The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Third Lecture

[ 1 ] It has become clear to us that the seven letters in the first chapters of the Apocalypse were intended by the writer of Revelation for the seven representatives of the seven cultural epochs of the post-Atlantean era, which followed the great flood, also known as the Deluge. The age that follows the seven post-Atlantean cultural periods reveals itself to the initiate in seven seals as seven time periods, analogous to those of our post-Atlantean era.

[ 2 ] Above all, we must realize that the spiritual evolution of humanity will continue to undergo many and varied transformations in the future. The more we transport ourselves back to the times of an ancient, twilight sense of self, the more we encounter twilight-like clairvoyance; people appear less and less to us as individual beings. If we go far back to the Atlantean era, we see people not as individual beings but as connected in consciousness to form group souls. But even in historical times, in the last pre-Christian centuries, we find the group soul entity; at that time, people in Central Europe felt themselves to be members of an organism, members of a tribe. Tacitus tells us how the individual Cherusci did not perceive themselves as individuals, but as members of the tribal “I.”

[ 3 ] In the early Atlantean period, we find that people are very similar to one another across vast, vast regions; they are divided into groups of great, striking similarity. Around the middle of the Atlantean period, humanity is still divided into four main groups. The members of the individual groups still bear a very distinct resemblance to one another in the early stages of Atlantean development; it is only the groups themselves that differ greatly from one another. At that time, the clairvoyant could still perceive very little of what today constitutes the physical body; the human physical body was then still composed entirely of a very soft substance, similar to that of certain marine animals that are today barely distinguishable from the surrounding water. At that time, the air was completely permeated by the watery element, and the human physical body was still very difficult to distinguish from this surrounding element. However, the bones and the nervous system were already present as physical structures even then. It is only through the process of hardening that human beings become true earth beings.

[ 4 ] If one wishes to describe the various types of people from that time—drawing, so to speak, on modern concepts—one can first identify those who have developed their physical nature to the greatest extent; the occultist refers to them as “Taurus people.” The people in whom the etheric body is most highly developed are the aggressive types, the powerful personalities—the lion-people. A third group has an astral body that exerts a very strong influence over the other members; this is the group that is now referred to as “true human beings.” Then there are those whom one might call “eagles,” who have already developed their “I” to such an extent that they rule over the others. Thus, one can speak of these four group souls, and the clairvoyant perceives them by looking back into those ancient times.

[ 5 ] These four groups of people were characterized by whatever was most highly developed on Earth. The Taurus people of that time had their digestive system most highly developed; the Leo people, their heart and blood circulation.... [Gap in the postscript.] The clairvoyant can see four such group souls; this is what appears in the astral world during initiation. What then presents itself to the clairvoyant can be roughly compared to what the four animals represent today. Anyone who views the development of humanity today with an occult eye sees this image of the four human groups symbolized in these four animals.

[ 6 ] The war of all against all will be the expression of ever-increasing selfishness, brought about by humanity today as the “I” grows stronger and stronger. This will be the end of the last post-Atlantean culture. This catastrophe, too, will have its mission, its purpose in the rise of all humanity. The great war of all against all, however, will be something far worse than today’s war fought with weapons. It will be a war of souls—souls that no longer understand one another—a war of classes and social strata. This future catastrophe is difficult for the modern mind to comprehend.

[ 7 ] The Atlanteans were magicians. Just as people today harness the powers that lie dormant in coal, so the Atlanteans harnessed the powers within seeds; they put the seed forces of organisms to work in their technology and industry.

[ 8 ] There is, in fact, a mysterious connection between these forces. As long as the Atlanteans used the seed forces correctly, they remained in harmony with the workings of the air and water forces. From the middle of the Atlantean era onward, however, the magic of the Atlanteans increasingly led to their moral decline, and in the mysteries of the black occult schools, these magical forces were horribly abused. They were put to the service of the most terrible selfishness. Thus, the forces of air and water were increasingly stirred up until the massive Atlantean flood catastrophe was inevitable. Those who today know the secret of using these forces are well aware that if such seed forces were still used today, it would be black magic that brought about the results. Magic must never be employed for selfish purposes. Thus, even in the service of white magic, one must not work with the seed forces of plants today. In the Lemurian era, however, people worked with the seed forces of animals. But wherever these animal growth forces are misused, the most terrible forces of fire—the volcanic element of the Earth—are summoned.

[ 9 ] Today, these things are not so obvious; today, the element of self-consciousness—the runaway egoism within human beings—is causing the desiccation and desolation of those regions of the earth that have taken this egoism to its extreme. It is certainly true that this war of all against all is brewing on the Earth’s surface, as there is a connection between the selfish withering of the soul’s powers and the stagnation of the Earth’s productive forces. This is recounted to us in the Norse myth of Ragnarök.

[ 10 ] First, however, we must learn to understand the difference between the evolution of the soul and physical evolution. Human souls find themselves in different bodies from one epoch to the next, and because these souls will one day witness the conflict that will prevail among the human souls born into the final post-Atlantean era, this will serve as a lesson for them in liberation from egoism. Thus they will grow into an age where they will enjoy the fruits of individuality, but without its drawbacks. And then a time will come that will, as it were, resemble the ancient clairvoyant states of Atlantis, but with free self-awareness. By then, through these seven cultures of the post-Atlantean era, humanity will have learned what it can achieve in the physical world; this sense of self can awaken only in the physical body, but humanity must once again subdue the physical body. After the war of all against all, humanity will have reached a stage and a state of physicality where it will no longer be a slave but will be the master of its physical body.

[ 11 ] And this impulse comes precisely through the Christ principle. The Christ event falls right in the middle between the era of the Atlantean catastrophe and the war of all against all. Thus, on the one hand, humanity owes its sense of self within the physical body to the descent into matter, and on the other hand, it owes its ascent with the achievements of the physical world to the Christ event. Humanity owes it to the Christ principle that it will rise to universal brotherly love, to universal love for humanity, as people will reunite in love with one another in groups.

[ 12 ] If we now look back to the time of the original group souls of Atlantis and then into the future, these four group souls will appear; in their midst will stand the Lamb as a symbol of the love that will unite humanity in a less dense physical form.

[ 13 ] But this state must be prepared for by a small group setting itself apart today, one that can carry the love of brotherhood forward. That is why a movement has arisen in our time that leads to the love of brotherhood through true spiritual knowledge. Humanity will not attain the love of brotherhood through preaching about it, but through knowledge. Preachers who always speak of love achieve nothing; but if people are given the wisdom and knowledge of evolution in such a way that this knowledge becomes life in the soul, then humanity will come to love. The soul attains this when it is warmed by wisdom; then it can radiate love.

[ 14 ] That is why the Masters of Wisdom and Harmony of Feelings founded this movement to radiate love into humanity and to infuse wisdom into humanity. Humanity, rushing headlong toward a war of all against all, will then find in the Theosophical Movement the fruit of peace, while all around them the nature of human beings will have led those who have not heeded the call of the Masters of Wisdom and the Harmony of Feelings—based on the Christ impulse of the fourth era—into strife.

[ 15 ] Let us look back once more to the earliest period of our culture, to the holy Rishis, who point to Vishva Karman—whom they, as clairvoyants, perceive through the etheric bodies of the Atlantean initiates that they carry within themselves. The apocalyptic clairvoyant directs his spiritual gaze toward Him and sees how He holds the seven stellar oracles in His hand through the seven Rishis. These holy, humble men sought to awaken humanity’s spiritual sense by telling them that the world surrounding them was Maya, or illusion; They called only the Spirit behind it “Truth”—to which the seven holy Rishis pointed. Humanity had to descend into this physical life; but to protect it from descending too deeply into matter, it first had to absorb within itself the teaching of Maya, or illusion. The souls now dwelling in our bodies had, after all, lived in Indian bodies and learned back then to regard matter as an illusion. But all around them were the souls of the many people bound by the chains of matter. Today, this means that these reincarnated people are theoretical materialists. These are the least harmful; for these thoughts will be driven out of them in the future as the Earth becomes desolate, and only the soul—in which they no longer believe today—will remain alive. — But what is worse is practical materialism. Yet this form of materialism was even more dangerous in ancient times, because back then memories of magical powers still persisted; and this materialism was bound to lead to the art of black magic. Thus, in those days, this materialism always signified a descent into black magic; and the apocalyptic writer always speaks of these people as the Nicolaitans, who have abandoned the first, glorious love for the Spirit. Thus, where he is to praise, he says that the Nicolaitans are to be hated.

[ 16 ] Within ancient Indian culture, we find the least evidence of black magic; we find the most of it in the form of abuse in Egypt, since the lofty teachings of Hermes degenerated into the art of black magic. Balaam is referred to as a black magician; and so the author of the Apocalypse addresses his warning to the church in Pergamum in verse 14: “But I have a few things against you: you have people there who hold to the teaching of Balaam.” (Rev. 2:14) This does not refer to ordinary immorality, but to the development of the forces of matter—black magic.

[ 17 ] In the occult schools of the early post-Christian era, the Book of Revelation was a favorite text. The ancient mysteries explored primordial wisdom—the wisdom of the Atlanteans. The Christian mysteries, on the other hand, sought to direct their gaze toward the future—not only to gain knowledge, but also to inspire the will, so that humanity, through spiritual growth, might pass through ever higher forms of incarnation.