The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Fifth Lecture

[ 1 ] In our discussion, we have reached the point where the human being, as he descends from the spiritual realms, feels himself clothed in an etheric body and thereby gains, for a moment, a kind of preview—a glimpse—of the life that awaits him here. We have seen what kinds of abnormalities and conditions this can cause in a person. Before we proceed further, let us answer a question that might seem important to some as they turn their spiritual gaze upward toward Devachan: What is the nature of human coexistence between death and rebirth? — We must be clear that human coexistence and interaction do not occur solely here on the physical Earth, but also there in the higher worlds. Just as human activity in the spiritual realm extends down into the physical world, so too do all the relationships between human beings—all their connections and interactions—that are woven here below extend upward into the realm of the spiritual world.

[ 2 ] Let’s illustrate this with a concrete example. Let’s take the relationship between mother and child. The question may arise: Is there a relationship between them that endures? — Yes, there is. Much more intimate, much stronger than any relationship that can be forged here on this earth! A mother’s love initially has an animalistic character; it is a kind of natural instinct. As the child grows up, this relationship develops into a moral, ethical, and spiritual one. As mother and child learn to think together and share common feelings, the natural instinct recedes more and more; it has merely provided the opportunity for the beautiful bond to form—one that encompasses motherly love and a child’s love in the highest sense. What develops there in terms of mutual understanding and deep love continues even into the realms of the spiritual, even if, because one dies before the other, the one left behind is seemingly separated from the deceased for a certain time. After this period, the bond that has been woven here remains just as vivid and intimate; they are together, though all the animalistic, purely natural instincts must first be shed. What is woven here on Earth as a soul feeling, as a soul thought, from one being to another, is not hindered up there by the barriers that exist here. Indeed, Devachan even takes on a certain appearance, a certain structure, through the relationships that have been woven here.

[ 3 ] Let’s take another example. Friendships and bonds of togetherness are formed that arise from a kinship of souls; they continue all the way up into the Devachan. And from this, the social connections for the next life develop. Thus, by forming soul connections here, we contribute to the shape that Devachan takes. All of us—every single one of us—have worked in this way by weaving bonds of love from person to person. Through this, we create something that is not only significant for the Earth but also shapes the relationships within Devachan. One might say: What happens here—through love, through friendship, through deep mutual understanding—these are the building blocks that construct temples up there in the spiritual realm, and it must be an uplifting feeling for those who are imbued with this certainty to know that when bonds are already being forged here from soul to soul, this is the foundation of an eternal becoming.

[ 4 ] Let us suppose that some other physical planet had beings who were not sympathetic toward one another and could form only weak bonds of love with one another. They would have a pitiful Devachan. A richly structured, meaningful Devachan has only one planetary realm where such bonds of love between human beings are formed. Those who are already in Devachan—and who, at first, cannot be perceived by ordinary people—have, depending on their level of development, a more or less clear awareness of their connection to the beings who have remained here. There are even ways to strengthen these bonds of togetherness. If we send our departed loved ones thoughts of love—but not selfish love—we thereby strengthen our sense of togetherness with them.

[ 5 ] It is a mistake to assume that a person’s state of consciousness in Devachan is dim or shadowy. That is not the case. We must emphasize that the level of consciousness a person has attained cannot be lost again, even if certain transitions involve a temporary dimming; thus, in Devachan, a person actually possesses a clear consciousness through their spiritual organs of what is taking place here on Earth. Occultism shows that the human being living in the spiritual realm fully experiences what is taking place here on Earth.

[ 6 ] Thus we see that life in Devachan, when viewed in its true light, loses all that is unsatisfying; that even if one does not view it from one’s egoistic earthly perspective, one can nevertheless experience it as infinitely blissful—not to mention that freedom from the physical body and the lower members, within which one is confined here, brings an immensely blissful feeling. The mere fact that these barriers have fallen, that one is no longer hindered by these bonds, carries within it a sense of bliss. Thus, Devachan is a time of unfettered self-expression in every direction, in a manner so rich, so vast, and so uninhibited that one has never experienced anything like it here.

[ 7 ] We have now seen that, during his descent toward a new birth, human beings are clothed in a new etheric body by spiritual beings similar in rank to the national spirits. This etheric body is not fully adapted to the human being; even less adapted to him, however, is what he receives as a physical shell. We will now explain, in broad strokes, the integration of the human being into the physical world. Some aspects of this, in a certain sense, are beyond the scope of public discussion.

[ 8 ] We know that human beings, through the qualities they possess, clothe themselves in an astral body. Through what is contained in this astral body, they exert a force of attraction toward certain beings on Earth. Through the etheric body, he is drawn to the people and, in a broader sense, to the family into which he is reborn. Through the way in which he has developed his astral body, he is drawn to the maternal aspect of his parents. The essence, the substance, and the structure of the astral body draw him toward the mother. The “I” draws the new human being toward the paternal aspect of his parents. The “I” was already present in ancient times, when the soul first descended from the bosom of the Divine into an earthly body. This “I” has developed through many incarnations. The “I” of one person differs from that of another, and as it is now, it forms the special attraction toward the father. The etheric body is drawn toward the people, toward the family; the astral body is drawn especially toward the mother; the “I” toward the father. The entire structure that seeks to descend into the new incarnation is oriented accordingly.

[ 9 ] It may happen that the astral body is drawn to a maternal figure, but the ego does not wish to be with the corresponding father. In this case, it continues its journey until it finds a suitable pair of parents.

[ 10 ] In the current cycle of development, the ego represents the element of will and the impulses of feeling; the astral body embodies the qualities of imagination and the qualities of thought. The latter, therefore, is said to be inherited from the mother, and the former from the father. And so we see that the individuality seeking to incarnate chooses, through its unconscious forces, the parental couple who will provide it with a physical body.

[ 11 ] The process described here is essentially complete by about the third week after conception. Although this human being—composed of the I, the astral body, and the etheric body—is certainly present near the mother who carries the fertilized human embryo within her from the very moment of conception, it acts from the outside. During this period—around the third week—the astral and etheric bodies, as it were, take over the human embryo and begin to contribute to its development. Up to that point, the development of the physical human body proceeds without the influence of the astral and etheric bodies; from then on, they participate in the child’s development and themselves shape the further formation of the human embryo. We see, then, that with regard to the physical body, what was said about the etheric body applies to an even greater degree—that here, harmony is even less easily achieved. This important fact sheds light on much of what takes place in the world.

[ 12 ] So far, we have described the ordinary person of the present day in his or her normal development. This does not quite apply to a person who began an occult development in a previous incarnation. The higher he has advanced, the earlier the point at which he himself begins to work on his physical body in order to make it more suitable for the mission he has to fulfill here on Earth. The later he comes to intercept the physical seed, the less control he will have over the physical body. In the case of highly developed human individuals—who are the leaders and guides of the spiritual realm of our world—such capture takes place as early as conception. For them, nothing happens without their intervention. They guide their physical body until death and begin to work on the new one as soon as the first impetus toward it is given.

[ 13 ] The substances that make up the physical body are constantly changing. After about seven years, every particle has been renewed. The substance is replaced, but the form remains. Between birth and death, we must continually regenerate the matter; it is the ever-changing element. That which we develop to a higher level between birth and death—beyond death—is preserved and forms a new organism.

[ 14 ] What a human being does unconsciously between birth and death, the initiate does consciously from death until the next birth: he consciously forms his new physical body. Birth is therefore merely a radical event for him. He replaces the physical substances only once, but thoroughly. Hence the great similarity in the form of such individuals from one incarnation to the next, whereas in the case of less-developed individuals there is absolutely no similarity between the forms of their various incarnations. The higher a person develops, the more similar the two successive incarnations are. This can certainly be observed with clairvoyant vision. There is a very specific term for this relationship into which a human being enters at a higher stage of development. It is said that he is not born into a different body at all, just as one does not say of the ordinary human being that he receives a new body every seven years. It is said of the Master: he is born into the same body. — He needs it for centuries, even millennia. This is the case for the vast majority of leading individuals. Certain Masters who have their own very special mission are an exception. In their case, the physical body is preserved, so that death does not occur for them at all. These are the Masters who are responsible for the transition from one race to another.

[ 15 ] Two other questions now arise: the question of how long the stay in the other worlds lasts, and the question of gender in successive incarnations.

[ 16 ] Occult research shows that human beings return, on average, within a period of 1,000 to 1,300 years. The purpose of this is that when a person returns, they find the face of the Earth changed and can thereby experience new things. The changes taking place on our Earth are intimately connected with certain constellations; this is a very important fact. At the beginning of spring, the sun rises in a certain sign of the zodiac. 800 years before Christ, the sun first rose in the constellation of Aries, the Ram; even earlier, it rose in the neighboring constellation of Taurus. It takes approximately 2,160 years for the sun to pass through one constellation. In occultism, the cycle through all twelve signs of the zodiac is called a “world year.”

[ 17 ] The ancient peoples always felt deeply what was connected with this passage through the zodiac. It permeated their souls, and they felt with reverence: The sun rises in spring; nature, which has rested during winter, is renewed. The divine ray of the spring sun awakens it from a deep sleep. — This youthful spring force united with the constellation from which the sun shone. They said: It is the sender of the sun, now renewed in its strength, of the newly creative divine power. — And so, to the people of a time now two millennia ago, the Lamb appeared as a benefactor of humanity. All legends of the Lamb arose around this time. Divine concepts are associated with this symbol. The Savior himself, Jesus Christ, was depicted in the early centuries through the symbol of the cross, with the lamb beneath it. It was not until the sixth century that the Savior was depicted hanging on the cross. The well-known legend of Jason—the quest for the Golden Fleece—also has its origins in this.

[ 18 ] 800 years before Christ, the sun passed through the constellation of Taurus, and that is when we see the worship of the Apis bull in Egypt and the Mithraic bull in Persia. Even earlier, the sun passed through the constellation of Gemini. In Indian and Germanic myths, we do indeed find references to the pair of twins. The twin goats that Donar, the god, rides are a final remnant of this. Then, finally, we return to the Age of Cancer, which is linked to the ancient Atlantean Flood. An ancient civilization perished, and a new one arose. This is symbolized by a specific occult sign—the vortex—which also represents the symbol of Cancer and can be found in every calendar.

[ 19 ] Thus, peoples have always had a clear awareness of what is happening in the heavens, parallel to the changes taking place on Earth below. When the Sun has passed through a constellation, the Earth has also transformed its appearance in such a way that it becomes worthwhile for humans to begin life anew. Therefore, the time of reincarnation depends on the advance of the vernal equinox. Roughly the time it takes the Sun to pass through one such zodiac sign is the time during which a human being incarnates twice—once as a man and once as a woman. For the experiences and events that a human being can undergo in a male or female organism are so fundamentally different for spiritual life that, within the same form of the Earth, the human being incarnates once as female and once as male. And this accounts for the average time between two incarnations of approximately 1,000 to 1,300 years.

[ 20 ] This also answers the question of gender: as a rule, it alternates. This rule is often broken, so that sometimes three to five, but never more than seven, same-gender incarnations follow one another. It contradicts all occult experience to say that seven consecutive same-gender incarnations are the rule.

[ 21 ] Before we now study the karma of the individual, we must take into account a fundamental fact. There is collective karma—a kind of karma that is not determined by the individual, although it is balanced out over the course of his or her incarnations. A concrete example will follow here.

[ 22 ] When, in the Middle Ages, the Huns poured into European lands from Asia and caused devastating wars, this also had spiritual significance. The Huns are the last remnants of ancient Atlantean peoples. They are in a state of deep decadence, which manifests as a certain process of decay in their astral and etheric bodies. These decaying substances found fertile ground in the fear and terror they instilled in all peoples. As a result, these peoples injected such putrefactive substances into their astral bodies, and this was then transmitted to the physical body in a later generation. The skin absorbed the astral substance that had been taken in, and the consequence was a disease of the Middle Ages: leprosy. A physical physician would, of course, cite physical causes for this leprosy. I do not wish to dispute what the physician says, but the following logical conclusion presents itself: If someone wounds another with a knife during a brawl, it is because he harbored a long-standing desire for revenge against that person. Now one person says the injury resulted from the desire for revenge, while another says the knife was the cause. — Both are right. The knife was the final physical cause, but behind it lies the spiritual one. Those who seek spiritual causes will always accept the physical ones. Here we see how historical events have a significant impact on entire generations, and we learn how we can intervene in a constructive way over the long term, reaching deep into health conditions.

[ 23 ] Over the past few centuries, technological advances have given rise to an industrial proletariat among the European population, and along with it has developed an immense amount of class and social hatred. These reside in the human astral body and manifest physically as pulmonary tuberculosis. This insight is the result of occult research. We are often unable to help the individual caught up in such collective karma. We must often watch with a heavy heart as the individual suffers; we cannot make him healthy or happy because he is bound up with the collective karma. Only by improving the collective karma can the individual also be helped. We should not seek to elevate the individual egoistic self, but rather act in such a way that we serve the well-being of all humanity.

[ 24 ] Another example that directly relates to the circumstances of the time is the following: Occult observations have revealed that among the astral beings who took part in the individual battles of the Russo-Japanese War were deceased Russians who were working against their own people. This is because, in the final stages of the Russian people’s development, many noble idealists perished in dungeons and on the scaffold. They were people of high ideals, yet not sufficiently developed to be able to forgive. They went to their deaths harboring a strong desire for vengeance against those who had caused their deaths. This had to be worked through during their time in Kamaloka, for it is only there that such feelings of vengeance are worked through. After their death, from the astral plane they filled the souls of the fighting Japanese with hatred and feelings of vengeance against the people to whom they themselves had belonged. Had they already been in Devachan, they would have said: “I forgive my enemies!”—for in Devachan, faced with the clouds of hatred and vengeance coming at them from outside, they would have recognized how terrible and unworthy such feelings are. Thus, occult research shows us how entire peoples are under the influence of their ancestors.

[ 25 ] The idealistic endeavors of the modern era cannot achieve their ideals because they seek to act only through physical means on the physical plane. Take, for example, the peace movement, which seeks to bring about peace solely through physical means. Only when we learn to influence the astral plane as well—only then—can we recognize which means are the right ones. Only then can we act in such a way that when a person is reborn into the world, they will find it in a state that allows them to work fruitfully within it.