The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Popular Occultism I

[ 1 ] The purpose of these lectures is to provide an introduction to the theosophical worldview in its broader context. In doing so, we will address questions such as the cause of death, the cause of suffering, the origin of evil, and so on. Starting with human beings and their essential nature, we will examine the great law of reincarnation and karma, as well as the origin of humankind, the Earth, and the solar system. Furthermore, we will explore how the great truths are expressed, particularly in Christianity and in the various religions. This is the truth about the nature of the human being, as occultism has always understood it. Occultism, the wisdom of the hidden entities, views the human being in such a way that the visible part of his being—the physical body—constitutes the first link, which, as a material structure, is regarded like other inanimate objects. The second member is the etheric body, which is invisible and finer than the physical body. It is the image of the physical body in the upper regions of the human being; in the lower regions, it is shaped differently. Just as a person born blind regards the descriptions of a sighted person as fantasies, so it is with those who perceive the etheric body through clairvoyance. To date, there are approximately three hundred to four hundred people among all humanity who possess this ability. But the potential for it lies dormant in all people; therefore, the situation will be somewhat different in a hundred years. Enormous advances are imminent in the near future, including in the technical realm. Present-day theosophy is, after all, only the elementary part of occultism; more cannot yet be taught today.

[ 2 ] The development of spiritual vision is achieved through inner training. Those who already possess clairvoyance see the etheric body as follows: To do so, they must completely turn their attention away from the physical body and, as it were, suggest it away. Suggestion, hypnotism, abnormal states of mind, dulled consciousness, and positive and negative suggestion—all of which are harmful to the person on whom they are practiced—have nothing to do with the Theosophy referred to here. Anyone who has developed their higher soul powers is capable of using their willpower to expel the entire sensory reality of a person or object in front of them from their field of vision. In place of the physical body, that same space is then occupied by a human-like form consisting of an inwardly luminous structure of energy and very similar to modern humans. Only does this etheric body extend slightly beyond the head. In plants, animals, and children, it extends quite far beyond the physical body.

[ 3 ] The third member is the astral body. First, we must examine it more from the inside, and only then from the outside. When a person stands before you, you touch the physical body with your hand. We will set aside the etheric body for now. Where one sees muscles, bones, and nerves in the body, there is also a sum of desires, pains, joys, ideals, and passions. All of these are just as real as those. This is the astral body viewed from within.

[ 4 ] Seen from the outside, the astral body does not exist at all for the average person. But when a person trains their soul, they also learn to perceive the astral body as a spiritual being; this is called the aura. A wild passion pervades the astral body like a red, murky cloud, while a pure ideal has white-golden radiations. The old painters, who were still close to clairvoyance, depicted this aura in a wide variety of radiances. People with great sympathy and love for their neighbors display a greenish aura. Pious feelings and religious fervor surround people with blue radiance. This aura is merely the outward expression of inner impulses, desires, and so on. The outer form of the aura is quite different from that of the physical body; it envelops the person like an eggshell. This luminous phenomenon radiates around and hovers over the human body.

[ 5 ] In a few decades, these truths will be of the utmost value for human education and for pedagogy. Once the spiritual sciences have found their way into our educational system, we will have gained immeasurably. They are of immeasurable importance for our outer life.

[ 6 ] Let us consider the child in relation to these three bodies. They do not develop simultaneously in the child. From the first to the seventh year, the physical body develops; the other two bodies are not yet free—they act inwardly upon the physical body. Therefore, during this time, one can only influence the physical body through education; the other two aspects of the being must first develop. A sensible education will refrain from prematurely influencing these other two bodies. From the first to the seventh year, the child needs visible, perceptible images and role models. The child’s visible environment should be pure, extending even into the realm of thoughts. For the environment has a much greater influence on the child’s development than is generally assumed. The child even has a sense of good and evil thoughts. One must sharpen the child’s senses. Trying to teach the child concepts beyond sensory impressions is of no help. The child’s imagination should be stimulated. Therefore, one must not give the child fully finished objects as toys. The child should put something together on its own, create a structure, and so on. This awakens the child and develops the powers of the physical body. So, no elaborate toys!

[ 7 ] In the seventh year, a special change takes place in the child: a part of the etheric body is now set free, and therefore, from this point on, the etheric body should be influenced. What influences the etheric body? Let us first observe what happens when a person dies. Only the physical body remains behind; the etheric body and the astral body separate from it and ascend. It is different during sleep. In a sleeping person, the etheric body remains connected to the physical body in bed, and only the astral body detaches itself. At the moment of death, something extraordinarily strange happens to a person: their entire past life unfolds before their memory and passes before their eyes. The same thing sometimes occurs in situations of extreme danger, for example, in the case of people who have nearly drowned, fallen from a height, and so on, and who have come back to life. In such moments, their entire past life also appears before their soul. What is happening here? The etheric body is detaching from the physical body. A similar process takes place when a limb “falls asleep” or when it is tied off. The clairvoyant can see, for example, when someone ties off a finger, how the finger’s etheric body hangs down and is loosened. In a hypnotized person, this state is very dangerous because the etheric brain hangs limply on both sides of the head. Why does a person’s entire life appear before them at certain moments? Because the etheric body is the bearer of memory. When it is freed from the physical body, it can follow its own movements at that moment, and memory is freer than usual. In its normal state, it fills the physical body like a condensed cloud of light. Until death, the physical body continually interferes with the subtle forces of the etheric body.

[ 8 ] From the age of seven onward, the child’s etheric body is fully developed, and one should therefore focus on developing the child’s memory from the ages of seven to fourteen. Since the etheric body presents everything to us in images, one should provide the child with images and comparisons and influence the child through fairy tales and beautiful stories. During this period, the child accepts everything based on the authority of its parents and educators.

[ 9 ] It is only between the ages of fourteen and twenty-one that the astral body becomes free. It begins to develop with the onset of sexual maturity, somewhat earlier in girls than in boys. The astral body is the vehicle of the intellect and of conscious judgment. This is the time to influence the astral body by cultivating the power of judgment. If one attempts to do this earlier, one is doing the child a disservice, for it causes harm. The time will come when the science of the spirit will be applied pedagogically.

[ 10 ] Human beings share their physical body with all minerals, their etheric body with all plants, and their astral body with all animals. But human beings rise above all these beings through ego-consciousness, through the little word “I,” which is, however, unique in its kind. For “I” is the only name that anyone can say to themselves alone. This is a fact of the utmost importance. In ancient Hebrew religion, “I”—this “occult word”—could be uttered only by the highest initiate, the high priest. That was a solemn ritual moment. There, the entire people waited for the utterance of the word: “Yahweh” (I)—and a holy shudder ran through the reverent crowd. Yahweh: the God who speaks from within. The word Yahweh (Jehovah) was considered the unpronounceable name. This is the voice with which God begins to speak within the human being. This word never enters us from the outside. Through the word “I,” the eternal touches the temporal. We have thus become acquainted with the four members of the human being: the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the core of the human being, the “I.” At death, the etheric body, the astral body, and the “I” separate from the physical body. The etheric body and the astral body then gradually dissolve until the “I” enters Devachan, where it remains until a new earthly life.