The Rudolf Steiner Archive

18. Theosophy in Everyday Life

[ 1 ] You often hear, especially from scholarly or, shall we say, progressive circles: Yes, spiritual beings exist for those who still cling to old-fashioned, childlike beliefs, who live in their imagination and emotions. But for people who have clear, logical concepts, such spiritual beings do not exist. I would like to recall what Wundt, a professor at the University of Leipzig, wrote in his argument against all spiritual phenomena. He says: Those people who believe in such spiritual beings from the outset see these things, but those who do not believe in them do not see them. For the latter, this remains something that must always be doubtful. But that is the decisive factor.

[ 2 ] Now let us ask ourselves whether those who view the world through clear, logical concepts are truly decisive in their statements about the phenomena of a higher world. Here we must give some consideration to what constitutes the conditions of existence for a whole series of phenomena in the higher world that are, at first glance, elementary.

[ 3 ] We are constantly surrounded not only by sensory things and beings, but we are also always surrounded by a world of supersensory entities. One must not believe that these supersensible beings have [no] connection to visible nature. Just as human beings consist of visible and invisible parts—their visible physical body and their invisible spirit and soul—so, too, do other beings consist of a visible and an invisible part. The relationships, however, may be quite different from those found in human beings.

[ 4 ] The simplest supernatural beings we encounter are the so-called elemental beings. These are entities that surround us at every turn. The entire space around us is filled with such beings. Just as plants, animals, and humans live around us, so too do supersensible beings live around us. But they are not always fully developed; they exist in a more or less imperfectly developed state. When you observe the nature that surrounds us, you will see the same [gap in the transcript] in the visible sensory world. If you have a bean here—a bean seed—and over there a sprouting bean plant that winds itself around a pole and unfolds bean blossoms, then you can say to yourself: In a certain sense, the bean seed and the sprouting bean plant, which winds its way up a pole in many coils, are essentially the same thing from a certain point of view. If you plant the bean in the ground today, in time it can sprout up the stake in exactly the same way; it can be exactly the same as what stands before you today as a fully grown bean plant. So here in the sensory world, you seemingly have two entities. From another point of view, however, they are in reality the same. It is the same in the spiritual world. There you actually have entities that exist in a seed-like state—as spiritual seeds—which constantly surround us, which are continually present in the spiritual world around us. Just as you give the bean the opportunity to become a fully grown bean plant, so too can you provide these spiritual seeds—which constantly surround us in the astral realm—with soil in which they can take root. If you leave the bean lying on the surface of the earth, on stony ground, it will never be able to develop. But if you plant it in suitable soil, it will sprout. The same can be true of a spiritual seed. There are beings around us—these seed-like beings—who grow simply through what we develop; through this, they have a breeding ground in which they grow and flourish. Suppose there are spiritual beings around you who—just as the bean plant needs physical soil, salts, physical light, and so on to build a physical body—wish to build an astral body out of astral matter.

[ 5 ] What, then, is astral matter? It consists, for example, of human passions, instincts, and desires. Astral substance is greed and generosity—the latter of which gives rise to love. All of this relates to a being whose entire nature is not rooted in the physical realm and who seeks to form an astral body [just as the soil does for a seed]. What a human being radiates in the form of desires and instincts is necessary for certain beings, so that one can say: Here in the astral realm there is a spiritual seed, and there a human being develops a pronounced instinct for greed. This is a [suitable] spiritual soil for a certain spiritual being that is in its surroundings; it finds an opportunity to grow there, thereby giving spiritual beings the possibility to live within it. In fact, this exists.

[ 6 ] It is also well known, for example, that people seek to release their pain through tears. No one would deny that tears have a quality that alleviates pain. Tears are a certain kind of pain reliever. An astral substance brings about this unique soothing effect found in tears. This astral substance, which arises when pain is released through tears, causes certain spiritual beings to incarnate, to take on physical form. In fact, a person who cries draws spiritual beings from their surroundings. These beings cause the pain to become less and less intense.

[ 7 ] Yet pain, when we experience it ourselves without letting it spill over into tears, is often a significant source of strength—one that can have an even greater effect if we accumulate it as a positive experience rather than seeking the pleasure of tears. Then it becomes a source of wisdom. Painful experiences are a source of wisdom. Time and again, those who know something, who see something in the world, will gladly give up their joys; but they will not gladly give up their pains, for painful experiences reveal what we should and should not do. If something has caused pain, then we know that it is not life-affirming, and we know how to conduct ourselves in the future.

[ 8 ] Great idealists have often been martyrs in previous incarnations. From these painful experiences, which they endured with dignity and equanimity, an ideal sense has sprung forth within them. From this you can already see that bitter experiences are connected to wisdom. Thus, you will also have to admit that when a person cries out the pain of these experiences, they also dull their effects. This is indeed the case. Anyone who wishes to glimpse into higher worlds must, above all, understand how to bury the pain within the soul, to transform it into a catalyst for growth, and not to let it vanish in tears that flow outward. Beyond all figurative interpretations, the following passage from *Light on the Path* should also be taken literally as a true reality:

Before the eye can see, it must wean itself from tears.

[ 9 ] This is not meant to disparage the tears of people at a certain stage of development. You can see how this provides a breeding ground for spiritual entities that are constantly present, and from which astral entities sprout like plants from sown soil.

[ 10 ] What, then, are these astral seeds? Where are they found? If you consider these questions very carefully, you will come to understand many things in nature that you would otherwise find difficult to grasp. For those who seek to fathom the world in this way, the things of nature are not mere physical entities, as is commonly assumed, but are permeated by spiritual life. All of nature is animated—truly animated—by spiritual beings. The ancients knew this, and we still know it today. Paracelsus, for example, said that spiritual beings dwell everywhere in plants and stones.

[ 11 ] Now let us try to explore the nature of such spiritual beings, which are of a different kind than the beings that surround us. First, I must discuss a few concepts that will help you understand this nature, which at first seems supernatural. Some of you are already familiar with these things, but I believe I am presenting them in a different context. Besides, you may hear them mentioned quite often.

[ 12 ] Human beings are aware of their surroundings and act out of their consciousness. What does that mean? When they sleep, they do not act out of consciousness, for then their true higher self—their true higher being—is separated from the body. The body exists on its own. When you look at a sleeping person—what are you actually seeing? A human being consists of the physical body [which you see with your eyes], then of an etheric body, which is similarly structured and forms a kind of model of the physical body, then of the astral body with its life of feelings, instincts, desires, and passions, and finally of the “I,” in which I summarize the higher members.

[ 13 ] When a person is awake, the following parts are present: the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the I. The physical body is in the sensory world; the etheric body, the astral body, and the I are in the supersensory world. We thus have before us a being whose consciousness resides in the supersensible realm and whose physical body is situated only on the physical plane. During sleep, the human being sheds the physical body and lives in the higher worlds. What the human being represents here in the state of sleep, you can regard as a constant state in the other physical beings that surround you. In the case of the plant, you can say—and not merely figuratively—that it is asleep. What a human being is at night—approximately—is what a plant always is: it is a sleeper, possessing a sleeping consciousness. It is important to understand this correctly. You see, just as a human being, when asleep, does not have their consciousness in the physical body, so too does the plant not have its consciousness in the physical body, and therefore it is a sleeper.

[ 14 ] What distinguishes humans from plants is that humans have their consciousness within their bodies, while plants have their consciousness outside their bodies. Plants are not without consciousness; they simply have it outside their bodies—on the mental plane. Animals have consciousness on the astral plane, but plants have it on the mental plane.

[ 15 ] This brings us to the description of the external sensory world, sensory nature. I would like to try to present this to you schematically. When you look at this entire world, it comes to you through your senses—through your eyes, ears, perceptions, and feelings. We call this the physical plane. Just as a sponge is permeated by water, so is this world permeated by the astral world; it permeates the physical world. The astral plane, however, does not contain objects or beings that one can touch or see with the eyes. The “matter” present there consists of the same substance as your desires and longings.

[ 16 ] If you have a candle here and light it, it burns on the physical plane. The fire is thus created by a physical process. But if you curse your neighbor, a fire burns on the astral plane. He feels pain, and this is visible on the astral plane as a kind of little flame. Lust is also something similar on the astral plane.

[ 17 ] An even finer substance is the one from which your thoughts are woven; we call it mental substance.

[ 18 ] Then there is an even higher plane, namely the higher mental plane. The substance on this plane is the same as that of which thoughts are composed—thoughts that are entirely free from sensuality, the highest thoughts a human being can possibly have.

[ 19 ] Now, there are various beings on Earth: minerals, plants, animals, and humans. When awake, a human’s consciousness is here on the physical plane; his consciousness resides in the physical body. The animal does not have its consciousness in the physical body, but on the astral plane. Consequently, the animal is unable to express its “I” on the physical plane. It lacks the ability to think for itself. There is what is called a “species soul” in animals; it lives on the astral plane. The plant has its self-consciousness on the mental plane. Thus, humans, animals, plants, and finally minerals exist in their duality as form and consciousness. From this, we can see what minerals, plants, animals, and humans are. Animals are incapable of grasping the “I.” There is no instrument through which they can act. On the astral plane, animals are like humans on the physical plane; they begin to speak with you. And on the mental plane, plants are like humans on the physical plane. The animal is on the physical plane and is rooted in the astral plane with its consciousness. It can also be the other way around, so that the consciousness is on the physical plane and the body is on the astral plane, which then extends into our world with its consciousness. What would such a being mean? Such a being would move about up there in astral space; it would go for walks in astral space. And just as we experience the animal down here, so does the “animal”—which has its consciousness in the physical plane—manifest itself in physical effects, that is, in the form of an attraction.

[ 20 ] For example, the physicist has a magnet here, and when he brings a piece of iron near it, it attracts it. The physicist then speaks of an attraction. That is, of course, merely a word. What is actually happening here? In truth, what I have described is happening. In truth, the magnetic force that is at work here and is visible is based on an astral being. All natural forces are based on astral beings. Natural forces are based on astral beings. Beings walk about on the astral plane, and here they manifest as forces of nature. Forces of nature are nothing other than actions on the physical plane by beings who live on the astral plane!

[ 21 ] Therefore, anyone who approaches nature with their full sensory capacity will be able to perceive such entities through the forces of nature.

[ 22 ] Take a very sensitive, perceptive person who approaches such forces. Not only will they be able to say, “There is a magnetic force here” when the iron is present and is attracted, but their eye will see the magnetic forces—and this is the same as the animal’s consciousness on the astral plane. These magnetic forces have their body on the astral plane, and the sensitive person in question can see this.

[ 23 ] A piece of sulfur is not just a piece of sulfur; it is also a force, and this force corresponds to an astral entity on the astral plane. On the astral plane, this is an entity, an organism.

[ 24 ] From this you can see that we are, in fact, constantly dealing with entities that exist on the astral plane, just as with the forces of nature. A person may find one plant lovely and another unpleasant. As the clairvoyant can see, there is no other reason for this than that one plant possesses forces that manifest in a beautiful astral body, while the other possesses forces that manifest in a hideous astral body. The scent that the physical human can smell and the astral human can perceive can be seen in an astral form. A plant—once you begin to truly develop the powers to see what is imperceptible to the physical senses—is surrounded by effects of light. Thus, within the plant, we have two entities intertwined that belong together. The plant sprouts from the ground. It has its consciousness on the mental plane and its physical body down here. Another entity is embedded within it; this entity has its body on the astral plane and its consciousness down here.

[ 25 ] Let’s trace together the path that an animal takes through its life. When an animal is born and begins to live, its astral body is formed first, then its etheric body, and then these two bodies are clothed in physical matter. The animal acquires a physical body; the astral body lives within the physical body. Now consider the animal’s life. It can only continue as long as there is oxygen in the air. The moment the air no longer contains enough oxygen, the animal dies. The moment you bury the animal alive, it also dies because it lacks sufficient oxygen. Thus you see that the physical body alone cannot sustain the animal’s astral body unless the necessary life-giving air is present. If you cover the entire animal with earth, then that animal cannot live.

[ 26 ] You can do something similar with the astral beings I’ve told you about. Suppose you have the astral body of a being that accompanies a plant belonging to it; you now stand face to face with this being. When you stand before it, for such a being it is often like planting a bean in the ground. Through your own spirit, you offer it the opportunity to take root, grow, and flourish. It takes on an outwardly visible form. This is a very important process. You stand before a plant; it begins to appear as if surrounded by sparks of fire; a being connected to the plant takes shape; it forms its own body.

[ 27 ] Now begin to reflect on this being. When you reflect, it is truly like a kind of soil into which the being is sunk. But as beneficial as the soil is for the plant—when it properly envelops part of its organs—it is just as destructive to it if you cover the entire plant. And just as the soil kills the plant when you cover the entire plant with soil, so too does the soil of thought affect such beings. If you completely bury them in thought-matter, it has a deadly effect. They lack the breath of life. Therefore, the elemental spirits of nature die when their breath of life is taken from them by thought.

[ 28 ] This is why caustic thinkers—those who overanalyze everything and seek to envelop everything in their own mental constructs—actually kill off the delicate entities that surround us. This will make it clear to you what it means when such beings “die”; they do indeed die in many ways within human beings. Just as a landslide buries all the plants beneath it and causes them to die, so human thinking, by spreading out, kills a whole series of natural beings.

[ 29 ] Myth and legend have beautifully expressed this in symbolic language; they find it expressed in the myth of the little helpers: In the past, when people did not yet think so much, they were there. Then came the time when human beings began to think more than anything else; then the nature spirits withdrew. This is expressed symbolically, but it corresponds to a hidden reality. Just as the human being is surrendered to the earth in his physical body when he dies, so these nature spirits, in their elemental bodies, are lowered into the mental earth of the upper worlds, and there they die. Human beings meet their death in the physical earth; nature spirits meet their death in the “earth of the spiritual world”! [There they have their grave, and it is prepared for them by the speculating, pondering thoughts of human beings.]

[ 30 ] To those who are not yet familiar with these matters, the whole thing will seem fantastical. Anyone who approaches the spiritual world with doubts will not find it. When such a person passes through the spiritual world, they behave as if they were walking through a swarm of mosquitoes with a flame. This is the case with a thinker who lacks sensitivity. Many slain [spiritual] beings bear the marks of such thinkers. That is why human beings are often destroyers of elemental spirits. They are beings that seek to evolve to a higher level, and these entities, which are in a state of reverse evolution, are often destroyed by human beings. Here you have yet another practical example that makes a true lesson of occultism comprehensible to you: that you yourselves must offer the spiritual entities that which allows them to appear, that which allows them to be there. Hence the repeatedly emphasized requirement: One should not think caustically or criticize, but rather surrender oneself devotedly to one’s surroundings. Then the luminous spiritual elemental beings emerge from their darkness. All these things are connected to the profound laws of spiritual existence.

[ 31 ] Now here is another example that shows how everyday life can be explained through insights that pertain to the hidden worlds. Suppose one person lies to another. When I tell the truth, it means something entirely different in the spiritual world than when I lie. When I tell the truth, I create a thought-form. Every thought I express is a form in the supersensible world. Now, the fact I wish to communicate also corresponds to something in the spiritual world. Every fact in the outer, sensory realm also corresponds to something in the spiritual world. The moment I speak the truth, the thought-form I have created connects with that which corresponds to the fact in the spiritual world. But if I say or think a lie that does not correspond to the fact, then as soon as I try to unite my thought-form with the spiritual counterpart that corresponds to the fact, it will bounce back at me and cling to me. For those who are habitual liars, their lies continually bounce back at them, and they surround themselves with an entire armor of lies. Now imagine such a person, enclosed within such an armor of lies. The forces that could help them develop cannot penetrate it, and the result is that they fall behind in [development]. Whoever lies cuts themselves off from the force that must flow in and out of them, and as a result, they fall behind. Therefore, everything that is untruth—everything that does not correspond to the facts—is an obstacle to development. All truth is connected to the facts themselves, and it allows a person to immerse themselves in the entire flow of facts. If you consider this, you will understand what it means to be a “truthful person.” To be a truthful person means: to make oneself capable of progressing, of moving ever further and further. Only truthful people will make progress. On the physical plane, a lie may be concealed, but on the astral plane, a lie cannot be concealed. Deceitful people are surrounded on the astral plane as if by thick crusts. Therefore, they cannot develop. For this reason, the greatest obstacle in the world is the existence of lies. “Lie” is “tophel” in Hebrew. And if you imagine the “spirit of lies” in the world—one that has made it its mission to place as many obstacles as possible in the world’s path—it would have to be a “spirit of lies.” It would have to lie in such a way that a crust forms around all of humanity; it would be the corrupter of humanity. “Corrupter” is “Mephiz” in Hebrew. So you can call such a spirit of lies “Mephistophel,” the “Spirit of Lies.” His name was chosen for this reason: because he is the “father of all obstacles.” Goethe also refers to him by this name.

[ 32 ] So here you have something from which you can see that one can only understand the poet by viewing him through the lens of occultism. You will find exactly the same thing in the works of most truly great poets. You will never find that the great poets of the world created their works out of mere fantasy, but rather out of occult facts and occult connections!

[ 33 ] Now another example that has already been mentioned several times. We are in the fifth root race, and within that, in the fifth subrace. Three subraces had a priestly culture. In the fourth cultural period, the Semitic peoples emerged. From the priestly cultures, a culture developed that was entirely different, one not founded on inspiration from above; for it was precisely on this that the priestly culture was based. — The culture of the fourth subrace was founded on cleverness. The rise of Greek culture thus signifies the overcoming of priestly wisdom by cleverness. A Greek poet and a Greek sculptor depict this for us. The poet Homer illustrates this through Odysseus, who, through cunning—by constructing a wooden horse—defeats the Trojans. The sculptor depicts the old Trojan priest Laocoön being crushed by the serpent, the symbol of wisdom and shrewdness. True poets have always drawn upon the occult. The others are not poets, because nothing in their poetry corresponds to reality. Poetry can flourish only among spiritual peoples. Truth is handed down to humanity in various ways. Poets were not merely entertainers of humanity; they were seers who sought to shine beyond our physical reality into the higher worlds. Homer is therefore the “blind seer” because he created his works from the hidden realm, not from the sensory world. So you see that true, great works of poetry can only be understood if we view them on the basis of occult facts. Life and the creation of humankind become clear to us only when we view them from the occult standpoint. Consider what this means! One may rail against occultism and regard it as something that turns people into dreamers. But you see: in truth, occultism leads ever deeper and deeper into the world. It makes the outer structure of the world all the more comprehensible. As Goethe has already said, there is no outside and no inside. “Nature has neither core nor shell; she is all at once.” The mysteries are revealed when people’s minds open up.

[ 34 ] This brings me to something that at first seems hard to believe, but which is indeed true: namely, the benefit of having an external, exoteric, theosophical movement alongside the occult schools. Only those who wish to lead an occult life should seek initiation. “What, then, is the purpose of having a Theosophical Society?” one might ask. Those who approach this matter solely with intellectual understanding will hardly find a satisfactory answer. But those who immerse themselves in this spiritual world will have more success. It may take a long time, but what results is a genuine glimpse into that world. It is not for nothing that people gather together. Depending on one’s karma, it takes longer for some and shorter for others. What one hears there awakens inner strength, leading one into the spiritual world—the beginning of initiation. One must bear this in mind if one wishes to understand the true purpose and the real reason behind the Theosophical Movement. The true reason for the Theosophical Movement is not merely to speak about the higher worlds to the widest possible audience, but—through our words, through which the power of the higher world itself flows—to awaken the gift and the ability to live in the higher worlds ourselves. This is absolutely necessary. In fact, anyone who understood everything, who penetrated everything that can be told about the higher worlds with their pure conceptual material, and who approached the matter with an open mind, would have only a thin veil left to shatter, and the gift of clairvoyance would arise without further ado. There may be individuals who even have a shortcut to this process. There will always be those who develop somewhat further than others. But all of humanity can be brought forward in our time. What is taught today can certainly, in time, bring forth the powers of seeing on its own. And this is how:

[ 35 ] Today, people think they are incredibly clever in their critical thinking. To whom do they owe this? Suppose you are sitting in an assembly. Standing before you is a speaker who, as they say, proclaims the truth. If such a person had spoken to these same people in their previous incarnations, they would not have understood him. Not a bit! Let’s suppose that everyone sitting in such an assembly had been on Earth fifteen hundred years ago or more. Back then, however, their priests told them fairy tales. They were not taught in the way we are today—intellectually—but were told fairy tales. And these souls are incarnating again: the power with which they perceived those fairy tales now comes to the fore in that they are able to grasp intellectual discourse. And through this newly developed understanding, a higher understanding will emerge. It will no longer be a matter of comprehending with the intellect, but of clairvoyance.

[ 36 ] So you see that the Theosophical Movement opens up a vast perspective. It has the same effect as the priests had centuries ago when they used their fairy tales to draw people into the supersensible world. Just as they planted something deep in the soul that is now coming to the surface, so today’s intellectual education will, in the next incarnation, generate the ability to penetrate the world with clairvoyant powers. This is the global mission of the Theosophical Society. This is what it aims to be and what it is meant to be. If you view it in this light, you will realize that this cannot be found in occultist societies. There are many movements with ethical or other purposes. But movements in which one speaks from the supersensible worlds in order to awaken the spiritual, the spirit—such movements do not exist today outside the Theosophical Movement as a popular movement. That is why the Theosophical Movement brought such a current into being. The Theosophical Movement does not teach us dry theories, but leads us directly into life, giving us guidance to look at the world around us with open eyes.

[ 37 ] Throughout the world, there is truly a kind of blindness among those who should be setting the tone in the outer world. Last Thursday, I tried to make this clear in the social sphere. In all areas where an understanding of these forces should prevail, we see how blindness is, in fact, the hallmark of those who should be inspiring others. Theosophy seeks to bring to light the forces upon which it is based.

[ 38 ] Human beings are often enemies of the elemental beings that constantly surround us. However, they become their friends when they recognize them, grow familiar with them, and act in accordance with their nature. We become friends with those beings who are always around us in the spiritual world when we delve into the hidden aspects of nature; then they work with us, not against us. Everything that occurs in the world—everything that hinders progress and causes bloody destruction—has its root in nothing other than the elemental beings that have been roused in the world. They are enemies of humankind as long as humans seek to act without knowing them. They become friends when humans seek to get to know them, when they seek to approach them with familiarity. Outwardly, in physical terms, it means: Humans stand in the world, acting and acting, and around them happen the things that arise from their actions. They see nothing. He sees nothing at all. Then suddenly revolutionary movements break out, because he has seen nothing, because he has not seen the hidden things that were there long before they unleashed the external hostile storm. If humanity were to see them, it would not disregard them and allow them to degenerate into revolutionary currents. Then he would act in accordance with their spirit. From this you can see that recognizing the workings of the laws and the spiritual elemental beings does not mean destruction, turmoil, and revolution in the world, and that the more we come to know the forces around us, the more what we call the peaceful development of humanity will come to pass. Thus, on a larger scale as well, knowledge of elemental nature and of the spiritual world around us has great practical value. In this way, we can penetrate more deeply into our environment and understand it.

[ 39 ] Next time, let’s talk about a problem that can really affect people deeply. We have already heard a great deal about the forces at work around human beings. And so let us ask ourselves: Is the human being a creature of whom one can speak in terms of freedom, or not? Is he held on a leash by the elemental beings, or not? These are the questions we will address next time.