The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XX

[ 1 ] Yesterday we began by examining the formations in the astral world that arise under the influence of human beings themselves. Today we turn to the beings of the astral realm who are more or less permanent inhabitants there.

[ 2 ] To understand the role that human beings play in astral events, we must consider the nature of the sleeping human being. As we know, the human being consists of four parts: the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the “I.” When a person sleeps, the astral body, together with the I, leaves the human shell. Such a person wanders, so to speak, through the astral space. As a rule, they do not stray very far from the physical and etheric bodies, which remain in bed. The other two members of the human being—the astral body and the I—are now in the astral space.

[ 3 ] Even though the physical body and the etheric body remain here on the physical plane, we must by no means believe that, for this reason, only physical forces influence the physical body and the etheric body, and that only physical beings have access to them. Everything that exists as thoughts and ideas exerts an influence on the etheric body. When a person sleeps, the etheric body remains here on the physical plane. If we think something while in the vicinity of a sleeping person, we will exert an influence on their etheric body; only the sleeper would be unaware of it. While awake, a person is so preoccupied with the outside world that they repel all thoughts that penetrate the etheric body. But at night, the etheric body is alone, without the “I,” and is exposed to all the thoughts swirling around it, without the sleeping person being aware of it. Even while awake, they are unaware of this, because the astral body, which dwells within the etheric body, is occupied with the outside world. When a person is in a sleeping state, any being with the power to send out thoughts can exert an influence on them. Thus, higher individualities—those we call Masters—can exert an influence on them. They can send thoughts into the sleeper’s etheric body. Thus, a person can receive the Masters’ lofty, pure thoughts into their etheric body if the Masters consciously choose to do so. However, at night, thoughts from the surrounding environment also enter the etheric body. A person then encounters these in the morning when they slip back into their etheric body. There are two kinds of dreams. One arises directly from experiences in the astral world: through the echo of the day’s experiences and certain elements from the astral world. At night, in the astral realm, the “I” generally experiences little else besides things connected to daily life. When it returns, it may or may not bring the experiences of the astral world back into waking life. However, it also encounters a certain state of affairs within the etheric body. What is found there is also absorbed by the astral body and then appears to us as dreams. But what has happened to the etheric body during the night constitutes a different kind of experience. Thus, in the morning, the etheric body contains, first, thoughts that have approached it from the environment, and second, thoughts that the Masters or other individualities have consciously implanted within it. The latter can be brought about through meditation. By engaging in pure, noble thoughts of eternity during the day, a person instills in their astral body a predisposition toward these thoughts. If a person did not have a predisposition toward such thoughts, it would be futile for a Master to engage with their etheric body. When one reads *Light on the Path* and meditates on it, one prepares the astral body so that when the Master has filled the etheric body with sublime thoughts, the astral body can truly encounter these thoughts. This relationship is called the connection between a person and their higher self. The inner, actual process is as follows. A person’s Higher Self is not something that lives within us, but rather around us. The Higher Self consists of the more highly developed individualities. A person must be clear that the Higher Self is outside of them. If they were to seek it within themselves, they would never find it. They must seek it among those who have already walked the path we wish to follow. Within us there is nothing but our karma—that which we have already experienced in previous incarnations. Everything else is outside of us. The Higher Self is all around us. If we wish to draw closer to it for the future, we must seek it above all in those individualities that can act upon our etheric body at night. It is in the universe; that is why the Vedantist says: “Tat tvam asi” = That is you!—If, through suitable writings such as *Light on the Path* or the Gospel of John, one predisposes the astral body to absorb lofty elements and thereby come to understand the Masters, one thereby works toward development toward the Higher Self.

[ 4 ] Thus, at night in the astral realm, we find the sleeping bodies or the students with their masters insofar as the one who has established a bond with the master has, through appropriate meditation, a connection that draws him toward the master. This is the process that can take place at night. Every person can participate in such communion—and thereby develop the higher self—through immersion in inspired writings. What will be our self in a few thousand years is now our higher self. But to truly become acquainted with the higher self, we must seek it where it already exists today: among the higher individualities. This is the communion of disciples with the masters.

[ 5 ] Another thing we may encounter in the astral plane is the black magician and his disciples. To train as a black magician, the disciple undergoes a special training regimen. The training in black magic consists of accustoming the person, under specific guidance, to torturing, cutting, and killing animals. That is the ABC. When a person consciously tortures a living being, it has a specific consequence. The pain caused in this way has a very special effect on the human astral body, especially if the person has caused the pain consciously. If one consciously cuts into a very specific organ, the person gains a certain power.

[ 6 ] Now, it is the fundamental principle of all white magic that no power may be attained without devotion. When power is attained through devotion, it flows from the universal wellspring of life. But when we take life energy from a single, specific being, we are stealing that life energy from it. Because it belonged to a particular being, it intensifies and elevates the sense of individuality in the person who appropriates it. And this intensification of individuality makes that person suitable to become a disciple of those who are engaged in a struggle with the good masters.

[ 7 ] For our Earth is a battlefield; it is the arena of two opposing forces: right and left. One, the white force, the right, strives to re-spiritualize the Earth once it has reached a certain degree of material, physical density. The other power, the left or black power, strives to make the Earth ever denser and denser, like the Moon. Thus, after some time, our Earth could become the physical expression of the good powers or the physical expression of the evil powers. It becomes the physical expression of the good powers through humanity’s union with the unifying spirits, as people seek the “I” within the community. The Earth is destined to become physically more and more differentiated. Now it is possible for the individual parts to go their own ways, for each part to form its own “I.” This is the black path. The white path is the one in which a commonality is sought, in which a general “I” is formed.

[ 8 ] If we were to delve deeper and deeper into ourselves, to immerse ourselves in our own ego-organism, wanting more and more for ourselves, then we would all eventually drift apart. If, on the other hand, we unite so that a common spirit animates us, so that a center forms between us, in our midst, then we pull ourselves together; then we unite. To be a black magician means to cultivate the spirit of separateness more and more. Certain black adepts are also on the path to bringing certain powers of the Earth under their control. If their following were to grow so strong that this became possible, then the Earth would head toward ruin.

[ 9 ] Human beings are called upon to gradually immerse themselves more and more in the atmosphere of the good masters. In addition to the adept and his disciples, one also finds the black magician and his disciples on the astral plane. However, one also finds there people who died some time ago; they are there for the purpose of gradually shedding the ties they had to the Earth. The craving for pleasure must be shed. Pleasure is a process within the astral body, but it cannot be satisfied by the astral body. As long as one lives on the physical plane, one can satisfy the astral body’s cravings through the instruments of the physical body. After death, the craving for pleasure remains, but the instruments for its satisfaction are no longer available. Everything that can be satisfied only through the physical body—all of that must be weaned away. This takes place in Kamaloka. When a person has weaned himself of all such desires, the Kamaloka period comes to an end and the time of Devachan begins.

[ 10 ] When the Kamaloka period comes to an end, something may occur that is not entirely normal in human development. In normal human development, the following happens: The human being has outgrown desires, wishes, instincts, passions, and so on. Now, everything that constitutes the higher nature is drawn out of the astral body. What remains is a kind of shell—the very thing through which the person sought sensual pleasure. And once the person has left the Kamaloka plane, these astral human shells float around on the astral plane. They gradually dissolve, and by the time the person returns, most of the shells have completely dissolved. It is quite possible that individuals with a strong somnambulistic or mediumistic disposition may be tormented by these astral shells. This manifests itself even in people with only a weak mediumistic tendency in a way that leaves them with a very unpleasant impression. It can happen that a person has such a strong inclination toward the astral body even within the “I,” even though, on the other hand, they have already advanced so far that they are maturing relatively quickly for Devachan, so that parts of their already developed Manas remain connected to this shell. It is not so bad when a person develops base desires while still a simple person, but it is bad when they use their higher intellect to indulge those base desires. Then a part of their manasic nature becomes bound up with the base desires. In the materialistic age, this is the case to an extraordinary degree. In such people, a part of the Manas remains connected to the shell, and the shell then possesses an automatic mind. These shells are called shadows. The shadows endowed with an automatic mind are very often those that manifest through mediums. One may thus be deceived into mistaking what is merely a person’s shell for their true individuality. Very often, what makes itself known after a person’s death is such a shell, which no longer has anything to do with the evolving “I.” But the karma is not yet extinguished with the dissolution of the shadow.

[ 11 ] We carry with us the cause of every counter-image we have created in the astral realm. Our deeds follow us. Just as a signature is engraved in a seal, so too is what we imprint in the astral realm. It remains in the astral realm like a seal impression and wreaks havoc there. We take with us what corresponds to the seal. But what remains behind in the astral realm need not be despised by us. Imagine, for example, that someone in this life were to evolve beyond a clearly defined stage of development—a stage to which they had belonged for a time. At that earlier stage of development, they would have held views that contradict their later views. When they then ascend to Devachan, the old views—those with which the person has not come to terms harmoniously—remain behind in the shell. If a medium then connects with this shell, they may find contradictions within it that relate to the person’s later life. This was likely the case when an attempt was made to contact Helena Petrovna Blavatsky on the astral plane. She had previously held the view that reincarnation was a fallacy. The medium in question then gleaned this view from the shell that Blavatsky had left behind, a view which she herself, however, later referred to as an error in her teachings.

[ 12 ] Anyone who enters the astral plane may be exposed to a multitude of errors. Among other things, the astral plane contains an imprint of the Akashic Records. If someone has the ability to read the Akashic Records on the astral plane—which are reflected there in their individual parts—they will be able to see their past incarnations. The Akashic Records are not printed with letters; rather, one reads from them what actually took place. Even after one thousand five hundred years, an Akashic image still conveys the impression of the former personality. Thus, all Akashic images from earlier times can also be found on the astral plane. One might therefore fall into the error of thinking one is speaking with Dante, whereas in fact Dante could be present again today as a living personality. It is also possible that the Akashic image provides sensible answers, that it transcends itself. Thus, one can truly receive verses from Dante’s Akashic image; however, these do not originate from the advanced individuality but should be regarded as verses produced as a continuation of the Dante personality of that time. The Akashic image is, in fact, a living entity, not a rigid automaton.

[ 13 ] In order to navigate the astral plane, rigorous and intensive training is required, because deceptions are always possible there. And it is especially important to learn to refrain from making any judgments for as long as possible.

[ 14 ] Let us now consider the process of dying in order to understand the mechanism of reincarnation. The moment of death consists in the etheric body and the physical body being torn apart from one another. This is the difference between someone falling asleep and someone dying: in the case of the person falling asleep, the etheric body remains connected to the physical body. All of a person’s thoughts and experiences are imprinted in the etheric body. They are engraved within it. A person would be able to recall their experiences much more vividly if the external world did not constantly erase them. It is simply that a person does not always have these impressions before them because they direct their attention outward. When they cease to do so, they perceive what is stored in their etheric body. Everything a person has taken in from the external world is engraved in their etheric body. They first direct their attention outward and take in the impressions into their etheric body. However, they forget some of this again. When, at the moment of death, the physical body is shed, they perceive at that instant everything that is stored in their etheric body. This occurs after their “I,” together with the astral body and the etheric body, has separated from the physical body. Thus, immediately after death, the opportunity arises for a complete recollection of the past life.

[ 15 ] Now we must seek to understand another similar moment, namely the moment of birth, when a human being enters a new incarnation. At that point, something else comes into play. They bring with them everything they have earned on the Devachan plane. Like bells, the astral bodies seeking incarnation ring out as they approach the life ether and now form a new etheric body. When a human being connects with their future etheric body, a moment of vision occurs, just as they previously looked back on their past life at the moment of death. But this now expresses itself quite differently—namely, as a looking ahead into the future, a foreknowledge. In some psychically gifted children, one can sometimes hear such stories in their earliest years, before materialistic culture has had an effect on them. This is a foreknowledge of existence.

[ 16 ] These are two important, essential moments, for they show us what a person brings with them when they descend to incarnate. When they have died, the essential element is a memory. When they reincarnate, the essential element is a vision of the future. These two relate to one another as cause and effect. Everything a person experiences in the final moment of death is the summary of all previous lives. In Devachan, these are transformed from a matter of the past into a matter of the future. These two moments can provide an important clue to very specific connections across two or more successive incarnations.