Supplements to Member Lectures
GA 246
14 February 1911, Munich
Translated by Steiner Online Library
38. About Inheritance
[ 1 ] What, for example, causes so much confusion about the concept of heredity? Is the occurrence of the same traits a useful way to understand the concept of heredity? No, it cannot be understood that way!
[ 2 ] Rock salt, for example, is placed in lukewarm liquid; it dissolves in it; we let it recrystallize, and we end up with a salt cube just like the first one. And yet it would never occur to anyone to say that this rock salt cube has “inherited” the properties of the first cube! It is merely a matter of the same form appearing. The rock salt cube does not possess any characteristics of heredity in and of itself. — Yet people live under this illusion.
[ 3 ] A truly accurate concept of heredity can only emerge if we consider what heredity is not, while taking into account the findings of the Spiritual Science.
[ 4 ] We are speaking of the human physical body. There is a difference from the animal kingdom in terms of form. This form of the human physical body is not something physical, for it is a supersensory law that is imprinted upon the physical body. But the physical human form, which has passed through Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon, is permeated by the astral body and the ego.
[ 5 ] The physical body and the etheric body cannot be understood at all in terms of ordinary concepts of heredity; rather, only that which the astral body and the ego have imprinted during the development of the Moon and Earth is inherited.
[ 6 ] Let us imagine Saturn; suppose there were gods who—let us say—took a lump of wax and shaped it into the rudiments of the physical body; the sun gods would have reshaped it; the moon gods would have transformed it yet again; and through the “I,” it is transformed once more. — Thus, the physical form is transformed three times.
[ 7 ] Only the latter—the lunar and terrestrial transformations—are hereditary. The others are forms that originate from Saturn and the Sun. They are to be understood in the same sense as crystal forms, about which one cannot speak of heredity either, but rather of their arising through certain cosmic laws, all of which are present just as they are in a salt crystal; thus, they cannot be inherited. Heredity is only that which is altered by the imprinting of the astral body and the “I” upon the forms of the physical body. — Not everything that the physical body carries within itself is hereditary, but only that which is imprinted upon it in its form.
[ 8 ] Yes, what concept do we arrive at then? We arrive at a concept that is well-established in occultism, but which modern science will abhor. We come to recognize that only those qualities that originate from the astral body and the “I”—and which are imprinted into the physical body as well as into the etheric body—are inherited from the father and mother. In contrast, nothing is inherited from certain original qualities of the physical body.
[ 9 ] Yes, what actually happens to bring these about? Something very peculiar occurs. They have absolutely nothing to do with any physical mixing of human beings, but are transmitted directly from the cosmos to the maternal organism as a cosmic law; this has absolutely nothing to do with the relationship between the sexes. There are qualities in the human being—of the physical and etheric bodies—that do not stem from any mingling of the sexes at all, but rather flow, as it were, into the mother’s body when the opportunity arises, and they shape what the human being is to become by virtue of these forces. This is based on an influence exerted by the gods from the cosmos, on a conceptio immaculata, on a virgin conception—namely, the fundamental relationships of the human form and the human organ systems.
[ 10 ] In human beings, there is only a cosmic origin with regard to the physical and etheric bodies; and then a generational origin with regard to that which lives in the physical and etheric bodies through the astral body and the I.
[ 11 ] Everything related to the races is shaped by the astral body. But the general human form—which makes up Black people, Europeans, and all human beings—is born of the cosmos and has nothing to do with heredity. On Saturn and the Sun, the general human character was imprinted in the archetypes; one cannot speak of races there; that would be utter nonsense!
[ 12 ] Now there is something else. Certain higher qualities of human nature are also not inheritable (only the middle ones are inheritable). The qualities of pure thought, spiritual cognition, and mystical contemplation cannot be inherited across generations; such a thing does not exist; they are just as untransferable through the line of descent as the qualities of the physical body.
[ 13 ] Thus, the human being is composed of qualities originating from the cosmos, as well as qualities that lie at the very center and manifest in certain blood constitutions and certain life qualities of the etheric body, but which originate from the astral body and the “I.” The highest qualities that we acquire as thinking human beings, as spiritually perceiving human beings, and as human beings who delve into the mystical—qualities that rise to a certain level of spirituality—these are not inheritable. They must come from elsewhere, but they require physical instruments. As soon as we enter existence through birth, we are bound to the physical instrument: the physical body and the etheric body must become instruments for the qualities of pure thought, spiritual insight, and mystical deepening. What a human being needs in terms of physical instruments for these highest qualities [cannot] be inherited.
[ 14 ] Where, then, do the external instruments come from? The inner activity of the soul is attached to the remembering human core; but the instruments exist only in the spiritual world and must be attached to it.
[ 15 ] Where do these come from? These, in turn, come directly from the macrocosm and have nothing to do with a succession of generations. Where do they come from? They come indirectly through the father, who actually receives the corresponding macrocosmic influence—specifically for these higher forces—in that these forces are magnetically drawn to the father and act upon the child only spiritually. So we can say: In the human being before us, there is a maternal aspect that contains solely those qualities in which we can speak of heredity, and an aspect of high, macrocosmic qualities that come indirectly through the mother. And then there are qualities that enable the manifestation of the three aforementioned qualities, which come indirectly through the father—qualities that, in turn, have absolutely nothing to do with any mixing of the sexes. This is a purely spiritual process.
[ 16 ] When a human being prepares to incarnate, he first surrounds himself spiritually with those forces that magnetically attract the instruments through which thought finds expression. These forces act upon the father; this is a spiritual process that has nothing to do with heredity; it is transmitted directly from the macrocosm. Only the middle aspect of the human being has anything to do with heredity. Mental images are not transmitted; what is transmissible are physical forms—the nose, ears, fingers, and so on—but never direct mental images.
[ 17 ] [Gap in the source text]
[ 18 ] I am telling you certain things based on occult research, which of course contradict scientific research. And there will be plenty of people who say: It is an impertinence even to utter such things. — But what do the facts say?
[ 19 ] There is the famous dispute between Haeckel and Professor His in Leipzig; an entire body of literature has already been written about this dispute [gap in the source text].
[ 20 ] Compelled by the facts, His explains, human beings are conceived through virgin birth. Through empirical research, he has come to conclude that the human embryo is first formed in the head. The rest is a sort of appendage and could very well be related to the biogenetic law.
[ 21 ] Haeckel’s biogenetic law is correct with regard to the appendix. The appendix develops only later, as the forces are drawn from the macrocosm indirectly through the mother.
[ 22 ] Oh, just study the zoology books—as far as they present facts, they are good and entirely correct; occultism and the findings of external research are in agreement; but what this research says about it, the theories surrounding it, can only be understood by people who have been weaned off thinking. Humanity is crammed full of prejudices, and so the concept of heredity is also a concept that is simply not useful. — One inherits the symptoms of disease, not what is contained in the ascending line.
[ 23 ] If one were to try to talk publicly about these things right now, it would be a futile endeavor; people would simply fail to grasp the point. All we can do is hope for a careful evolution of humanity; then things will get better!
[ 24 ] We must spread theosophy everywhere. Our task must be to permeate all of life with the ideas of Spiritual Science.
[ 25 ] From the second part of the lecture, in which Dr. Steiner spoke about art:
[ 26 ] Art—an advance payment from the spiritual world.—A link to the spiritual world. Art builds a bridge from the spiritual world.
[ 27 ] The temples of the Greeks, the pyramids of the Egyptians—all of this arose from ancient clairvoyance. The Persian temple form... a human lying on the ground with outstretched arms, striving to rise... then the cherubim, and above them the triangular shape. - Many secrets are hidden there.
[ 28 ] Dr. Steiner then went on to speak about music—particularly the music of Richard Wagner, who instinctively grasped the true nature of music and, guided by an eminently correct, instinctive sense, drew his characters not from the earth but from symbolic figures in mythology. With his music, Richard Wagner reached into the heart of the cosmos; through his music, he touched the heart of the cosmos.
[ 29 ] Further details:
[ 30 ] In the subsequent remarks, it was implied in a very gentle, tactful, yet clear manner that we are still far from having the proper understanding of our great task—namely, building Rosicrucian temples. If we were to truly commit ourselves to this task from within, we would also receive the help of the spiritual powers. But as long as we remain so indifferent and uncomprehending toward this matter—lacking trust in the occult powers—nothing can happen.