Theosophy
GA 9
Chapter III: The Three Worlds: 3. The Spiritland
[ 1 ] Before the spirit can be observed on its further pilgrimage, the region it enters must first be examined. It is the world of the spirit. This world is so unlike the physical that all that is said about it will appear fantastic to anyone who is only willing to trust his physical senses. What has already been said in regard to the world of the soul—that is, that we have to use analogies to describe it—also holds good here to a still higher degree. Our language, which for the most part serves only for the realities of the senses, is not richly blessed with expressions applicable directly to the spiritland. It is, therefore, especially necessary to ask the reader to understand much that is said as an indication only because everything that is described here is so unlike the physical world that only in this way can it be depicted. The author is ever conscious of how little this account can really resemble the experiences of this region owing to the imperfection of our language, calculated as it is to be our medium of expression for the physical world.
[ 2 ] It must above all things be emphasized that this world is woven out of the substance of which human thought consists. The word “substance,” too is here used in a far from strict or accurate sense. Thought, however, as it lives in man, is only a shadow picture, a phantom of its true nature. Just as the shadow of an object on the wall is related to the real object that throws this shadow, so is the thought that makes its appearance through a human brain related to the being in the spiritland that corresponds to this thought. Now, when his spiritual sense is awakened, man really perceives this thought being, just as the eye of the senses perceives a table or a chair. He goes about in a region of thought beings. The corporeal eye perceives the lion, and the thinking directed to the sensibly perceptible thinks merely the thought, “lion” as a shadow, a shadowy picture. The spiritual eye sees in spiritland the thought “lion” as really and actually as the corporeal eye sees the physical lion. Here we may again refer to the analogy already used regarding the land of the soul. Just as the surroundings of a man born blind operated upon appear suddenly with the new qualities of color and light, so do the surroundings of the person who learns to use his spiritual eye appear as a new world, the world of living thoughts or spirit beings. In this world there are to be seen, first, the spiritual archetypes of all things and beings that are present in the physical and soul worlds. Imagine a painter's picture existing in his mind before it is painted. This gives an analogy to what is meant by the expression archetype. It does not concern us here that the painter has perhaps not had such an archetype in his mind before he paints and that it only gradually develops and becomes complete during the execution of the picture. In the real world of spirit there exist such archetypes for all things, and the physical things and beings are copies of these archetypes. It is quite understandable when anyone who only trusts his outer senses denies this archetypal world and holds that archetypes are merely abstractions gained by an intellectual comparison of sense objects. Such a person simply cannot see in this higher world. He knows the thought world only in its shadowy abstraction. He does not know that the person with spiritual vision is as familiar with spirit beings as he himself is with his dog or his cat, and that the archetypal world has a far more intense reality than the world of the physical senses.
[ 3 ] True, the first look into this spiritland is still more bewildering than the first glimpse into the soul world because the archetypes in their true form are very unlike their sensory reflections. They are, however, just as unlike their shadows, the abstract thoughts. In the spiritual world all is in perpetual, mobile activity in the process of ceaseless creating. A state of rest, a remaining in one place such as we find in the physical world, does not exist here because the archetypes are creative beings. (See Addendum 9) They are the master builders of all that comes into being in the physical and soul worlds. Their forms change rapidly and in each archetype lies the possibility of assuming myriads of specialized forms. They let the different shapes well up out of them, as it were, and no sooner is one produced than the archetype sets about pouring forth the next one from itself. Moreover, the archetypes stand in more or less intimate relationships to each other. They do not work singly. The one requires the help of the other in its creating Often innumerable archetypes work together in order that this or that being in the soul or physical world may arise.
[ 4 ] Besides what is to be perceived by “spiritual sight” in this spiritland, there is something else experienced that is to be regarded as “spiritual hearing.” As soon as the clairvoyant rises out of the soul world into the spirit world, the archetypes that are perceptible become “sounding” as well. This sounding, this emission of a tone, is a purely spiritual process. It must be conceived without any accompanying thought of a physical sound. The observer feels as if he were in an ocean of tones, and in these tones, in this spiritual chiming, the beings of the spirit world express themselves. The primordial laws of their existence, their mutual relationships and affinities, express themselves in the intermingling of these sounds, in their harmonies, melodies and rhythms. What the intellect perceives in the physical world as law, as idea, reveals itself to the spiritual ear as spiritual music. Hence, the Pythagoreans called this perception of the spiritual world the “music of the spheres.” To the possessor of a spiritual ear this music of the spheres is not something merely figurative or allegorical, but a spiritual reality well-known to him. If we wish to gain a conception of this spiritual music, however, we must lay aside all ideas of the music of the senses as perceived by the material ear because in spiritual music we are concerned with a spiritual perception, that is, with perception of a kind that must remain silent to the ear of the senses.
In the following descriptions of spiritland reference to this spiritual music will be omitted for the sake of simplicity. We have only to realize that everything described as picture, as shining with light, is at the same time sounding. Each color, each perception of light represents a spiritual tone, and every combination of colors corresponds with a harmony, a melody. Thus we must hold clearly in mind that even where the sounding prevails, perception by means of the spiritual eye by no means ceases. The sounding is merely added to the shining. Therefore, where archetypes are spoken of in the following pages, the primal tones are to be thought of as also present. Other perceptions make their appearance as well, which by way of comparison may be termed spiritual tasting and the like, but it is not proposed to go into these processes here since we are concerned with awakening a conception of spiritland through some few isolated modes of perception selected out of the whole.
[ 5 ] Now it is necessary at the outset to distinguish the different species of archetypes from each other. In spiritland also it is necessary to distinguish between a number of degrees or regions in order to find one's way among them. Here also, as in the soul world, the different regions are not to be thought of as laid one above the other like strata, but as mutually interpenetrating and permeating each other.
The First Region. This region contains the archetypes of the physical world insofar as it is devoid of life. The archetypes of the minerals and plants are to be found here, but the archetypes of plants are found only to the extent that they are purely physical, that is, insofar as any life content they may possess is disregarded. In the same way we find here the physical forms of the animals and of men. This by no means exhausts all that is to be found in this region, but merely illustrates it by the most obvious examples. This region forms the basic structure of spiritland. It can be likened to the solid land masses of the physical earth. It forms the continental masses of spiritland. Its relationship with the physical corporeal world can only be described by means of an illustration. Some idea of it can be gained in the following way. Picture a limited space filled with physical bodies of the most varied kind. Then think these bodies away and conceive in their stead hollow spaces having their forms. The intervening spaces that were previously empty must be thought of as filled with the most varied forms having manifold relationships with the physical bodies spoken of above. In appearance this is somewhat like the lowest region of the archetypal world. In it the things and beings that become embodied in the physical world are present as hollow spaces, and in the intervening spaces the mobile activity of the archetypes and of the spiritual music takes place. During their formation into physical forms the hollow spaces become, as it were, filled with physical matter. If anyone were to look into space with both physical and spiritual eyes, he would see the physical bodies and between them the mobile activity of the creative archetypes.
The Second Region. This region of spiritland contains the archetypes of life, but this life forms here a perfect unity. It streams through the world of spirit as a fluid element, like blood, pulsating through everything. It may be likened to the sea and the water systems of the physical earth. Its distribution, however, is more like the distribution of the blood in the animal body than that of the seas and rivers. One could describe this second stage of the spiritland as flowing life composed of thought substance. In this element are the creative primal forces producing everything that appears in physical reality as living beings. Here it becomes evident that all life is a unity, that the life in man is related to the life of all his fellow creatures.
[ 6 ] The Third Region. The archetypes of all soul formations must be designated as the third region of the spiritland. Here we find ourselves in a much finer and rarer element than in the first two regions. To use a comparison it can be called the air or atmosphere of spiritland. Everything that goes on in the souls of both the other worlds—the physical and the soul worlds—has here its spiritual counterpart. Here all feelings, sensations, instincts and passions are again present, but spiritually present. The atmospheric events in this aerial region correspond to the sorrows and joys of the creatures in the other worlds. The longing of the human soul appears here as a gentle zephyr; an outbreak of passion is like a stormy blast. He who can visualize what is here under consideration pierces deep into the sighing of every creature if he directs his attention to the matter. We can, for example, speak here of a loud storm with flashing lightning and rolling thunder. If we investigate the matter further, we find that the passions of a battle waged on earth are expressed in spiritland in a storm of spirit beings.
[ 7 ] The Fourth Region. The archetypes of the fourth region are not immediately related to the other worlds. They are in certain respects beings who govern the archetypes of the three lower regions and mediate their working together. They are accordingly occupied with the ordering and grouping of these subordinate archetypes. Therefore, a more comprehensive activity proceeds from this region than from the lower ones.
[ 8 ] The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Regions. These regions differ essentially from the preceding ones because the beings to be found in them supply the archetypes of the lower regions with the impulses to their activity. In them we find the creative forces of the archetypes themselves. Whoever is able to rise to these regions makes acquaintance with purposes that underlie our world.2That such a term as “purposes” can also only be used in the sense of a “simile” is obviously self-explanatory from what was said above about the difficulties of expressing in language such thoughts as these. The last thing intended is to warm over the old “doctrine of purpose.”. (See also Addendum 10) Like living germ-points, the archetypes still lie here ready to assume the most manifold forms of thought beings. If these germ-points are projected into the lower regions, they well up, as it were, and manifest themselves in the most varied shapes. The ideas through which the human spirit manifests itself creatively in the physical world are the reflection, the shadow, of these germinal thought beings of the higher spiritual world. The observer with the spiritual ear who rises from the lower regions of spiritland to these higher ranges becomes aware that sounds and tones are transformed into a spiritual language. He begins to perceive the Spiritual Word through which the things and beings no longer make known to him their nature in music alone, but now express it in words. They utter what can be called in spiritual science their eternal names.(See Addenda 11)
[ 9 ] We must visualize these thought germ-beings as possessing a composite nature. Only the germ-sheath is taken out of the element of the thought world, and this surrounds the true life kernel. With it we have reached the confines of the three worlds because the kernel has its origin in still higher worlds. When man was described in the preceding pages according to his components were called life spirit and spirit man. There are similar life kernels for other beings in the cosmos. They originate in higher worlds and are placed in the three that have been described in order to accomplish their tasks in them.
The human spirit will now be followed on its further pilgrimage through spiritland between two embodiments or incarnations. While doing this the conditions and distinguishing characteristics of this “land” will once more come clearly into view.
3. Das Geisterland
[ 1 ] Bevor nun der Geist auf seiner weiteren Wanderung betrachtet werden kann, muß das Gebiet selbst erst beobachtet werden, das er betritt. Es ist die «Welt des Geistes». Diese Welt ist der physischen so unähnlich, daß alles das, was über sie gesagt wird, demjenigen wie Phantastik vorkommen muß, der nur seinen physischen Sinnen vertrauen will. Und in noch höherem Maße gilt hier, was schon bei der Betrachtung der «Welt der Seele» gesagt worden ist: man muß sich der Gleichnisse bedienen, um zu schildern. Denn unsere Sprache, die zumeist nur der sinnlichen Wirklichkeit dient, ist mit Ausdrücken, die sich für das «Geisterland» unmittelbar anwenden lassen, nicht gerade reich gesegnet. Besonders hier muß daher gebeten werden, manches, was gesagt wird, nur als Andeutung zu verstehen. Es ist alles, was hier beschrieben wird, der physischen Welt so unähnlich, daß es nur in dieser Weise geschildert werden kann. Der Schreiber dieser Darstellung ist sich immer bewußt, wie wenig seine Angaben wegen der Unvollkommenheit unserer für die physische Welt berechneten sprachlichen Ausdrucksmittel wirklich der Erfahrung auf diesem Gebiete gleichen können.
[ 2 ] Vor allen Dingen muß betont werden, daß diese Welt aus dem Stoffe (auch das Wort «Stoff» ist natürlich hier in einem sehr uneigentlichen Sinne gebraucht) gewoben ist, aus dem der menschliche Gedanke besteht. Aber so wie der Gedanke im Menschen lebt, ist er nur ein Schattenbild, ein Schemen seiner wirklichen Wesenheit. Wie der Schatten eines Gegenstandes an einer Wand sich zum wirklichen Gegenstand verhält, der diesen Schatten wirft, so verhält sich der Gedanke, der durch den menschlichen Kopf erscheint, zu der Wesenheit im «Geisterland», die diesem Gedanken entspricht. Wenn nun der geistige Sinn des Menschen erweckt ist, dann nimmt er diese Gedankenwesenheit wirklich wahr, wie das sinnliche Auge einen Tisch oder einen Stuhl wahrnimmt. Er wandelt in einer Umgebung von Gedankenwesen. Das sinnliche Auge nimmt den Löwen wahr und das auf Sinnliches gerichtete Denken bloß den Gedanken des Löwen als ein Schemen, als ein schattenhaftes Bild. Das geistige Auge sieht im «Geisterland» den Gedanken des Löwen so wirklich wie das sinnliche den physischen Löwen. Wieder kann hier auf das schon bezüglich des «Seelenlandes» gebrauchte Gleichnis verwiesen werden. Wie dem operierten Blindgeborenen auf einmal seine Umgebung mit den neuen Eigenschaften der Farben und Lichter erscheint, so erscheint dem jenigen, der sein geistiges Auge gebrauchen lernt, die Umgebung mit einer neuen Welt erfüllt, mit der Welt lebendiger Gedanken oder Geistwesen. — In dieser Welt sind nun zunächst die geistigen Urbilder aller Dinge und Wesen zu sehen, die in der physischen und in der seelischen Welt vorhanden sind. Man denke sich das Bild eines Malers im Geiste vorhanden, bevor es gemalt ist. Dann hat man ein Gleichnis dessen, was mit dem Ausdruck Urbild gemeint ist. Es kommt hier nicht darauf an, daß der Maler ein solches Urbild vielleicht nicht im Kopfe hat, bevor er malt; daß es erst während der praktischen Arbeit nach und nach vollständig entsteht. In der wirklichen «Welt des Geistes» sind solche Urbilder für alle Dinge vorhanden, und die physischen Dinge und Wesenheiten sind Nachbilder dieser Urbilder. — Wenn derjenige, welcher nur seinen äußeren Sinnen vertraut, diese urbildliche Welt leugnet und behauptet, die Urbilder seien nur Abstraktionen, die der vergleichende Verstand von den sinnlichen Dingen gewinnt, so ist das begreiflich; denn ein solcher kann eben in dieser höheren Welt nicht wahrnehmen; er kennt die Gedankenwelt nur in ihrer schemenhaften Abstraktheit. Er weiß nicht, daß der geistig Schauende mit den Geisteswesen so vertraut ist wie er selbst mit seinem Hunde oder seiner Katze und daß die Urbilderwelt eine weitaus intensivere Wirklichkeit hat als die sinnlich-physische.
[ 3 ] Allerdings ist der erste Einblick in dieses «Geisterland» noch verwirrender als derjenige in die seelische Welt. Denn die Urbilder in ihrer wahren Gestalt sind ihren sinnlichen Nachbildem sehr unähnlich. Ebenso unähnlich sind sie aber auch ihren Schatten, den abstrakten Gedanken. — In der geistigen Welt ist alles in fortwährender beweglicher Tätigkeit, in unaufhörlichem Schaffen. Eine Ruhe, ein Verweilen an einem Orte, wie sie in der physischen Welt vorhanden sind, gibt es dort nicht. Denn die Urbilder sind schaf/ende Wesenheiten. Sie sind die Werkmeister alles dessen, was in der physischen und seelischen Welt entsteht. Ihre Formen sind rasch wechselnd; und in jedem Urbild liegt die Möglichkeit, unzählige besondere Gestalten anzunehmen. Sie lassen gleichsam die besonderen Gestalten aus sich hervorsprießen; und kaum ist die eine erzeugt, so schickt sich das Urbild an, eine nächste aus sich hervorquellen zu lassen. Und die Urbilder stehen miteinander in mehr oder weniger verwandtschaftlicher Beziehung. Sie wirken nicht vereinzelt. Das eine bedarf der Hilfe des andern zu seinem Schaffen. Unzählige Urbilder wirken oft zusammen, damit diese oder jene Wesenheit in der seelischen oder physischen Welt entstehe.
[ 4 ] Außer dem, was durch «geistiges Sehen» in diesem «Geisterlande» wahrzunehmen ist, gibt es hier noch etwas anderes, das als Erlebnis des «geistigen Hörens» zu betrachten ist. Sobald nämlich der «Hellsehende» aufsteigt aus dem Seelen- in das Geisterland, werden die wahrgenommenen Urbilder auch klingend. Dieses «Klingen» ist ein rein geistiger Vorgang. Es muß ohne alles Mitdenken eines physischen Tones vorgestellt werden. Der Beobachter fühlt sich wie in einem Meere von Tönen. Und in diesen Tönen, in diesem geistigen Klingen drücken sich die Wesenheiten der geistigen Welt aus. In ihrem Zusammenklingen, ihren Harmonien, Rhythmen und Melodien prägen sich die Urgesetze ihres Daseins, ihre gegenseitigen Verhältnisse und Verwandtschaften aus. Was in der physischen Welt der Verstand als Gesetz, als Idee wahrnimmt, das stellt sich für das «geistige Ohr» als ein Geistig-Musikalisches dar. (Die Pythagoreer nannten daher diese Wahrnehmung der geistigen Welt «Sphärenmusik». Dem Besitzer des «geistigen Ohres» ist diese «Sphärenmusik» nicht bloß etwas Bildliches, Allegorisches, sondern eine ihm wohlbekannte geistige Wirklichkeit.) Man muß nur, wenn man einen Begriff von dieser «geistigen Musik» erhalten will, alle Vorstellungen von sinnlicher Musik beseitigen, wie sie durch das «stoffliche Ohr» wahrgenommen wird. Es handelt sich hier eben um «geistige Wahrnehmung», also um eine solche, die stumm bleiben muß für das «sinnliche Ohr». In den folgenden Beschreibungen des «Geisterlandes» sollen der Einfachheit halber die Hinweise auf diese «geistige Musik» weggelassen werden. Man hat sich nur vorzustellen, daß alles, was als «Bild», als ein «Leuchtendes» beschrieben wird, zugleich ein Klingendes ist. Jeder Farbe, jeder Lichtwahrnehmung entspricht ein geistiger Ton, und jedem Zusammenwirken von Farben entspricht eine Harmonie, eine Melodie und so weiter. Man muß sich nämlich durchaus vergegenwärtigen, daß auch da, wo das Tönen herrscht, das Wahrnehmen des «geistigen Auges» nicht etwa aufhört. Es kommt eben das Tönen zu dem Leuchten nur hinzu. Wo von «Urbildern» in dem Folgenden gesprochen wird, sind also die «Urtöne» hinzuzudenken. Auch andere Wahrnehmungen kommen hinzu, die gleichnisartig als «geistiges Schmecken» und so weiter bezeichnet werden können. Doch soll hier auf diese Vorgänge nicht eingegangen werden, da es sich darum handelt, eine Vorstellung von dem «Geisterlande» durch einige aus dem Ganzen herausgegriffene Wahrnehmungsarten in demselben zu erwecken.
[ 5 ] Nun ist zunächst notwendig, die verschiedenen Arten der Urbilder voneinander zu unterscheiden. Auch im «Geisterland» hat man eine Anzahl von Stufen oder Regionen auseinanderzuhalten, um sich zu orientieren. Auch hier sind, wie in der «Seelenwelt», die einzelnen Regionen nicht etwa schichtenweise übereinandergelagert zu denken, sondern sich gegenseitig durchdringend und durchsetzend. Die erste Region enthält die Urbilder der physischen Welt, insofern diese nicht mit Leben begabt ist. Die Urbilder der Mineralien sind hier zu finden, ferner die der Pflanzen; diese aber nur insofern, als sie rein physisch sind; also insofern man auf das Leben in ihnen keine Rücksicht nimmt. Ebenso trifft man hier die physischen Tier- und Menschenformen an. Damit soll dasjenige nicht erschöpft sein, was sich in dieser Region befindet; es soll nur durch naheliegende Beispiele illustriert werden. — Diese Region bildet das Grundgerüst des «Geisterlandes». Es kann verglichen werden mit dem festen Land unserer physischen Erde. Es ist die Kontinentalmasse des «Geisterlandes». Seine Beziehung zur physisch-körperlichen Welt kann nur vergleichsweise beschrieben werden. Man bekommt eine Vorstellung davon etwa durch folgendes: Man denke sich irgendeinen begrenzten Raum mit physischen Körpern der mannigfaltigsten Art ausgefüllt. Und nun denke man sich diese physischen Körper weg und an ihrer Stelle Hohlräume in ihren Formen. Die früher leeren Zwischenräume denke man sich aber mit den mannigfaltigsten Formen erfüllt, die zu den früheren Körpern in mannigfachen Beziehungen stehen. –So etwa sieht es in der niedrigsten Region der Urbilderwelt aus. In ihr sind die Dinge und Wesen, die in der physischen Welt verkörpert werden, als «Hohlräume» vorhanden. Und in den Zwischenräumen spielt sich die bewegliche Tätigkeit der Urbilder (und der «geistigen Musik») ab. Bei der physischen Verkörperung werden nun die Hohlräume gewissermaßen mit physischem Stoffe erfüllt. Wer zugleich mit physischem und geistigem Auge in den Raum schaute, sähe die physischen Körper und dazwischen die bewegliche Tätigkeit der schaffenden Urbilder. Die Zweite Region des «Geisterlandes» enthält die Urbilder des Lebens. Aber dieses Leben bildet hier eine vollkommene Einheit. Als flüssiges Element durchströmt es die Welt des Geistes, gleichsam als Blut alles durchpulsend. Es läßt sich mit dem Meere und den Gewässern der physischen Erde vergleichen. Seine Verteilung ist allerdings ähnlicher der Verteilung des Blutes in dem tierischen Körper als derjenigen der Meere und Flüsse. Fließendes Leben, aus Gedankenstoff gebildet, so könnte man diese zweite Stufe des «Geisterlandes» bezeichnen. In diesem Element liegen die schaffenden Urkräfte für alles, was in der physischen Wirklichkeit als belebte Wesen auftritt. Hier zeigt es sich, daß alles Leben eine Einheit ist, daß das Leben in dem Menschen verwandt ist mit dem Leben aller seiner Mitgeschöpfe.
[ 6 ] Als dritte Region des «Geisterlandes» müssen die Urbilder alles Seelischen bezeichnet werden. Man befindet sich hier in einem viel dünneren und feineren Element als in den beiden ersten Regionen. Vergleichsweise kann es als der Luftkreis des «Geisterlandes» bezeichnet werden. Alles, was in den Seelen der beiden anderen Welten vorgeht, hat hier sein geistiges Gegenstück. Alle Empfindungen, Gefühle, Instinkte, Leidenschaften und so weiter sind hier auf geistige Art noch einmal vorhanden. Die atmosphärischen Vorgänge in diesem Luftkreise entsprechen den Leiden und Freuden der Geschöpfe in den andern Welten. Wie ein leises Wehen erscheint hier das Sehnen einer Menschenseele; wie ein stürmischer Luftzug ein leidenschaftlicher Ausbruch. Wer über das hier in Betracht Kommende sich Vorstellungen bilden kann, der dringt tief ein in das Seufzen einer jeglichen Kreatur, wenn er seine Aufmerksamkeit darauf richtet. Man kann hier zum Beispiel sprechen von stürmischen Gewittern mit zuckenden Blitzen und rollendem Donner; und geht man der Sache weiter nach, so findet man, daß sich in solchen «Geistergewittern» die Leidenschaften einer auf der Erde geschlagenen Schlacht ausdrücken.
[ 7 ] Die Urbilder der vierten Region beziehen sich nicht unmittelbar auf die andern Welten. Sie sind in gewisser Beziehung Wesenheiten, welche die Urbilder der drei unteren Regionen beherrschen und deren Zusammentritt vermitteln. Sie sind daher beschäftigt mit dem Ordnen und Gruppieren dieser untergeordneten Urbilder. Von dieser Region geht demnach eine umfassendere Tätigkeit aus als von den unteren.
[ 8 ] Die fünfte, sechste und siebente Region unterscheiden sich wesentlich von den vorhergehenden. Denn die in ihnen befindlichen Wesenheiten liefern den Urbildern der unteren Regionen die Antriebe zu ihrer Tätigkeit. In ihnen findet man die Schöpferkräfte der Urbilder selbst. Wer zu diesen Regionen aufzusteigen vermag, der macht Bekanntschaft mit den «Absichten»*, die unserer Welt zugrunde liegen. Wie lebendige Keimpunkte liegen hier noch die Urbilder bereit, um die mannigfaltigsten Formen von Gedankenwesen anzunehmen. Werden diese Keimpunkte in die unteren Regionen geführt, dann quellen sie gleichsam auf und zeigen sich in den mannigfaltigsten Gestalten. Die Ideen, durch die der menschliche Geist in der physischen Welt schöpferisch auftritt, sind der Abglanz, der Schatten dieser Keimgedankenwesen der höheren geistigen Welt. Der Beobachter mit dem «geistigen Ohr», welcher von den unteren Regionen des «Geisterlandes» zu diesen oberen aufsteigt, wird gewahr, wie sich das Klingen und Tönen in eine «geistige Sprache» umsetzt. Er beginnt das «geistige Wort» wahrzunehmen, durch das für ihn nun nicht allein die Dinge und Wesenheiten ihre Natur durch Musik kundgeben, sondern in «Worten» ausdrücken. Sie sagen ihm, wie man das in der Geisteswissenschaft nennen kann, ihre «ewigen Namen». Daß solche Bezeichnungen wie «Absichten» auch nur als «Gleichnisse» gemeint sind, ist aus dem oben über die Schwierigkeiten des sprachlichen Ausdrucks Gesagten selbstverständlich. An ein Aufwärmen der alten «Zweckmäßigkeitslehre» ist nicht gedacht.
[ 9 ] Man hat sich vorzustellen, daß diese Gedankenkeimwesen zusammengesetzter Natur sind. Aus dem Elemente der Gedankenwelt ist gleichsam nur die Keimhülle genommen. Und diese umschließt den eigentlichen Lebenskern. Damit sind wir an die Grenze der «drei Welten» gelangt, denn der Kern stammt aus noch höheren Welten. Als der Mensch, seinen Bestandteilen nach, in einem vorangehenden Abschnitt beschrieben worden ist, wurde für ihn dieser Lebenskern angegeben und der «Lebensgeist» und «Geistesmensch» als seine Bestandteile genannt. Auch für andere Weltwesenheiten sind ähnliche Lebenskerne vorhanden. Sie stammen aus höheren Welten und werden in die drei angegebenen versetzt, um ihre Aufgaben darin zu vollbringen. — Hier soll nun die weitere Pilgerfahrt des menschlichen Geistes durch das «Geisterland» zwischen zwei Verkörperungen oder Inkarnationen verfolgt werden. Dabei werden die Verhältnisse und Eigentümlichkeiten dieses «Landes» noch einmal klar hervortreten.
3. The Land of Spirits
[ 1 ] Before the spirit can be considered on its further wanderings, the area itself that it enters must first be observed. It is the "world of the spirit". This world is so dissimilar to the physical world that everything that is said about it must seem like fantasy to those who only want to trust their physical senses. And what has already been said in the consideration of the "world of the soul" applies here to an even greater extent: one must make use of parables in order to describe. For our language, which for the most part only serves sensual reality, is not exactly richly blessed with expressions that can be directly applied to the "spirit world". Here in particular, we must therefore ask that some of what is said be understood only as suggestions. Everything described here is so dissimilar to the physical world that it can only be described in this way. The writer of this account is always aware of how little his statements can really resemble experience in this field because of the imperfection of our linguistic means of expression calculated for the physical world.
[ 2 ] First of all, it must be emphasized that this world is woven from the material (the word "material" is of course used here in a very improper sense) of which human thought consists. But as thought lives in man, it is only a shadow image, a shadow of his real essence. Just as the shadow of an object on a wall relates to the real object that casts this shadow, so the thought that appears through the human head relates to the entity in the "spirit land" that corresponds to this thought. If the spiritual sense of man is awakened, then he really perceives this thought entity, just as the sensual eye perceives a table or a chair. He walks in an environment of thought beings. The sensual eye perceives the lion and the thought directed towards the sensual merely perceives the thought of the lion as a shadow, as a shadowy image. The spiritual eye sees the thought of the lion in "spirit land" as really as the sensual eye sees the physical lion. Again, reference can be made here to the simile already used with regard to the "land of the soul". Just as the environment suddenly appears with the new qualities of colors and lights to the person born blind after an operation, so the environment appears filled with a new world, with the world of living thoughts or spiritual beings, to the one who learns to use his spiritual eye. - In this world the spiritual archetypes of all things and beings that are present in the physical and spiritual world can first be seen. Imagine the picture of a painter existing in the spirit before it is painted. Then you have a parable of what is meant by the expression archetype. It is not important here that the painter may not have such an archetype in his mind before he paints; that it only gradually comes into being completely during the practical work. In the real "world of the spirit" such archetypes exist for all things, and the physical things and entities are after-images of these archetypes. - If he who trusts only his outer senses denies this archetypal world and maintains that the archetypes are only abstractions which the comparing intellect gains from sensory things, this is understandable; for such a one cannot perceive in this higher world; he knows the world of thought only in its shadowy abstractness. He does not know that the spiritual observer is as familiar with the spiritual beings as he himself is with his dog or his cat and that the primordial world of images has a far more intense reality than the sensual-physical one.
[ 3 ] However, the first insight into this "spirit land" is even more confusing than that into the spiritual world. For the archetypes in their true form are very dissimilar to their sensual afterimages. But they are just as dissimilar to their shadows, the abstract thoughts. - In the spiritual world, everything is in perpetual motion, in ceaseless creation. There is no rest, no lingering in one place, as there is in the physical world. For the archetypes are creating entities and are the masters of everything that is created in the physical and spiritual world. Their forms are rapidly changing; and in every archetype lies the possibility of taking on countless special forms. They allow the special forms to sprout from themselves, as it were; and as soon as one is created, the archetype prepares to allow another to spring forth from itself. And the archetypes are more or less related to each other. They do not work in isolation. One needs the help of the other to create it. Countless archetypes often work together so that this or that entity arises in the spiritual or physical world.
[ 4 ] In addition to what can be perceived through "spiritual seeing" in this "spirit land", there is something else here that is to be regarded as an experience of "spiritual hearing". As soon as the "clairvoyant" ascends from the land of the soul into the land of spirits, the perceived archetypes also become sounding. This "sounding" is a purely spiritual process. It must be imagined without any thought of a physical sound. The observer feels as if he is in a sea of tones. And in these tones, in this spiritual sounding, the entities of the spiritual world express themselves. Their harmonies, rhythms and melodies express the primal laws of their existence, their mutual relationships and affinities. What the mind perceives in the physical world as a law, as an idea, presents itself to the "spiritual ear" as something spiritual and musical. (The Pythagoreans therefore called this perception of the spiritual world "music of the spheres". To the owner of the "spiritual ear" this "music of the spheres" is not merely something figurative, allegorical, but a spiritual reality well known to him). If one wants to get a concept of this "spiritual music", one only has to eliminate all ideas of sensual music as it is perceived by the "material ear". We are dealing here with "spiritual perception", i.e. perception that must remain mute for the "sensual ear". In the following descriptions of the "spirit land", the references to this "spiritual music" will be omitted for the sake of simplicity. One only has to imagine that everything that is described as an "image", as a "luminous thing", is at the same time a sounding thing. Every color, every perception of light corresponds to a spiritual tone, and every interaction of colors corresponds to a harmony, a melody and so on. One must realize that even where sound prevails, the perception of the "spiritual eye" does not cease. The sound is merely added to the light. Where "primal images" are spoken of in the following, the "primal sounds" must therefore be added. Other perceptions are also added, which can be described similarly as "spiritual tasting" and so on. However, these processes will not be dealt with here, as it is a matter of awakening an idea of the "spirit land" through a few types of perception selected from the whole.
[ 5 ] Now it is first necessary to distinguish between the different types of archetypes. In "Ghostland", too, there are a number of levels or regions to be distinguished in order to orientate oneself. Here too, as in the "world of souls", the individual regions are not to be thought of as being layered on top of each other, but as interpenetrating and interspersing each other. The first region contains the archetypes of the physical world, insofar as it is not endowed with life. The archetypes of minerals are to be found here, and also those of plants; but these only in so far as they are purely physical; that is, in so far as no consideration is given to the life in them. The physical animal and human forms are also found here. This is not to exhaust what is found in this region; it is only to illustrate it with obvious examples. - This region forms the basic structure of the "spirit land". It can be compared to the solid land of our physical earth. It is the continental mass of the "spirit land". Its relationship to the physical world can only be described comparatively. You can get an idea of it by doing the following: Imagine any limited space filled with physical bodies of the most varied kinds. And now imagine these physical bodies gone and in their place hollow spaces in their forms. But think of the formerly empty interstices as being filled with the most varied forms, which stand in manifold relations to the former bodies. -This is the situation in the lowest region of the primordial image world. In it the things and beings that are embodied in the physical world are present as "hollow spaces". And the moving activity of the archetypes (and the "spiritual music") takes place in the interstices. During physical embodiment, the hollow spaces are filled with physical substance, so to speak. Anyone looking into space with both the physical and spiritual eye would see the physical bodies and between them the moving activity of the creating archetypes. The second region of the "spirit land" contains the archetypes of life. But this life forms a perfect unity here. As a fluid element, it flows through the world of the spirit, pulsating through everything as if it were blood. It can be compared to the sea and the waters of the physical earth. However, its distribution is more similar to the distribution of blood in the animal body than to that of the seas and rivers. Flowing life, formed from thought material, is how this second stage of the "spirit land" could be described. In this element lie the creative primal forces for everything that appears in physical reality as animate beings. Here it becomes apparent that all life is a unity, that the life in man is related to the life of all his fellow creatures.
[ 6 ] The third region of the "spirit land" must be described as the archetypes of all souls. Here we find ourselves in a much thinner and finer element than in the first two regions. Comparatively speaking, it can be described as the air circle of the "spirit land". Everything that goes on in the souls of the other two worlds has its spiritual counterpart here. All sensations, feelings, instincts, passions and so on are present here once again in a spiritual way. The atmospheric processes in this circle of air correspond to the sufferings and joys of the creatures in the other worlds. The longing of a human soul appears here like a gentle blowing; a passionate outburst like a stormy breeze. Whoever can form an idea of what comes into consideration here will penetrate deeply into the sighing of every creature if he directs his attention to it. One can speak here, for example, of stormy thunderstorms with flashing lightning and rolling thunder; and if one pursues the matter further, one finds that in such "spirit storms" the passions of a battle fought on earth are expressed.
[ 7 ] The archetypes of the fourth region do not refer directly to the other worlds. In a certain sense, they are entities that dominate the archetypes of the three lower regions and mediate their coming together. They are therefore concerned with organizing and grouping these subordinate archetypes. A more comprehensive activity therefore emanates from this region than from the lower ones.
[ 8 ] The fifth, sixth and seventh regions differ substantially from the previous ones. This is because the entities in them provide the archetypes of the lower regions with the impulses for their activity. In them one finds the creative powers of the archetypes themselves. Whoever is able to ascend to these regions becomes acquainted with the "intentions "* that underlie our world. Like living germinal points, the archetypes are still ready here to take on the most diverse forms of thought beings. If these germinal points are led into the lower regions, they swell up, as it were, and show themselves in the most varied forms. The ideas through which the human spirit appears creatively in the physical world are the reflection, the shadow of these germ thought beings of the higher spiritual world. The observer with the "spiritual ear", who ascends from the lower regions of the "spirit land" to these upper regions, becomes aware of how the sounding and tintinnabulation is transformed into a "spiritual language". He begins to perceive the "spiritual word", through which the things and beings not only express their nature through music, but also in "words". They tell him, as one might call it in spiritual science, their "eternal names". That such designations as "intentions" are also only meant as "parables" is self-evident from what has been said above about the difficulties of linguistic expression. It is not intended to rehash the old "doctrine of purpose".
[ 9 ] Imagine that these thought germs are of a composite nature. From the element of the world of thought only the germinal shell is taken, as it were. And this encloses the actual core of life. Thus we have reached the limit of the "three worlds", for the nucleus comes from still higher worlds. When man, according to his components, was described in a previous section, this core of life was indicated for him and the "life spirit" and "spirit man" were named as his components. Similar life cores are also present for other world beings. They come from higher worlds and are transferred to the three specified worlds in order to accomplish their tasks in them. - Here the further pilgrimage of the human spirit through the "spirit land" between two embodiments or incarnations is to be followed. The conditions and peculiarities of this "land" will once again emerge clearly.