The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. Cosmology and Planets

[ 1 ] As soon as we go beyond the conditions of the Earth, all knowledge becomes somewhat incomplete—even for the initiated—and, in particular, complicated. If I say anything today about connections that lie outside the Sun and Earth and extend beyond them, it is possible that my account will be somewhat one-sided—simply because these connections are little known and, in part, too complicated. Nevertheless, some points will emerge that shed light on the question posed by Franz Seiler.

[ 2 ] We must note that, when considering our solar system, the most important perspective is that, in the Copernican model, the Sun is placed at the center of our solar system. And modern astronomy regards the earlier cosmological system—the Ptolemaic one—as outdated and, as such, downright incorrect. Yet it is merely a difference in perspective. Astronomy bases all its calculations on the Earth, and Copernicus presents them with the Sun as the center—just as one might describe a region in relation to one mountain and describe the same region from another mountain. Things are entirely relative. What we call rest and motion is more accurately represented in the Copernican cosmological system. But as far as rest and motion in the astral realm are concerned, these are more accurately represented in the Ptolemaic system.

[ 3 ] The Middle Ages should not be understood in exactly the same sense as our current conceptions. When you find the Earth at the center in Dante, followed by the spheres of the Moon, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and then the sphere of the fixed stars, this does not refer to space in the same physical sense as it is understood by astronomy; rather, it refers to spiritual and mental connections. By “physical,” the medieval astronomer—who was, in essence, not an astronomer but a theosophist—meant merely a sensory representation of spiritual connections. He did not understand it in the same way, nor did he present the crude, tangible facts as today’s astronomers do; rather, he sought to conceive of them as a sensory representation of the spiritual interconnections of the world. It was simply a different perspective that replaced the old one.

[ 4 ] And now a few words about the connections themselves. We must realize that the planets referred to by the ancient world are not at the same stage of their development. While the Earth appears to us from the standpoint of Kama-Manas, the planet Mercury is today in a far more advanced state. It has already reached the stage that Earth’s development will have reached when we have developed the Budhi principle throughout all of humanity, when the Budhi principle will be the dominant force within Earth’s development.

[ 5 ] Mercury is completely immersed in Budhi. On Venus, we have Manas—pure Manas—which plays the same role there as Kama-Manas does on Earth. Venus and Mercury are planets that shine ahead of our Earth. They are, therefore, models for earthly development. [...] The inhabitants of Venus and Mercury are, in essence, present throughout the entire solar system. They do not need to act, but they can act. This is why what we call the appearance of the so-called “Sons of Venus” could occur on our Earth. They were able to become teachers for Earth during the Third Lemurian Race because Earth needed this influence. All the Sons of Venus need is an opportunity from outside. If the Earth does not need the influence, it is not there; if it does need it, it is there. This is the influence between Earth and Venus.

[ 6 ] Then there is the planet Mars. In a certain sense, it represents a stage that Earth had already outgrown before it entered the Lunar Epoch. However, that would not be the Mars we see today. It is no longer in the same state as the Moon is today. The Moon represents a stage of Earth’s development that has been outwardly overcome. Mars was once the Moon and has already entered a new line of development, so that it once represented that state and today is, as it were, only at the point where our Earth passed through its pre-lunar epoch—the epoch it underwent in the state of pure prana. The lunar epoch in Kama, the Martian epoch in the state of pure Kama. Plants and humans, who have now developed the pranic principle as their highest principle. This principle played the same role for them as Kama-Manas does for us. It would be a misconception to believe that this was linked to pleasure and displeasure. That was added only during the lunar epoch.

[ 7 ] These beings were engaged solely in reproduction. Even before that, the Earth was in a state in which it was developing the physical, purely elemental principle. At that time, then—before the Mars epoch had arrived—the Earth, or rather the precursor to the Earth, was purely physical. At that time, the precursor to humankind was already present. However, it was capable of change only within physical life. It was an automaton, an automatic human. Everything spiritual was above man. He himself was merely an automaton. The world body that man inhabited at that time was so elemental that it lacked any cohesive force and thus shattered. And this formed the ring of asteroids: the many planets that orbit the Sun like a ring.

[ 8 ] How is it, then, that Mars was able to continue developing even though its physical body disintegrated? Mars already possessed the life principle within it and therefore continued to live, whereas the other was merely physical and was bound to disintegrate. We thus have the four stages of development before us.

[ 9 ] Our Moon will eventually disappear entirely, and in its place a new celestial body will appear, one that will nurture the kamic principle in a different way. In this way, we have advanced as far as the asteroids and are now leaving the circle of the planets, where we encounter Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. There is no reason yet to speak of Neptune. It occupies a special position. It belongs not only to our planetary system but also to another. It is a border body. In contrast, we must consider Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus. You might say: Uranus was not yet known at that time. It was not discovered until the eighteenth century. However, it was known in esoteric teachings. The three outer planets—Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus—were included. The asteroids, however, represented the fragmentation of the elemental kingdom.

[ 10 ] Everything else is the reincarnation of what existed before. Our entire planetary chain was nothing more than the reincarnation of states that existed in the past. Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus represent the three higher cosmic principles, which simply reincarnated—first in the elemental realm, then in the pranic realm, and so on—so that in Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus we can recognize the three principles Atma, Budhi, and Manas—Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus.

[ 11 ] Now I would like to describe Saturn. It represents this upper triad in a very special way. I will describe it from the perspective of the spirit of our Earth. It manifests as the desire to reincarnate within the earthly planetary chain. You can imagine, for example, that the upper triad harbors the desire to become the earthly planetary chain. Saturn represents this height of desire. Imagine him saying to himself, “I want to form a planetary chain in which Kama-Manas becomes the middle principle: elemental-physical, pranic, kamic—Kama-Manas, Manas, Budhi.”

[ 12 ] The Earth will become a kind of Venus-Jupiter-Sun when it is the Sun. This desire is essentially expressed in Saturn’s configuration by the fact that Saturn contains all the principles laid out beside it. Actually, there are not seven, but nine principles. This also helps us understand Saturn’s configuration. Human beings are tripartite in three ways. They consist of body, soul, and spirit. Each part, in turn, consists of three parts. Let us first consider the body. It consists, first, of the physical body; second, the life body; and third, the physical form. First, imagine the physical body. There you have the stomach as a chemical laboratory, then the heart, a pumping mechanism, and so on. Prana must be at work within it. These pranic parts must then be brought together.

[ 13 ] Second, the soul: It consists, first, of the sentient soul; second, of the intellectual soul—which can understand what is sensed; and third, it is conscious of itself as the conscious soul.

[ 14 ] Third Spirit: First, the Universal Spirit; second, the Human Spirit; third, the Human Self-Spirit Self. Christian esotericism expresses what the Human Spirit is as follows: The angels proclaim the glory of God. The Human Spirit is only aware of the glory of God; it is not the glory itself.

[ 15 ] [Stages] 3, 4, 6, and 7 combine to form a single entity. This results in one. Back when it was decided to form the chain of worlds, there were still nine. Saturn represents this plan. It represents Kama-Manas, which stands at the center. So we have four principles in front and four behind. That is why Saturn has eight moons. Together with Saturn, this makes nine, and these nine together form the preliminary plan for the creation of the worlds, while the ring signifies the unification into a single entity. These unified principles constitute the archetypal human being. The ring is therefore also called “spiritus mund.” Thus, Saturn would be the prototype of the planetary system. It looks like our solar system set apart on its own. It is the archetype of our entire solar system. Within the upper triad, one remains separate as Atma. That is Uranus.

[ 16 ] And now Atma as unity, as the upper Triad with the Tetraktys. This manifests as a common sphere for the higher principles, which are grouped around it below as the four archetypal moons that Jupiter possesses. They are therefore not yet moons in our sense, but rather the principle of the moon before the moon exists. Our moon is a separated part. The four moons of Jupiter are drifting; they can therefore only be absorbed into Jupiter later. Our principles apply only to our own evolution. The evolution of the devas is such that we cannot say it follows the same principles. Kama is so different that we could not make use of it. The manasic principle of the devas is entirely different, possessing entirely different qualities, even though it is allied with us and we are able to understand it.

[ 17 ] These hints must be interpreted under certain conditions. Much of this, however, has come to our knowledge only through tradition. Even Masters know of such things only because records exist from times when these things were still known. It was during the middle of the Lemurian race that the great teachers had come. We can know something about the Dhyani-Chohans. The Secret Doctrine is drawn from these records. Originally, there were only the Dzyan Stanzas. These existed only in ancient records, accessible only under special conditions.