Cosmic Memory
GA 11
iii. Our Atlantean Ancestors
[ 1 ] Our Atlantean ancestors differed more from present-day man than he would imagine whose knowledge is confined wholly to the world of the senses. This difference extended not only to the external appearance but also to spiritual faculties. Their knowledge, their technical arts, indeed their entire civilization differed from what can be observed today. If we go back to the first periods of Atlantean humanity we find a mental capacity quite different from ours. Logical reason, the power of arithmetical combining, on which everything rests that is produced today, were totally absent among the first Atlanteans. On the other hand, they had a highly developed memory. This memory was one of their most prominent mental faculties. For example, the Atlantean did not calculate as we do, by learning certain rules which he then applied. A “multiplication table” was something totally unknown in Atlantean times. Nobody impressed upon his intellect that three times four is twelve. In the event that he had to perform such a calculation he could manage because he remembered identical or similar situations. He remembered how it had been on previous occasions. One need only realize that each time a new faculty develops in an organism, an old faculty loses power and acuteness. The man of today is superior to the Atlantean in logical reasoning, in the ability to combine. On the other hand, memory has deteriorated. Nowadays man thinks in concepts; the Atlantean thought in images. When an image appeared in his soul he remembered a great many similar images which he had already experienced. He directed his judgment accordingly. For this reason all teaching at that time was different from what it became later. It was not calculated to furnish the child with rules, to sharpen his reason. Instead, life was presented to him in vivid images, so that later he could remember as much as possible when he had to act under particular conditions. When the child had grown and had gone out into life, for everything he had to do he could remember something similar which had been presented to him in the course of his education. He could manage best when the new situation was similar to one he had already seen. Under totally new conditions the Atlantean had to rely on experiment, while in this respect much has been spared modern man due to the fact that he is equipped with rules. He can easily apply these in those situations which are new to him. The Atlantean system of education gave a uniformity to all of life. For long periods things were done again and again in the same way. The faithful memory did not allow anything to develop which was even remotely similar to the rapidity of our present-day progress. One did what one had always “seen” before. One did not invent; one remembered. He was not an authority who had learned much, but rather he who had experienced much and therefore could remember much. In the Atlantean period it would have been impossible for someone to decide an important matter before reaching a certain age. One had confidence only in a person who could look back upon long experience.
[ 2 ] What has been said here was not true of the initiates and their schools. For they are in advance of the stage of development of their period. For admission into such schools, the decisive factor is not age, but whether in his previous incarnations the applicant has acquired the faculties for receiving higher wisdom. The confidence placed in the initiates and their representatives during the Atlantean period was not based on the richness of their personal experience, but rather on the antiquity of their wisdom. In the case of the initiate, personality ceases to have any importance. He is totally in the service of eternal wisdom. Therefore the characteristic features of a particular period do not apply to him.
[ 3 ] While the power to think logically was absent among the Atlanteans (especially the earlier ones), in their highly developed memory they possessed something which gave a special character to everything they did. But with the nature of one human power others are always connected. Memory is closer to the deeper natural basis of man than reason, and in connection with it other powers were developed which were still closer to those of subordinate natural beings than are contemporary human powers. Thus the Atlanteans could control what one calls the life force. As today one extracts the energy of heat from coal and transforms it into motive power for our means of locomotion, the Atlanteans knew how to put the germinal energy of organisms into the service of their technology. One can form an idea of this from the following. Think of a kernel of seed-grain. In this an energy lies dormant. This energy causes the stalk to sprout from the kernel. Nature can awaken this energy which reposes in the seed. Modern man cannot do it at will. He must bury the seed in the ground and leave the awakening to the forces of nature. The Atlantean could do something else. He knew how one can change the energy of a pile of grain into technical power, just as modern man can change the heat energy of a pile of coal into such power. Plants were cultivated in the Atlantean period not merely for use as foodstuffs but also in order to make the energies dormant in them available to commerce and industry. Just as we have mechanisms for transforming the energy dormant in coal into energy of motion in our locomotives, so the Atlanteans had mechanisms in which they—so to speak—burned plant seeds, and in which the life force was transformed into technically utilizable power. The vehicles of the Atlanteans, which floated a short distance above the ground travelled at a height lower than that of the mountain ranges of the Atlantean period, and they had steering mechanisms by the aid of which they could rise above these mountain ranges.
[ 4 ] One must imagine that with the passage of time all conditions on our earth have changed very much. Today, the above-mentioned vehicles of the Atlanteans would be totally useless. Their usefulness depended on the fact that then the cover of air which envelops the earth was much denser than at present. Whether in face of current scientific beliefs one can easily imagine such greater density of air, must not occupy us here. Because of their very nature, science and logical thinking can never decide what is possible or impossible. Their only function is to explain what has been ascertained by experience and observation. The above-mentioned density of air is as certain for occult experience as any fact of today given by the senses can be.
Equally certain however is the fact, perhaps even more at that time the water on the whole earth was much thinner than today. Because of this thinness the water could be directed by the germinal energy used by the Atlanteans into technical services which today are impossible. As a result of the increased density of the water, it has become impossible to move and to direct it in such ingenious ways as once were possible. From this it must be sufficiently clear that the civilization of the Atlantean period was radically different from ours. It will also be understood that the physical nature of an Atlantean was quite different from that of a contemporary man. The Atlantean took into himself water which could be used by the life force inherent in his own body in a manner quite different from that possible in today's physical body. It was due to this that the Atlantean could consciously employ his physical powers in an entirely different way from a man of today. He had, so to speak, the means to increase the physical powers in himself when he needed them for what he was doing. In order to have an accurate conception of the Atlanteans one must know that their ideas of fatigue and the depletion of forces were quite different from those of present-day man.
[ 5 ] An Atlantean settlement—as must be evident from everything we have described—had a character which in no way resembled that of a modern city. In such a settlement everything was, on the contrary, still in alliance with nature. Only a vaguely similar picture is given if one should say that in the first Atlantean periods—about to the middle of the third subrace—a settlement resembled a garden in which the houses were built of trees with artfully intertwined branches. What the work of human hands created at that time grew out of nature. And man himself felt wholly related to nature. Hence his social sense also was quite different from that of today. After all, nature is common to all men. What the Atlantean built up on the basis of nature he considered to be common property just as a man of today thinks it only natural to consider as his private property what his ingenuity, his intelligence have created for him.
[ 6 ] One familiar with the idea that the Atlanteans were equipped with such spiritual and physical powers as have been described, will also understand that in still earlier times mankind presented a picture which reminds him in only a few particulars of what he is accustomed to see today. Not only men, but also the surrounding nature has changed enormously in the course of time. Plant and animal forms have become different. All of earthly nature has been subjected to transformations. Once inhabited regions of earth have been destroyed; others have come into existence.
The ancestors of the Atlanteans lived in a region which has disappeared, the main part of which lay south of contemporary Asia. In theosophical writings they are called the Lemurians. After they had passed through various stages of development the greatest part of them declined. These became stunted men, whose descendants still inhabit certain parts of the earth today as so-called savage tribes. Only a small part of Lemurian humanity was capable of further development. From this part the Atlanteans were formed.
Later, something similar again took place. The greatest part of the Atlantean population declined, and from a small portion are descended the so-called Aryans who comprise present-day civilized humanity. According to the nomenclature of the science of the spirit, the Lemurians, Atlanteans and Aryans are root races of mankind. If one imagines that two such root races preceded the Lemurians and that two will succeed the Aryans in the future, one obtains a total of seven. One always arises from another in the manner just indicated with respect to the Lemurians, Atlanteans, and Aryans. Each root race has physical and mental characteristics which are quite different from those of the preceding one. While, for example, the Atlanteans especially developed memory and everything connected with it, at the present time it is the task of the Aryans to develop the faculty of thought and all that belongs to it.
[ 7 ] In each root race various stages must also be gone through. There are always seven of these. In the beginning of a period identified with a root race, its principal characteristics are in a youthful condition; slowly they attain maturity and finally enter a decline. The population of a root race is thereby divided into seven sub-races. But one must not imagine that one subrace immediately disappears when a new one develops. Each one may maintain itself for a long time while others are developing beside it. Thus there are always populations which show different stages of development living beside each other on earth.
[ 8 ] The first subrace of the Atlanteans developed from a very advanced part of the Lemurians who had a high evolutionary potential. The faculty of memory appeared only in its rudiments among the Lemurians, and then only in the last period of their development. One must imagine that while a Lemurian could form ideas of what he was experiencing, he could not preserve these ideas. He immediately forgot what he had represented to himself. Nevertheless, that he lived in a certain civilization, that, for example, he had tools, erected buildings and so-forth—this he owed not to his own powers of conception, but to a mental force in him, which was instinctive. However, one must not imagine this to have been the present-day instinct of animals, but one of a different kind.
[ 9 ] Theosophical writings call the first subrace of the Atlanteans that of the Rmoahals. The memory of this race was primarily directed toward vivid sense impressions. Colors which the eye had seen, sounds which the ear had heard, had a long after-effect in the soul. This was expressed in the fact that the Rmoahals developed feelings which their Lemurian ancestors did not yet know. For example, the attachment to what has been experienced in the past is a part of these feelings.
[ 10 ] With the development of memory was connected that of language. As long as man did not preserve what was past, a communication of what had been experienced could not take place through the medium of language. Because in the last Lemurian period the first beginnings of memory appeared, at that time it was also possible for the faculty of naming what had been seen and heard to have its inception. Only men who have the faculty of recollection can make use of a name which has been given to something. The Atlantean period, therefore, is the one in which the development of language took place. With language a bond was established between the human soul and the things outside man. He produced a speech-word inside himself, and this speech-word belonged to the objects of the external world. A new bond is also formed among men by communications through the medium of language. It is true that all this existed in a still youthful form among the Rmoahals, but nevertheless it distinguished them profoundly from their Lemurian forefathers.
[ 11 ] The soul powers of these first Atlanteans still possessed something of the forces of nature. These men were more closely related to the beings of nature which surrounded them than were their successors. Their soul powers were more connected with forces of nature than are those of modern man. Thus the speech-word which they produced had something of the power of nature. They not only named things, but in their words was a power over things and also over their fellow-men. The word of the Rmoahals not only had meaning, but also power. The magic power of words is something which was far truer for those men than it is for men of today. When a Rmoahals man pronounced a word, this word developed a power similar to that of the object it designated. Because of this, words at that time were curative; they could advance the growth of plants, tame the rage of animals, and perform other similar functions. All this progressively decreased in force among the later sub-races of the Atlanteans. One could say that the original fullness of power was gradually lost. The Rmoahals men felt this plenitude of power to be a gift of mighty nature, and their relationship to the latter had a religious character. For them language was something especially sacred. The misuse of certain sounds, which possessed an important power, was an impossibility. Each man felt that such misuse must cause him enormous harm. The good magic of such words would have changed into its opposite; that which would have brought blessings if used properly would bring ruin to the author if used criminally. In a kind of innocence of feeling the Rmoahals ascribed their power not so much to themselves as to the divine nature acting within them.
[ 12 ] This changed among the second subrace, the so-called Tlavatli peoples. The men of this race began to feel their own personal value. Ambition, a quality unknown to the Rmoahals, made itself felt among them. Memory was in a sense transferred to the conception of communal life. He who could look back upon certain deeds demanded recognition of them from his fellow-men. He demanded that his works be preserved in memory. Based upon this memory of deeds, a group of men who belonged together elected one as leader A kind of regal rank developed. This recognition was even preserved beyond death. The memory, the remembrance of the ancestors or of those who had acquired merit in life, developed. From this there emerged among some tribes a kind of religious veneration of the deceased, an ancestor cult. This cult continued into much later times and took the most varied forms. Among the Rmoahals a man was still esteemed only to the degree to which he could command respect at a particular moment through his powers. If someone among them wanted recognition for what he had done in earlier days, he had to demonstrate by new deeds that he still possessed his old power. He had to recall the old works to memory by means of new ones. What had been done was not esteemed for its own sake. Only the second subrace considered the personal character of a man to the point where it took his past life into account in the evaluation of this character.
[ 13 ] A further consequence of memory for the communal life of man was the fact that groups of men were formed which were held together by the remembrance of common deeds. Previously the formation of groups depended wholly upon natural forces, upon common descent. Man did not add anything through his own mind to what nature had made of him. Now a powerful personality recruited a number of people for a joint undertaking, and the memory of this joint action formed a social group.
[ 14 ] This kind of social communal life became fully developed only among the third subrace, the Toltec. It was therefore the men of this race who first founded what is a state. The leadership, the government of these communities, was transmitted from one generation to the next. The father now gave over to the son what previously survived only in the memory of contemporaries. The deeds of the ancestors were not to be forgotten by their whole line of descent. What an ancestor had done was esteemed by his descendants. However, one must realize that in those times men actually had the power to transmit their gifts to their descendants. Education, after all, was calculated to mold life through vivid images. The effectiveness of this education had its foundation in the personal power which emanated from the educator—He did not sharpen the power of thought, but in fact, developed those gifts which were of a more instinctive kind. Through such a system of education the capacities of the father were generally transmitted to the son.
[ 15 ] Under such conditions personal experience acquired more and more importance among the third subrace. When one group of men separated from another for the foundation of a new community, it carried along the remembrance of what it had experienced at the old scene. But at the same time there was something in this remembrance which the group did not find suitable for itself, in which it did not feel at ease. Therefore it then tried something new. Thus conditions improved with every one of these new foundations. It was only natural that what was better was imitated. These are the facts which explain the development of those flourishing communities in the period of the third subrace, described in theosophic literature. The personal experiences which were acquired found support from those who were initiated into the eternal laws of spiritual development. Powerful rulers themselves were initiated, so that personal ability might have full support. Through his personal ability man slowly prepares himself for initiation. He must first develop his powers from below in order that the enlightenment from above can be given to him. In this way the initiated kings and leaders of the Atlanteans came into being. Enormous power was in their hands, and they were greatly venerated.
[ 16 ] But in this fact also lay the reason for decline and decay. The development of memory led to the pre-eminent power of a personality. Man wanted to count for something through his power. The greater the power became, the more he wanted to exploit it for himself. The ambition which had developed turned into marked selfishness. Thus the misuse of these powers arose. When one considers the capabilities of the Atlanteans resulting from their mastery of the life force, one will understand that this misuse inevitably had enormous consequences. A broad power over nature could be put at the service of personal egotism.
[ 17 ] This was accomplished in full measure by the fourth subrace, the Primal Turanians. The members of this race, who were instructed in the mastery of the above-mentioned powers, often used them in order to satisfy their selfish wishes and desires. But used in such a manner, these powers destroy each other in their reciprocal effects. It is as if the feet were stubbornly to carry a man forward, while his torso wanted to go backward.
[ 18 ] Such a destructive effect could only be halted through the development of a higher faculty in man. This was the faculty of thought. Logical thinking has a restraining effect on selfish personal wishes. The origin of logical thinking must be sought among the fifth subrace, the Primal Semites. Men began to go beyond a mere remembrance of the past and to compare different experiences. The faculty of judgment developed. Wishes and appetites were regulated in accordance with this faculty of judgment. One began to calculate, to combine. One learned to work with thoughts. If previously one had abandoned oneself to every desire, now one first asked whether thought could approve this desire. While the men of the fourth subrace rushed wildly toward the satisfaction of their appetites, those of the fifth began to listen to an inner voice. This inner voice checks the appetites, although it cannot destroy the claims of the selfish personality.
[ 19 ] Thus the fifth subrace transferred the impulses for action to within the human being. Man wishes to come to terms within himself as to what he must or must not do. But what thus was won within, with respect to the faculty of thought, was lost with respect to the control of external natural forces. With this combining thought mentioned above, one can master only the forces of the mineral world, not the life force. The fifth subrace therefore developed thought at the expense of control of the life force. But it was just through this that it produced the germ of the further development of mankind. New personality, self-love, even complete selfishness could grow freely; for thought alone which works wholly within, and can no longer give direct orders to nature, is not capable of producing such devastating effects as the previously misused powers. From this fifth subrace the most gifted part was selected which survived the decline of the fourth root race and formed the germ of the fifth, the Aryan race, whose mission is the complete development of the thinking faculty.
[ 20 ] The men of the sixth subrace, the Akkadians, developed the faculty of thought even further than the fifth. They differed from the so-called Primal Semites in that they employed this faculty in a more comprehensive sense than the former.
It has been said that while the development of the faculty of thought prevented the claims of the selfish personality from having the same devastating effects as among the earlier races, these claims were not destroyed by it. The Primal Semites at first arranged their personal circumstances as their faculty of thought directed. Intelligence took the place of mere appetites and desires. The conditions of life changed. If preceding races were inclined to acknowledge as leader one whose deeds had impressed themselves deeply upon their memory, or who could look back upon a life of rich memories, this role was now conferred upon the intelligent. If previously that which lived in a clear remembrance was decisive, one now regarded as best what was most convincing to thought. Under the influence of memory one formerly held fast to a thing until one found it to be inadequate, and in that case it was quite natural that he who was in a position to remedy a want could introduce an innovation. But as a result of the faculty of thought, a fondness for innovations and changes developed. Each wanted to put into effect what his intelligence suggested to him. Turbulent conditions therefore began to prevail under the fifth subrace, and in the sixth they led to a feeling of the need to bring the obdurate thinking of the individual under general laws. The splendor of the communities of the third subrace was based on the fact that common memories brought about order and harmony. In the sixth, this order had to be brought about by thought-out laws. Thus it is in this sixth subrace that one must look for the origin of regulations of justice and law.
During the third subrace, the separation of a group of men took place only when they were forced out of their community so to speak, because they no longer felt at ease in the conditions prevailing as a result of memory. In the sixth this was considerably different. The calculating faculty of thought sought the new as such; it spurred men to enterprises and new foundations. The Akkadians were therefore an enterprising people with an inclination to colonization. It was commerce, especially, which nourished the waxing faculty of thought and judgment.
[ 21 ] Among the seventh subrace, the Mongols, the faculty of thought was also developed. But characteristics of the earlier sub-races, especially of the fourth, remained present in them to a much higher degree than in the fifth and sixth. They remained faithful to the feeling for memory. And thus they reached the conviction that what is oldest is also what is most sensible and can best defend itself against the faculty of thought. It is true that they also lost the mastery over the life forces, but what developed in them as the thinking faculty also possessed something of the natural might of this life force. Indeed they had lost the power over life, but they never lost their direct, naive faith in it. This force had become their god, in whose behalf they did everything they considered right. Thus they appeared to the neighboring peoples as if possessed by this secret force, and they surrendered themselves to it in blind trust. Their descendants in Asia and in some parts of Europe manifested and still manifest much of this quality.
[ 22 ] The faculty of thought planted in men could only attain its full value in relation to human development when it received a new impetus in the fifth root race. The fourth root race, after all, could only put this faculty at the service of that to which it was educated through the gift of memory. The fifth alone reached life conditions for which the proper tool is the ability to think.
II. Unsere Atlantischen Vorfahren
[ 1 ] Unsere atlantischen Vorfahren waren mehr verschieden von den gegenwärtigen Menschen als sich derjenige vorstellt, der mit seinen Erkenntnissen sich ganz auf die Sinnenwelt beschränkt. Nicht nur auf das äußere Aussehen erstreckt sich diese Verschiedenheit, sondern auch auf die geistigen Fähigkeiten. Ihre Erkenntnisse und auch ihre technischen Künste, ihre ganze Kultur war anders, als das ist, was heute beobachtet werden kann. Gehen wir in die ersten Zeiten der atlantischen Menschheit zurück, so finden wir eine von der unsrigen ganz verschiedene Geistesfähigkeit. Der logische Verstand, die rechnerische Kombination, auf denen alles beruht, was heute hervorgebracht wird, fehlten den ersten Atlantiern ganz. Dafür hatten sie ein hochentwickeltes Gedächtnis. Dieses Gedächtnis war eine ihrer hervorstechendsten Geistesfähigkeiten. Sie rechneten zum Beispiel nicht, wie wir, dadurch, daß sie sich gewisse Regeln aneigneten, die sie dann anwendeten. Ein «Einmaleins» war etwas in den atlantischen Zeiten ganz Unbekanntes. Niemand hatte seinem Verstande eingeprägt, daß dreimal vier zwölf ist. Daß er sich in dem Falle, wo er eine solche Rechnung auszuführen hatte, zurechtfand, beruhte darauf, daß er sich auf gleiche oder ähnliche Fälle besann. Er erinnerte sich, wie das bei früheren Gelegenheiten war. Man muß sich nur klarmachen, daß jedesmal, wenn sich in einem Wesen eine neue Fähigkeit ausbildet, eine alte an Kraft und Schärfe verliert. Der heutige Mensch hat gegenüber dem Atlantier den logischen Verstand, das Kombinationsvermögen voraus. Das Gedächtnis ist dafür zurückgegangen. Jetzt denken die Menschen in Begriffen; der Atlantier dachte in Bildern. Und wenn ein Bild vor seiner Seele auftauchte, dann erinnerte er sich an so und so viele ähnliche Bilder, die er bereits erlebt hatte. Danach richtete er sein Urteil ein. Deshalb war damals auch aller Unterricht anders als in späteren Zeiten. Er war nicht darauf berechnet, das Kind mit Regeln auszurüsten, seinen Verstand zu schärfen. Es wurde ihm vielmehr in anschaulichen Bildern das Leben vorgeführt, so daß es später sich an möglichst viel erinnern konnte, wenn es in diesen oder jenen Verhältnissen handeln sollte. War das Kind erwachsen und kam es ins Leben hinaus, so konnte es sich bei allem, was es tun sollte, erinnern, daß ihm etwas Ähnliches in seiner Lehrzeit vorgeführt worden war. Es fand sich am besten zurecht, wenn der neue Fall irgendeinem schon gesehenen ähnlich war. Unter ganz neuen Verhältnisse war der Atlantier immer wieder aufs Probieren angewiesen, während dem heutigen Menschen in dieser Beziehung vieles erspart ist, weil er mit Regeln ausgerüstet wird. Diese kann er auch in den Fällen leicht anwenden, welche ihm noch nicht begegnet sind. Ein solches Erziehungssystem gab dem ganzen Leben etwas Gleichförmiges. Durch sehr lange Zeiträume hindurch wurden immer wieder und wieder die Dinge in der gleichen Weise besorgt. Das treue Gedächtnis ließ nichts aufkommen, was der Raschheit unseres heutigen Fortschrittes auch nur im entferntesten ähnlich wäre. Man tat, was man früher immer «gesehen» hatte. Man erdachte nicht; man erinnerte sich. Eine Autorität war nicht der, welcher viel gelernt hatte, sondern wer viel erlebt hatte und sich daher an viel erinnern konnte. Es wäre unmöglich gewesen, daß in der atlantischen Zeit jemand vor Erreichung eines gewissen Alters über irgendeine wichtige Angelegenheit zu entscheiden gehabt hätte. Man hatte nur zu dem Vertrauen, der auf lange Erfahrung zurückblicken konnte.
[ 2 ] Das hier Gesagte gilt nicht von den Eingeweihten und ihren Schulen. Denn sie sind ja dem Entwickelungsgrade ihres Zeitalters voraus. Und für die Aufnahme in solche Schulen entscheidet nicht das Alter, sondern der Umstand, ob der Aufzunehmende in seinen früheren Verkörperungen sich die Fähigkeiten erworben hat, höhere Weisheit aufzunehmen. Das Vertrauen, das den Eingeweihten und ihren Agenten während der atlantischen Zeit entgegengebracht worden ist, beruhte nicht auf der Fülle ihrer persönlichen Erfahrung, sondern auf dem Alter ihrer Weisheit. Beim Eingeweihten hört die Persönlichkeit auf, eine Bedeutung zu haben. Er steht ganz im Dienste der ewigen Weisheit. Daher gilt ja für ihn auch nicht die Charakteristik irgendeines Zeitabschnittes.
[ 3 ] Während also die logische Denkkraft den (namentlich früheren) Atlantiern noch fehlte, hatten sie an der hochentwickelten Gedächtniskraft etwas, was ihrem ganzen Wirken einen besonderen Charakter gab. Aber mit dem Wesen der einen menschlichen Kraft hängen immer andere zusammen. Das Gedächtnis steht der tieferen Naturgrundlage des Menschen näher als die Verstandeskraft, und mit ihm im Zusammenhange waren andere Kräfte entwickelt, die auch noch denjenigen untergeordneter Naturwesen ähnlicher waren als die gegenwärtigen menschlichen Betriebskräfte. So konnten die Atlantier das beherrschen, was man Lebenskraft nennt. Wie man heute aus den Steinkohlen die Kraft der Wärme herausholt, die man in fortbewegende Kraft bei unseren Verkehrsmitteln verwandelt, so verstanden es die Atlantier, die Samenkraft der Lebewesen in ihren technischen Dienst zu stellen. Von dem, was hier vorlag, kann man sich durch folgendes eine Vorstellung machen. Man denke an ein Getreidesamenkorn. In diesem schlummert eine Kraft. Diese Kraft bewirkt ja, daß aus dem Samenkorn der Halm hervorsprießt. Die Natur kann diese im Korn ruhende Kraft wecken. Der gegenwärtige Mensch kann es nicht. Willkürlich. Er muß das Korn in die Erde senken und das Aufwecken den Naturkräften überlassen. Der Atlantier konnte noch etwas anderes. Er wußte, wie man es macht, um die Kraft eines Kornhaufens in technische Kraft umzuwandeln, wie der gegenwärtige Mensch die Wärmekraft eines Steinkohlenhaufens in eine solche Kraft umzuwandeln vermag. Pflanzen wurden in der atlantischen Zeit nicht bloß gebaut, um sie als Nahrungsmittel zu benutzen, sondern um die in ihnen schlummernden Kräfte dem Verkehr und der Industrie dienstbar zu machen. Wie wir Vorrichtungen haben, um die in den Steinkohlen schlummernde Kraft in unseren Lokomotiven in Bewegungskraft umzubilden, so hatten die Atlantier Vorrichtungen, die sie — sozusagen — mit Pflanzensamen heizten, und in denen sich die Lebenskraft in technisch verwertbare Kraft umwandelte. So wurden die in geringer Höhe über dem Boden schwebenden Fahrzeuge der Atlantier fortbewegt. Diese Fahrzeuge fuhren in einer Höhe, die geringer war als die Höhe der Gebirge der atlantischen Zeit, und sie hatten Steuervorrichtungen, durch die sie sich über diese Gebirge erheben konnten.
[ 4 ] Man muß sich vorstellen, daß mit der fortschreitenden Zeit sich alle Verhältnisse auf unserer Erde sehr verändert haben. Die genannten Fahrzeuge der Atlantier wären in unserer Zeit ganz unbrauchbar. Ihre Verwendbarkeit beruhte darauf, daß in dieser Zeit die Lufthülle, welche die Erde umschließt, viel dichter war als gegenwärtig. Ob man sich nach heutigen wissenschaftlichen Begriffen eine solch größere Dichte der Luft leicht vorstellen kann, darf uns hier nicht beschäftigen. Die Wissenschaft und das logische Denken können, ihrem ganzen Wesen nach, niemals etwas darüber entscheiden, was möglich oder unmöglich ist. Sie haben nur das zu erklären, was durch Erfahrung und Beobachtung festgestellt ist. Und die besprochene Dichtigkeit der Luft steht für die okkulte Erfahrung so fest, wie nur irgendeine sinnlich gegebene Tatsache von heute feststehen kann. — ebenso steht fest aber auch die vielleicht der heutigen Physik und Chemie noch unerklärlichere Tatsache, daß damals das Wasser auf der ganzen Erde viel dünner war als heute. Und durch diese Dünnheit war das Wasser durch die von den Atlantiern verwendete Samenkraft in technische Dienste zu lenken, die heute unmöglich sind. Durch die Verdichtung des Wassers ist es unmöglich geworden, dasselbe in solch kunstvoller Art zu bewegen, zu lenken, wie das ehedem möglich war. Daraus geht wohl zur Genüge hervor, daß die Zivilisation der atlantischen Zeit von der unsrigen gründlich verschieden gewesen ist. Und es wird daraus weiter begreiflich sein, daß auch die physische Natur eines Atlantiers eine ganz andere war als die eines gegenwärtigen Menschen. Der Atlantier genoß ein Wasser, das von der in seinem eigenen Körper innewohnenden Lebenskraft ganz anders verarbeitet werden konnte, als dies im heutigen physischen Körper möglich ist. Und daher kam es, daß der Atlantier willkürlich seine physischen Kräfte auch ganz anders gebrauchen konnte als der heutige Mensch. Er hatte sozusagen die Mittel, in sich selbst die physischen Kräfte zu vermehren, wenn er sie zu seinen Verrichtungen brauchte. Man macht sich nur richtige Vorstellungen von den Atlantiern, wenn man weiß, daß sie auch ganz andere Begriffe von Ermüdung und Kräfteverbrauch hatten als der Mensch der Gegenwart.
[ 5 ] Eine atlantische Ansiedlung — das geht wohl schon aus allem Beschriebenen hervor — trug einen Charakter, der in nichts dem einer modernen Stadt glich. In einer solchen Ansiedlung war vielmehr noch alles mit der Natur im Bunde. Nur ein schwach ähnliches Bild gibt es, wenn man etwa sagt: In den ersten atlantischen Zeiten — etwa bis zur Mitte der dritten Unterrasse — glich eine Ansiedlung einem Garten, in dem die Häuser sich aufbauen aus Bäumen, die in künstlicher Art mit ihren Zweigen ineinandergeschlungen sind. Was Menschenhand damals erarbeitete, wuchs gleichsam aus der Natur heraus. Und der Mensch selbst fühlte sich ganz und gar mit der Natur verwandt. Daher kam es, daß auch sein gesellschaftlicher Sinn noch ein ganz anderer war als heute. Die Natur ist ja allen Menschen gemeinsam. Und was der Atlantier auf der Naturgrundlage aufbaute, das betrachtete er ebenso als Gemeingut, wie der heutige Mensch nur natürlich denkt, wenn er das, was sein Scharfsinn, sein Verstand erarbeitet, als sein Privatgut betrachtet.
[ 6 ] Wer sich mit dem Gedanken vertraut macht, daß die Atlantier mit solchen geistigen und physischen Kräften ausgestattet waren, wie sie geschildert worden sind, der wird auch begreifen lernen, daß in noch früheren Zeiten die Menschheit ein Bild aufweist, das nur noch in wenigem erinnert an das, was man heute zu sehen gewohnt ist. Und nicht nur die Menschen, sondern auch die sie umgebende Natur hat sich im Laufe der Zeiten gewaltig verändert. Die Pflanzen- und Tierformen sind andere geworden. Die ganze irdische Natur hat Wandlungen durchgemacht. Vorher bewohnte Gebiete der Erde sind zerstört worden; andere sind entstanden. — die Vorfahren der Atlantier wohnten auf einem verschwundenen Landesteil, dessen Hauptgebiet südlich vom heutigen Asien lag. Man nennt sie in theosophischen Schriften die Lemurier. Nachdem diese durch verschiedene Entwickelungsstufen durchgegangen waren, kam der größte Teil in Verfall. Er wurde zu verkümmerten Menschen, deren Nachkommen heute noch als sogenannte wilde Völker gewisse Teile der Erde bewohnen. Nur ein kleiner Teil der lemurischen Menschheit war zur Fortentwickelung fähig. Aus diesen bildeten sich die Atlantier. — auch später fand wieder etwas ähnliches statt. Die größte Masse der atlantischen Bevölkerung kam in Verfall, und von einem kleinen Teil stammen die sogenannten Arier ab, zu denen unsere gegenwärtige Kulturmenschheit gehört. Lemurier, Atlantier und Arier sind, nach der Benennung der Geheimwissenschaft, Wurzelrassen der Menschheit. Man denke sich zwei solcher Wurzelrassen den Lemuriern vorangehend und zwei den Ariern in der Zukunft folgend, so gibt das im ganzen sieben. Es geht immer eine aus der andern in der Art hervor, wie dies eben in bezug auf Lemurier, Atlantier und Arier angedeutet worden ist. Und jede Wurzelrasse hat physische und geistige Eigenschaften, die von denen der vorhergehenden durchaus verschieden sind. Während zum Beispiel die Atlantier das Gedächtnis und alles, was damit zusammenhängt, zur besonderen Entfaltung brachten, obliegt es in der Gegenwart den Ariern, die Denkkraft und das, was zu ihr gehört, zu entwickeln. 1Auf die Eigenschaften und das Leben der Lemurier ferner, auf die Entwickelung der Arier bis in unsere Zeit werden sich die nächsten Mitteilung beziehen. Daran soll weiteres sich schließen über Welt- und Menschheitsentwickelung.
[ 7 ] Aber auch in jeder Wurzelrasse selbst müssen verschiedene Stufen durchgemacht werden. Und zwar sind es immer wieder sieben. Im Anfange des Zeitraumes, der einer Wurzelrasse zugehört, finden sich die Haupteigenschaften derselben gleichsam in einem jugendlichen Zustande; und allmählich gelangen sie zur Reife und zuletzt auch zum Verfall. Dadurch zerfällt die Bevölkerung einer Wurzelrasse in sieben Unterrassen. Nur hat man sich das nicht so vorzustellen, als ob eine Unterrasse gleich verschwinden würde, wenn eine neue sich entwickelt. Es erhält sich vielleicht eine jede noch lange, wenn neben ihr andere sich entwickeln. So leben immer Bevölkerungen auf der Erde nebeneinander, die verschiedene Stufen der Entwickelung zeigen.
[ 8 ] Die erste Unterrasse der Atlantier entwickelte sich aus einem sehr fortgeschrittenen und entwickelungsfähigen Teile der Lemurier. Bei diesen zeigte sich nämlich die Gabe des Gedächtnisses nur in den allerersten Anfängen und nur in der letzten Zeit ihrer Entwickelung. Man muß sich vorstellen, daß ein Lemurier sich zwar Vorstellungen bilden konnte von dem, was er erlebte; aber er konnte diese Vorstellungen nicht bewahren. Er vergaß sofort wieder, was er sich vorgestellt hatte. Daß er dennoch in einer gewissen Kultur lebte, zum Beispiel Werkzeuge hatte, Bauten ausführte und so weiter, das verdankte er nicht seinem eigenen Vorstellungsvermögen, sondern einer geistigen Kraft in sich, die, um das Wort zu brauchen, instinktiv war. Nur hat man sich darunter nicht den heutigen Instinkt der Tiere, sondern einen solchen anderer Art vorzustellen.2Auch darüber kommen später Mitteilungen.
[ 9 ] In theosophischen Schriften wird die erste Unterrasse der Atlantier Rmoahals genannt. Das Gedächtnis dieser Rasse war vorzüglich auf lebhafte Sinneseindrücke gerichtet. Farben, die das Auge gesehen hatte, Töne, die das Ohr gehört hatte, wirkten lange in der Seele nach. Das drückte sich darin aus, daß die Rmoahals Gefühle entwickelten, die ihre lemurischen Vorfahren noch nicht kannten. Die Anhänglichkeit zum Beispiel an das, was in der Vergangenheit erlebt worden ist, gehört zu diesen Gefühlen.
[ 10 ] An der Entwickelung des Gedächtnisses hing nun auch diejenige der Sprache. Solange der Mensch das Vergangene nicht bewahrte, konnte auch eine Mitteilung des Erlebten durch die Sprache nicht stattfinden. Und weil in der letzten lemurischen Zeit die ersten Ansätze zu einem Gedächtnisse stattfanden, so konnte damals auch die Fähigkeit ihren Anfang nehmen, das Gesehene und Gehörte zu benennen. Nur Menschen, die ein Erinnerungsvermögen haben, können mit einem Namen, der einem Dinge beigelegt ist, etwas anfangen. Die atlantische Zeit ist daher auch diejenige, in welcher die Sprache ihre Entwickelung fand. Und mit der Sprache war ein Band hervorgebracht zwischen der menschlichen Seele und den Dingen außer dem Menschen. Dieser erzeugte das Lautwort in seinem Innern; und dieses Lautwort gehörte zu den Gegenständen der Außenwelt. Und auch ein neues Band entsteht zwischen Mensch und Mensch durch die Mitteilung auf dem Wege der Sprache. Das alles war zwar bei den Rmoahals noch in einer jugendlichen Form; aber es unterschied sie doch in tiefgehender Art von ihren lemurischen Vorvätern.
[ 11 ] Nun hatten die Kräfte in den Seelen dieser ersten Atlantier noch etwas Naturkräftiges. Diese Menschen waren gewissermaßen noch verwandter den sie umgebenden Naturwesen als ihre Nachfolger. Ihre Seelenkräfte waren noch mehr Naturkräfte als die der gegenwärtigen Menschen. So war auch das Lautwort, das sie hervorbrachten, etwas Naturgewaltiges. Sie benannten nicht bloß die Dinge, sondern in ihren Worten lag eine Macht über die Dinge und auch über ihre Mitmenschen. Das Wort der Rmoahals hatte nicht bloß Bedeutung, sondern auch Kraft. Wenn man von einer Zaubermacht der Worte spricht, so deutet man etwas an, was für diese Menschen weit wirklicher war als für die Gegenwart. Wenn der Rmoahalsmensch ein Wort aussprach, so entwickelte dieses Wort eine ähnliche Macht wie der Gegenstand selbst, den es bezeichnete. Darauf beruht es, daß Worte in dieser Zeit heilkräftig waren, daß sie das Wachstum der Pflanzen fördern, die Wut der Tiere zähmen konnten, und was ähnliche Wirkungen mehr sind. All das nahm an Kraft bei den späteren Unterrassen der Atlantier immer mehr und mehr ab. Man könnte sagen, die naturwüchsige Kraftfülle verlor sich allmählich. Die Rmoahalsmenschen empfanden diese Kraftfülle durchaus als eine Gabe der mächtigen Natur; und dieses ihr Verhältnis zur Natur trug einen religiösen Charakter. Insbesondere die Sprache hatte für sie etwas Heiliges. Und der Mißbrauch gewisser Laute, denen eine bedeutende Kraft innewohnte, ist etwas Unmögliches gewesen. Jeder Mensch fühlte, daß solcher Mißbrauch ihm einen gewaltigen Schaden bringen müßte. Der Zauber derartiger Worte hätte in sein Gegenteil umgeschlagen; was, in richtiger Art gebraucht, Segen gestiftet hätte, wäre, frevelhaft angewendet, dem Urheber zum Verderben geworden. In einer gewissen Unschuld des Gefühles schrieben die Rmoahals weniger sich selbst, als vielmehr der in ihnen wirkenden göttlichen Natur ihre Macht zu.
[ 12 ] Das wurde schon anders bei der zweiten Unterrasse (den sogenannten Tlavatli-Völkern). Die Menschen dieser Rasse fingen an, ihren persönlichen Wert zu fühlen. Der Ehrgeiz, der eine den Rmoahals unbekannte Eigenschaft war, machte sich bei ihnen geltend. Die Erinnerung übertrug sich in gewissem Sinne auf die Auffassung des Zusammenlebens. Wer auf gewisse Taten zurückblicken konnte, der forderte von seinen Mitmenschen dafür Anerkennung. Er verlangte, daß seine Werke im Gedächtnisse behalten werden. Und auf dieses Gedächtnis von den Taten war es auch begründet, daß eine zusammengehörige Gruppe von Menschen Einen als Führer erkor. Eine Art Königswürde entwickelte sich. Ja diese Anerkennung wurde bis über den Tod hinaus bewahrt. Das Gedächtnis, das Andenken an die Vorfahren oder an diejenigen, die sich im Leben Verdienste erworben hatten, bildeten sich heraus. Und daraus ging dann bei einzelnen Stämmen eine Art religiöser Verehrung Verstorbener hervor, ein Ahnenkultus. Dieser hat sich in viel spätere Zeiten fortgepflanzt und die verschiedensten Formen angenommen. Noch bei den Rmoahals galt der Mensch eigentlich nur in dem Maße, als er sich im Augenblicke durch seine Machtfülle Geltung verschaffen konnte.3Über das Verhältnis der führenden, regierenden Wesenheiten zur Zeit der Rmoahals werden die folgenden Mitteilungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Leben der Lemurier Aufschluss geben. Wollte da jemand Anerkennung für das, was er in früheren Tagen getan hatte, so mußte er zeigen — durch neue Taten -, daß ihm die alte Kraft noch eigen ist. Er mußte gewissermaßen durch neue Werke die alten ins Gedächtnis rufen. Das Getane als solches galt noch nichts. Erst die zweite Unterrasse rechnete so weit mit dem persönlichen Charakter eines Menschen, daß sie dessen vergangenes Leben bei der Schätzung dieses Charakters mit in Anschlag brachte.
[ 13 ] Eine weitere Folge der Gedächtniskraft für das Zusammenleben der Menschen war die Tatsache, daß sich Gruppen von Menschen bildeten, die durch die Erinnerung an gemeinsame Taten zusammengehalten wurden. Vorher war solche Gruppenbildung ganz von den Naturmächten, von der gemeinsamen Abstammung bedingt. Der Mensch tat durch seinen eigenen Geist noch nichts hinzu zu dem, was die Natur aus ihm gemacht hatte. Jetzt warb eine mächtige Persönlichkeit eine Anzahl von Leuten zu einer gemeinsamen Unternehmung, und die Erinnerung an dieses gemeinsame Werk bildete eine gesellschaftliche Gruppe.
[ 14 ] Diese Art gesellschaftlichen Zusammenlebens prägte sich erst so recht bei der dritten Unterrasse (den Tolteken) aus. Die Menschen dieser Rasse begründeten daher auch erst das, was man Gemeinwesen, was man die erste Art der Staatenbildung nennen kann. Und die Führung, die Regierung dieser Gemeinwesen ging von den Vorfahren auf die Nachkommen über. Was vorher nur im Gedächtnisse der Mitmenschen weiterlebte, das übertrug jetzt der Vater auf den Sohn. Dem ganzen Geschlechte sollten die Werke der Vorfahren nicht vergessen werden. In den Nachkommen noch wurde das geschätzt, was der Ahne getan hatte. Man muß sich nur klar darüber sein, daß in jenen Zeiten die Menschen wirklich auch die Kraft hatten, ihre Gaben auf die Nachkommen zu übertragen. Die Erziehung war ja darauf berechnet, in anschaulichen Bildern das Leben vorzubilden. Und die Wirkung dieser Erziehung beruhte auf der persönlichen Macht, die von dem Erzieher ausging. Er schärfte nicht die Verstandeskraft, sondern Gaben, die mehr instinktiver Art waren. Durch ein solches Erziehungssystem ging wirklich die Fähigkeit des Vaters in den meisten Fällen auf den Sohn über.
[ 15 ] Unter solchen Verhältnissen gewann bei der dritten Unterrasse die persönliche Erfahrung immer mehr an Bedeutung. Wenn sich eine Menschengruppe von einer anderen abgliederte, so brachte sie zur Begründung ihres neuen Gemeinwesens die lebendige Erinnerung mit an das, was sie am alten Schauplatz erlebt hatte. Aber zugleich lag in dieser Erinnerung etwas, was sie für sich nicht entsprechend fand, worinnen sie sich nicht wohl fühlte. In bezug darauf versuchte sie dann etwas Neues. Und so verbesserten sich mit jeder neuen solchen Gründung die Verhältnisse. Und es war nur natürlich, daß das Bessere auch Nachahmung fand. Das waren die Tatsachen, auf Grund derer es in der Zeit der dritten Unterrasse zu jenen blühenden Gemeinwesen kam, die in der theosophischen Literatur beschrieben werden. Und die persönlichen Erfahrungen, die gemacht wurden, fanden Unterstützung von seiten derer, die in die ewigen Gesetze der geistigen Entwickelung eingeweiht waren. Mächtige Herrscher empfingen selbst die Einweihung, auf daß die persönliche Tüchtigkeit den vollen Rückhalt habe. Durch seine persönliche Tüchtigkeit macht sich der Mensch allmählich zur Einweihung fähig. Er muß erst seine Kräfte von unten herauf entwickeln, damit dann die Erleuchtung von oben ihm erteilt werden könne. So entstanden die eingeweihten Könige und Völkerführer der Atlantier. Gewaltige Machtfülle war in ihrer Hand; und groß war auch die Verehrung, die ihnen entgegengebracht wurde.
[ 16 ] Aber in dieser Tatsache lag auch der Grund zum Niedergang und zum Verfall. Die Ausbildung der Gedächtniskraft hat zur Machtfülle der Persönlichkeit geführt. Der Mensch wollte etwas durch diese seine Machtfülle gelten. Und je größer die Macht wurde, desto mehr wollte er sie für sich ausnützen. Der Ehrgeiz, der sich entwickelt hatte, wurde zur ausgesprochenen Selbstsucht. Und damit war der Mißbrauch der Kräfte gegeben. Wenn man bedenkt, was die Atlantier durch die Beherrschung der Lebenskraft vermochten, so wird man begreifen, daß dieser Mißbrauch gewaltige Folgen haben mußte. Es konnte eine weite Macht über die Natur in den Dienst der persönlichen Eigenliebe gestellt werden.
[ 17 ] Das geschah in vollem Maße durch die vierte Unterrasse (die Ur-Turanier). Die Angehörigen dieser Rasse, die in der Beherrschung der genannten Kräfte unterrichtet wurden, gebrauchten diese vielfach, um ihre eigensinnigen Wünsche und Begierden zu befriedigen. In solcher Art gebraucht, zerstören sich aber diese Kräfte in ihrer Wirkung aufeinander. Es ist so, wie wenn die Füße einen Menschen eigensinnig vorwärts bewegten, während sein Oberkörper nach rückwärts wollte.
[ 18 ] Solche zerstörende Wirkung konnte nur dadurch aufgehalten werden, daß im Menschen sich eine höhere Kraft ausbildete. Und das war die Denkkraft. Das logische Denken wirkt zurückhaltend auf die eigensüchtigen persönlichen Wünsche. Den Ursprung dieses logischen Denkens haben wir bei der fünften Unterrasse (den Ursemiten) zu suchen. Die Menschen fingen an, über die bloße Erinnerung an Vergangenes hinauszugehen und die verschiedenen Erlebnisse zu vergleichen. Die Urteilskraft entwickelte sich. Und nach dieser Urteilskraft wurden die Wünsche, die Begierden geregelt. Man fing an, zu rechnen, zu kombinieren. Man lernte, in Gedanken zu arbeiten. Hat man früher sich jedem Wunsche hingegeben, so frägt man jetzt erst, ob der Gedanke den Wunsch auch billigen könne. Stürmten die Menschen der vierten Unterrasse wild los auf die Befriedigung ihrer Begierden, so begannen diejenigen der fünften auf eine innere Stimme zu hören. Und diese innere Stimme wirkt eindämmend auf die Begierden, wenn sie auch die Ansprüche der eigensüchtigen Persönlichkeit nicht vernichten kann.
[ 19 ] So hat die fünfte Unterrasse die Antriebe zum Handeln in das menschliche Innere verlegt. Der Mensch will in diesem seinem Innern mit sich ausmachen, was er zu tun oder zu lassen hat. Aber das, was so im Innern an Kraft des Denkens gewonnen wurde, ging an Beherrschung äußerer Naturgewalten verloren. Mit diesem kombinierenden Denken kann man nur die Kräfte der mineralischen Welt bezwingen, nicht die Lebenskraft. Die fünfte Unterrasse entwickelte also das Denken auf Kosten der Herrschaft über die Lebenskraft. Aber gerade dadurch erzeugte sie den Keim zur Weiterentwickelung der Menschheit. Jetzt mochte die Persönlichkeit, die Selbstliebe, ja die Selbstsucht noch so groß werden: das bloße Denken, das ganz im Innern arbeitet und nicht mehr unmittelbar der Natur Befehle erteilen kann, vermag solche verheerende Wirkungen nicht anzurichten wie die mißbrauchten früheren Kräfte. Aus dieser fünften Unterrasse wurde der begabteste Teil ausgewählt, und dieser lebte hinüber über den Niedergang der vierten Wurzelrasse und bildete den Keim zur fünften, der arischen Rasse, welche die vollständige Ausprägung der denkenden Kraft mit allem, was dazu gehört, zur Aufgabe hat.4Wie diese Ausbildung der Denkkraft in der fünften Wurzelrasse geschieht, und welche Bedeutung die gegenwärtige Menschheit innerhalb derselben hat, werden die folgenden Mitteilungen bringen.
[ 20 ] Die Menschen der sechsten Unterrasse (der Akkadier) bildeten die Denkkraft noch weiter aus als die fünfte. Sie unterschieden sich von den sogenannten Ursemiten dadurch, daß sie die angeführte Fähigkeit in einem umfassenderen Sinne zur Anwendung brachten als jene. — Es ist gesagt worden, daß die Ausbildung der Denkkraft zwar die Ansprüche der eigensüchtigen Persönlichkeit nicht zu den verheerenden Wirkungen kommen ließ, die bei den früheren Rassen möglich waren, daß aber diese Ansprüche durch sie nicht vernichtet wurden. Die Ursemiten regelten zunächst ihre persönlichen Verhältnisse so, wie es ihnen ihre Denkkraft eingab. An die Stelle der bloßen Begierden und Gelüste trat die Klugheit. Andere Lebensverhältnisse traten auf. Waren vorhergehende Rassen geneigt, den als Führer anzuerkennen, dessen Taten tief in das Gedächtnis sich eingeprägt hatten oder der auf ein Leben reicher Erinnerung zurückblicken konnte, so wurde jetzt solche Rolle dem Klugen zuerkannt. Und war vordem das maßgebend, was in guter Erinnerung lebte, so betrachtete man jetzt das als das Beste, was dem Gedanken am besten einleuchtete. Unter dem Einflusse des Gedächtnisses hielt man ehedem so lange an einer Sache fest, bis man sie als unzureichend erfand, und dann ergab sich im letzteren Falle von selbst, daß derjenige mit einer Neuerung durchdrang, welcher einem Mangel abzuhelfen in der Lage war. Unter der Wirkung der Denkkraft aber entwickelte sich eine Neuerungssucht und Veränderungslust. Jeder wollte durchsetzen, was seine Klugheit ihm eingab. Unruhige Zustände beginnen daher unter der fünften Unterrasse, und sie führen in der sechsten dazu, daß man das Bedürfnis empfand, das eigensinnige Denken des Einzelnen unter allgemeine Gesetze zu bringen. Der Glanz in den Staaten der dritten Unterrasse beruhte darauf, daß gemeinsame Erinnerungen Ordnung und Harmonie bewirkten. In der sechsten mußte durch ausgedachte Gesetze diese Ordnung bewirkt werden. So hat man in dieser sechsten Unterrasse den Ursprung von Rechts- und Gesetzesordnungen zu suchen. — Und während der dritten Unterrasse geschah die Absonderung einer Menschengruppe nur, wenn sie gewissermaßen dadurch aus ihrem Gemeinwesen hinausgedrängt wurde, weil sie sich innerhalb der durch Erinnerung vorhandenen Zustände nicht mehr wohl fühlte. In der sechsten war das wesentlich anders. Die berechnende Denkkraft suchte das Neue als solches, sie spornte zu Unternehmungen und Neugründungen. Daher waren die Akkadier ein unternehmungslustiges Volk, zur Kolonisation geneigt. Insbesondere mußte der Handel der jung aufkeimenden Denk- und Urteilskraft Nahrung geben.
[ 21 ] Bei der siebenten Unterrasse (den Mongolen) bildete sich ebenfalls die Denkkraft aus. Aber es blieben bei ihnen Eigenschaften der früheren Unterrassen, namentlich der vierten, in viel stärkerem Maße vorhanden als bei der fünften und sechsten. Dem Sinn für die Erinnerung blieben sie treu. Und so gelangten sie zu der Überzeugung, daß das Älteste auch das Klügste sei, das, was sich am besten vor der Denkkraft verteidigen kann. Die Beherrschung der Lebenskräfte ging zwar auch ihnen verloren; aber was sich in ihnen an Gedankenkraft entwickelte, das hatte selbst etwas von dem Naturgewaltigen dieser Lebenskraft. Zwar hatten sie die Macht über das Leben verloren, niemals aber den unmittelbaren naiven Glauben an dasselbe. Ihnen war diese Kraft zu ihrem Gotte geworden, in dessen Auftrage sie alles taten, was sie für richtig hielten. So erschienen sie ihren Nachbarvölkern wie von dieser geheimen Kraft besessen und ergaben sich ihr selbst auch in blindem Vertrauen. Ihre Nachkommen in Asien und einigen europäischen Gegenden zeigten und zeigen noch viel von dieser Eigenart.
[ 22 ] Die in den Menschen gepflanzte Denkkraft konnte ihren vollen Wert in der Entwickelung erst erlangen, als sie einen neuen Antrieb erhielt in der fünften Wurzelrasse. Die vierte konnte doch nur diese Kraft in den Dienst dessen stellen, was ihr durch die Gabe des Gedächtnisses anerzogen war. Die fünfte gelangte erst zu solchen Lebensformen, für welche die Fähigkeit des Gedankens das rechte Werkzeug ist.
II Our Atlantean ancestors
[ 1 ] Our Atlantean ancestors were more different from present-day human beings than those who limit their knowledge entirely to the world of the senses imagine. This difference extends not only to their outward appearance, but also to their intellectual abilities. Their knowledge and also their technical arts, their whole culture was different from what can be observed today. If we go back to the earliest times of Atlantean mankind, we find a mental faculty quite different from ours. The first Atlanteans completely lacked the logical mind, the mathematical combination on which everything that is produced today is based. Instead, they had a highly developed memory. This memory was one of their most outstanding mental abilities. Unlike us, for example, they did not calculate by learning certain rules and then applying them. A "multiplication table" was something completely unknown in Atlantean times. No one had memorized that three times four is twelve. The fact that he was able to find his way in the case where he had to carry out such a calculation was due to the fact that he remembered the same or similar cases. He remembered how it was on previous occasions. One only has to realize that every time a new ability develops in a being, an old one loses its strength and sharpness. Compared to the Atlantean, the human being of today has the logical mind, the ability to combine. Memory, on the other hand, has declined. Now people think in concepts; the Atlanteans thought in images. And when an image appeared in his mind, he remembered so and so many similar images that he had already experienced. He based his judgment on this. That's why all lessons were different back then than in later times. It was not calculated to equip the child with rules, to sharpen his mind. Rather, life was presented to him in vivid images so that he could later remember as much as possible when he had to act in this or that situation. When the child was grown up and came out into life, he could remember in everything he had to do that something similar had been shown to him during his apprenticeship. He found his way best when the new case was similar to something he had already seen. Under completely new conditions the Atlantean was always dependent on trial and error, whereas today's man is spared much in this respect because he is equipped with rules. He can easily apply these even in cases that he has not yet encountered. Such an educational system gave the whole of life something uniform. For very long periods of time, things were done in the same way over and over again. The faithful memory did not allow anything to emerge that would even remotely resemble the rapidity of our progress today. People did what they had always "seen" in the past. One did not think; one remembered. An authority was not someone who had learned a lot, but someone who had experienced a lot and could therefore remember a lot. It would have been impossible for anyone in the Atlantean era to have had to decide on any important matter before reaching a certain age. People only trusted those who could look back on long experience.
[ 2 ] The above does not apply to the initiates and their schools. For they are ahead of the degree of development of their age. And admission to such schools is not determined by age, but by whether the person to be admitted has acquired the ability to absorb higher wisdom in his earlier incarnations. The trust placed in the initiates and their agents during the Atlantean period was not based on the wealth of their personal experience, but on the age of their wisdom. With the Initiate, personality ceases to have meaning. He is entirely at the service of eternal wisdom. Therefore, the characteristics of any period of time do not apply to him.
[ 3 ] While the (especially earlier) Atlanteans still lacked the power of logical thought, they had something in the highly developed power of memory that gave their entire work a special character. But the essence of one human power is always connected to others. Memory is closer to the deeper natural basis of man than the power of understanding, and in connection with it other powers were developed which were even more similar to those of subordinate natural beings than the present human operating powers. Thus the Atlanteans were able to control what is called life force. Just as today the power of heat is extracted from coal and transformed into the motive power of our means of transportation, so the Atlanteans knew how to put the seed power of living beings at their technical service. You can get an idea of what was going on here from the following. Think of a grain seed. A power lies dormant in it. This power causes the stalk to sprout from the seed. Nature can awaken this power dormant in the grain. The present human being cannot. Arbitrarily. He must lower the grain into the earth and leave the awakening to the forces of nature. The Atlantean could do something else. He knew how to convert the power of a heap of grain into technical power, just as the present man is able to convert the heat-power of a heap of coal into such a power. Plants were not built in the Atlantean age merely to be used as food, but to harness their dormant powers for the purposes of transportation and industry. Just as we have devices for transforming the power dormant in coal into motive power in our locomotives, the Atlanteans had devices which they heated - so to speak - with plant seeds, and in which the life force was transformed into technically utilizable power. This is how the Atlanteans' vehicles, which hovered low above the ground, were propelled. These vehicles traveled at a height lower than the height of the mountains of the Atlantean era, and they had steering devices that allowed them to rise above these mountains.
[ 4 ] It must be imagined that with the passage of time all conditions on our earth have changed greatly. The Atlantean vehicles mentioned would be completely useless in our time. Their usability was based on the fact that at that time the air envelope surrounding the Earth was much denser than it is today. Whether one can easily imagine such a greater density of air according to today's scientific concepts should not concern us here. Science and logical thinking, by their very nature, can never decide anything about what is possible or impossible. They can only explain what has been established by experience and observation. And the discussed density of the air is as certain for occult experience as only any sensually given fact of today can be. - But equally certain is the fact, perhaps even more inexplicable to today's physics and chemistry, that the water on the whole earth was much thinner than it is today. And because of this thinness, the water could be directed by the seed power used by the Atlanteans into technical services that are impossible today. The compression of the water has made it impossible to move and direct it in such an artful way as was possible in the past. It is clear from this that the civilization of the Atlantean period was very different from ours. And it will be further understood from this that the physical nature of an Atlantean was also quite different from that of a contemporary human being. The Atlantean enjoyed a water that could be processed by the life force inherent in his own body in a completely different way than is possible in today's physical body. And that is why the Atlantean was able to use his physical powers in a completely different way than the human being of today. He had, so to speak, the means to increase the physical forces within himself when he needed them for his activities. You only get the right idea of the Atlanteans if you know that they also had completely different concepts of fatigue and energy consumption than modern man.
[ 5 ] An Atlantean settlement - as is clear from all that has been described - had a character that in no way resembled that of a modern city. In such a settlement, everything was still in harmony with nature. There is only a faintly similar picture when one says: In the first Atlantean times - approximately up to the middle of the third sub-race - a settlement resembled a garden in which the houses were built up from trees that were intertwined with their branches in an artificial way. What was created by human hands at that time grew out of nature, as it were. And man himself felt completely related to nature. That is why his social sense was quite different from that of today. After all, nature is common to all people. And what the Atlanteans built on the basis of nature they regarded as common property, just as today's man thinks only naturally when he regards what his ingenuity, his intellect, develops as his private property.
[ 6 ] Whoever familiarizes himself with the idea that the Atlanteans were endowed with such spiritual and physical powers as have been described will also learn to understand that in even earlier times mankind presents an image that is only slightly reminiscent of what we are accustomed to seeing today. And not only people, but also the nature surrounding them has changed enormously over the course of time. The forms of plants and animals have changed. The whole of earthly nature has undergone changes. Previously inhabited areas of the earth have been destroyed; others have emerged. - The ancestors of the Atlanteans lived on a part of land that had disappeared, the main area of which was south of present-day Asia. In theosophical writings they are called the Lemurians. After passing through various stages of development, most of them fell into decay. They became stunted humans whose descendants still inhabit certain parts of the earth today as so-called wild peoples. Only a small part of Lemurian mankind was capable of further development. These became the Atlanteans. - Something similar happened again later. The largest mass of the Atlantean population fell into decay, and from a small part descended the so-called Aryans, to whom our present cultural humanity belongs. Lemurians, Atlanteans and Aryans are, according to the designation of secret science, root races of mankind. If we imagine two such root races preceding the Lemurians and two following the Aryans in the future, there are seven in all. One always emerges from the other in the way that has just been indicated with regard to Lemurians, Atlanteans and Aryans. And each root race has physical and spiritual characteristics that are quite different from those of the previous one. While the Atlanteans, for example, developed memory and all that is connected with it, it is incumbent upon the Aryans in the present day to develop the power of thought and all that belongs to it. 1The next communication will refer to the characteristics and life of the Lemurians and the development of the Aryans up to our time. This will be followed by further information on the development of the world and humanity.
[ 7 ] But also in each root race itself different stages must be passed through. And there are always seven of them. At the beginning of the period belonging to a root race, the main characteristics of the same are found in a youthful state, as it were; and gradually they reach maturity and finally also decay. Thus the population of a root race is divided into seven sub-races. However, one should not imagine that a sub-race would immediately disappear when a new one develops. Each one may survive for a long time if others develop alongside it. In this way, there are always populations living side by side on Earth that show different stages of development.
[ 8 ] The first Atlantean sub-race developed from a very advanced and evolved part of the Lemurians. In these, the gift of memory only appeared in the very early stages and only in the last period of their development. One must imagine that a Lemurian could indeed form ideas of what he experienced; but he could not retain these ideas. He immediately forgot again what he had imagined. The fact that he nevertheless lived in a certain culture, for example had tools, built buildings and so on, was not due to his own imagination, but to a spiritual force within him that was, to use the word, instinctive. However, this is not the instinct of today's animals, but of a different kind.2This too will be discussed later.
[ 9 ] In theosophical writings, the first subrace of Atlanteans is called Rmoahals. The memory of this race was primarily focused on vivid sensory impressions. Colors that the eye had seen, sounds that the ear had heard, had a long-lasting effect on the soul. This was expressed in the fact that the Rmoahals developed feelings that their Lemurian ancestors did not yet know. Attachment to what has been experienced in the past, for example, is one of these feelings.
[ 10 ] The development of language also depended on the development of memory. As long as man did not preserve the past, there could be no communication of what he had experienced through language. And because the first beginnings of a memory took place in the last Lemurian period, the ability to name what was seen and heard could also begin at that time. Only people who have a memory can do something with a name that is attached to something. The Atlantean period is therefore also the period in which language found its development. And with language a bond was created between the human soul and things other than man. The latter produced the sound word within himself; and this sound word belonged to the objects of the outside world. And a new bond is also created between man and man through communication by means of language. All this was still in a youthful form among the Rmoahals; but it nevertheless distinguished them in a profound way from their Lemurian forefathers.
[ 11 ] Now the powers in the souls of these first Atlanteans still had something natural about them. In a sense, these humans were even more related to the natural beings around them than their successors. Their soul forces were even more natural forces than those of present-day humans. Thus the sound they produced was also something natural. They did not merely name things, but in their words lay a power over things and also over their fellow men. The words of the Rmoahals not only had meaning, but also power. When one speaks of the magic power of words, one is hinting at something that was far more real for these people than for the present. When the Rmoahals pronounced a word, this word developed a power similar to that of the object it denoted. It is because of this that words at that time had healing power, that they could promote the growth of plants, tame the rage of animals, and similar effects. All this became less and less powerful in the later Atlantean sub-races. One could say that the natural abundance of strength was gradually lost. The Rmoahals perceived this abundance of strength as a gift of mighty nature; and their relationship to nature had a religious character. Language in particular had something sacred for them. And the misuse of certain sounds, which had a significant inherent power, was something impossible. Every human being felt that such misuse would bring him tremendous harm. The magic of such words would have turned into its opposite; what, used in the right way, would have brought blessing, would, if used sacrilegiously, have become a ruin to the originator. In a certain innocence of feeling, the Rmoahals attributed their power not so much to themselves as to the divine nature at work within them.
[ 12 ] This became different with the second subrace (the so-called Tlavatli peoples). The people of this race began to feel their personal worth. Ambition, which was a trait unknown to the Rmoahals, made itself felt among them. The memory carried over in a certain sense to the concept of living together. Those who could look back on certain deeds demanded recognition from their fellow human beings. He demanded that his works be kept in memory. And it was also based on this memory of deeds that a group of people belonging together chose one person as their leader. A kind of royal dignity developed. Indeed, this recognition was preserved until after death. The memory, the memory of the ancestors or of those who had earned merit in life, developed. And this gave rise to a kind of religious veneration of the deceased among individual tribes, a cult of ancestors. This continued into much later times and took on a wide variety of forms. Even among the Rmoahals, man was only valid to the extent that he was able to assert himself at the moment through his power.3The following information in connection with the life of the Lemurians will shed light on the relationship between the leading, ruling entities at the time of the Rmoahals. If someone wanted recognition for what he had done in earlier days, he had to show - through new deeds - that he still possessed the old power. In a sense, he had to recall the old through new works. What he had done as such still counted for nothing. Only the second sub-race reckoned with the personal character of a man to such an extent that they took his past life into account when estimating this character.
[ 13 ] A further consequence of the power of memory for human coexistence was the fact that groups of people formed which were held together by the memory of common deeds. Previously, such group formation was entirely determined by the forces of nature, by common descent. Through his own spirit, man added nothing to what nature had made of him. Now a powerful personality recruited a number of people to a common enterprise, and the memory of this common work formed a social group.
[ 14 ] This kind of social coexistence only really developed among the third sub-race (the Toltecs). The people of this race were therefore the first to establish what can be called a polity, the first type of state formation. And the leadership, the government of these communities passed from the ancestors to the descendants. What had previously lived on only in the memory of fellow human beings was now passed on from father to son. The works of the ancestors were not to be forgotten by the whole generation. What the ancestor had done was still valued in the descendants. You just have to realize that in those times people really did have the power to pass on their gifts to their descendants. Education was, after all, calculated to model life in vivid images. And the effect of this education was based on the personal power that emanated from the educator. He did not hone intellectual powers, but gifts of a more instinctive nature. Through such a system of education, the father's ability really did pass to the son in most cases.
[ 15 ] Under such conditions, personal experience became more and more important among the third subrace. When one group of people separated from another, they brought with them the living memory of what they had experienced in the old locality to establish their new community. But at the same time, there was something in this memory that they did not find appropriate for themselves, in which they did not feel comfortable. She then tried something new in relation to it. And so, with each new foundation, conditions improved. And it was only natural that the better things were imitated. These were the facts that led to the flourishing communities described in theosophical literature during the time of the third sub-race. And the personal experiences that were made were supported by those who were initiated into the eternal laws of spiritual development. Powerful rulers themselves received initiation so that personal efficiency would have full support. Through his personal efficiency man gradually makes himself capable of initiation. He must first develop his powers from below so that enlightenment can then be granted to him from above. This is how the initiated kings and leaders of the Atlanteans came into being. Enormous power was in their hands; and great was also the reverence in which they were held.
[ 16 ] But this fact was also the reason for their decline and decay. The development of the power of memory led to the fullness of power of the personality. The human being wanted to achieve something through this fullness of power. And the greater the power became, the more he wanted to exploit it for himself. The ambition that had developed became outright selfishness. And with it came the abuse of power. If you consider what the Atlanteans were able to do by mastering the life force, you will realize that this abuse must have had enormous consequences. A vast power over nature could be put at the service of personal self-love.
[ 17 ] This happened in full measure through the fourth subrace (the Ur-Turanians). The members of this race, who were taught to master the aforementioned powers, often used them to satisfy their willful desires and cravings. Used in this way, however, these powers destroy each other in their effect. It is as if a person's feet stubbornly moved forward while his upper body wanted to move backwards.
[ 18 ] This destructive effect could only be stopped by the development of a higher power in man. And that was the power of thought. Logical thinking has a restraining effect on selfish personal desires. We have to look for the origin of this logical thinking in the fifth sub-race (the Ursemites). People began to go beyond the mere memory of the past and to compare the various experiences. The power of judgment developed. And according to this power of judgment, desires and cravings were regulated. One began to calculate, to combine. We learned to work in our thoughts. In the past, people surrendered to every desire, but now they first asked whether the thought could also approve the desire. If the people of the fourth sub-race rushed wildly to satisfy their desires, those of the fifth began to listen to an inner voice. And this inner voice has a curbing effect on desires, even if it cannot destroy the demands of the selfish personality.
[ 19 ] So the fifth sub-race has transferred the impulses to act into the human inner being. The human being wants to decide within himself what he should or should not do. But what was thus gained in the inner power of thought was lost in the mastery of external forces of nature. With this combining thinking one can only conquer the forces of the mineral world, not the life force. The fifth sub-race thus developed thinking at the expense of mastery over the life force. But it was precisely in this way that it produced the germ for the further development of humanity. No matter how great the personality, the self-love, even the selfishness may become, mere thinking, which works entirely within and can no longer give orders directly to nature, is not capable of producing such devastating effects as the misused earlier forces. From this fifth sub-race the most gifted part was selected, and this lived over the decline of the fourth root-race and formed the germ of the fifth, the Aryan race, which has as its task the complete development of the thinking power with all that belongs to it. 4How this development of the thinking power takes place in the fifth root race, and what significance the present human race has within it, will be shown in the following messages.
[ 20 ] The people of the sixth sub-race (the Akkadians) developed the thinking power even further than the fifth. They differed from the so-called proto-Semites in that they utilized this faculty in a more comprehensive sense than the latter. - It has been said that while the development of the thinking power did not allow the claims of the selfish personality to produce the disastrous effects which were possible in the earlier races, it did not destroy these claims. The primitive Semites at first regulated their personal relations in such a way as their power of thought dictated. Prudence took the place of mere desires and appetites. Other living conditions emerged. Whereas previous races were inclined to recognize as leaders those whose deeds were deeply imprinted in their memory or who could look back on a life of rich remembrance, such a role was now accorded to the smart. And whereas before, what lived in good memory was decisive, now the best was considered to be that which best illuminated the mind. Under the influence of memory, people used to hold on to something until it was found to be inadequate, and then in the latter case it was self-evident that the person who was able to remedy a deficiency would succeed with an innovation. Under the influence of the power of thought, however, a craving for innovation and change developed. Everyone wanted to implement what his wisdom dictated. Troubled conditions therefore begin among the fifth sub-race, and in the sixth they lead to the feeling of the need to bring the wayward thinking of the individual under general laws. The splendor in the states of the third sub-race was based on the fact that common memories brought about order and harmony. In the sixth, this order had to be brought about by thought-out laws. Thus it is in this sixth sub-race that one must look for the origin of legal and statutory orders. - And during the third sub-race the segregation of a group of people only happened when they were, as it were, pushed out of their community because they no longer felt comfortable within the conditions existing through memory. In the sixth it was essentially different. The calculating power of thought sought the new as such, it spurred on undertakings and new foundations. The Akkadians were therefore an enterprising people, inclined to colonization. Trade in particular had to feed the young, burgeoning power of thought and judgment.
[ 21 ] The seventh sub-race (the Mongols) also developed the power of thought. But they retained characteristics of the earlier sub-races, especially the fourth, to a much greater extent than the fifth and sixth. They remained true to their sense of memory. And so they came to the conviction that the oldest was also the cleverest, that which could best defend itself against the power of thought. The mastery of the forces of life was lost to them too, but the power of thought that developed in them had something of the natural power of this force of life. Although they had lost the power over life, they had never lost their immediate naive belief in it. This force had become their god, on whose behalf they did everything they thought was right. Thus they appeared to their neighboring peoples as if possessed by this secret power and also submitted to it themselves in blind trust. Their descendants in Asia and some European regions showed and still show much of this peculiarity.
[ 22 ] The thinking power planted in man could only attain its full value in development when it received a new impulse in the fifth root race. The fourth could only put this power at the service of what it had inherited through the gift of memory. The fifth only arrived at such forms of life for which the faculty of thought is the right tool.