The Influence of Spiritual Beings Upon Man
GA 102
16 March 1908, Berlin
Translator Unknown
Lecture V
In the last lecture we spoke in broad outline of the development of the human being in connection with the evolution of the cosmos. One can look at such things from most varied points of view. For when we let our spiritual gaze sweep back into the primeval past, then a no less rich manifoldness of events is presented to us than in our immediate present, and one must not think that when one has characterized phases of evolution with a few concepts and ideas that one has fully grasped the matter or presented it completely. It is necessary to characterize these past ages too, and up to our present day, from the most varied aspects. We then become increasingly clear about them, but must not let ourselves be misled by what appear here and there to be contradictions.
Such apparent contradictions arise from the fact that even to spiritual vision a matter can be seen from very varied aspects. One can walk round a tree, for instance, and make a picture of it from many sides. Each picture is true and there may be a hundred of them. This is naturally only a comparison, but in a certain respect it is perfectly right for the ages of earthly evolution to be considered too from many different aspects. Today we will consider the evolution of our Earth in connection with the evolution of mankind from a different point of view, and will pay special attention to the human being himself. We will describe the processes which are presented in what we call the Akashic Record when we look back in spiritual vision to the past.
We have often related that our Earth before it became “Earth” went through a series of embodiments. First came the Saturn period, the Sun period, the Moon period, and only then our actual Earth period.
If we quite briefly look back to the time of ancient Saturn we remember that of the elements and bodily conditions which we find on the earth today, of the solid or earthy, the fluid or watery, the airy and the fiery, only warmth, fire, was present on ancient Saturn. We have the true picture of the first embodiment of the Earth if we realize the following: Saturn had nothing in it of the gaseous, the watery, nor of the earthy constituents. If you could have visited ancient Saturn, that is to say, supposing you could have been a modern human being at that time—as you neared old Saturn you would have found nothing of hardened, or watery, or any other substance, but a globe consisting purely of warmth; you would have gone into a sort of baking oven. You would have felt that you came into a different region of warmth. Thus old Saturn consisted purely of fire or warmth.
On the Sun, which was the second embodiment of our Earth, the warmth had already reached such a densification that we can speak of a gaseous or airy condition. The Moon condition showed a watery stage of our substances in its earlier period, and I have already told you how the Sun-substance went out of the old Moon and how then there suddenly came about a powerful densification of all Moon-beings.
The chief thing for us today is to be clearly conscious that at every later stage of evolution the earlier must in a certain way be recapitulated. So when we look back at the evolution of our Earth itself we have at the beginning a kind of Saturn stage, a repetition of the Saturn stage. Then we have a kind of Sun evolution, a repetition of the Sun stage, then a kind of Moon evolution, a repetition of the Moon stage, and only then really began the present embodiment of our Earth evolution. As our Earth came out of the Pralaya, the twilight condition which it passed through after being Moon, our Earth too was again only a ball of fire. I have given you a description of how the other planets had loosed themselves. Let us first hold fast to the fact that the Earth was purely a fiery ball containing nothing but warmth substance. Within this warmth ball of fire the human being was potentially already in existence. As the first rudiment of man was present on Saturn, so now in the recapitulation of the Saturn condition on the Earth, again man was present. There was no other kingdom. Man is the first-born of the Earth condition. At the beginning of our earthly evolution there was no plant kingdom, no animal kingdom, no mineral kingdom. Our Earth at the beginning of its evolution was in fact composed only of human bodies.
What then is the difference between the old Saturn condition and its recapitulation on Earth? There is a considerable difference, for the human bodies which then came forth, as fresh plants develop from seeds, had passed through the three earlier stages of evolution. Their formation was essentially more diverse, more complex, for all the forces which were at work in Saturn were present in this first Earth condition. Within it too were the old Sun and old Moon. They united at the beginning of Earth evolution forming again a single body, the forces of Saturn, Sun and Moon worked in it together. And so this first humanity at the beginning of Earth evolution was much more complex than the human being of Saturn. In Saturn all was undifferentiated—everything then was Saturn man. Now in the newly-arisen Earth, Saturn, Sun, and Moon worked together. Man arose in his first rudiments, although these rudiments were very complex.
When the Earth emerged and lifted itself, so to speak, out of the darkness of cosmic space, it was a space glowing with inner warmth, and living within it were the first forms of mankind as warmth-beings. When with clairvoyant sight you look back at what actually existed of man at that time you find at first these original human rudiments as if the whole warmth sphere had many, many currents in it. These currents go towards the surface of the newly-arisen Earth, sink into the surface, and form there masses warmer than the surroundings. The human being was distinct from the environment simply through the fact that one felt that certain spaces were warmer. It may be clearer for you to realize to what extent man was then in existence, if I record which of the human organs had been formed in its first rudiments at that time.
Think of a new-born child which still has a quite soft place on the top of the head. Imagine this place quite open, and imagine a warmth-current coming from outside into this opening. Think of the warmth-current not densely material in blood-streams, but in streams of force going down and forming a kind of centre where your own heart is and taking its course in separate arteries—not blood arteries, but force-arteries. There you have the first rudiments of warmth-man. Later on, in the progress of evolution, the human heart with its blood vessels arose from this rudimentary warmth-man. The blood circulation has arisen from it, and the organ which existed for a long time in man's evolution and which later disappeared was a shining warmth-organ, though in its first rudiments. Much later in earthly evolution the human being still had such an organ. At the place still remaining soft in the head of an infant a kind of warmth-organ projected from man when as yet he was unable to see his surroundings. When he was still a sea-being and could not perceive in our present way, when he still swam about in the sea, he had to know of the temperature conditions, whether he might move to-wards a certain direction or not. He was made aware by this lantern-like organ whether he might go here or there. Man possessed this organ right into the third epoch, the Lemurian Age. I once told you that the legend of the Cyclops—the human being with the one eye—went back to this stage. It was no real eye and to describe it as an eye is not correct. It was a sort of warmth-organ which indicated the directions which might be taken. So we should have something like a goblet-shaped organ spreading out downwards to the first rudiments of the heart, and surrounded by something like prehensile arms, while up above one would have a sort of blood-organ. This was the appearance of the organ in the earliest periods.
Now in the course of the evolution of the Earth some-thing very important entered. Matter, substance, became differentiated. The homogeneous warmth-matter was differentiated in such a way that air-matter arose while a part of the earlier warmth-matter remained. And here you must be aware of a law: you must be quite clear about it if you wish to consider these human beginnings in the course of evolution: Wherever the warmth-matter densifies to air, then at the same time light arises.—Warmth-matter is still dark, not permeated by light. But when a portion of the warmth in such a cosmic sphere condenses to gas or air, then a portion of this matter can let light come through. And so it was.
Now we have the Earth in the second stage of its evolution. (All other aspects go parallel with it.) We have now an Earth which consisted partly of warmth, partly of air, and shining inwardly. And all that takes place is expressed at the same time in the development of man. What was formerly merely a rudimentary warmth-organ now began actually to shine. The human being was like a kind of lantern, he shone. One need not find this particularly marvellous, it is no longer anything extraordinary. A few centuries ago one would have been amazed to hear of luminous beings, but there is no cause for amazement today. Natural science knows that down in the ocean depths, where it is impossible for a ray of light to penetrate, there are beings which shine, shedding their own light. And thus at that time the human being began to radiate light.
Now something extremely peculiar came about on this human formation, the rudiments were added for making use of the surrounding air. This was further developed later and the beginnings of a breathing process were formed. Thus we see a sort of breathing process added to the previous warmth process. It is important to be clear that with the deposit of air in the Earth the breathing process appeared, and that this in fact was the addition of air to the warmth-matter, permeating the warmth with little bubbles of air. This, however, is connected with something else, the effect of the light is there too and is manifested in the first beginnings of a nerve-system, an inner nerve-system. Not indeed a physical nerve-system, it is more a case of lines of force which have developed to densification. You must think of the whole as airy and only very fine air-currents can be there as lines of force. Thus we have now a rudimentary human being which in all fineness was still etherically a being of warmth and air and in which the first signs of a nervous system were shown. That was the stage of our earthly evolution when the Sun was still in the Earth. Imagine how this cosmic body appeared in universal space.
Imagine that someone looked across at this cosmic body from outside. All the beings which we have just described as the human beings radiated an individual light, and this light became the total light that shone out into the uni-verse. If you could have examined the Saturn-condition you would have found that you could approach without seeing it; it could only be perceived through its warmth. But now you have to do with a Sun-body, inwardly warmed but sending its light out into space.
Now gradually came the time which I have described to you as the departure of the sun. All the higher beings who were connected with the sun and who gave the human beings the capacities of which we have just spoken, detached themselves, together with the finer substances. The sun went out. It no longer shone and spread out light, it went out of the earth.
So then we have a cosmic body which consisted of earth and moon, for the present moon was at that time still in the earth. And something very remarkable came about. Since all the finer forces had gone out with the sun, a very rapid—relatively rapid—densification resulted. What were earlier only lines of force took on a thicker form. And as the finer substances went away we see how the gaseous condition condensed to water. The whole body now consisted not only of fire and air but of water, too. The force of illumination had gone out with the departing sun and there was again darkness on the earth; the beings had kept for themselves inwardly only a portion of the light-force. This was an interesting stage of humanity's evolution. I. have shown that the light laid the foundation of the nervous system. The nervous system is a creation of the light. In all your nerves you have the original streaming-in of the light. Now the light, the sun, went out into cosmic space and substance therefore densified very rapidly. It was not yet the same as the nerve-substance of today, but it was denser than before, it was no longer a fine etheric substance. And the important thing was this: formerly it shone out-wards, now it became luminous inwardly. That means that man's first nerve-system had the power of creating inner light-pictures, visions; clairvoyant consciousness arose.
Thus the sun went out of the earth, left the earth without light, but the beings created an inner light. Formerly they had shone out to the light that shone towards them; now they had lost the power of shining. The earth was no longer sun; but their inner consciousness was illumined as today in sleep you illumine your consciousness with the whole world of dreams. This inner shining consciousness, however, was at that time infinitely more significant, more living. And now we come again to an important matter.
Just as light had arisen when the air arose, so now with the densification of air to water there likewise appeared a counterpart. As air is related to light, so is water related to sound, tone. Sound can of course pass through air, it sets the air vibrating and in that way it becomes audible. On the earth, however, sound arose—sound as such—side by side with the forming of water. And exactly as the action of light streamed through the air, so now the whole of the water to which the air had condensed was vibrated through and through by the currents of tone. The earth consisted then of warmth, air, water. The parts of the earth which had become fluid were in particular permeated by sphere-harmonies, by tones which streamed into the earth from the universe in every possible harmony. The result of this action of sound in the water-element was a very, very important one. You must picture to your-selves that in this original water, this fluid-earthly water, were contained all those substances which exist separately today as metals, minerals, and so on. It is extremely interesting to look back with spiritual vision to this ancient time and see how most varied shapes were formed. Tone created forms in the water. It was a quite amazing period of our earth's evolution. Something took place then on the grandest scale similar to what happens when you strew fine sand on a metal plate and stroke the plate with a violin bow. The Chladni sound-figures are formed and you know of course what regularly-shaped figures and formations appear. Thus the instreaming music from cosmic space gives rise to most manifold forms and figures, and the substances dissolved in the water which were them-selves watery, they listened to the cosmic music and arranged themselves in conformity to it. The most important formation of the dance of the substances to cosmic music is albumen, protoplasm, the foundation of all living growth. Materialists may think as they will of the mechanical construction of albumen from oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and so on; the original protoplasm was formed of cosmic substance that had been formed from the harmonies of cosmic music. And thus the substances in the living were organized according to the world-music. The albuminous substance, protoplasm, now surrounded and entered into the fine structures, penetrating everything. The water, congealed to albumen according to cosmic tone, took its course along the lines which I described as lines of warmth and gradually passed over into blood formation. The congealed water established itself as albumen in the lines of the nerves. And in the first place the albumen formed a kind of sheath, cartilaginous gluten, one might say, as a protection from outside. All this actually took form from the dance of substances to the music of the spheres.
This was all in existence before there was a single cell. The cell is not the origin of the organism, but what I have just described. The origin of the organism is spirit, first existing as warmth, then indicated more in lines of force, then what arose from the sphere-harmonies through the arrangement of substances, depositing itself in these lines of force, and only relatively later as the final formation the cell arose. The cell as the last excretion had to be born from a living creature. Organisms have never formed themselves out of cells, but the cell has first formed itself from the living. The anatomical is always a sequel of combination.
We have all this at the beginning of the condition of the earth when it still contained the moon after the departure of the sun. But as long as the moon remained in the earth there was an increasing hardening of the albuminous formation, and the state that I have described to you as mummifying would have resulted if the coarsest substances and beings had not left the earth. The last developed portion of the human creature at that time were the nerves that went to the sense organs. But the sense organs had not yet opened. They had been formed from within outwards but as yet they were not open. And now the moon went out together with the coarsest substances. The consequence was that the human being could then gradually pass over to a higher condition. His senses were opened, the two heavenly bodies were now outside and could hold a mutual balance. Whereas they built up man as long as they were united with the earth, they now worked in from out-side; they opened his senses and made him a seeing, hearing being as he appears to us today. The departure of the moon was practically in the middle of the ancient Lemurian Age. We then have a human being who had not yet opened his sense-organs but who had a powerful gift of clairvoyance. I have already described how he could fill his consciousness with most varied color and warmth phenomena from within, all of which had real worth and significance, yet he could not perceive the objects in space. That only began after the moon had left the earth.
If you consider this brief sketch which I have given you of the ancient earth-evolution you will see that present man actually took his starting point as earthly being from the heart outwards. The heart was of course not such an organ as it is today; that only developed much later, but the rudiments of the heart proceeded from the fire-element. Then were added the breathing system born of the air, the nerve-system born of the light. Then came the protoplasmic material which inserted itself into the organs and formed the whole to living matter through the cosmic tones congealing the fluid substances. In the final period, when the moon substance was still present in the earth, densification to the condition of earthy solidness came about. It was actually only shortly before the departure of the moon that what today we call the mineral kingdom arose, that is, the earth element out of the fluid element. Albumen is in fact a state midway between the solid and the fluid. But the earthy, the solid, actually arose only in the latest period. Why was that? It arose because under the influence of densification—for everything was involved in a continuous process of condensation—the elements themselves had become more and more material. Think for a moment of the beginning of Earth-evolution. What did the warmth-matter do there? It gave you for your bodily nature that which now pulsates in your blood. You must not think that when we speak of the earliest warmth condition of the Earth we are speaking of such a warmth as arises when you strike a match. That is mineral-fire and mineral-warmth. We are speaking of the fire and warmth that pulsates in your blood; that is living warmth. In fact there is not only the mineral warmth that arises externally in space, but there is a very different one, a living warmth which you have in yourselves. That was present at the beginning of the Earth and from it were formed the first rudiments of man. But even this living warmth gradually became lifeless with the continuous densification. That was connected with the densifying process which came about when the sun went out and the moon was united with the earth. The mineral warmth first appeared as the process of combustion.
Here we come to something important which I ask you particularly to note. It is true that at the beginning we can talk of a condition of fire, of warmth, but we cannot speak actually of combustion. That would not be correct. We should speak only of what we feel pulsing warmly in our own blood. The warmth that comes from an external mineral combustion appeared only when the sun had gone out and the earth was alone with the moon. And through the combustion process, formerly not there at all, a substance was separated off within the earth-mass which is described in occultism as “ash.” When you burn something it gives rise to ash. The ash embedded itself in the structure of the earth when earth and moon were united. Evolution had now got so far that through the cosmic tone which pressed in and brought the substances to dance, the protoplasmic masses inserted themselves. There were beings where fine protoplasmic substances had earlier become organized along the lines of force, this protoplasm being similar in outer formation to the formation of the present albumen. There were also denser substances which acted as a protection, surrounding the beings like a sort of glutinous sheath.
What is lacking in these beings? The hard bone substance! If I may express myself popularly, everything was still more of a glutinous mass, and anything of a mineral nature was entirely absent from them up to the time I have now described to you. Now you must think how different these beings were. You have nothing in your physical body today that is not permeated by mineral substance. The human body as it is today has arisen only relatively late. It consists not only of bones but of muscles and blood, mineral substance has embedded itself in everything. Think the mineral substance away, think of the whole Earth and its beings as yet without mineral substance—and then by a combustion process the deposit of ash, ash of the most varied mineral substances. In the human beings, therefore, which up to then had in fact only arrived at a glutinous density, ash constituents became embedded in every direction. And the beings absorbed the ash as formerly they had taken up the albumen and organized themselves in their own way—took up the mineral element from the dense bones to the fluid blood.
You can easily form an idea of what was embedded—all that remains behind as ash when the body is burnt or decays. What actually remains behind as ash is what originated the last of all. Everything in you that does not remain behind as ash was there previously; it stored up the ash in itself. One who observantly regards the ash derived from a moldering corpse must say to himself: that is the mineral substance in me, which was last of all absorbed by what existed previously. Thus the mineral arose last in the course of the earth's development and the other kingdoms stored it up in themselves, having previously consisted entirely of other substances.
We can ask what was the reason of this incorporation of the ash. We carry ash within us the whole time, only it is distributed and is left behind when our corpse is burnt or decays. How did the ash press into the lines which were filled by albuminous substance?
We have seen that originally there was fire and the rudiments of the heart were formed from it. Then the rudimentary stage of breathing was produced by the air, light entered and formed the rudiments of the nerves. Then came sound and produced the living substance by causing the materials to dance. But what caused the ash-element, the mineral, to stream into this substance?
What pressed ash into the human bodies was now henceforth thought, which made the sound, the tone, into the word. Even in Atlantean times, when everything was immersed in mist, what the human being spoke was not the only articulated language, but man understood the speech of the rustling trees, the rippling springs and founts. All that today is articulated language and all that was expressed in it, formed the dance; tone, the musical element in it, formed the materials into living substance. The sense, the significance, of the word pressed into this living substance the ash that formed out of the combustion process. And to the degree in which the bony system gradually condensed towards the end of the Atlantean Age man was penetrated by thoughts, by self-consciousness. His intellect dawned and he became increasingly a self-conscious being. The things that exist in us are created from outside: First, the rudiments which develop into the human heart; second, our nervous system with the rudiments of breathing; third, the glandular organs, arising out of the living; fourth, the bony structure, permeated by ash; finally, man becomes a self-conscious being. Such was the course of evolution within our own Earth-embodiment, and we have now arrived in our description nearly at the end of the Atlantean time.
If you compare this with our earlier studies, you will see that what is active last was always there first; for that which pressed into matter as “Word” was there the first of all. That which has given man his ego was there at the very beginning. If you try clearly to understand what has been said today you can also very readily find the facts again in the first sentences of St. John's Gospel. In one of our next lectures we must show how our studies which have swept out into cosmic space are beautifully presented in the Gospel of St. John and also in the first sentences of Genesis. All these things are regained for us when we consider the course of evolution. One thing, however, will plainly emerge: When we look at the facts, our human evolution is seen to be very different from what materialistic fantasy imagines. Materialists think that man has been produced from coarse matter and that his spiritual faculties have been developed out of it.
You see now that the actual mission of earthly evolution, that in which Love comes to expression in man, was laid down first in what we possessed as warmth organ, which emerged the first of all. Before anything organic, Spirit was there in the form of lines of force, then came the incorporation of the organic under the wonder-working of world music. Then only was the whole impregnated with mineral substance, solid matter, through the Word or thought. The densest arises the latest. Man develops out of the Spirit, and this is seen too if we study the course of earthly evolution. Man has his origin and primal state—as every genuine study of the universe has always shown—not in matter but in Spirit. Matter embedded itself in the human being later than the spiritual forces, and this becomes increasingly clear from what we have been studying.
Fünfter Vortrag
[ 1 ] Das letzte Mal besprachen wir in großen Zügen das Werden des Menschen im Zusammenhange mit dem Werden, mit der Entwickelung des Kosmos. Man kann diese Dinge von den allerverschiedensten Gesichtspunkten aus betrachten. Denn wenn wir so den geistig geschärften Blick zurückschweifen lassen in Zeiten urferner Vergangenheit, dann stellt sich uns eine nicht minder reiche Mannigfaltigkeit des Geschehens dar als in unserer unmittelbaren Gegenwart; und man darf nicht glauben, wenn man mit einigen Begriffen und Vorstellungen das Geschehen, die Entwickelung charakterisiert hat, daß man dann schon die Sache völlig begriffen, völlig dargestellt hätte. Es ist vielmehr notwendig, daß man auch diese Zeiten urferner Vergangenheit bis in unsere Gegenwart hinein von den verschiedensten Gesichtspunkten aus charakterisiert. Man wird dann immer klarer und klarer darüber. Man muß sich nur nicht verführen lassen durch scheinbare Widersprüche, die man da und dort finden könnte. Diese scheinbaren Widersprüche rühren davon her, daß man auch geistig eine Sache von den verschiedensten Gesichtspunkten aus anschauen kann. Man kann zum Beispiel um einen Baum herumgehen und von den verschiedensten Seiten ein Bild des Baumes entwerfen. Jedes Bild ist dann wahr. Es können hundert sein. Natürlich ist das nur ein Vergleich; aber in gewisser Beziehung ist es durchaus richtig, daß wir auch die Zeiten unseres Erdgeschehens von den verschiedensten Gesichtspunkten aus betrachten.
[ 2 ] Heute wollen wir unsere Erdentwickelung im Zusammenhange mit unserer Menschheitsentwickelung von einem anderen Punkt aus betrachten, und wir wollen dabei mehr Rücksicht nehmen auf den Menschen selbst. Wir wollen die Vorgänge schildern, die sich in dem, was man «Akasha-Chronik» nennt, dem rückwärts blickenden hellseherischen Auge darstellen.
[ 3 ] Wir haben schon öfter wiederholt, daß unsere Erde, bevor sie Erde geworden ist, durch eine Reihe von Verkörperungen hindurchgegangen ist. Es ging voran die Saturnzeit, die Sonnenzeit, die Mondenzeit; dann erst kommt unsere eigentliche Erdenzeit.
[ 4 ] Wenn wir noch einmal ganz kurz einen Blick zurückwerfen auf die Zeit des alten Saturn, so erinnern wir uns, daß gesagt worden ist, daß von denjenigen Elementen und körperlichen Zuständen, die heute auf der Erde sind, den festen oder erdigen, den flüssigen oder wäßrigen, den luftförmigen und den feurigen, auf dem alten Saturn nur das Feuer, die Wärme vorhanden war. Wir stellen uns ganz richtig vor, wie diese erste Verkörperung der Erde war, wenn wir folgendes betrachten: Der Saturn hatte noch nicht die Gase in sich, noch keine wäßrigen Bestandteile, geschweige denn irgend etwas Erdiges. Wenn Sie den alten Saturn sozusagen besucht hätten — falls Sie damals schon ein Mensch hätten sein können wie heute -, so würden Sie, wenn Sie sich dem alten Saturn genähert hätten, nichts von harter, von irgendwie flüssiger oder sonstiger Materie gefunden haben, sondern eine Kugel, die lediglich aus Wärme bestanden hätte. Wie in einen Backofen wären Sie hineingegangen. Sie hätten ihn dadurch empfunden, daß Sie in eine andere Wärmeregion hineingekommen wären. Also lediglich aus Feuer oder Wärme bestand der alte Saturn.
[ 5 ] Die Sonne, die die zweite Verkörperung unserer Erde war, zeigte schon die Wärme in einer solchen Verdichtung, daß wir von einem gas- oder luftförmigen Zustande sprechen. Der Mondzustand zeigte dann in seiner früheren Zeit einen wäßrigen Zustand unserer Substanzen; und auch darauf habe ich Sie schon aufmerksam gemacht, daß aus dem alten Monde ein Teil seiner Substanz, die Sonnensubstanz, herausging, und als sie herausgegangen war, trat plötzlich eine mächtige Verdichtung aller Mondwesen ein.
[ 6 ] Für uns ist heute die Hauptsache die, daß wir uns noch einmal ganz klar zum Bewußtsein bringen, daß in jedem späteren Entwickelungszustand die früheren in einer gewissen Weise wiederholt werden müssen. So haben wir, wenn wir in der Entwickelung unserer Erde selbst zurückblicken, im Anfange derselben eine Art Saturnentwickelung, nämlich eine Wiederholung des Saturnzustandes; dann haben wir eine Art Sonnenentwickelung, eine Wiederholung des Sonnenzustandes, dann eine Art Mondenentwickelung, eine Wiederholung des Mondenzustandes; und dann beginnt eigentlich erst wirklich die jetzige Verkörperung unserer Erdenentwickelung. Als unsere Erde aus dem Pralayazustand, aus dem Dämmerungszustand herauskam, durch den sie hindurchgegangen war, nachdem sie Mond gewesen war, da war auch unsere Erde wiederum nur eine Feuerkugel. Ich habe es Ihnen ja beschrieben, wie sich die anderen Planeten losgelöst haben. Wir halten zunächst daran fest, daß die Erde eine bloß feurige, bloß Wärmesubstanz in sich enthaltende Kugel war. Innerhalb dieser Wärmekugel, die aus Feuer bestand, war auch der Mensch schon veranlagt. Wie auf dem Saturn die erste Anlage des Menschen vorhanden war, so ist jetzt bei der Wiederholung des Saturnzustandes auf der Erde auch wieder der Mensch vorhanden. Es gab keine anderen Reiche, Der Mensch ist der Erstgeborene des Erdenzustandes. Kein Pflanzenreich, kein Tierreich, kein Mineralreich ist am Anfang unserer Erdenentwickelung vorhanden, so daß auch unsere Erde im Grunde genommen im Beginne ihrer Entwickelung nur aus Menschenleibern zusammengesetzt war.
[ 7 ] Ja, was ist aber nun für ein Unterschied zwischen dem alten Saturnzustand und dem jetzigen Erdenzustand, der den alten Saturnzustand wiederholt? Es ist eben ein erheblicher Unterschied! Er besteht darin, daß die Menschenleiber — die jetzt herauskommen, wie die frischen Pflanzen sich aus den Keimen entfalten — die drei früheren Entwickelungsstufen durchgemacht haben. Sie sind wesentlich mannigfaltiger, komplizierter gestaltet; denn alle die Kräfte, die im Saturn gewirkt haben, sind in diesem ersten Erdenzustand vorhanden. Auch die alte Sonne und der alte Mond sind darinnen. Die haben sich im Anfange der Erdenentwickelung vereinigt, und sind alle wieder zu einem Körper geworden. Saturn-, Sonnen- und Mondkräfte wirken in ihm zusammen. Daher ist dieses erste Menschenwesen im Beginne der Erdenentwickelung schon viel, viel komplizierter als das alte Saturn-Menschenwesen. Im Saturn war alles undifferenziert, da war alles noch Saturnmensch. Jetzt wirken in der neu entstandenen Erde Saturn, Sonne und Mond zusammen; der Erdenmensch entstand in seiner ersten, sehr komplizierten Anlage.
[ 8 ] Damals, als die Erde auftauchte, sich sozusagen aus dem Dunkel des Weltenraumes heraushob als ein wärmedurchglühter Raum, da lebten in diesem wärmedurchglühten Raum die ersten Menschenformen selbst als Wärmewesen. Wenn Sie mit dem hellseherischen Auge zurückblicken auf das, was damals vom Menschen vorhanden war, so finden Sie zuerst diese erste Menschenanlage so, als wenn die ganze Wärmesphäre viele, viele Strömungen in sich hätte. Diese Strömungen gehen gegen die Oberfläche der Erde — also der neu aufgegangenen Erde - zu, senken sich in diese Oberfläche hinein und bilden dort wärmere Massen, als die Umgebung ist. Es unterscheidet sich das Menschenwesen von seiner Umgebung lediglich dadurch, daß man fühlt: gewisse Räume sind wärmer. Nun mache ich Ihnen am leichtesten klar, was damals vom Menschen vorhanden war, wenn ich Ihnen unter den menschlichen Organen das aufzeichne, was damals in der ersten Anlage sich gebildet hat.
[ 9 ] Denken Sie sich ein eben geborenes Kind, bei dem oben auf dem Kopfe noch eine ganz weiche Stelle ist. Diese Stelle denken Sie sich ganz offen, und denken Sie sich von außen in diese Öffnung einen Wärmestrom hineingehend. Denken Sie sich diesen Wärmestrom nicht dicht materiell in Blutströmen, sondern in Kraftströmen, und hinuntergehend und eine Art Zentrum bildend da, wo jetzt Ihr eigenes Herz ist, und in einzelnen Adern sich verlaufend, aber Kraftadern, nicht Blutadern. Da haben Sie die erste Wärme-Menschenanlage. Aus dieser Wärme-Menschenanlage ist später in weitergehender Entwickelung das menschliche Herz mit seinen Blutgefäßen, es ist die Blutzirkulation daraus geworden. Und das Organ, welches lange in der Menschheitsentwickelung vorhanden war, das dann verschwunden ist, das war ein leuchtendes Wärmeorgan, das damals ebenfalls in der ersten Anlage vorhanden war. Noch viel später in der Entwickelung der Erde hatte der Mensch ein solches Organ. An der Stelle, wo oben beim Kinde der Kopf weich bleibt, ist sozusagen der Ort bezeichnet, wo eine Art von Wärmeorgan vom Menschen herausging, als der Mensch noch nicht in seine Umgebung sehen konnte. Als er noch Meeresmensch war, als er noch nicht auf die heutige Art wahrnehmen konnte, als er noch im Meere herumschwamm, da mußte er vor allen Dingen wissen, wie die ’Temperaturzustände sind, ob er sich nach einer Richtung hinbewegen durfte oder nicht. Mit diesem laternenartigen Organ konnte er wahrnehmen, ob er sich da oder dort hinbegeben durfte. Dieses Organ hatte der Mensch noch im dritten Zeitraume, der lemurischen Zeit. Ich habe Ihnen schon einmal angedeutet, daß die Sage von den Zyklopen - der Menschen mit dem einen Auge — zurückgeht auf diese Menschenaugenform. Es ist kein eigentliches Auge, und wenn es als Auge beschrieben wird, so ist das nicht richtig. Es ist eine Art von Wärmeorgan, und dieses weist dahin, wo er hingehen darf. So würden wir so etwas wie ein becherförmiges Organ haben, das sich nach unten ausweitet zur ersten Anlage des Herzens, und das umgeben war von einer Art von Fangarmen, so daß man oben eine Art von Blüte hatte. So war dieses Organ in der ersten Zeit.
[ 10 ] Nun trat im Laufe der Erdenzeit etwas ein, was sehr wichtig ist: Es differenzierte sich die Materie, der Stoff. Die einheitliche Wärmematerie differenzierte sich, so daß Luftmaterie entstand, während ein Teil der früheren Wärmematerie als Wärmematerie geblieben ist. Dabei müssen Sie aber ein Gesetz beachten, und es ist notwendig, daß Sie es sich recht klarmachen, wenn Sie diese Menschenteile im Verlauf der Entwickelung betrachten wollen: Überall da, wo sich die Wärmematerie verdichtet, so daß sie Luft wird, entsteht gleichzeitig Licht. Wärmematerie ist noch finstere Materie, wird nicht von Licht durchsetzt. Wenn aber in solcher Weltensphäre ein Teil dieser Wärme sich . verdichtet zu Gas oder Luft, dann kann ein Teil dieser Materie das Licht durchlassen. Und so war es.
[ 11 ] Jetzt haben wir die Erde im zweiten Zustande ihrer Entwickelung. Parallel damit gehen alle anderen Aspekte. Wir haben jetzt eine Erde, die teilweise aus Wärme besteht, teilweise aus Luft, und die innerlich leuchtend ist. Und in der Tat, das alles drückt sich jetzt auch aus in der Menschenentwickelung, in der menschlichen Bildung. Dasjenige, was früher bloße Anlage war als Wärmeorgan, das fängt in der Tat an zu leuchten. Der Mensch ist wie eine Art Laterne, er leuchtet. Vor einigen Jahrzehnten hätte man sich noch darüber wundern können, daß es leuchtende Wesen gibt. Heute braucht man sich nicht mehr zu wundern; denn heute weiß bereits die Naturwissenschaft, daß es tief im Meeresgrunde, wo gar keine Lichtstrahlen mehr hindringen, Wesen gibt, die leuchten, die selbst ihr Licht verbreiten. So fing der Mensch damals an aufzuleuchten.
[ 12 ] Nun zeigte sich an dieser menschlichen Bildung etwas höchst eigentümliches: Es setzte sich die erste Anlage an - nach und nach entwickelte sie sich dann weiter -, um die Luft, die da war, auch zu verwerten, es bildete sich der Anfang eines Atmungsprozesses heraus. So sehen wir also zu dem vorhergehenden Wärmeprozeß eine Art Atmungsprozeß hinzugefügt. Das ist sehr wichtig, daß wir uns klar darüber werden, daß mit der Einlagerung von Luft in die Erde der Atmungsprozeß eintritt, der ja in nichts anderem besteht, als daß sich an die Wärmematerie Luft ansetzt, daß sie von Luftbläschen durchdrungen wird. Das ist die Wirkung der Luft. Aber es ist das noch mit etwas anderem verknüpft; denn die Wirkung des Lichtes ist auch da, und die zeigt sich darin, daß sich die ersten Ansätze zum Nervensystem, und zwar zum inneren Nervensystem bilden. Wohlgemerkt, nicht ein physisch ausgeprägtes Nervensystem, sondern das ganze sind mehr Kraftlinien, die bis zu einer Verdichtung gediehen sind. Sie müssen denken, daß das Ganze gasförmig ist, und nur ganz feine Luftströmungen wie Kraftlinien darin vorhanden sein können.
[ 13 ] Wir haben also jetzt eine Menschenanlage, die in aller Feinheit ganz ätherisch, noch ein Wärmewesen, ein Luftwesen ist, und ein Wesen, in dem die ersten Anlagen des Nervensystems sich zeigen. Wenn Sie ein wenig nachdenken darüber, dann wird Ihnen klar sein, daß das der Zustand unserer Erdenentwickelung ist, wo die Sonne noch in der Erde darinnen ist. Natürlich ist die Sonne noch darinnen! Denken Sie sich, wie dieser Weltenkörper sich ausnähme im Weltenraum, wenn jemand von außen zu diesem Weltenkörper hinübersähe. Alle diese Wesen, die wir eben beschrieben haben als erste Menschenwesen, strahlen einzeln Licht aus, und dieses Licht wird das Gesamtlicht, das in den Weltenraum hinausströmt. Sie sehen, daß Sie es wirklich zu tun haben mit einer Sonne, die in den Weltenraum hinausleuchtet. Wenn Sie den Saturnzustand hätten prüfen können, würden Sie gefunden haben, daß Sie sich ihm hätten nähern können, ohne ihn zu sehen; nur durch Wärme machte er sich bemerkbar. Nun haben Sie es aber mit einem innerlich erwärmten, aber sein Licht nach außen in den Weltenraum schickenden Sonnenkörper zu tun.
[ 14 ] Jetzt kommt nach und nach die Zeit, die ich Ihnen charakterisiert habe als den Flinausgang der Sonne. Alle höheren Wesen, die mit der Sonne verknüpft waren und die den Menschen die Fähigkeiten gaben, die wir eben besprochen haben, alle diese Wesenheiten mit den feineren Substanzen trennten sich. Die Sonne ging hinaus. Sie schien noch nicht, sie verbreitete noch kein Licht; sie ging hinaus aus der Erde.
[ 15 ] Nun haben wir einen Weltenkörper in diesem Entwickelungszustande unserer Erde, der aus Erde und Mond besteht, denn der heutige Mond war dazumal noch in der Erde drinnen. Jetzt geschieht etwas höchst Merkwürdiges. Dadurch, daß alle feineren Kräfte mit der Sonne hinausgegangen sind, geschieht eine — verhältnismäßig natürlich — sehr rasch erfolgende Verdichtung. Was früher nur Kraftlinien waren, zeigt jetzt schon eine sehr dichte Gestalt. Und wie die feineren Substanzen fortgehen, sehen wir, wie sich der gasförmige Zustand verdichtet zu Wasser. Das Ganze besteht jetzt nicht nur aus Feuer und Luft, sondern auch aus Wasser. Die Leuchtkraft ist fortgegangen mit der hinausziehenden Sonne. Dunkel ist es wieder geworden auf der Erde; nur einen Teil der Leuchtkraft haben sich die Wesen innerlich behalten.
[ 16 ] Es ist dies ein interessanter Zustand der Menschheitsentwickelung. Ich habe Ihnen gesagt, daß durch das Licht die Anlage zum Nervensystem entstand. Dieses Nervensystem ist ein Geschöpf des Lichtes. In allen Ihren Nerven haben Sie nichts anderes als die ursprünglichen Einstrahlungen des Lichtes. Jetzt geht das Licht, die Sonne, hinaus in den Weltenraum. Dadurch verdichtet sich sehr rasch die Masse. Sie wird zwar noch nicht gleich eine solche Nervenmasse, wie sie heute ist, aber sie wird dichter als früher, sie ist nicht mehr bloß eine feine ätherische Masse. Und was das Wesentliche ist: früher war sie nach außen leuchtend, jetzt wird sie nach innen leuchtend. Das heißt, dieses erste Nervensystem des Menschen hat die Fähigkeit, innerliche Lichtbilder zu erzeugen: Visionen, hellseherisches Bewußtsein tritt auf. So geht also die Sonne heraus aus der Erde, läßt sozusagen die Erde ohne Licht. Aber die Wesen erzeugen sich ein innerliches Licht. Früher waren sie so, daß sie sich das Licht von außen gegenseitig zuschienen. Jetzt verloren sie die Fähigkeit, zu leuchten. Die Erde war nicht mehr Sonne, aber innerlich wurde der Bewußtseinsraum erleuchtet, wie wenn Sie heute Ihren Bewußtseinsraum im Schlafe durchleuchten mit der ganzen Traumwelt. Nur unendlich bedeutender, viel lebendiger wurde dieser ganze Bewußtseinsraum durchleuchtet in dieser Zeit.
[ 17 ] Und nun kommen wir wiederum an eine wichtige Sache. Ebenso wie mit der Entstehung der Luft das Licht entstanden ist, so entstand jetzt mit der Verdichtung der Luft zum Wasser ein Gegenbild. Wie sich nämlich die Luft zum Licht verhält, so verhält sich das Wasser zum Schall, zum Ton. Natürlich kann der Ton durch die Luft gehen und versetzt die Luft in Schwingungen; dadurch ist er hörbar. Aber entstanden, aufgetreten auf der Erde ist der Ton — als ein Ton für sich -- neben der Wasserbildung. Und genau ebenso wie die Luft durchströmt worden ist von der Lichtwirkung, so wird jetzt das ganze Wasser, zu dem sich die Luft verdichtet hat — wir haben ja jetzt die Erde bestehend aus Wärme, Luft und Wasser — ganz und gar durchvibriert von Tonstrahlen. Es ist jetzt unsere Erde gerade am meisten durchsetzt in denjenigen Teilen, wo sie wäßrig geworden ist, von Sphärenharmonien, von Tönen, die so aus dem Weltenraum in allen möglichen Tonharmonien in unsere Erde hineinströmen; und das Ergebnis dieser Tonwirkungen im Wasser ist ein sehr, sehr wichtiges. Sie müssen sich da natürlich vorstellen, daß in diesem ursprünglichen Wasser, in diesem flüssigen Erdenwasser alle die Substanzen enthalten waren, die heute abgeschieden sind als Metalle, Mineralien und so weiter. Ganz besonders ist es interessant, den geistigen Blick hinzurichten auf diese alte Zeit, zu sehen, wie sich die verschiedensten Formen aus dem Wasser herausbilden, indem der Ton im Wasser Gestalten schafft. Der Ton schafft im Wasser Gestalten. Es ist eine ganz wunderbare Zeit unserer Erdentwickelung. Es ist damals im größten Maße in der Erdentwickelung so etwas geschehen, wie wenn Sie auf eine Metallplatte feinen Staub aufstreuen und mit einem Violinbogen die Platte streichen; da entstehen die Chladnischen Klangfiguren. Sie wissen ja, welche regelmäßigen Figuren da entstehen. So bildeten sich durch die aus dem Weltenraum hineinströmende Musik die mannigfaltigsten Gestalten und Figuren, und die Stoffe, die im Wasser gelöst waren, die selber wäßrig waren, sie gehorchten der Weltenmusik und ordneten sich nach der Weltenmusik. Und die wichtigste Bildung des Tanzes der Stoffe nach der Weltenmusik ist das Eiweiß, das Protoplasma, wie es die Grundlage ist aller lebendigen Bildung. Lassen Sie die Materialisten nachdenken, so viel sie wollen, über die mechanische Zusammenfügung von Eiweiß aus Sauerstoff, Stickstoff, Kohlenstoff und so weiter. Das ursprüngliche Protoplasma, Eiweiß, hat sich gebildet aus dem Weltenstoffe, der sich gebilder hat aus den Harmonien der Weltenmusik. Und so sind die Stoffe im Lebendigen angeordnet im Sinne der Weltenmusik. So gliedert sich jetzt um die feinen Gebilde herum und namentlich in sie ein jener eiweißförmige Stoff, jenes Protoplasma, das alles durchdringt. Längs jener Linien, die ich Ihnen beschrieben habe als Wärmelinien, läuft das nach dem Weltenton zu Eiweiß koagulierte Wasser und geht allmählich in Blutbildung über. In den Nervenlinien setzt sich das koagulierte Wasser als die Eiweißbildung ein. Und zuerst bildete sich das Eiweiß so wie eine Art Hülle, wie eine knorpelige Leimsubstanz möchte man sagen, damit ein Schutz da ist gegen außen. Das alles bildete sich wirklich nach dem Tanz der Stoffe in Gemäßheit der Sphärenmusik.
[ 18 ] Dies alles war da, bevor es eine einzige Zelle gab. Die Zelle ist nicht das Ursprüngliche des Organismus, sondern das, was ich Ihnen jetzt beschrieben habe, das Geistige, ist das Ursprüngliche des Organismus, zuerst vorhanden als Wärmewesen, dann angedeutet mehr in Kraftlinien, dann sich einlagernd in diese Kraftlinien das, was aus der Sphärenharmonie entstanden ist durch Anordnung der Stoffe; und verhältnismäßig spät, als letzte der Bildungen, entstand erst die Zelle. Die Zelle als letzte Absonderung mußte schon von einem Lebewesen geboren werden. Niemals ist es so gewesen, daß sich Organismen aus Zellen herausgebildet haben, sondern die Zelle hat sich erst aus Lebendigem gebildet. Das Anatomische ist immer erst eine Folge des Zusammengesetzten.
[ 19 ] Das alles haben wir im Anfange jenes Zustandes, wo noch der Mond in der Erde und die Sonne schon draußen war. Aber solange der Mond in der Erde drinnen blieb, geschah eine immer stärkere Verhärtung dieser Eiweißbildung, und es wäre endlich so weit gekommen, wie ich es Ihnen als Mumifizierung beschrieben habe, wenn nicht die gröbsten Substanzen und die gröbsten Wesen hinausgegangen wären aus der Erde. Das letzte, was sich noch herausgebildet hat aus der Menschenwesenheit in dieser Zeit, das waren diejenigen Nerven, die zu den Sinnesorganen hingehen. Aber die Sinnesorgane waren noch nicht geöffnet. Sie waren gebildet worden von innen heraus, aber sie waren noch nicht geöffnet. Und jetzt geht also der Mond mit den gröbsten Substanzen heraus. Die Folge dieser Entwickelungsstufe ist, daß der Mensch allmählich übergehen kann zu einem höheren Zustand dadurch, daß seine Sinne geöffnet werden, daß sozusagen die beiden Körper, die jetzt draußen sind, sich von außen gegenseitig die Waage halten. Während sie, solange sie mit der Erde verbunden waren, den Menschen aufgebaut haben, wirken sie jetzt von außen ein, öffnen sie ihm jetzt seine Sinne und machen ihn zu dem sehenden und hörenden Wesen, als das er uns heute erscheint.
[ 20 ] Dieses Hinausgehen des Mondes geschieht etwa um die Mitte der alten lemurischen Zeit. Da haben wir einen Menschen, dessen Sinnesorgane noch nicht geöffnet sind, der aber eine mächtige hellseherische Begabung hat. Ich habe sie Ihnen beschrieben: er kann seinen Bewußtseinsraum ausfüllen mit den verschiedensten Farben- und Wärmeerscheinungen von innen heraus, die alle realen Wert haben und etwas bedeuten; aber er nimmt noch nicht die Gegenstände im Raume wahr. Dies beginnt erst, nachdem der Mond die Erde verlassen hat.
[ 21 ] Wenn Sie diese kurze Skizze, die ich Ihnen jetzt von der alten Erdenentwickelung gegeben habe, ins Auge fassen, so werden Sie sehen, daß der Mensch, wie er heute als Erdenwesen ist, eigentlich seinen Ausgangspunkt genommen hat vom Herzen aus. Natürlich war das Herz nicht als ein solches Organ da, wie es heute ist. Das hat sich erst viel später entwickelt; aber die Anlage zum Herzen ist aus dem Feuer entstanden. Dann kam, aus der Luft heraus geboren, das Atmungssystem hinzu, und aus dem Licht heraus geboren das Nervensystem. Dann kam das, was sich in die Organe als Protoplasmamasse eingliederte, das das Ganze erst zur lebendigen Materie gestaltet hat dadurch, daß die Welttöne die wäßrigen Substanzen koagulierten. In der letzten Zeit der Erdenentwickelung, als die Erde noch mit der Mondensubstanz zusammen war, geschah die Verdichtung zum erdigen Zustande; und erst kurz bevor der Mond herausging, war das entstanden, was man heute gewöhnlich das Mineralreich nennt, da entstand das Erdige aus dem Flüssigen heraus. Das Eiweiß ist ja ein Zustand zwischen dem Festen und Flüssigen mitten drinnen. Aber das Erdige, das Feste ist eigentlich erst in der letzten Zeit entstanden. Wodurch? Es ist entstanden dadurch, daß unter dem Einflusse der Verdichtung — denn alles war ja ein fortwährender Verdichtungsprozeß -- die Elemente selbst immer materieller und materieller geworden sind. Denken Sie einmal an den Beginn der Erdentwickelung. Was hat da die Wärmematerie getan? Sie hat Ihnen das gegeben für Ihre Leiblichkeit, was jetzt in Ihrem Blute pulsiert. Das war nicht dieselbe Wärme wie früher. Sie dürfen nicht glauben, wenn wir von dem ersten Wärmezustand der Erde sprechen, daß wir so von einer Wärme sprechen, wie sie entsteht, wenn Sie ein Zündhölzchen anzünden. Das ist mineralisches Feuer und mineralische Wärme. Wir sprechen von jenem Feuer, von jener Wärme, die in Ihrem Blute pulsiert; das ist lebendige Wärme. Es gibt tatsächlich nicht nur die mineralische Wärme, die draußen im Raume entsteht, sondern es ist eine ganz andere, eine lebendige Wärme, die Sie in sich selber haben. Die war im Beginne der Erde vorhanden, und aus ihr bildete sich die erste menschliche Anlage heraus. Aber mit der fortdauernden Verdichtung ist auch diese lebendige Wärme allmählich leblose Wärme geworden. Dies hing auch zusammen mit jenem Verdichtungsprozeß, der sich vollzog, als die Sonne herausging und der Mond mit der Erde verbunden war. Und diese Wärme, die die mineralische Wärme war, tritt zunächst auf als Verbrennungsprozeß.
[ 22 ] Hier kommen wir zu einer wichtigen Sache, die ich sehr zu beachten bitte. Wir können zwar im Anfange von einem Wärmezustand, von einem Feuerzustand reden; von einer eigentlichen Verbrennung sollten wir aber nicht reden. Das ist nicht das Richtige. Wir sollten von nichts anderem reden als von dem, was wir in unserem eigenen Blute heute warm pulsieren fühlen. Wärme, die entsteht durch eine äußerliche mineralische Verbrennung, trat erst auf, nachdem die Sonne herausgegangen und die Erde mit dem Monde allein geblieben war. Und durch diese Verbrennung, die früher gar nicht vorhanden war, sonderten sich die Stoffe innerhalb der Erdenmasse ab, dieman im Okkultismus als «Asche» bezeichnet. Wenn Sie irgend etwas verbrennen, entsteht Asche. Die Asche lagerte sich der Erdenbildung ein, als die Erde mit dem Monde allein war. Wir sind so weit gekommen, daß durch den Weltenton, der hereindrang und die Stoffe zum Tanze zwang, sich die Protoplasmamassen eingegliedert haben. Wir haben Wesen, wo sich nach den Kraftlinien früher feine Protoplasmamassen angeordnet haben, in der äußeren Bildung dem ähnlich, wie die Bildung im heutigen Eiweiß ist. Wir haben auch dichtere Massen, die wie zum Schutze da sind, die wie eine Art Leimhülle die betreffenden Wesen umgeben. Was fehlt in diesen Wesen? Die harte Knochenmasse! Wenn ich mich populär ausdrücken darf: Es ist alles noch eine mehr leimartige Masse, und das, was überhaupt mineralisch ist, fehlt ganz und gar in den Wesen bis zu der Zeit, die ich Ihnen jetzt beschrieben habe. Nun müssen Sie sich denken, wie anders diese Wesen waren. Heute haben Sie nichts in Ihrem physischen Körper, das nicht zugleich durchdrungen wäre von der mineralischen Substanz. Der Menschenleib, wie er heute ist, ist also erst verhältnismäßig spät entstanden. Heute besteht der Menschenleib nicht nur aus Knochen, sondern auch aus Muskeln und Blut; allem ist diese mineralische Masse eingegliedert. Denken Sie sich die mineralische Masse fort, die ganze Erde mit ihren Wesen noch ohne mineralische Masse. Dann entsteht durch einen Verbrennungsprozeß die Einlagerung von mineralischer Asche, Asche der verschiedensten Mineralien. In die Menschen, die es eigentlich bisher nur bis zur leimartigen Dichte gebracht hatten, lagerten sich also nach allen Seiten Aschenbestandteile ein. Und die Wesen nehmen die Asche auf wie früher das Eiweiß und gliedern sie sich in ihrer Weise ein, nehmen das Mineralische auf vom dicken Knochen bis zum flüssigen Blute. Sie können sich leicht eine Vorstellung machen, was sich da eingelagert hat: Alles, was als Asche zurückbleibt, wenn der Leib verbrannt wird oder verwest, Was wirklich als Asche zurückbleibt, ist das, was am allerletzten entstanden ist, Alles an Ihnen, was nicht als Asche zurückbleibt, war vorher da; das hat sich diese Asche erst eingegliedert. Der Mensch, der mit sehendem Auge auf diese Asche hinblickt, die aus einem verwesenden Leichnam herkommt, muß sich sagen: Dies ist die mineralische Substanz in mir, die am spätesten eingesogen wurde von dem, was früher da war. - Das Mineralische ist also im Laufe der Erdenbildung am spätesten entstanden, und die anderen Reiche haben es sich eingegliedert, nachdem sie früher nur aus anderen Substanzen bestanden haben.
[ 23 ] Nun können wir uns jetzt noch fragen: Was hat denn bewirkt, daß diese Asche sich eingegliedert hat? — Wir tragen ja fortwährend diese Asche mit uns herum, nur ist sie verteilt und wird zurückgelassen, wenn unser Leichnam verbrannt wird oder verwest. Wie drang denn die Asche hinein in diese Linien, die von Eiweißsubstanz angefüllt waren?
[ 24 ] Wir haben gesehen, ursprünglich war Feuer da; daraus bildete sich die Herzanlage; dann bildete sich die Atmungsanlage aus der Luft; das Licht gliederte sich ein und bildete die Nervenanlage; dann kam der Schall und bildete, indem er die Stoffe tanzen ließ, die lebendige Substanz. Was ließ denn das Aschenhafte, das Mineralische hineinströmen in diese Substanz? Das, was die Asche hineindrängt in die menschlichen Leiber, das war nunmehr der Gedanke, der den Schall, den Ton zum Worte macht, Noch in der atlantischen Zeit, als alles ringsum eingetaucht war in Nebel- und Dunstmassen, da war nicht das, was der Mensch sprach, die einzige artikulierte Sprache, sondern der Mensch konnte die Sprache der rauschenden Bäume, der rieselnden Quellen verstehen. Alles, was heute artikulierte Sprache ist, und was sich darinnen ausdrückt, bildete den Tanz der Stoffe; der 'Ton, das Musikalische darinnen, bildete die Stoffe zur lebendigen Substanz. Der Sinn, die Wortbedeutung drängt die sich im Verbrennungsprozeß bildende Asche hinein in diese lebendige Substanz, und in dem Maße, wie sich nach und nach bis gegen das Ende der atlantischen Zeit hin das Knochensystem verdichtere, wurde der Mensch immer mehr von Gedanken, von Selbstbewußtsein durchdrungen. Sein Intellektualismus leuchtete auf, und er wurde immer mehr und mehr ein selbstbewußtes Wesen.
[ 25 ] Von außen hinein sind die Dinge, die in uns sind, erschaffen: Erst unsere Anlage, die im Herzen ihr gipfelndes Organ erhalten hat, dann unser Nervensystem mit der Atmungsanlage, dann die Organe, die aus Lebendigern entstehen als Drüsenorgane. So zeigt sich im Laufe der Erdenentwickelung der umgekehrte Gang von früher. Dann gliedern sich ein das Knochensystem, die festen Stoffe, die von Asche durchdrungen sind, und der Mensch wird ein selbstbewußtes Wesen. So ist der Gang der Entwickelung innerhalb unserer eigenen Erdenverkörperung. Damit sind wir schon fast zum Ende der atlantischen Zeit gekommen.
[ 26 ] Wenn Sie das vergleichen mit dem, was wir früher besprochen haben, so werden Sie sehen: es ist immer zuerst dasjenige dagewesen, was zuletzt wirkt; denn das, was als «Wort» hineindrängt in die Materie, war zuallererst da. Was dem Menschen sein Ich gegeben hat, war zuallererst da. Wenn Sie das, was heute gesagt worden ist, lichtvoll zu verstehen suchen, können Sie auch hierin sehr leicht wiederfinden die Tatsachen für die ersten Sätze im Johannes-Evangelium. Wir werden in einem der nächsten Abende gerade zeigen müssen, wie unsere in den Weltenraum hinausschweifenden Betrachtungen schön wiedergegeben sind im Johannes-Evangelium und auch in den ersten Sätzen der Genesis. Alle diese Dinge werden uns wiedergewonnen, wenn wir also den Gang des Weltenwerdens betrachten. Aber eines wird Ihnen mit Klarheit daraus hervorgehen: Es stellt sich uns, wenn wir die Tatsachen betrachten, diese menschliche Entwickelung anders dar, als es die materialistische Phantastik sich vorstellt, nämlich, daß der Mensch hervorgegangen sei aus dem Grobmateriellen, und daß aus diesem die geistigen Fähigkeiten sich herausgebildet haben.
[ 27 ] Nun sehen Sie, daß das, was die eigentliche Mission der Erdenentwickelung bildet, das, worin beim Menschen die Liebe zum Ausdruck kommt, zuerst veranlagt ist in dem, was wir als Wärmeorgan haben. Das taucht als erstes auf. Vor dem Organischen ist das Geistige in Form von Kraftlinien; dann gliedert sich das Organische unter der Wunderwirkung der Weltenmusik ein, und dann erst wird das Ganze wie durchimprägniert mit mineralischer Substanz, mit festen Stoffen, durch das Wort oder den Gedanken. Das Dichteste entsteht am spätesten. Der Mensch entwickelt sich aus dem Geistigen heraus, auch wenn wir den Gang der Erdenentwickelung betrachten. Der Mensch hat seinen Ursprung und Utstand, wie jede wahre Weltbetrachtung immer gezeigt hat, nicht in der Materie, sondern im Geiste; und die Materie hat sich erst nach den geistigen Kräften in das Menschenwesen eingegliedert. Das ergibt sich immer mehr aus dieser Betrachtung.
Fifth Lecture
[ 2 ] Today we want to look at our evolution on Earth in connection with the evolution of our species from a different point of view, and we want to pay more attention to the human being himself. We want to describe the processes that present themselves to the clairvoyant eye looking backwards in what is called the “Akashic Records”.
[ 3 ] We have often repeated that our Earth, before it became Earth, went through a series of embodiments. It was preceded by the Saturn era, the Sun era, the Moon era; only then does our actual Earth era begin.
[ 4 ] If we take a brief look back at the time of ancient Saturn, we recall that it was said that of the elements and physical states that are on Earth today, of the elements and physical states that are on Earth today, the solid or earthy, the liquid or watery, the airy and the fiery, only fire, warmth, was present on ancient Saturn. We imagine quite correctly what this first embodiment of the Earth was like when we consider the following: Saturn did not yet have any gases or watery components in it, let alone anything earthy. If you had visited the old Saturn, so to speak – if you could have been a human being then as you are today – you would not have found anything of hard, somehow liquid or other matter when you approached the old Saturn, but a sphere that would have consisted only of heat. You would have entered it as if into an oven. You would have felt it by entering a different temperature zone. So old Saturn consisted only of fire or heat.
[ 5 ] The Sun, which was the second embodiment of our Earth, already showed warmth in such a concentration that we speak of a gaseous or airy state. The state of the Moon then showed a watery state of our substances in its earlier period; and I have already drawn your attention to the fact that part of the substance of the old Moon went out to become the Sun, and when it had gone out, there was a sudden mighty condensation of all lunar beings.
[ 6 ] For us today, the main thing is to realize once again that in each later state of development, the earlier ones must be repeated in a certain way. Thus, when we look back at the evolution of our Earth, at the beginning of its development we have a kind of Saturnian evolution, namely a repetition of the Saturnian state; then we have a kind of solar evolution, a repetition of the solar state; then a kind of lunar evolution, a repetition of the lunar state; and only then does the present incarnation of our Earth's evolution really begin. When our Earth emerged from the state of Pralaya, from the state of twilight, through which it had passed after being a moon, our Earth was also only a fiery orb. I have already described to you how the other planets broke away. We will initially assume that the Earth was a mere fiery orb containing only heat. Within this sphere of warmth, which consisted of fire, man was already present. Just as the first germ of man was present on Saturn, so man is also present again when the state of Saturn is repeated on earth. There were no other kingdoms. Man is the firstborn of the earth's state. No plant, animal or mineral kingdom existed at the beginning of our evolution on earth, so that our earth, too, was basically composed only of human bodies at the beginning of its development.
[ 7 ] Yes, but what is the difference between the old Saturn condition and the present earth condition, which repeats the old Saturn condition? There is a significant difference! It consists in the fact that the human bodies — which now emerge as the fresh plants unfold from the germs — have gone through the three earlier stages of development. They are essentially more diverse and more intricately formed, for all the forces that were active in Saturn are present in this first earthly state. The old Sun and the old Moon are also present. They united at the beginning of the evolution of the Earth and have all become one body again. The forces of Saturn, the Sun and the Moon work together in it. Therefore, this first human being at the beginning of the earth's development is already much, much more complicated than the old Saturn human being. In Saturn, everything was undifferentiated, everything was still a Saturn human being. Now, in the newly formed earth, Saturn, the sun and the moon work together; the earth human being emerged in his first, very complicated disposition.
[ 8 ] At the time when the Earth emerged, so to speak, when it rose out of the darkness of space as a space glowing with warmth, the first human forms themselves lived in this warm space as warmth beings. If you look back with clairvoyant eyes at what was present at that time in the human being, you will first find this first human disposition as if the whole sphere of warmth had many, many currents within it. These currents move towards the surface of the earth – that is, the newly emerged earth – and sink into this surface, forming warmer masses there than the surrounding area. The human being differs from his surroundings only in that he feels that certain spaces are warmer. Now, the easiest way for me to make clear to you what was present in the human being at that time is to show you, among the human organs, what was formed in the first system.
[ 9 ] Imagine a newborn child, with a soft spot on the top of its head. Imagine this opening to be completely open and imagine a flow of warmth entering from the outside. Do not think of this warmth as being in the form of blood, but as a flow of energy. Imagine this energy going down and forming a kind of center where your own heart is now, and spreading out into individual veins, but these are not blood vessels, they are energy channels. There you have the first warmth-producing organ in man. Later, in the course of further development, the human heart with its blood vessels emerged from this warmth-producing organ, and became the blood circulation. And the organ that was present in man for a long time but then disappeared was a luminous warmth organ, which was also present in the first system at that time. Much later in the evolution of the earth did man possess such an organ. At the spot where the head of a child remains soft, so to speak, is indicated the place where a kind of warmth organ went out from man when he could not yet see into his surroundings. When he was still a sea creature, when he could not yet perceive in today's way, when he still swam around in the sea, he had to know above all what the 'temperature conditions' were, whether he was allowed to move in one direction or not. With this lantern-like organ he could perceive whether he was allowed to go there or there. This organ was still present in the third period, the Lemurian time. I have already indicated to you that the saga of the Cyclops, the one-eyed people, goes back to this human eye form. It is not really an eye and if it is described as such, then that is not correct. It is a kind of heat organ and this points the way to where it is allowed to go. So we would have something like a cup-shaped organ that widens downwards to the first formation of the heart, and that was surrounded by a kind of tentacles, so that there was a kind of blossom at the top. That is how this organ was in the beginning.
[ 10 ] Now something occurred in the course of time on earth that is very important: the matter, the substance, differentiated. The uniform warm matter differentiated, so that air matter came into being, while a part of the earlier warm matter remained as warm matter. But you must observe a law in this, and it is necessary that you realize it clearly if you want to observe these parts of man in the course of development: Everywhere where warm matter condenses so that it becomes air, light comes into being at the same time. Warmth is still dark matter, not interspersed with light. But when a part of this warmth condenses into gas or air in such a sphere of the world, then a part of this matter can let the light through. And so it was.
[ 11 ] Now we have the earth in the second state of its development. All other aspects run parallel to this. We now have an Earth that consists partly of warmth, partly of air, and that glows inwardly. And indeed, all this is now also expressed in human development, in human education. That which used to be a mere predisposition as a warmth organ, that actually begins to glow. The human being is like a lantern, he shines. A few decades ago, one might still have been surprised that there are luminous beings. Today, however, there is no longer any need to be surprised; for today, science already knows that deep in the bottom of the sea, where no rays of light penetrate at all, there are beings that shine and that spread their light themselves. This is how man began to shine.
[ 12 ] Now something very peculiar appeared in this human formation: the first facility to utilize the air that was there also developed - little by little it then developed further; the beginning of a breathing process developed. So we see that a kind of breathing process has been added to the previous warming process. It is very important that we realize that with the storage of air in the earth, the breathing process begins, which consists of nothing more than air attaching itself to the warming matter, so that it is permeated by air bubbles. That is the effect of air. But it is still linked to something else; because the effect of light is also there, and this is shown in the fact that the first rudiments of the nervous system, and indeed of the inner nervous system, are forming. Not a physically pronounced nervous system, mind you, but the whole thing is more like lines of force that have been developed to a certain density. You must bear in mind that the whole thing is gaseous and that only very fine currents of air, like lines of force, can be present in it.
[ 13 ] So we now have a human being who, in all his delicacy, is still an ethereal, warm, airy being, and a being in whom the first rudiments of the nervous system are emerging. If you reflect on this a little, you will realize that this is the state of our development on earth, where the sun is still within the earth. Of course the sun is still inside! Imagine how this cosmic body would appear in space if someone were to look at it from outside. All these beings, which we have just described as the first human beings, radiate light individually, and this light becomes the total light that streams out into space. You see that you are really dealing with a sun that shines out into space. If you had been able to examine the state of Saturn, you would have found that you could have approached it without seeing it; only through warmth did it become noticeable. Now, however, you are dealing with a solar body that is warmed on the inside but sends its light out into space.
[ 14 ] Now, little by little, the time I have characterized as the time when the sun went forth comes. All the higher beings that were connected with the sun and gave mankind the abilities we have just discussed, all these entities with the finer substances separated. The sun went forth. It did not shine yet, it did not spread any light yet; it went out of the earth.
[ 15 ] Now we have a world body in this state of development of our earth, which consists of earth and moon, because the present moon was still inside the earth at that time. Now something very strange happens. Because all the finer forces have gone out with the sun, a relatively rapid condensation occurs. What used to be only lines of force now already shows a very dense form. And as the finer substances leave, we see how the gaseous state condenses into water. The whole now consists not only of fire and air, but also of water. The luminosity has gone with the outgoing sun. It has become dark again on earth; the beings have retained only part of the luminosity within themselves.
[ 16 ] This is an interesting state in the evolution of mankind. I have told you that the predisposition for the nervous system arose through the light. This nervous system is a creature of the light. In all your nerves you have nothing but the original radiations of light. Now the light, the sun, goes out into the universe. As a result, the mass condenses very quickly. It does not immediately become the nerve mass that it is today, but it becomes denser than before, it is no longer just a fine ethereal mass. And what is most significant is that it used to shine outwards, but now it becomes inwardly radiant. This means that the human being's first nervous system has the ability to produce inner images of light: visions, clairvoyant consciousness occurs. So the sun goes out of the earth, so to speak, leaving the earth without light. But the beings produce an inner light for themselves. They used to shine light from the outside to each other. Now they lost the ability to shine. The earth was no longer the sun, but inwardly the consciousness space was illuminated, as when you today illuminate your consciousness space in sleep with the whole dream world. Only infinitely more significantly, much more vividly, was this whole consciousness space illuminated at this time.
[ 17 ] And now we come to another important point. Just as light was created with the emergence of air, a counter-image has now emerged with the condensation of air into water. Just as air relates to light, water relates to sound. Of course, sound can pass through air and set air in vibration, making it audible. But sound arose and appeared on Earth as a separate entity alongside the formation of water. And just as the air was permeated by the effect of light, so now all the water into which the air has condensed – we now have the earth consisting of warmth, air and water – is completely vibrated by sound rays. Our Earth is now permeated most in those parts where it has become watery, by the harmonies of the spheres, by sounds that stream from the universe into our Earth in all possible sound harmonies; and the result of these sound effects in the water is a very, very important one. You have to imagine, of course, that this original water, this liquid earth water, contained all the substances that have since been deposited as metals, minerals and so on. It is particularly interesting to focus one's spiritual gaze on these ancient times, to see how the most diverse forms develop out of water, in that clay in water creates shapes. Clay in water creates shapes. It is a truly wonderful time in the evolution of our Earth. Something happened at that time in the evolution of the Earth, on the grandest scale, that is comparable to sprinkling fine dust onto a metal plate and stroking it with a violin bow; the Chladni figures are formed. You know what regular figures are formed. In this way, the most diverse forms and figures were formed by the music flowing in from outer space, and the substances dissolved in the water, which were themselves watery, obeyed the cosmic music and arranged themselves according to the cosmic music. And the most important formation of the dance of substances according to the cosmic music is the egg white, the protoplasm, which is the basis of all living formation. Let the materialists reflect as much as they like on the mechanical combination of albumen from oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and so on. The original protoplasm, albumen, formed out of the cosmic substance, which formed out of the harmonies of the cosmic music. And so the substances in living things are arranged in the sense of cosmic music. And so, around these fine structures, and especially in them, is organized that protein-like substance, that protoplasm, which permeates everything. Along those lines, which I have described to you as lines of warmth, the water coagulated into protein according to the world tone runs and gradually passes into blood formation. In the nerve lines, the coagulated water settles as the formation of protein. And at first the protein formed like a kind of shell, like a cartilaginous glue substance, one might say, so that there is protection against the outside. All this really formed itself after the dance of the substances in accordance with the music of the spheres.
[ 18 ] All this was there before there was a single cell. The cell is not the origin of the organism, but what I have just described to you, the spiritual, is the origin of the organism, first present as a warmth, then more suggested in lines of force, lines, then embedding itself in these lines of force, that which has arisen from the harmony of the spheres through the arrangement of the substances; and relatively late, as the last of the formations, the cell arose. The cell, as the last secretion, had to be born of a living being. It never happened that organisms developed out of cells, but the cell was first formed out of living matter. The anatomical is always only a consequence of the composite.
[ 19 ] All this we had at the beginning of that state when the moon was still in the earth and the sun already outside. But as long as the moon remained inside the earth, an ever-increasing hardening of this protein formation occurred, and it would have finally come to the point that I have described to you as mummification if the coarsest substances and the coarsest beings had not emerged from the earth. The last thing to emerge from the human being during this period were the nerves that go to the sense organs. But the sense organs had not yet been opened. They had been formed from within, but they had not yet been opened. And so the moon goes out with the coarsest substances. The consequence of this stage of development is that the human being can gradually move on to a higher state by opening his senses, by the two bodies, so to speak, that are now outside, mutually balancing each other from the outside. While they were connected with the earth and built up the human being, they now work from the outside, opening his senses and making him the seeing and hearing being that he appears to us today.
[ 20 ] This going out of the moon happens around the middle of the old Lemurian period. There we have a human being whose sense organs have not yet been opened, but who has a powerful clairvoyant gift. I have described it to you: he can fill his consciousness with the most diverse colors and heat phenomena from within, all of which have real value and mean something; but he does not yet perceive the objects in space. This only begins after the moon has left the earth.
[ 21 ] If you consider this brief sketch that I have given you of the ancient development of the earth, you will see that man, as he is today as an earthly being, actually took his starting point from the heart. Of course, the heart was not there as an organ as it is today. That only developed much later; but the predisposition for the heart arose out of the fire. Then, born out of the air, the respiratory system was added, and the nervous system was born out of the light. Then came what integrated itself into the organs as a mass of protoplasm, which first shaped the whole into living matter by the fact that the world tones coagulated the aqueous substances. In the last period of the earth's development, when the earth was still together with the substance of the moon, the condensation to an earthy state occurred; and only shortly before the moon went out, what is now commonly called the mineral kingdom came into being, the earthy emerged from the liquid. After all, egg white is a state between the solid and the liquid in the middle. But the earthy, the solid, only really came into being in the most recent period. How? It came into being through the fact that under the influence of condensation — for everything was, of course, a continuous process of condensation — the elements themselves became more and more material. Think of the beginning of the evolution of the earth. What did the warmth-matter do then? It gave you that for your physical body, which now pulsates in your blood. It was not the same warmth as before. You must not think that when we speak of the first state of warmth on earth, we are speaking of a warmth like that which arises when you light a match. That is mineral fire and mineral warmth. We speak of the fire and warmth that pulsates in your blood; that is living warmth. There is not only the mineral warmth that arises out there in space, but there is a very different, living warmth that you have within you. This was present at the beginning of the earth, and out of it the first human being was formed. But with the continuing condensation, this living warmth has also gradually become inanimate warmth. This was also connected with the condensation process that took place when the sun went out and the moon was connected with the earth. And this warmth, which was the mineral warmth, first occurs as a process of combustion.
[ 22 ] Here we come to an important point, which I would like to emphasize. We can indeed speak of a state of warmth, of a state of fire, at the beginning; but we should not speak of actual combustion. That is not correct. We should speak of nothing other than what we feel pulsating warmly in our own blood today. Warmth, which arises from an external mineral combustion, only occurred after the sun had emerged and the earth was left alone with the moon. And through this combustion, which had not existed before, the substances within the earth's mass were separated out, which in occultism are referred to as “ashes”. When you burn anything, ashes are created. The ashes were deposited during the formation of the earth when the earth was alone with the moon. We have come so far that through the incoming cosmic tone, which forced the materials to dance, the protoplasm masses have integrated themselves. We have beings in which, according to the lines of force, fine protoplasm masses have arranged themselves in the past, similar in external formation to what the formation is in today's protein. We also have denser masses that are there for protection, that surround the respective beings like a kind of gluey shell. What is missing in these beings? The hard bone mass! If I may express myself in a popular way: it is all still a glue-like mass, and what is actually mineral is completely absent in the beings until the time I have now described to you. Now you can imagine how different these beings were. Today, nothing in your physical body is not permeated with mineral substance. The human body as it is today has only developed relatively recently. Today, the human body consists not only of bones, but also of muscles and blood; this mineral mass is incorporated into everything. Imagine the mineral mass not existing, the whole earth with its beings still without mineral mass. Then, through a process of combustion, the mineral ash, ash of the most diverse minerals, is deposited. So, in the human beings, who had actually only reached the glue-like density up to now, ash components were deposited on all sides. And the beings absorb the ash like egg white in the past and integrate it in their own way, absorb the mineral from the thick bone to the liquid blood. You can easily imagine what has been stored there: All that remains as ashes when the body is cremated or decomposes, what really remains as ashes is what was created last, everything about you that does not remain as ashes was there before; these ashes have only been incorporated into it. The person who looks with a seeing eye at this ash, which comes from a decomposing corpse, must say to himself: This is the mineral substance in me that was absorbed last by what was there earlier. The mineral part was the last to be created in the course of the formation of the earth, and the other realms incorporated it, after they had previously consisted only of other substances.
[ 23 ] Now we can still ask ourselves: What caused these ashes to be incorporated? We carry these ashes around with us all the time, but they are distributed and left behind when our body is cremated or decays. So how did the ashes get into these lines that were filled with protein substance?
[ 24 ] We have seen that originally there was fire; from it the heart developed; then the respiratory system developed from the air; light joined in and formed the nervous system; then sound came and, by making the materials dance, formed the living substance. What was it that allowed the mineral element to flow into this substance? That which the ashes force into the human body was now thought, which turns sound and tone into words. Even in Atlantean times, when everything around was shrouded in fog and mist, the spoken word was not the only articulated language. Everything that is articulated language today, and what is expressed in it, formed the dance of the fabrics; the 'sound, the musicality within, formed the fabrics into a living substance. Meaning, the significance of words, pushes the ash formed in the combustion process into this living substance, and to the extent that the bone system gradually became denser towards the end of the Atlantic period, man became more and more imbued with thoughts, with self-awareness. His intellectualism emerged, and he became more and more a self-aware being.
[ 25 ] The things that are in us are created from the outside in: first our disposition, which has received its culminating organ in the heart, then our nervous system with the respiratory system, then the organs that arise from glands in living things. Thus, in the course of the earth's development, the reverse of what happened earlier becomes apparent. Then the bone system, the solid substances, the integration of ash, and the human being becomes a self-aware being. Such is the course of development within our own earthly embodiment. This brings us almost to the end of the Atlantean period.
[ 26 ] If you compare this with what we discussed earlier, you will see: what is first was always that which works last; because that which pushes into matter as a “word” was there first. What gave the human being his I was there first. If you try to understand what has been said today in a light-filled way, you can also very easily find in it the facts for the first sentences in the Gospel of John. In one of the next evenings, we will have to show how our rambling observations in outer space are beautifully reflected in the Gospel of John and also in the first sentences of Genesis. All these things will be regained for us when we contemplate the process of world evolution. But one thing will emerge clearly from this: when we look at the facts, this human development presents itself to us differently than the materialistic imagination imagines, namely that the human being emerged from the coarse material, and that from this the spiritual abilities have developed.
[ 27 ] Now you see that what actually constitutes the mission of earthly development, that in which love is expressed in man, is first laid down in what we have as an organ of warmth. That emerges first. Before the organic, the spiritual is in the form of lines of force; then the organic is integrated under the miracle effect of world music, and only then is the whole thing as if impregnated with mineral substance, with solid matter, through the word or the thought. The densest substance is formed last. When we look at the course of earthly evolution, we see that the human being develops out of the spiritual. Man has his origin and Utstand, as every true world view has always shown, not in matter, but in the spirit; and matter has only been incorporated into the human being after the spiritual forces. This emerges more and more from this consideration.