The Rudolf Steiner Archive

31. A Fundamental Law of All Cyclical Evolution

[ 1 ] Each cycle consists of seven phases: the three [gap in the transcript], the middle phase—which is the turning point, the main point, the decisive moment—and the three receding phases, where everything turns inward. The descending movement is one of ever-increasing delay; a slowing down and delay occur in the evolution of the first three states, starting at the slowest pace and then increasing in speed—an acceleration—until the seventh state has the same movement as the first. We have created three different states

1. Retardation
2. Apparent persistence
3. Acceleration.

[ 2 ] In each subsequent round, these states are briefly repeated—specifically in the first few rounds. So we don’t need to spend much time on the first three rounds, because they are just a brief repetition. In the fourth round as well, the first state is a brief recap. We divide this again into three parts—seven races into three parts. Seven-thirds—we now have to consider two and one-third.

[ 3 ] Thus, we have two initial races: the preparatory race; the third race is also preparatory in its first third, and the characteristics of the race begin in its second third.

[ 4 ] The remaining two and one-third add up to four and two-thirds. This brings us to the next stage, which extends to the second third of the fifth race. And from the last third of the fifth race, the drainage process begins again.

[ 5 ] Our fifth race marks an important turning point—namely, the ebb—where we must draw our final conclusions and transition the development to the sixth race, where the preparations for the next cycle will take place.

In the first races, then: none
in the second and fourth: preparatory fruits
in the fifth: the height of the race’s development, final results
in the sixth and seventh: preparation for the time ahead.

[ 6 ] Confessions:

1/3 a. Race. A kind of pantheistic, ambiguous form, but esoterically unified. Brahmanic pantheism. b. The doctrine of the one God then branches into various forms of polytheism

2/3 a. Polytheism transitions into what is known as b. theomorphism, returning to the concept of a unified God, but in a formative, theomorphic manner.

3/3 a. The fourth race constitutes anthropomorphism, which has Christology at its core. The one human being is the Son of God. b. Fifth subrace. We have brought God down to the human being, to the physical plane, and have formed physical materialism.

4. The sixth sub-race, which we are preparing. Within Sophia, Wisdom, preparing the science of God: Theosophy. Seventh race: Practical Theosophy, theosophical living, the fulfillment of what has been realized. Man will manifest the God he has grasped. He will sanctify objects and consecrate everything he does. Previously, the Divine reached into him. Now: the age of sacramentalism—he will consecrate the object—whereas before, it was consecrated ceremonially for him.

[ 7 ] Thinking knowledge is what must be strived for and achieved in the fifth race. It is the task—the struggle for knowledge from P [gap in the transcript] to the Sacr. [gap in the transcript]

[ 8 ] Bringing concepts to life within human beings. — Before human beings could attain conceptual understanding, they first had to form mental images. The fourth [race] therefore had the task of developing the power of imagination. The Atlantean race was the imaginative race, while the Aryan race is the thinking race. Memory and imagination are characteristic of the Atlantean race. The Atlanteans did not have a doctrine of reincarnation, but they did have memories of their previous incarnations. Atlantean temples consisted of busts of Atlanteans who were interested in seeing their former likenesses.

[ 9 ] Lemurians also did not yet have the ability to form concepts. To them, colors still shone out, and sounds rang in their ears. In the third race, the ability to form perceptions began—to take in perceptions from the outside world. Cis. G., color. They live entirely in the present.

[ 10 ] At the beginning of the Lemurian race, we had the base of the spinal cord—the nerve cord—and the base of the brain. There were no other bodies. During the Atlantean period, this development continued until, in the Aryan period, the forebrain—the thinking brain—formed.

[ 11 ] Avatar:

- the fish, because the highest leader could only incarnate in the existing body. Nerve cord with a base . . as in a fish.

- turtle: the amphibious state;

- The attachment of the brain to the nerve cord enlarges until the transition to the mammal, of which the bear is the representative and avatar; memory-based learning as in the Atlantean race, imaginative thinking unclouded by rational consciousness, as in trance dance.

- As the guide and avatar from the fourth to the fifth race: man, the lion, with the base already functioning as the forebrain, as the thinking brain.