The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XXVI

[ 1 ] Today we will discuss the fourth round of the Earth. Throughout our entire evolutionary process, we have seven planets—Saturn, the Sun, the Moon, the Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan—and for each planet, there are seven rounds to consider. We also refer to the passage through a round as a kingdom, and we call the fourth round on Earth the Mineral Kingdom. We are now on the fourth planet, in the fourth round, and within that round, on the fourth state of form, or globe. The physical is always the fourth globe.

[ 2 ] So we are currently right in the middle of our evolution. This is often perceived as something extraordinarily important for humankind. We have three planets, three cycles, and three globes behind us, and just as many still lie ahead of us. But if we were standing on the Moon, we would still see a planet in front of Saturn; if we were standing on Jupiter, we would no longer see Saturn, but instead we would see a planet behind Vulcan. The exact midpoint of our current evolution occurred during the fourth subrace of the fourth root race, among the Ur-Uranian people, the fourth Atlantean subrace.

[ 3 ] A kind of spiritual darkness set in at a certain point in human evolution. Humanity has entered a dark age. This dark age is called the Kali Yuga. What people know today, they still know from the perspective they held in earlier stages of their evolution. At the end of the fifth cycle, humanity will once again be able to see spiritually and look both backward and forward.

[ 4 ] The fourth Earth cycle began when the first arupic Earth globe emerged from the darkness of Pralaya, in which everything had been dissolved. At that time, everything that exists on Earth today was present in formless thoughts. We can gain a proper understanding of this if we limit ourselves as much as possible to everything that is physical and imagine it as seeds of thought. The forms did not yet exist; there were only the thoughts prior to their formation. If we ask ourselves, “Who, then, had these thoughts?”—the answer is: These thoughts were held at that time by spiritual beings connected to the Earth. Jehovah and his hosts, for example, were such spiritual beings who filled everything around us on Earth. As the thoughts of the spirits, all thoughts were present in the Arupa globe at that time.

[ 5 ] What, then, prompted the gods to conceive of human thought in particular? What served as their model? It was the monads that already existed at that time but were not yet connected to the human. Slowly, they took shape as the thoughts of the gods.

[ 6 ] Then the Arupa sphere condenses; everything develops into thought-forms. The entire Earth was so filled with them that it was as if we were looking into a large model filled with tiny crystals. Within it, all the forms of humans, animals, and plants were present, like stencils. Spiritual beings work on these, just as an architect works on his models. They are assembled from the outside. The whole then transforms into astral matter. The astral globe of the Earth comes into being. In between are brief pralayas. Once again, it is the divinely acting forces from the outside that radiate out, filling the astral matter and the forms with light and color. Here, all the astral forms of humans and animals, as well as the entire plant kingdom, are found in a vast astral sea. Then this condenses more and more, and the physical Earth emerges as the fourth globe.

[ 7 ] Until then, until the beginning of the fourth round, the Sun and the Moon were still united with the Earth; they formed a single body with the Earth. During the great Pralaya before the first Earth round, they had merged with the Earth once more, and during the first three Earth rounds, the three remained together. A sort of biscuit-shaped form then emerged. In the third Earth cycle, the Earth protruded from the Earth-Sun sphere on one side like a bulge, and the Moon protruded on the other side. At that time, the body was actually dragging two such “sacks” along with it. In the fourth Earth cycle, the body was initially rounded again, but then the sack-like formations reappeared in the ether and protruded from the sides.

[ 8 ] So what we are dealing with here is an Earth that is still united with the Sun and also with the Moon. At that time, the region between the Moon and the Earth was teeming with life. This is accurately preserved in the Muslim legend of Paradise.

[ 9 ] Now the following occurs. As the second root race of the fourth Earth cycle approaches, the Sun splits off, and in the third root race, the Moon. Everything that previously existed only on the astral globe now develops physically. Now the human being also emerges physically, but now structured in such a way that he can receive the Monad into his increasingly purified astral body. Had the human being received this earlier, he would have received the Monad along with Manas, Buddhi, and Atma; he would have become very wise, but that wisdom would have been a kind of dream-wisdom.

[ 10 ] At first, human beings have no control over the physical body or the etheric body. Nor do they initially have any control over their lower passions, which originate from the moon; these inevitably manifest themselves until the time when human beings begin their earthly existence. Had human beings simply incorporated the monad into the ennobled animal nature, they could not have gone astray. They would have become what Jehovah had intended: to endow them with all wisdom, yet at the same time to shape them into living statues. Then those beings intervened who had developed more rapidly on the Moon, beyond the measure of the Moon’s evolution: the Luciferic beings. Lucifer is a power that is passionate about wisdom, a passion as vehement as sensuality is in the animal. The greed for the development of wisdom—that is Lucifer. He is endowed with all the qualities that originate from the Moon. If Lucifer alone had taken on this development, a struggle would have arisen between Lucifer and the ancient gods.

[ 11 ] Jehovah’s aim was to shape form. Lucifer could have developed a passion for premature spiritualization within the astral matter. The result would have been a fierce battle between the spirits of Jehovah and the hosts of Lucifer. There was a danger that, through Jehovah, some would become living statues, while others would become beings spiritualized too quickly through Lucifer. If the possibility arose of finding material to restore balance, this material would have to be taken from elsewhere. In order to paralyze the struggle between Jehovah and Lucifer, the White Lodge, which was just beginning, had to obtain the material from another planet. This differed significantly from the astral matter that had come from the Moon—the astral-chemical material of the animal kingdom. There was the possibility of bringing substances from other planets: new passions, less vehement, yet oriented toward independence. The new material was brought from Mars. Thus, in the first half of Earth’s evolution, astral material from Mars was introduced. A magnificent advance was brought about by the introduction of the astral material from Mars.

[ 12 ] The outer culture on Earth came about because, on the one hand, hardening was prevented, and on the other hand, spiritualization was prevented. Lucifer made that which was given by the forces of Mars his vehicle. The new element on Earth is referred to as Mars. This continued until the middle of the Atlantean race. Then a new question arose. Humanity had absorbed wisdom, but wisdom alone would not be able to act as a formative force in the future. One could assemble the mineral kingdom through Lucifer, but Lucifer could not animate it. Humanity could never have given life under the influence of the other forces. Therefore, a Sun God had to come—a higher being than Lucifer. These were the so-called Solar Pitris. The most exalted among them is Christ. Just as Lucifer represents the Manas element, so Christ represents the Buddha element.

[ 13 ] The human astral bodies had to undergo a third influence. This was brought down from Mercury. Christ unites his dominion with that of Lucifer. If one now wishes to find the path upward to the gods, one needs Mercury, the messenger of the gods. He is the one who prepared the paths of Christ from the center of the Atlantean root race so that he might later enter the astral bodies that had absorbed the Mercurial element.

[ 14 ] All of our current metals have only gradually become what they are today. Gold, silver, platinum, and so on all behave in this way: When heated, they first become warm, then liquid, and then gaseous. This is how all metals once existed within the gaseous Earth. Gold, too, only became condensed along with the Earth; it was once entirely ethereal gold. If we go back to the time when the Earth was still united with the Sun, there was no solid gold inside it yet. The particles of the white solar ether became liquid and then solid. These are the gold veins that are now in the Earth. Gold is condensed sunlight, while silver is condensed moonlight. All mineral substances have gradually condensed. As human beings become increasingly spiritual, mercury will solidify. Just as water does now, gold and silver once formed droplets. The fact that mercury is still liquid today is connected to the entire process of Earth’s evolution. It will solidify once Mercury, the messenger of the gods, has fulfilled his task. Back then, in the middle of the Atlantean root race, mercury was drawn from Mercury in ethereal form. If we did not have mercury, we would not have the Christ principle. In the droplets of mercury, one must see what was incorporated into the Earth in the middle of the Atlantean era.

[ 15 ] When the Mars principle (Kama-Manas) was incorporated into the Earth, iron was brought down to Earth from Mars. Iron originates from Mars. It initially existed in astral form and then condensed. If we trace the Earth back to that point in time, we find fewer and fewer warm-blooded animals. It was not until the middle of the Lemurian period that warm blood appeared, coinciding with the Mars impulse. Iron entered the blood at that time. Iron is what is associated with Mars in all occult writings, just as mercury is associated with Buddhi-Mercury. Certain people have learned this from the adepts. The Earth is therefore understood as Mars and Mercury. Everything that does not originate from Mars and Mercury has come from the Moon.

[ 16 ] The days of the week reflect planetary evolution. The sequence of the planets is wonderfully reflected in the days of the week:

Saturn Saturday
Sun Sunday
Moon Monday
Mars (Tiu) Tuesday
Mercury (Wotan) Wednesday, Mercredi
Jupiter (Donar) Thursday, Jeudi
Venus (Freya) Friday, Vendredi
Vulcan (the octave of Saturn) Saturday

[ 17 ] In the statement that Christ crushed the serpent’s head, we find a profound expression of esotericism. The serpent’s head represents mere wisdom; it must be overcome. True wisdom lies in the heart; that is why the serpent’s head must be crushed. The same truth has already been expressed in the legend of Heracles. He slays the Lernaean Hydra, whose heads constantly grow back. Mere Manas will return again and again. He must remove the blood (Kama); then the Hydra will be defeated. The blood came onto the earth with the wisdom of Mars (Kama-Manas).

[ 18 ] There is a deeper meaning behind some other things. The Age of Mars is preceded by the separation of the Moon. The Moon contained silver. Even earlier, the separation of the Sun took place. Gold is condensed sunlight. They are interconnected: sunlight and gold—hence the Golden Age; moonlight and silver—the Silver Age; Mars and iron—the Iron Age.

[ 19 ] We are now on the middle, the fourth globe. On the fifth globe, the ability to organize oneself from within emerges. Then the Earth transforms into a sphere on which human beings shape their form from within. The Earth is then a plastic globe. The sixth globe is the one on which human beings not only shape themselves plastically but can also imbue their forms with their own thoughts. On the fifth globe, for example, a human being can form a hand; on the sixth globe, they can then send their thoughts out into the world. On the seventh globe, everything becomes formless again. Everything then returns to the seed state.

[ 20 ] Let us now consider our present “I.” It contains a multitude of ideas and concepts. When we look at the cultural world, we say: The cultural world arose from the “I.” All of this was once contained within a human mind; it was contained within the “I.” It was synthesized from that. All things that have been created artificially were born from the “I.” In the middle of the Lemurian epoch, the “I” was still empty; at that time, human beings were incapable of anything. Only gradually, in the most primitive way, did they begin to become acquainted with the external world. Their “I” was like a hollow soap bubble back then. When he looked at a stone, it was reflected within him; he might have noticed its sharpness and began to carve other stones with it. Thus he began to shape the mineral world. Whatever was in his surroundings was reflected more and more in the initially empty “I.” At the end of the physical globe, we will have everything as a reflection within our “I.” Once we have everything within us, we will shape everything from within. This is the plastic aspect of the next globe. The architect of Cologne Cathedral synthesized these elements within his “I”—this content of his “I” is enlivened by Buddhi, and then he sculpts everything out plastically on the fifth globe. On the sixth globe, all of this will exist as thought, and on the seventh globe, everything will be drawn back into the atom. In the next cycle, humanity will then create the new plant kingdom from within the “I.”

[ 21 ] In the middle of the Lemurian era, the “I” was like a hole drilled into matter. All of our “I’s” were such holes in matter back then, which we have since filled. In the next round, the contents will emerge as plants, for in this fifth round the same thing will happen to the plant kingdom as is now happening to the mineral kingdom. The entire Earth will then be a single, great, living being. Humanity will then have attained conscious, sentient life and will shape it from within itself. In the sixth round, there will no longer be a plant kingdom either; humanity will then project living, sentient thoughts into its surroundings in the form of purely intellectual constructs. In this sixth round, on the sixth globe, in its sixth stage of development—corresponding to the sixth race—something important will be decided. By then, everything capable of developing from all the kingdoms will have reached the state of Devachan. If someone has not progressed far enough to be raised to the Devachan stage, they remain in the animal kingdom. This is determined by the number 666, the number of the Beast.

[ 22 ] By the seventh cycle, humanity has been completely purified. The human realm then takes on its final form. This is the fastest cycle. Upon emerging from it, humanity has become divine and evolves into Jupiter.

[ 23 ] In each round, the first globe or state of form is such that we are not yet actually dealing with a form; rather, the form is only contained in potential. For this reason, esotericism initially does not count the Arupa Globe among the states of form, but rather among the states of life; the same applies to the seventh globe, the archetypal one. So we actually have only five states of form. The first and last globes of each round are states of life. All the states of the rounds are also called states of life, because passing through a kingdom constitutes a state of life.

[ 24 ] In the first cycle, life existed in the first elemental realm; in the second cycle, in the second elemental realm; in the third cycle, in the third elemental realm; and in the fourth cycle, in the mineral realm. In the fifth round, life is in the plant kingdom; in the sixth round, life is in the animal kingdom; in the seventh round, life is in the human kingdom.

[ 25 ] When one considers life in the seventh cycle, in the human realm, it is something that shines into the next cycle, in which the human being will already have transitioned into a different state of consciousness. The purpose of a cycle is to reach a new stage of life. The purpose of the seventh round is to transition into a new level of consciousness. The esotericist therefore counts only six states of life and the seventh round as a new state of consciousness.

[ 26 ] If we wish to express states of form, life, and consciousness in numbers, we arrive at 5 globes or states of form, 6 rounds or states of life, and 10 planets or states of consciousness. If we count the entire evolution from Saturn to Vulcan, this is expressed in what you will find in Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s work as the number of the Prajapatis, 1065—that is: 10-6-5.