The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Sixth Lecture

[ 1 ] In order to gradually familiarize oneself with what we call spiritual science, it is necessary to have the willingness to fill in—as it were—the concepts and conceptual connections, which are initially presented more as a kind of outline, with concrete ideas about that which, at first, can only be presented in general terms.

[ 2 ] You see, we say it this way: The human being consists of a physical body, an etheric body, an astral body, and the “I,” and so on. — That is quite correct at first, when we put it that way, because we need, so to speak, to orient ourselves using comprehensive, schematic concepts. But as we continue to familiarize ourselves with spiritual science, it becomes necessary to engage more closely with everything that has been schematized in this way.

[ 3 ] Even within the narrower scope of the readership our society serves, we have a large number of cycles; yet these cycles still contain relatively little of what it would actually be desirable for humanity—or at least a small circle of humanity—to learn about very soon.

[ 4 ] If we call the outer aspect of a human being—that which can be perceived by the physical senses and examined by the science based on reason, experiments, and observations—the physical body, then, as we know, the etheric body underlies this physical body.

[ 5 ] Let us first cast our inner eye for a moment upon these two aspects of human nature today. At first glance, spiritual science as such seems to have the least to say about the physical body, for this physical body is the only thing that is the subject of physical science and the only thing that physical science initially intends to examine using its methods. Yet even this physical body—even if it is, at first, what physical science regards it as—can only be recognized in its true significance and place in the world by taking the higher aspects of human nature into account as well.

[ 6 ] Now you will recall that the physical body—which, as it were, “clothes” human beings here on Earth—could actually only come into being during the Earth period. However, human beings had already received their spiritual faculties during the ancient Saturn period. They were continually transformed during the Sun, Moon, and Earth periods. It was transformed under the influence of what took place during the Solar, Lunar, and Earth eras. It was transformed under the influence of the fact that the etheric body had been incorporated into it on the Sun. This physical body—as it had come over from Saturn—had to change, had to become different as it was permeated by the etheric body. And this physical body also had to change as it was then permeated by the astral body on the Moon. Not only was the astral body added to the entire process of human formation, but this physical body was transformed by the fact that, so to speak, the etheric body entered it during the Solar period, the astral body during the Lunar period, and as the “I” gradually develops in all directions on Earth—certainly at first within the etheric body, but also within the physical body.

[ 7 ] If we now move from the human to the cosmic, then we need only recall what we have often discussed—what is contained in our cycles. We must understand that, just as the first formation of the physical body on Saturn was made possible—well, we might say—by the outpouring of the spirits of will, the Thrones, the transformation during the Solar Age was brought about by the Spirits of Wisdom, the transformation during the Lunar Age by the Spirits of Movement, and the transformation during the Earth Age—that is, what had to be accomplished in the physical body through the indwelling of an “I”—by the Spirits of Form.

[ 8 ] This is indeed something important that we must take into account. When we encounter the physical body of a human being on Earth, we must conceive of it as endowed with an “I,” and we must conceive of it in such a way that, because it is endowed with an “I,” it has acquired a specific form appropriate to it during its time on Earth. During the Lunar period, however, it received only the inner movement appropriate to it. It had to receive this form appropriate to it during its earthly existence through the gifts of the spirits of form, in accordance with the fact that an “I” had to be implanted within it. We can therefore say that this physically formed earthly body is shaped as it is because it had to become a bearer of the “I.” With the “I,” the Spirits of Form gave the human physical body the form it now has, which is appropriate for a bearer of the “I.”

[ 9 ] The other beings of the other kingdoms of nature have also taken on their forms. If you read the more detailed descriptions given of the ancient Lunar Age, you will see that all these beings are described in such a way that one cannot say they already had their present form at that time; they are depicted as possessing a certain fluidity. Just recall the descriptions in *An Outline of Esoteric Science* or in individual cycles: the forms are depicted as possessing a certain fluidity. The other kingdoms of nature, too, only acquired their permanent forms through the spirits of form during the Earth era, I might say.

[ 10 ] Let us consider the realm on Earth closest to humankind: the animal kingdom. The animal kingdom, too, exists in forms. It, too, acquired the forms it currently possesses only during the Earth era. But consider just how great the difference is between the forms of the animal kingdom and those of the human kingdom! When we look across the surface of the Earth, we do indeed find certain differences between individual human beings—differences that belong to a different realm of discussion—but we naturally also find certain differences with regard to outward appearance. All those interesting ethnic groups that Western Europeans are now bringing to the fore in Central Europe naturally look somewhat different from the Central European population! So a difference does indeed exist when we let our gaze wander across the Earth’s surface with regard to the physical form of individual human beings. Color, for example, is also part of this physical form. But if you compare the distinctions and differences that exist among human beings with the distinctions between the various animal species, you will have to admit: Animal species are, of course, infinitely more distinct from one another in a far broader, infinitely greater sense than human beings are. We can indeed speak of a single human species in contrast to the various, diverse forms of animals. For a difference as stark as that between, say, a lion and a nightingale—both of which are animals—is naturally not to be found among human beings. If there were such a great difference as that between a lion and a nightingale, no one could claim that differences among humans are not noticeable. But one must keep in mind that animals exhibit infinitely greater distinctions than humans do within the general human species.

[ 11 ] Although what I have just told you is certainly true, from the standpoint of spiritual science it is nevertheless true only in a limited sense. For the following is also true: In your contemplation and in your thoughts regarding the human physical body, include the etheric body as well, and imagine that a certain experiment—which, of course, cannot be carried out—were possible: that one could separate the entire physical body from the human being, dissect it piece by piece, and that, before beginning to dissect this physical body, by invoking the spirits of the higher hierarchies, the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai, so that these Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai would withdraw from the human being and cease to act upon the etheric body. So two things would have to be done: One would not even have to, let’s say, wish to torment the human being, but one would have to take away from him everything that belongs to his physical body. And then one would have to ask all the influences of the three hierarchies—Angels, Archangels, and Archai—to withdraw, so that the human being’s etheric body would be left entirely to its own devices, no longer influenced by anything else. For it is, in fact, influenced; it is contained within the physical body, and this physical body has its fixed form, which is assigned to it by the spirits of form. That is why it must conform to this fixed form. If you take a very soft piece of rubber and place it in a glass, it will adapt to the shape of the glass; it will not retain its own shape. When you pull it out of the glass again, it springs back into its own shape. In the same way, the human etheric body must adapt to the form imposed on it by the physical body; it does not have its own form. So when we remove the physical body, this force—to which the etheric body must adapt—disappears. Yet even then it would still not assume its own form, because—as we will explain in more detail—the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai are at work within this etheric body. But we ask them to withdraw, so that the etheric body can now follow its own forces entirely on its own. Then the etheric body would spring out, assuming its own elasticity. This process should be possible to demonstrate visually; then you would be able to see how the etheric body springs forth and assumes its own form.

[ 12 ] What would happen? You would have the entire animal kingdom before you! The etheric body would divide into parts, and these would be—at least in essence, in their main types—the forms of the entire animal kingdom. In other words: Human beings carry the entire animal kingdom within themselves in etheric form. It is held together, on the one hand, by the form of the physical body, and on the other hand, by the activity of the beings of the three hierarchies mentioned. It is absolutely true that human beings carry within themselves, in their etheric body, the potential for the entire animal kingdom! From this point of view, the entire animal kingdom differs from the human being only in that each animal species has taken its own form—which also lives within the human etheric body—and has developed it into its own physical form. So that when we look at the animal kingdom as it is realized on Earth, it is in fact the expanded human etheric body.

[ 13 ] This is a peculiar matter. At the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, within the development of Europe’s worldview, there emerged what, to be more precise, can be found in figures such as Oken. From the standpoint of his time, the naturalist Oken could not yet speak of the etheric body; that was far beyond his reach. But in his writings, for example, we find this remarkable statement: “The animal kingdom is humanity spread out.” — That is to say, he had an imaginative conception of the truth. This idea entered his intellectual horizon at a time when the great ideas of the Central European worldview were taking shape. That is very interesting! This idea also entered Schelling’s horizon, for example, and you will find this very sentence in Schelling as well. And those who were initially unable to engage with these brilliant—though, of course, as yet incomplete—ideas—because the precise facts simply could not be stated—had a very difficult time back then. With Oken, one must imagine that what he could not yet know lived within his soul in the form of a brilliant conception. One might say he had the feeling that the individual parts of the human being are actually composed of animal forms. — He also had the courage to voice such a thing, but the learned philistines were terribly scandalized that he had done so. For example, he had also asked himself: What is the tongue? — He could not have known that an etheric body is required for it, and so he said: “The tongue is a squid.” — Certainly, this statement is based on what I have just explained. But just imagine the reaction of the entire scholarly philistine establishment to the assertion: “The human tongue is a squid!”

[ 14 ] If one wants to understand the course of human spiritual life, one must be open-minded. One must realize that something that may even seem like nonsense can contain a great truth. And so Oken classified human beings as follows: the tongue is an octopus, other organs are something else, and so on. — Essentially, it was merely a more precise restatement of what had existed in ancient human conception, where one simply highlighted the main types and classified human beings according to the four main animal groups: lion, eagle, angel, and calf.

[ 15 ] So one can certainly say: The matter is not quite that simple; rather, human beings actually already possess the entire animal kingdom within their etheric body. They carry it within themselves, as the philosopher would say, in potential. — Now, however, you must take something into account so that the matter does not become one-sided. If what we have just described were not to take place—namely, that, in addition to the physical body holding this entire animal kingdom together, the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai also exert their powers—then, when a human being passes through the gate of death and sheds the physical body, what I have just described would indeed have to occur: in this case, when the etheric body is released—after a few days—from the astral body and the “I,” which fall away, it would, in an elastic manner, flow out into the world, and the entire etheric animal kingdom would arise from the human etheric world. But this is not the case in experience. That does not happen. It does not emerge from the human being; rather, the etheric body detaches itself in a completely different form. It detaches itself and becomes interwoven into the general world ether.

[ 16 ] What is actually happening here? Well, the beings from the hierarchy of the Angeloi, the Archangeloi, and the Archai are at work on our etheric body, and they prevent the entire being of the etheric body from fragmenting into the animal kingdom. What is actually happening here? To describe what is happening there, I would like to start by drawing on a comparison. We humans on Earth work; for example, we make machines out of wood or iron. The wood or iron are our material foundations, and then we work the wood or iron into machines. The arrangement of the material—that is our work, the arrangement of the wood or the iron—but we must extract the iron or the wood itself from the Earth. We need these raw materials; we extract them from a realm that lies beneath our human realm.

[ 17 ] If you now imagine that the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai live above us, they are not there in the universe merely to maintain a perpetual “Sunday rest”; rather, they have their work to do, and they have tasks to fulfill. — What, then, do the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai actually do? If they work, then they too will need a material, just as we need wood and iron from the earth, and they will have to work with this material. The material for the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai is our etheric bodies! Just as wood and iron from the earth are for us when we process them into machines, so are our etheric bodies for the angels, archangels, and archai; that is what they work on. And while we humans walk around here on earth and, in a sense, have the thought—if we have it at all—that ‘We carry our etheric body within us, and we carry it with us as our own, just like our lungs’—all around us, the entire being of the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai is at work, shaping forms for the spiritual world that are needed there for our lives. They work out of this etheric body to create what is needed in the spiritual world.

[ 18 ] With whose help do these higher beings work? Well, we think throughout our lives; from the moment we begin to think until death, we think. The essential aspect of thinking—as you could also gather, for example, from yesterday’s public lecture—lies precisely in the fact that thinking weaves and lives within the etheric body. It then continues to weave and live only within the physical body. In our physical life, we believe that what we form there as our thoughts is now our sole possession. But what we have there of our thoughts—what we develop in our thoughts and what we can remember—is, in a sense, only the inner aspect of our life of thought. From the outside, the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai work on our entire life of thought, particularly in relation to the etheric body, and it is not unnecessary for us to think as human beings. It is certainly not unnecessary for the physical Earth, but neither is it unnecessary for the cosmos. For what we transform in our etheric body through our thinking between our birth and our death is used as material and elaborated upon according to higher principles. During our lives, as we go through the world as thinking beings and perceive our life of thought only from within, the angels, archangels, and archai work on our thoughts so that after our death, what they can then incorporate into the world ether may come into being. When our astral body and our “I” shed the etheric body, they—if I may use a crude expression—sew the fabric of our etheric body into the cosmos, a fabric that has essentially come into being through the way we thought during our life. From now on, this belongs to the cosmos. As human beings, we do not live merely for ourselves; we live for the entire cosmos.

[ 19 ] We know, of course, that after our Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan are to come into being. All of this must be prepared; all of this must be woven into the cosmos as forces. This requires work. Part of this work, for example, is what I have just explained: that the Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai are active in accordance with our thoughts. The foolish thoughts we have during our lives are one kind of material; wise thoughts are another. But depending on the material we provide them with, these—roughly speaking—“etheric machines” are fashioned, which then serve to ensure that development in the cosmos continues. So when our etheric body is handed over to the cosmos after death, the work of the beings of the three hierarchies mentioned is handed over at the same time.

[ 20 ] Let us now consider the human astral body from a similar perspective. We approach our observations from new perspectives; therefore, different relationships to the surrounding realms always come to light. Those who cannot read—and reading involves the ability to synthesize things—may see many contradictions in the things that are presented. But this stems solely from the fact that they do not grasp the perspectives from which these things are illuminated.

[ 21 ] Our astral body is in a similar relationship to the Earth’s environment as our etheric body. Our etheric body is the entire animal kingdom, from the perspective I have described to you. Our astral body is the entire plant kingdom. Just as I spoke about the etheric body in relation to the animal kingdom, I must now speak about our astral body in relation to the plant kingdom. All the plant forms of our Earth are contained within it. And again, this is how it is: If all the higher hierarchies were not working on our astral body, then after undergoing this return journey from death to birth—during which the astral body is gradually shed—nothing else would happen except that the astral body would simply be shed, and the astral body out in the world would be the entire plant kingdom. Indeed, it would even organize itself into a sphere, following its own elasticity. But the astral body cannot organize itself into a sphere, because during our life, between birth and death, the spirits of form themselves, the spirits of movement, the spirits of wisdom, and even the spirits of will—to a certain degree—work upon our astral body.

[ 22 ] And when, after years or decades, we have gradually freed the astral body from its connection to earthly life—as has often been described—through the process of looking back on our life, then, at the same time, in the work on this astral body, we need the wisdom, movement, Wisdom, and Will need in order to incorporate into the cosmos what they must incorporate into it. That which is thus incorporated into the cosmos, however, benefits us, for it must be present within the cosmos. It is woven into the cosmos in a different way than what was just described. When our etheric body is shed, it is, so to speak, sewn into—or, I might say, woven into—the general world ether. But that which now appears—woven from our astral body as the work of the spirits of Form, Movement, Wisdom, and the Thrones—works together with our “I,” which passes through the time between death and a new birth, and it contains the forces that must act so that we may once again enter into a new incarnation. For in order for us to enter into a new incarnation, a great, great deal is required! Truly, what external physical science knows today about the structure of the skull and the brain is a great deal—so much, in fact, that there are quite a few people for whom knowing this is too much to bear. But if one were to consider this knowledge of external science in light of the fact that the skull, together with the brain—this marvelous structure—is to be formed down to its smallest parts: how little would external science actually achieve in truly forming it! There is indeed a significant mystery here. Of course, the “dullards”—that sort of person one might call “dullards”—are quick to dismiss this mystery by saying: What develops in humans through the continuous succession of generations happens all by itself. That a human head takes shape in the mother’s womb—well, that just happens all by itself. |

[ 23 ] One can understand why people say that, but I’d like to use a comparison to illustrate just how sensible it is. Let’s hypothetically assume that there are beings in Munich who can see many things, but who cannot see humans—not even humans going about their activities. It would be conceivable, after all, that Munich is populated by such beings who could not see people at work. Such beings, who could not see people at work, could, however—let’s say, for example—see clocks. They would thus see that clocks exist and how they are made; they would not see the person—the clockmaker—who assembles the clock. They would not see the hands that assemble the individual parts; they would only see how the clock takes shape from the individual parts. They might also see the various tweezers, pliers, and so on, used to handle the parts, but for them, the individual parts of the clock are, as it were, assembled out of thin air. What kind of view would these beings have of clocks, then? They would not say, “There are clockmakers in Munich”—they would deny that entirely. They would say, “Oh, it is a terrible superstition to assume that there are clockmakers, for clocks come into being all by themselves; one can see, after all, how they assemble themselves.”

[ 24 ] Just as these beings would judge, so do people who assume that whatever has already gradually formed through physical processes arises of its own accord. Everything that is there

[ 25 ] arises; it comes into being through the actions of the spiritual beings of the higher hierarchies. Truly, the human being does not come into being “on its own” merely through the interaction of father and mother and through what then forms in the mother’s body; rather, the entire world exerts its influence, and the whole cosmos, together with the beings of the higher hierarchies, is involved in this process.

[ 26 ] Of course, the cosmos is involved, even up to its highest regions, in what is attached to the head; but it is particularly involved in the human head. Physical science will also come to this—just as physical science and spiritual science will gradually come into balance—so that it will learn to think differently in embryology about the human head and differently about all other organs. The other organs, as will be discovered in the not-too-distant future, depend very strongly on inherited characteristics. The formation of the head, however, depends far less on inherited characteristics. These are merely incorporated into it through its connection with the other organs. The entire cosmos is truly involved in the formation of the human head—and it is involved spiritually; it acts into the mother’s body.

[ 27 ] The fact that people do not see these forces—well, a farmer does not see the forces acting on a magnet either—is no proof that these forces do not exist. And what is present in this human head is, in a sense, something that is worked out in connection with what the human being brings with them in their “I” into the time between death and rebirth—something that is worked out by the Spirits of Form, the Spirits of Movement, the Spirits of Wisdom, and the Thrones, all of whom are working on a mighty hollow sphere. What is being fashioned there is immense in size—it is a sphere—and everything is incorporated into this sphere. Imagine a gigantic sphere, into whose surface—as into a globe—everything that is to be incorporated is worked, in accordance with what the human being has first surrendered to the general cosmos through his etheric body. This forms, so to speak, something that is mapped out, if I may use that expression. But then, specifically, what has been brought along from the processing of the astral body. Then comes the time—it begins with what I have described in one of the Mysteries as the midnight hour of existence—when this sphere gradually becomes smaller and smaller. And this sphere, which is fashioned by high spirits in accordance with the human being’s previous incarnations, finally becomes so small—ever smaller and smaller—and unites with the human embryo conceived in the mother’s womb. From this, above all else, the shape of the head emerges. This formation of the head’s shape is a wondrous mystery; it is the result of centuries of work by higher hierarchies.

[ 28 ] Just think for a moment how a person’s perception of their relationship to the world can be deepened when they understand their place within the entire cosmic context! This human being, who bears his head, must learn—in all humility, without pride or arrogance, of course—to reflect on how little of what exists in human wisdom can encompass what is necessary to form this head that has been given to him. Human beings carry the entire cosmic content within themselves.

[ 29 ] When viewed in this light, spiritual science gains infinitely by becoming the starting point for certain feelings that can indeed become dangerous in a haughty soul. I alluded to this in the second Mystery Play, where Capesius, in conversation with Benedictus, feels these truths drawing near to him: that the full power of the gods is necessary to bring a human being into being. For many who are initially vain by nature, this can—quite unconsciously—further fuel their vanity; a person may come to feel immensely important. It is wiser to cherish the realization of just how little one is aware of all the wisdom necessary to bring oneself into being!

[ 30 ] Of course, one might share the view of those who say: Yes, but why is it necessary for a person to know all this? After all, a person can live without knowing these things; in fact, they live quite well without knowing them. — Therein lies a great error: the belief that a person can live quite well without this knowledge. In truth, they cannot. We are, however, living in precisely the age when one can succumb to this misconception—that one can live quite decently on Earth without knowledge of the spiritual world, namely, having breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and so on, and doing various other things alongside and in between. But this belief is not based on truth. We must gradually lead people to realize that this belief is not based on truth.

[ 31 ] Based on this premise, I now cite Karl Christian Planck, for example, in public lectures—this remarkable man who lived a solitary existence in Ulm for years, whom the University of Tübingen did not even appoint when the chair there became vacant, because there was no one there who understood the significance of this man. Certainly, the narrow-minded will say that toward the end of his life he became so nervous that he said all sorts of things that could be interpreted as delusions of grandeur. Well, that’s what the narrow-minded say. But a person who, like Planck, had not yet received full validation from the humanities could certainly become nervous under such mistreatment at the hands of his fellow human beings, and then utter words such as those he spoke in the preface to his *Testament of a German*, where the words of the ancient Roman came to his lips: “Ungrateful fatherland, you shall not even have my bones!” But I have cited that statement made by Karl Christian Planck before the year 1880, when he died, and which precisely reflects what we now have as our European World War. The idealistically minded person was also capable of seeing reality, because the power that develops inwardly when one is able to think in such a way, drawing from the very sources of existence, is at the same time the most practical thing in the world. What people who believe they have “eaten practice with a spoon” think is not what is actually practical. Only through human brutality can something be declared “practical” when every legitimate aspiration arising from the true sources of life is simply stifled.

[ 32 ] I cite such examples to show how that human faculty—clear, penetrating thinking—which is also necessary in external, practical life, can arise only when the human soul is enriched by the truths of spiritual science. Why, then, do people in our age believe that human life on Earth is possible without having the slightest inkling of spiritual scientific insights? Because they are so infinitely short-sighted! If they were not so short-sighted, one could in fact prove quite objectively how wrong those are who say that human beings need not concern themselves with a spiritual world: after all, they are born of their own accord and then grow up on their own; a certain kind of education must, of course, be provided, but modern pedagogy establishes such infinitely clever educational principles that they even reach the lofty heights of Foerster’s pedagogy. Well, and then one gradually becomes a settled person who reflects on what one must do so that humanity has something to eat and drink—and so does one.

[ 33 ] But it was not always this way among humankind. And it was not long ago that people believed it was possible for human beings to live on Earth at all without possessing spiritual knowledge. There is already external evidence to support this, and I would like to present one such example to you. I have cited it in various contexts. If one had the time—though in Munich, of course, there is no such time—one could probably find such evidence here in Munich as well. We recently found it while viewing the Hamburg Art Museum. It arises from the following: Let us consider that great symbol at the beginning of the Old Testament—the story of the temptation of Eve and Adam, which we know as the Luciferic temptation. Isn’t it true that if a painter were to depict this today—it doesn’t really matter what his artistic stance is, whether he paints realistically or idealistically, as an Expressionist, Impressionist, Futurist, or whatever—he would at least believe he is doing the greatest justice to reality if he painted Adam and Eve, well, you know, more or less hideously. But to go along with that, he’ll paint the Tree of Paradise, with the serpent on it having a real serpent’s head—the serpent as big as the tree, but with a real serpent’s head. Can that be called realistic in the true sense of the word? I don’t think so, my dear friends! Not to mention modern women—but not even our first mother, Eve, can be considered so narrow-minded as to let herself be seduced by a real snake! That can’t possibly be “realistic”! Imagine a real snake slithering through the green grass; is that what our first mother, Eve, was supposed to have fallen for? Surely, this can’t be naturalistic! Even the snake in the present-day version, despite crawling around as a real animal, can only be understood as a symbol of something else.

[ 34 ] But now let us recall what concepts we actually need to associate with this Luciferic temptation. It is Lucifer himself! The serpent can, at most, be a symbol of Lucifer. What is associated with the Luciferic is that this being was left behind during the formation of the moons. So this being, as such, cannot be seen at all with the physical eyes of the Earth. Since Lucifer is still at the stage of the formation of the Moon, he naturally cannot be seen with the ordinary physical eyes of the Earth; he can only be seen with the inner eyes. He cannot, therefore, be like an earthly serpent that can be seen with ordinary physical eyes.

[ 35 ] One must imagine Lucifer as spiritual science can conceive him. Just consider that human beings carry their head as the most perfectly developed part of their body. Attached to it—you need only look at the skeleton— I would say in a very delicate way, as if attached, the rest of the organism. The spine, of course, with the spinal cord, is attached to the head. But what developed physically later had already formed beforehand. If one were to go back in evolution and see Lucifer with the inner eye, one would naturally have to see him in his lunar form, preparing the way for the human head on Earth. There one would see a human head, not yet so condensed, internally mobile, still multifaceted, and attached to it something like a human spine and spinal cord—which one can well imagine hanging from it in the form of a serpent’s body. So this is actually how one would have to paint Lucifer: with a face as ambiguous as possible, and attached to it a serpent’s body—one that, however, approaches the very beginning of the human spine. In the sense of spiritual science, this would be a kind of image of Lucifer.

[ 36 ] Now, in this Hamburg picture gallery from the 13th and 14th centuries, there is a painting by Master Bertram that depicts the biblical story of creation, and in it this paradisiacal symbol is truly painted in such a way that Lucifer, just as I have now described him, is depicted exactly in the spirit of our spiritual science. So in the 13th and 14th centuries, Master Bertram painted Lucifer correctly in the spiritual-scientific sense. This is something that can be seen. It is a historical fact.

[ 37 ] We have, after all, often referred to the ancient, atavistic clairvoyance that only gradually faded away. But what Master Bertram painted there still indicates that, well into the 13th and 14th centuries, it was still possible to depict Lucifer correctly in the sense of ancient spiritual science—that is, atavistic spiritual science. One can thus demonstrate objectively that it has only been a few centuries since people became as spiritually desolate as they are now. You will find plenty of such evidence.

[ 38 ] In other words, what the Stumpfling school today considers to be the eternal nature of the human soul—that one looks out through one’s eyes and combines what one sees through them with one’s intellect—has only been a characteristic of the human soul for a few centuries. Before that, all people were aware of a connection to the spiritual world. Of course, this gradually faded away. But we find that even as late as the 13th and 14th centuries, people were still able to paint in a way that is in keeping with the spirit of the ancient science. It is important to take note of this fact. From this fact, one can see how the ancient spiritual science—which, as we know, had to give way for the sake of the development of human freedom—was still alive in people’s souls as late as the 13th and 14th centuries. Because the conscious soul had to be developed at that time, the ancient spiritual science had to give way.

[ 39 ] But spiritual science must be brought back. Today, when it comes to everything related to inventiveness and creativity in all fields, humanity still lives off the ancient heritage that was brought to us through the old spiritual science. When something occurs to someone today that did not exist before, it is because the old spiritual science continues to have an effect. But it will not be another fifty or even a hundred years before all inventions and all ideas brought about by creativity in human development will have disappeared—even in the field of mechanical engineering—if spiritual science cannot have a fertilizing effect on humanity. Spiritual science must, starting from our time, become an integral part of the development of the human race; otherwise, this human race will become sterile and barren in its soul life on Earth.

[ 40 ] Today, this phenomenon is more or less evident—and often very pronounced—in the realm of art. It is quite striking that people are, so to speak, spiritually bereft when they can find nothing else to uncover in a work of art other than what they have preconceived from external nature—that is, when inner inspiration from the spirit is completely absent.

[ 41 ] These things are on one side. They show us how necessary it is for human beings to become aware that, as whole human beings, they are connected to beings of higher realms. One can imagine people—and such people still exist today—who know nothing of the existence of air; for them, space is empty. At least, it does not occur to them that air exists. But the physical body is, in essence, inconceivable without the surrounding air; for what are we, with our physical bodies, without the surrounding air? We think of it as self-contained because it is enclosed within our skin. But that is, of course, a foolish notion. Here is the air; the next moment, the air is inside you, then outside again. Does this air—which is outside the next moment—not belong to you just as much as the muscle in your physical body? Do you not have, in a sense, what is outside, inside? And then again, what is inside, outside? But just as we are one with the air through our physical body, so too—in relation to our soul life, in relation to our etheric body—are we one with the beings who weave through the world and live as Angeloi, Archangeloi, and Archai; and through our astral body, we are one with the beings who weave through the world and live as the Thrones, the spirits of wisdom, movement, and form. They are constantly at work within us, just as the air is constantly at work within our physical body. This gives us the true awareness of the nature of the human being when we know this.

[ 42 ] That is one side of the matter. But there is also another side to it. And I would like to give you an idea of these different aspects of a perspective that is necessary today. Take a look—it’s a vivid example—at Dostoevsky’s *The Brothers Karamazov*. Among the various characters in *The Brothers Karamazov* are four figures: the four sons of old Karamazov—Dmitri Karamazov, Ivan Karamazov, Alyosha Karamazov, and Smerdyakov Karamazov. It is very remarkable how this novel by Dostoevsky has had an impact, particularly in Central Europe. I would have to speak at length about it if I were to explain the entire process by which something like this emerges from human life and is channeled through a soul such as Dostoevsky’s, resulting in a work like *The Brothers Karamazov*. But I will say only this much: One can have great admiration for the penetrating psychological art—as many people today call it, since so little is known nowadays about what true psychological art is—and also for a certain penetrating, subtle observation of life; nevertheless, anyone who has perhaps failed to grasp spiritual scientific concepts and ideas in such a way as to learn—as written on a blackboard or, as was done in the past, with colors so one can remember it—anyone who does not absorb it in this way, but instead gradually immerses themselves in these aspects of human nature, just as we have been trying to do over the years, will feel uneasy about the often chaotic depiction in *The Brothers Karamazov*. There is, however, much in the novel that—if one looks only at the surface—can already be called keen observation of life; for example, the fact that the eldest Karamazov has a different mother and possesses character traits entirely different from those of the two middle brothers, Ivan and Alyosha, and that the fourth, who is actually something of a child, is descended from yet another mother entirely. Old Karamazov is, after all, an extraordinarily great, truly phenomenal scoundrel who gets up to all sorts of mischief in life, so that this Smerdyakov has a very peculiar person as his mother. You don’t actually know that he is Old Karamazov’s son. — But I don’t want to retell the novel; still, if you consider it this way—who the mothers of the four Karamazov brothers were—you get the feeling that there’s something behind it all! And it’s true: a Central European wouldn’t describe it that way. A Central European writes in a much, much more conscious way, and therefore does not incorporate as many entirely subconscious factors into his descriptions as Dostoevsky does. He pieces things together more, and since he only pieces together what he more or less knows, he is naturally less rich in expression than a Dostoevsky, who does not rely on what he knows but draws from life itself. But life is richer than the human soul realizes, because of what lies behind it as spirit.

[ 43 ] And now, in the face of all this, one gets the feeling that: Much has been drawn forth by an infinitely chaotic mind—a mind that has, after all, been rendered entirely chaotic by his epilepsy—by a thoroughly diseased soul; and this is because, in our age, nature, as it were, inclines human life to reveal one thing or another. And then, once one has gained a true sense, a real conception of what is meant by the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the I, one can come to the conclusion that the four Karamazov brothers represent human beings who can be properly understood when one says: In one, there is a human being in whom one aspect of human nature—the physical body—is more active and has come to the fore; in another of the brothers, there is a human being in whom the etheric body has come to the fore; in the third brother, the astral body is more prominent; and in the fourth brother, the “I” is more prominent.

[ 44 ] This is truly the case when you take Dostoevsky’s novel *The Brothers Karamazov* and look inwardly at these four brothers, so that you can say to yourself: In all that which, as a human maelstrom, affects the writer and guides him, to depict more from the unconscious, these four distinct aspects of human nature act in such a way that in one the ego, in another the astral body, and so on, has the upper hand, so that these four Karamazov brothers are, as it were, humanity pulled apart, just as the animal kingdom is the etheric body pulled apart. And if one is able to delve into such a matter, one finds in Smerdyakov the physical body predominating, in Ivan the etheric body, in Alyosha the astral body, and in Dmitri the predominance of the “I.” Although this may seem strange at first, it is viewed according to real observations, not as one might construct it; one would probably construct it quite differently, but this is how it is when one sees things as they really are.

[ 45 ] Herein lies the peculiarity: a poet who creates primarily from the subconscious—and whose epilepsy even causes a chaotic inner life—is thrust into reality; moreover, in his astral body—that is, once again in his subconscious—he is connected to that which weaves and lives throughout the world. For, my dear friends, we may well believe that it is not for nothing that, like Dostoevsky, one stands beneath the gallows waiting to be hanged—the others have already been hanged; one waits and is ready to be hanged—and at the very last moment, a pardon is granted! This is certainly something that triggers different feelings in a human soul than can be triggered in a human soul that has not gone through this: the possibility of being hanged at any moment. One must certainly take this into account.

[ 46 ] All of this, however, shows us how—I would say—reality could have influenced such a soul in our time in such a way that this soul now chaotically depicts, throughout the entire novel, four brothers who are endowed in the manner I have described to you, and whom one can only understand if one knows and can feel this. Then one will understand, for example, why the one who is predominantly in the etheric body and the one who is predominantly in the physical body—why these two in particular must also be descended from a person who repeatedly experiences certain hysterical fits. And so all the details become wonderfully clear when one takes this into account.

[ 47 ] From this, however, it is evident what our time is striving for in a region that, as I have repeatedly described, is suited to providing, so to speak, the blood characteristics that are to be combined with the Central European characteristics, as I described here the day before yesterday. Understanding what is happening—even among those who are still unconsciously entwined in these events—is possible in the present only through spiritual science. It may sound silly to say so, but let us state it plainly: The world is profound, and knowing and being able to judge anything about the world is not as simple a matter as people today imagine—people who lead their lives in the way that life is led these days. These people go through life in a dreamlike, intoxicated state, without knowing anything about what is happening around them.

[ 48 ] Great things are already in the making, and it’s not so easy to draw people’s attention to such things. Don’t you agree that you—at least through your karma—belong to those people who gradually open themselves up to these things, who listen to them over the years and thus gradually take them in, gaining an understanding of all that lies beneath the surface of life? To the general public, one can sometimes—though one cannot go too far—give hints about these things. But then there are precisely those who are particularly clever and who, above all, believe that anyone who truly speaks from a spiritual-scientific perspective and says this or that knows nothing more than what they say; who have no idea at all that everything must be drawn from a comprehensive body of knowledge—but from a knowledge that can truly be substantiated by the details, and which becomes interesting precisely when it is substantiated by the details.

[ 49 ] You will recognize that certain aspects of human development must change from the fact that I have presented these two facts to you: on the one hand, I have shown you what lies within the human being; on the other hand, how one must view the things that are truly taking place now. When a person who has never learned how to use a microscope looks into it, they usually see nothing. In the same way, people usually see nothing when they look at life in this way—when they consider the 19th century in the East and note that Dostoevsky lived there and wrote *The Brothers Karamazov*. And because the subterranean element lives within what is found in Dostoevsky’s *The Brothers Karamazov*—because it is truly present there—in conjunction with what is likewise present in the East—it has also come to be recognized in the East that a certain way of relating to life has been called “Karamazovism.” That which is lived in the manner of the Karamazov brothers’ lives is Karamazovism. Yes, it is actually difficult to explain, for it is a far more qualitative concept than if one were to say “Strizzitum” here in reference to Munich; that is much more abstract! There, it is much more concrete. Of course, it is not the same thing. But it is present in life there and flows into art, and one understands how necessary it is—in order to see what is happening—to have in the background of one’s soul, while observing, that which can come only from spiritual science.

[ 50 ] Even the external events—which, especially now, can become so evident to a person if they simply observe life thoughtfully—reveal the same necessity that I have just spoken of and that I have tried to illuminate from two different perspectives.

[ 51 ] An exceptionally sad phenomenon in the present day is, for example, the following. You see, for a long time before the war, there were general opinions: certain people were considered outstanding in this or that field. There was no reason at all to object to this, for they had indeed achieved great things in the spirit of today’s materialistic culture. Then the war came. These people spoke out; they wrote letters. It is quite unbelievable what people who were regarded as outstanding figures all over the world wrote after this war broke out! Read the letters they’ve written since the war broke out; to shift to another subject, read, for example, the letters written by the man—you don’t have to share his views, of course—who was surely regarded by many as an outstanding, staunch free thinker: Kropotkin! What stupid, utterly foolish letters he has written since the outbreak of this war! These are things that carry extraordinary weight.

[ 52 ] I would like to say: It is becoming apparent right now, as humanity faces immense situations that have come upon us very suddenly, just how little people—even outstanding individuals—were actually prepared, in their thinking, to cope with what has just burst in, breaking away from the usual, comfortable routine. From their own standpoint, the ordinary philistines are actually best equipped to deal with this—not from our standpoint, but from the modern one. Well, they, too, are carrying on with their lives and continuing to judge things according to their own views. How do these personal views usually come about? As we know, people today place no value on authority; they have their own views, which they have formed for themselves. These personal views, however, are usually based solely on the fact that they are views one has read in some newspaper or program but has since forgotten the source. These are one’s own views! A distinction is made between the views of others and one’s own views; the latter are characterized by the fact that one has forgotten where one read them.

[ 53 ] All these things point out to us that much, much must change—especially in spiritual life—and that people will have to get used to not going through the world the way materialists do, who are actually always dreaming about the world. Of course, they believe that others are dreaming, but in truth it is the materialists who are dreaming—they never really wake up. Our perspective on spiritual life must change, and the realization that it must change should already be taking root in the consciousness of those who wish to connect their hearts to the very lifeblood of the spiritual-scientific worldview.

[ 54 ] Given this gathering, we had to speak more seriously on this occasion, for the simple reason that, given the current state of affairs, we must take advantage of opportunities that may not always be so easy to find. Traveling around is difficult at present. All of this is, after all, connected to what I have already mentioned here repeatedly and can also be considered in connection with what I have said again today.

[ 55 ] I said again today that our etheric body is not simply something we drag through life as the vessel of our thoughts—which we regard as our property—and that it then simply vanishes. No, it does not simply vanish! It is that which becomes interwoven with the universal world ether after entire hierarchies have worked upon it.

[ 56 ] But when hundreds and thousands of people—as is now the case—have been prevented by death from carrying their etheric bodies for as many decades as is normal in human life, when so many young etheric bodies are handed over to the spiritual world, the etheric world, then precisely what I have often described occurs: these etheric bodies remain there along with that part that could still have been used for the world itself; for no force is lost. This will be above. But how it will work above will depend on what the souls are like below. In the future, those souls who know that many have gone through a sacrificial death—and that their etheric bodies are still there—will be able to find the strength for spiritual progress. When people become aware of them—and of the forces that can work here from what they have left behind—then a great spiritual upsurge will be able to take place. But there must be souls on Earth who are receptive to the spiritual, as well as to a spiritual understanding of the world. Then what exists in the spiritual world through these sacrificial deaths will be made fruitful for the Earth. Otherwise, it will fall prey to Ahriman! For it does not have to be made fruitful for the Earth simply because things do not come of their own accord, but rather through the mediation of human souls.

[ 57 ] Whether as many human souls as possible can be found who are inclined to connect, in thought and feeling, with the forces still present in the unspent etheric bodies of those who have passed away through sacrificial deaths—this will determine whether these forces can be used for a future spiritual cultural epoch on Earth, or whether they will fall prey to Ahriman.

[ 58 ] Reflect on these thoughts meditatively, my dear friends; then they will take on meaning for your souls, and then you will discover what I have often spoken of here, and with which I would like to conclude once again today:

From the courage of the fighters,
From the blood of the battles,
From the suffering of the forsaken,
From the sacrifices of the people
The fruit of the spirit grows—
Guiding souls, spiritually aware<

Toward the realm of the spirit.