Occult Signs and Symbols
GA 101
13 September 1907, Stuttgart
I. The Creative Cosmic Tone
Flooding Colour and the Formative Forces of the Akasha.
These four lectures to be given here in Stuttgart will strike a somewhat more intimate note since it can be assumed that the audience is, for the most part, composed of members who have been acquainted with the fundamental ideas of occult teaching for some time. Hence, they may well wish to learn of more intimate details out of the realm of spiritual science. What will be taken up in these lectures are the occult symbols and signs in relation to the astral and spiritual worlds, and a series of them will be set forth in their deeper meaning. I bid you note that much in the first two lectures will sound unusual and will only be fully explained later in the third and forth lectures. This, of course, lies in the nature of the material because lectures on spiritual science cannot be like lectures in other areas, which are built up mathematically out of simple elements. Much that at first will appear vague will later become clear and understandable.
Symbols and signs, not only in the profane world, but also in the theosophical world, often give the impression of something arbitrary that only “signifies” something. This is not correct. You know, for example, that the various planets of the universe are indicated by signs. You know that a familiar sign in theosophical allegories is the so-called pentagram. Furthermore, you know that in various religions light is mentioned in the sense of wisdom, of spiritual clarity. If you should now ask about the meaning of such things, then you could hear or read that it means this or that—a triangle, for instance, would mean the higher trinity and the like. Frequently also in theosophical writings and lectures, myths and legends are interpreted; they are said to “mean something”. To reach behind the sense, behind the meaning, to recognize the reality of such symbols shall be the task of these lectures. Just how this is meant we can make clear with an example.
Let us consider the pentagram. You know that much abstruse thinking has been spent on it; this is not the concern of occultism. In order to understand what the occultist says about the pentagram, we must at first call to mind the seven fundamental parts of the human being, and it is, above all, the etheric body that is especially relevant in this consideration. You know that the etheric body belongs to the sphere of the occult; it is not to be seen with physical eyes. To perceive it, clairvoyant methods are necessary. Then it will become evident that the essentiality of the etheric body does not consist in its appearing as a fine nebulous formation. It is characteristic of it that it is indeed, the architect, the creator of the physical body. Just as ice forms out of water, so does the physical body fashion itself out of the etheric body, which, like the ocean, is flooded through by many currents flowing in all directions. Among them are five main currents. When you stand with feet apart and arms outstretched, you can accurately follow the direction of these five currents. They form a pentagram.
Everybody has these five currents hidden in him. The healthy etheric body appears so that these currents are, as it were, his bony framework. You must not suppose however, that everything pertaining to the etheric body is only within, because when a person moves, for instance, the currents actually go through the air. This pentagram is as mobile as a man's physical bony framework. Thus, when the occultist speaks of the pentagram as the figure of man, it is not a matter of something that has been thought out, but rather he is speaking of it as the anatomist does of the skeleton. This figure is really present in the etheric body. It is a fact.
From these brief considerations we see how matters stand with regard to the real meaning of a symbol. All signs and symbols that we meet in occultism direct us to such realities, and what is most important is the fact that in due course one receives indications in the use of such figures. They then are the means toward reaching cognition or clairvoyance. No one who ponders the pentagram deeply will be unsuccessful if only he does so with patience. He must immerse himself in the pentagram, as it were; then he will find the currents in the etheric body.
There is no sense in thinking out contrived, arbitrary meanings for these signs. One must place them before one's inner eye; then they lead to occult realities. This is the case not only with what can be found in the confines of theosophy, but also with the symbols and signs contained in the most varied religious documents because these documents are based on occultism. Whenever a prophet or a founder of a religion speaks of light and would thereby point to wisdom, this he does not do because he considers it an ingenious picture. The occultist bases his thinking on facts. Hence, it is not important to him to be ingenious, but truthful! As an occultist one must give up lawless thinking; one must not draw arbitrary conclusions and pass judgments. Step by step, with the help of spiritual facts, correct thinking must be developed. This image of the light, therefore, has a deep significance or, rather, it is a spiritual scientific fact. In order to recognize this, let us turn again to the human being.
The astral body is the third member of man. It is the bearer of joy and sorrow and a man's inner soul experiences depend upon it. The plant has no astral body and thus does not experience joy and sorrow as do man and animal. If, today, the natural scientist, probing into nature, speaks of the plant's sensitivity, then what he says rests on a complete misunderstanding of what the nature of sensitivity is. We come to a correct representation of this astral body only when we follow up the development that it has passed through in the course of time. We know that a man's physical body is the oldest and most complicated member of his being; his etheric body is somewhat younger; his astral body younger still; the youngest of all is his ego. The physical body has a long development behind it that has come about during the course of four planetary embodiments. At the beginning of this development our earth itself was in an earlier embodiment called the Saturn condition. At that time man did not yet exist in his present form; only the first germ for the physical body existed on Saturn. He lacked all his other bodies—etheric body, astral body, and so forth. It was not until the second embodiment of the earth, on the Sun, that the etheric body was added. At that time the human etheric body bore most decidedly the form of the pentagram. Later, however, this was somewhat modified because, in the third embodiment of our planet, on the Moon, the astral united itself with it. Then the Moon transformed itself into earth, and to the three bodies of man already formed, the ego was added.
Where, then, were these bodies before they embodied themselves in the human being? Where, for example, was what an etheric body had drawn into the physical body on the Sun? Where was this during the Saturn period? It was in the surroundings of Saturn as the air is in the surrounds of the earth at present. The same was the case with the astral body during the Sun period; it only entered into man's being during the Moon period. Everything that moved in later had been in the environment earlier. You can picture the old Sun thus, not of rocks, plants and animals as is the case of the earth today, but of beings who were men who had advanced only to the human-plant stage. There also existed a kind of mineral. These were the two kingdoms of nature present on the Sun. You must not mix up the old Sun with the present one. The old Sun was encompassed by its mighty astral sheath, which was luminous. There was, as it were, an airy sheath surrounding the Sun, but an airy sheath that was at the same time astral and luminous.
Today, man has a physical body, an etheric body, an astral body, and an ego. When the ego works upon the astral body, ennobling it intellectually, morally, and spiritually, then the astral body becomes the spirit self or manas. That has as of now hardly begun, but when in the future it will have been completed, when man will have transformed his whole astral body, then will his astral body become physically luminous. Just as the seed holds the whole plant within it, so does your astral body hold within it the seed of light. This will stream out into the world of space, its development and continuing formation effected by man as he ever more purifies and ennobles his astral body. Our earth will transform itself into other planets. Today it is dark. Were one to observe it from space, then one would see that it appears bright only through the reflected light of the sun. Someday, however, it will be luminous, luminous through the fact that human beings will then have transformed their whole astral bodies. The totality of astral bodies will stream out as light into world space, as it was also at the time of the old Sun. It had higher beings at their human stage, and these beings had luminous astral bodies. The Bible, quite correctly, calls these beings, Spirits of Light or Elohim.
What does a man work into his astral body? What we call goodness and common sense. If you observe a savage who is still on the level of a cannibal, blindly following his passions, you must say of him that he stands lower than the animals because the animal still has no understanding, no consciousness of his deeds. Man, however, even the lowest, already has an ego. The more highly educated person can be distinguished from the savage through the fact that he has already worked on his astral body. Certain passions he has so understood that he says to himself, “This one I may follow, this other I may not follow.” Certain urges and passions he fashions to more refined configurations, which he calls his ideal. He forms moral concepts. All these are transformations of his astral body. The savage cannot do arithmetic or make judgments. This property man has acquired through work on his astral body from incarnation to incarnation. What develops as man gradually ennobles his present imperfect form to become that being of light of whom we spoke is called the assimilation of wisdom. The more wisdom the astral body contains, the more luminous it will be. The Elohim, those beings who dwelt on the Sun, were wholly permeated with wisdom. Just as our souls relate to our bodies, so wisdom relates itself to light that streams out into cosmic space. You see, the relation between light and wisdom is not an image that has been contrived. It is based on fact. It is a truth. Thus is it to be explained that religious documents speak of light as a symbol of wisdom.
For the student who would develop his capacity for higher seeing, for clairvoyance, it is of great importance to do exercises such as the following. At first, he should picture space as dark, shutting out all light either by the darkness of night or by closing his eyes. Then he should try gradually to penetrate with his own inner forces to a visualization of light. If he does this exercise in the proper way, a visualization can be built up of a fully lighted space. Through inner forces light can be engendered, not physical light, but a precursor of what later will become visible, not to the physical eye, but to finer organs of perception. This inner light in which creative wisdom appears is also called the astral light. When the student engenders light through meditation, the light will truly become for him garments of spiritual beings who are actually present, like the Elohim. These beings of light, such as the human being will one day also become, are even now always present. This is the way all those persons have proceeded who know of the spiritual world out of their own experiences.
Through certain other methods that we shall also discuss in the course of time, the human being can reach a level from which, through his own inner power, as it were, space appears as still something else. When he practices certain exercises, then will space not only be flooded by wisdom's light, but will also sound forth. In the ancient Pythagorean philosophy, as you know, there is mention of the harmony of the spheres. By sphere we are to conceive cosmic space, space in which the stars are hovering. This is usually considered to be a contrived image, but this is again no poetic comparison, rather it is a reality. When one has practiced sufficiently in accordance with instructions, then he learns to hear a real music that wells through cosmic space. When space thus begins to resound spiritually, then it may be said that the person is in devachan. These tones are of a spiritual essence; they do not live in the air, but in a far higher, finer stuff, the Akasha. The space around us is continuously filled with such music, and there are certain basic tones. You can get an idea of this if you follow me into the following consideration, which I am sure will appear to mathematical astronomers as sheer madness. Earlier we mentioned that our earth developed gradually. At first, it was Saturn, then it became Sun, then Moon, and the earth. In time it will become Jupiter, Venus and Vulcan. Now, you may ask, “But today there is still a Saturn in the heavens; in what relation does the first embodiment of the Earth stand to Saturn?” Our present Saturn received its name in ancient times when the wise ones would still give meaningful names to things. It was given its name out of its very nature. Today, this is no longer done. Uranus, for example does not have such a justified name since it was discovered later.
What we see in the heavens as Saturn today stands in relation to our earth as a child to an old man. One day Saturn will become an earth. Just as unlikely as it is that the old man developed himself from the boy who stands next to him, so unlikely is it that the earth has developed itself from the Saturn that stands in the heavens today. It is the same with the other heavenly bodies. The sun is such a body as the earth once was; it has, however, advanced. Just as the boy stands near the old man, so the various planets stand in the heavens. They are at various steps of evolution, which our earth, now in its fourth embodiment, has partly undergone already, and will partly undergo in the future. The planets, however, stand in a certain relationship to each other, and the occultist expresses this relationship differently from the way the astronomer does today.
You know that the earth revolves around the sun, that Mercury and Venus, as sisters of the earth, also revolve, and you also know that the sun itself moves. Now occult astronomy has carried on exact investigations of this relationship. It has investigated not only the movement of the earth and the other planets, but also the movement of the sun itself. Here one comes to a definite point in cosmic space that is a kind of spiritual center around which the sun, and with it our earth and all the planets, turn. The different bodies, however, do not move equally fast. It is just this relationship to the speed of their movements to one another that occult astronomy has determined. It proceeded from the fact that when we view Mars, Venus, and so forth, these heavenly bodies move at a certain speed, but the whole starry heaven is seemingly resting motionless. In the sense of true occult research, this repose is only apparent. In reality, this starry heaven moves a definite distance in one hundred years, and this distance through which the firmament progresses is designated as the basic number. If you assume this movement and compare the planetary movements with it, we find that:
- Saturn's movement is two and one-half times that of Jupiter's;
- Jupiter's is five times that of Mars;
- Mars' twice that of the Moon.
- Saturn's movement however, is 1,200 times that of the whole celestial dome.
Now, when a physical, musical harmony arises, it rests on the fact that different strings move at different speeds. In accordance with the speed with which the single strings move, a higher or lower tone sounds, and the blending of these different tones produces the harmony. Just as you, here in the physical world, receive musical impressions from the strings' vibrations, so does the one who has penetrated to the level of clairvoyance in devachan hear the movements of the heavenly bodies. Through the relationship of the different speeds of the planets, the fundamental tones of the harmony of the spheres arise that sound through the cosmos. The School of Pythagoras was thus justified in speaking of a celestial harmony. With spiritual ears one can hear it. When you spread a fine powder as evenly as possible on a thin brass plate and then stroke the edge with a fiddler's bow, the powder moves into a definite line pattern. All kinds of figures will form depending upon the pitch of the tone. The tone effects a distribution of the material. These are called Chladny figures. When the spiritual tone of the celestial harmony sounded forth into the universe, it organized the planets into their relationships. What you see spread out in cosmic space was arranged by this creating tone of the Godhead. Through the fact that this tone sounded into world space, matter formed itself into a solar system, into a planetary system. You can see that the expression, “celestial harmony”, is thus more than an ingenious comparison. It is a reality.
Now to another consideration. Everyone who has occupied himself for some time with anthroposophy knows that our earth in its present embodiment has undergone several stages of development. In the far-distant past it was in a fiery-fluid condition. What today is stone and metal flowed at that time as today iron flows in an iron works. The objection that at that time there could not have been any living being does not stand up, because the human body was suited to the conditions of that time. The earth transformed itself out of this fiery-fluid condition into what we call the Atlantean epoch. Our forebears then lived on a continent that today forms the floor of the Atlantic Ocean.
Naturally, these ancestors were quite differently constituted from the man of today. In certain respects they were clairvoyant, an echo of higher stages of clairvoyance. The Atlantean man would not have been able to see an outer object spatially limited. In the early days of the Atlantean evolution, seeing was quite different. When one person approached another, it was not the outline of his form that was perceived. Rather, there arose within him a coloured image that had nothing to do with the outer, but reflected an inner soul condition. He might, for instance, have seen the feeling of revenge in the other and fled from it. In an up-surging red picture, the feeling of revenge expressed itself. The outer seeing of objects was developed quite gradually. What man saw earlier was a kind of astral colour, and the transformation occurred in that man spread this colour over the objects, so to speak. Naturally, this other kind of perception was bound up with the fact that man at that time looked quite different from man today. In the later Atlantean period man, for example, had a receding physical forehead, while the etheric body stood out like a mighty globe. Then physical and etheric bodies drew together and when both joined together behind the forehead, between the eyes, man had come to an important moment in his evolution. Today, man's etheric head just fits the physical one. This is still not so with the horse, but as the human head changed, other members also transformed themselves. Gradually man's present bodily form emerged. Think vividly back into the end of the Atlantean epoch. Man still had a kind of clairvoyance; the air was saturated with water vapour. In this dense watery air, sun and stars could not be perceived; a rainbow could never have come into being; thick, heavy mist masses covered the earth. Hence it is that the myth speaks of Niflheim, of a mist-home. Then the waters that were so much spread out in the air, condensed. They covered Atlantis. The Flood signifies the mighty condensation of the mist masses into water. When the water separated itself from the air, our present kind of perception came about. Man was only then able to see himself when he saw other objects around him.
The physical body shows many regularities that have a deeper meaning. One of these is the following. If one were to make a chest the height, width, and length of which were in relation of three to five to thirty, the length corresponding to a body length, then the height and width would also correspond to the body's proportions. In other words, herewith the proportions of a normally organized human body are given. When man emerged from the Flood of Atlantis, the proportions of his physical body corresponded to these measures. This is expressed in the Bible in a beautiful way in the following words:
“And God commanded Noah to build a chest three hundred ells long, fifty ells wide, and thirty ells high.” (I Moses, 6-15). In these measurements of Noah's Ark we have stated exactly the measurements for the harmony of the human body. When we came to explain the reasons therefore, we shall be able to look more deeply into the meaning of these biblical words.
Erster Vortrag
[ 1 ] Diese vier Vorträge, die hier in Stuttgart stattfinden sollen, werden einen etwas intimeren Charakter haben, weil ja der Zuhörerkreis zum größten Teil wenigstens—sich aus Mitgliedern der Theosophischen Gesellschaft zusammensetzt, die schon mit den theosophischen Grundideen seit langer Zeit bekannt sind und daher wohl auch den Wunsch hegen, eine intimere Materie aus dem Gebiete der Theosophie kennenzulernen. Was in diesen Vorträgen behandelt werden soll, sind die okkulten Sinnbilder und Zeichen mit Beziehung auf die astralische und die geistige Welt. Eine Reihe von okkulten Symbolen und Sinnbildern soll in ihrer tieferen Bedeutung dargelegt werden. Dabei bitte ich Sie darauf Rücksicht zu nehmen, daß in den ersten beiden Vorträgen manches sonderbar klingen und erst im Laufe des dritten und vierten Vortrages seine volle Erklärung finden wird. Das liegt ja in der Natur der Sache, denn theosophische Vorträge können nicht wie andere Vorträge sein, die sich sozusagen in mathematischer Weise aus einfachen Elementen aufbauen. Manches wird im Anfang undeutlich sein müssen, aber nach und nach wird es klar und verständlich hervortreten.
[ 2 ] Sinnbilder und Zeichen machen—nicht nur in der profanen, sondern auch in der theosophischen Welt—oftmals den Eindruck von etwas mehr oder weniger Willkürlichem, das nur eine «Bedeutung» hat. Das ist durchaus nicht richtig. Sie alle haben schon von solchen Sinnbildern und Zeichen gehört und wissen wohl, daß zum Beispiel die verschiedenen Planeten des Weltalls durch Zeichen angedeutet werden. Sie wissen, daß ein bekanntes Zeichen in theosophischen Allegorien das sogenannte Pentagramm ist. Ferner ist Ihnen bekannt, daß in verschiedenen Religionen das Licht im Sinne von Weisheit, von geistiger Klarheit angeführt wird. Wenn Sie nun nach der Bedeutung solcher Dinge fragen, dann können Sie hören oder lesen, es bedeute dieses oder jenes; ein Dreieck zum Beispiel bedeute die höhere Dreiheit, und dergleichen mehr. Häufig auch werden in theosophischen Schriften und Vorträgen Mythen und Legenden ausgelegt, «sie bedeuten etwas», sagt man. Hinter den Sinn, hinter das Wesen dieser Bedeutung zu kommen, die Wirklichkeit solcher Sinnbilder zu erkennen, das eben soll die Aufgabe dieser Vorträge sein. Wie das gemeint ist, wollen wir uns an einem Beispiel klarmachen.
[ 3 ] Betrachten wir einmal das Pentagramm. Sie wissen, es ist vieles darüber spintisiert und ausgedacht worden; darum kann es sich im Okkultismus nicht handeln. Um zu verstehen, was der Okkultist vom Pentagramm sagt, müssen wir uns zunächst an die sieben Grundteile der menschlichen Wesenheit erinnern. Sie wissen Ja, daß es in der menschlichen Wesenheit die sieben Grundteile gibt: Physischer Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib, Ich, ferner Geistselbst, Lebensgeist und den Geistesmenschen, oder—wie man in der theosophischen Literatur gewohnt ist, die letzteren zu nennen: Manas, Budhi, Atma. Wir wollen vom physischen Leib absehen, der etwas Stoffliches ist, den man mit Händen tasten kann; es ist der Ätherleib, der hier besonders in Betracht kommt. Der Ätherleib gehört schon zu dem für die physischen Sinne Verborgenen, zu dem sogenannten «Okkulten»; mit den gewöhnlichen Augen kann man ihn nicht sehen. Es bedarf der hellseherischen Methode, um ihn wahrzunehmen. Wenn man ihn aber schauen kann, dann ist er freilich etwas ganz, ganz anderes als der physische Leib. Der Ätherleib ist nicht etwa—wie sich die meisten Menschen vorstellen—ein dünner, stofflicher Körper, eine Art feineres Nebelgebilde. Das Charakteristische des Ätherleibes ist, daß er zusammengesetzt ist aus verschiedenen Strömungen, die ihn durchziehen. Er ist ja der Architekt, der Bildner des physischen Leibes. Wie sich das Eis aus dem Wasser herausgestaltet, so gestaltet sich der physische Leib aus dem Ätherleibe heraus; und durchzogen ist dieser Ätherleib nach allen Seiten hin von Strömungen, wie das Meer. Darunter gibt es nun fünf Hauptströmungen. Wenn Sie sich hinstellen mit auseinandergespreizten Beinen und die Hände ausgebreitet halten, dann stellt sich der menschliche Leib so dar, wie hier im Bilde (es wird gezeichnet):
[ 4 ] Sie können die Richtungen der fünf Hauptströmungen genau verfolgen; sie bilden ein Pentagramm. Diese fünf Strömungen hat jeder Mensch verborgen in sich. Sie durchströmen den Ätherleib in den durch die Pfeile angegebenen Richtungen (siehe Zeichnung), sie bilden sozusagen das «Knochengerüst» des menschlichen Ätherleibes. Fortwährend gehen diese Strömungen durch den Ätherleib, und dies bleibt auch der Fall, wenn der Mensch sich bewegt. Wie auch die Körperstellung sein mag, immer geht eine Strömung von der Mitte der Stirn, dem Punkte zwischen den Augenbrauen aus, hinunter zum rechten Fuß, von da nach der linken Hand, von da zur rechten Hand, dann zum linken Fuß und von da wieder zurück zur Stirn. Das, was man das Pentagramm nennt, das ist innerlich so beweglich im Ätherleib, wie es der menschliche physische Leib selbst ist. Und wenn der Okkultist vom Pentagramm als von der Figur des Menschen spricht, dann handelt es sich nicht um etwas Ausgeklügeltes, sondern er spricht davon wie der Anatom vom Knochengerüst. Diese Figur ist wirklich im Ätherleib vorhanden, sie ist eine Tatsache.
[ 5 ] Schon aus diesem wenigen sehen wir, wie es sich mit der wirklichen Bedeutung eines Zeichens verhält. Alle Zeichen und Sinnbilder, die Ihnen im Okkultismus entgegentreten, führen zu solchen Wirklichkeiten hin. Das Pentagramm ist also das bewegliche «Knochengerüst» des Ätherleibes, deshalb ist es die Figur des Menschen. Dieses ist die wirkliche Bedeutung eines solchen Zeichens.
[ 6 ] Wenn man nach und nach die richtigen Anweisungen bekommt, die Figuren oder Zeichen zu gebrauchen, dann sind sie ein Mittel, durch das der Mensch allmählich in die Erkenntnis der geistigen Welt eingeführt wird und hellsichtig werden kann. Wer sich in der Meditation in das Pentagramm vertieft, für den ist der Weg dieser Strömungen im Ätherleib zu finden. Es hat keinen Zweck, sich willkürliche Bedeutungen dieser Zeichen auszudenken. Wenn man sich dieses Zeichen in der Meditation vorhält—man muß es nur mit Geduld tun -, dann führt das zu okkulten Wirklichkeiten. Und so ist es mit allen Sinnbildern und Zeichen, auch mit denen, die Sie in den verschiedenen religiösen Urkunden finden können, denn diese Sinnbilder sind tief begründet im Okkultismus. Wenn irgendein Prophet oder Religionsstifter vom Lichte spricht und damit die Weisheit bezeichnen will, so müssen Sie nicht denken, daß ihm das nur so einfällt oder daß er diesen Ausdruck gebraucht, weil er vielleicht geistreich sein will. Der Okkultist fußt auf Tatsachen, deshalb liegt ihm nichts daran, geistreich zu sein. Er will nur wahr sein. Man muß als Okkultist sich das regellose Denken abgewöhnen, das heißt, man darf nicht in willkürlicher Weise Schlüsse ziehen und Urteile fällen, man muß Schritt für Schritt an der Hand geistiger Tatsachen das richtige Denken entwickeln.
[ 7 ] Dieses Sinnbild vom Licht hat wiederum eine sehr, sehr tiefe Bedeutung, es ist eine geistige Tatsache. Um das zu erkennen, wenden wir uns wieder der menschlichen Wesenheit zu. Wir wissen, daß das dritte Glied der menschlichen Wesenheit der Astralleib ist, der der Träger ist von Lust und Leid, von Freude und Schmerz, von Trieb, Begierde und Leidenschaft, von allem, was der Mensch an inneren seelischen Erlebnissen hat. Die Pflanze hat keinen Astralleib, hat also auch nicht Lust und Leid wie der Mensch und das Tier. Wenn heute der Naturforscher von der Empfindung der Pflanze spricht, so beruht das auf einer vollständigen Verkennung dessen, was eigentlich das Wesen der Empfindung ist. Eine richtige Vorstellung dieses Astralleibes erhalten wir erst, wenn wir seine Entwickelung verfolgen, die er im Laufe der Zeiten erfahren hat. Wir haben schon früher die Entwickelung des Menschen im Zusammenhang mit der Entwickelung im großen Weltall betrachtet und dabei gefunden, daß der physische Leib des Menschen das älteste und komplizierteste Glied der menschlichen Wesenheit ist, daß der Ätherleib weniger alt ist, der Astralleib noch jünger, und daß das Ich endlich das jüngste Glied der menschlichen Wesenheit darstellt. Der Grund hierfür ist, daß der physische Leib in seiner Entwickelung schon durch vier planetarische Zustände der Erde hindurchgegangen ist; er war schon in seiner Anlage vorhanden, als unsere Erde in einer früheren Verkörperung war, die man als den Saturnzustand bezeichnet. Damals, vor langen Zeiträumen, war die Erde noch nicht Erde und der Mensch noch nicht in seiner heutigen Gestalt vorhanden; nur die Anlage zum physischen Leib war auf dem Saturn da; aber es fehlten noch alle seine übrigen Leiber, wie Ätherleib, Astralleib und so weiter. Erst in der zweiten Verkörperung der Erde, auf der Sonne, kam für den Menschen der Ätherleib dazu. Damals hatte dieser menschliche Ätherleib die Gestalt des Pentagramms am ausgesprochensten; später ist das etwas modifiziert worden dadurch, daß auf der dritten Verkörperung unseres Planeten, auf dem Monde, sich der astralische Leib hinzugesellte. Und dann verwandelte sich der Mond in die Erde, und zu den drei Leibern trat das Ich hinzu.
[ 8 ] Nun können wir fragen: Wo waren denn nun diese Leiber, bevor sie sich der menschlichen Wesenheit einverleibten? Wo war zum Beispiel das, was auf der Sonne als Ätherleib hineingezogen ist in den physischen Leib, wo war das auf dem alten Saturn? Irgendwoher muß der Ätherleib doch gekommen sein.—Er war im Umkreis des Saturn, geradeso wie heute die Luft im Umkreis der Erde ist. Alles, was später in den Menschen hineingezogen ist, das war im Umkreis, in der Atmosphäre des alten Saturn schon vorhanden. Ebenso war auf der alten Sonne der astralische Leib, der ja erst auf dem Monde hineingezogen ist, im Umkreis vorhanden. Sie können sich die alte Sonne so vorstellen, daß sie nicht aus Felsen, Pflanzen und Tieren bestand, wie heute die Erde, sondern da waren zwei Naturreiche, die es auf der Sonne gab. Die Wesen, die Menschen, die sich auf der Sonne befanden, waren erst menschliche Pflanzen. Daneben gab es auf der alten Sonne eine Art von Mineralien. Sie dürfen aber diese alte Sonne nicht mit der jetzigen Sonne verwechseln. Die alte Sonne war umflossen von einer mächtigen Astralhülle. Gleichsam von einer astralischen Lufthülle war die alte Sonne umgeben, und diese Astralhülle war leuchtend. So war der Schauplatz auf der alten Sonne.
[ 9 ] Betrachten wir jetzt wieder den heutigen Menschen, der einen physischen Leib, einen Ätherleib, einen astralischen Leib und ein Ich hat. Wenn das Ich nun hineinarbeitet in den astralischen Leib und ihn immer mehr läutert in intellektueller, moralischer und geistiger Beziehung, dann wird aus diesem Astralleib Geistselbst oder Manas. Wenn in ferner Zukunft das vollendet sein wird, was heute kaum begonnen hat, wenn der Mensch seinen ganzen astralischen Leib umgewandelt haben wird, dann wird dieser astralische Leib «physisch» leuchtend sein. So wie die Pflanze schon den Keim zu neuem Leben in sich trägt, so enthält der astralische Leib schon den Keim eines Lichtes, das dereinst hinausstrahlen wird in den Weltenraum, wenn der Mensch seinen Astralleib immer mehr und mehr gereinigt und geläutert haben wird. Unsere Erde wird sich in andere Planeten verwandeln. Heute ist sie dunkel. Wer sie von außen beobachten könnte, würde sehen, daß sie nur durch das zurückgeworfene Licht der Sonne hell erscheint. Aber einst wird sie selbst leuchtend sein, leuchtend durch die Menschen, die dann ihren ganzen Astralleib umgewandelt haben werden. Die Summe aller Astralleiber wird hinausstrahlen als Licht in den Weltenraum.
[ 10 ] So war es auch bei der alten Sonne. Die alte Sonne hatte als Bewohner höhere Wesen, als die heutigen Menschen sind, und diese Wesenheiten hatten leuchtende Astralleiber. Diese Wesenheiten, die die Bibel in sehr richtiger Weise Lichtgeister oder Elohim nennt, strahlten ihre Astralität hinaus in den Weltenraum.
[ 11 ] Wenn wir uns nun fragen: Was ist es, was der Mensch in seinen Astralleib hineinarbeitet? -, dann ist die Antwort: Es ist das, was wir das Gute, das Gescheite nennen, durch das der Mensch seinen Astralleib veredelt. Wenn wir einen Wilden betrachten, der noch auf der Stufe des Menschenfressers steht, der allen Leidenschaften blind folgt, und uns fragen, wodurch er sich unterscheidet von höherentwickelten Menschen, so müssen wir sagen: dadurch, daß der Kulturmensch schon gearbeitet hat an seinem Astralleib, der Wilde dagegen noch nicht. Der Mensch, der seine Triebe und Leidenschaften so auffaßt, daß er sich sagt: diesem darf ich folgen, anderem dagegen nicht -, bildet sich moralische Begriffe und Ideale, und das bedeutet Verwandlung und Veredelung des Astralleibes. Dadurch, daß der Mensch von Verkörperung zu Verkörperung an seinem Astralleib arbeitet, veredelt er sich immer mehr und mehr zu jener leuchtenden Wesenheit, von der wir vorhin gesprochen haben. Man nennt das das «Hineinarbeiten der Weisheit». Je mehr Weisheit in dem Astralleibe ist, desto leuchtender wird er sein. Die Elohim, jene Wesenheiten, die auf der Sonne wohnten, waren ganz Weisheitdurchdrungen. So wie unsere Seele sich zum Leibe verhält, so verhält sich die Weisheit zum Licht. Sie sehen, der Zusammenhang zwischen Licht und Weisheit ist nicht ein Bild, das man ausgesonnen hat; er beruht auf einer Tatsache, er ist eine Wahrheit. Das Licht ist tatsächlich der Körper der Weisheit. So lernen wir verstehen, daß die religiösen Urkunden vom Lichte sprechen als einer Versinnbildlichung der Weisheit.
[ 12 ] Für den Lernenden, für den sich zu höherer Schaukraft, zu Hellsichtigkeit Entwickelnden ist es von großer Bedeutung, wenn er Übungen macht wie etwa die folgende: Er stellt sich den Raum finster vor, ohne daß ein äußeres Licht auf ihn einwirkt—sei es bei nächtlichem Dunkel oder durch Schließen der Augen—und sucht dann nach und nach vorzudringen durch eigene innere Kraft zu der Vorstellung des Lichts. Wenn der Mensch sich diese Vorstellung intensiv genug bilden kann, so wird es nach und nach heller, und er wird dann ein Licht sehen, das kein physisches Licht ist, sondern ein Licht, das er nun sich selber schafft, das er durch innere Kraft in sich erzeugt. Und das ist ein Licht, das durchstrahlt sein wird von der Weisheit, in dem ihm die schaffende Weisheit erscheint. Das ist das, . was man Astrallicht nennt. Durch Meditation kommt der Mensch dazu, durch innere Kraft Licht zu erzeugen. Dieses Licht ist ein Vorbote dessen, was der Mensch dereinst—nicht mit physischen Augen, sondern mit feineren Sinnesorganen—sehen wird. Es wird das Kleid werden für wirklich vorhandene Geistwesen, wie es die Elohim sind. Wenn der Mensch diese Übung in der richtigen Weise macht, ist sie ein Mittel, zu diesen höheren Wesen in Beziehung zu kommen. So haben es diejenigen gemacht, die aus eigener Erfahrung etwas wissen von der geistigen Welt.
[ 13 ] Durch gewisse andere Methoden, von denen wir später sprechen werden, kann der Mensch dahin gelangen, daß ihm durch eigene innere Kraft der Raum nicht nur vom Lichte erleuchtet, vom Weisheitslichte durchflossen sein wird, sondern daß der Raum gleichsam zu tönen beginnt. In der alten pythagoreischen Philosophie wurde, wie Sie wissen, von Sphärenmusik gesprochen. Unter «Sphäre» wird dabei der Weltenraum begriffen, der Raum, in dem die Sterne schweben. Das ist kein erdachtes, ausspintisiertes Bild, kein poetischer Vergleich, sondern das ist eine Wirklichkeit. Wenn der Mensch sich genügend nach den Angaben des Geheimlehrers geübt hat, dann lernt er, innerlich nicht nur einen erhellten, durchleuchteten Raum zu schauen, der der Ausdruck der Weisheit ist, sondern er lernt auch zu hören die Sphärenmusik, die den Weltenraum durchflutet. Und wenn der Raum zu erklingen beginnt, dann sagt man, der Mensch sei in der himmlischen Welt, im Devachan. Richtig ist, daß der Raum erklingt, aber es ist nicht ein physischer Ton, sondern dies sind geistige Töne, die nicht in der Luft leben, sondern in einem viel höheren, feineren Stoffe, im Akasha-Stoff. Fortwährend ist der Raum von solcher Musik erfüllt, und es gibt in dieser Sphärenmusik gewisse Grundtöne.
[ 14 ] Wir wollen jetzt einmal betrachten, was man unter Sphärenmusik zu verstehen hat. Ich weiß sehr wohl, daß die heutigen mathematischen Astronomen es für hellen Wahnsinn erklären würden, wie ‚man im Okkultismus über die Planeten spricht. Das macht nichts, deshalb ist es doch wahr.
[ 15 ] Wir haben davon gesprochen, daß unsere Erde sich nach und nach entwickelt hat; von Erdverkörperungen haben wir gesprochen. Unsere Erde war erst Saturn, wurde dann Sonne, dann Mond, jetzt ist sie Erde, später wird sie Jupiter, Venus, Vulkan werden. Nun können Sie fragen: Es steht doch auch heute ein Saturn am Himmel; hat nun dieser heutige Saturn etwas zu tun mit dem Saturn, der die erste Verkörperung der Erde war?—Wenn wir den gestirnten Himmel betrachten, sehen wir da die uns exoterisch bekannten Planeten. Die Namen dieser Planeten sind nicht willkürlich gewählt, nicht etwa, wie es in neuerer Zeit Brauch geworden ist, nach einem bestimmten Manne, etwa nach ihrem Entdecker, sondern es sind bedeutungsvolle Namen, die aus tiefem Wissen über das Wesen der Sterne heraus gegeben wurden. Heute tut man das ja nicht mehr, und zum Beispiel der Uranus hat nicht einen solchen berechtigten Namen, weil er erst später entdeckt wurde. Das, was Sie heute als Saturn am Himmel sehen, steht auf der Stufe der Entwickelung wie unsere Erde, als sie noch im Zustande des Saturn war. Der exoterische Saturn verhält sich zur Erde etwa so wie ein Knabe zum Greis. So wenig wie der Greis sich aus einem neben ihm stehenden Knaben entwickelt hat—er war selbst einmal ein Knabe -, ebensowenig hat die Erde sich aus dem heutigen Saturn entwickelt. Der Saturn, der heute am Himmel steht, wird auch einmal «Erde» werden; er steht jetzt in einer Art Jugendstadium. Und ähnlich ist es auch mit den anderen Himmelskörpern. Die Sonne ist ein solcher Körper, wie die Erde es einstmals war, nur ist sie sozusagen «avanciert». Und so, wie bei den Menschen verschiedene Altersstufen beisammen sind, wie neben dem Greis der Knabe steht, so stehen am Himmel die verschiedenen Planeten nebeneinander auf verschiedenen Entwickelungsstufen, die unsere Erde, welche sich jetzt in ihrer vierten Verkörperung befindet, zum Teil schon durchgemacht hat, zum Teil noch durchmachen wird. Die Planeten stehen in ganz bestimmten Verhältnissen zueinander. Aber der Okkultist drückt diese Verhältnisse anders aus, als es der heutige Astronom tut.
[ 16 ] Sie wissen, die Planeten bewegen sich mit ganz bestimmten Geschwindigkeiten um die Sonne. Aber auch diese bewegt sich, und es ist diese Bewegung, wie auch die der Planeten, welche von den okkulten Astronomen genau erforscht worden sind. Die Forschung hat ergeben, daß die Sonne sich um einen geistigen Mittelpunkt bewegt, und daß die Bahnen der Planeten Spiralen sind, deren Richtlinie die Sonnenbahn ist. Die Geschwindigkeiten, womit die einzelnen Planeten ihre Bahnen vollziehen, stehen zueinander in ganz bestimmten, harmonischen Verhältnissen, und es stellen sich diese Verhältnisse als Töne für den Hörenden zu einer Symphonie zusammen, welche durch die Pythagoreer als Sphärenmusik bezeichnet wurde. Dies Zusammenklingen, diese Musik ist also ein Abbild kosmischer Vorgänge, und was die pythagoreische Schule lehrt, ist nichts Ausgeklügeltes. Die alten okkulten Astronomen sagten sich: Der Sternenhimmel, welcher scheinbar ruhend sich ausnimmt, ist in Wahrheit in Bewegung und dreht sich um den geistigen Mittelpunkt mit solcher Geschwindigkeit, daß er in 100 Jahren um 1° vorrückt. Es verhalten sich nun die Geschwindigkeiten der Planeten zueinander wie folgt: wobei die Geschwindigkeit des Saturn 1200mal größer ist als die des ganzen Sternenhimmels, oder 12° im Jahre vorrückt.
Geschwindigkeit des Saturn = 2 1/2 mal die des Jupiter
des Jupiter = 5 mal die des Mars
des Mars = 2 mal die von Sonne, Merkur und Venus
der Sonne = 12 mal die des Mondes
[ 17 ] Wenn physische musikalische Harmonien entstehen, beruht das darauf, daß beispielsweise verschiedene Saiten verschiedenartig schwingen, die eine schneller, die andere langsamer. Je nach der Geschwindigkeit, mit der sich die einzelnen Saiten bewegen, erklingt ein höherer oder tieferer Ton, und das Zusammenklingen dieser verschiedenen Töne ertönt als Musik, ergibt die Harmonie. Genauso wie Sie nun musikalische Eindrücke hier im Physischen von den Bewegungen der Saiten erhalten, so hört derjenige, der zu der Stufe des Hellhörens im Devachan emporgedrungen ist, die Bewegung der Himmelskörper als Sphärenmusik. Und durch das Verhältnis der verschiedenen Schnelligkeiten in der Bewegung der Planeten entstehen die Grundtöne der Sphärenharmonie, die durch das ganze Weltall erklingt. In der Pythagoreischen Schule wird also mit Recht von einer Sphärenmusik gesprochen, man kann sie mit geistigen Ohren hören.
[ 18 ] Wir können bei diesen Betrachtungen noch auf ein anderes Phänomen hindeuten. Wenn Sie eine dünne Messingplatte nehmen, sie möglichst gleichmäßig mit feinem Staube bestreuen und mit einem Fiedelbogen diese Platte streichen, dann wird nicht nur ein Ton hörbar, sondern es ordnen sich die Staubpartikelchen in ganz bestimmten Linien an. Da bilden sich allerlei Figuren, dem Tone entsprechend. Der Ton bewirkt eine Verteilung der Materie, des Stoffes. Das sind die bekannten Chladnischen Klangfiguren.
[ 19 ] Als der geistige Ton durch das Weltall erklang, ordnete er die Planeten in ihren Verhältnissen zueinander zu einer Sphärenharmonie. Was Sie im Weltenraume ausgebreitet sehen, das hat dieser schaffende Ton der Gottheit angeordnet. Dadurch, daß dieser Ton in den Weltenraum hineintönte, gestaltete sich die Materie zu einem System, dem Sonnen- und Planetensystem. So ist auch der Ausdruck «Sphärenharmonie» nicht ein geistreicher Vergleich; er ist Wirklichkeit.
[ 20 ] Nun wollen wir zu etwas anderem übergehen. Wir wissen, daß unsere Erde nicht immer so war, wie sie jetzt ist. Wer sich längere Zeit mit Theosophie beschäftigt hat, der weiß, daß unsere Erde in ihrer jetzigen Verkörperung verschiedene Entwickelungsstufen durchgemacht hat. In urferner Vergangenheit war sie in einem feuerflüssigen Zustande. Was unsere heutigen Steine und Metalle sind, war einmal aufgelöst in dieser feuerflüssigen Erde vorhanden. Der Einwand, daß in solcher Glut keine Menschen und keine anderen Wesen leben konnten, muß dahin beantwortet werden: Der menschliche Leib war damals in einem solchen physischen Zustande, der den damaligen Bedingungen angepaßt war; er konnte leben in einer Temperatur, die noch heißer war als die heutigen Schmelzöfen. Diesem Feuerzeitalter der Erde ist ein Wasserzeitalter gefolgt, das wir das atlantische Zeitalter nennen. Betrachten wir einmal dieses atlantische Zeitalter. Der atlantische Kontinent, der zwischen dem heutigen Europa und Amerika in der Mitte des atlantischen Ozeans sich ausbreitete, wurde bewohnt von unseren Vorfahren, welche natürlich ganz anders beschaffen waren als die heutigen Menschen. Ihr Sehen war nicht wie das unsere; sie waren in gewisser Beziehung hellsehend. In der Entwickelung der Atlantier gab es verschiedene Stufen des Sehens. Die letzte Stufe, am Ende der atlantischen Zeit, war wie eine Art Nachklang von viel höheren Stufen. Einen äußeren Gegenstand zum Beispiel konnte der Atlantier erst in der letzten Zeit der Atlantis sehen. Früher war sie so von dichten Wassernebelmassen erfüllt, daß sich die Gegenstände nicht räumlich voneinander abgrenzten. In dieser ersten Zeit der atlantischen Entwickelung war die Art der Wahrnehmung ganz anders. Nicht zuerst den Umrifß, die Physiognomie eines Menschen oder eines Gegenstandes sah der alte Atlantier, wenn er sich einem Dinge oder einem Wesen näherte, es stieg vielmehr in ihm ein Farbenbild auf, das nichts mit dem Äußeren zu tun hatte, sondern einen inneren Seelenzustand wiedergab. Farbenbilder sagten ihm, ob ein entgegenkommendes Wesen nützlich oder gefährlich für ihn war. War es zum Beispiel ein Rachegefühl, was der Entgegenkommende für den anderen hatte, so drückte sich ihm dies durch ein entsprechendes Farbenbild aus, und er rannte davon. Nahte sich ein wildes Tier, erkannte er es ebenso, und er konnte sich retten. Die Seelenzustände seiner Umgebung nahm der Atlantier wahr in dieser letzten Phase des Hellsehens. Erst allmählich entwickelt sich daraus das heutige Sehen. Denken Sie sich einen recht nebligen Tag, wie da die Gegenstände verschwimmen. Denken Sie sich an einem solchen Tage die Straßenlaterne, die erst wie ein Punkt auftaucht; dann allmählich unterscheiden Sie die Umrisse. So ganz allmählich lernte der Atlantier sehen. Was der Mensch früher sah, war eine Art astraler Farbe, die er anfänglich noch frei schwebend sah und die sich ihm gleichsam über die Dinge gelegt hat.
[ 21 ] Natürlich war diese andere Art der Wahrnehmung damit verbunden, daß der damalige Mensch ganz anders ausschaute als der heutige. In der letzten Zeit der atlantischen Periode hatte der Mensch zum Beispiel eine weit zurückliegende physische Stirn, über welche der Ätherleib wie eine mächtige Kugel herausragte. Der Punkt hinter der Stirn, zwischen den Augen etwas zurückliegend, war bei physischem Leib und Ätherleib noch nicht zusammenfallend. Dann zogen sich physischer Leib und Ätherleib zusammen, und die Vereinigung dieser beiden Punkte in Ätherleib und physischem Leib war ein wichtiger Moment in der Menschheitsentwickelung. Heute paßt in den Ätherkopf der physische Kopf ungefähr gerade hinein. Beim Pferd ist das noch anders. Aber wie sich dieser Kopf verändert hat beim Menschen, so haben sich auch seine Gliedmaßen verändert. Allmählich bildete sich seine jetzige Körpergestalt heran. Denken Sie sich lebhaft hinein in das Ende der atlantischen Zeit. Wie war das eigentlich damals? Der Mensch nahm wahr in einer Art von Hellsehen die Seelenzustände seiner Umgebung. Denken Sie sich noch einmal diese dichte Nebelatmosphäre, die mit schweren Wasserdünsten durchschwängerte Luft. Die Sonne, die Sterne und alle Gegenstände um Sie her hätten Sie damals in dieser dichten wäßrigen Luft nicht sehen können. Den Regenbogen gab es damals noch nicht, denn der Regenbogen konnte sich noch nicht bilden. Alles war in dichte, schwere Nebelmassen gehüllt. Deshalb spricht die Sage von Niflheim, von einem Nebelheim. Allmählich verdichtete sich das Wasser, das mächtig in der Luft ausgedehnt war, «und die Wasser der Sintflut strömten zur Erde nieder». Damit ist nichts anderes gemeint, als daß sich die mächtigen Nebelmassen zu Wasser verdichteten und als Niederschläge, als Regen herunterfielen. Indem das Wasser sich von der Luft schied, wurde die Luft reiner, und mit dem Reinerwerden der Luft bildete sich die heutige Art des Anschauens heraus. Der Mensch hat sich selbst erst sehen können, als er die Gegenstände um sich her sehen konnte.
[ 22 ] Nun weist der physische Leib des Menschen viele Regelmäßigkeiten auf, die von tiefer Bedeutung sind. Eine davon ist die folgende: Wenn Sie eine Kiste fabrizieren würden in den Verhältnissen, daß sich Höhe, Breite und Länge verhalten wie drei Teile zu fünf Teilen zu dreißig Teilen, und wenn dabei die Länge der Körperlänge entspricht, dann finden Sie dieselben Maßverhältnisse im menschlichen Körper. Mit anderen Worten: Es ist damit das Verhältnis einer regelmäßigen Gliederung des menschlichen Leibes angegeben. Damals, als der Mensch den Fluten der Atlantis entstieg, war sein Leib so gebildet, daß er den Maßverhältnissen 3:5:30 entsprach. In schöner Weise ist das in der Bibel ausgedrückt mit den Worten: «Und Gott befahl Noah, einen Kasten zu bauen von dreihundert Ellen Länge, fünfzig Ellen Breite und dreißig Ellen Höhe.» In diesen Maßen der Arche Noah haben wir genau die Maße der Harmonie des menschlichen Leibes.
[ 23 ] Okkulte Zeichen und Sinnbilder sind eben aus dem Wesen der Dinge heraus genommen und zeigen darum, wie wir durch sie in die Verhältnisse der geistigen Welten hineinschauen können.
First Lecture
[ 1 ] These four lectures, which are to take place here in Stuttgart, will have a somewhat more intimate character, because the audience—for the most part at least—will be made up of members of the Theosophical Society who have been familiar with the basic theosophical ideas for a long time and therefore probably also have the desire to become acquainted with more intimate material from the field of Theosophy. What will be dealt with in these lectures are the occult symbols and signs relating to the astral and the spiritual world. A number of occult symbols and symbols will be explained in their deeper meaning. I ask you to bear in mind that in the first two lectures some things will sound strange and will only be fully explained in the course of the third and fourth lectures. This is in the nature of things, for theosophical lectures cannot be like other lectures which are built up, so to speak, in a mathematical way from simple elements. Some things will have to be unclear at the beginning, but gradually they will emerge clearly and comprehensibly.
[ 2 ] Sensory images and signs—not only in the profane world, but also in the theosophical world—often give the impression of something more or less arbitrary that only has a “meaning”. This is by no means correct. You have all heard of such symbols and signs and know well, for example, that the various planets of the universe are indicated by signs. You know that a well-known sign in theosophical allegories is the so-called pentagram. You are also aware that in various religions light is used in the sense of wisdom, of spiritual clarity. If you now ask about the meaning of such things, you may hear or read that it means this or that; a triangle, for example, means the higher trinity, and the like. Myths and legends are also frequently interpreted in theosophical writings and lectures; “they mean something”, they say. To get behind the meaning, behind the essence of this meaning, to recognize the reality of such symbols, that is the task of these lectures. Let's take an example to illustrate how this is meant.
[ 3 ] Let's take a look at the pentagram. As you know, much has been fantasized and invented about it; this cannot be what occultism is about. In order to understand what the occultist says about the pentagram, we must first remember the seven basic parts of the human being. As you know, there are seven basic parts to the human being: Physical body, etheric body, astral body, ego, furthermore spirit self, life spirit and the spirit man, or—as one is accustomed in theosophical literature to call the latter: Manas, Budhi, Atma. Let us leave aside the physical body, which is something material that can be touched with the hands; it is the etheric body that comes into particular consideration here. The etheric body already belongs to that which is hidden to the physical senses, to the so-called “occult”; it cannot be seen with the ordinary eyes. It requires the clairvoyant method to perceive it. But if you can see it, then it is certainly something quite different from the physical body. The etheric body is not—as most people imagine—a thin, material body, a kind of finer nebulous structure. The characteristic of the etheric body is that it is composed of various currents that run through it. It is, after all, the architect, the maker of the physical body. Just as ice is formed out of water, so the physical body is formed out of the etheric body; and this etheric body is permeated on all sides by currents, like the sea. There are now five main currents among them. If you stand with your legs spread apart and your hands outstretched, the human body will look like the picture shown here (it is drawn):
[ 4 ] You can follow the directions of the five main currents exactly; they form a pentagram. Every human being has these five currents hidden within him. They flow through the etheric body in the directions indicated by the arrows (see drawing); they form the “skeleton” of the human etheric body, so to speak. These currents constantly flow through the etheric body, and this also remains the case when the person moves. Whatever the position of the body, a current always starts from the center of the forehead, the point between the eyebrows, down to the right foot, from there to the left hand, from there to the right hand, then to the left foot and from there back to the forehead. What is called the pentagram is as internally mobile in the etheric body as the human physical body itself is. And when the occultist speaks of the pentagram as the figure of the human being, he is not talking about something sophisticated, but about it like the anatomist speaks of the skeleton. This figure is really present in the etheric body, it is a fact.
[ 5 ] From this little we can see what the real meaning of a sign is. All signs and symbols that you encounter in occultism lead to such realities. The pentagram is therefore the movable “skeleton” of the etheric body, which is why it is the figure of the human being. This is the real meaning of such a sign.
[ 6 ] If one gradually receives the right instructions to use the figures or signs, then they are a means by which man is gradually introduced to the knowledge of the spiritual world and can become clairvoyant. For those who immerse themselves in the pentagram in meditation, the path of these currents can be found in the etheric body. There is no point in thinking up arbitrary meanings for these signs. If you hold this sign up to yourself in meditation—you only have to do it with patience—then it leads to occult realities. And so it is with all symbols and signs, including those that you can find in the various religious documents, because these symbols are deeply rooted in occultism. When some prophet or religious founder speaks of light and wants to denote wisdom with it, you must not think that he is just thinking of it or that he is using this expression because he perhaps wants to be witty. The occultist is based on facts, so he is not interested in being witty. He only wants to be true. As an occultist, one must get out of the habit of thinking without rules, that is, one must not draw conclusions and make judgments in an arbitrary way, one must develop correct thinking step by step on the basis of spiritual facts.
[ 7 ] This symbol of light again has a very, very deep meaning, it is a spiritual fact. In order to recognize this, we turn again to the human being. We know that the third member of the human being is the astral body, which is the carrier of pleasure and suffering, of joy and pain, of instinct, desire and passion, of all the inner experiences of the human soul. The plant has no astral body, so it does not have pleasure and suffering like humans and animals. When natural scientists today speak of the sensation of the plant, this is based on a complete misunderstanding of what the essence of sensation actually is. We only get a correct idea of this astral body when we follow the development it has undergone in the course of time. We have already considered the development of man in connection with the development in the great universe and found that the physical body of man is the oldest and most complicated member of the human being, that the etheric body is less old, the astral body even younger, and that the ego finally represents the youngest member of the human being. The reason for this is that the physical body in its development has already passed through four planetary states of the earth; it was already present in its constitution when our earth was in an earlier embodiment, which is called the Saturnian state. At that time, long ago, the earth was not yet earth and man was not yet present in his present form; only the physical body was present on Saturn; but all his other bodies, such as etheric body, astral body and so on, were still missing. It was only in the second embodiment of the earth, on the sun, that the etheric body was added for the human being. At that time this human etheric body had the most pronounced form of the pentagram; later this was modified somewhat by the fact that on the third embodiment of our planet, on the moon, the astral body was added. And then the moon turned into the earth, and the ego was added to the three bodies.
[ 8 ] Now we can ask: Where were these bodies before they incorporated themselves into the human being? Where, for example, was that which entered the physical body as an etheric body on the sun, where was it on the old Saturn? The etheric body must have come from somewhere.—It was in the orbit of Saturn, just as the air is in the orbit of the earth today. Everything that later entered the human being was already present in the orbit, in the atmosphere of ancient Saturn. In the same way, the astral body, which first entered the moon, was present in the orbit of the old sun. You can imagine the ancient sun as not consisting of rocks, plants and animals, as the earth does today, but as having two kingdoms of nature. The beings, the people, who were on the sun were first human plants. There was also a kind of mineral kingdom on the old sun. But you must not confuse this old sun with the present sun. The old sun was surrounded by a powerful astral shell. The old sun was surrounded, as it were, by an astral shell of air, and this astral shell was luminous. Such was the scene on the old sun.
[ 9 ] Let us now look again at the human being of today, who has a physical body, an etheric body, an astral body and an ego. When the ego now works into the astral body and purifies it more and more intellectually, morally and spiritually, then this astral body becomes the spirit self or manas. When in the distant future what has barely begun today will be completed, when man will have transformed his entire astral body, then this astral body will be “physically” luminous. Just as the plant already carries the germ of new life within it, so the astral body already contains the germ of a light that will one day radiate out into the universe when man has purified and purified his astral body more and more. Our earth will transform into other planets. Today it is dark. Anyone who could observe it from the outside would see that it only appears bright through the reflected light of the sun. But one day it will be luminous itself, luminous through the people who will then have transformed their entire astral body. The sum of all astral bodies will radiate out as light into the universe.
[ 10 ] So it was with the old sun. The ancient sun had higher beings as inhabitants than today's human beings, and these beings had luminous astral bodies. These beings, whom the Bible very correctly calls spirits of light or Elohim, radiated their astrality out into the universe.
[ 11 ] If we now ask ourselves: What is it that man works into his astral body? -The answer is: It is what we call the good, the clever, through which man ennobles his astral body. If we look at a savage who is still at the stage of the man-eater, who blindly follows all passions, and ask ourselves how he differs from more highly developed men, we must say: by the fact that the cultivated man has already worked on his astral body, whereas the savage has not yet done so. The man who conceives of his instincts and passions in such a way that he says to himself: I may follow this, but not that—forms moral concepts and ideals, and this means transformation and ennoblement of the astral body. By working on his astral body from embodiment to embodiment, man ennobles himself more and more into that luminous entity of which we spoke earlier. This is called the “working in of wisdom”. The more wisdom there is in the astral body, the more luminous it will be. The Elohim, those beings who dwelt on the sun, were completely imbued with wisdom. Just as our soul relates to our body, so wisdom relates to light. You see, the connection between light and wisdom is not an image that has been made up; it is based on a fact, it is a truth. Light is indeed the body of wisdom. Thus we learn to understand that the religious documents speak of light as a symbolization of wisdom.
[ 12 ] It is of great importance for the learner, for the one developing to a higher power of vision, to clairvoyance, if he does exercises such as the following: He imagines the room to be dark, without any external light acting on him—be it in the dark of night or by closing his eyes—and then gradually seeks to penetrate through his own inner strength to the idea of light. If the person can form this idea intensively enough, it will gradually become brighter and he will then see a light that is not a physical light, but a light that he now creates for himself, that he generates within himself through inner strength. And this is a light that will be permeated by wisdom, in which the creating wisdom appears to him. This is what is called astral light. Through meditation, man comes to generate light through inner power. This light is a harbinger of what man will one day see—not with physical eyes, but with finer sensory organs. It will become the dress for truly existing spiritual beings, such as the Elohim. If man does this exercise in the right way, it is a means of coming into relationship with these higher beings. This is how those have done it who know something of the spiritual world from their own experience.
[ 13 ] Through certain other methods, of which we shall speak later, man can reach the point where, through his own inner power, space will not only be illuminated by light, flowed through by the light of wisdom, but that space will begin to sound, as it were. In ancient Pythagorean philosophy, as you know, there was talk of the music of the spheres. By “sphere” is meant the space of the world, the space in which the stars float. This is not a fictional, imaginary image, not a poetic comparison, but a reality. When a person has practiced sufficiently according to the instructions of the secret teacher, then he learns not only to see inwardly an enlightened, illuminated space, which is the expression of wisdom, but he also learns to hear the music of the spheres that floods the world space. And when space begins to resound, man is said to be in the heavenly world, in devachan. It is true that space resounds, but it is not a physical sound, these are spiritual sounds that do not live in the air, but in a much higher, finer substance, in the Akashic substance. Space is constantly filled with such music, and there are certain fundamental tones in this music of the spheres.
[ 14 ] Let us now consider what is meant by music of the spheres. I know very well that today's mathematical astronomers would consider it sheer madness to talk about the planets in occultism. It doesn't matter, that's why it's true.
[ 15 ] We have spoken of the fact that our earth has gradually evolved; we have spoken of earth embodiments. Our earth was first Saturn, then became the sun, then the moon, now it is earth, later it will become Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan. Now you may ask: there is also a Saturn in the sky today; does this Saturn of today have anything to do with the Saturn that was the first embodiment of the earth?—When we look at the starry sky, we see the planets known to us exoterically. The names of these planets are not arbitrarily chosen, not, as has become the custom in recent times, after a particular man, for example after their discoverer, but they are meaningful names that were given out of a deep knowledge of the nature of the stars. This is no longer the case today, and Uranus, for example, does not have such a legitimate name because it was only discovered later. What you see in the sky today as Saturn is at the same stage of development as our Earth when it was still in the state of Saturn. The exoteric Saturn relates to the earth as a boy relates to an old man. Just as little as the old man has developed from a boy standing next to him—he himself was once a boy—just as little has the earth developed from today's Saturn. Saturn, which is in the sky today, will also become “Earth” one day; it is now in a kind of youthful stage. And it is similar with the other celestial bodies. The sun is such a body as the earth once was, only it has “advanced”, so to speak. And just as the different ages of human beings are together, just as the old man stands next to the boy, so the different planets stand side by side in the sky at different stages of development, which our earth, which is now in its fourth embodiment, has partly already gone through and partly will still go through. The planets are in very specific relationships to each other. But the occultist expresses these relationships differently than today's astronomer does.
[ 16 ] You know that the planets move around the sun at very specific speeds. But the sun also moves, and it is this movement, as well as that of the planets, which has been studied in detail by occult astronomers. Research has shown that the sun moves around a spiritual center, and that the orbits of the planets are spirals whose guideline is the sun's orbit. The speeds at which the individual planets move in their orbits are in very specific, harmonious relationships to each other, and these relationships form a symphony of sounds for the listener, which the Pythagoreans called the music of the spheres. This sounding together, this music, is therefore a reflection of cosmic processes, and what the Pythagorean school teaches is nothing sophisticated. The old occult astronomers said to themselves: The starry sky, which appears to be at rest, is actually in motion and rotates around the spiritual center with such speed that it advances by 1° in 100 years. The velocities of the planets now relate to each other as follows: the velocity of Saturn is 1200 times greater than that of the whole starry sky, or advances 12° per year.
Saturn's speed = 2½ times that of Jupiter
of Jupiter = 5 times that of Mars
of Mars = twice that of the Sun, Mercury and Venus
of the Sun = 12 times that of the Moon
[ 17 ] When physical musical harmonies arise, this is due to the fact that, for example, different strings vibrate differently, one faster, the other slower. Depending on the speed at which the individual strings move, a higher or lower tone is heard, and the sound of these different tones together is heard as music and produces the harmony. Just as you now receive musical impressions here in the physical from the movements of the strings, so he who has reached the level of clairaudience in the devachan hears the movement of the heavenly bodies as music of the spheres. And through the relationship of the different speeds in the movement of the planets, the fundamental tones of the harmony of the spheres arise, which resounds through the whole universe. The Pythagorean school therefore rightly speaks of a music of the spheres, which can be heard with spiritual ears.
[ 18 ] We can also point to another phenomenon in these observations. If you take a thin brass plate, sprinkle it as evenly as possible with fine dust and stroke it with a fiddle bow, you will not only hear a sound, but the dust particles will arrange themselves in very specific lines. All kinds of figures are formed, corresponding to the sound. The sound causes a distribution of matter, of substance. These are the well-known Chladni sound figures.
[ 19 ] When the spiritual tone resounded through the universe, it arranged the planets in their relationships to each other to form a harmony of the spheres. What you see spread out in the universe was arranged by this creative sound of the Godhead. Because this sound resounded into the universe, matter was formed into a system, the solar and planetary system. Thus the expression “harmony of the spheres” is not a witty comparison; it is reality.
[ 20 ] Now let us move on to something else. We know that our earth was not always as it is now. Anyone who has studied Theosophy for any length of time knows that our earth has gone through various stages of development in its present incarnation. In the distant past it was in a molten state. What our stones and metals are today were once dissolved in this molten earth. The objection that no human beings and no other beings could live in such a glow must be answered in this way: The human body was then in such a physical state that it was adapted to the conditions of the time; it could live in a temperature that was even hotter than today's furnaces. This fire age of the earth was followed by a water age, which we call the Atlantean age. Let's take a look at this Atlantean age. The Atlantean continent, which spread out between today's Europe and America in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, was inhabited by our ancestors, who were of course very different from today's humans. Their vision was not like ours; they were clairvoyant in a certain sense. In the development of the Atlanteans there were different stages of seeing. The last stage, at the end of the Atlantean period, was like a kind of echo of much higher stages. For example, the Atlantean could only see an external object in the last period of Atlantis. Earlier it was so filled with dense masses of water mist that the objects could not be spatially distinguished from one another. In this first period of Atlantean development the way of perception was quite different. The ancient Atlantean did not first see the outline, the physiognomy of a person or an object, when he approached a thing or a being, but rather a color image arose in him that had nothing to do with the exterior, but rather reflected an inner state of soul. Color images told him whether an approaching being was useful or dangerous for him. If, for example, the oncoming creature had a feeling of revenge for the other, this was expressed to him by a corresponding color image and he ran away. If a wild animal approached, he recognized it in the same way and was able to save himself. In this last phase of clairvoyance, the Atlantean perceived the soul states of his surroundings. Only gradually did it develop into today's vision. Think of a rather foggy day, how the objects become blurred. Think of a street lamp on such a day, which first appears like a dot; then you gradually distinguish the outlines. This is how the Atlantean gradually learned to see. What man saw earlier was a kind of astral color, which at first he still saw floating freely and which, as it were, superimposed itself over things.
[ 21 ] Of course, this different kind of perception was connected with the fact that the man of that time looked quite different from the man of today. In the last time of the Atlantean period, for example, man had a physical forehead set far back, above which the etheric body protruded like a mighty sphere. The point behind the forehead, between the eyes, was not yet coincident with the physical body and the etheric body. Then the physical body and the etheric body drew together, and the union of these two points in the etheric body and the physical body was an important moment in the development of mankind. Today the physical head fits roughly straight into the etheric head. With the horse it is still different. But just as this head has changed in man, so his limbs have also changed. Gradually his present physical form developed. Think back vividly to the end of the Atlantean period. What was it actually like back then? In a kind of clairvoyance, man perceived the soul states of his surroundings. Think again of that dense foggy atmosphere, the air impregnated with heavy water vapors. You would not have been able to see the sun, the stars and all the objects around you in this dense, watery air. The rainbow didn't exist then, because the rainbow could not yet form. Everything was shrouded in dense, heavy fog. That is why the legend speaks of Niflheim, a foggy home. Gradually, the water, which had expanded mightily in the air, condensed “and the waters of the Flood poured down to earth”. This means nothing other than that the mighty masses of mist condensed into water and fell down as precipitation, as rain. As the water separated from the air, the air became purer, and as the air became purer, the present way of seeing was formed. Man was only able to see himself when he was able to see the objects around him.
[ 22 ] Now the physical body of man exhibits many regularities that are of profound significance. One of these is the following: If you were to make a box in the proportions that height, width and length are three parts to five parts to thirty parts, and if the length corresponds to the length of the body, then you would find the same proportions in the human body. In other words, this is the ratio of a regular division of the human body. At that time, when man emerged from the waters of Atlantis, his body was formed in such a way that it corresponded to the proportions 3:5:30. This is beautifully expressed in the Bible with the words: “And God commanded Noah to build a box three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.” In these dimensions of Noah's ark we have exactly the dimensions of the harmony of the human body.
[ 23 ] Occult signs and symbols are precisely taken from the essence of things and therefore show how we can see through them into the relationships of the spiritual worlds.