The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Seventh Lecture

[ 1 ] In the previous lectures, we have presented a wide range of facts that pertain to the evolution of the Earth and the entire solar system in connection with human nature. In the last two lectures in particular, we have taken care to emphasize those facts concerning the development of the Sun, Earth, and Moon that found their resurgence in the Egyptian mysteries, which were known both to the initiates of the Egyptian mysteries and to the entire Egyptian people. Through his clairvoyant vision, the initiate did indeed come to know all the things we have mentioned and which we will supplement in today’s reflection. The majority of the people, who were unable to rise to the level of clairvoyance, came to know the essence of what was at stake through a meaningful image. We have already touched upon this image—which was presented as the most important image of the Egyptian worldview—on several occasions. It is the image that encompasses the Osiris and Isis myths. We are all familiar with this image, which no one who is knowledgeable would actually believe to contain anything insignificant. This image, which was presented to them, was not merely an image; and what the Isis myth encompasses is recounted roughly as follows:

[ 2 ] In ancient times, Osiris reigned on Earth for a long time, to the blessing of humanity, until a certain moment, which is later characterized by the fact that the sun stood in the sign of Scorpio. It was then that his brother Typhon, or Set, killed Osiris. He killed him by tricking him into lying down in a chest, which he then sealed and cast into the sea. Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, searched for her brother and husband, and when she found him, she brought him to Egypt. But then the evil Typhon sought once more to destroy Osiris; he dismembered him. Isis gathered the individual parts and buried them in various places. — Even today, various tombs of Osiris are still shown in Egypt. — Then Isis gave birth to Horus, and Horus avenged his father Osiris against Typhon. Osiris was once again received into the world of divine-spiritual beings, and although he is no longer active on Earth, he works there on behalf of human beings when they dwell in the spiritual world between death and a new birth. For this reason, the path of the dead in Egypt was also conceived as the path to Osiris.

[ 3 ] This is the legend that ranks among the very oldest elements of the Egyptian worldview. While some aspects of it have changed or been added to over time, this Osiris legend has permeated all the cults of Egypt for as long as Egyptian religious beliefs have existed.

[ 4 ] Now that we have considered this legend, into which has been condensed what appeared to the disciples as a real event within the sacred mysteries of the mystery schools, we must turn our gaze back to where we began yesterday, to form a more precise picture of what has been brought about in the human being by the influence of the various phases of the Moon. We have spoken of the twenty-eight nerve tracts that we see emanating from the spinal cord, which originate from the constellations of the Moon during the twenty-eight days it takes for the Moon to return to its original phase. We have explored the mystery of how these twenty-eight pairs of nerves were formed in the human being from the outside by cosmic forces. And now I ask you to pay close attention to the following:

[ 5 ] We shall now—as far as possible in a brief overview and with the greatest possible accuracy—describe what the Egyptian student learned regarding human development in an even broader context. Some who are too heavily influenced by modern anatomy will say of this description: “That is pure nonsense from today’s standpoint.”—Let them say that. They should only be aware that this is the teaching that the Egyptian student to be initiated not only learned but also beheld clairvoyantly. Now I speak to those who can relate to these sentiments. This teaching was not merely the result of earlier visions for the Egyptians in the Mysteries; it is also regarded as truth by today’s modern occultists and appears exactly the same to them.

[ 6 ] Let us repeat what has already been discussed in the previous lectures: that when the Earth was at the beginning of its evolution, it consisted, so to speak, entirely of human embryos that formed the primordial Earth nebula. Both Indian and Egyptian clairvoyants could spiritually perceive the entire future human form sprouting from this spiritual human germ. Everything that later emerged from this human germ could be seen clairvoyantly at that time. But one could also look back at what first emerged from the human being, from the human germ. The first thing to emerge from this human germ, when the Sun was still connected to the Earth for a long time, was in fact like a kind of plant that opened its calyx upward. These forms filled the entire Earth, so to speak, as they took shape out of that primordial nebula. But in the very earliest time, when this emerged, like a crown of blossoms opening out into space—in that very earliest time, this crown was barely visible; one could only have perceived it by sensing its presence as a chalice-like body of warmth. So at first there was a body of warmth. Even while the Earth was still connected to the Sun, the interior of this human-like form began to glow, and it radiated beams of light into outer space.

[ 7 ] If, back then, one had perceived it with eyes like those of today and had approached such a luminous form, one would have seen something like a sparkling, luminous sphere—like a glittering sun that shone out into space with shimmering rays—in a regular shape. Hardly anyone today can form a clear picture of what it was like back then. One could only do so by imagining that our Earth, with perfectly pure air, was filled with countless little fireflies, and that these were sending their light out into outer space. That is roughly how humanity’s first emergence would have shone out into outer space when the Earth was still connected to the Sun. And not only was that present, but at about the same time, a kind of gaseous body took shape around the exterior of this chalice-like formation. Many substances were dissolved within it, just as liquid and solid substances are found today in the bodies of animals and humans, though at that time they were in a gaseous state. Soon after this had come into being, however, other embryonic forms also emerged from the collective Earth mass—embryonic forms that became the first rudiments of our present-day animal kingdom. The human kingdom was thus the first; then came the embryonic forms that became the rudiments of the animal kingdom. Of course, the entire Earth still consisted of a mass of air—of luminous bodies that emitted light and shone out into outer space. Within this mass of air, the first rudiments of asexual animals also emerged; these stood at the lowest level of today’s animal kingdom at that time, and we shall see that these animals, which are now emerging in their earliest form, have also acquired a certain significance for humankind.

[ 8 ] Thus, the first embryonic forms of animals came into being, and it is especially important for us to understand that these “animals” that emerged were the densest gas masses—like dense gas inclusions. These animals evolved to a certain level through a wide variety of forms; and when the Sun had just emerged from the Earth, the highest animal form was that of a fish, though not the fish form we know today. The form of the animals of that time was quite different from that of today’s fish, but it stood at the corresponding stage of the fish. In the course of Earth’s evolution, these retained within themselves what could have become of them while the Sun was still within the Earth. The Earth now condensed into a watery state, and the densest forms—the animals—swam within this watery Earth. Then something very peculiar occurred. Some of these primeval fish forms remained animals and, so to speak, paid no heed to the progress of evolution. There were others, however, who developed a certain relationship to human forms, specifically the following: At the very moment the Sun emerged from the Earth, the Earth also began to rotate on its axis, so that one side was illuminated by the Sun while the other remained in darkness, thus giving rise to day and night. At that time, however, the days and nights were considerably longer than they are today. In the era before the Moon had yet separated, whenever such a human form—which had by then become considerably more condensed—was on the sunlit side, a portion of an animal-like form from deep within the watery earth would attach itself to this gaseous mass. The human and animal forms were united in such a way that we have the human form at the top and the animal form at the bottom; thus, the upper part, which grew progressively weaker toward the bottom and to which the animal body was attached, extended toward the sun. We thus have this protrusion of the upper part above the water-earth; and because the sun’s influence passes through the flower-human, it acts upon the inner forces of the earth and the moon. Because an animal form—which stood at the level of the Pisces stage—was attached to the human body here, it was said that the sun, which shone upon the human body, stood in the sign of Pisces. Now, the first hint of this formation did indeed coincide with the Sun’s position in the constellation of Pisces in the celestial vault, but the Sun passed through this constellation many times before the next one took shape. However, the starting point for this formation was the moment when the Sun was also positioned in the zodiacal constellation of Pisces in the sky. And because the beings at the Fish stage became associated with human beings at that time, the constellation received its name.

[ 9 ] Now, as we know, the process of development proceeds in such a way that the Moon and the Earth form a single body. When the Earth separated from the Sun, Yahweh remained with the Earth along with the lunar forces, and among his servants was the divine figure whom the Egyptians called Osiris.

[ 10 ] Until the Moon emerged from the Earth, evolution took a most peculiar course. We know that the Earth was a water-world, and the forms within the water reached an increasingly lower level in the period before the Moon emerged. When the Moon emerged, humanity, in terms of its lower nature, stood at about the level of a large newt. This is what the Bible calls the serpent, which is also referred to as a lindworm or dragon. During the time when the Moon emerged, more and more of the animal kingdom had become incorporated into the lower human form. When the Moon emerged, human beings had an animal-like, ugly form below, but above were the last remnants of a luminous form into which the forces of the Sun flowed from without. What remained for human beings was that the beings of light worked within them. Moving as if floating and swimming in the primeval sea, the human being allowed this peculiar luminous form to protrude from the water-earth. What was this luminous form? It had meanwhile transformed into a comprehensive, powerful sensory organ. By the time the Moon emerged, the transformation had been completed. It was such that, when the human being swam in the primeval sea, he could perceive with this organ if any dangerous creature was nearby. He perceived heat and cold in particular with it. This organ later shrank; today it is known as the pineal gland. In those days, human beings moved by floating and swimming within the Earth’s mass and used this organ as a kind of lantern. Even today, we can still find a soft spot on the heads of very young children; that is the place where one would have to look for where the organ once extended out into space.

[ 11 ] It was always higher forms of animals that human beings incorporated into themselves. And at a certain stage in human evolution, what had by then become of the fish—because it lived in water and because it contained within itself the seed of later humanity—was called the Water Man. Yet another form that emerged was what might be called the “Ibex.” Now, the peculiar thing is that, in fact, the parts of the human body corresponding to the lower limbs actually gave their names to the respective constellations. The feet are in fact the original fish; the lower legs are the Aquarius, that which for a long time enabled humans to steer themselves while swimming; and we find the human knees associated with the sign of Capricorn. The animal nature developed more and more, and what had become the thighs is referred to as Sagittarius. It would take us too far afield if I were to explain the term to you.

[ 12 ] We want to paint a picture of what human beings looked like when their animal nature corresponded to the Archer. At that time, humans were animals that were able to move for the first time on the islands that were forming out of the water. Toward the top, the human form became increasingly refined; at the very top, the flower-like form remained. The form remained illuminated at the top by an organ that he carried on his head like a kind of lantern. One would correctly imagine the form of the human being at that time if one envisioned it as ethereal at the top and animal-like at the bottom. In older illustrations of the zodiac, one can still see the sign of Sagittarius depicted as an animal form at the bottom and a human form at the top. These signs reflect the level of development at which humanity stood, just as the centaur reflects a real stage of human development: horse below, human above. We must not take the horse literally, but rather as a representative of animality. That was the artistic principle in earlier times; back then, artists would have clairvoyants describe to them—or would see for themselves—what they wished to depict artistically. Artists themselves were also initiates. It is said that Homer was a blind seer, meaning he was a clairvoyant. He could look back into the Akashic Records. The blind seer Homer was far more perceptive, in the spiritual sense, than the rest of the Greeks.

[ 13 ] The centaur, then, is a true human form. When human beings looked like this, the Moon had not yet emerged from the Earth; the Moon’s power was still within the Earth itself. At that time, what had formed earlier during the Sun era was still present in human beings: the luminous pineal gland, which they then carried on their heads like a kind of lantern. When the Moon emerged from the Earth, sexuality arose. The centaur-human was still asexual. Sexuality emerged when the Sun was in the sign of Scorpio, and that is why human sexuality is associated with the sign of Scorpio. Scorpio corresponds to the level of development in the animal kingdom that existed when human beings had evolved to the stage of sexuality. In their upper half, human beings were oriented toward the cosmic forces, but in their lower half they existed as bisexual beings. Humanity had become a sexual being. When the clairvoyant initiate of the Egyptian mysteries turned his gaze to this period of Earth’s evolution, he saw the Earth populated by human beings who, toward the lower regions, developed an increasingly dense physical form corresponding to their lower nature, while toward the upper regions they possessed a luminous human form.

[ 14 ] Then began the period in which the nerve cords, guided by the forces of the Moon, formed along the region that constitutes the spinal column. The structure above the spine—what we now call the head region—had also become denser and had transformed into the human brain: this was the fully transformed organ of light. Attached to it was the spine, from which the nerve cords emanated, and attached to this was the lower human being, as described. This became evident to the Egyptian disciple, and it dawned on him that whatever being wished to incarnate on Earth had to assume the corresponding human form. Osiris often visited Earth as a spirit and incarnated as a human. People then felt: A god has descended—but he took on human form. Every high being who visited Earth took on the form that human beings had at that time. Back then, the human form was such that one could still see that luminous organ, that peculiar headdress—the lantern of Osiris—which has been figuratively described as the strange eye of Polyphemus. This is that organ, that lantern, which was initially outside the human body and then transformed into an internal organ within the brain. Everything in primal art is a symbol of actual forms.

[ 15 ] By the time the Greek initiates became acquainted with these mysteries of the Egyptians, they had already learned quite a bit: essentially the same things as the Egyptian initiates. They simply referred to them differently in their own language. The Egyptian initiates had developed their clairvoyant gifts to such a high degree that many of their students were able to look back clairvoyantly into those ancient, distant times. The Egyptian initiate had an original connection to those mysteries; this is why Greek priests appeared to the Egyptian initiate as childish stammerers. Thus, the words once spoken by an Egyptian priest who met Solon are telling: “O Solon, Solon, you Hellenes will always remain children; there is no such thing as an old Hellenic!” You are all young in spirit, for you possess no ancient view rooted in a long-standing tradition, nor any knowledge grayed by the passage of time.

[ 16 ] Thus, the Egyptian pointed out that Egyptian wisdom stood far above what can be experienced in the material world. Only in the Eleusinian Mysteries had one reached the same level, but only a few participated in them. But what the Egyptian initiate saw regarding those stages of Earth’s evolution—that the god Osiris had separated from the Sun and gone to the Moon, and from there reflected the sunlight back—what this god does was also sacred to the Greeks. They, too, knew that it is this god Osiris who forms the twenty-eight lunar phases and thereby establishes the twenty-eight nerve strands in the human being. Through Osiris, the nervous system is formed down the spinal cord, and through this, the entire human upper body is shaped. For what arises as muscle can only retain its form because the nerves are its formers. Everything that exists there—muscles, cartilage, and other organs such as the heart and lungs—all of these receive their form solely through the nerves. Thus, the brain and spinal cord were formed through the Sun’s earlier activity, and the twenty-eight forms of Osiris and Isis work on this spinal cord from the outside. Therefore, Osiris and Isis are their formers, and as the brain sends its sensory fibers down into the spinal cord, Osiris works on the spinal cord. The Greeks also sensed this, and when they became acquainted with the Egyptian mysteries, they recognized that Osiris was the same god they called Apollo. They said that the Egyptian Osiris is Apollo, and just as Osiris acted upon the nerves to bring about the soul life within the human being, so does our Apollo.

[ 17 ] And now let’s take a brief look at this structure. Let’s imagine the brain drawn schematically: it extends into the spinal cord, where the twenty-eight hands of Osiris come into play; there, Osiris plays with his twenty-eight arms on what extends downward from the brain as the spinal cord, as if on a lyre. The Greeks provided a meaningful image of this: it is the lyre of Apollo. One need only imagine it in reverse. The lyre is the brain; the nerves are the strings upon which Apollo’s hands play. Apollo plays the lyre of the world—the great work of art that the cosmos has created—and causes the tones that constitute a person’s inner life to resound within them. For the Eleusinian initiates, this was what the Egyptians had depicted in their images.

[ 18 ] From such an image, we can see that these must not be interpreted schematically; otherwise, one would merely be projecting one’s own fantasies onto them. For one will generally find that the images are in fact much deeper than anything one could possibly conjure up through the intellect. When the Greek seer spoke of Apollo, he had before him the mystery of Osiris-Apollo and the instrument of humanity. And Osiris stood before the Egyptian disciple when he was initiated into the mysteries of earthly existence. Thus we must tell ourselves that these symbols—these images that have been preserved for us, which characterize what has been drawn from the primordial mysteries—that all these expressions of the primordial mysteries mean far more than anything that can be interpreted by the intellect. This lyre was seen; the hands of Apollo were seen. And the fact that we can trace every symbol back to some actual vision, to a real vision—that is what matters; that is the essential point. For there is no symbol, no legend, that has not been seen.

[ 19 ] The Egyptian student awaiting initiation could only gain access to such mysteries after a very, very long time. The initiate was first prepared through a very specific teaching, which was similar to our elementary theosophy. Only then was he admitted to the actual exercises. There he experienced states of a kind of ecstasy that was not yet true clairvoyance, but was more than a dream. In these states, he saw what he would later see in images. Truly, this departure of the moon—and with it, Osiris—and his working from the moon down upon the earth—the initiate saw this as a mighty, living dream. He did, in fact, dream the Osiris-Isis legend. Every initiate dreamed this Osiris-Isis dream. He had to dream it. Had he not dreamed it, he could not have come to a vision of the true facts. The student had to pass through the image, through imagination. The Osiris and Isis legend is lived through inwardly. This ecstatic state of the soul was a kind of preliminary stage to true vision, the prelude to seeing what takes place in the spiritual world. In the Akashic Records, the student could read what has been described today only if he had been initiated to such a high degree as we have merely hinted at today—and about which we intend to speak further tomorrow. Then we will also discuss the other images of the zodiac and their significance.