An Esoteric Cosmology
GA 94
12 June 1906, Paris
XVI. Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Human Will
In a preceding lecture we went back in human evolution to the time when the division of the sexes occurred. This moment is in itself the climax of a long cosmic preparation. After the night which separated the phase of the ancient moon from the terrestrial phase, the earth to begin with appeared combined with the forces of the present sun and moon. They formed but one body which, little by little, became differentiated thus giving birth to the three bodies as we now know them. The present division of the sexes is the result of the separation between the moon forces and the earthly forces. The feminine forces of reproduction have remained under the influence of the moon. The moon still rules over the forces of propagation both in man and animal. Thus occult knowledge reveals the forces that are at play in the planetary system.
At the time when the sun was still united both with the earth and the moon, neither plants nor animals nor human beings existed as we know them today. In fact, only a plant kingdom existed then but under totally different conditions from our own. This kingdom preserved a particular connection with the forces of the sun similar to that of the animal with the moon and of man with the earth. As long as the sun was united with the earth-moon, the plants directed their blossoms toward the center of the globe; when the sun separated off they oriented themselves in accordance with it and directed their flowers heavenward. We have seen in an earlier lecture (XI) that the plants have thus adopted an inverted position in relation to man; both manifest themselves in the vertical whereas the animal is found to be half way between the human orientation and that of the plant world. The spinal column of the animal is in the horizontal. It is by means of the gradual separation of the three heavenly bodies that the different kingdoms on earth have become as we now know them: the plant kingdom at the time of the separation of the sun, the animal when the separation of the moon occurred. The pristine composition of these forces contained in germ what was later to take on physical manifestation. Let us imagine a substance which is heated to a high temperature and then cooled; one would then see the various elements which it contains taking on form.
At the time of the ancient moon we also find the solar forces which during a certain period are concentrated in a celestial body outside the moon. The moon was revolving around the ancient sun but in such a manner that it always turned the same side to the sun; the orbit of the moon around the earth is a continuation of the motion formerly described around the ancient sun. These bodies, both at the beginnings and at the end of this cosmic period, became one—just as the earth, the moon and the sun were united at the beginning of earth evolution and will again be united at the end. These two ancient cosmic bodies would never have been able to be active in evolution had they not recast their forces after their separation. The moon, during the time it was separated from the sun, developed in such a way that forces were engendered which later made it possible for a third body to appear. In fact, it was during this separation that man was able to develop within himself what later took on physical embodiment and gave him the possibility of developing objective, waking consciousness on earth.
The period which preceded the lunar one is referred to as the solar. At this time of evolution everything was pure solar life. Occultism sees the sun as a fixed star which had previously been a planet and similarly it recognizes the earth as a planet destined to become the sun of a future cosmic system. During the solar period, man was only endowed with a consciousness akin to that of dreamless sleep.
Yet another state preceded the solar period; at that time the sun was not even a planet. The human being was only endowed with a deep trance consciousness or deep sleep. He was not yet the being of light which he would become on the ancient sun; he simply vibrated like a tone in the pure harmony of this Saturn period, but it should be noted that our present Saturn has nothing to do with this condition.
After our earthly period of clear physical consciousness, a fifth condition will dawn of conscious astral imagination during a period known as Jupiter. This will be followed by a period of Venus where we shall become conscious of what today is the unconsciousness of sleep. Finally, a period of Vulcan will come into being which corresponds to the highest state of consciousness which can be attained by an initiate.
But this does not exhaust the relationships of the earth and the planets. We in fact can divide our present terrestrial stage into two parts. During the first it came about that our blood is red. What has given us our red blood? During the separation of the earth and the sun, this globe composed of fluid substance was shot through by other fluid forces emanating from the planet Mars. Before this passage of Mars not the slightest trace of iron existed on this earth. In fact, that is a result of this passage; all substances containing iron such as our blood have been subjected to the influence of Mars. Mars has colored the substance of the earth. And the appearance of red blood is the result of its influence. That is why the first half of earth evolution is referred to as the period of Mars.
At that time, iron was a fluid substance and the metals only hardened later on. Mercury is the only metal which has not solidified. When this will have happened the soul of man will have become totally independent of the physical body and astral imaginative vision will have become conscious. This fact is connected with the forces of Mercury which influence the second part of Earth evolution during which they will densify and finally become solid. The Earth is both Mars and Mercury. And it is this which Initiates have woven into our language by indicating that the days of the week belong to the planets of our evolution: Mars and Mercury are placed between the Moon and Jupiter.
The Interior of the Earth
Physical science as yet only knows of the terrestrial crust, a mineral layer which in fact is only like a thin skin at the surface of the earth. In reality the earth consists of a succession of concentric layers which we shall now describe:
1) The mineral layer contains all the metals which are found in the physical bodies of everything that lives at the surface. This crust is formed like a skin around the living being of the earth. It is only a few miles in depth.
2) The second layer can only be understood if we envisage a substance which is the very opposite of what we know. It is negative life, the opposite of life. All life is extinguished there. Were a plant or an animal plunged into it, it would be destroyed immediately. It would be totally dissolved. This second shell—half liquid—which envelopes the earth is truly a sphere of death.
3) The third layer is a circle of inverted consciousness. All sorrow appears there as joy. And all joy is experienced as sorrow. Its substance, composed of vapors, is related to our feelings in the same negative manner as the second layer is in regard to life. If we now abstract these three layers by means of our thinking, we would then find the earth in the condition in which it was before the separation of the moon. If one is able by means of concentration to attain a conscious astral vision, one would then see the activities in these two layers: the destruction of life in the second and the transformation of feelings in the third.
4) The fourth layer is known as water-earth, soul-earth, or form-earth, It is endowed with a remarkable property. Let us imagine a cube and now picture it reversed inasmuch as its substance is concerned. Where there was substance there is now nothing: the space occupied by the cube would now be empty while its substance, its substantial form, would now be spread around it; hence the term ‘earth of form.’ Here this whirlwind of forms, instead of being a negative emptiness, becomes a positive substance.
5) This layer is known as the earth of growth. It contains the archetypal source of all terrestrial life. Its substance consists of burgeoning, teeming energies.
6) This fire-earth is composed of pure will, of elemental vital forces—of constant movement—shot through by impulses and passions, truly a reservoir of will forces. If one were to exert pressure on this substance it would resist.
If now again in thought one were to abstract these last three layers just described, one would arrive at the condition in which our globe was when Sun, Moon and Earth were still interwoven.
The following layers are only accessible to a conscious observation which is not only that of dreamless sleep but a conscious condition in deep sleep.
7) This layer is the mirror of the earth. It is similar to a prism which decomposes everything that is reflected in it and brings to expression its complementary aspect; seen through an emerald it would appear red.
8) In this layer everything appears fragmented and reproduced to infinity. If one takes a plant or a crystal and one concentrates on this layer the plant or the crystal would appear multiplied indefinitely.
9) This last layer is composed of a substance endowed with moral action. But this morality is the opposite of the one that is to be elaborated on the earth. Its essence, its inherent force, is one of separation, of discord, and of hate. It is here in the hell of Dante that we find Cain the fratricide. This substance is the opposite of everything which among human beings is good and worthy. The activity of humanity in order to establish brotherhood on the earth diminishes the power of this sphere. It is the power of Love which will transform it inasmuch as it will spiritualize the very body of the Earth. This ninth layer represents the substantial origin of what appears on earth as black magic, that is, a magic founded on egoism. (See diagram)
These various layers are connected by means of rays which unite the center of the earth with its surface. Underneath the solid earth there are a large number of subterranean spaces which communicate to the sixth layer, that of fire. This element of the fire-earth is intimately connected with the human will. It is this element which has produced the tremendous eruptions that brought the Lemurian epoch to an end. At that time the forces which nourish the human will went through a trial which unleashed the fire catastrophe that destroyed the Lemurian continent. In the course of evolution this sixth layer receded more and more toward the center and as a result volcanic eruptions became less frequent. And yet they are still produced as a result of the human will which, when it is evil and chaotic, magnetically acts on this layer and disrupts it. Nevertheless, when the human will is devoid of egoism, it is able to appease this fire. Materialistic periods are mostly accompanied and followed by natural cataclysms, earthquakes, etc. Growing powers of evolution are the only alchemy capable of transforming, little by little, the organism and the soul of the earth.
The following is an example of the relationship that exists between the human will and telluric cataclysms: in human beings who perish as a result of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions one notices, during their next incarnation, inner qualities which are quite different. They bring from birth great spiritual pre-dispositions because, through their death, they were brought in touch with forces which showed them the true nature of reality and the illusion of material life.
One has also noticed a relationship between certain births and seismic and volcanic catastrophes.
During such catastrophes materialistic souls incarnate, drawn sympathetically by volcanic phenomena—by the convulsions of the evil soul of the earth. And these births can in their turn bring about new cataclysms because reciprocally the evil souls exert an exciting influence on the terrestrial fire. The evolution of our planet is intimately connected with the evolution of the forces of humanity and civilizations.

The Interior of the Earth:
- Mineral crust
- Negative life
- Inverted Consciousness
- Circle of forms
- Circle of growth
- Circle of fire
- Circle of decomposition
- Circle of fragmentation
- Ego-centric-egoism
Kosmogonie XVI
In einer vorhergehenden Stunde sind wir in der menschlichen Evolution zurückgegangen bis zur Geschlechtertrennung. Dieser Punkt der Entwickelung ist das Ergebnis einer langen kosmischen Vorbereitung. Nach der Nacht, welche die alte Mondenentwickelung von der Erdenentwickelung schied, erschien die Erde zunächst gemischt aus den Kräften der heutigen Sonne und des heutigen Mondes. Sie bildeten einen einzigen Körper, der sich nach und nach differenzierte und die drei Körper, die wir heute kennen, aus sich gebar. Die Trennung in die Geschlechter ist das Ergebnis der Teilung in die Monden- und in die Erdenkräfte. Die weiblichen Reproduktionskräfte sind unter dem Einfluß des Mondes geblieben. Der Mond bleibt gebunden an dasjenige, was auf der Erde beim Menschen und bei den Tieren das Fortpflanzungsleben regelt. So enthüllen uns die Kenntnisse, die uns der Okkultismus verschafft, welche Wirkenskräfte im Planetensystem im Spiele sind.
Als die Sonne noch mit der Erde und mit dem Mond verbunden war, gab es weder Pflanzen noch Tiere noch Menschen im eigentlichen Sinn des Wortes. Einzig das Pflanzenreich existierte, jedoch in einer ganz anderen Art als heute. Es hat eine besondere Beziehung zu den Sonnenkräften bewahrt, entsprechend der Beziehung des Tieres zum Monde und des Menschen zur Erde. Solange die Sonne mit der Mond-Erde verbunden war, richteten die Pflanzen ihre Blüten hin zum Mittelpunkt des Planeten. Als sie sich entfernte, orientierten sie sich nach ihr und richteten ihre Blüten zu ihr hin. Wir haben gesehen, daß die Pflanzen eine dem Menschen entgegengesetzte Haltung einnehmen, indem sie sich zwar, wie er selbst, vertikal aufrichten, aber in umgekehrter Richtung, während das Tier sich in der Mitte zwischen der Orientierung des Menschen und derjenigen der Pflanzen befindet: Seine Wirbelsäule verläuft horizontal. In dem Maße, als sich die drei Himmelskörper trennten, haben die drei Naturreiche auf der Erde die Verhaltensweise angenommen, die wir kennen: das Pflanzenreich zur Zeit der Sonnentrennung, das Tierreich zur Zeit der Mondentrennung. In der ursprünglichen Zusammensetzung der Kräfte war im Keim alles enthalten, was in der Folgezeit in physischem Aspekt zutage trat. Man stelle sich eine Substanz vor, die bis zu einem hohen Hitzegrad gebracht und dann erkaltet ist; man sieht dann, wie alle Elemente, die sie enthielt, Form annehmen.
Zur Zeit des alten Mondes finden wir gleichfalls die Sonnenkräfte, die in einer bestimmten Epoche in einem außerhalb dieses Mondes befindlichen Gestirn konzentriert sind. Der Mond drehte sich um diese alte Sonne, und zwar so, daß er ihr immer die gleiche Seite zuwandte. Die Mondrotation um die Erde ist eine Fortsetzung dieser Bewegung, wie sie einstmals um die alte Sonne vollführt wurde. Diese beiden Gestirne verbanden sich am Anfang und am Ende dieser kosmischen Periode auf dieselbe Weise wie sich die Erde, der Mond und die Sonne am Anfang der Erdperiode miteinander verbanden und sich am Ende wiederum vereinigen werden. Niemals hätte die Wirksamkeit dieser beiden alten Gestirne in der Evolution zutage treten können, wenn sie nicht nach der Trennung ihre Kräfte umgeschmolzen hätten. Was der Mond entwickelt hat, während er außerhalb der Sonne war, das sind die Kräfte, die es erlaubten, daß später ein dritter Körper erschien. Denn während dieser. Trennung konnte der Mensch dasjenige in sich entwickeln, was dazu führen sollte, daß er physische Gestalt annahm und auf Erden ein Gegenstandsbewußtsein, das Wachbewußtsein, auszubilden vermochte.
Die Periode, die dieser Mondenentwickelung vorausging, heißt die Sonnenentwickelung. Bis zu diesem Punkt der Entwickelung gibt es nämlich ausschließlich reines Sonnenleben. Die Geheimwissenschaft sieht in der Sonne einen Fixstern, der vormals ein Planet war, ebenso wie sie in der Erde einen Planeten sieht, der dazu bestimmt ist, künftig die Sonne eines Weltsystems zu werden. Während der Sonnenentwickelung hat der Mensch nur ein Bewußtsein ähnlich dem traumlosen Schlaf.
Der Sonnenperiode ging noch ein anderer Zustand voraus; die Sonne selbst war noch kein Planet. Der Mensch kannte hier nur ein tiefes Trance- oder tiefes Schlafbewußtsein. Er war noch nicht das Lichtgeschöpf, das er auf der alten Sonne werden sollte. Er vibrierte einfach als ein Ton in der reinen Harmonie dieser Saturnperiode, mit der im übrigen der heutige Saturn nichts zu tun hat.
Nach unserer Erdperiode mit dem wachen physischen Bewußtsein wird ein fünfter Zustand anbrechen, ein imaginatives Astralbewußtsein, im Verlauf einer Entwickelung, die man die Jupiterentwickelung nennt. Dann wird die Venusentwickelung folgen, in der bewußt werden wird, was heute der unbewußte Tiefschlaf ist. Endlich folgt die Vulkanentwickelung, die dem höchsten Bewußtseinszustand entspricht, den ein Eingeweihter erreichen kann.
Aber die Beziehungen der Erde und der Planeten hören damit nicht auf. Unsere gegenwärtige Erdepoche läßt sich in zwei Abschnitte teilen. Im ersten hat sich herausgebildet, was bewirkt, daß unser Blut rot ist. Was ist es, das uns dieses rote Blut gegeben hat? Zur Zeit der Trennung, die sich zwischen der Erde und der Sonne vollzog, wurde der aus leichtflüssigen Substanzen bestehende Weltkörper von den gleichfalls flüssigen Strömungen des Planeten Mars durchzogen. Vor diesem Durchgang des Mars existierte keine Spur von Eisen auf der Erde. Das Eisen war das Resultat dieses Durchgangs. Alle Substanzen, die Eisen enthalten, wie unser Blut, unterliegen dem Einfluß des Mars. Mars hat die Substanz der Erde gefärbt, und sein Einfluß hat das Erscheinen .des roten Blutes ermöglicht. Aus diesem Grunde nennt man die erste Hälfte der Erdentwickelung die Marsentwickelung.
Das Eisen war zu jener Zeit eine flüssige Substanz. Erst in der Folgezeit sind die Metalle hart geworden. Das einzige Metall, das sich noch nicht verfestigt hat, ist das Quecksilber. Wird es fest sein, so wird die Seele des Menschen unabhängig vom physischen Körper geworden sein und die astrale Imagination wird zum Bewußtsein werden können. Dieses Geschehen ist gebunden an die Kräfte des Merkur, welche die zweite Erdperiode beeinflussen, in dem Maße, als sie sich verdichten und verfestigen. Die Erde ist Mars und Merkur zugleich. Das haben die Eingeweihten in die Sprache einfließen lassen, indem sie die Tage der Woche mit den Namen der Planeten bezeichneten, die zu unserer Evolution gehören: Mars und Merkur haben ihren Platz zwischen Mond und Jupiter.
Das Erdinnere. Die physikalische Wissenschaft kennt lediglich erst die Erdrinde, die mineralische Schicht, die im Grunde nur eine dünne Haut auf der Oberfläche der Erde ist. In Wirklichkeit ist die Erde zusammengesetzt aus einer Folge konzentrischer Schichten, die wir jetzt beschreiben wollen.
Erstens: Die mineralische Schicht enthält die Metalle, deren Substanz sich im physischen Körper von alle dem befindet, was auf der Oberfläche lebt. Diese Schicht, die gleichsam eine Haut um das lebende Wesen Erde bildet, hat nur eine Stärke von einigen Meilen.
Zweitens: Die zweite Schicht versteht man nur, wenn man sich durchringt zu der Idee einer Materie, die derjenigen, die wir kennen, entgegengesetzt ist. Es ist ein negatives Leben, der Gegensatz zum Leben. Alles Leben erstirbt hier. Eine Pflanze, ein Tier, das man da hinein versenkte, würde unmittelbar vernichtet werden, aufgelöst in der Masse. Diese zweite halbflüssige Umhüllung, welche die Erde umgibt, ist in Wahrheit ein Todesbezirk.
Drittens: Die dritte Schicht ist ein Bezirk umgekehrten Bewußtseins. Jedes Leid erscheint hier als eine Freude, jede Freude als ein Leid. Ihre Substanz, aus Dämpfen bestehend, verhält sich hinsichtlich unserer Gefühle in der gleichen negativen Art wie die zweite Schicht hinsichtlich des Lebens.
Streichen wir diese drei Schichten in Gedanken, so finden wir die Erde wieder in dem Zustand, in dem sie war, bevor der Mond sich von ihr trennte. Kann man sich durch Konzentration bis zu einer bewußten astralen Vision erheben, so sieht man diese zwei Schichten in Tätigkeit: die Zerstörung allen Lebens auf der zweiten, die Umwandlung der Gefühle auf der dritten Schicht.
Viertens: Der vierte Kreis heißt Wasser-Erde, Seelen-Erde, FormErde. Er besitzt eine bemerkenswerte Eigentümlichkeit. Man stelle sich einen Würfel vor, der seiner Substanz nach umgekehrt erschiene: da, wo diese Substanz war, wäre nichts; der durch den Würfel eingenommene Raum wäre leer, aber um ihn herum wäre diese Substanz, die substantielle Form. Daher kommt dieser Name FormErde. Hier ist dieser Wirbel von Formen, anstatt eine negative Leere zu sein, eine positive Substanz.
Fünftens: Diese Schicht heißt Erde der Wachstumskräfte. Sie enthält die Ursprungsquelle des irdischen Lebens, eine Substanz knospender, reichlich sich vermehrender Energien.
Sechstens: Die sechste Schicht ist die Feuer-Erde, eine Substanz, die aus purem Willen besteht, Element des Lebens, der Bewegung, ohne Unterlaß durchzogen von Impulsen, von Leidenschaften, ein wahrhaftes Reservoir von Willenskräften. Würde man einen Druck auf diese Schicht ausüben, so würde sie Widerstand leisten und sich verteidigen.
Sieht man in Gedanken von diesen drei neuen Schichten ab, so kommt man zu dem Zustand, in dem die Weltkugel sich befand, als Sonne, Mond und Erde zusammen noch einen Körper bildeten. Die folgenden Kreise sind nur der bewußten Beobachtung nicht nur des traumlosen Schlafes, sondern sogar des Tiefschlafs oder der Trance zugänglich.
Siebentens: Dieser Kreis ist der Spiegel der Erde. Ähnlich einem Prisma zerlegt er jedes Ding, das sich darin spiegelt, und läßt das Gegenbild dazu erscheinen. Sieht man durch einen Smaragd, erscheint er rot.
Achtens: In diesem Kreise erscheint alles zerstückelt und bis ins Unendliche wiedererzeugt. Nimmt man eine Pflanze oder einen Kristall und konzentriert sich auf diesen Kreis, so erscheint darin Pflanze und Kristall ins Unendliche vervielfacht.
Neuntens: Diese letzte Schicht besteht aus einer mit moralischer Aktivität ausgestatteten Substanz, aber ihre Moralität ist entgegengesetzt derjenigen, die sich auf der Erde entfalten muß. Denn ihr Wesen, die mit ihr verbundene Gewalt, das ist: die Trennung, die Zwietracht und der Haß. Hier in der Danteschen Hölle befindet sich Kain, der Brudermörder. Diese Substanz ist entgegengesetzt allem, was unter Menschen gut und schön ist. Die Bemühung der Menschheit zur Verbreitung der Brüderlichkeit auf der Erde vermindert in entsprechendem Maße die Macht dieser Sphäre. Es ist die Macht der Liebe, die in dem Grade, wie sie sich vergeistigen wird, sogar den Leib der Erde umbilden wird. Diese neunte Schicht ist der substantielle Ursprung von dem, was auf der Erde als schwarze Magie erscheint, das heißt als Magie, die auf den Egoismus begründet ist.
Alle diese Schichten sind miteinander verbunden durch Strahlen, die den Mittelpunkt der Erde mit ihrer Oberfläche verbinden. In der äußeren Schicht, im Schoß der festen Erde, finden sich in ziemlich großer Zahl gewisse unterirdische Räume, die mit der sechsten Schicht, der Feuer-Erde, in Verbindung stehen. Dieses Element der Feuer-Erde steht in enger Verwandtschaft mit dem menschlichen Willen. Sie ist es, die jene entsetzlichen Eruptionen hervorgebracht hat, die der lemurischen Epoche ein Ende bereitet haben. Die Kräfte, die den menschlichen Willen speisen, gingen zu dieser Zeit durch eine Krise, welche die Entfesselung jener Feuergewalt herausforderte, in welcher der lemurische Kontinent unterging. Im Laufe der Entwickelung senkte sich diese sechste Schicht immer mehr gegen den Erdmittelpunkt, und aus diesem Grunde wurden die vulkanischen Eruptionen weniger zahlreich. Aber sie finden immer noch statt unter der Einwirkung des menschlichen Willens, der magnetisch auf die Erdschicht wirkt und sie in Unordnung bringt, wenn er schlecht und irregeleitet ist. Gereinigt vom Egoismus kann der menschliche Wille im Gegenteil dieses Feuer besänftigen. Insbesondere die materialistischen Epochen sind begleitet und gefolgt von Erdkatastrophen, Erdbeben und so weiter. Eine stärkere Befolgung der fortschreitenden Entwickelung ist die einzige Alchimie, die nach und nach den Organismus und die Seele der Erde verwandeln könnte.
Folgendes Beispiel zeigt die Relation zwischen dem menschlichen Willen und den Erdbewegungen: Bei den Menschen, die infolge von Erdbeben oder vulkanischen Eruptionen starben, kann man im Laufe ihrer folgenden Inkarnation ganz andere Eigenschaften beobachten. Sie bringen bei ihrer Geburt große spirituelle Veranlagungen mit, denn sie sind durch ihren Tod in Beziehung getreten zu einem Element, das ihnen das wahre Gesicht der Dinge und das Illusionäre eines bloß materiellen Lebens gezeigt hat.
Man hat auch eine Beziehung beobachtet zwischen bestimmten Geburten und den Erdbeben- und Vulkankatastrophen. In Katastrophenzeiten inkarnieren sich gerne materialistische Seelen, die sich sympathisch angezogen fühlen durch die vulkanischen Phänomene wie durch die konvulsivischen Bewegungen der böswilligen Erdseele. Und ihrerseits können diese Geburten neue Katastrophen herbeiführen. Denn umgekehrt haben die schlimmen Seelen einen erregenden Einfluß auf das Erdfeuer. Die Entwickelung unseres Planeten ist eng verbunden mit der Entwickelung der menschlichen Kräfte und der Zivilisationen.
Cosmogony XVI
In a previous lesson, we went back in human evolution to the separation of the sexes. This point in development is the result of a long cosmic preparation. After the night that separated the ancient lunar evolution from the Earth's evolution, the Earth initially appeared to be a mixture of the forces of today's Sun and Moon. They formed a single body, which gradually differentiated and gave birth to the three bodies we know today. The separation into the sexes is the result of the division into the forces of the moon and the earth. The female reproductive forces have remained under the influence of the moon. The moon remains bound to that which regulates reproductive life on Earth in humans and animals. Thus, the knowledge provided by occultism reveals to us the forces at work in the planetary system.
When the sun was still connected to the Earth and the moon, there were neither plants nor animals nor humans in the true sense of the word. Only the plant kingdom existed, but in a completely different form than today. It has retained a special relationship to the forces of the Sun, corresponding to the relationship of animals to the Moon and humans to the Earth. As long as the Sun was connected to the Moon and Earth, plants directed their flowers toward the center of the planet. When it moved away, they oriented themselves toward it and directed their flowers toward it. We have seen that plants take a position opposite to that of humans in that, like humans, they stand upright, but in the opposite direction, while animals are in the middle between the orientation of humans and that of plants: their spine runs horizontally. As the three heavenly bodies separated, the three kingdoms of nature on earth adopted the behavior we know: the plant kingdom at the time of the separation of the sun, the animal kingdom at the time of the separation of the moon. The original composition of forces contained in embryo everything that subsequently manifested itself in physical form. Imagine a substance that has been heated to a high temperature and then cooled; you will then see how all the elements it contained take shape.
At the time of the old moon, we also find the forces of the sun concentrated in a certain epoch in a celestial body outside this moon. The moon revolved around this old sun in such a way that it always faced the same side toward it. The moon's rotation around the Earth is a continuation of this movement, as it was once performed around the old sun. These two celestial bodies connected at the beginning and end of this cosmic period in the same way that the Earth, the moon, and the sun connected at the beginning of the Earth period and will reunite at the end. The effectiveness of these two ancient celestial bodies in evolution could never have come to light if they had not remolded their forces after the separation. What the moon developed while it was outside the sun are the forces that later allowed a third body to appear. For during this separation, humans were able to develop within themselves that which would lead them to take on physical form and develop an object consciousness, or waking consciousness, on earth. separation, human beings were able to develop within themselves that which would lead them to take on physical form and develop an object consciousness, or waking consciousness, on Earth.
The period that preceded this lunar development is called solar development. Up to this point in development, there is exclusively pure solar life. Secret science sees the sun as a fixed star that was formerly a planet, just as it sees the earth as a planet that is destined to become the sun of a world system in the future. During the solar evolution, human beings have only a consciousness similar to dreamless sleep.
The solar period was preceded by yet another state; the sun itself was not yet a planet. Here, humans knew only a deep trance or deep sleep consciousness. They were not yet the beings of light that they were to become on the old sun. They simply vibrated as a tone in the pure harmony of this Saturn period, which, incidentally, has nothing to do with today's Saturn.
After our Earth period with its awake physical consciousness, a fifth state will dawn, an imaginative astral consciousness, in the course of a development called the Jupiter development. Then the Venus development will follow, in which what is today unconscious deep sleep will become conscious. Finally, the Vulcan evolution will follow, corresponding to the highest state of consciousness that an initiate can attain.
But the relationships between the Earth and the planets do not end there. Our present Earth epoch can be divided into two sections. In the first, what causes our blood to be red developed. What is it that gave us this red blood? At the time of the separation that took place between the Earth and the Sun, the world body, consisting of highly fluid substances, was permeated by the equally fluid currents of the planet Mars. Before this passage of Mars, there was no trace of iron on Earth. Iron was the result of this passage. All substances containing iron, such as our blood, are subject to the influence of Mars. Mars colored the substance of the Earth, and its influence made the appearance of red blood possible. For this reason, the first half of Earth's development is called the Mars development.
Iron was a liquid substance at that time. It was only later that metals became hard. The only metal that has not yet solidified is mercury. When it becomes solid, the human soul will become independent of the physical body and astral imagination will be able to become consciousness. This event is linked to the forces of Mercury, which influence the second Earth period as they condense and solidify. The Earth is both Mars and Mercury. The initiates have incorporated this into language by naming the days of the week after the planets that belong to our evolution: Mars and Mercury have their place between the Moon and Jupiter.
The interior of the Earth. Physical science only knows the Earth's crust, the mineral layer, which is basically just a thin skin on the surface of the Earth. In reality, the Earth is composed of a series of concentric layers, which we will now describe.
Firstly, the mineral layer contains the metals whose substance is found in the physical body of everything that lives on the surface. This layer, which forms a skin around the living being that is the Earth, is only a few miles thick.
Secondly, the second layer can only be understood if one brings oneself to accept the idea of a matter that is the opposite of what we know. It is a negative life, the opposite of life. All life dies here. A plant or animal that was immersed in it would be immediately destroyed, dissolved in the mass. This second semi-liquid envelope surrounding the Earth is in truth a realm of death.
Thirdly: The third layer is a realm of reversed consciousness. Every suffering appears here as joy, every joy as suffering. Its substance, consisting of vapors, behaves in the same negative way toward our feelings as the second layer does toward life.
If we remove these three layers in our minds, we find the Earth back in the state it was in before the Moon separated from it. If one can rise to a conscious astral vision through concentration, one sees these two layers in action: the destruction of all life on the second layer, the transformation of feelings on the third layer.
Fourth: The fourth circle is called Water-Earth, Soul-Earth, Form-Earth. It has a remarkable peculiarity. Imagine a cube that appears inverted in terms of its substance: where this substance was, there would be nothing; the space occupied by the cube would be empty, but around it would be this substance, the substantial form. Hence the name Form Earth. Here, this vortex of forms, instead of being a negative void, is a positive substance.
Fifth: This layer is called Earth of Growth Forces. It contains the source of earthly life, a substance of budding, abundantly multiplying energies.Sixth: The sixth layer is the Fire Earth, a substance consisting of pure will, the element of life, of movement, incessantly permeated by impulses, by passions, a veritable reservoir of willpower. If pressure were exerted on this layer, it would resist and defend itself.
If one disregards these three new layers in one's mind, one arrives at the state in which the globe was when the sun, moon, and earth together formed one body. The following circles are accessible only to conscious observation, not only of dreamless sleep, but even of deep sleep or trance.
Seventh: This circle is the mirror of the Earth. Similar to a prism, it breaks down everything that is reflected in it and causes the opposite image to appear. If you look through an emerald, it appears red.
Eighth: In this circle, everything appears fragmented and reproduced ad infinitum. If you take a plant or a crystal and concentrate on this circle, the plant and crystal appear multiplied to infinity.
Ninth: This last layer consists of a substance endowed with moral activity, but its morality is opposite to that which must unfold on earth. For its essence, the power associated with it, is separation, discord, and hatred. Here in Dante's hell is Cain, the fratricide. This substance is opposed to everything that is good and beautiful among humans. Humanity's efforts to spread brotherhood on earth diminish the power of this sphere to a corresponding degree. It is the power of love that, to the extent that it becomes spiritualized, will even transform the body of the earth. This ninth layer is the substantial origin of what appears on earth as black magic, that is, magic based on egoism.
All these layers are connected to each other by rays that connect the center of the earth with its surface. In the outer layer, in the womb of the solid earth, there are a fairly large number of underground chambers that are connected to the sixth layer, the fire earth. This element of the fire earth is closely related to the human will. It is this element that caused the terrible eruptions that brought the Lemurian epoch to an end. The forces that feed the human will went through a crisis at that time, which provoked the unleashing of that fiery power in which the Lemurian continent perished. In the course of evolution, this sixth layer sank more and more toward the center of the earth, and for this reason volcanic eruptions became less numerous. But they still occur under the influence of the human will, which acts magnetically on the earth's layer and disrupts it when it is evil and misguided. Purified of selfishness, the human will can, on the contrary, appease this fire. Materialistic epochs in particular are accompanied and followed by earth catastrophes, earthquakes, and so on. A stronger adherence to progressive development is the only alchemy that could gradually transform the organism and soul of the Earth.
The following example illustrates the relationship between human will and earth movements: In people who died as a result of earthquakes or volcanic eruptions, one can observe completely different characteristics in the course of their subsequent incarnation. They bring with them great spiritual predispositions at birth, because through their death they have come into contact with an element that has shown them the true face of things and the illusory nature of a merely material life.
A relationship has also been observed between certain births and earthquake and volcanic disasters. In times of disaster, materialistic souls like to incarnate, attracted by volcanic phenomena and the convulsive movements of the malevolent earth soul. And these births, in turn, can bring about new catastrophes. For, conversely, evil souls have an exciting influence on the earth's fire. The development of our planet is closely linked to the development of human powers and civilizations.