The Rudolf Steiner Archive

42. Blood is a Very Special Fluid

[ 1 ] As you know, the line that serves as the leitmotif for this lecture can be found in Goethe’s *Faust*. This, his greatest work, has inspired so many interpretations that one could fill an entire library with them. One sometimes finds quite peculiar interpretations of this line, spoken by Mephistopheles. It is not possible to discuss them all here, but I would like to mention Professor Minor, who has written a three-volume commentary on *Faust*. He offers the following explanation: Mephistopheles says mockingly, “Blood is a very special sap,” because he detests blood and therefore demands a signature written in blood.

[ 2 ] Faust is to enter into a contract with the messenger from Hell; Goethe drew this motif—as well as the material for the *Faust* epic in general—from German legend. The idea that Faust—the representative of humanity striving for the highest—is to sell his soul with blood is already known in the oldest Faust books—as early as the sixteenth century. He must cut his hand, dip the pen in the blood, write his name, and it is said that the words appeared in the congealed blood: “Man, escape”—and yet was the blood supposed to be something Mephisto could not have tolerated? Rather, it must be something of great value to him; that is Goethe’s interpretation of this passage in his great poem. From the standpoint of spiritual science, we can gain a deeper understanding of the significance of blood for life by addressing the question: What, in fact, is this blood? — This question is not to be addressed from a natural-scientific perspective; from the standpoint of spiritual science, we can look more deeply into the essence of the human being. We see the undercurrent of this saying throughout the entire historical development of humanity, so that we can at least answer the question in a certain direction. In doing so, let us begin with a saying that comes from an ancient teacher of the Egyptian mystery schools, Hermes Trismegistus:

Everything below is just like above!

[ 3 ] “Above” refers to the spiritual world, “below” to the physical world; for the mystic, everything spiritual is the “Above” in the sense of Hermetic theosophy.

[ 4 ] When we look at a person, we first see their outward, physical appearance, their body; but we do not merely suspect—we know—that a spiritual inner life reigns within this body. We see the spiritual revealing itself through the physical; the physical reveals what moves a person at the very core of their soul. We see joy in a smile, and sorrow in tears. The entire physical realm is a testimony to the spiritual. The spirit has fashioned the body: a lovely appearance as the image of a lovely soul; a brutal physical appearance, fashioned by a brutal spirit. We refer to the soul-spiritual as the “higher,” and the physical as the “lower.” Plato spoke of the “Above” as the archetype of all things. Everything that surrounds us is the image of something spiritual. The world of archetypes is the “Above.” Just as a shadow on the wall is cast by an object, so the “Below” is the faithful image of the “Above.” Whoever views the world with the spiritual eye sees not only the material; he sees not only the eyes and ears, the body and limbs in the human form, but also senses a soul behind them.

[ 5 ] The sum of all physical phenomena in nature—forests, fields, plants, minerals, and even the celestial bodies and worlds—is the expression of the essence of a spiritual world. Every time we see something in the lower realm, we can conclude that there is a corresponding element in the higher realm. Human beings come to know the lower realm through their everyday experiences; scientists examine it using instruments. The spiritual researcher reveals to us the archetypes—the higher realm. We will understand these things when we recognize the higher realm for every lower aspect.

[ 6 ] In the same way, we will come to understand human beings when, after examining the blood in relation to the nervous system and the heart, we investigate what governs them, what corresponds to them on a higher plane, by asking: What is the spirit of the blood?

[ 7 ] Let us learn to understand human beings by examining what constitutes the archetype of blood in the spiritual world. To do this, we must journey together through the path of human development.

[ 8 ] What is the essence of the human being according to spiritual science? We come to know the higher realm through the connecting link, beginning with the body. For materialism, this is all there is. Bones, digestive and respiratory organs, nerves, the reproductive system, and the circulatory system make up the physical body. What we thus recognize in human beings consists entirely of the same substances that make up the things found in nature. Throughout the entire world, even in minerals, the same matter is present.

[ 9 ] Theosophy, or the science of the spirit, distinguishes—in addition to the physical body, which we share with all inanimate nature—an etheric or vital body; however, it understands this to mean something different from what physicists mean by “ether.” While science has hitherto assumed only the physical, it, too, has recently come to recognize a kind of life principle. But while science arrives at knowledge solely through logic and reasoning, the theosophist has attained such knowledge by developing within himself abilities that lie dormant in everyone—what Goethe calls the spiritual ears and eyes. We call someone who is thus developed an “awakened one,” meaning that the spiritual world is revealed to him.

[ 10 ] Just as many worlds can be revealed to a person as there are organs in the human body. Through self-development and self-perfection, a person can attain a higher level of development. Then he can see the etheric body, which, as a very subtle body, underlies the physical body. Everything that lives within a human being originates from the etheric body. We share this with plants; just as color belongs to the flower, so does the etheric body belong to the physical body for those who can see it. Many say it is presumptuous to claim such a thing and believe that no one can know this. But it is far more presumptuous not to say it, for only the one who sees can judge the matter, not the one who has not seen it. No one can say more than, “I do not know”—just as a blind person cannot claim that colors do not exist simply because he does not see them.

[ 11 ] The third aspect of the human being emerges when one seeks the vehicle for everything that is called desire, lust, passion, and pain. It is not only blood and the nervous system that exist within the human being, but these phenomena are just as real. We call their vehicle the “astral body.” We share it with the entire animal kingdom. But what makes human beings the crown of all creation—that which elevates them above the animal kingdom—and what they possess uniquely is the fourth member, the “I-body.” This is what distinguishes them from all other beings; it is from this that they continue to develop further and further upward. We recognize this when comparing an uncultivated person with a cultured person. — Example of Darwin and the cannibal. — The “I,” which is already within him, has not yet worked on the astral body.

[ 12 ] We therefore usually distinguish between two parts of the astral body: the one that a person is aware of, and the other that they have worked into it. The astral body transformed by the ego is the spiritual self, or Manas.

[ 13 ] We can also work on our etheric body; many principles and moral ideas that are still rooted in the astral body also extend as forces into the etheric realm—for example, art. What a person absorbs from a work of art has an effect on the etheric body; the same is true of what is brought about through religion. Thus, we also distinguish two parts within it: the innate life spirit and the life spirit that has been cultivated. We call this Budhi. A chela acquires the ability to incorporate more and more of this life spirit; spiritual training is a process of refining the etheric body. Finally, such refinement can also take place in the physical body through special spiritual abilities. The Theosophist calls the spiritualized part through which the human being stands in relation to the entire cosmos “Atman,” or the true spirit of the human being. Thus, we distinguish a sevenfold nature within the human being. These aspects of his nature are not to be understood as separate parts, but rather as seven stages or degrees of his nature, like the notes of a scale or the colors of the rainbow. The last three stages—Manas, Budhi, and Atma—constitute the archetype of the human being—the Higher Self.

[ 14 ] Human beings did not possess these seven members from the very beginning; rather, they developed gradually along with the physical body; in the primordial state, only the predispositions for this physical body are present. Human beings are a reflection of the entire cosmos. Cuvier, the eminent naturalist, says: For those who study animal anatomy, the smallest limb is a reflection of the entire body. From the distinctive shape of a single bone, one can infer the form of the entire body. Within each individual is an image of the entire universe. If a being capable of perceiving this were to come from another world to ours and see only a rock crystal, it could infer from it what the entire world must be like. Anyone who can internalize the external becomes a mirror of the entire universe. The human physical body cannot in and of itself be regarded as a mirror of the universe; it is first internalized through the etheric body, and this internalization proceeds further through the etheric body. In animals, external life is reflected in inner consciousness. In plants, we do not yet find consciousness. Consciousness does not depend on external stimuli but exists where the external stimulus is reflected internally: in animals.

[ 15 ] This consciousness takes shape in humans during the initial development of their nervous system. This nervous system is the so-called sympathetic or digestive system, the solar plexus, which originates on either side of the spinal cord—it is an organ of consciousness. To observe a person at this stage as a being possessing only this system of consciousness requires the kind of training that Hindus receive through yoga practice. There, when the brain and spinal cord systems within them are not active, they see an unknown world light up within themselves—a consciousness that was once their own: dull and twilight-like, a kind of omniscience. The entire universe is reflected in this consciousness; it depends on the nature of the universe. It can reflect everything that shines into it from the universe, but it cannot produce anything on its own.

[ 16 ] When the soul begins to integrate the “I” into the threefold body, it integrates it into the spinal cord. Only then does the possibility arise for an inner life to develop; only then is the human being able to react to attacks ... [gap]

[ 17 ] Self-awareness could not take root in any physical body without the circulatory system. The circulatory system, in which inner warmth can develop—that red, warm human blood—must be present for the “I” to reveal itself. Blood is the carrier of self-awareness within a being. Therefore: If you have found the path to a person’s blood, you have also found the path to their self; whatever affects the blood affects the self. It is not the “I” that is or creates the blood; the astral body does that. Only when the astral body has created the blood is the “I” able to dwell within it. One can gain knowledge from a person and learn all manner of things; likewise, one can instruct another and convey information to them; but one gains access to a person’s unique individuality only when their blood is affected—set into faster or slower motion. This unique vital fluid grants access to the “I.” Power over the blood makes one the master of the person.

[ 18 ] How does it affect the blood? I would like to refer to a conversation between two well-known men: Anzengruber, the playwright, and Rosegger, the chronicler of Austrian peasant life. Anzengruber spent his entire life in the city—and yet, with what genius he brought peasant characters to the stage! Rosegger said to him: “It might be better for you, after all, if you were to study the peasants.” To which Anzengruber replied: “I couldn’t do that; I can’t do it through observation—I have it in my blood. My ancestors were peasants, and when I’m left to my own devices, it just comes naturally.”

[ 19 ] Therein lies a profound truth, and to explore it, we must consider the nature of blood kinship. People speak of blood kinship, but in reality, not a single drop of the father’s blood passes into that of the son. Entirely different organs are related, such as the circulatory system. This develops last in the embryo. When one organism is descended from another, what is similar is reflected in the blood. It is not the blood that is related, but rather what is reflected in the blood—what moves it, warms it, or cools it. The kinship lies in the spiritual, which underlies the physical.

[ 20 ] In ancient times, we find close-kin marriage in every people; small tribal groups married within their own kin. It was considered a crime to marry outside the tribe or outside one’s bloodline. All of humanity has evolved beyond this practice.

[ 21 ] The “close marriage” later evolved into the “distant marriage.” Tacitus, for example, hints in *Germania* at how the “distant marriage” developed out of the “close marriage.” The moment this occurs, a very special phenomenon emerges: somnambulistic clairvoyance. In 1000 and 900 B.C., for example, the ancient Greeks possessed this ancient form of clairvoyance; all their myths originated from this state. Clairvoyance ceases when the “long-distance marriage” takes hold. Where one form mingles with a foreign form, something is imprinted in the blood that does not belong to the common lineage. Among all peoples, this process marked a transition toward intellectual perception. In the past, the process experienced by an ancient clairvoyant was similar to that of a medium today. To attempt to restore this state in our time would be an anachronism, just as it was once the natural state; every child did not absorb anything from the outside, but felt within themselves the kinship with their lineage. When foreign blood was introduced, the human being grew beyond the confines of his or her tribe. Whereas in earlier times what was present in the generations was imprinted in the blood, later on what was imprinted was what the external senses conveyed. As a last remnant—though not quite as in the case of the ancient clairvoyant—this is true of Anzengruber: he feels within himself not only what he himself experiences as a human being, as an individual, but he also senses what his father experienced. Hence the veneration of the forefathers, because and where one still felt their direct influence.

[ 22 ] In the past, there was an inner knowledge that flowed forth from the ancient sages, a knowledge originating from systems that exist beneath the blood—a knowledge of the entire universe; a knowledge that flowed in from within, in place of that which later, in human life, gained power over the blood from without. Now, what flows in from the outside has gained control over his blood.

[ 23 ] Genesis speaks of people living to be 800 and 900 years old. This can also be explained by what was said earlier: In ancient times, a name was not merely given to a single person, but to everything that the “I” could encompass; a person who remembered not only his own experiences but also those of his father and grandfather—everything that could be summarized as a shared memory—was encompassed by a shared name. As age declines along with memory—namely, everything imprinted in the blood of a generation—we see the transition from close-kin marriage to distant-kin marriage.

[ 24 ] Thus, even the Bible shows that whoever has the blood of a human being possesses the human being itself. What influences a person is inscribed in the blood; to the extent that it is inscribed, to that extent does the person possess it. Through such combinations of spiritual research as described here—through clairvoyance—the deepest cultural possibilities can be considered. It would be impossible for a culture to graft a completely foreign culture onto an original one. Many believe that this is precisely how it must leave its mark in the blood; but that is a mistake.

[ 25 ] If, for example, one were to impose our modern culture on the Hindus, one would only wipe out their original culture. If one wishes to introduce the culture of higher peoples into that of lower ones, one must understand the prerequisites; given the ever-increasing intermingling of races, the underlying conditions should be taken into account. Theosophy is called upon to intervene here and ensure that a proper system is followed. Anyone who wishes to lead people toward a higher culture must know how to approach their blood from the outside. They cannot bring culture to people unless their blood responds. Thus, the wisdom of the saying is expressed for culture as a whole:

Blood is a very special fluid.

[ 26 ] What did Mephistopheles have to do to get inside Faust’s very soul? He had to get his blood. He wants to get hold of his blood because he knows what the old legends always emphasize:

If you have his blood, you have his very self!

[ 27 ] Spiritual research recognizes that the significance of this saying shines through the various cultural stages of humanity.