The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Theosophy and Rosicrucianism V

[ 1 ] Today it will be our task to describe, to some extent, the human being during his stay in Devachan between death and reincarnation. To do this, we must first form a concept of what the human being actually achieves through what he does for himself during the time he spends passing through this spiritual world. The easiest way to get an idea of this is to consider the relationship between two things: namely, the relationship between what we experience and what becomes of that experience—specifically, during the period between birth and death. Just consider everything you have to go through when, for example, you learn to write. You would have a hard time keeping track of all the skills you had to absorb before you mastered this noble art of writing back then. Think of all the admonitions and perhaps even the anger of your teachers. All of that has passed through your soul, and what has remained with you from all of it? The ability to write. Everything else has faded away, and what remains is this art of writing. — This is how it is in life in general, and not only in the life between birth and death, but in the entire universal life throughout the physical and supersensible worlds.

[ 2 ] We can get an idea of how what has just been said also takes effect in the supersensible worlds. Take Mozart, for example: He was still a very young boy when, in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, he heard a long piece of music that, according to an old tradition, had never been allowed to be written down before, and afterward he transcribed it entirely from memory. What a memory that must have been! And he was able to do that as a young boy! What does the materialist say about this? He will strongly resist being asked to believe that an ox grows out of a clod of earth, or to be made to believe that something like an ox could develop without following the natural course of evolution. He says: There are no miracles—and in that he is absolutely right. But when it comes to spiritual matters, he becomes terribly superstitious and prone to believing in miracles! A fact such as the one just described from Mozart’s life, the materialist simply accepts and, without deeper reflection, attributes it to heredity. And yet, in this case, it would be just as much of a miracle as an ox emerging from a lump of earth if its true context could not be explained by spiritual science. For it is possible that by repeatedly focusing one’s mind on a particular subject, a person can gradually cultivate an exceptional memory. Just as perfection has gradually developed from imperfection, so too does memory develop—but it would be a miracle if such a memory, as in Mozart’s case, were to have developed out of nothing! — Spiritual science answers that here, too, memory has developed naturally, step by step. There is no way out for the materialist if he wants to explain something like this: either he must believe in miracles, or he must admit that abilities such as these prove that they were already present in a previous life and followed a completely natural course of development. Reincarnation is therefore nothing other than a logical conclusion drawn from such lines of reasoning. And those who, from a materialist perspective, assume that a memory as perfect as that of the young Mozart can arise out of nothing should also draw the logical consequence from their viewpoint and accept, for example, that frogs develop effortlessly from mud—just as natural science, as is well known, assumed before Francesco Redi.

[ 3 ] So anyone who focuses on logic in the spiritual sciences says: Just as an oak tree arises from a seed and develops gradually, so too do our soul’s faculties develop gradually; and when a person enters this life already possessing such highly developed faculties—as, for example, Mozart did—this provides us with irrefutable logical proof that the person has gradually acquired these faculties in previous earthly lives. This gives us a basis for understanding the destiny of human beings in the spiritual world.

[ 4 ] The point, then, is that the experiences of one life are transformed into abilities for the next life. Everything that constitutes our predispositions in this life is something we brought with us as the fruits of experiences from previous earthly lives. That is why we must consider the journey through Devachan in order to fully understand how the experiences of one life develop into abilities for the next.

[ 5 ] So as we go through life here on Earth, we experience a great deal every day, and all these experiences appear before the soul’s eye in the tableau described earlier, immediately after death; but the abilities we have acquired from all these experiences remain with us as an essence, and this essence, which remains with the person for all time to come, is what the person then takes with them into the spiritual world.

[ 6 ] When a person enters Devachan, they perceive the realms as we described them yesterday: the Continental Realm, which consists of the archetypes of all earthly forms; the Oceanic Realm, which consists of all life; and the Air Realm, which consists of all that is soul-related—pleasure, suffering, joy, pain, and so on. From the Continental Realm, the human being first perceives the archetype of his own physical body, and from the Air Realm, he naturally also perceives, at first, what took place in his own soul during his past life in terms of joy, sorrow, pleasure, pain, and passions. This means, then, that he once again perceives all the experiences of his previous life, but now in a completely different way than during the passage through the Kamaloka period described earlier. There, it was an inner experience for the purpose of weaning oneself from these impulses. Now, however, all these experiences are spread out before the soul as an external world for a long, long time. There, the person experiences the peculiarities of their physical life in the river region of Devachan, and they experience all soul experiences as if in the air region of the heavenly world.

[ 7 ] It is important and of great interest to realize how everything we have experienced in the course of a lifetime—perceptions of the world, pleasure, pain, and so on—surrounds us in the spiritual world as an external world. It is not sad that pain spreads around us there. That is not sad at all, for all suffering is present around us there just as thunderstorms are here in the physical world, and all joyful experiences are there like wondrous cloud formations. And precisely what we ourselves have experienced inwardly is not, as it is here, within us, but in this external form in our surroundings, just as a natural scene unfolds. It is all around us as if it were in images, sounds, or atmospheric phenomena; it is objectified as a heavenly formation. That, for example, the pains radiate toward us, as I said, is not sad, any more than it is sad here in life when lightning and thunder surround us; for whoever understands the connection knows exactly what we owe to these very pains. Precisely those who have experienced suffering and pain will always say that, while joys and pleasures are gratefully accepted, one would never wish to be without pain and suffering. We owe all our wisdom to the sufferings and pains of past earthly lives. The face that appears in this life with the expression of wisdom is so because it has perceived the interconnectedness of the worlds as pain in earlier lives.

[ 8 ] As I’ve already said, everything we experience here during our earthly life is spread out around us in Devachan in the form of images and so on. What does this mean? It’s easier to understand if you realize how the environment here affects people. You are all familiar with Goethe’s saying: “The eye is formed by the light for the light.” What does that mean? Our eye must, of course, be there to perceive the light. The world would be dark and gloomy if we did not have eyes. But where does this organ come from? Light itself has formed it, just as the absence of light causes the eye to degenerate again. This observation has been made directly, for example, in the case of animals that have migrated into the caves of Kentucky. Light is the cause of sight. In earlier times, human beings were not endowed with eyes because they lived under entirely different conditions; after all, in the early stages of Earth’s development, the sun was not yet visible to the external, sensory eye. Let us consider what is recounted in the legend of Niflheim. The more human beings lived in the sunlight, the more this sunlight gradually shaped the eye. And in the same way, all the other sense organs developed; sounds shaped the ear, and warmth shaped the sense of warmth. If there were no hard objects, there would be no sense of touch either. The external world is the creator and shaper of our entire body. This is very important for practical life, just as Theosophy is always relevant to practical life. It is also immensely important for education, for one can educate properly only if the educator is able to look deeply into the nature of the human being. The physical body develops until the teeth are replaced; the etheric body develops until about the age of fourteen or fifteen; and the astral body develops until the age of twenty-one. One must know all of this if one wishes to approach education in a practical rather than a fanciful way. If, then, up to the age of seven the predisposition of the physical body is of particular importance, then in education these physical impressions—that is, everything the child perceives with its sense organs—must be taken deeply and thoroughly into account. Whatever is neglected in this child’s body up to the age of seven in terms of the forms and predispositions of the physical organs is lost for the rest of its life.

[ 9 ] Understanding this last sentence provides medicine in particular with an immense number of guidelines for proper treatment, including, for example, rickets. Why does this disease occur specifically during this period of life? Precisely because the child’s body is still developing during this time, and that is why these symptoms manifest themselves in the form of crooked bones, poor teeth, abnormal skull shape, and so on. However, this is also why the child—especially during the period leading up to the change of teeth—is still capable of correcting these abnormalities back to the norm. We see that with proper treatment, even the most crooked legs can become perfectly straight, and that even with the worst baby teeth, a perfectly healthy permanent set of teeth can develop, whereas crooked legs that are not corrected by the age of seven will remain that way for life.

[ 10 ] The brain, too, is in the process of developing its plastic forms until the age of seven, and whatever of these subtle developments and refinements of form has not been formed by then is lost forever. And since the physical brain is the instrument through which the spirit expresses itself, it is of immense importance that this instrument be developed as finely as possible—or rather, that the foundations for this be laid during the first seven years. For even the greatest spirit cannot make use of a poorly developed brain, just as the greatest pianist cannot play well on an out-of-tune piano. Especially with regard to the development of the brain, spiritual science provides very important guidelines for both education and medicine. It is precisely here that one very often encounters a complete misunderstanding of the facts in modern medicine. Just as rickets manifests itself in the malformation and distortion of the bones, it very often manifests itself simultaneously in malformations of the glandular system and the mucous membranes; that is to say, children afflicted with rickets very often exhibit symptoms such as swollen glands, adenoid growths, and so on. And as a third clinical manifestation, it is very often observed in these children that they also lag behind mentally, that they fall behind in school, become inattentive, and even become somewhat dull. But in reality, this is the same defective development of the physical brain—specifically the so-called cerebral cortex—which must be formed in its finest structure precisely during these years and which, like the other symptoms, is based on a developmental deficiency. Now, in such a case, today’s modern physician—as a result of his or her entire modern, scientifically oriented education and mindset—is all too inclined to follow the same approach as modern science, and, with complete disregard for the deeper spiritual causes, simply to link the apparent external symptoms directly as cause and effect, like beads on a string. What is the result? The facts are: rickety bones, adenoid growths, and a decline in attention and receptivity. The immediate conclusion is: Children who have adenoid growths become mentally weak because of them—therefore, these growths must be removed. The growths are thus surgically removed. Now, if this conclusion were correct, every child treated in this way would have to respond with a reduction and eventual disappearance of the inhibitions imposed by the brain. But what is observed in the vast majority of cases following such treatment? That the procedure has only a very temporary, illusory success, and that within a very short time the growths have regrown. However, if the disease is properly addressed at its root—and this is indeed possible, though it would take us too far afield from the topic here—then not only do the crooked bones disappear, but so do the growths of the mucous membranes and glands, as well as the sluggishness of the brain.

[ 11 ] After this digression, let us return to the topic at hand. Thus, it is in the external world that the proper physical forms are kindled and shaped. Until the age of seven, the child is, in reality, nothing more than a sensory organ. It processes everything it takes in through its senses—and above all, everything it sees and hears in its immediate surroundings. Until the child’s teeth begin to fall out, it is therefore an imitative being, and this extends right down into its physical constitution. This is, of course, something entirely natural. Through its sensory organs, the child takes in its entire surroundings. It also practices using its limbs. It sees how its father, mother, and so on do this or that and imitates them without hesitation. This extends to every movement of the hands and legs. If, for example, the mother or father is restless, the child will likely become restless as well in countless cases; if the mother is calm, the child will naturally become calm as well. One must therefore try to bring about the right counteraction through the right environment.

[ 12 ] To ensure that the child receives exactly the right guidance for the development of its physical brain, it is absolutely necessary that, in addition to sensory impressions, the imagination be stimulated. That is why it is absolutely necessary to give the young child toys that are as simple as possible. Thus, a natural child will always, no matter how “beautiful” a doll it may have, reach for the old doll made of a rag. Only the artificial children of our age are raised with “beautiful” dolls. What is the reason for this? The child must exercise its imagination to reshape the object in its mind so that it resembles a human figure, and this is precisely a healthy exercise for the brain. Just as the arm is strengthened through gymnastics, so is the brain developed through this exercise.

[ 13 ] The colors in a child’s environment are also important, as they have a very different effect on young children than on adults. It is widely believed today that green has a calming effect on children. This is entirely false. A restless child should be placed in a red environment, and a calm child in a green or blue-green one. The effect of red on a child is as follows: If you look at a bright red and then quickly look away at a white piece of paper, you will see the complementary color: green. This is the tendency to bring forth the opposite color. The child also tries to do this; internally, the child attempts to unfold the activity that evokes the opposite color. — That was an example of how the environment works. And so the entire environment—along with many, many other factors that we will discuss later and elsewhere—plays an extraordinarily significant role in the formation of the child’s physical body from birth through the change of teeth, in the formation of the etheric body from the seventh to the fourteenth year, of the astral body from the fourteenth to the twenty-first year, and so on. Indeed, throughout one’s entire life, the influence of the environment makes itself felt on the individual. The proverb, “Tell me who you associate with, and I’ll tell you who you are,” is based on this insight, for “who I associate with” means “what is happening in my environment.” This environment therefore has a strong influence on me. This is especially true during the period of astral body development from the age of fourteen to twenty-one, and it is an almost daily experience that a young person during these years is easily corrupted astral-wise by their surroundings.

[ 14 ] And just as it is here in physical life, so it is also in life in Devachan. Just as, for example, human beings here are constantly under the influence of the elements, so too, naturally, in Devachan. And this brings us back to the example at the starting point of this reflection on Mozart. For just as here on Earth a person is constantly under the influence of the external atmosphere, so it is in Devachan as well; and there, the atmosphere is, after all, composed of all soul life—our own and that of our fellow human beings. All this soul life constantly influences the individual, and it is precisely there that talents develop as a result of the individual attracting the astral forces in their environment that are kindred to their own soul and allowing them to work upon them. Mozart, for example, was born with an extraordinary musical memory because he had accumulated experiences leading up to this in a previous life and had then allowed these to work upon him for a long time in Devachan. We undergo the higher development of our innermost being through our surroundings in Devachan—that is, indirectly through all the experiences of our past lives. Thus, all abilities are the fruits of past lives, and they have been further developed in Devachan. And this is precisely the feeling that brings bliss to human beings in Devachan. What we are now capable of doing is what we have incubated in Devachan. And accordingly, that is the feeling throughout this entire interim period of life in Devachan. The feeling attached to every creation is bliss.

[ 15 ] Here we often experience pain, but in Devachan even pain is bliss, because there we become aware that we acquire wisdom through pain. Even a materialistic scholar has discovered this. In an essay titled “The Facial Expressions of Thought,” he says: “Every wise face bears the expression of crystallized pain.” Through his experiences in Devachan, a person does indeed transform the pain of his previous life into talents and wisdom for his next earthly life. And the feeling of this creation is the feeling of infinite bliss.

[ 16 ] You can already see a faint reflection of this here in the hen as she broods. Translated into the spiritual realm and infinitely heightened, this gives you the feeling of continuous, infinite bliss between the time of Kamaloka and rebirth, because there the human being develops all his aptitudes and abilities for the next life. Everything there becomes a source of blissful existence.

[ 17 ] Thus we have seen that one source of bliss in Devachan is that all the bonds formed here in this life are relived there in Devachan, and that even all these relationships are experienced in their spiritual aspect with immense intensity. And the other source of bliss is the creative work just described—this creation for the next life.

[ 18 ] When the spiritual researcher turns his attention to this very activity of the human being in Devachan, he comes to realize that this creative activity is significant not only for the individual himself—for his own future organization—but also that the human being has an important role to play in shaping and contributing to the progress of the entire future development of the Earth. It is a mistake to believe that in Devachan we are concerned only with ourselves. As blessed spirits in the realm of spirits, what is our task there?

[ 19 ] The activities of the dead contribute to the development of this Earth. One might easily ask: Why be reborn again and again once we have already gone through the experiences of an earthly life? Isn't that pointless?

[ 20 ] But that is not the case. A person is never reborn uselessly. The individual earthly lives are so far apart that we must continually experience and go through new things. Centuries pass between two incarnations, and when we return, the Earth has changed profoundly. Let’s suppose we had been on Earth in the second century A.D. and have now reincarnated. What did the Earth look like back then? Even descriptions of a region from much later—of the Elbe and Weser rivers, for example—would still be quite different; here in this area, in Hesse-Nassau, there were still primeval forests.

[ 21 ] When a person is reborn, they experience something entirely different from their previous life. Throughout our various earthly lives, we participate in the evolution of the Earth itself, precisely because we are incarnated over and over again. Added to this is the transformation brought about by the culture of each era. What could a Roman boy do, and how completely different is the education of boys today! All these experiences are, as we have seen, immensely important. There is therefore a profound meaning in the fact that a person must return again and again.

[ 22 ] Now let us ask ourselves: Who is changing the face of the Earth? In fact, it is the dead themselves—who live in the spirit world—who, through the power they possess there, are themselves working on this transformation of the Earth. Just as people here work on the outer Earth, so do the dead work on the spiritual archetype of this physical Earth. It is they who send their powers into this physical world and who participate in its transformation. However, there are leaders and higher beings who take charge. And in this realm, which is right here among us, the dead are working to transform the face of our Earth.

[ 23 ] Why was I born here and now, of all places? Because, so to speak, I prepared the bed here into which I was born. The forces that reshape both the oceans and the Earth’s surface are those of our dead. We know that today’s Atlantic Ocean was once a vast expanse of land, and the dead also contributed to this transformation; and these forces operate in a natural way and are by no means miraculous.

[ 24 ] Understanding these things makes it absolutely clear to us how important and necessary our work in the spirit world is. If one only knows how to interpret the phenomena correctly, then one can even describe how this work takes place. People here breathe the air; without air, they could not breathe. It is similar with the dead, except that just as air acts here, light acts there. In the radiant light, the initiate sees the beings of the dead. Thus, for example, to the seer, plants are surrounded by the spirits of the deceased, and as the light transforms the plant and causes it to grow, it is the spirits of the dead who accomplish this. We will all float in the spiritual world above the earth and work on the plants.

[ 25 ] The world becomes larger and more meaningful to us when we view it in this way, in connection with spiritual beings. We ourselves are, quite literally, the transformers of this Earth.

[ 26 ] Finally, a few points that may help us understand certain subtleties of culture. The seer sometimes finds himself in a position where his own observations confirm phenomena in the history of ancient peoples that had previously been a mystery to him. It is a well-known fact, for example, that primitive peoples initially possess clairvoyance and see many things of which we know nothing. These primitive peoples, for example, often see something in shadows that has to do with the soul. Now the clairvoyant returns to this point in his observations. For when you look into the shadow—such as the one you yourself cast—you first perceive your spiritual emanations. When physical light is held back, one sees the spiritual in the realm of shadow. This has been preserved in esoteric science, and many have made use of it without knowing what they were doing—Chamisso, for example, in his Peter Schlemihl. This is a man who has lost his shadow and is very unhappy about it. But it is a spiritual fact that the soul becomes visible in the shadow, and therefore the man without a shadow is the man without a soul. There are hundreds of examples like this. We truly begin to fully comprehend the world only when we come to know its spiritual foundations. That is why spiritual science is not something for armchair philosophers, but precisely for those who truly wish to have a practical impact. Not because we want to withdraw from the visible world, but precisely because we want to understand the visible world all the better.

[ 27 ] The higher realities relate to the visible world as magnetism relates to iron. We only come to truly understand iron when we also come to understand magnetism. We will see from a few examples that what we learn about the spiritual world proves particularly fruitful in practical life.