The Rudolf Steiner Archive

The Life of the Sun

[ 1 ] The great world age of Saturn, as described in earlier discussions, is followed by that of the Sun. Between the two lies a period of rest (Pralaya). During this time, everything that developed from the human being on Saturn takes on a character that relates to the Solar Man, who will later emerge, in the same way that a seed relates to the plant that springs from it. The Saturnian human being has, as it were, left behind his seed, which remains in a kind of slumber, only to unfold later as the Solar Man.

[ 2 ] The latter is now undergoing its second stage of consciousness on the Sun. It resembles the state into which human beings still fall today during calm, dreamless sleep. This state, which currently interrupts wakefulness, is a remnant—a memory, so to speak, of the time of the Sun’s evolution. It can also be compared to that dull state of consciousness in which the plant world finds itself today. For indeed, the plant can be recognized as a sleeping being.

[ 3 ] To understand human evolution, one must imagine that the Sun was still a planet during this second great cycle and only later ascended to the status of a fixed star. In the context of esoteric science, a fixed star is one that sends life forces to one (or more) planets distant from it. This was not yet the case with the Sun during the second cycle. At that time, it was still united with the beings to whom it gave its power. These beings—including human beings at their stage of development at that time—still lived on the Sun. There was no planetary Earth separated from the Sun, nor was there a Moon. Everything that today lives on and within the Earth in terms of substances, forces, and beings, and everything that now belongs to the Moon, was still within the Sun. It formed a part of its substances, forces, and beings. It was not until the next (third) great cycle that what is called in esoteric science the Moon separated from the Sun as a distinct planet. This is not the present Moon, but the predecessor of our Earth, as it were, its previous embodiment (reincarnation). The Earth emerged from this Moon after it had once again separated from its substance and cast off what we today call the Moon. In the third cycle, therefore, two bodies existed in place of the former planetary Sun: namely, the fixed-star Sun and the split-off planetary Moon. And the latter had taken with it out of the Sun the human beings and the other beings who had developed as companions of humankind during the Sun’s cycle. The latter now bestowed upon the lunar beings from the outside the forces that they had previously drawn directly from it, as their dwelling place. — After the third (lunar) cycle, a period of rest (Pralaya) then set in once more. During this period, the two separated bodies (Sun and Moon) united and together underwent the state of seed-sleep. In the fourth cycle, the Sun and the planetary Moon emerged from the darkness of sleep as a single body. And during the first half of this cycle, our Earth, together with humankind and its companions, broke away from the Sun. A little later, it cast off the present-day Moon, so that there are now three bodies as descendants of the former solar planet.

[ 4 ] On the Sun Planet, during the second great world age, human beings and the beings mentioned in the discussion on Saturn underwent another stage of their evolution. The blueprint for the human being’s future physical body, which had gradually unfolded on Saturn, emerges at the beginning of the Solar Cycle like a plant from a seed. But it does not remain here as it was before. Rather, it is permeated by a second, finer, yet more powerful body—the etheric body. Whereas the human being’s Saturn body was a kind of automaton (entirely lifeless), it now becomes an animated being through the etheric body, which gradually permeates it entirely. As a result, the human being becomes a kind of plant. His appearance, however, is not that of today’s plants. Rather, his form already resembles that of the present-day human being to some extent. Only the rudiment of the head—like the root of a plant today—is turned downward toward the center of the Sun, and the rudiments of the feet are directed upward, like the flower of a plant. This plant-human form does not yet possess voluntary movement. ^{10For a person attached to present-day sensory perception, it is naturally difficult to imagine that human beings once lived as plant-like beings within the Sun itself. It seems unthinkable that a living being could exist under such physical conditions as must be assumed for this fact. But it is, after all, merely a present-day plant adapted to the present physical Earth. And it has developed in this way only because its environment is suitable for it. The solar plant-being had different living conditions, which corresponded to the physical conditions of the Sun at that time.}

[ 5 ] However, the human being only begins to take shape during the second of the seven smaller cycles (rounds) that the Sun undergoes. For the duration of the first of these smaller cycles, no etheric body is yet present in the human form. Rather, everything that was experienced during the Saturn Age is briefly repeated once more. The physical human body still retains its automatic character; but it undergoes a slight change from its earlier form. For if it were to remain as it was on Saturn, it could not accommodate an etheric body. It is thus transformed so that it can become the vehicle for this body. During the following six cycles, the etheric body is then developed more and more, and through its forces acting upon the physical body, the latter also gradually takes on an ever more perfect form. — The work of transformation that is carried out within the human being is performed by the spirits who, together with the human being, were already mentioned in the discussion of Saturn’s evolution.

[ 6 ] Those spirits called “radiant beings” or “flames” (known as “Thrones” in Christian esotericism) are no longer relevant here. They completed their respective work during the first half of the first Saturn cycle. What can be observed during the first Solar Cycle (Round) is the work of the “Spirits of Wisdom” (Principalities or Kyriotetes in Christian esoteric teaching). As noted earlier, they intervened in human evolution around the middle of the first Saturn cycle. Now, during the first half of the first Solar Cycle, they continue their work by repeating the wise structuring of the physical body in successive stages. A little later, the work of the “Spirits of Movement” (Dynamis in Christianity, Mahat in theosophical literature) joins this effort. This repeats the period of the Saturn cycle in which the human body was endowed with the capacity for mobility. The body thus regains its mobility. Similarly, the “Spirits of Form” (Exusiai), those of “Darkness” (Archai in Christianity, Asuras in Theosophy), then the “Sons of Fire” (archangels), and finally the “Spirits of Twilight” (angels, Lunar Pitris) carry out their work. This marks six smaller periods of the first solar cycle (the first solstice). — In a seventh such smaller period, the “Spirits of Wisdom” (Dominions) then intervene anew. Whereas in their previous period of work they gave the human body a wise structure, they now endow the limbs—which have become mobile—with the ability to make movement itself a wise one. Previously, only the structure was wise; now movement itself becomes an expression of inner wisdom. Thus the first solar cycle comes to an end. It thus consists of seven successive smaller cycles, each of which is a brief repetition of a Saturn cycle (a Saturn round). In theosophical literature, it has become customary to refer to these seven smaller cycles—which together comprise a so-called “round”—as “globes.” (Thus, a round consists of seven “globes.”)

[ 7 ] The first solar cycle is now followed by the second, after a period of rest (Pralaya). The individual “smallest cycles” or “globes” will be described in greater detail later; for now, we shall move on to the next solar cycle. — Already at the end of the first cycle, the human body has become ready to receive the etheric body, precisely because “the spirits of wisdom” have enabled it to possess the flexibility required for wisdom. — In the meantime, however, these “spirits of wisdom” have themselves evolved further. Through the work they have accomplished, they have become capable of radiating their substance from within themselves, just as the “flames” at the beginning of the Saturn cycle radiated theirs and thereby provided the physical body with its material foundation. The substance of the “Spirits of Wisdom” is now the “ether”—that is, wisdom that is inherently dynamic and powerful; in other words, “life.” The ether, or life body, of the human being is thus an outflow of the “Spirits of Wisdom.” — This outflow continues until, around the middle of the second solar cycle, the “Spirits of Movement” can once again begin a new phase of activity. Previously, their work could only extend to the physical human body; now it extends to the etheric body and instills in it its power-filled activity. This continues until the middle of the third solar cycle. Then the work of the “Spirits of Form” begins. Through them, the etheric body—which previously possessed only a cloud-like fluidity—assumes a definite shape (form). — In the middle of the fourth solar cycle, these “Spirits of Form” acquire a consciousness similar to that which human beings will possess on “Venus,” the second planet they will inhabit after their earthly existence. This is a superpsychic consciousness. They attain it as the fruit of their activity during the third and fourth solar cycles. Through this, they gain the ability to transform the sensory buds developed during the Saturn period and since then—which until now were merely physical apparatus—into animated senses through the ether.

[ 8 ] Through a similar process, the “spirits of darkness” (Archai in Christian terminology, Asuras in Theosophy) rose during this period to the level of psychic consciousness, which human beings will not develop—as conscious image-consciousness—until the Jupiter era. This enables them to act consciously from the astral world. Now, a being’s etheric body can be influenced from the astral world. The “spirits of darkness” did this with regard to the human etheric body. They now implanted in it the spirit of selfhood (independence and selfishness), just as they had previously done with the physical body. One can thus see that selfishness is gradually implanted by these spirits into all members of the human being. — Around the same time, the “Sons of Fire” attained the level of consciousness that humans today possess as their waking consciousness. One can therefore say of them that they are now becoming human beings. And they can now make use of the physical human body as a means of interacting with the outside world. In a similar way, the “spirits of personality” of the physical body have been able to make use of it since the middle of the fourth Saturn cycle. Only these have made use of the sensory germs as a means of perception. The “Sons of Fire,” however, are by their very nature beings who radiate the warmth of their souls into their surroundings. The physical human body has now reached a stage where they can do this through it. Their warmth acts much like the brooding heat of a hen on an incubating egg—that is, it possesses a life-giving power. Everything in human beings and their fellow creatures that possesses such life-awakening power was implanted into the etheric body by the Sons of Fire at that time. We are thus dealing here with the origin of that warmth which all living beings require as a condition for their reproduction. It will become clear later what transformation this thermal force underwent when the Moon separated from the Sun.

[ 9 ] By the middle of the fifth cycle, the “Sons of Fire” have developed to such an extent that they can now instill into the etheric body the ability they previously exercised through the physical human body. They now take over from the “spirits of the personality” in the work on this etheric body, which thereby becomes the catalyst for reproductive activity. — During this period, they entrust the physical body to the Sons of Twilight (angels in Christianity, Lunar Pitris in Theosophy). These beings have meanwhile attained a dim, pictorial consciousness, similar to that which human beings will possess on the Moon. On Saturn, they endowed the human ancestor with a kind of intellectual organ. Now they are further developing the physical instruments of the human spirit, which the human spirit will consciously utilize at later stages of development. As a result, beginning in the middle of the fifth cycle on the Sun, the Seraphim will be able to reveal themselves even more perfectly through the human body than was possible on Saturn.

[ 10 ] From the middle of the sixth solar cycle onward, human beings themselves have reached the point where they can unconsciously work on their physical bodies. In this respect, they now take the place of the “Sons of Twilight.” Through this activity, he creates in the realm of the unconscious the first embryonic form of the living spirit being, which is called the life spirit (Buddhi). Only at later stages of his development will he bring this life spirit into his consciousness. Just as, from the seventh Saturn cycle onward, the Thrones voluntarily poured their power into the spiritual-human germ formed there, so now the Cherubim pour their wisdom, which is henceforth preserved through all subsequent stages of development of the human life spirit. From the middle of the seventh solar cycle onward, the germ of the spiritual human (Atma), already laid down on Saturn, emerges once more. It unites with the Life Spirit (Buddhi), and the animated monad (Atma-Buddhi) comes into being. — While the human being unconsciously works on his physical body during this time, the Sons of Twilight take over what must now be done to the etheric body for its further development. In this respect, they are the successors to the Sons of Fire. For they radiate their images of consciousness into this etheric body and thereby, in a kind of dreamlike state, partake of the reproductive power of this body, which has been aroused by the Sons of Fire. In this way, they prepare the way for the development of a delight in this power, which later (on the Moon) develops in human beings and their fellow living beings.

[ 11 ] Now, on Saturn, the human being had been formed in his physical body. At that time, this body was completely inanimate. In esoteric science, such an inanimate body is called a “mineral.” One can therefore also say: On Saturn, the human being was a mineral, or he passed through the mineral kingdom. This human mineral did not have the form of a present-day mineral. Minerals such as those we know today did not yet exist at that time.

[ 12 ] On the Sun, as has been shown, this human mineral—which emerged anew from the darkness of sleep as if from a seed—was brought to life. It became the human plant; humanity passed through the plant kingdom. — However, not all human minerals were enlivened in this way. That could not have happened, for the plant-human needed a mineral foundation for its life. Just as there can be no plants today without a mineral kingdom from which they draw their nutrients, so it was on the Sun with the plant-human. The plant-human therefore had to leave behind a portion of its human potential in favor of its further development at the mineral stage. And since conditions on the Sun were entirely different from those on Saturn, these cast-aside minerals took on forms quite different from those they had on Saturn. Thus, alongside the human-plant kingdom, a second realm emerged: a distinct mineral kingdom. As we can see, the human being ascends to a higher realm by pushing some of his fellow beings down into a lower one. We will see this process repeated many times in the following stages of evolution. It corresponds to a fundamental law of evolution.

[ 13 ] For the sake of clarity, we will once again provide a summary of the facts regarding the Sun's evolution.

1. The Sun is the planet on which the second state of human consciousness—that of dreamless sleep—develops. The physical human body ascends to a kind of plant-like existence through the incorporation of an etheric body.
2. This development passes through seven sub-stages (smaller cycles or “rounds”).
   1. In the first of these cycles, the stages of Saturn’s development in relation to the physical body are repeated in a slightly modified form.
   2. At the end of the first cycle, the “Spirits of Wisdom” begin to radiate into the etheric body.
   3. In the middle of the second cycle, the “Spirits of Movement” begin their work on this body.
   4. In the middle of the third cycle, the work of the “Spirits of Form” begins on the etheric body.
   5. From the middle of the fourth cycle onward, this body receives its sense of self through the “Spirits of Personality.”
   6. By this time, the physical body has advanced so far through the forces that have been at work on it since earlier times that, starting with the fourth cycle, the “Spirits of Fire” can ascend to humanity through it.
   7. In the middle of the fifth cycle, the “Spirits of Fire”—who have previously passed through humanity—take over the work on the etheric body. At this time, the “Sons of Twilight” are at work in the physical body.
   8. Around the middle of the sixth cycle, the work on the etheric body passes to the “Sons of Twilight.” The human being works on the physical body himself.
   9. In the midst of the seventh cycle, the animated monad has come into being.