch Luft ein- und ausatmet und dadurch eine Wärmequelle in sich selbst hat, atmeten seine aus physischem Leib, Äther- und Astralleib bestehenden Vorfahren auf dem Monde Wärmestoff oder Feuer ein und aus. Feueratmer waren dieMenschenvorgänger auf dem Monde. Die Geheimwissenschaft nennt diese Wesen Feuerwesen, die Menschen auf der Erde dagegen Luftwesen. In aller Materie sieht die Geheimwissenschaft nur den Ausdruck des Geistes. Wir atmen nicht nur Luft ein und aus, sondern damit auch den Geist. Luft ist der Körper des Jahve, wie Fleisch derjenige des Menschen. Die Erinnerung daran wird in der germanischen Sage von Wotan, der im Winde reitet, zum Ausdruck gebracht. Auch was auf dem Monde ein- und ausgeatmet wurde, war der Geist.

[ 7 ] Auf dem Monde waren dieselben geistigen Wesenheiten wie auf der Erde. Dort lebten sie im Feuer, auf der Erde sind sie zu Luftgeistern geworden. In der kosmischen Entwickelung blieben einzelne Wesen zurück, wie in der Schule einzelne Schüler sitzenbleiben. Diejenigen Wesenheiten, die sich die Sonne zu ihrem Wohnsitz gemacht haben, hatten sich rascher entwickelt und den Übergang von Feuer- zu Luftgeistern gefunden, während eine große Schar von Wesenheiten diesen Übergang nicht gefunden hat. Die ersteren wirken nun als geistige Kräfte von außen, von der Sonne und vom Monde her auf den Menschen ein. Der Mensch nimmt sie durch den Atem in sich auf. Zwischen den Menschen und diesen hochentwickelten Sonnengeistern stehen diejenigen geistigen Wesenheiten, die zwar auf dem Monde auch viel weitergekommen sind als der Mensch, aber nicht so weit wie die Sonnengeister und der Jahvegott. Sie waren noch nicht imstande, den Menschen durch seinen Atem zu beeinflussen, waren aber trotzdem bestrebt, auf ihn einzuwirken. Es waren die nicht fertig gewordenen Feuergeister. Ihr Element war die Wärme und diese war beim Menschen nur im Blute vorhanden. Von dieser Wärme mußten sie leben.

[ 8 ] Der Mensch war also im Verlaufe seiner Entwickelung hineingestellt zwischen die Luftgeister, die in seinem Atem leben, die höchsten Geister, die ihn durchgeistigen, und die Feuergeister, welche die Elemente seines Blutes aufsuchten. Sie wirken in seinem Blute als Gegner des Jahvegottes. Jahve suchte die Menschen in kleinen Gruppen durch die Liebe zusammenzuhalten. Er wollte sie durchdringen mit dem Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl. Wäre aber nur die Liebe vorhanden gewesen, so wären die Menschen nie selbständige Wesen geworden. Gleichsam zu Liebesautomaten hätten sie sich entwickeln müssen. Dagegen richteten nun die Feuergeister ihre Angriffe, mit dem Erfolg, daß der Mensch die persönliche Freiheit erlangte. Die kleinen Menschengruppen wurden auseinandergetrieben. Der Jahvegott hatte nur Interesse daran, die Menschen in Liebe zusammenzuführen. Im Blute wirkte er als der Gott der Blutsliebe. Anders war die Wirkung der Feuergeister; sie waren es, die dem Menschen Kunst und Wissenschaft brachten. Man nennt diese Geister auch die luziferischen Geister. Die weitere Menschheitsentwikkelung geht unter dem Einfluß des Luzifer vor sich, der dem Menschen Freiheit und Weisheit bringt. Unter der Führung des Jahvegottes sollten die Menschen durch das Prinzip der Blutsbrüderschaft zusammengeführt werden. Daß der Mensch ein freier Bürger der Erde geworden ist, das verdankt er dem Luzifer. Jahve versetzte die Menschen in das Paradies der Liebe. Da erscheint der Feuergeist, die Schlange, in der Gestalt, die der Mensch einmal gehabt hat, als er noch Feuer atmete, und öffnete den Menschen die Augen für das, was noch vom Mond übriggeblieben war. Diesen luziferischen Einfluß empfand man als Verführung. Die in Geheimschulen Auferzogenen sahen jedoch diese Aufklärung nicht als Verführung an. Die großen Eingeweihten haben die Schlange nicht erniedrigt, sondern erhöht wie Moses in der Wüste. (4. Moses, 21, 8-9.)

[ 9 ] Was sich in der Menschheit offenbaren sollte, hat sich lange Zeit durch Jahve als Blutsliebe offenbart. Daneben wirkte der Geist der Weisheit, ein Prinzip, das etwas anderes vorzubereiten hatte. Allmählich breitete sich die Liebe von kleineren zu größeren Menschengruppen aus, von Familien zu Volksstämmen. Ein charakteristisches Beispiel dafür ist das jüdische Volk, das sich als zusammengehörige Gruppe fühlte und alle andern als Galiläer bezeichnete, das heißt als solche, die nicht zum Blut gehörten. Der Menschheit sollte nicht bloß die Blutsliebe gegeben werden, sondern die geistige Liebe, welche die ganze Erde mit einem Bruderbunde umspannen wird. Die Zeit, in welcher die Menschheit nur durch die Verwandtenliebe zusammengehalten wurde, ist nur als Lehrzeit zu betrachten für das, was später kommen sollte. Auch die Wirkung des Luzifer, welche im Auseinandertreiben der einengenden Bande bestand, ist nur die Vorbereitung für die Wirkung eines Höheren, der kommen sollte. Diesen Höheren nannte man in der christlichen Geheimschule den wahren Lichtträger, den wahren Luzifer, den Christus.

[ 10 ] Gehen wir nun zurück in die Zeit, in welcher die atlantische Menschheit auf Erden weilte. Die Erde hat damals ein ganz anderes Aussehen gehabt. Zwischen Europa und Amerika, da, wo jetzt ein großes Meer flutet, war Land, ein Erdteil, der jetzt auf dem Boden des Ozeans liegt. Auch die heutige Wissenschaft kommt nach und nach zu der Erkenntnis, daß ein Erdteil früher existierte, wo jetzt der Atlantische Ozean sich ausdehnt. Menschen von ganz anderer als der heutigen Art bewohnten Atlantis. Zwischen dem Äther- und physischen Leib bestand damals ein ganz anderes Verhältnis als heute. Ein Hellseher sieht beim heutigen Menschen im Kopf zwei Punkte, den einen im Äthergehirn, den andern im physischen Gehirn, zwischen den Augen, etwa einen Zentimeter tief. Diese beiden Punkte fallen beim jetzigen Menschen zusammen. Beim Atlantier war dies anders. Das Äthergehirn ragte beträchtlich über das physische Gehirn heraus, und die zwei Mittelpunkte der Gehirne deckten sich nicht. In Ausnahmefällen kann es auch beim Menschen der Gegenwart vorkommen, daß sich diese zwei Punkte nicht decken; eine Folge davon ist die Idiotie. Erst im letzten Drittel der atlantischen Zeit fand die Vereinigung der Mittelpunkte der beiden Gehirne statt, und erst dann lernte der Mensch bewußt zu sich «Ich» sagen. Auch rechnen, zählen, urteilen, logisch denken konnten die Atlantier vorher nicht. Dafür besaßen sie ein riesiges Gedächtnis, welches über Generationen reichte, und ein dumpfes Hellsehen. Die Umrisse der physischen Körper sahen sie nicht deutlich, dagegen nahmen sie die Seelenvorgänge wahr. Begegnete der Atlantier einem Tiere, so empfand er hellseherisch, wie sich das Tier zu ihm stellte. Sah er zum Beispiel eine rotbraune Farbe, so wich er aus; er wußte, daß ein feindlicher Einfluß sich geltend machte. Sah er aber eine rötlich-violette Farbe, so wußte er, daß ihm etwas Sympathisches begegnete. Auch die Nahrungsmittel wurden mit Hilfe dieses Hellsehens auf ihren Wert erkannt. Das heutige 'Tier, das dieses dumpfe Hellsehen bewahrt hat, unterscheidet auf der Weide in ähnlicher Weise die Pflanzen in bezug auf ihre Zuträglichkeit oder Schädlichkeit. Das Erleben, das der Mensch sich im Traume bewahrt hat, ist ein dekadentes Überbleibsel des Hellsehens der alten Atlantier. Beim Atlantier war keine so scharfe Trennung zwischen Schlaf- und Wachbewußtsein wie beim heutigen Menschen. Das Tagesbewußtsein war weniger klar als unser heutiges. Das Schlafund Traumbewußtsein war heller. In den ersten atlantischen Zeiten kamen auch Zustände von völliger Bewußtlosigkeit vor, die durchdrungen waren von mächtigen Traumbildern. Vom Fortpflanzungsakt wußte der Atlantier der ältesten Zeit nichts. Dieser ging in Zuständen völliger Bewußtlosigkeit vor sich. Wenn der Atlantier erwachte, wußte er nichts von der Fortpflanzung. Nur in Sinnbildern wurde ihm der Vorgang der Fortpflanzung gezeigt. Daran erinnert noch die griechische Sage von den zwei Menschen Deukalion und Pyrrha, die nach Griechenland zogen und Steine hinter sich warfen, aus denen dann Menschen wurden. Der Fortpflanzungsvorgang war so lange in Bewußtlosigkeit gehüllt, als die Ehen nur unter Blutsverwandten geschlossen wurden. Daß die Menschen zum Bewußtsein erwachten und bewußt den Akt der Fortpflanzung erkannten, ist auf die Tätigkeit der luziferischen Geister zurückzuführen, die dem Menschen «die Augen aufgetan» haben. Er lernte, Gut und Böse zu unterscheiden. Weil die Menschen nun um ihre Liebe wußten und nicht mehr nur nach der Blutsverwandtschaft fragten, wurden sie selbständig. Dann wurde Jahve durch Christus abgelöst, der eine höhere Liebe in die Welt brachte und die Menschen unabhängig machte von Stammesgenossen und Blutsverwandten. Diese universelle Liebe ist erst in ihrem Anfangsstadium. Wenn aber die Erde einmal ihre Wesen an den Jupiter abgegeben haben wird, dann werden sie von dieser geistigen Liebe ganz durchdrungen sein. Auf diese universelle Liebe weist der Ausspruch Christi hin: «So jemand zu mir kommt und hasset nicht seinen Vater, Mutter, Weib, Kinder, Brüder, Schwestern, dazu auch sein eigen Leben, der kann nicht mein Jünger sein» (Lukas 14, Vers 26). Der Geist, der diese universelle Liebe mehr und mehr über die Erde ausgießt, ist der Christus-Geist. Die Erdenentwickelung ist durch das Erscheinen des Christus Jesus in zwei Teile geteilt. Jenes Blut, das auf Golgatha geflossen ist, bedeutet die Ablösung der Verwandtenliebe durch die geistige Liebe. Dies ist der Zusammenhang zwischen Jahve, Luzifer und Christus.

Fourth Lecture

[ 1 ] We must place an important spiritual-scientific word at the starting point of our consideration today. In Christian esoteric science, the moon is called the cosmos of wisdom and the earth the cosmos of love. The moon is to be understood as the moon phase of the earth. The designation of the moon as the cosmos of wisdom is based on the fact that everything that was formed at that time was permeated with wisdom. The replacement of the moon phase by the earth phase signifies the replacement of the cosmos of wisdom by the cosmos of love. When the Earth emerged from the state of twilight, Pralaya, the seeds that had been cultivated on the Moon came up, including the seeds of the physical, etheric and astral bodies of man. Wisdom was placed in these three bodies and their mutual relationships on the Moon. Therefore, wisdom can also be found in the structure of these three bodies. The greatest wisdom lies in the structure of the physical body, less so in the structure of the etheric body, and even less so in that of the astral body. Those who contemplate the physical body not only with the intellect but also with a soul that reflects will discover this wisdom in every organ, in every limb of the body. If, for example, we consider the human thigh-bone, we find in it a veritable network of criss-crossing beams, apparently in a random pattern; but no engineer of today would be able to construct two columns that would support the human torso with the least expenditure of material and energy. As long as the Divine Spirits were still building human bodies, only wisdom was incorporated. As a rule, the physical body is considered the lowest, but wrongly so, because it is precisely in the body that the greatest wisdom comes to light. Only through this wisdom is it possible for the physical body to withstand the attacks that the astral body constantly launches against it, without breaking down prematurely. The passions that operate in the physical body, the drinking of coffee, tea and so on, these are all attacks by the astral body on the physical body, and especially on the heart. That is why it had to be so wisely constructed that the attacks were unable to destroy it for decades. Of course, the appropriate form of the heart had to be found first through manifold transformations.

[ 2 ] Only because wisdom underlies the structure of the world can it be sought and found in it by our minds. But wisdom did not suddenly come into the world, it was poured into it only slowly and gradually, and just as slowly and gradually will the earth be permeated with love. This permeation of the earth with love is the meaning of the evolution of the earth. Love began on earth in the smallest degree, but it is spreading more and more, and at the end of the earth phase everything will be imbued with love, just as it was imbued with wisdom at the end of the moon phase.

[ 3 ] When the Moon emerged from the Earth, the power of love was only present in the germ. At first, only blood relatives loved each other. This took a long time, and gradually the sphere of love expanded. A certain independence on the part of the beings is necessary in order to feel and act with love. In the evolution of man, two forces were active from the very beginning: a unifying and a separating force, the power of the sun and the moon. Under the influence of these forces, man developed to such an extent that his three bodies inclined towards the spirit self, the life spirit and the spiritual man. But a final union could not yet take place without the intervention of a new cosmic power. This power, which exercised a particularly strong influence after the separation of the moon, came from another planet that entered into a strange relationship with the earth. This planet, Mars, made a kind of passage through the earth's mass when the earth began its development. Until then, the Earth had lacked a metal, iron. Its appearance on Earth changed the course of its development in one fell swoop. It was the planet Mars that brought iron to Earth. From that point on, it became possible for humans to develop warm, iron-rich blood. Mars also added a new member to the astral body: the sentient soul, the mutative soul. With the entry of Mars, aggression developed in the soul. Thus, in the human being, we now have to distinguish between: physical body, etheric body, astral body and sentient soul. The effect of the sentient soul on the physical body was the emergence of warm red blood. Now, little by little, the fertilizing I could integrate.

[ 4 ] “Blood is a very special fluid,” says Goethe in “Faust”. The God of Form, Jahve, plays a particularly important role here. He took possession of the newly formed organ, the blood, imbued it with his powers, transformed the aggressive properties of the soul of courage into the powers of love and made the blood the physical vehicle of the ego.

[ 5 ] Not every human individual initially had his own I. In all blood relatives who preserved the same blood through close proximity or family marriage, the same power of Yahweh was at work, the I-power of the same I. Thus a small group such as this had a common I. The individual related to the entire family as a finger relates to the entire body. In the beginning there were group souls. The individual felt himself only as part of the tribe. The same ego was felt not only in those living at the same time; it also lived on in the different generations as long as the blood remained unmixed, as long as the members of the tribe only married close by. Thus the ego was not felt as something personal, but as something common to all members of the tribe. Just as a person remembers what he has experienced from the time of his birth, so the people of that time remembered what the ancestors of the same blood community had done, and they did so as if they had experienced it themselves. Grandchildren and great-grandchildren felt the same self within them as their grandfather and great-grandfather. This is how we understand the secret of the patriarchs' great age. “Adam”, for example, was not the name of a single individual, but of the common ego that flowed through the generations. It has been said above that Yahweh made the blood the physical carrier of the ego. He did this by bringing about the formation of the blood. He expressed his power in the way of breathing. Man became a man of Yahweh by the fact that Yahweh gave him breath. It is to be taken literally that man, now endowed with the preconditions, was breathed into with the living breath. “Yahweh God breathed the breath of life into the man and he became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). This breathing into of the soul did not happen suddenly, however, but is to be understood as a process that took a very long time. Through this, man became a breather of air.

[ 6 ] On the moon, the breathing process was different. While present-day human beings breathe in and out air and thus have a source of warmth within themselves, their ancestors on the moon, who had physical, etheric and astral bodies, breathed in and out warmth or fire. Fire-breathers were the human ancestors on the moon. Esoteric science calls these beings fire-breathers, whereas on earth we call them air-breathers. Esoteric science sees in all matter only the expression of the spirit. We do not only breathe in and out air, but with it also the spirit. Air is the body of Jahve, just as flesh is that of man. The memory of this is expressed in the Germanic saga of Wotan, who rides in the wind. What was inhaled and exhaled on the moon was also spirit.

[ 7 ] The same spiritual beings were on the moon as on earth. There they lived in fire, on earth they have become air spirits. In the cosmic development, individual beings were left behind, as individual students are left behind in school. Those entities that made the sun their abode had developed more rapidly and found the transition from fire to air spirits, while a great host of entities did not find this transition. The former now act as spiritual forces from outside, from the sun and moon, on man. Man absorbs them through the breath. Between man and these highly developed sun spirits stand those spiritual entities which, although they have also progressed much further on the moon than man, have not progressed as far as the sun spirits and the god Yahweh. They were not yet able to influence man through his breath, but they still endeavored to influence him. These were the fire spirits that had not been completed. Their element was warmth, and in man this was present only in the blood. They had to live from this warmth.

[ 8 ] Man was thus placed in the course of his development between the air spirits, which live in his breath, the highest spirits, which spiritualize him, and the fire spirits, which seek out the elements of his blood. They work in his blood as opponents of the God Jahve. Jahve strove to hold human beings together in small groups through love. He wanted to imbue them with a sense of belonging together. But if only love had existed, human beings would never have become independent beings. They would have had to develop into love automatons, as it were. The fire spirits directed their attacks against this, with the result that man gained personal freedom. The small groups of people were driven apart. The God Jahve was only interested in bringing people together in love. In the blood, he worked as the god of blood love. The fire spirits had a different effect; they were the ones who brought art and science to man. These spirits are also called the Luciferic spirits. Further human development takes place under the influence of Lucifer, who brings freedom and wisdom to man. Under the leadership of the God of Yahweh, people were to be brought together through the principle of blood brotherhood. That man has become a free citizen of the earth, he owes to Lucifer. Yahweh transferred man to the paradise of love. There the fire spirit, the serpent, appeared in the form that man had once taken when he still breathed fire, and opened man's eyes to what was left of the moon. This luciferic influence was felt as seduction. Those educated in secret schools, however, did not see this enlightenment as seduction. The great initiates did not humiliate the snake, but exalted it like Moses in the desert. (Exodus 4: 21-8-9.

[ 9 ] What was to be revealed in humanity was revealed for a long time through Yahweh as blood love. Alongside this, the spirit of wisdom was at work, a principle that had something else to prepare. Gradually, love spread from smaller to larger groups of people, from families to tribes. A characteristic example of this is the Jewish people, who felt that they belonged together and referred to all others as Galileans, that is, as those who did not belong by blood. Humanity should not be given only blood love, but spiritual love, which will embrace the whole earth with a brotherhood. The time when humanity was held together only by love for one's own kind should be regarded only as a time of learning for what was to come later. Even the effect of Lucifer, which consisted in the drifting apart of the constricting bonds, is only the preparation for the effect of a Higher One who was to come. In the Christian secret school, this Higher One was called the true Light-Bearer, the true Lucifer, the Christ.

[ 10 ] Let us now go back in time to the days when the Atlanteans lived on Earth. The Earth had a completely different appearance then. Between Europe and America, where there is now a large sea, there was land, a continent that now lies at the bottom of the ocean. Even today's science is gradually coming to the realization that a continent existed where the Atlantic Ocean now extends. People of a very different nature from today inhabited Atlantis. At that time, the relationship between the etheric and physical bodies was quite different than it is today. A clairvoyant sees two points in the head of a modern human being, one in the etheric brain and the other in the physical brain, between the eyes, about one centimeter deep. These two points coincide in the present human being. This was different with the Atlanteans. The etheric brain protruded considerably beyond the physical brain, and the two centers of the brains did not coincide. In exceptional cases, this can also occur in present-day humans, resulting in idiocy. It was only in the last third of the Atlantean era that the centers of the two brains were united, and only then did humans consciously learn to say “I”. Before that, Atlanteans could not even calculate, count, judge, or think logically. Instead, they had an enormous memory that extended over generations, and a vague form of clairvoyance. They did not see the outlines of physical bodies clearly, but they perceived the soul processes. When the Atlanteans encountered an animal, they sensed clairvoyantly how the animal related to them. If he saw, for example, a reddish-brown color, he avoided it; he knew that a hostile influence was at work. But if he saw a reddish-violet color, he knew that something sympathetic was happening to him. The value of food was also recognized with the help of this clairvoyance. The present-day animal that has retained this dull clairvoyance distinguishes plants in a similar way in the pasture in terms of their wholesomeness or harmfulness. The experiences that man has retained in dreams are a decadent remnant of the clairvoyance of the ancient Atlanteans. The Atlanteans did not have such a sharp distinction between the consciousness during sleep and during wakefulness as present-day humans do. The day-consciousness was less clear than our present one. The sleep and dream consciousness was brighter. In the first Atlantic times, there were also states of complete unconsciousness, which were permeated by powerful dream images. The Atlantean of the oldest time knew nothing about the act of reproduction. This took place in a state of complete unconsciousness. When the Atlantean awoke, he knew nothing of reproduction. The process of reproduction was only shown to him in symbols. The Greek legend of the two people Deucalion and Pyrrha, who moved to Greece and threw stones behind them that then became people, is still reminiscent of this. The process of reproduction remained unconscious for as long as marriages were only contracted between blood relatives. That human beings awakened to consciousness and consciously recognized the act of reproduction can be traced back to the activity of the Luciferic spirits, who “opened the eyes” of man. He learned to distinguish good from evil. Because human beings now knew about their love and no longer only asked about blood relationship, they became independent. Then Yahweh was replaced by Christ, who brought a higher love into the world and made people independent of fellow tribesmen and blood relatives. This universal love is only in its initial stage. But once the Earth has surrendered its beings to Jupiter, they will be completely permeated by this spiritual love. Christ's saying points to this universal love: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). The Spirit who is pouring this universal love more and more over the earth is the Christ-Spirit. With the appearance of Christ Jesus, the evolution on earth is divided into two parts. The blood that was shed on Golgotha signifies the replacement of the love of relatives by spiritual love. This is the connection between Yahweh, Lucifer and Christ.