The Rudolf Steiner Archive

25. On the Apocalypse I

[ 1 ] Yesterday we reached the point where the Earth transitioned into spiritualization; those who are spiritually mature join in and return with it to the Sun.

[ 2 ] The forces of the physical plane have been eliminated; they are no longer present. This development initially leads to an ever-increasing spiritualization; only then does humanity, together with its planet, ascend to the astral state and then to the devachanic state. The Sun and the Earth become spiritualized. The beings who have not prepared themselves for such spiritualization do not participate in this process. At first, no mass can be left behind—everything becomes astralized—but the immature ones form a kind of reject in this stage of development. There is such an astral realm that is pure, noble, and higher than the physical realm.

[ 3 ] But there is another astral realm inhabited by beings who are more malevolent and of a lower nature than those of the physical realm.

- Devachanic
- astral
- physical

[ 4 ] - The astral world, which lies beneath the physical world. In this world, the beings that inhabit it do not possess a physical body like that of a human, but they possess a terrible power of evil. It is home to all the forces that oppose our development. It is home to the spirit Mammon, the spirit of obstacles, which puts the brakes on progress wherever it is about to occur. He is already at work today.

[ 5 ] When the Earth itself transitions into an astral state, all those beings who were unable to enter the higher astral world must descend into this lower one.

[ 6 ] Thus, after the trumpets, we have a world that has been cast out, and this is a world of darkness. In the astral body, all beings are present there who were unable to attain the level of maturity required to ascend into the Sun. Before the Lemurian era, human beings descended into the physical body. At that time, peculiar spiritual beings were connected to the Earth. Each of the planetary stages has seen a stage of human development unfold: on the Moon, the Sun, Saturn ...

[ 7 ] There are beings who did not complete their development during a particular planetary stage. This was also the case on the Moon. They were transferred to Earth. The world advances beyond a certain stage, but certain beings remain behind. The angels who had not reached maturity stood between humans and angels—Luciferic hosts. They were the ones who held humans back in their development, causing them to become more deeply entangled in matter. Thus, the Luciferic development is linked to humanity. It has its good and its bad. The good aspect is that, without the Luciferic influence, human beings could not have become free beings. They have made themselves independent of the direct guidance of higher beings. But this also made the fall into evil possible. Thus, for the sake of humanity, the Luciferic beings also made a sacrifice by holding back their own development.

[ 8 ] Now things are different. Conditions are quite different before and after the midpoint of a development. So it is not the materialistic people who are making sacrifices now, but rather the progressive ones. — Do not oversimplify.

[ 9 ] What positive deeds have the Luciferic beings done?

[ 10 ] On Saturn, human beings possessed only the potential for a physical body.

Sun: etheric body
Moon: astral body
Earth: ego

[ 11 ] The physical body is the oldest component and the one that has undergone the most transformations. The structure of the heart, brain, etc.

[ 12 ] Sun, Moon, Earth, “I”-Aura.

[ 13 ] If the Luciferic beings had not been present during the Lemurian period, when the “I” began to develop, the higher beings would have remained with humankind. And Yahweh /gap in the transcript]

[ 14 ] The Luciferic beings could not participate in the development of the “I,” only in that of the astral body. Thus, the influence of the Luciferic beings entered there. They gave the astral body independence, but also the possibility of falling into evil. Through this, the Luciferic beings undergo a certain development. In the human astral body, they make up for what they failed to accomplish on the Moon and achieve what they should have achieved there. Through humanity, they can experience vicariously what they failed to experience on the Moon. They progress along with us. When the Earth unites with the Sun, there will be such Luciferic beings who will unite with the Sun along with it. And so, by working to refine his instincts, human beings can redeem Lucifer. But only to the extent that he allows himself to be redeemed. There will be those who resist; they will remain during their time on Earth in the same state they were in when they came to Earth. They will be cast out and appear as the evil astral world. There emerges the group of Luciferic beings who did not wish to go any further. The ancient serpent is cast out, and the first of the dragons steps forward. When the Earth enters the Sun, it is what has been left behind.

[ 15 ] But there are others who have been left behind: those who cannot move forward. There are those who are not to blame, who do not reach the state of awakening necessary for spirituality. They remain slaves to their animal instincts. Even though they are not to blame, they are nonetheless an evil force. This is the second of the animals—those who have remained stuck in animality—cast out as the second of the animals. The “ancient serpent”—as the Apocalypse says—the Luciferic beings—appears descending from heaven; the second dragon rises from the sea; this is what has remained behind in the Earth’s own development within lower nature, “the beast in its entirety—stuck in instinct.”

[ 16 ] Now for the third type of beings who remain behind. These are those who, on Earth, acquire the predisposition to become black magicians. They remain within humanity, developing abilities that lead into the supersensible realm, but they use these abilities in the service of black magic. Not out of instinct, but with full awareness, they have turned away and offer their physical bodies to Sorat. He incarnates within them as their group soul. These people will be the physical embodiment of the Sun Demon. When will they emerge?

[ 17 ] Let us imagine the further course of the Earth’s development. Union with the Sun. Because not everything has reached maturity, humanity must return once more to the physical realm. Once again, the solar aspect separates. Herein also lies a chance of salvation for those who have lagged behind due to instinct. At the moment of supreme union, those who have attained maturity resolve to form yet another celestial body alongside the Sun, and to take in there the beings who have been left behind, so that they may be taken back again during the Sun’s next cycle.

[ 18 ] What does this current cycle mean? Every celestial body must go through repetitions of what it has already gone through. Before the Earth reached the point where it could begin as the Earth, it had to repeat [gap in the transcript]

[ 19 ] After the Earth has united with the Sun, it must prophetically anticipate future planetary developments—an anticipation of the Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan states. During the anticipated Jupiter state, the beings emerge, and the Jupiter-Earth is there beside the Sun. On the Jupiter-Earth, the beings have the opportunity to be reclaimed; the lower states are present only as hints, and in the Vulcan state, everything merges into one another. Thus, after our Earth, we experience a Jupiter-Earth. There, even the black magicians—Sorat—have a chance to return to the Sun. But some will not do so. And now that they have remained on the Jupiter Earth—including a number of human beings—the Earth becomes spiritualized once again. Once again, those who have become spiritualized decide to return and form an intermediate Earth. Once again, some Sorat beings allow themselves to be redeemed; others stubbornly resist on the Venus Earth; and for them, there is no longer any possibility of redemption on the Volcanic Earth. The sixth, the Venus intermediate state, is therefore the decisive one. It is only in the sixth state of the Venus-Earth planet that this decisive moment occurs. In this state, there is once again something that runs parallel to the subraces; thus, evolution waits for the smallest cycle—that is, for the sixth substate there—in order to save them. And only there, in the sixth substate of the sixth main state of the Venus cycle, is everything over: 666.

[ 20 ] Those who thus surrender their physical bodies so that the Sun Demon may incarnate as their group soul have here definitively resolved to place their powers in the service of evil. The first dragon, then, is not a human—Lucifer. Nor is the second—the Beast. But in the most eminent sense, they are humans who have surrendered themselves to Sorat. 666 is therefore not the mark of a beast, but of a human. “Here is wisdom.”

[ 21 ] The apocalyptic writer must therefore have known what we recognize as the Earth’s evolution through 7x7x7 states. Indeed, this Apocalypse is an outline of the entire process. Let us consider the Venus-Earth. It’s quite a colorful scene there. On the Jupiter-Earth, many can still be saved. The worst of humanity is left behind on the Venus-Earth. But there is not much hope there either. Those who spiritualize themselves have only limited power to save others. Their powers are not sufficient for salvation. The worst among them must wait for the future Jupiter and the future Venus, where spiritual beings will possess greater powers. Thus, the most desolate conditions prevail on this Venus-Earth. Indeed, much must be cast out there; the vice for which there is no power to redeem it must be overcome. To the apocalyptic thinker, this appears as the casting down into the abyss of evil Babylon. The woman—the spirit of Venus-Earth—is entirely filled with evil vices. Thus, the fall of Venus-Earth is foreseen in the fall of Babylon.

[ 22 ] The people who have tried to save what can still be saved continue to evolve; what has reached maturity rises to become a final state of the Earth, the “Volcanic Earth.” There, everything is purified and refined.

[ 23 ] In what areas is humanity creative today? It is capable of harnessing the inanimate forces of nature by painting on a canvas or carving marble. But he cannot bring marble to life. He does not master the living; he masters lifeless nature. In the sense of white magic, he will only be able to master plant forces on the future Jupiter.

[ 24 ] What will become of the cathedrals, the domes, and Raphael’s Madonnas? Their physical materiality will decay—Leonardo’s Last Supper. But they will not vanish. Similarly, the crystals of today are taking shape from within the mountains. The saying of the Egyptian sages: [gap in the transcript] Just as we build and create works of art today, so too were forms gradually fashioned in the cosmos in the past. This is now growing out of the earth as a natural entity. When the earth reaches its destination, works of art will spring forth like natural products from the renewing earth. The Madonna on the canvas will fade away, but the work of human hands today will provide the dwelling place into which future humanity will be born. The apocalyptic writer calls this dwelling place the “New Jerusalem.” There, human labor will be resurrected. The seeds of the New Jerusalem will be the human labor invested in it. This is how the new earth will come into being, and it will be inhabited by people who fit into this new state, who have kept pace with its development. These people will be able to say to themselves: This is the place for us, which we will have developed out of the wisdom of love, so that there may be peace. “Jeru Salem” means the “Place of Peace.”