The Rudolf Steiner Archive

A Necessary Interlude

[ 1 ] These reflections will begin with accounts relating to the evolution of humankind and the beings associated with it prior to the “earthly period.” For when humanity began to link its destiny to the planet called “Earth,” it had already passed through a series of stages of development through which it had, so to speak, prepared itself for earthly existence. Three such stages must be distinguished, and these are designated as three planetary stages of development. The names used in esoteric science for these stages are the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods. It will become clear that these designations at first have nothing to do with the celestial bodies of today that bear these names in physical astronomy, although in a broader sense there is also a connection to them known to the advanced mystic. — It is also said that before entering Earth, humankind inhabited other planets. However, these “other planets” are to be understood solely as earlier stages of development of the Earth itself and its inhabitants. Before it became the “Earth,” the Earth, along with all the beings belonging to it, passed through the three stages of Saturn, Sun, and Moon existence. Saturn, Sun, and Moon are, in a sense, the three incarnations of the Earth in ancient times. And what is referred to in this context as Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon no longer exists today as physical planets, just as the earlier physical incarnations of a human being no longer exist alongside his present one. — The nature of this “planetary evolution” of human beings and the other beings belonging to the Earth will be the subject of the following treatises in From the Akashic Records. This is not to say that these three states were not preceded by others. However, everything that preceded them is lost in a darkness into which esoteric research is not yet able to shed light. For this research is not based on speculation, on spinning theories out of mere concepts, but on genuine spiritual experience. And just as our physical eye can see only up to a certain limit in an open field and cannot look beyond the horizon, so too can the “spiritual eye” see only up to a certain point in time. Esoteric science is based on experience, and it confines itself within this experience. Only conceptual hair-splitting seeks to investigate what was “at the very beginning” of the world, or “why, in fact, God created the world.” For the esoteric researcher, the point is rather to understand that, at a certain level of knowledge, such questions are no longer even asked. For within spiritual experience, everything necessary for a person to fulfill their destiny on our planet is revealed. Anyone who patiently delves into the experiences of the researchers of the occult will see that a person can find complete satisfaction for all the questions they need answered within spiritual experience. For example, in the following essays one will see how the question of the “origin of evil” is completely resolved, along with many other matters that human beings must seek to understand. — Nor is it at all intended to be said here that human beings can never gain insight into the aforementioned questions concerning the “origin of the world” and similar topics. He can do so. But in order to do so, he must first pass through the insights that within the next spiritual experience are revealed. Then he realizes that he must pose these questions in a different way than he has done so far.

[ 2 ] The deeper one delves into true esoteric science, the more humble one becomes. Only then does one realize how one must gradually prepare oneself to become mature and worthy of certain insights. And pride or arrogance ultimately become terms for human traits that no longer make sense at a certain level of understanding. Once one has gained even a little insight, one sees how immeasurably long the path ahead is. Through knowledge, one gains the insight into “how little one knows.” And one also gains a sense of the immense responsibility one takes upon oneself when speaking of supersensible insights. Yet humanity cannot live without these supersensible insights. But whoever disseminates such insights requires humility and true, genuine self-criticism, an unshakable striving for self-knowledge, and the utmost caution.

[ 3 ] Such asides are necessary here, since the journey is now to be undertaken toward even higher insights than those found in the preceding sections of the “Akashic Records.”

[ 4 ] The glimpses into humanity’s past that will be provided in the following communications will be followed by such glimpses into the future. For the future can open itself to true spiritual insight, albeit only to the extent necessary for humanity to fulfill its destiny. Anyone who refuses to engage with esoteric science and, from the lofty judgment seat of his prejudices, simply dismisses everything that comes from this realm as fantasy and daydreaming will be the least able to understand this relationship to the future. And yet, a simple logical consideration could make clear what is at stake here. However, such logical considerations are accepted only as long as they align with people’s prejudices. Prejudices are powerful enemies of all logic as well.

[ 5 ] Consider this: when sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen are brought together under very specific conditions, sulfuric acid must be produced according to an inevitable law. And anyone who has studied chemistry knows how to predict what must happen when these three substances are combined under the appropriate conditions. Such a chemist is therefore a prophet within the limited realm of the material world. And his prophecy could only prove false if the laws of nature were to suddenly change. The scholar of the occult now investigates spiritual laws in precisely the same way that a physicist or chemist investigates material laws. He does so in the manner and with the rigor befitting the spiritual realm. Yet the development of humanity depends on these great spiritual laws. Just as contrary to the laws of nature, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur will never combine in any future, so too will nothing in spiritual life happen contrary to the spiritual laws. And whoever knows the latter is thus able to glimpse the regularity of the future. -

[ 6 ] This particular comparison is deliberately used here to describe the prophetic predetermination of humanity’s future destinies, because in true esoteric science, this predetermination is indeed meant entirely in this sense. For those who grasp this true view of occultism, the objection that human freedom is rendered impossible by the fact that things are, in a certain sense, predetermined, is thereby dispelled. What corresponds to a law can be predetermined. But the will is not determined by the law. Just as it is certain that in every case, oxygen, hydrogen, and sulfur will combine to form sulfuric acid only according to a specific law, so it is equally certain that it can depend on the human will to create the conditions under which the law will take effect. And so it will also be with the great world events and human destinies of the future. As occult researchers, we foresee them, even though they are to be brought about only through human volition. The occult researcher also foresees what will be accomplished only through human freedom. The following remarks are intended to give an idea of how this is possible. — One must, however, clearly understand one essential difference between the prediction of facts by physical science and that by spiritual knowledge. Physical science is based on the insights of the intellect, and its prophecy is therefore merely an intellectual one, relying on judgments, conclusions, combinations, and so on. Prophecy through spiritual insight, on the other hand, arises from a genuine higher vision or perception. Indeed, the esoteric researcher must, with the utmost rigor, avoid imagining anything that is based on mere reflection, combination, speculation, and so on. Here he must practice the most complete renunciation and be fully aware that all speculation, intellectual philosophizing, and so on is detrimental to true vision. These activities still belong entirely to the lower human nature, and truly higher knowledge begins only where this nature rises to the higher being within the human being. This in itself says nothing against these activities, which in their own realm are not only fully justified but also solely justified. In and of itself, nothing is inherently higher or lower, but only in relation to something else. And what is high in one respect may be very low in another. — But what must be recognized through contemplation cannot be attained through mere reflection and the most magnificent combinations of the intellect not. A person may be as “witty” as can be in the ordinary sense of the word; yet this “wit” does not help him at all in gaining insight into supersensory truths. He must even renounce it and devote himself entirely to higher contemplation. Then he perceives things there without his “witty” reasoning, just as he perceives the flowers in a field without further thought. It does one no good to think about the appearance of a meadow; all wit is powerless there. The same must be true of contemplation in higher worlds.

[ 7 ] Whatever can be prophetically stated in this way about humanity’s future forms the foundation for all ideals that have real practical significance. If ideals are to have any value, they must be rooted as deeply in the spiritual world as the laws of nature are in the purely natural world. Laws of development must be such true ideals. Otherwise, they spring from worthless enthusiasm and fantasy and can never be realized. All the great ideals of world history, in the broadest sense, have emerged from intuitive insight. For ultimately, all these great ideals originate with the great esoteric researchers or initiates, and the lesser ones who contribute to the edification of humanity orient themselves either consciously or—in most cases—unconsciously according to the guidelines established by the esoteric researchers. For everything unconscious ultimately has its origin in something conscious. The mason working on a house “unconsciously” follows things that are conscious to others—those who have determined the location where the house is to be built, the style in which it is to be constructed, and so on. But even this determination of location and style is based on something that remains unconscious to those making the decisions, yet is conscious—or was conscious—to others. An artist, for example, knows why a particular style calls for a straight line here and a curved line there, and so on. The person who adopts that style for his house may not bring this “why” to his conscious awareness. — The same is true of the great processes in the development of the world and humanity. Behind those who work in a particular field stand higher, more conscious workers, and thus the ladder of consciousness ascends and descends. — Behind ordinary people stand the inventors, artists, researchers, and so on. Behind them stand the initiates of the secret sciences—and behind them stand superhuman beings. Only this makes the development of the world and humanity comprehensible, if one is clear about the fact that ordinary human consciousness is only one form of consciousness, and that there are higher and deeper forms. But even here, one must not misuse the terms “higher” and “deeper.” They have meaning only from the standpoint on which a person currently stands. It is no different from “right and left.” When you stand in a certain place, certain things are “to the right or to the left.” If you move a little “to the right” yourself, the things that were formerly to the right are now to the left. The same is true of the levels of consciousness that are “higher or lower” than the ordinary human level. As a person develops to a higher level, their relationship to other levels of consciousness changes. But these changes are precisely related to their development. And that is why it is important to point out such other levels of consciousness here, for example.

[ 8 ] Examples of such indications can be found, first of all, in the beehive or in that marvelous social structure found in an anthill. The interaction among the individual types of insects (females, males, workers) takes place in a thoroughly systematic manner. And the distribution of tasks among the individual categories can only be described as the expression of fully valid wisdom. What comes about there is just as much the result of consciousness as human institutions in the physical world (technology, art, the state, and so on) are the effects of human consciousness. However, the consciousness underlying the beehive or the ant colony is not to be found in the same physical world in which ordinary human consciousness exists. To describe this state of affairs, one might express it in the following manner. Humans are found in the physical world. And their physical organs, their entire constitution, are such that one initially seeks their consciousness in this physical world as well. It is different with the beehive or the anthill. One is entirely mistaken if, in the same sense as with humans, one confines oneself to the physical world when seeking the consciousness in question. No, here one must rather say to oneself: in order to find the organizing essence of the beehive or anthill, one cannot remain in the world in which the bees or ants live in terms of their physical bodies. The “conscious spirit” must be sought immediately in another world. The very same conscious spirit that lives in the physical world in human beings must, for the animal colonies mentioned, be sought in a supersensible world. If human beings could raise their consciousness into this supersensible world, they would be able to greet the “ant or bee spirit” there in full consciousness as their sister being. The seer can truly. Thus, in the examples cited, we are dealing with beings who are conscious in other worlds and who project into the physical world only through their physical organs—the individual bees and ants. It may well be that a consciousness such as that of the beehive or the anthill was already present in the physical world in earlier epochs of its development, just as human consciousness is today, but then elevated itself, leaving only the executing organs—namely, the individual ants and bees—behind in the physical world. Such a course of development will indeed take place in human beings in the future. Indeed, in a certain sense, it has already unfolded among the seers in the present. The fact that the consciousness of modern human beings operates in the physical world is based on the fact that their physical particles—the brain and nerve molecules—are connected to one another in a very specific way. What has been explained in more detail in another context—in my book How to Attain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds—should also be touched upon here. In the higher development of the human being, the usual connection between the brain molecules is indeed dissolved. They are then linked more “loosely,” so that, in a certain sense, the brain of a seer can indeed be compared to an anthill, even if anatomically this fragmentation is not detectable. These processes unfold in entirely different ways in the various realms of the world. The individual molecules of the anthill—the ants themselves—were tightly bound together in a time long past, just as the molecules of a human brain are today. At that time, the consciousness corresponding to them in the physical world was like human consciousness today. And when, in the future, human consciousness migrates to “higher” worlds, the connection between the sensory parts in the physical world will be as loose as that between individual ants is today. What will one day take place physically for all human beings is already taking place today in the brain of the clairvoyant; it is just that no instrument of the sensory world is sensitive enough to detect this loosening in the course of this advance in development. Indeed, just as three categories arise among bees—queen, drones, and workers—so too do three categories of molecules arise in the “clairvoyant’s brain”—in fact, individual, living beings—which bring the clairvoyant’s consciousness, now transported to a higher world, into conscious interaction.

[ 9 ] Another level of consciousness is provided by what is commonly called national or racial spirit, without any specific concept being associated with it. For the occult researcher, the collective, wise effects that manifest in the coexistence of the members of a people or a race are also based on a form of consciousness. Through occult research, this consciousness is found in another world, just as is the case with the consciousness of a beehive or an anthill. However, there are no organs for this “national” or “racial consciousness” in the physical world; rather, these organs are found only in the so-called astral world. Just as the consciousness of a beehive carries out its work through the physical bees, so does the national consciousness with the help of the astral bodies of the people belonging to that nation. These “national and racial spirits” are thus a completely different kind of entity than those found in human beings or in a beehive. Many more examples would need to be cited to make it fully clear how there are entities both subordinate to and superior to human beings. However, what has been stated here may suffice to serve as an introduction to the paths of human development described in the following discussion. For the human being’s own development can only be understood if one takes into account that he develops alongside beings whose consciousness lies in worlds other than his own. What takes place in the human world depends on such beings of other levels of consciousness with; therefore, it can only be understood in connection with them.