The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XXVIII

[ 1 ] Let us give another special example of how one can immerse oneself in the depths of religious scriptures and come to understand more and more of what is written in them.

[ 2 ] If we consider our sense organs as they are usually regarded, the sense of smell allows us to perceive the substance itself. Without the substance being emitted, it is impossible for a person to smell. What takes place here is a connection with the substance itself. The sense of taste does not connect with the substance itself, but rather breaks things down and perceives their effects. We can therefore call taste a chemical sense, because it penetrates the nature of the substance. The third sense, sight, has nothing at all to do with substance, for it perceives only images projected by the substance. The fourth, the sense of touch, has even less to do with what matter is, since it perceives only properties of the environment as they relate to objects, such as warmth and cold; this is a state of matter that no longer depends on the matter itself, but rather on the surrounding conditions. Hearing does not depend on air at all, for we perceive only the oscillations of the air—the vibrations—which are entirely external to the material world. Matter—the air—is merely the medium through which sound waves travel.

[ 3 ] The most basic sense of perception is smell, followed by taste, then sight, then touch, and finally hearing. We can now ask ourselves—taking the sense of touch as an example: What are heat and cold?—What is contained in the ether of warmth. Thus, the sense of touch perceives the warmth ether; sight perceives the light ether; taste perceives the chemical ether; smell perceives the atomic or life ether; and hearing perceives the air. A sixth and seventh sense, which will only develop in the future, would perceive water and earth.

[ 4 ] Thus, in our senses, we have a successive series of levels for what we call our substances. Let us first consider our three lower senses.

[ 5 ] The sense of sight perceives the objects around us through the light ether. But there was a time when everything around us was pitch-black and dark. Let us transport ourselves back to the moment when human beings first began to see and the external world became perceptible to us as such. Before that, the eye had not yet opened to the outside world. Imagine the same force that the eye receives from the outside in the light ether, pouring out from the inside to the outside, flowing outward in the opposite direction through the eyes. If that were the case, the being would illuminate those around it. Such a state existed at a certain time, when humans possessed the Cyclopean eye. The glow was caused by the outflowing light, which streamed from the inside out. At that time, human beings illuminated—just as some sea creatures still do today—the objects around them and their own bodies. Back then, human beings had no self-awareness; rather, they were merely a means for the corresponding deity to illuminate the world on the deity’s behalf. The deity had no other means of seeing the objects around them than through the eyes of humans.

[ 6 ] When human beings did not yet possess reason, it was possible for the active light of the Deity to pass through them and illuminate objects. Human beings served as mediators for the Deity. The Deity sought to make the clearly defined objects visible through the light. As the light passed through human beings, human beings themselves were formed. Before the light passed through man, the Deity did not yet need the light, because objects were not yet solid but fluid, so that light could not yet be used. This is the state described in the Bible: “Darkness was over the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” At that time, the world was pure water; even gold, silver, and the other metals flowed and were liquid. When solid objects began to form within the water like chunks of ice, humanity began to take shape, and light became necessary. God said, “Let there be light, and there was light,” and it was only then that humanity took on its form. This is the moment when the light ether is introduced and the solid components separate: “God made a firmament.” Previously, everything was a watery substance. Just as the light ether was introduced into the solid, so the chemical ether was introduced into the water. The chemical affinities were incorporated into human beings while they were still in a liquid state. The chemical relationships according to which the various substances combine today were imprinted upon the individual. Then we return to a state in which both human beings and the entire Earth were still in a gaseous form; at that time, the life ether—or the atomistic ether—was instilled into them. The life ether was then channeled into the world through human beings.

[ 7 ] Now let us once again consider the state of affairs that existed when God said, “Let there be light!” The Earth begins to condense. The Earth is illuminated. It was thus the case that human beings were, in fact, only just beginning to take on a solid form at that time. Now, the forces from earlier had to be preserved for them. We have now reached the stage where human beings allow light to pass through themselves. Then a complete reversal took place. Human beings now began to perceive light from the outside.

[ 8 ] It was through him that we were originally brought into this world:

1. the atomistic or life ether
2. the chemical ether
3. the light ether

[ 9 ] Reversal:

3. Perception of the Life Ether
2. Perception of the Chemical Ether
1. Perception of the Light Ether.

[ 10 ] Then the human being receives the light back from the world (reversal of the vortex). He used to shine on his own; now the light flows into him. He has closed himself off; through this, he has become conscious. The light shines within them; the person begins to reflect the world around them within themselves. The next step is that the person begins to recognize objects in terms of their chemical composition. They develop sympathy or antipathy toward substances, a kinship with the rest of the world. Finally, they also perceive the atomistic or life ether within themselves.

[ 11 ] By introducing light into the world, humankind acquired its solid form. By introducing the chemical ether, it developed a connection with the world. By introducing the atomistic ether, it acquired life.

[ 12 ] So through his eyes he received his form; through his sense of taste, his connection to the world; and through his sense of smell—his nose—he received life. Jehovah breathed the breath of life into his nostrils.

[ 13 ] When we approach religious scriptures with such ideas in mind, we find that the deepest truths are embedded within them. Let us see whether they were originally embedded in the form in which we now have them.

[ 14 ] Imagine, for example, the builder of the Gotthard Tunnel and then the one who describes it. The man who built the Gotthard Tunnel may not have needed all that much engineering skill while in a conscious state, but he turned an idea into reality. This is how the ancient sages differ from those of today. Back then, they possessed a creative wisdom. Now we have perceived wisdom. Creative wisdom is the wisdom that once fashioned human beings, building them up piece by piece—the wisdom that the anatomist today extracts and describes. Creative wisdom is exactly the same as the wisdom extracted today; it has been laid into the world. Ancient wisdom deals with the plan of the world. Now you can understand why the mystic must withdraw into himself. The true mystic must be an explorer of the inner world. He attempts to retrace those stages of development through which he was created.

[ 15 ] If we could completely shut our eyes to all light and then create light within ourselves until the world appears illuminated from within, then we could immerse ourselves in the creative wisdom within and see through everything from within. This has practical value, for it reminds us that, fundamentally, human beings have developed by passing through the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms; all of this is also within them. What exists out there in the world are the remnants of what human beings once were as well.

[ 16 ] The human heart was, in its formation, connected to what was happening in the outside world. The moment one delves into the heart, one creates for oneself the environment as it was back then, when the heart first emerged during the Lemurian era. When one concentrates on the activity of the heart, one can conjure up the entire environment of the Lemurian era, when the heart was forming. The Lemurian landscapes then emerge within us. Whoever concentrates on the heart sees the origin of the human race.

[ 17 ] By focusing on the innermost part of the brain—which developed only gradually during the Atlantean era—one sees the Atlantean landscapes emerge. If one concentrates on the solar plexus, one is led to the Hyperboreans. In this way, one ascends backward into the worlds of the past. This is not mere introspection, but a genuine perception of the individual organs in their relationship to the world. In this way, Paracelsus discovered his remedies and healed. He knew that Digitalis purpurea came into being when the human heart first emerged. By concentrating on an organ, corresponding remedies appear. Thus, the members of the macrocosm are connected to the microcosmic nature of the human being.

[ 18 ] Now it is easy to understand what it means when it says: humans acquire red, warm blood, and so do the higher animals. This means that from that point on, humans are enabled to separate themselves from their entire environment and become independent, self-contained wholes. Fish are not like that. A fish is as warm as its environment. With the red, warm blood came the ability for humans to generate heat within themselves. This allowed humans to separate themselves from their environment. Before that, they were as warm as their environment. What actually happened there?

[ 19 ] Consider the undifferentiated human organism before the Lemurian era. We have a uniform thermal balance across the entire Earth. The thermal state within the human being is the same as the thermal state outside. Now the thermal state within becomes a higher one. This thermal state within the human being now signifies intrinsic heat—heat that is utilized in a specific way; and outside in the world, the opposite arises: heat, fire that is given off. Previously, there was no fire outside either. It only became possible to produce sparks in nature when fire appeared within the human being. From that time on, there was the benevolent fire—the fire that is given away—outside, and the selfish fire within human beings.

[ 20 ] And now we come to the moment when fire was taken away from human beings by spiritual beings. Human beings took away the warmth—Agni!—from the body of a certain spiritual being. As a result, that which had previously existed in the world as the spirit of fire was forced to withdraw and could thereafter appear only intermittently in the form of fire. The myth of Prometheus is based on this fact. The god lost his former body and created a new one for himself in the outer fire. Here you have a very special example of how human beings, in a certain sense, have a destructive effect on the elemental forces of nature. Humanity has brought forth the element of fire itself by becoming a unique being. That is why it is an occult truth that, fundamentally speaking, humanity is a destroyer in relation to the elemental beings. This goes very far and makes it clear to us that even today, through its own continued development, humanity is constantly creating new conditions and new natural forces in its environment. It is shaping the Earth. Fire originated in the Lemurian era; thus, Lemuria was able to perish through the fire that humanity itself had created.

[ 21 ] The Atlantic continent was submerged by water. The fifth continent will be destroyed by evil. A kind of decline can be observed in the following way:

[ 22 ] The next step—during the Atlantean era—was humanity’s shaping of its own etheric body. In doing so, humans drew in the air from their surroundings. They transformed their etheric bodies in such a way that conditions on Atlantis became entirely different. The Earth’s surface during the Atlantean period was once nothing but mist—an atmosphere in which rainbows were impossible. At that time, human beings acted upon the water. During the Lemurian period, they acted upon the solid Earth, which brought forth fire; during the Atlantean period, they acted upon the water, which brought forth light. (This corresponds to the light of our inner intellect.) Then they acted upon the air.

[ 23 ] Humanity will bring about the downfall of the fifth root race through what is called evil. Then the sixth root race will emerge. The fifth root race is the one that develops Manas on the physical plane.

[ 24 ] In ancient Indian culture, people lived in a state corresponding to the Manas in a kind of deep trance. It was in this state that the ancient sages (Rishis) revealed their ancient wisdom to the ancient Indians. The second revelation occurred among the Persians in a state similar to our deep sleep. In this state, people heard the Word. It was the state of the ancient Persian sleep trance. The Persians called this state “Honover.”

[ 25 ] Third Revelation: The peoples of the Near East—the Babylonians and Egyptians—perceive through Manas in their visual consciousness; they have visions or dream visions.

[ 26 ] Fourth Revelation: A clear, alert daytime consciousness developed among the Semites, the Greeks, and the Romans. There, Manas is perceived in clear daytime consciousness as the incarnated human being, Christ Jesus.

[ 27 ] Among the Indians, then, we find the trance of the physical body. Among the Persians, we find the deep sleep of the etheric body. Among the peoples of the Near East, we find the pictorial consciousness of the astral body. Among the Semitic, Greek, and Roman peoples, we find the waking consciousness of the “I.”

[ 28 ] Now, in the fifth subrace, there is no perception of a changing Manas; rather, this race perceives the Supreme in the mental experience of simple concepts. Our subrace has developed the mental Manas, or ordinary science.

[ 29 ] The sixth subrace will develop a superpsychic Manas. What is now merely a kind of knowledge in human beings will become, in the sixth subrace, immediate reality and social power. The sixth subrace must permeate the social organism with all that previous evolution has produced. Only then will Christianity emerge as a socially formative force. The sixth subrace will be the fundamental seed race for the sixth root race. The fifth root race descends from the Proto-Semites, the fifth subrace of the fourth root race. They developed the individual “I,” which gives rise to egoism. Humanity owes its independence to the Proto-Semites. Human beings must first find themselves, but then they must also surrender themselves again. They must surrender to that which makes thought real. The sixth subrace is destined to replace kinship by blood with kinship of Manas—kinship in the spirit. Altruistic thought will develop the capacity to overcome egoism.

[ 30 ] The seventh sub-race will be a premature birth. It will translate what emerges from the Manas into an even more powerful reality far too soon.

[ 31 ] In the sixth sub-race, the potential will be present to overcome selfishness, but in such a way that a balance is maintained between selfhood and selflessness. The human being of the sixth subrace will neither lose himself outwardly nor shut himself off inwardly. In the seventh subrace, a kind of hypertrophy sets in. The human being then pours out what he now has within himself: his selfishness. The members of the sixth subrace, on the other hand, maintain this balance. The seventh subrace hardens selfishness. Later, the Anglo-American people will project themselves as something rigid into the sixth root race, just as the Chinese today are a rigid remnant of the Atlantean era, the fourth root race.

[ 32 ] World egoism originates from the Anglo-American race. From that quarter, the entire earth will be enveloped by egoism. All the inventions that envelop the earth like a web of selfishness come from England and America. Thus, from there, the entire earth will be enveloped by a web of selfish evil. But from a small colony in the East, new life for the future will spring forth like a seed.

[ 33 ] Anglo-American culture is eroding European culture. The sects in England and America represent nothing other than the most incredible preservation of old things. But societies such as the Salvation Army, the Theosophical Society, and so on arise precisely there to rescue souls from decadence, for racial development does not proceed in parallel with spiritual development. But the race itself is heading toward ruin. Therein lies the predisposition of the evil race.

In the fourth sub-race, labor was performed as a tribute (slave labor).
In the fifth sub-race, labor is performed as a commodity (sold).
In the sixth sub-race, labor is performed as a sacrifice (free labor).

[ 34 ] Economic existence will then be separated from work; there will no longer be any property—everything will be held in common. People will no longer work for their own livelihood, but will perform every task as an absolute sacrifice for humanity.