The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. The Development of the Human Entity

[ 1 ] To fully understand human development, it is necessary to view it from different perspectives. Apparent contradictions dissolve when one reflects on them more deeply.

[ 2 ] We saw how the body approached its present state through the Lemurian era—the Age of Fire—and the Atlantean era—when vast mists still covered the Earth. We saw how a group of advanced beings migrated to Ireland—not the Ireland of today, but a location near it. These people developed logical thinking. A powerful transformation had taken place within these people. Previously, the human etheric body had towered powerfully above the head. The etheric body is the architect of the physical body; it builds the organs. It could function quite differently when it was inside rather than outside; as a result, the brain became the instrument of thought. Thus, through this transformation, the brain became the organ of thought, and everything else must align with it. The etheric body first had to reshape the head, then itself, in order to exert its influence once more. It is necessary to understand human development according to the method of the Rosicrucians or the Druids; they divided the human being into nine parts.

[ 3 ] First, the “Physical Body”; second, the “Etheric Body”; third, the “Sensitive Body,” within which lies the “Sensitive Soul” as the fourth component; fifth, the “Intellectual Soul” or “Lower Manas”; sixth, the “soul of consciousness”; seventh, the “spiritual self”; both of these constitute the “higher Manas”; eighth, “life spirit-Budhi”; and ninth, the “spiritual human” or “Atma.”

[ 4 ] The most important event in the Atlantic epoch for the physical body was that human beings learned to think within it. The task of our time, extending into the distant future, is to align the other parts accordingly, with the exception of the ninth member, which will be further developed in other cycles.

[ 5 ] We have now reached the fifth, the [Germanic-Anglo-American] epoch. After the seventh epoch, an event will take place like the ancient Atlantean flood. The spiritual human being will then enter into human beings, just as the etheric body entered the physical body during the Atlantean era. In the Indian era, the wisdom-filled influence of the etheric body made itself felt. Hence their longing to merge with Brahman, to immerse themselves in the heights of the music of the spheres. They lived with a constant awareness in the etheric body and had a deep understanding of everything that transcends the earthly realm. They fulfilled the task of adapting the etheric body to culture.

[ 6 ] The Persians developed the sensory body—the ability to perceive the external world and to overcome it through work. Under them, agriculture and viticulture flourished. The body no longer indulges in inner feelings; it puts muscular strength to use. Perfecting the soul of sensation was the task of the Egyptians. Their mystery schools were in full bloom. The disciples of Hermes regarded the heavens as an ocean of the starry world; to them, the stars were beings imbued with sympathy and antipathy. Reason, emotion, and imagination expanded among the Greeks; the Romans established the science of law.

[ 7 ] The peoples became aware that reason was triumphing within the individual. In earlier times, relations among states had always been guided by priestly wisdom, and thus hierarchies and castes were formed. The spiritual life of the ancient peoples was organized differently than ours; it was a prophetic one. The Sibylline Books, in which events of a thousand years hence were foretold, stem from such a source. The initiates foresaw the course of events. Thus we see Egyptian history guided by divine inspiration. The leaders devised a plan; they said: “If salvation is to come, we must direct the course of events according to the heavens.” They guided themselves by the laws governing the development of planetary orbits and the divine numbers. True disciples of the great masters thus wisely guided the Egyptians through seven ages. The priestly cult persisted into the Greek period. As human beings place themselves at the center, they detach themselves from divine revelations. This self-centeredness was symbolized by the serpent as a sign of cunning. The serpents of the Laocoön depict the priests’ struggle with the serpent—the struggle of the fourth epoch against the third.

[ 8 ] In another part of antiquity, the horse was the symbol of wisdom. The horse is a human being who has remained behind in evolution. The nature of the horse was the last to emerge from the process of evolution. Anyone who observes the world with a more refined sensibility can understand why certain peoples love their horses so much. The Arab is one with his horse. Instinctively, people feel a certain gratitude toward this animal. The meaning of the centaur is an ancient mystery. The Indians revered the horse, as did our Nordic peoples, and it [appears in the coat of arms of Lower Saxony].

[ 9 ] The Apocalypse refers to the horse. Odysseus built the wooden horse to bring about the fall of Troy, where the wisdom of the priests endured the longest.

[ 10 ] The Romans felt they were descended from the priestly caste and depicted this in a meaningful way. Aeneas, son of Anchises, founded “Alba Long,” meaning “Long Priestly Robe”; he established a colony for priests. He organized time according to the seven Sibylline Books; according to this division, the Roman kings were already predestined. This division relates the kings to the structure of the human body.

[ 11 ] Romulus: Physical body.

[ 12 ] Numa Pompilius the Wise: The Etheric Body.

[ 13 ] Tullus Hostilius: Astral body. He destroys Alba Longa and is struck dead by lightning.

[ 14 ] Ancus Marcius: The Rational Soul. He built canals and erected a wall around the city.

[ 15 ] Tarquinius Priscus: A man of intellect. He waged wars and promoted the arts.

[ 16 ] Servius Tullus: The Spirit of Life; He Enacts Laws.

[ 17 ] Tarquinius Superbus: A man of intellect. He is of an ambiguous nature; he strives for the most sublime, which he cannot attain.

[ 18 ] The modern mind knows only the profane; it cannot comprehend how a lineup such as that of the Roman kings is possible. How hard the historians have struggled to explain “Livius.”

[ 19 ] Christ, the God who leads people upward, is not a member of any particular people; he belongs to all peoples. It is a human being speaking to another human being.

[ 20 ] Next comes our era, the Germanic-Anglo-American one. Christianity was too lofty for the young tribes to comprehend. It is only now beginning to take root. Our era is, in part, losing itself to the outside world. Anyone observing with occult eyes would see the transition that separates the last third of the previous century from what came before as the dawn of a new era. How students used to be plagued by dry facts. A radical shift is taking place in physics, geology, biology, and the natural sciences. Ten years ago, at the Congress of Natural Scientists in Vienna, the chemist Ostwald replaced atomism with energetics—force. The spirit will take its place. [...]

[ 21 ] In the sixth period, the Manas, or mental self, will gradually infuse the soul of consciousness. Since the fourteenth century, the initiates have told themselves that they must reckon with science; the researcher of the mind is familiar with all of its facts. The consciousness soul possesses awareness of the Atma truths, which have become reality. The spiritual researcher knows, for example, that light does not arise from objective vibrations. What the times need is the inflow of the spiritual self. This is the goal of Rosicrucian training; it helped prepare the way for these times. Christ Jesus came in the fourth epoch; he set the course for the world. He will return when people have the capacity to recognize him. Through the Spiritual Self, human culture will gain insight into higher worlds.

[ 22 ] Copernicus’s system and Darwin’s theory were great because they trained the mind, as did Galileo’s physics and so on; however, they are merely the presentation of objective facts. Thinking can lead one into the humanities.

[ 23 ] In the sixth period, a great upheaval will take place in Europe; the peoples of the East will merge with those of the West. The union of the consciousness soul with the Manas, or spiritual self, is what is referred to in the New Testament as the Holy Spirit; this is the plan for the future. It will happen in any case, no matter what opposition arises. Just as leaves fall from a tree, the opposing currents will be cast aside. Those who have learned to walk in accordance with the true laws can play their part.

[ 24 ] Not only is the life of the soul undergoing a transformation, but so is the human body. We have organs that are decaying, while others are forming. Those involved in reproduction have the shortest lifespan; they appeared last and will be the first to fall away. They formed during the Lemurian period and were forced into existence by the astral body. Previously, humans and animals had reproductive organs that were permeated by the etheric body; they were of a plant-like nature. The change occurred when the etheric body was taken over by the astral body, and thus the lowest functions later became of a carnal nature. In the Vatican Collections, one can see, in a corner, a man from whose back a plant-like formation grows—so faithfully did art preserve the secret of earlier reproduction. The “fig leaf” has a completely different meaning than is commonly assumed; it is an allusion to humanity’s descent through the plant leaf.

[ 25 ] In the ascent, the larynx will be the organ that serves reproduction. The inner life of the soul is reproduced outwardly through ideas and conclusions that are expressed in words. The word is a condensed form. This is the process of creation; the [solar beings] created through the spoken word of creation. Everything created is the condensed Word of God.

[ 26 ] Goethe captured this in his verse: “The sun resounds.” The angels are creative sun gods. Human beings are called to become creative through the Word. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh. This is Jesus Christ, as John testifies in the Gospel.