The Gospel of St. John (Basle)
GA 100
22 November 1907, Basle
Translator Unknown
Lecture VII
In such a document as St. John's Gospel everything is significant and important, and it is very accurately expressed. For example, why does the Holy Spirit appear in the form of a dove? If we were to explain all that is connected with this we should need a number of lectures; but we can gain at least an idea of it if we study the evolution of humanity from still another point of view. In our earlier lectures we made a statement which: for a natural scientist of the present day, would seem to be outrageous: that man was already there at the beginning of the evolution of the Earth, and that he has participated in the whole of the development of the Earth. Of course it must not be forgotten that in former times man was quite differently organised and constituted from what he is to-day. Even the Atlantean had quite a different appearance from the men of the present day. The difference was still greater in the man of the Lemurian epoch; and still greater in the men of the period when the Sun and Moon were still united with our planet.
In order to enter into the ideas of Spiritual Science on the subject of evolution, we must start out from something that lies close at hand. The human being now living on the Earth are not all at the same stage of evolution; besides the peoples which have reached a high level of culture there are children of nature who have remained behind in civilisation. In present-day natural science the view has developed—and it is held with great tenacity, although new facts speak against it—that the more highly developed peoples have originated from those which have remained behind in evolution; but this view is not in accord with the results of spiritual research. Let us take, for example, the peoples with which we became acquainted when America was discovered. Let us briefly describe an episode which enables us to look into the mental and spiritual life of these peoples. As is well known, the whites had pushed the native Indians further and further into the interior of the country, and had not kept their promise to give them other hunting-grounds. One of the Indian chiefs once said to the leader of the European invaders: “You pale faces have taken from us our lands and have promised to give us others. But the white man has broken his word to the brown man, and we also know why. The pale man has small signs in which are magical beings, and in these he seeks to find the truth. But what he there finds is not the truth; for it is not good. The brown man does not try to find the truth in those little magical signs. He hears the “great Spirit” in the rustling of the trees in the forest and in the rippling of the brook. In lightning and thunder the Great Spirit announces to him what is right and what is not right.” The American Indians are a primitive people which has remained very far behind; their religious views are also very primitive, but they have preserved their belief in a monotheistic Spirit, which speaks to them from all the sounds of Nature. An Indian is in such close touch with nature that he still hears in all its manifestations the voice of the great creative Spirit; whereas the European is so deeply immersed in his materialistic culture that he can no longer hear the voice of nature. Both peoples have the same origin, both spring from the population of Atlantis, which had a monotheistic faith that originated from a spiritual clairvoyance. But the Europeans have risen to their present stage of culture, while the Indians stood still and then degenerated. We have always to bear this process of evolution in mind. It may be represented in the following way. In the course of millennia our planet changes, and this change makes the evolution of humanity possible. The offshoots, which no longer fit into the conditions, become decadent. Thus we have a main stem of evolution and side branches which degenerate.
If we go back from the point in Atlantis when the Europeans and North American Indians were still united with one another, we arrive at a period when the human body was still comparatively soft, of jelly-like substance. There again we see beings branch off and stand still. These bodies develop further, but in a descending line; and out of them originate the apes. We cannot say that man originates from the ape, but both, man and ape, spring from a form which was common to both but was quite different in shape from either the present ape or the present man. The branching off took place at the point where it was possible for this original form to ascend on the one hand and to descend on the other and become a caricature of man. We will only follow the theory of the origin of species as far as is necessary to find the connection with what has been said in former lectures.
Among the old Atlanteans the etheric body was still partly outside the physical body. To-day the astral body is still outside the physical body during sleep; it is only during sleep, therefore, that man is now able to conquer the tiredness of the physical body, because his astral body is then outside the physical body and is thus able to work upon it. Further influences on the physical body are now no longer possible, but remnants of these influences can still be seen in such phenomena as reddening with shame, growing pale with fear and terror, etc. But the further we go back in the Atlantean Epoch and the more the etheric body was outside the physical body, the more was it in a position to transform and mould the physical body. The mastery of the etheric body over the physical was so complete in former times because the physical was much more mobile and plastic than it is now. At a period in human evolution when the physical body only had the first beginnings of the bony skeleton; the power of the etheric body over the physical body was so great that man was able to lengthen an arm or a hand at will, or to stretch forth fingers out of them at will, etc. This seems absurd to the man of the present day. It would be quite incorrect to think of the Lemurian man as being like the present man. The Lemurian did not walk about on his legs like a man of the present day; he was more or less a being of the air, and all the organs which are now possessed by the man of the present day were then only germinal or rudimentary. He was able to change his shape, to metamorphose himself. It is quite a mistake to imagine that the Lemurians were similar to the men of the present day, more uncouth, perhaps, but still similar.
In the Atlantean Epoch, also, the human body could still be moulded and its form changed from within by the will. This, as we have already said, was because the etheric body was still partly outside the physical body. The etheric body, therefore, worked upon the outer form, and the beings which did not work in the right way on their body have developed into the animals we now call apes. That was the way in which these caricatures of the present human beings originated; they originated from us, not we from them. We may now enquire: why did the apes split off; why did a part stop at a lower stage as soulless beings (we mean the higher soul, not the astral body)? Man adapted himself to the body, but the apes were unable to do this; their physical body hardened, whereas man was able to keep his physical body soft and plastic.
We have to imagine man at the beginning of earthly evolution in a delicate etheric body, which he continually remoulded and transformed. A clairvoyant would have perceived men at that time in the form of a globe. The accompanying sketch will help to explain the genealogical tree of evolution. It was fairly late in the Atlantean Epoch when the species of animals branched off which later became the present apes. Earlier in the Atlantean Epoch certain higher animals branched off; and in the earliest times of Atlantis certain lower mammals. At that time man was at that stage of evolution of a mammal, but mammals stopped at this stage while man developed further. In still earlier times man was at the stage of a reptile. His body was quite different from the body of a present reptile; but the corporeal development of the reptile has degenerated. Man developed as inner members further; but the reptile stopped; it is a backward brother of man. The creatures which later became the birds, branched off still earlier, and earlier than that, man was at the stage represented by the fish at the present time. At that time there was on the Earth nothing higher than complicated fish-forms. In primeval times man was at the stage of the invertebrates, and in the very oldest times there branched off, and have come down in this form to our times, the unicellular beings Haeckel calls Monera, which are brothers of man who branched off in the most ancient times. If we were to elaborate this genealogical tree of man, it would coincide with the one Haeckel describes in his works. We might take over Haeckel's genealogical tree without further ado; the only difference is that Haeckel starts with the development of the lowest animal forms and then carries the development up to man; whereas we see men already in the very first form and consider the animal kingdom only as a branching off at different stages,—as degenerated human beings. Man is actually the firstborn of the Earth; he has developed himself further in a straight line and has left the other beings behind at the various stages.
If we observe the time when the birds and reptiles branched off, we see that at that time there were actually physical human forms which looked like the later birds and some which looked like the later reptiles. The seer can look back into that distant time when the spiritual being of man had not yet taken possession of his body; he sees the group-soul of man which floats round the bird-like body. At this point those spiritual beings stop, who had no need to descend to the physical plane, and after they had come down to this stage of evolution in the physical world, they developed up again to the spiritual. These are the beings of the astral plane (the world of the Holy Spirit) which kept the air as their kingdom, just as man takes possession of the physical earth as his kingdom. We must conceive of these beings also in the form of the bird, if they are to make themselves physically visible. Hence the writer of St. John's Gospel had to represent the Holy Spirit who descended into the spiritual soul of Jesus and filled it as the Spirit Self, under the symbol of a dove. When we consider this symbol in connection with the evolution of humanity it proves to be very profound.
We will now bring what is written in St. John's Gospel into connection with the earthly evolution of humanity from another point of view. For this purpose we will recapitulate very briefly a conception which was put before the pupils in the Rosicrucian School. At a certain stage in his development the pupil was told the following:—Observe the plant and compare it with man. The plant turns its root downward, to the centre of the Earth, the seat of its ego. Its organs of reproduction it turns chastely towards the sun, towards the light. It opens its flowers in the light of the sun and lets it ripen the fruit. In Spiritual Science this fertilising action of the light is described as the touching with the Sun's sacred lance of love. It opens the flowers and brings about the fruitfulness of the Earth. The part which the plants sinks into the Earth, the root,—this corresponds to the head of man. Man turns his head to the sun, to the light; and what the plant turns towards the light, its organs of reproduction,—these he turns towards the earth, Man presents the reverse picture to the plant; and the animal stands half way between the two. We represent the plant as being turned vertically towards the earth, man as turned vertically away from the earth, the animal horizontal,—in this way we get the form of the cross. Plato expressed this when he said: “The World-Soul is crucified on the ancient World-Cross.” The Cross is a cosmic symbol that has been placed in the evolution of the world.
A feeling of reverent awe filled the pupil when he was able thus to look into the development of the world. In the plant, therefore, we see a brother from the far-distant past. Originally man, too, was an etheric being of plant-like nature; at that time the substance of man's body was plant-like. If man had not transformed the plant-like substance into flesh, he would have remained chaste and pure like the plant, he would not have become acquainted with passion and desire. But this condition could not be maintained; for had it remained thus, man would not have wakened to self-consciousness; he would have remained in the dreamy life in which the plant still lives to-day. Man had to be filled with passions and desires; he had to be brought to a life in flesh. His organs were not all changed into fleshly substances at the same time; the 0rgans which express the lowest impulses were drawn last into fleshly evolution, and they are already in a state of decadence. The organs of reproduction preserved their plant-like character longest. Old legends and myths still tell us of hermaphrodites; those were beings who did not possess sexual organs of flesh and blood, but these organs consisted of plant-like substance. Many people think that the fig-leaf which the first human beings had in Paradise is an expression of shame. No! in this story is preserved the remembrance of the fact that instead of fleshly organs of reproduction men then had reproductive organs of a plant-like nature.
And now let us turn our gaze into the future. The organs in the human body which are still lower organs, the organs which were incorporated last in the flesh, will also be the first to fall away again, to disappear, to dry up in the human body. Man will not stop at his present stage of development; just as he descended from the chaste purity of the plant into the sensuality of the world of passionate desire, so will he rise again out of this sensuality with purified substance to a chaste condition.
Certain organs in the human body are degenerating and falling into ruin, others have reached the zenith of their capacity of development, others, again, are only beginning their evolution . The organs of reproduction belong to the first class, the brain to the second, the heart and larynx and everything connected with the forming of the word belong; to those which are only in their germinal state. From these last organs will be developed that which will take on the functions of the organs of reproduction and will go far beyond them. They will become voluntary organs in the highest sense. We pointed out, even in the first lecture of this course, that through his speech man produces forms in the air, and that in the future the word will be creative. Man will by than have returned to the chasteness and purity which the plant has preserved; but it will be a conscious chasteness. The occult investigator can also observe that the heart is only at the beginning of its evolution, it is by no means the pump which it is represented to be by the materialistic thinker; it is a mistake to think that the heart is the cause of the circulation of the blood. Strange as it may sound, the movement of the heart is the consequence of the circulation of the blood. In the future, when man has reached a higher stage of evolution, the heart will also be subject to his conscious will. The foundations of this are already there, in the transverse fibres which the heart possesses in common with all voluntary muscles. Man will then create his like consciously by the word; the substance in the human being will then be chaste and purified, and what at a lower stage was stretched out as the chalice of the flower towards the sun and received the sunbeam as the arrow of love, will at a higher stage of future humanity be again turned towards the cosmos, as chalice which will be fertilised from the Spiritual. This is represented in the Holy Grail, the shining chalice, the attainment of which floated as a shining goal before the knight of the Middle Ages.
Let us now consider the plant and its relation to the earth. The plant possesses physical body and etheric body only, and for this reason it is only possible for the plant to have the degree of consciousness which man possesses during the night in sleep. The consciousness of the plant is concentrated in the centre of the earth. The plants are so closely bound up with the earth that they must be regarded as belonging to it; Just as the human hair belongs to the human body. The separate plants do not possess an astral body of their own, they are embedded in the astral body of the earth, which is correlated to that of the sun. In the higher organism of the earth we find a process which is similar to the alternation of consciousness in man between sleeping and waking. In consequence of this the plants grow in spring and summer; they germinate, grow, and extend their flowers towards the sun. In autumn and winter the astral body of the sun withdraws from the earth; the astral body of the earth is then left to itself; it creeps away to the centre of the earth, and the vegetation rests. The seer can observe this relation between the two astral bodies quite well, and as this withdrawal of the astral body results in a stoppage in the vegetation and in outer activity, man had to receive an astral body of his own in the course of his evolution, for only in this way could he achieve a continuous consciousness.
In former lectures we have considered the significance of Christ for the evolution of humanity; we will now pass on to the study of the significance of this Spirit for the cosmic evolution. The Beings who, at the very beginning of the evolution of the Earth, had already the state of perfection which humanity will only achieve at the end of earthly evolution, have their seat in the Sun. Christ belongs to these Beings as a cosmic- force. His astral body, therefore, was united with the astral body of the Sun at the beginning of our present earthly evolution. He had His seat in the Sun. When the personality of Christ came to the Earth, the astral body of this cosmic force of the Christ Spirit sank down to the Earth at the same time, and ever since the incarnation of Christ on the Earth His astral body has been continually united with the astral body of the Earth. Through the appearance of Christ on Earth the astral body of the Earth has received from the Sun an entirely new substance. If at the time of Christ a Being had looked towards the Earth from another planet, he would have seen the addition of this new substance to the astral body of the Earth in the change of the colour radiating from the astral body. Through the union of His astral body with that of the Earth, the Sun Spirit Christ became the Spirit of the Earth as well. The Christ is therefore Sun Spirit and at the same time Earth Spirit. From the time when Christ walked the earth He has remained continuously united with the earth; He has become the planetary Spirit of the Earth. The Earth is His body, and He guides the evolution of the Earth. He accomplished this union upon Golgotha, and the Mystery of Golgotha is the symbol of what took place at that time for the evolution of the Earth.
Four chief races peopled the surface of the earth; they divided it among them: the white, yellow, red, and black races. But the atmosphere which surrounds the earth is one and undivided. This is referred to in John 19:23: “Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout”. The garments of Christ are the symbol for the surface of the earth; the coat, on the other hand, woven in one piece, symbolises the air which, undivided and Indivisible, surrounds the earth on all sides. Here, again, it must be emphasised that this symbol is also at the same time an historical fact.
We are now in a position to understand the following statement of the Master. He said “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me.” (John 13:18) [Luther's version reads: “He that eateth my bread treads upon me with his feet”] If Christ is the planetary Spirit of the Earth, if the Earth is His body, is it, then, not justified to say that men eat His flesh and drink His blood and tread upon Him with their feet? When this Spirit points to the fruits which come from the Earth, can He not then say: “This is my body,” and when He points to the pure saps flowing though the plants, can He not say: “This is my blood” And when men walk about on the body of the planetary Spirit, do they not tread upon Him with their feet? He did not say this in a bad sense, but to indicate the fact that the Earth is the true body of Christ. This passage in the Gospel is also to be taken literally, and the remembrance of this great truth is to be preserved to succeeding times through the Mystery of the Holy Supper. The profound meaning of the Holy Supper can only be appreciated by one who is able to perceive the value of this mighty event to the whole of cosmic evolution. He sees the force of Christ spring up in the plants which the Earth puts forth in spring and holds up towards the Sun: he knows that the event of Christ becoming man is not only a human event, but that it is a cosmic event.
Siebenter Vortrag
[ 1 ] In einer Urkunde wie dem Johannes-Evangelium ist alles von Bedeutung und Wichtigkeit, und nichts könnte anders gesagt werden, als es dort steht. Warum erscheint zum Beispiel der Heilige Geist in Gestalt einer Taube? Es brauchte, um dies zu erklären, eine Reihe von Vorträgen. Aber man kann wenigstens eine Ahnung davon bekommen, wenn man die Menschheitsentwickelung von einem andern Gesichtspunkt aus betrachtet, als dies bis jetzt geschehen ist. Es wurde bereits in den früheren Vorträgen die für einen naturwissenschaftlich Denkenden ungeheuerliche Behauptung aufgestellt, daß der Mensch zu Anfang der Entwickelung bereits da war und daß er die Erdenentwickelung als seine eigene Entwickelung mitgemacht hat. Es darf aber selbstredend nicht vergessen werden, daß die früheren Menschen ganz anders organisiert und beschaffen waren als die heutigen. Schon der atlantische Mensch ist in seinem Aussehen von dem heutigen sehr verschieden. Dieser Unterschied ist noch viel größer beim Menschen der lemurischen Zeit und noch größer beim Menschen derjenigen Zeit, in welcher noch Mond und Sonne mit unserem Planeten verbunden waren.
[ 2 ] Um uns hineinzuarbeiten in die Art und Weise, wie die Geisteswissenschaft über die Evolution denkt, müssen wir vom Nächstliegenden ausgehen. Nicht alle heute auf der Erde lebenden Menschen stehen auf derselben Stufe der Entwickelung. Neben den Völkern, die auf einer hohen Kulturstufe stehen, gibt es Naturvölker, welche in der Kultur weit zurückgeblieben sind. Es hat sich in der heutigen Naturwissenschaft die Anschauung herausgebildet - und sie wird mit großer Zähigkeit festgehalten, obschon neuere Tatsachen dagegen sprechen -, daß die höherentwickelten Völker von den in der Entwickelung zurückgebliebenen Völkern abstammen. Diese Anschauung ist den Ergebnissen der Geistesforschung nicht entsprechend. Erwähnen wir hier beispielsweise die Völker, die durch die Entdeckung Amerikas bekannt wurden, und schildern wir in Kürze eine Episode, die uns einen Einblick in das Geistesleben dieser Völker gewährt. Bekanntlich hatten die Weißen die Indianerbevölkerung immer weiter in das Innere des Landes zurückgedrängt und das Versprechen, ihnen Ländereien zu geben, nicht gehalten. Ein Häuptling dieser Indianer sagte einmal zu dem Anführer eines europäischen Eroberungszuges: Ihr Bleichgesichter habt uns unsere Länder genommen und habt uns versprochen, uns andere zu geben. Aber der weiße Mann hat dem braunen Mann das Wort nicht gehalten, und wir wissen auch warum. Der bleiche Mann hat kleine Zeichen, in denen Zauberwesen stecken und aus denen erforscht er die Wahrheit. Was er aber erfährt, ist nicht die Wahrheit, denn es ist nicht gut. Der braune Mann sucht nicht in solchen kleinen Zauberzeichen die Wahrheit. Er hört den «Großen Geist» im Rauschen des Waldes, im Rieseln des Baches. Im Blitz und Donner gibt ihm der «Große Geist» kund, was recht und unrecht ist.
[ 3 ] Wir haben in der amerikanischen Rasse eine primitive Urbevölkerung vor uns, die weit, weit zurückgeblieben ist, auch in bezug auf religiöse Weltanschauung. Aber sie hat sich bewahrt den Glauben an einen monotheistischen Geist, der aus allen Lauten der Natur zu ihr spricht. Der Indianer steht mit der Natur in so innigem Verhältnis, daß er noch in allen ihren Äußerungen die Stimme des hohen schöpferischen Geistes hört, während der Europäer so in der materialistischen Kultur steckt, daß er die Stimme der Natur nicht mehr wahrnehmen kann. Beide Völker haben denselben Ursprung, beide stammen von der Bevölkerung der Atlantis ab, die einen monotheistischen Glauben besaß, entsprungen aus einem geistigen Hellsehen. Aber die Europäer sind hinaufgestiegen zu einer höheren Kulturstufe, während die Indianer stehengeblieben und dadurch in Dekadenz gekommen sind. Diesen Entwickelungsvorgang muß man immer beachten. Er läßt sich darstellen wie folgt. Im Laufe der Jahrtausende verändert sich unser Planet, und diese Veränderung bedingt auch eine Entwickelung der Menschheit. Die Seitenzweige, die nicht mehr in die Verhältnisse hineinpassen, werden dekadent. Wir haben also einen geraden Entwickelungsstamm und abgehende Seitenzweige, die verfallen (siehe Zeichnung).
[ 4 ] Von dem Punkte der atlantischen Zeit, wo Europäer und Indianer noch miteinander vereint waren, weiter zurückgehend, kommen wir in eine Zeit, wo der Körper des Menschen noch verhältnismäßig weich, von gallertartiger Dichtigkeit war. Da sehen wir wieder Wesen sich abzweigen und zurückbleiben. Diese Wesen entwickeln sich weiter, aber in absteigender Linie, und aus ihnen entsteht das Affengeschlecht.
[ 5 ] Wir dürfen nicht sagen, der Mensch stamme vom Affen ab, sondern beide, Menschen und Affen, stammen von einer Form ab, die aber eine ganz andere Gestalt hatte als die Affen und die heutigen Menschen. Die Abzweigung erfolgte von einem Punkte, wo diese Urform die Möglichkeit hatte, einerseits aufzusteigen zum Menschen und andrerseits hinunterzufallen, zum Zerrbilde des Menschen zu werden. Wir wollen die Abstammungslehre nur so weit verfolgen, als nötig ist, um den Zusammenhang zu finden mit dem, was in früheren Vorträgen gesagt worden ist. Bei den alten atlantischen Menschen war der Ätherleib noch außerhalb des physischen Körpers. Heute ist nur noch der Astralleib des Menschen, und zwar im Schlafe, außerhalb des physischen Körpers. Heute ist daher der Mensch nur im Schlafe imstande, die Müdigkeit des physischen Körpers zu überwinden, weil da sein Astralleib außerhalb des physischen Körpers ist und so die Möglichkeit hat, sich an demselben zu betätigen. Weitere Einflüsse auf den physischen Körper sind jetzt nicht mehr möglich. Nur die Überreste solcher Einwirkung sind noch geblieben in den Erscheinungen, wie Erröten bei Scham, Erblassen bei Angst und Schreck und so weiter. Je mehr wir aber zurückgehen in der atlantischen Zeit und je mehr der Ätherleib außerhalb des physischen Leibes war, desto mehr war er imstande, umgestaltend zu wirken auf den physischen Leib. Die Herrschaft des Ätherleibes über den physischen Leib war in früherer Zeit deshalb so groß, weil der physische Leib noch viel biegsamer und geschmeidiger war als jetzt. Zu einer Zeit der menschlichen Entwickelung, wo der physische Leib erst eine feingliedrige Anlage zum Knochengerüst hatte, war die Macht des Ätherkörpers über den physischen Leib so groß, daß der Mensch die Fähigkeit hatte, einen Arm, eine Hand beliebig zu verlängern, auch beliebig Finger daraus hervorzustrecken und so weiter. Solches erscheint dem heutigen Menschen als etwas Absurdes. Es wäre ganz unrichtig, sich den lemurischen Menschen so zu denken wie den heutigen. Der lemurische Mensch ging nicht etwa wie ein Mensch von heute auf seinen Gliedern; er war mehr oder weniger ein Luftwesen. Alle Organe des heutigen Menschen waren nur andeutungsweise vorhanden; er konnte sich metamorphosieren. Es ist gänzlich unrichtig, sich vorzustellen, die lemurischen Menschen wären den heutigen, wenn auch grotesk, so doch ähnlich gewesen. Auch in der atlantischen Zeit war der menschliche Körper noch formbar und konnte durch den Willen von innen heraus umgestaltet werden. Dies hatte seine Begründung darin, daß der Ätherleib, wie oben gesagt, teilweise noch außerhalb des physischen Körpers war. So hat der Ätherleib gearbeitet an der äußeren Gestalt, und die Wesen, welche nicht in der richtigen Art an ihrem Leib arbeiteten, haben sich zu dem entwickelt, was wir heute Affen nennen. So sind diese Karikaturen der heutigen Menschen entstanden. Sie stammen von uns ab, nicht wir von ihnen. Man kann hier die Frage aufwerfen: Warum spalteten sich gerade die Affen ab, warum blieb ein Teil auf einer niedrigeren Stufe zurück als seelenlose Wesen — hier ist die höhere Seele gemeint, nicht der Astralleib? Es kamen eben andere Verhältnisse. Der Mensch paßte sich denselben an, sie aber vermochten dies nicht. Ihr physischer Leib verhärtete, während der Mensch seinen physischen Körper weich und bildsam erhalten konnte.
[ 6 ] Im Beginn der Erdenentwickelung haben wir uns den Menschen vorzustellen mit einem feinen ätherischen Körper. Diesen hat er immer mehr umgebildet. Ein Hellseher hätte damals den Menschen in Form einer Kugel wahrgenommen. Die Zeichnung auf Seite 243 soll den Stammbaum der Entwickelung erläutern.
[ 7 ] Ziemlich spät in der atlantischen Zeit zweigte die Art ab, die sich dann später zu den heutigen Affen gestaltete. Früher in der atlantischen Zeit haben sich gewisse höhere Säugetiere abgezweigt; gewisse niedere Säugetiere zweigten sich in der ältesten atlantischen Zeit ab. Der physische Mensch war damals vom Entwickelungswert eines Säugetiers; nur sind die Säugetiere auf dieser Stufe stehengeblieben, während der Mensch sich weiterentwickelt hat. In noch früherer Zeit stand der Mensch im Entwickelungswert eines Reptils. Der Leib war ganz anders als der eines heutigen Reptils, aber das Reptil hat sich herausgebildet, indem seine leibliche Entwickelung in Dekadenz gefallen ist. Der Mensch hat seine inneren Glieder zur Entwickelung gebracht, das Reptil dagegen blieb zurück. Es ist ein zurückgebliebener Bruder des Menschen. Noch früher zweigte sich das ab, was die Vogelart wurde. Und noch weiter zurück stand der Mensch auf der Stufe, die im heutigen Fischgeschlecht bewahrt ist. Auf der Erde war damals nichts Höheres vorhanden als komplizierte Fischformen. In urferner Zeit stand der Mensch auf der Stufe eines wirbellosen Tieres. Und in der ältesten Zeit abgezweigt, und so auf unsere Zeit gekommen, ist das einzellige Wesen, das Haeckel Monere nennt, das einen in der ältesten Zeit abgezweigten Bruder des Menschen darstellt. Wenn wir aus dieser Entwickelungsreihe den Stammbaum des Menschen bilden, so wird dieser genau übereinstimmen mit dem Stammbaum, den Haeckel in seinen Schriften aufgestellt hat:
| 1. Moneren | 8. Kiemendarmwürmer |
| 2. Einzellige | 9. Urchordatiere |
| 3. Vielzellige | 10. Schädellose |
| 4. Hohlkugeln | 11. Rundmäuler |
| 5. Urdarmtiere | 12. Urfische |
| 6. Plattentiere | 13. Schmelzfische |
| 7. Schnurwürmer | 14. Lurchfische |
| 15. Kiemenlurche | 20. Beuteltiere |
| 16. Schuppenlurche | 21. Halbaffen |
| 17. Proreptilien | 22. Hundsaffen |
| 18. Säugereptilien | 23. Menschenaffen |
| 19. Ursäuger | 24. Affenmenschen |
| 25. Sprechende Menschen | |
[ 8 ] Wir könnten auch ohne weiteres Haeckels Stammbaum übernehmen, der Unterschied ist nur der, daß Haeckel erst die Tierformen entstehen und diese sich dann bis zum Menschen hinaufentwickeln läßt, während wir in der Urform bereits den Menschen sehen und die Tierwelt nur als Abzweigung, als entartete Menschen betrachten. Tatsächlich ist der Mensch der Erstgeborene der Erde; er hat sich in gerader Linie weiterentwickelt, hat die andern Wesen an den verschiedenen Etappen zurückgelassen.
[ 9 ] Wenn wir den Zeitpunkt betrachten, wo die Vögel und Reptilien sich abgezweigt haben, so sehen wir, daß damals tatsächlich physische Menschenformen vorhanden waren, die den späteren Vogelarten, und solche, die den späteren Reptilien ähnlich waren. Der Seher sieht zurück in jene ferne Zeit, in welcher die geistige Wesenheit des Menschen noch nicht von seinem Körper Besitz ergriffen hatte. Er sieht die Gattungsseele des Menschen, die den vogelartigen Körper umschwebt. Hier blieben jene geistigen Wesenheiten zurück, die nicht nötig hatten, hinunterzusteigen in den physischen Plan. Nachdem sie bis zu dieser Stufe der physischen Welt heruntergekommen waren, entwickelten sie sich wieder zum Geistigen hinauf. Es sind dies Wesenheiten des astralischen Planes, der Welt des Heiligen Geistes, die sich den Luftkreis als ihr Reich bewahrt haben, gleich wie der Mensch die physische Erde, den Erdkreis als sein Reich in Besitz nimmt. Diese Wesen muß man sich auch in der Vogelgestalt vorstellen, wenn sie sich uns physisch sichtbar machen sollen. Daher muß der Schreiber des Johannes-Evangeliums den Heiligen Geist, der in die Bewußtseinsseele des Jesus hinuntersteigt und sie erfüllt als Geistselbst, unter dem Symbolum einer Taube darstellen. Von wunderbarer Tiefe erscheint uns dieses Symbolum, wenn wir es im Zusammenhang mit der Menschheitsentwickelung betrachten.
[ 10 ] Wir wollen das, was im Johannes-Evangelium geschrieben steht, noch von einem andern Gesichtspunkte aus in Zusammenhang bringen mit der Menschheits-Erdenentwickelung. Wir wollen dabei eine Vorstellung der Rosenkreuzerschule in aller Kürze wiederholen. Dem Schüler wird auf einer gewissen Stufe der Entwickelung etwa folgendes gesagt: Betrachten wir die Pflanze in ihrem Verhältnis zum Menschen. Die Pflanze richtet die Wurzel nach unten, nach dem Mittelpunkt der Erde, dem Sitze ihres Ich. Ihre Befruchtungsorgane wendet sie keusch der Sonne, dem Lichte zu. Im Lichte der Sonne erschließt sie ihre Blüte und läßt sie die Frucht reifen. Diese befruchtende Wirkung des Lichtes nennt man geheimwissenschaftlich die Berührung durch die heilige Liebeslanze der Sonne. Sie lockt hervor die Blüte und bewirkt die Fruchtbarkeit der Erde. Was die Pflanze in die Erde versenkt, die Wurzel, das entspricht dem Haupt des Menschen. Der Mensch richtet sein Haupt der Sonne, dem Lichte entgegen. Und was die Pflanze dem Lichte zuwendet, die Befruchtungsorgane, die neigt er schamhaft der Erde zu. Der Mensch ist das umgedrehte Bild der Pflanze. Das Tier steht mitten zwischen beiden. Die Pflanze zeichnet man vertikal der Erde zugerichtet, den Menschen ebenso vertikal von der Erde abgewendet, das Tier horizontal. So erhält man die Form des Kreuzes. Plato drückt dies aus, indem er sagt: Die Weltenseele ist gekreuzigt am uralten Weltenkreuz. - Das Kreuz ist ein kosmisches Symbolum, hingestellt in die Weltenentwickelung. Tiefe Schauer durchwogten die Brust des Schülers, wenn er so hineinschauen konnte in das Werden der Weltenentwickelung. So sehen wir auch in der Pflanze ein Bruderwesen aus urferner Vergangenheit. Ursprünglich war auch der Mensch ein ätherisches Wesen von pflanzlicher Substanz. Damals hatte der Mensch diejenige stoffliche Natur, welche heute die Pflanze noch besitzt. Hätte der Mensch nicht die pflanzliche Substanz zum Fleisch umgewandelt, so wäre er keusch und rein geblieben wie die Pflanze. Nicht kennengelernt hätte er Begierde und Leidenschaft. Aber dieser Zustand konnte nicht erhalten werden, denn der Mensch wäre dann auch nicht zum Selbstbewußtsein erwacht. Er wäre immer in dem Traumleben geblieben, in dem die Pflanze sich heute noch befindet. Der Mensch mußte durchdrungen werden von Begierden und Leidenschaften, mußte zum Fleischesdasein gebracht werden. Nicht alle Organe wurden zur gleichen Zeit aus Pflanzen- in Fleischessubstanz umgewandelt. Die Organe, welche die niedrigsten Triebe ausdrücken, die sind am spätesten einbezogen worden in die fleischliche Entwickelung. Und sie befinden sich auch bereits in Dekadenz. Die Fortpflanzungsorgane haben am längsten ihren pflanzlichen Charakter bewahrt. Alte Sagen und Mythen berichten uns noch von Hermaphroditen; das waren solche Wesen, die keine Geschlechtsorgane von Fleisch und Blut, sondern solche von pflanzlicher Substanz besaßen. Manche glauben, das Feigenblatt, das die ersten Menschen im Paradies gehabt haben, sei ein Ausdruck der Scham. Nein, in dieser Erzählung hat sich die Erinnerung daran bewahrt, daß die Menschen an Stelle der fleischlichen Fortpflanzungsorgane solche pflanzlicher Natur gehabt haben. Und nun einen Blick in die Zukunft: Was heute noch niedrige Organe im menschlichen Körper sind, was am spätesten einbezogen wurde in die Fleischlichkeit, das wird auch am ersten wieder abfallen, verschwinden, verdorren am menschlichen Körper. Der Mensch wird nicht auf seiner jetzigen Stufe stehenbleiben. Wie er von der reinen Keuschheit der Pflanze in die Sinnlichkeit der Begierdenwelt hinabgestiegen ist, so wird er aus dieser wieder heraufsteigen mit reiner, geläuterter Substanz zum keuschen Zustande.
[ 11 ] Gewisse Organe des menschlichen Körpers sind im Zerfall, andere sind auf der Höhe ihrer Entwickelungsfähigkeit angelangt; wieder andere sind erst im Beginne ihrer Entwickelung. Zu den ersteren gehören die Fortpflanzungsorgane, zu den zweiten gehört das Gehirn; zu : jenen, welche erst in der Keimanlage sich befinden, gehören das Herz und der Kehlkopf und alles, was mit der Bildung des Wortes zusammenhängt. Aus ihnen werden Organe herausgebildet, welche die Fortpflanzungsorgane in ihren Funktionen ersetzen und weit überragen werden. Sie werden im höchsten Sinne willkürliche Organe werden. Wenn der Mensch in der Luft durch das Sprechen Formen erzeugt und in der Zukunft das Wort schöpferisch wirken wird, dann wird der Mensch zu jener Keuschheit zurückgekehrt sein, welche die Pflanze bewahrt hat; aber es wird eine bewußte Keuschheit sein. Auch das Herz ist für den Geheimforscher erst im Beginne seiner Entwickelung. Es ist nicht jene Pumpe, als welche es seitens der materialistisch Denkenden hingestellt wird. Der Glaube, das Herz sei die Ursache der Blutzirkulation, ist ein irrtümlicher. So horribel es auch klingen mag: die Bewegung des Herzens ist die Folge der Blutzirkulation. In der Zukunft, wenn der Mensch eine höhere Entwickelungsstufe erreicht haben wird, wird auch das Herz seinem bewußten Willen unterworfen sein. Die Anlage dazu ist schon vorhanden, nämlich die Querstreifung, die das Herz wie alle willkürlichen Muskeln aufweist. Dann wird der Mensch bewußt seinesgleichen durch das Wort schaffen, dann wird die menschliche Substanz keusch und geläutert sein. Was auf niederer Stufe als Pflanzenkelch der Sonne entgegengestreckt wurde, was den Sonnenstrahl als Liebespfeil aufnahm, das wird auf der höheren Stufe der zukünftigen Menschheit dem Kosmos wieder zugewendet werden als Kelch, der befruchtet wird vom Geistigen aus. Dies ist dargestellt im Heiligen Gral, dem leuchtenden Kelch, dessen Erreichung dem Ritter des Mittelalters als erhabenes Ziel vorschwebte.
[ 12 ] Betrachten wir nun die Pflanze und ihr Verhältnis zur Erde. Die Pflanze hat nur einen physischen und einen Ätherleib, daher ist bei der Pflanze nur ein solches Bewußtsein möglich, wie es der Mensch im Schlaf hat. Während das Tier ein Gruppenbewußtsein hat, ist das Bewußtsein der Pflanze im Mittelpunkt der Erde konzentriert. Die Pflanzen sind mit der Erde so verbunden, daß sie als Glieder derselben anzusehen sind. Nicht die einzelnen Pflanzen haben einen Astralleib, sondern sie sind eingebettet in den Astralleib der Erde. Der Astralleib der Erde steht in Wechselbeziehung zu demjenigen der Sonne. Einen ähnlichen Vorgang wie den Wechsel von Schlaf- und Wachbewußtsein beim Menschen finden wir auch im höheren Organismus der Erde. Als Folge davon sprießen im Sommer die Pflanzen; sie keimen, wachsen, blühen der Sonne entgegen. Zur Winterszeit zieht sich der Astralleib der Sonne zurück von der Erde. Der Astralleib der Erde ist auf sich angewiesen; er zieht sich in den Mittelpunkt der Erde zurück; die Vegetation auf der Erde ruht. Der Seher kann dieses Verhältnis der beiden Astralleiber ganz genau beobachten. Weil dieses Zurückziehen des Astralleibes einen Stillstand in der Vegetation und in der Lebensbetätigung und damit auch eine Unterbrechung des Bewußtseins zur Folge hat, deshalb mußte der Mensch im Laufe seiner Entwickelung einen eigenen Astralleib erhalten, denn nur dadurch konnte er ein kontinuierliches Bewußtsein erlangen.
[ 13 ] Während wir bisher die Bedeutung des Christus für die Menschheitsentwickelung betrachtet haben, wollen wir nun zur Betrachtung der Bedeutung dieses Geistes für die kosmische Entwickelung übergehen. Die Wesen, die im Urbeginn der Erdenentwickelung bereits jenen Zustand der Vollkommenheit erlangt hatten, den die Menschheit erst am Ende der Erdenentwickelung erreichen wird, haben ihren Sitz auf der Sonne. Zu diesen Wesenheiten gehört der Christus als kosmische Kraft. Also sein Astralleib war zu Beginn unserer jetzigen Erdenentwickelung mit dem Astralleib der Sonne verbunden. Er hatte seinen Sitz in der Sonne. Mit der Erscheinung des Christus auf der Erde senkte sich gleichzeitig der Astralleib dieser kosmischen Kraft des Christus-Geistes auf die Erde herab und seitdem ist sein Astralleib in ständiger Verbindung mit dem Astralleib der Erde geblieben. Durch die Erscheinung des Christus auf Erden hat der Astralleib der Erde von dem der Sonne eine ganz neue Substanz erhalten. Wer zur Zeit Christi von einem andern Planeten heruntergeblickt hätte auf die Erde, der würde das Hinzutreten dieser neuen Substanz zum Astralleibe der Erde ersehen haben an der Änderung der Farbenstrahlung dieses Astralleibes. Durch die Verbindung seines Astralleibes mit demjenigen der Erde ist der Sonnengeist Christus zugleich Erdgeist geworden. Der Christus-Geist ist Sonnengeist und zugleich Erdgeist. Von dem Moment an, da Christus auf Erden gewandelt ist, bleibt er in ständiger Verbindung mit der Erde. Er ist der Planetengeist der Erde geworden; die Erde ist sein Leib, er leitet die Erdenentwickelung. Diese Verbindung hat sich auf Golgatha vollzogen und das Mysterium von Golgatha ist das Symbolum dessen, was für die Erdenentwickelung damals geschehen ist.
[ 14 ] Vier Hauptrassen teilen sich in den Besitz der Erdoberfläche: die weiße, gelbe, rote und schwarze Rasse. Der Luftkreis aber, der die Erde auf allen Seiten umgibt, ist ein einheitlicher. Darauf ist hingedeutet im Kapitel 19,23: «Die Kriegsknechte aber, da sie Jesum gekreuzigt hatten, nahmen sie seine Kleider und machten vier Teile, einem jeglichen Kriegsknecht einen Teil, dazu auch den Rock. Der Rock aber war ungenäht, von oben an gewirkt durch und durch.» Die Kleider des Christus sind das Symbolum für die Erdoberfläche, der aus einem Stück gewebte Rock dagegen symbolisiert den Luftkreis, der ungeteilt und unteilbar auf allen Seiten die Erde umspannt. Es muß aber nochmals betont werden, daß auch dieses Symbolum gleichzeitig eine historische Tatsache ist. Nach dieser ist auch der folgende Ausspruch des Meisters verständlich. Er sagt: «Der mein Brot isset, der tritt mich mit Füßen» (13,18). Wenn der Christus der Planetengeist ist, wenn die Erde sein Leib ist, ist es da nicht berechtigt, zu sagen, die Menschen essen sein Fleisch und trinken sein Blut und treten ihn mit Füßen? Wenn dieser Geist hindeutet auf die Früchte, die von der Erde gewonnen werden, kann er da nicht sagen: «Dies ist mein Leib», und auf die reinen Pflanzensäfte weisend: «Dies ist mein Blut»? (6, 56.) Und wandeln nicht die Menschen auf dem Leibe dieses Planetengeistes herum, indem sie ihn mit Füßen treten? Nicht im bösen Sinne hat er dies gesagt, sondern um auf die Tatsache hinzudeuten, daß die Erde der wahre Leib Christi ist. Auch diese Stelle des Evangeliums ist wörtlich zu nehmen. Und die Erinnerung an diese große Wahrheit soll durch das Mysterium des Abendmahles in der Nachwelt wachgehalten werden. Nur der weiß den tiefen Sinn des Abendmahles zu würdigen, der den Wert dieses gewaltigen Ereignisses für die ganze kosmische Entwickelung zu empfinden vermag. Er sieht aufsprießen die Kraft des Christus in den Pflanzen, welche die Erde im Frühjahr dem Lichte der Sonne entgegensendet; er weiß, die Menschwerdung Christi ist nicht nur ein menschliches Ereignis, sie ist ein kosmisches Ereignis.
Seventh Lecture
[ 1 ] In a document such as the Gospel of John, everything is of significance and importance, and nothing could be said differently from the way it is written there. Why, for example, does the Holy Spirit appear in the form of a dove? A series of lectures would be needed to explain this. But one can at least get an inkling of it if one looks at the development of humanity from a different point of view than has been done so far. In the earlier lectures, the assertion was already made that, for a scientifically minded person, it is an outrageous claim that man was already there at the beginning of the development and that he has gone through the evolution of the earth as his own evolution. But it must not be forgotten that early man was organized and constituted quite differently than present-day man. Even Atlantean man is very different in appearance from present-day man. This difference is much greater in the case of man of the Lemurian period and even greater in the case of man of the time when the moon and sun were still connected with our planet.
[ 2 ] In order to familiarize ourselves with the way spiritual science thinks about evolution, we have to start from the most obvious point. Not all people living on earth today are at the same stage of development. Alongside peoples who have reached a high level of civilization, there are primitive peoples who are far behind in their culture. The view has emerged in today's natural science - and it is held on to with great tenacity, although more recent facts speak against it - that the more highly developed peoples descend from the peoples who are lagging behind in their development. This view is not in accordance with the results of spiritual research. Let us mention here, for example, the peoples who became known through the discovery of America, and let us briefly describe an episode that gives us an insight into the spiritual life of these peoples. As is well known, the white man had pushed the Indian population further and further inland and had not kept his promise to give them land. A chief of these Indians once said to the leader of a European conquering expedition: “You pale-faces have taken our lands and promised to give us others. But the white man did not keep his word to the brown man, and we know why. The pale man has little signs in which magical beings dwell, and from these he explores the truth. But what he learns is not the truth, because it is not good. The brown man does not seek the truth in such small magic signs. He hears the “Great Spirit” in the rustling of the forest, in the trickling of the stream. In the lightning and thunder, the “Great Spirit” tells him what is right and what is wrong.
[ 3 ] We see the American race as a primitive indigenous population that is far, far behind, also in terms of religious belief. But they have retained their belief in a monotheistic spirit that speaks to them from all the sounds of nature. The Indian is so intimately connected with nature that he still hears the voice of the high creative spirit in all its expressions, while the European is so steeped in materialistic culture that he can no longer perceive the voice of nature. Both peoples have the same origin, both descend from the population of Atlantis, which had a monotheistic faith, arising from spiritual clairvoyance. But the Europeans have risen to a higher level of civilization, while the Indians have remained stagnant and have thus fallen into decadence. This process of development must always be borne in mind. It can be represented as follows. Over the millennia, our planet is changing, and this change also requires an evolution of humanity. The side branches that no longer fit into the circumstances become decadent. So we have a straight line of development and outgoing side branches that decay (see drawing).
[ 4 ] Going further back in time, from the point in Atlantic time when Europeans and Native Americans were still together, we come to a time when the human body was still relatively soft, with a gelatinous density. We see beings branching off and falling behind again. These beings continued to develop, but in a descending line, and from them arose the ape race.
[ 5 ] We must not say that man descended from the ape, but that both man and ape descended from a form that had a completely different shape than the ape and today's man. The split occurred from a point where this original form had the possibility, on the one hand, to ascend to become human and, on the other hand, to descend and become a caricature of a human being. We will pursue the theory of evolution only to the extent necessary to find the connection with what has been said in previous lectures. In ancient Atlanteans, the etheric body was still outside the physical body. Today, only the human being's astral body is outside the physical body, and that is only during sleep. Therefore, today, only during sleep is the human being able to overcome the tiredness of the physical body, because then the astral body is outside the physical body and thus has the opportunity to work on it. Further influences on the physical body are no longer possible. Only the remnants of such influences remain in phenomena, such as a blush of shame, a pale of fear and fright, and so on. But the more we go back in time to Atlantean times and the more the etheric body was outside the physical body, the more it was able to have a transforming effect on the physical body. The etheric body's control over the physical body was so great in earlier times because the physical body was much more flexible and pliable than it is now. At a time in human evolution when the physical body had only a delicate framework of a skeleton, the power of the etheric body over the physical body was so great that man had the ability to lengthen an arm or a hand at will, to extend fingers from it at will, and so on. To-day, this seems absurd to man. It would be quite wrong to imagine the Lemurian man as being like the present-day man. The Lemurian man did not walk on his limbs as a man of to-day does; he was more or less an air being. All the organs of the present-day man were only present in a rudimentary form; he was able to metamorphose. It is completely wrong to imagine that the Lemurian people were similar to today's people, even if grotesque. Even in the Atlantean times, the human body was still malleable and could be reshaped from the inside out by willpower. This was due to the fact that the etheric body, as mentioned above, was still partly outside the physical body. Thus the etheric body worked on the outer form, and the beings who did not work on their bodies in the right way developed into what we call monkeys today. This is how these caricatures of today's humans came about. They descended from us, not us from them. One can raise the question here: Why did the apes separate, why did a part of them remain at a lower level as soulless creatures – here I mean the higher soul, not the astral body? They were faced with different conditions. Man adapted to them, but they could not. Their physical body hardened, while man could keep his physical body soft and malleable.
[ 6 ] At the beginning of the evolution on Earth, we can imagine that humans had a fine, ethereal body that they gradually transformed more and more. A clairvoyant at that time would have perceived humans as a sphere. The diagram on page 243 is intended to illustrate the family tree of evolution.
[ 7 ] It was quite late in the Atlantean period that the species branched off that later developed into today's apes. Certain higher mammals branched off earlier in the Atlantean period; certain lower mammals branched off in the oldest Atlantean period. At that time, the physical human being had the developmental value of a mammal; only the mammals remained at this level, while humans developed further. In even earlier times, the human being had the developmental value of a reptile. The body was quite different from that of a reptile today, but the reptile emerged as its bodily development fell into decadence. Man has developed his inner limbs, whereas the reptile has remained behind. It is a retarded brother of man. Even earlier, that which became the bird species branched off. And even further back, man stood on the level that is preserved in today's fish. At that time, nothing higher existed on Earth than complicated fish forms. In the distant past, man was at the stage of an invertebrate animal. And branching off in the most ancient times, and thus coming to our time, is the single-celled creature that Haeckel calls Monere, which represents a brother of man that branched off in the most ancient times. If we were to construct a family tree of man from this evolutionary series, it would correspond exactly with the family tree that Haeckel has constructed in his writings:
| 1. Monera | 8. Gill flukes |
| 2. Monads | 9. Urchordatiere |
| 3. Multicellular | 10. Schädellose |
| 4. Hollow spheres | 11. Rundmäuler |
| 5. Coelenterates | 12. Primitive fish |
| 6. Flatworms | 13. Tuatara |
| 7. Cordylates | 14. Amphibians |
| 15. gill-breathing amphibians | 20. marsupials |
| 16. scaled amphibians | 21. prosimians |
| 17. reptiles | 22. canines |
| 18. Säugereptilien | 23. Menschenaffen |
| 19. Ursäuger | 24. Affenmenschen |
| 25. Sprechende Menschen | |
[8] We could also adopt Haeckel's family tree without further ado; the only difference is that Haeckel first lets the animal forms arise and then lets them develop up to man, while we already see man in the primeval form and regard the animal world only as a branch, as degenerate men. In fact, man is the firstborn of the earth; he has developed in a straight line, leaving the other creatures behind at the various stages.
[ 9 ] When we consider the point in time when the birds and reptiles branched off, we see that at that time there were actually physical human forms that resembled the later bird species and those that resembled the later reptiles. The seer looks back to that distant time when the spiritual essence of man had not yet taken possession of his body. He sees the generic soul of man hovering around the bird-like body. Those spiritual entities remained here that had no need to descend into the physical plane. After they had come down to this level of the physical world, they developed up again to the spiritual. These are entities of the astral plane, the world of the Holy Spirit, which have retained the aerial circle as their realm, just as man takes possession of the physical earth, the terrestrial globe, as his realm. These beings must also be imagined in the form of a bird if they are to make themselves physically visible to us. Therefore the writer of the Gospel of John must represent the Holy Spirit, which descends into the consciousness soul of Jesus and fills it as the spirit self, under the symbol of a dove. This symbol appears to us to have a wonderful depth when we consider it in the context of the evolution of mankind.
[ 10 ] We want to relate what is written in the Gospel of John to the evolution of humanity on earth from yet another point of view. To do this, we will briefly repeat a concept from the Rosicrucian School. At a certain stage of development, the pupil is told something like the following: Let us consider the plant in its relationship to man. The plant directs its root downwards, towards the center of the earth, the seat of its ego. It chastely turns its organs of fertilization towards the sun, the light. In the light of the sun, it opens its blossom and allows the fruit to ripen. This fertilizing effect of light is called, in esoteric terms, the touch of the holy love lance of the sun. It coaxes forth the blossom and brings about the fertility of the earth. What the plant sinks into the earth, the root, corresponds to the head of the human being. Man turns his head towards the sun, towards the light. And what the plant turns towards the light, the organs of fertilization, he bashfully inclines towards the earth. Man is the inverted image of the plant. The animal stands in the middle between the two. The plant is drawn vertically turned towards the earth, man is also drawn vertically turned away from the earth, the animal is drawn horizontally. Thus one obtains the shape of the cross. Plato expresses this when he says: The world soul is crucified on the ancient world cross. The cross is a cosmic symbol, placed in the evolution of the world. Deep shivers surged through the disciple's chest when he was able to look into the becoming of the evolution of the world. Thus we see in the plant a brother being from the distant past. Originally, man was also an ethereal being of plant substance. At that time, man had the same material nature that plants still possess today. If man had not transformed the vegetable substance into flesh, he would have remained chaste and pure like the plant. He would not have known desire and passion. But this state could not be maintained, because then man would not have awakened to self-awareness. He would have always remained in the dream life in which the plant still finds itself today. Man had to be imbued with desires and passions, had to be brought to the existence of the flesh. Not all organs were transformed from plant to flesh substance at the same time. The organs that express the lowest instincts were the last to be included in the carnal development. And they are already in a state of decline. The reproductive organs have retained their plant-like character the longest. Ancient legends and myths still tell us of hermaphrodites; these were beings that had no sexual organs of flesh and blood, but only of plant substance. Some believe that the fig leaf that the first humans had in paradise was an expression of shame. No, in this story the memory has been preserved that people had reproductive organs of a plant-like nature instead of those of flesh. And now a look into the future: what are still low organs in the human body today, what was most recently incorporated into the flesh, will also be the first to fall off, disappear and wither on the human body. Man will not remain at his present stage. As he has descended from the pure chastity of the plant into the sensuality of the world of desires, so he will ascend again from this to the chaste state with pure, purified substance.
[ 11 ] Certain organs of the human body are in a state of decay, others have reached the peak of their developmental capacity; still others are only just beginning to develop. The reproductive organs belong to the former, the brain to the latter; the heart, larynx, and everything related to the formation of speech belong to those that are only in the germinal stage. From them organs are developed which replace the reproductive organs in their functions and far surpass them. They will become arbitrary organs in the highest sense. When man produces forms in the air by speaking and in the future the word will have a creative effect, then man will have returned to that chastity which the plant has preserved; but it will be a conscious chastity. For the student of secrets, the heart, too, is only just beginning to develop. It is not the pump that materialistic thinkers regard it as. The belief that the heart is the cause of blood circulation is erroneous. However horrible it may sound, the movement of the heart is the result of blood circulation. In the future, when man has reached a higher level of development, the heart will also be subject to his conscious will. The predisposition for this already exists, namely the striation, which the heart, like all voluntary muscles, exhibits. Then man will consciously create his own kind through the word; then the human substance will be chastened and purified. What was stretched out towards the sun at a lower level as the chalice of a plant, what received the sunbeam as an arrow of love, will at a higher level be turned towards the Cosmos again as a chalice for future humanity, a chalice that will be impregnated by the spirit. This is depicted in The Holy Grail, the radiant chalice, the attainment of which was the lofty goal of the medieval knight.
[ 12 ] Let us now consider the plant and its relationship to the earth. The plant has only a physical and an etheric body, therefore only a consciousness such as a human being has in sleep is possible for the plant. While the animal has a group consciousness, the consciousness of the plant is concentrated in the center of the earth. Plants are so connected with the earth that they may be regarded as parts of it. Individual plants do not have an astral body, but are embedded in the astral body of the earth. The astral body of the earth is interrelated to that of the sun. A process similar to the change between waking and sleeping consciousness in human beings can also be found in the higher organism of the earth. As a consequence, plants sprout in summer; they germinate, grow, and bloom towards the sun. In winter, the astral body of the sun withdraws from the earth. The astral body of the earth is dependent on itself; it withdraws into the center of the earth; the vegetation on the earth rests. The seer can observe this relationship of the two astral bodies very precisely. Because this withdrawal of the astral body results in a standstill in vegetation and in the activity of life, and thus also in an interruption of consciousness, the human being had to receive his own astral body in the course of his development, because only in this way could he attain a continuous consciousness.
[ 13 ] While we have so far considered the significance of the Christ for the evolution of mankind, we now want to move on to considering the significance of this spirit for cosmic evolution. The beings who, at the very beginning of the evolution of the earth, had already attained that state of perfection which humanity will only achieve at the end of the evolution of the earth, have their seat in the sun. The Christ belongs to these beings as a cosmic power. Thus, at the beginning of our present evolution on earth, his astral body was connected with the astral body of the sun. He had his seat in the sun. With the appearance of Christ on Earth, the astral body of this cosmic power of the Christ-spirit descended to Earth and since then, its astral body has remained in constant connection with the astral body of the Earth. Through the appearance of Christ on Earth, the Earth's astral body has received a completely new substance from that of the Sun. If anyone had looked down upon the Earth from another planet at the time of Christ, they would have seen the entry of this new substance into the astral body of the Earth, and the change in the color radiation of that astral body. Through the union of his astral body with that of the Earth, the Sun Spirit Christ has at the same time become the Earth Spirit. The Christ Spirit is the Sun Spirit and at the same time the Earth Spirit. From the moment Christ walked on earth, He remained in constant connection with the earth. He became the planetary spirit of the earth; the earth is His body, He guides the evolution of the earth. This connection was realized at Golgotha, and the Mystery of Golgotha is the symbol of what happened for the evolution of the earth at that time.
[ 14 ] The surface of the earth is divided among four main races: the white, yellow, red and black races. The air circle, however, which surrounds the earth on all sides, is a unified one. This is indicated in chapter 19,23: “And the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.” The garments of Christ are the symbol for the surface of the earth, while the skirt, woven in one piece, symbolizes the atmosphere, which, undivided and indivisible, spans the earth on all sides. But it must be emphasized once again that this symbol is also an historical fact. In the light of this, the following saying of the Master is also understandable. He says: “He who eats my bread tramples me underfoot” (13:18). If the Christ is the planetary spirit, if the Earth is his body, are we not justified in saying that people eat his flesh and drink his blood and trample him underfoot? If this spirit points to the fruits that are obtained from the earth, can it not say, “This is my body,” and, pointing to the pure plant juices, “This is my blood”? (6:56) And do not people walk on the body of this planetary spirit by trampling it underfoot? He did not say this in an evil sense, but to point out the fact that the Earth is the true body of Christ. This passage from the Gospel is also to be taken literally. And the remembrance of this great truth is to be kept alive in posterity through the Mystery of the Lord's Supper. Only he can appreciate the deep meaning of the Lord's Supper who is able to feel the value of this mighty event for the whole cosmic development. He sees the power of Christ springing up in the plants that the earth sends out in spring towards the light of the sun; he knows that the incarnation of Christ is not only a human event, it is a cosmic event.