The Nature of Man
in the Light of Spiritual Science
GA 68d
5 November 1908, Hanover
Translated by Steiner Online Library
24. The Course of Human Life from the Perspective of Spiritual Science
[ 1 ] From a child’s first to seventh year, the magic word is “imitation”; from the seventh to the fourteenth year, it is “authority”; and from the fourteenth to the twenty-first year, it is “ideals for the future.”
[ 2 ] If we allow our life ideals to wither away at this stage of life, we will experience premature aging. Ideals for the future are suppressed in such prematurely aged individuals. “They’re not true anyway,” people say. “It doesn’t do any harm.” Ideals aren’t meant to be true. These ideals work to keep us young even in old age.
[ 3 ] The final birth—the birth of the “I”—occurs between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-three. Up to this point, a person has brought forth from within themselves what they have carried over from previous lives. Now they must take in from their surroundings and process it within themselves, so that by their thirties they have become rich in external experiences. Now the “I” begins to work in the opposite direction, influencing the astral body, the etheric body, and so on. Now the “I” begins to transform ideals into external experiences.
[ 4 ] It is not until the ages of 35 or 40 that one’s judgment regarding the environment becomes meaningful. Around the age of 50, memory sometimes begins to fade, but one clearly remembers what one experienced in the eighth, tenth, and twelfth years of life. This is because the astral body works its way into the etheric body and now encounters what happened during the period when memory was being developed.
[ 5 ] And in later life, happiness and blessings come if the child has received the right upbringing during the early years. If the child has not been raised in a way that stimulates mental activity—with dolls with strings, etc.—sclerosis, calcification, and so on occur. All of this is mysteriously connected to the lack of active mental activity during early childhood.
[ 6 ] It is only after the age of 35 or 40 that a person becomes valuable to those around them through their judgments. What is done after the age of 50 has significance for all ages, provided the person has been able to develop in the right way throughout their life.