The Rudolf Steiner Archive

60. Some Remarks on Embryology

[ 1 ] The disintegration of the three sheaths in the embryo, which are born as the afterbirth, signifies, spiritually speaking, the formation of the etheric and astral bodies and the ego. The tearing apart [...] also signifies something that comes from the cosmos at that moment.

[ 2 ] Why do we know nothing in later life about the developmental processes of the human embryo? It is for the same reason that we cannot remember our dreams. They are, in fact, dreams forgotten in later life. During the embryonic stage, the human being possesses a kind of dream consciousness into which it can incorporate what, in the form of experienced images, would represent the processes of formation. The processes of dissolution in the yolk sac, amnion, and chorion become images for the processes of formation of the etheric body, the astral body, and the I.

[ 3 ] This ability to perceive formative processes in images is lost to human beings in everyday life. Through occult development, one learns to see them again. Those who acquire such abilities later in life can perceive things similar to what the developing human being perceives (though the latter eventually forgets it). Processes involving the three bodies—especially the etheric body—can be perceived. It can happen that processes in one’s own etheric body are stimulated by processes in the astral body. This also occurs in our physical-sensory existence, for example, when a person develops negative traits that they recognize as faults. But they fail to realize that they are currently at the stage where these traits are becoming apparent to them; they project outward, and one confuses the external with the internal. One does not see these faults in oneself, but perceives them with particular clarity in other people and is therefore particularly adept at criticizing them in others. One provides a very accurate picture of other people’s faults, but only because they are manifesting outwardly in oneself. One projects one’s own faults onto other people for the purpose of observation, for like is perceived only through like.

[ 4 ] But internal processes can also truly project outward. Let’s suppose you suddenly bump your hand. Or: You reach out your hand, then you feel the hand’s own movement, and within that you perceive your own internal process; or let’s suppose: You don’t perceive that, but rather the act of reaching out would manifest as if something were being inflicted on you from the outside. Then you would experience it as a force coming from outside.

[ 5 ] Now think of eurythmy! These are movements that, at a certain stage, are the same as human speech at a later stage. For, suppose you make a vigorous gesture—for example, you snap your fingers—then that gesture will also be heard. In eurythmy, a movement is performed gently for aesthetic reasons; if it were done forcefully, it would also be heard. Now we have an organ that performs the movements of eurythmy, but very rapidly—that is our larynx. The movements of our vocal cords become audible, just like the cracking of our fingers. Eurythmy is truly another level of our language (what is not heard takes place in the spiritual realm). Today there are two theories of language—the “bimbam” and the “wauwau” theories—but these are merely materialistic, not scientific.

[ 6 ] The human etheric body contains an infinite number of processes; the person does not become aware of these in such a way that they would say to themselves, “I am moving my hand,” but rather as if they were saying, “I feel that my hand is outstretched.” This gives rise to an inner experience that, as it subsides, transforms into vision. However, the process is not depicted by what one sees out there. What one experiences is at first completely formless and colorless; then it comes to an end and becomes a lifeless (?) image. The paintings are thus projections of ethereal processes in the external world that are perceived only after they have passed. They are brought forth from memory, but not as they actually occurred; rather, the activity is elevated and represents itself in the image.

[ 7 ] You saw images like these all the time when you were in the embryonic state, but you have forgotten them. In young children who are beginning to speak, we can still pick up the embryonic remnants of communications about such things (though the way an embryonic child perceives these things differs from how they are perceived later in adulthood) . Later, Ms. [Petersen] came across images that arise when one becomes aware that a psychic, spiritual force is at work within a person—this is always present, but one does not always think about it. If one does think about it, then one can perceive these images.

[ 8 ] A third stage: I have often said that our Spiritual Science will have fulfilled its tasks when it begins to enrich the other spheres of life. The painter of these pictures is not a painter at all. Here, the handling of the inner activity of the etheric body passes into the limbs [gap in the transcript]. Through this, new art can emerge precisely through those people whose mobility of the etheric body is not corrupted by external technique.

[ 9 ] What has been art up to now is also in a process of decay. One could also speak of the yolk sac, amnion, and chorion of the old development of art, as they will gradually shed. The byproducts of this process are present in some of today’s art. From these, the technique that comes from within is to develop. Humanity may sleep through this, just as a child sleeps through such things. Even today, the colors are still lacking to express what can be found in this way. That is why we must also have a new architectural style for our St. John’s Building and so on, because we cannot build according to the amnion, yolk sac, and chorion.