The Rudolf Steiner Archive

8. The Dawn of a Spiritual Age: Comets and Their Significance for Life on Earth

[ 1 ] Our task here is to discuss certain matters that will help lead to an understanding of our own era. We know, of course, that evolution here on Earth unfolds in such a way that human beings can undergo new experiences and gain new insights in each of their incarnations on Earth. That is why the events of Earth’s evolution are arranged in such a way that a human being does not encounter the same circumstances twice in two successive incarnations; that is to say, the Earth changes during the epoch lying between the two incarnations. However, external knowledge does not grasp this deeply enough to see how everything changes fundamentally over long periods of time. From this, however, we can also conclude that we can only truly understand ourselves if we know the nature of the epoch of Earth’s evolution in which we live and if we can form a picture of its near future. In doing so, we must take into account that human beings, as we encounter them in life—having evolved over infinitely long periods of time—are very complex beings.

[ 2 ] The human being as a waking being is, in essence, a different being than the human being in a state of sleep. We know, after all, that during sleep the four members of the human being’s constitution are divided into two groups, so that the physical and etheric bodies remain on the bed, while the astral body and the I move out into the spiritual world to live there according to the laws of that spiritual world. We have already learned that the physical and etheric bodies could not exist in their present form if they were completely abandoned by the astral body and the “I,” without something else being able to replace them. Without this possibility, the sleeping human being would be no more than a plant. A plant is indeed viable as a self-contained organism, but the sleeping human being is not, since the latter has structured his physical and etheric bodies in such a way that they must be permeated by his astral body and his I. Thus, while the human ego and the astral body leave the human being, during this time he is permeated in his physical and etheric bodies by another being of equal value—namely, a divine-spiritual astral body and a corresponding ego. What remains of the human being while asleep, we leave to the outer spiritual powers of the world. What is in the physical world is thus incorporated into the great spiritual powers of the macrocosm, and all spiritual beings belonging to it act unimpeded by the human ego and astral body.

[ 3 ] Today we want to learn about some of these forces of the greater world that act upon human beings. These relationships are multifaceted and complex in their interplay between the spiritual forces of the world and the human being. The human being is, in fact, a small world, and during sleep, something flows from the greater world into this small world like a mirror image. We can only understand all this if we penetrate the deep mysteries of the world.

[ 4 ] In today’s world, science discovers this or that truth, and people then believe they have that truth securely in their possession as such. The anthroposophist, however, should go beyond this and develop a sense of the significance of this or that truth—whether one is essential or non-essential, whether it is a trite, obvious truth, or whether it leads us deep into the mysteries of the world. This lack of understanding becomes apparent when indisputable truths are presented as decisive for important conclusions—for example, regarding the number of bones and muscles in humans compared to higher animals. Whether this truth is important or unimportant for humanity’s position relative to animals is not immediately apparent from the fact itself. Another, but important, truth that we should actually encounter directly every day is that, in contrast to all other earthly beings, human beings can freely gaze out into outer space with their faces—in the physical sense—in order to rise with their thoughts and mental images to that which does not belong to the Earth. Animals cannot rise above the earth; they cannot free themselves from it. And no matter how much one emphasizes the similarity between apes and humans in their evolution, it is immediately apparent that apes have not succeeded in erecting themselves while walking and standing. Therefore, we must regard this rising of the human being above the earth as a very important truth in a spiritual sense. Everything we find in human beings is a microcosmic imitation of the greater world. Humanity’s free rising is expressed in the relationship of the head to the rest of the human body, as a relationship within a microcosm. But the same can also be found out there in the greater world, namely in the relationship between the sun and the earth. By allowing this to take effect upon us, we gain the sense that the animal is determined solely by the earth even in its very organization, whereas the sun has determined the human being in his free outlook, in his feeling and thinking. At first glance, this contrast is not easy to understand; therefore, let us approach it gradually.

[ 5 ] We sense humanity’s connection to the universe when we realize that it is the sun that sends certain forces to the Earth, enabling human beings to develop into the form they now possess. The forces of the sun direct the head upward, while the Earth pulls the limbs downward. The limbs receive commands from the head, just as the Earth receives guidance from the Sun.

[ 6 ] Today we want to highlight yet another contrast. In what has been said so far, all people are equal. There is no distinction between women and men. But within the human organism, the contrast between men and women exists. Based on the analogies mentioned, we ask: Is there also such a contrast as that between man and woman in the vast universe, just as there is between the head and the limbs?—It is particularly important to note here that Spiritual Science has nothing to do with the representations that seek to extend the contrast between the masculine and the feminine to the entire world. These are outgrowths of the schematic materialism of our time. That is not the intent of our present discussion; it is merely a shortcoming of contemporary science. What is meant here is that the contrast between man and woman is merely the lowest expression of a contrast within the macrocosm. In earthly existence, when discussing the opposition between man and woman, we must first clearly point out that we can speak only of the two outer sheaths: the physical and etheric bodies. For the astral body and the I have nothing to do with this opposition, and therefore nothing to do with the following discussions.

[ 7 ] First, we should note the clairvoyant insight that, fundamentally, only the head and the limbs can provide a true impression of a human being. If, then, a spiritual element is at work in everything physical, we must consider to what extent the physical can be an expression of the spiritual, and whether it conveys a true or false image. Only the head and the limbs provide such a true image. Everything else does not correspond to the spiritual; this includes the masculine and feminine aspects of the human being. The spiritual researcher recognizes only the head and the limbs as the true reflection of the spiritual; everything else is distorted. This stems from the fact that the division into male and female can be traced back to the Lemurian epoch, when a single form united within itself all that we now see as separate. This division took place in order to make it possible to combine further development with an increasingly material existence. Thus, the human being has increasingly materialized his form from a spiritual archetype. For in the form of the neutral gender, he was still a being closer to the spirit. With the subsequent development toward the feminine, the feminine, as it were, retained an earlier form in which the human being was still more spiritual. The female form retained this more spiritual form and did not descend as deeply into the material as normal development would have dictated. Thus, the woman has retained a more spiritual form from an earlier stage of development. In doing so, she has preserved something that is, in fact, untrue. She is supposed to be the image of the spiritual, but is marked by the material. With men, it is exactly the opposite. They have skipped the normal point of development—that is, they have gone beyond it—and thus take on an outer form that is more material than the shadow form behind them, which corresponds to the normal mean.

[ 8 ] The woman stands before this true means; the man has gone beyond it. Neither of them reflects the true human being. What we find in the human form is therefore not the highest or most perfect. For this reason, attempts were made to add to it the elements embodied in the ancient priestly robes, in order to make the human form—especially the male form—appear truer than it is by nature. There was a sense that nature, too, can deviate. The female form takes us back to an earlier stage of earthly existence, to the ancient lunar era. The male form takes us beyond the earthly era into the Jupiter existence, but in a form that is not yet viable for that stage.

[ 9 ] Now there is also a contrast in the macrocosm that corresponds to the contrast between the masculine and the feminine, namely in what we see in the cometary and lunar realms, which manifests as the contrast between comets and the Moon. The Moon is a piece of the Earth that later separated from it, after the Sun had broken away. What the Earth could not use was cast off, because otherwise the human form would have become ossified and woody in its development. The Moon would have brought human development to a close too quickly. Now, completely withered and frozen, it represents that which will only later become viable again as a Jupiteric existence, but is now as if condemned to death.

[ 10 ] The comet represents something that extends from the old lunar existence into our earthly existence—something that has been held back in its development and thus has not evolved all the way to Earth, something that remained behind on a higher, more spiritual level. The Moon, on the other hand, has emerged from our Earth and moved beyond it. The Earth itself stands between the two. Thus, the comet and the Moon—like the female and male forms—are to be regarded as having lagged behind and moved beyond the normal course of development. In a certain sense, the comet behaves like the female nature in human existence. We can further clarify for ourselves, through a comparison, what the comet signifies for the Earth’s evolution. If we understand this evolution as following the lunar phase and preceding the Jupiter phase, we must be aware that the laws of nature on the ancient Moon were different from those on Earth, and we can see this to some extent in the comets. Incidentally, it should be mentioned that the existence of comets provides an example of how science has subsequently confirmed what I already stated in my lecture at the Theosophical Congress in Paris in June 1906: that comets preserve the earlier laws of nature of the ancient Moon. Among other things, certain carbon compounds—cyanide and hydrocyanic acid compounds—played a role on the ancient Moon. One should therefore be able to detect these cyanide and hydrocyanic acid compounds in comets. And indeed, spectral analysis has since proven that hydrocyanic acid compounds are present in comets. Thus, the findings of Spiritual Science correspond with the facts established by material science.

[ 11 ] What, then, does this cometary existence mean for Earth? What mission is associated with it? We shall attempt to answer these questions, at least to some extent, and point out that two distinct kinds of life unfold on Earth in the contrast between man and woman. First, there is the course of everyday events in the family from morning to evening, with a regularity like summer and winter, like sunshine and storms and weather and hailstorms. This can continue for a while. But then something happens that is perceived as a drastic change, namely when a child is born. This interrupts the usual course of events and remains as something new in the life shared by man and woman. We can compare this to the role the comet plays in earthly life. It brings into our earthly existence that which emanates from the feminine element of the cosmos. When the comet appears, it causes a jolt in the further development of humanity. Not so much in the actual progress itself, but in everything else that is instilled in humanity. We can observe this in Halley’s Comet, in the spiritual forces behind it. Its appearance has always been associated with something new for Earth’s development. It is currently in the process of reappearing. This will usher in and give birth to a new stage in the materialistic sense. This can be traced in its last three appearances in the years 1682, 1759, and 1835. In 1759, the forces and spiritual powers that brought about the spirit of the materialistic Enlightenment were at work through it. What had developed in this sense under the influence of the spirits and forces behind Halley’s Comet was, for example, what so greatly displeased Goethe about Baron von Holbach’s Système de la nature as well as the French Encyclopedists. When Halley’s Comet reappeared in 1835, materialism was quite conspicuously reflected in the views put forth by Büchner and Moleschott, which were then widely embraced in the materialism of the second half of the 19th century. In the present year, 1910, we are witnessing a new appearance of the old comet, and this signifies a year of crisis with regard to the view just discussed. All forces are at work to bring forth from the human soul an even shallower, more pernicious mindset—a materialistic quagmire of worldview. Humanity faces a tremendous trial, a test in which it will have to prove that, even in the face of this impending, deepest fall, the impulse toward ascent is present most strongly on all sides. For otherwise, it would not be possible for human beings to overcome the obstacles that materialistic views place in their path. If human beings were not exposed to materialism, they would not be able to overcome it through their own efforts. And now the opportunity has come to make a choice between the spiritual and the materialistic paths. The conditions for this year of crisis are being sent to us from the cosmos.

[ 12 ] Spiritual Science is something that is read from the great signs of the heavens and brought into the world by those who know how to interpret these great signs, these mighty symbols. In order to warn humanity against taking the materialistic path—which manifests outwardly in the appearance of Halley’s Comet—a counter-impulse must be provided by Spiritual Science. Thus, the forces that guide us on the path upward are also sent to us through other signs from the cosmos.

[ 13 ] At the time of the events at Golgotha, the vernal equinox had been in the constellation of Aries for some time. Over the course of 25,920 years, this point moves through all twelve constellations of the zodiac. This progression has now reached the point where, with the vernal equinox, we have entered the constellation of Pisces. By the middle of the 20th century, we will have reached a certain point within this constellation. The constellation of Aries now signifies the conclusion of the Kali Yuga, the dark age, which, according to Eastern philosophy, began in the year 3101 B.C. At that time, the vernal equinox of the sun passed through the constellation of Taurus. This event was symbolized in the Persian Mithraic bull and the Egyptian Apis bull. We find representations of the sun’s passage through the constellation of Aries in the legend of the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece, and in the depiction of Christ as the Lamb, as the early Christians typically portrayed him at the foot of the cross.

[ 14 ] The Kali Yuga era came to an end in 1899. It thus lasted from 3101 B.C. to 1899 A.D., spanning 5,000 years as an age in which people were reliant solely on their physical senses to observe what was taking place on the physical plane, without being able to draw upon the ability of clairvoyance. Now the faculties are beginning to develop that will be capable of leading human nature back toward spiritual evolution. Only in the Kali Yuga could and had to the “I” be developed—in a way possible only during this era—to the level of consciousness now inherent in it. From now on, this “I”-consciousness can be joined by a clairvoyant consciousness that will develop over the next 2,500 years, whereby a spiritual perception of the world will then complement the physical-sensory one. To make this possible, the necessary forces will be sent to us around the middle of the 20th century, so that people will then begin to see the etheric and astral bodies—and indeed, for some gifted individuals, this will already manifest as a natural ability. When a person then wishes to carry out a preconceived plan or intention of any kind, a kind of dream image will appear to them, which is nothing other than a preview of the karmic fulfillment of the action taken. In the meantime, humanity may plunge headlong into the quagmire of materialistic worldviews and attitudes toward life. However, it will easily happen that the faint clairvoyant abilities manifesting in this age will not be recognized as such, and that people who already possess them will be regarded as fools and fantasists. For those who have never heard of Spiritual Science will not recognize these delicate abilities. Nevertheless, these signs are true. If, however, the spiritual worldview prevails, these indicated abilities will be carefully nurtured within humanity, so that those endowed with them will be able to bring spiritual truths down from the spiritual world.

[ 15 ] Under such circumstances, we can say: We are facing a crucial turning point in world development, one for which we must prepare so that what seeks to endow our Earth with a new capacity is not crushed in its infancy. What will then be perceived as a spiritual world, with spiritual organs, as a spiritual atmosphere—that is what only the initiated can recognize today. However, it will still take quite some time before the first delicate faculties have developed to this degree—or even to the level that ancient humanity knew in its clairvoyance, which at that time was admittedly only dreamlike, and in its ecstatic states. But like a spiritual veil, this steadily developing ability will be spread out around our Earth. The Eastern scriptures, especially the Tibetan ones, speak at length of a land that has vanished, and with melancholy they call it Shambhala—a land that disappeared in the age of Kali Yuga. But it is rightly said that the initiates can retreat to Shambhala to bring back from there what humanity needs to be aided in its development. All Bodhisattvas draw strength and wisdom from the land of Shambhala. For people of average development, it has vanished. But there are prophecies that this land of Shamballa will return to humanity. When the subtle powers of clairvoyance begin to manifest and grow stronger and more widespread, and when these—as the beneficial forces originating from the solar realm—are received and come into play instead of the forces from Halley’s Comet, then Shamballa will return. We are in a time of preparation for humanity to undergo this development of a new form of clairvoyance, which will unfold over the next 2,500 years—a preparation that will continue steadily both in the time between birth and death and in the time between death and a new birth. All that will take place during this process will be the subject of the next lecture.