The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XXV

[ 1 ] When we consider the successive planets, each such planet represents a stage of evolution comprising seven cycles, seven times seven globes, and seven times seven times seven races. Each such planet serves to guide a state of consciousness through all its stages. These stages are referred to in various ways in the different esoteric religions. In Christian esotericism, they are called:

a state of consciousness = power
a circle = wealth, wisdom
a globe = splendor, glory.

[ 2 ] When we speak of “power” in Christian esotericism, we mean the passage through a state of consciousness. The passage through a round is the passage through a kingdom. In the successive rounds, human beings pass through seven realms: the first elemental realm, the second elemental realm, the third elemental realm, the mineral realm, the plant realm, the animal realm, and the human realm. The passage through the seven states of form, or globes, is called glory. Glory refers to that which shines outwardly, that which takes on shape and form. The Lord’s Prayer, in its conclusion—“For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory”—offers us a glimpse into world events. When this is once again present in our consciousness, then a recognition of God becomes possible again.

[ 3 ] To begin with, all religions—especially the exoteric ones—have strayed [from true knowledge of God]. They are the bearers of selfishness, since they do not focus on the whole world, on the power, the kingdom, and the glory. When these words once again become a living consciousness, when they regain their meaning, then religions will once again be what they are meant to be.

[ 4 ] The Saturn stage existed to develop a very deep state of trance in human beings; people are now almost completely unfamiliar with it. They know only dreamless sleep, like that of plants, and dream-filled sleep, like that on the Moon—a pictorial consciousness. The reason why humans no longer experience deep trance is this: When a person sleeps, only the astral body lifts off, while the physical body and the etheric body remain in bed. If one could take the etheric body along during sleep, as a chela can, then the physical body alone would remain behind; it would then have a dull consciousness. This also occurs in an abnormal way with mediums, and very strange things come to light in such cases. Such people then draw strange cosmic formations. For example, a girl was put into a trance by a glass of port wine and, in this state, sketched peculiar formations in which one could see caricatures of our solar system; she also found echoes of the names we give to these formations. Mediums possess these visions because they are able to separate the etheric body from the sleeping physical body and to consciously observe within the sleeping physical body. They can then also make use of the physical body, at which point the physical body becomes clairvoyant in a remarkable way. The chela accomplishes this consciously, whereas the medium does so unconsciously. It is through such clairvoyant consciousness that the planetary systems have been discovered. All the states into which chelas and adepts can put themselves are nothing other than consciousness through the physical body; they do all this while fully conscious.

[ 5 ] On Venus, full consciousness will develop in the etheric body. While the human being sleeps, he will gain an awareness of the other side of the world there. On the Volcano, the spirit is completely detached; it has then also taken the etheric body with it. This state then enables the human being to perceive the entire world with precision.

We distinguish between:
on Saturn = trance consciousness, universal consciousness
on the Sun = dreamless sleep, consciousness limited to living beings
on the Moon = image consciousness
on Earth = waking consciousness
on Jupiter = astral consciousness, further expanded
on Venus = etheric consciousness, expanded even further
on Vulcan = universal consciousness.

[ 6 ] Each such state of consciousness must pass through all the realms, be developed through seven cycles or realms, and within each cycle, through seven globes. The lesser forces are developed within the so-called races. In this way, a creation gradually works out from within what was predisposed.

[ 7 ] Today, human beings are most familiar with the mineral kingdom because they live within it. The human mind cannot yet comprehend everything that exists in the higher kingdoms. That was a necessary stage of development. Today, however, we can no longer be content with science alone. Everything is in a state of constant evolution.

[ 8 ] When we look at the mineral kingdom—at any stone—we see a limited space, a limited form. We see nothing of the mineral kingdom as such; rather, we see only the reflected light. The sun’s rays are reflected in a certain way. When you strike a bell, you hear a sound; an effect of the bell enters our ear. Everything we perceive in the world within the mineral kingdom is a totality condensed into some form of space. If you strip away the color of an object, its sound, its taste, then nothing remains. We know only that which has come together. The fact that light and sound appear in such forms is what constitutes the mineral kingdom. Imagine a world in which only the qualities of perception flow through space and are not perceived in specific forms. Imagine colorful clouds drifting through the world, sounds resonating through the world, all our sensory perceptions filling space without being bound to any form: this is the third elemental realm—the elements of light and fire permeating space. Even in the astral realm, the human being is a colorful cloud.

[ 9 ] Let us now proceed a little further. When we see a thought-form, it is such a colored cloud, a movement vibrating within itself. If one wishes to create a thought, one must draw the relevant figure into astral space. This is the basis of the magicians’ work; they draw the forms into space and then surround them [with astral matter]. One then channels astral matter along the figure. The third elemental realm is not irregular, but rather a swarm of particles intermingling along such lines—all an expression of beautiful forms that possess their own luminosity. They are like luminous bodies whirling through space, glowing from within.

[ 10 ] The sounds that resonate through the space are arranged according to numbers. What is particularly significant is that, from the outset, things were arranged in a certain way, in specific relationships to one another. One figure could interact with another in such a way that it did not harm it, or in such a way that it caused it to shatter. This was called the measure of things. Everything was ordered according to measure, number, and form. Imagine setting aside the sensory qualities and picturing the world filled with such thought-figures: that is then the second elemental realm. It underlies the third. There we have only forms woven from thought—the thoughts of the world-ether.

[ 11 ] The first elemental realm is difficult to describe. Let us suppose we take the thought of a figure such as a spiral, and then the thought of a lemniscate. Now let us place ourselves within the intention before the form has come into being—first within the intention for the spiral, and then within the intention for the lemniscate. Let us imagine a world filled with such seeds of thought. This formless world is the first elemental realm.

[ 12 ] The fourth elemental kingdom is the mineral kingdom, which reflects back outward what it receives. The plant kingdom not only reflects back the sensory qualities, but it reflects them back as if animated from within. It reflects back the forms. The second elemental kingdom is the formative kingdom of the third elemental kingdom. The mineral kingdom is condensed from the qualities of the third elemental kingdom. The plant reflects the form of the second elemental kingdom, thus developing the form from within itself. The animal kingdom also reflects the intentions that lie within the first elemental kingdom.

[ 13 ] In the first round, humankind was in the first elemental kingdom. When it had become physical at that time, it was at the physical form stage in the first round and in the first elemental kingdom. In the physical state of the first elemental realm of the first round, the thought-seeds had become physical. At that time, the Earth consisted entirely of physical spheres, so small that one could not have seen them; they were all points of force. These points of force gradually condensed; they were indistinguishable from one another at that time. Physically, the condensed elemental realm already existed at that time. If one conceives of a human being as a mere thought-being, then one can easily walk right through such a being, even if one cannot see it. Once it has become physical, one cannot walk through it, even if one cannot see it. The physical points of force became astral again and then transitioned to the next round.

[ 14 ] In the second cycle, the Earth consisted entirely of forms. The world was a beautifully shaped sphere in which all the things that would emerge were already present in their typical forms. It is the prophetic manifestation of everything that will emerge in the other realms. On Earth, the colors and shapes were models of present-day human beings. On the next planet, the colors and shapes will be models of what human beings will then become.

[ 15 ] In the plastic-astral state of the fifth round, human beings will no longer need to retain their hands. The hand will only be formed when needed, like a tentacle, because by then the whole being will have become a plant. Every secretion will then also be a plant product. Thus, all things that emanate from human beings will then be plant entities. We will then be living in the plant kingdom.

[ 16 ] In the sixth round, we live in the animal kingdom. By then, everything that emanates from the human being—everything that flows out from him—is a living product that possesses life and sensation within itself. A word then becomes a living being, a bird that is sent out into the world.

[ 17 ] In the seventh round, the human being creates himself. He is then able to continually duplicate and multiply himself. In the seventh round, everyone will have reached the level at which our Masters stand today. Then our “I” will be the bearer of all earthly experiences. This is initially concentrated in the Lodge of the Masters. The higher “I” then coalesces, becomes atomistic, and forms the atoms of Jupiter.

[ 18 ] The White Lodge is conceived as a single entity, a “I” that encompasses everything. All human “I’s” and every individuality have been relinquished and merged into the all-encompassing universal consciousness; nothing but large, expanding circles, each in a distinct color, all combined into a single circle. If one imagines them all superimposed on one another, this results in a single overall color. All the “I’s” are contained within it, but as a whole. This very large sphere, contracted, forms the atom. This atom multiplies, generating itself. These are then the atoms that form Jupiter. The lunar adepts formed the “atoms of the present Earth.” One can study the atom by studying the plan of the Adepts’ Lodge on the Moon.

[ 19 ] Summary

[ 20 ] Every realm must pass through seven forms:

1. Arupa = Tendency toward form
2. Rupa = Form
3. Astral = Shimmering and glowing from within
4. Physical = Impenetrable in space
5. Plastic = Taking shape from within itself
6. Intellectual
7. Archetypal