Universe, Earth and Man
GA 105
10 Aug 1908, Stuttgart
Lecture VI
It belongs to the very nature of our theme that these lectures should proceed in a particular way, that we should approach our goal, as it were, in circles; that starting from the circumference we should draw ever smaller circles to reach that which we desire. Hence it may seem in the beginning as if there were no system in our observations, but by gradually approaching the inner from without we shall arrive at a right understanding of the whole.
In our last lecture we reached a point where we found that the Spirits of Form, or Exusiai as they are called in Christian esotericism, are the special regents of human earthly existence. The heart of the matter is contained in the fact that these Spirits of Form worked in the course of earthly evolution both into the substance and into the soul nature of man. At a certain point of time they reached such a high stage of development that they could no longer make use of the earth as a field of action but, drawing with them the finer forces and substances, they left the earth and formed a new field for their activities on our sun.
What do we mean when we say: “The Spirits of Form are the special regents of earthly existence?” Were these Spirits not already active in the earlier stages of development of our planet, during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon epochs? Yes, they certainly were, but they had then a different field of activity to what they have on the earth. This can be understood when we consider the facts already brought before us.
Upon Saturn the rudiments of the physical body alone existed; neither the etheric nor the astral body had as yet poured into it. Of course the Spirits of Form, of whom Jehovah is one, were active even at that time; but, to make use of a trivial expression, they had not then such a well-prepared foundation on which to work. Only through the Spirits of Wisdom giving man an etheric body on the Sun, and the Spirits of Motion giving him an astral body on the Moon, did the Spirits of Form find a sufficiently prepared human being on which they could work on earth. For only when man possessed a physical, an etheric, and an astral body within himself could the Spirits of Form give him what we now know as the human form. The form you are able to observe in your selves today existed at no earlier stage of evolution.
The conditions that were present on the Moon, Sun, and Saturn were preparatory stages; everything had first to undergo a certain development before man could rise to his present noble form. If asked why the Spirits of Form could not set to work on Saturn we must reply: because the germinal rudiments of the physical body were then too immature; a certain state of maturity had first to come about. This maturity was only reached at the time when our earth, together with the Sun, formed one planet of a very fine substance. The Spirits of Form were even then active, working slowly and gradually at the human body. We can indicate the period when this fashioning of man came to a certain conclusion, when the human form was, in a way, finished. This was not the case in the first part of the Atlantean epoch.
If you go back to a time long before the great catastrophe swept Atlantis away we find our ancestors in a condition very different from our own. It was only about the middle of the Atlantean epoch that man received a form essentially the same as he has today. Before then his material parts were softer. We find man consisting of a soft substance having no trace of his present hard bones, nothing even so solid as cartilage. He swam in the air, which was still permeated by dense fluid; he was a kind of water being, such as certain medusae are today that can hardly be distinguished from the surrounding water. At that time the forces of man's bone structure were organized, but the bones themselves had not hardened, and the connection between the higher and the lower principles of man was very different to what it is now.
We know when man is asleep today that his physical and etheric body lie on the bed, while his astral body and ego are outside. As the etheric body is nowadays approximately the same in size and form as the physical body man is also quickly free from it when he withdraws with his astral body from the physical body. This was not so in the first part of the Atlantean epoch; the etheric body then projected on all sides beyond the physical body, especially as regards the head. The consequence of this was that when the astral body withdrew it always remained connected with the etheric body. In the case of a man of the present day, the moment the astral body leaves the physical body it has also left the etheric body. The consequence of the earlier connection between the astral body and the etheric body, when the physical vehicle had been left behind, was that during the night man had not such darkness and lack of consciousness around and in him as there is today.
At that time when outside his physical body he could perceive psycho-spiritual beings with his dim clairvoyance. It is as if when your astral body withdrew on going to sleep, and your vision was turned away from the physical world, that in its place a world appeared peopled with psycho-spiritual beings.
The early Atlanteans had no use for a solid skeleton, and as the physical body was soft it was also pliable. This is something which clairvoyant consciousness can see as having actually existed, outrageous as it may seem to the present materialistic consciousness. During the Atlantean period man had great power over the shape of his body. If he wished that a member of his body, which later became a hand, should appear differently, that it should be lengthened, for example, elastically, he could do it; he had power not only to move his limbs, but to lengthen them; he could, as it were, inflate himself. This was actually possible at the time with which we are dealing; he could stretch out and lengthen his fingers. We find this more particularly the case when we go back to the Lemurian epoch. I will ask you now to note a connection between two things. When did man lose the power to lengthen and contract his limbs? At the time the Spirits of Form had completed the construction of his form. So long as man had not received the completed physical form, the form he was to retain, other Spirits could rule him, and he could change his shape. So that if we go back to the period beyond the Atlantean epoch we find that man had no definite form, but a continually changing one. We have to realize that there came a point of time when the Spirits of Form had finished all they had to do in order to make the human form similar to their own form, for it was their own shape they gave to man.
Let us now suppose that certain human beings had not been able to wait until the point of time referred to when the Spirits of Form had finished their work. Such beings would have hardened at some earlier stage of development, their form would, to a certain extent, have ossified, thus preserving some earlier form. It was, however, necessary that the being who was to become man should keep his shape supple until the right moment came for it to assume a solid form.
Let us briefly consider a period lying very far back, for here we are dealing with vast periods of time when man's external being was of such a nature that it had constant need of the forces that worked upon it to re-model and ennoble it. Suppose that through events which we will consider later certain human beings had partly freed themselves from the ever working Forces of Form, that they were no longer so entirely pervaded by these forces as they had been; such human beings would in this case have remained at some previous stage. This actually happened; the beings which freed themselves too early and did not allow the Spirits of Form to complete their work are indeed those that most closely resemble us—the apes. They could not wait; they did not remain long enough in the bosom of those Divine beings whom we call the Spirits of Form. What occurred in the case of the apes was continually happening with other creatures; again and again some beings remained behind and became hardened in form.
It was thus that the whole range of the present animal creation arose. But if you ask: Did human beings originate from such animal forms, the answer is No. Man remained above the surface of the earth in the purer elements, and only solidified when the time was ripe for him to do so. This point of time, when man descended to earth from spiritual heights, is beautifully portrayed in the Bible in the legend of Paradise. In spite of all investigations Paradise is not to be found upon earth, but above it. Man only descended from Paradise to earth after he had received his definite form.
Let us now see what ought to have happened in the middle of the Atlantean epoch when the Spirits of Form had finished the construction of the physical body. Man should have been able to look on his environment with his senses, which would then have been perfected; he should have lived for the first time with his external physical environment. Up to that time everything about him had indefinite outlines; only then could he enter into relationship with the external world in what we may call the normal way. Only then could he have learned to distinguish himself from other objects; for he only then had a physical body which could be considered a suitable vehicle for his ego. We have already said that certain beings had remained behind at every stage of evolution. Not all of them had reached the stage they might have reached; not even all the beings whom we have called the Spirits of Form, and it is these backward beings who enter most essentially into all considerations about the evolution of man on earth.
We have already explained that besides the exalted beings working from the sun and moon there are others at an intermediate stage between man and the high Sun and Moon-Spirits; these have their home on Mercury and Venus, the celestial bodies lying between the sun and earth. The Sun-Spirits had now attained normal development, and had exactly hit off the point of time at which they were able to work in the right way.
But there were other beings between the earth and the Sun-Spirits who did not find this point of time, and because they were outside the course of normal development they were active at other times.
Let us now consider what was the result of this. We will once more consider the course of human evolution. Let us keep before us the fact that man consists of physical body, etheric body, astral body, and ego. We know that the task of the ego is to transform man's other principles; it must begin by gradually bringing the astral body under control; this means that man must learn to control his passions and impulses. A time had been appointed when the ego in the normal way should appear in man and proceed to work upon the astral body, when the astral body was to be gradually transformed and the Spirit-Self built up. The first possibility of this work of transformation was when the Spirits of Form became active in the Middle of the Atlantean epoch.
We must now try to understand the remarkable function carried out at that time by backward beings. They had not progressed far enough to assist man in the formation of the Spirit-Self, consequently they worked upon his astral body, which had not yet progressed far enough to receive the ego.
Thus, there was a time in the evolution of earthly humanity when the undeveloped astral body was exposed to the influence of these backward spiritual beings. You will understand this better if you remember that upon the Moon man had a physical, etheric, and astral body, and at that time the Spirits of Form worked normally upon his astral body, but these Beings who meanwhile had developed further now worked normally upon the ego; while the backward ones continued to work upon the astral body, as they had done during the Moon period. So that before man's ego was formed these backward but highly exalted beings worked upon his astral body. We call these beings after their leader—Luciferic beings. Two kinds of beings, therefore, worked upon man; the normally working Spirits of Form, of whom we have spoken, and these Luciferic beings who had not advanced sufficiently to be able to work upon the ego, and who already had been working on the astral body. These latter beings, therefore, retarded man's development if they had not worked upon him at the time he would in the middle of the Atlantean epoch have been sufficiently advanced for the Spirits of Form to work upon his ego.
We might now ask: Can that which the backward Spirits did to man—as compared with what the exalted normal Spirits did—be termed bad in the trivial sense? No, certainly not. If we consider the facts which clairvoyant vision is able to test we find that in reality they have accelerated human evolution. Man would have had to wait until the very last period of time for the development of certain capacities, whereas through the action of these beings he gained them earlier. Therefore, through the Luciferic beings man received certain mental qualities before the destined time, thus attaining a certain stage of mental development.
This was not wrong, but, wonderful as it may seem, something which even in a higher sense indicates an infinitely wise guidance in the progressive evolution of humanity. For, through man having attained at a lower stage certain capacities which otherwise were only destined for him in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, he came to them in an entirely different state of consciousness—one that was without self-consciousness. Man would have been tied to leading strings up to the middle of the Atlantean epoch if these backward beings had not intervened. How, then, must we regard their having remained behind? Looked at superficially, one might easily think of them as one thinks of backward students at college. These Spirits are not, however, backward on account of laziness, but the reason of their remaining behind was their willingness to sacrifice themselves. They sacrificed themselves so as to give to man the possibility of receiving the gifts of the Spirits of Form in a higher way—in a free way.
There was a long period in human evolution when through these Luciferic beings man received the first beginnings of speech and of thought, especially the memory of thought; when he received the rudimentary germ of Art and of Science; this he could not have attained previously, for he would then have acquired it merely as an instinctive activity. Through this something else came within his domain, something which, under the guidance of the Spirits of Form, would have passed him by; he was exposed to the possibility of straying from the right path—he was exposed to good and evil. Without the intervention of the Luciferic beings man would never have been exposed to this; but this also happened for the sake of freedom. Because the Luciferic beings accelerated a part of development they brought freedom to man in an earlier age. We all bear within us the seeds of the work of the Luciferic Spirits.
By the middle of the Atlantean epoch the Spirits of Form had perfected their development so far that they were capable of endowing man with what they themselves possessed. Man would have received the complete rudiments of his ego at this time if these Spirits alone had worked on him, but Luciferic beings had been active from an earlier period, and had accelerated evolution considerably; upwards on the one hand, and downwards on the other. Through this something else of great importance came about.
If evolution had proceeded without the Luciferic beings man would have attained a certain maturity by the middle of the Atlantean epoch, but without the possibility of freedom. Through no merit of his own man would have become mature enough to receive the gift of the Spirits of Form. Now that Luciferic beings had matured him earlier a certain deterioration approached him from another direction, and on this account neither the higher Sun Powers nor the forces of the Spirits of Form were able to work upon him at this period. Something of very great importance is here involved. If man had reached the middle of the Atlantean epoch merely by a higher spiritual instinct, without freedom, and, therefore, without any merit of his own, he would have been sufficiently mature for the descent to earth of that Principle which we call the Christ Principle; the Christ would have appeared then. Freedom had, however, been given to man, and he had thereby been pushed down below the stage of instinctive normal development. He had consequently now to mature by himself, so that he might later be able to receive the Christ Principle. We must clearly understand that the descent of Christ and his work was retarded by the intervention of the Luciferic beings, but through this intervention mankind was more mature when the Christ ultimately did descend.
From this we see that it was Luciferic beings who made man what he is today, and who prepared him for the great event of the descent of the Christ Principle. The Luciferic beings might have said If we leave man in such a condition that he only lives instinctively on into the Atlantean epoch he will receive the Christ Principle also instinctively. He will not be free, not mature in freedom. We will, therefore, sacrifice ourselves; we will develop in him certain capacities and qualities, thus delaying the moment when he can see the Christ.
Luciferic beings began their work as long before the middle of the Atlantean epoch as Christ appeared after it.
If we now ask, What was given to man by these Luciferic powers? What was he really able to receive in the middle of the Atlantean epoch? We must answer, “He received something which could come to him only from outside, something to which he could not yet attain through his own soul.” On this account everything which came to him from the Spirits of Form, who had worked on him previously, came in such a way that it did not flow from his own innermost being; he followed more an outer impulse; he obeyed laws.
Just as the animal has to follow instinctively the laws implanted in it, so Jehovah gave laws to man. He gave him the “law” which was then realized externally by Moses and the prophets. Meanwhile man matured, so that he could receive into himself the motives and impulses for his actions. Without participation on his part the Spirits of Form had regulated his life on earth.
Where, then, do the Spirits of Form work? They work principally where the blood speaks, in reproduction, and in all that is connected therewith.
In ancient times we find Gods and Folk spirits, or group spirits, work within the groups through the ordinances of the law. There we find that what is related by blood loves its own; it loves because love is implanted by the laws of nature; and the further back we go the more we find that all those related by blood consider themselves as belonging to one another. Everything loves that has had love implanted in it by the laws of nature, by the forces appertaining to the external form. Jehovah worked in the forces of blood relationship; hence the feeling of belonging one to another. Jehovah produced order and harmony through the relationship that is connected with the blood and those who opposed him were the Luciferic beings, who directed their strongest attacks against the principle of blood relationship. They always wished, up to the time of the coming of Christ, to centre man within his own personality; and tear him away from blood relationship. Then the Christ appears and centres man entirely within his own personality by giving him His inward power, thereby making wisdom and grace the most inward impulses of his being.
The Luciferic beings had prepared man for this through very long periods of time. Only at the time of Christ's coming was man ready for what these Luciferic beings desired. Those who uttered the words “Christus verus Luciferus,” Christ the true Lucifer, knew well what they were saying. This is an esoteric statement.
We have seen that two principles were in fact continually at work in those olden times we call pre-Christian; there was a binding principle which worked through blood relationship, and a sundering principle which sought to centre man in his own personality. We can see how the whole of humanity has been fashioned under the influence of these two principles.
Let us picture a certain stage of human evolution in the Atlantean epoch when man was approaching the time of his hardening, the time when the bone appeared. The spirits guiding man had now to take care that the bones should not harden too quickly. For a considerable length of time in Atlantean evolution the skeleton of man had to remain soft enough for it to be modified. Beings, however, as we know, remained behind at every stage, and certain groups of human beings remained behind at an early period through the bony system becoming hard too soon.
The principles worked in such a way that the principle of form prevailed, holding a group of human beings to the form they had then attained. What was the consequence? Forms may be hardened and held back, but evolution as a whole goes forward, so that forms which have thus been held back artificially arrive at a time later on to which they are no longer suited. A time came when there was less moisture in the air, when climatic conditions changed and were no longer adapted to those who had remained behind.
Groups of men in whom the bones had, as it were, become too strong, were now left behind as degenerate races. They could not adapt themselves to post-Atlantean conditions; the last remnant of these people are the American Indians; they had degenerated. There are other backward groups in whom not only the system of the bones, but also the system concerned with nutrition hardened too early, that system governed by the forces of the etheric body; while the bony system is governed by the forces of the physical body. The last remnant of those human groups in which the nutritive system hardened too soon now forms the Negroid races. Then there are those who degenerated at too early a stage through the nervous system becoming hardened and not remaining soft long enough for it to become available as an instrument of higher thought; of these the Malays are the last relic. Therefore, among them are tendencies towards certain passionate and sensuous instincts.
Lastly, we have those in whom at a certain stage the ego hardened within itself; it hardened in the blood which is the expression of the ego. We might say of these people that the ego had not progressed to Spirit-Self. Those who (to speak symbolically) are thus hardened as regards the blood have their last offshoots in the peoples of the Mongolian races. Those men who kept the above named principle supple, so that they did not remain fixed at any form, but were always able to develop further and overcome the enclosing of the ego, formed that human group that journeyed from the regions now covered by the Atlantic Ocean into those of Europe and Asia of today.
Connected with this we find the following remarkable fact: we find that several emigrations left the Atlantean continent; that they consisted of human beings who, having hardened in various ways, went in different directions; those in whom the bones had hardened journeyed westward, and their last descendants were found when America was discovered. Those whose nutritive system had hardened went principally to Africa; others (the Malays) went towards Asia. Then there are those who formed the ancestors of the Mongolian race. The last to migrate were those who dwelt in the neighbourhood of the Ireland of today; those who had kept themselves pliant the longest. These wandered from the West towards the East, and left behind them certain communities of people all over the Continent of Europe. The most advanced journeyed towards Asia, and there mixed in various ways with others who had come by different paths.
Let us now think of a period that lies not so very far behind us, an age when men possessed dim clairvoyance, and when initiates had still a very great influence; an age when there was a consciousness among men of the facts which have just been mentioned. How did this consciousness find expression?
The ancient Greeks found a people who had hardened earlier than themselves; south of them was a race which had originated through mixing with others; that had preserved the vision, the power to look backwards to a still earlier condition. When the Greek looked backwards over the course of his evolution he said to himself: I look towards Africa, and there I find in the Egyptian age advanced human beings who had been influenced by previous ages of civilization (the Babylonian-Chaldean); still earlier there was a people in this region among whom there had been a strong tendency towards hardening in regard to those qualities which reached down into the lower nature, into the principle that has to do with nutrition. Another state developed later when this people had come in contact with Asiatic emigrants. In addition to these were those who had kept themselves pliant the longest.
In the sculptured forms of his Gods the Greek idealized his knowledge regarding the evolution of man, which he saw to be the result of divinely working forces. He knew that at a very early stage certain human beings had hardened, and that others had preserved their softness and pliability. He then observed himself; he saw that in certain things he was indeed backward, but he belonged to those who had kept supple and plastic the longest. All this is wonderfully portrayed in Greek sculpture. If we examine it carefully we find three types of Gods:
- The Zeus type, to which belong the Gods grouped round Zeus.
- The Hermes or Mercury type. This was added later to the Zeus type, and was portrayed by the Greeks as an entirely distinct form. If you observe the type of hair in the case of Zeus and his kind, and, on the other hand the curly hair of Hermes, also the formation of the eyes and the position of the ears, you will see that the Greeks wished to express something different by this.
- The faun type. This type belongs to a still older humanity, and can be clearly distinguished from the Mercury type.
We here have something which the Greek wished to express in his own way. That which was south of him he expressed in the faun type. That which was in the east he associated with the Hermes type and that which might be called his own type, the race which founded the Aryan stock, he expressed in the sublime idealistic Zeus type.
Anyone who wishes can see in all these forms how beautifully the Greek accommodated that which is contained in the external form to the inward formative forces. I will point to one more detail which shows how refined the Greek artists were in their efforts to give expression, in forms of art, to the great conceptions of the world.
Observe for a moment the Asiatic type embodied in the form of Hermes. This type, because it had remained with the lower human forces, worked so that the forces which came into prominence and gave form to the face were those that ruled in the lower part of the human being. On the other hand, the forces belonging to the type of the Greek himself worked in the higher parts. This can be seen most characteristically in Zeus in the noble shape of the forehead.
The special consciousness of the Greek worked into the plastic forms of his art, and we can only understand what has been produced in the course of evolution when we follow these active forces and see how the artists formed such details as the eyes, for example. We see in this not only the minute observation of the Greek artists, but we see in the special form of that which he produced that he realized how the inner formative forces had moulded the external form. We recognize how racial peculiarities have been embodied in the figures of Greek Mythology, and we see how in the varied forms of Greek art are embodied in a unique manner those forces which work spiritually, even down to such details as the shape of an eye.
Sechster Vortrag
Die Natur unseres Themas bringt es mit sich, daß wir in einer ganz eigenartigen Weise vorgehen, daß wir uns sozusagen im Kreise unserem Ziel nähern, daß wir vom Umfange aus immer engere Kreise ziehen, um dasjenige zu erreichen, was wir erreichen wollen. Daher kann es anfangs scheinen, als ob eine innere Systematik unseren Betrachtungen fehlte. Aber gerade dadurch, daß wir uns so allmählich von außen dem Inneren nähern, werden wir zu einem richtigen Verständnis der Sache vordringen.
Wir haben vorgestern unsere Betrachtungen so weit geführt, daß uns die Geister der Form, die Exusiai, oder wie man sie in der christlichen Esoterik nennt, die Gewalten, als die eigentlichen Regenten des menschlichen Erdendaseins entgegengetreten sind. Das ist das Innere der Sache, daß im Laufe unserer Erdenentwickelung in das Materielle und auch in das Seelische herein diese Geister wirkten, die auf einer so erhabenen Stufe stehen, daß sie in einem gewissen Zeitpunkt die Erde nicht mehr zu ihrem eigenen Schauplatz brauchen konnten. Wir haben gesehen, wie sie die feinsten Kräfte und Substanzen aus der Erde herauszogen und unsere Sonne zum Schauplatz ihrer eigenen Entwickelung machten. Und ferner haben wir betrachtet, wie einer der größten Geister sich aus diesem Reiche abgespalten hat von seinen Sonnengenossen und sich ganz hingeopfert hat. Es ist dies dieselbe Gestalt, die von da an mit den Mondkräften verbunden blieb, und die in der biblischen Urkunde als Jehova bezeichnet wird. Wir haben uns also vorzustellen, daß die ganze Zeit über, als die Sonne noch mit der Erde verbunden war, hohe, erhabene Geister auch mit dem Erdendasein verbunden waren; daß dann die erhabensten Geister sich absonderten und daß einer der Genossen dieser erhabenen Gewalten zurückblieb, verbunden blieb mit der Erde bis zu dem nächsten großen kosmischen Ereignis, bis zu der Abspaltung des Mondes von der Erde. Und seit jener Zeit ist in den von außen wirkenden Mondkräften enthalten, was wir den Ausfluß, die Arbeit des Jehova nennen. So wirkten also auf unsere Erde von außen herein auf der einen Seite die hohen Sonnengeister und auf der anderen Seite Jehova mit seiner Schar, mit den ihm dienenden Geistern, und in ihrem Zusammenwirken regelten sie nunmehr die Erdenentwickelung der Menschheit, die wir jetzt näher ins Auge fassen müssen.
Was heißt das: Die Geister der Form sind die eigentlichen Regenten des Erdendaseins? Waren denn diese Geister der Form nicht auch schon in den früheren Entwickelungsstufen unseres Planeten tätig? Während der Saturn-, Sonnen- und Mondenzeit? Ja, wohl waren sie auch schon früher tätig, aber sie hatten ein anderes Wirkungsfeld als auf der Erde. Wir werden das begreifen, wenn wir einfach die uns schon vor Augen getretenen Tatsachen in Erwägung ziehen. Auf dem Saturn war ja nur die erste Anlage zum physischen Leibe vorhanden, da war noch nicht eingeströmt der Ätherleib und nicht der Astralleib. Freilich wirkten damals schon diese Geister der Form, deren einer Jehova ist; aber, wenn wir uns trivial ausdrücken dürfen, sie hatten da für ihre Wirksamkeit nicht einen so vorbereiteten Boden, Erst dadurch, daß auf der Sonne die Geister der Weisheit den Ätherleib und auf dem Monde die Geister der Bewegung den Astralleib verliehen, fanden jene Wesenheiten, die wir die Gewalten nennen, ein zubereitetes Menschenwesen. Denn erst einem Menschenwesen, das schon physischen, Ätherund Astralleib in sich hatte, konnten sie dasjenige geben, was wir heute als die menschliche Form kennen. Auf keiner früheren Entwickelungsphase war diese Form, wie Sie sie heute an sich selbst beobachten können, vorhanden; vorbereitende Stadien waren es, die auf dem Monde, der Sonne und dem Saturn vorhanden waren, und alles mußte erst eine gewisse Entwickelung erfahren, ehe der Mensch zu der edlen Menschenform emporgehoben werden konnte. Wenn wir fragen, weshalb die Geister der Form nicht auf dem Saturn eingreifen konnten, so müssen wir erwidern: weil die dort ausgebildeten Keimanlagen des physischen Leibes sozusagen noch zu jung waren; ein gewisser Reifezustand mußte erst eintreten. Und dieser Reifezustand trat erst ein, als unsere Erde vor jener Entwickelung stand, von der ich Ihnen gesprochen habe, indem ich Ihnen schilderte, wie die Erde mit der Sonne zusammen eine Art feinen substantiellen Weltenkörper bildete und dann weiter in ihrer Entwickelung fortschritt. Da waren schon die Geister der Form tätig und bearbeiteten langsam und allmählich den Menschenleib, bis er endlich die menschliche Form erlangen konnte.
Wir können auf einen Zeitpunkt hindeuten, wo diese Formgebung des Menschen einen gewissen Abschluß gefunden hat, wo sozusagen die menschliche Form in der Hauptsache fertig war. In der ersten Zeit der atlantischen Periode war das noch nicht der Fall. Wenn wir bis in die erste Zeit hinter der gewaltigen Katastrophe zurückgehen, die die alte Atlantis weggeräumt hat, so finden wir unsere Vorfahren in einem Zustand, der von unserem heutigen sehr verschieden ist. Erst in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeitepoche ungefähr gelangen wir an den Zeitpunkt, wo der Mensch in der Hauptsache seine Menschengestalt erhalten hat, wie wir sie heute kennen. Vorher war der Mensch durchaus nicht in einer solchen Weise fest wie nachher, sondern sein ganzer materieller Inhalt, wenn wir uns so ausdrücken dürfen, war weicher. In der ersten atlantischen Zeit finden wir den Menschen aus weicher Materie bestehend, die noch nichts von der heutigen Knochenhärte hatte, ja nicht einmal so fest wie Knorpel war. Der Mensch schwamm sozusagen noch herum in der noch ganz von dichten Wassern angefüllten und durchsetzten Luft, er war eine Art von Wasserwesen, in der Art, wie es heute gewisse Tiere gibt, die man kaum vom Wasser unterscheiden kann. Veranlagt war auch schon damals in den Kräften der Knochenbau, aber er war noch nicht verhärtet. Das ist die Zeit, in welcher auch noch ein ganz anderer Zusammenhang zwischen den höheren und den niederen Gliedern des Menschenwesens bestand. Erinnern wir uns noch einmal daran, daß heute, wenn der Mensch schläft, er seinen physischen und seinen Ätherleib im Bette liegen läßt, während der Astralleib und das Ich draußen sind. Da heute der Ätherleib annähernd in Form und Größe dem physischen gleicht, so ist der Mensch, wenn er sich mit seinem Astralleib aus dem physischen Leibe begibt, auch sehr bald aus dem Ätherleibe heraus. So war das nicht in der ersten atlantischen Zeit. Da ragte der Ätherleib nach allen Seiten, namentlich am Kopfe, über den physischen Leib heraus. Dieses Herausragen hatte zur Folge, daß der Astralleib, wenn er schon aus dem physischen Leibe herausgetreten war, immer noch mit dem Ätherleibe verbunden blieb. Wenn beim heutigen Menschen der Astralleib heraustritt, so hat er in demselben Augenblick, wo er den physischen Leib verlassen hat, auch den Ätherleib verlassen. Und die Folge dieser Verbindung des Astralleibes mit dem Ätherleibe, die früher noch andauerte, wenn der physische Leib schon verlassen war, bestand darin, daß der Mensch in der Nacht nicht eine solche Finsternis und Bewußtlosigkeit um und in sich hatte, wie es heute der Fall ist. Dann, wenn er aus seinem physischen Leibe heraus war, konnte er in einem dämmerhaften Hellsehen seelisch-geistige Wesenheiten wahrnehmen. Es ist so, daß, wenn Sie sich vorstellen, daß Sie einschlafen und Ihr Astralleib aus dem physischen Leibe heraustritt, daß dann Ihr Blick sich ablenkt von der physischen Welt, dafür aber Ihnen eine Welt entgegentritt, die mit seelisch-geistigen Wesenheiten bevölkert ist. Ein solcher Mensch aber konnte keinen festen physischen Leib brauchen, ein festes Knochensystem konnte er nicht brauchen; denn dadurch, daß der physische Leib weich war, war er auch beweglicher.
Und da kommen wir an etwas, was für das hellseherische Bewußtsein durchaus einmal vorhanden war, so sehr es für das heutige materialistische Bewußtsein auch ein Greuel sein mag: In der ersten atlantischen Zeit hatte der Mensch eine große Gewalt über die Gestalt seines Leibes. Denken Sie sich, der Mensch damals wollte, daß ein Glied, das später zur Hand wurde - grob ausgedrückt -, anders ausschauen sollte, daß es zum Beispiel sich verlängern sollte; dann konnte er es in der Tat elastisch verlängern, er konnte alle seine Glieder nicht nur bewegen, sondern auch elastisch dehnen, er konnte sich sozusagen aufblasen. Das war damals durchaus möglich, so sehr es auch dem heutigen materialistisch denkenden Menschen widerstrebt; er konnte die Finger weithin ausstrecken, verlängern; und besonders stark war das der Fall, wenn wir noch weiter zurückgehen, in das lemurische Zeitalter. Und jetzt werden Sie sehen, wie sich zwei Dinge zusammenschließen. Wann hat der Mensch die Fähigkeit verloren, seine Glieder auszustrecken, zu dehnen und wieder zusammenzuziehen? Als die Geister der Form fertig geworden waren mit der Ausarbeitung der Formen. Solange der Mensch die physische Form, die ihm bleiben sollte, noch nicht völlig erhalten hatte, so lange konnte er, beherrscht von anderen Geistern, seine Gestalt noch verändern. Gehen wir also in Zeiten zurück, die hinter der atlantischen Epoche liegen, so finden wir, daß die Gestalt des Menschen noch nicht abgeschlossen ist, daß der Mensch eine sich immer metamorphosierende Gestalt hat. Und wir müssen uns darüber klar sein, daß dann einmal ein Zeitpunkt gekommen ist, wo die Geister der Form fertig abgeschlossen hatten alles das, was sie zunächst zu tun hatten, um die menschliche Form ihrer eigenen Form gleich zu gestalten; denn sie gossen ja ihre eigene Gestalt hinein.
Nehmen wir nun an — und wir werden sehen, durch welche Ereignisse so etwas bewirkt worden ist -, irgendwelche Menschenwesen hätten sozusagen nicht warten können bis zu diesem Zeitpunkt, wo die Geister der Form mit ihrer Arbeit fertig waren: dann wären diese Wesen auf irgendeiner früheren Stufe erstarrt, sie wären gewissermaßen in der Form verknöchert; sie hätten eine frühere Gestalt festgehalten. Darauf aber kam es gerade an, daß dieses Wesen, das ein Mensch werden sollte, seine Form und Gestalt so lange beweglich erhielt, bis der normale Zeitpunkt für die feste Form eintreten konnte. Nehmen wir einen Zeitpunkt kurz zuvor - in Wirklichkeit liegt er allerdings weit zurück, denn es handelt sich da um lange Zeiträume. Da war das äußere Wesen des Menschen so, daß es immer noch die Kräfte brauchte, die es bearbeiteten, die es umarbeiteten, veredelten. Nehmen wir nun einmal an, durch Ereignisse, die wir später noch kennenlernen werden, hätten sich gewisse Menschenwesen losgelöst von den fort und fort wirkenden Formkräften, sie wären herausgefallen, so daß sie nicht mehr ganz von den formenden Kräften durchdrungen gewesen wären wie früher: dann wären diese Menschenwesen auf einer früheren Stufe stehengeblieben. Das ist nun in der Tat geschehen, und in diesen Wesen, die sich zu früh losgelöst haben, die uns zwar am nächsten stehen, die aber nicht lange genug auf sich wirken ließen die Geister der Form, in diesen Wesen haben wir die Affen. Sie konnten nicht warten, sie blieben nicht lange genug in dem Schoße der göttlichen Wesenheiten, die wir die Geister der Form nennen. Und das, was wir jetzt für die Affen geschildert haben, das trat immer wieder während des Erdendaseins für irgendwelche Wesenheiten ein; immer wieder blieben Wesenheiten zurück und erstarrten.
Da haben Sie die ganze Reihe der heutigen Tiere. Wenn Sie aber fragen: Stammt irgendein menschliches Wesen von solchen Tierformen? — so ist die Antwort: Nein! - Der Mensch blieb sozusagen über dem Boden der Erdoberfläche in den reinen Elementen und verdichtete sich erst, als es für ihn Zeit war. Diesen Zeitpunkt, wo der Mensch aus reinen geistigen Höhen, ohne die irdische Verdichtung zu haben, heruntergestiegen ist auf die Erde, hält die biblische Urkunde sehr schön in der Paradiesessage fest. Das Paradies liegt trotz aller Forschung gar nicht auf dem Erdboden, sondern im Umkreise der Erde. Der Mensch stieg erst später von dem Paradies auf die Erde nieder, nachdem er seine abgeschlossene Form erhalten hatte.
Nun aber machen wir uns klar, was jetzt hätte geschehen sollen in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit, damals als diese Geister der Form fertig waren mit der Ausbildung des physischen Leibes. In diesem Zeitpunkte hätte der Mensch mit seinen Sinnen, die ja dann auch fertig geworden waren, hinausblicken müssen in die Umgebung und hätte zuerst leben müssen mit seiner äußeren physischen Umgebung. Vorher war ja alles in der physischen Umgebung in unklaren Konturen vorhanden gewesen. Da erst wäre der Zeitpunkt gekommen, wo der Mensch mit der äußeren Welt sozusagen in normaler Weise in Beziehung hätte treten sollen. Dann würde in diesem Zeitpunkte der Mensch sich unterscheiden gelernt haben von seiner Umgebung, und er würde gelernt haben, Ich zu sich zu sagen, denn man kann nur dann zu sich Ich sagen, wenn man sich von den anderen Dingen unterscheiden kann. Das würde der Mensch in diesem Zeitpunkte gelernt haben. In dieser Zeit würde er einen solchen physischen Leib gehabt haben, den er einen entsprechenden Träger seines Ichs hätte nennen können.
Wir haben aber schon erwähnt, wie auf allen Stufen der Weltentwickelung gewisse Wesenheiten zurückgeblieben sind. Nicht alle Wesenheiten haben jene Stufe erlangt, daß sie in der eben beschriebenen Weise hätten wirken können, auch nicht alle Wesenheiten, die wir die Geister der Form oder Gewalten genannt haben. Und gerade die zurückgebliebenen Wesenheiten sind es, die für die menschliche Entwickelung auf der Erde ganz wesentlich in Betracht kommen.
Wir haben ja schon betrachtet, daß es außer den erhabenen Wesenheiten, die von der Sonne und dem Monde aus wirken, noch andere gibt, die auf einer Zwischenstufe stehen, auf einer Stufe zwischen den Menschen und den hohen Sonnen- und Mondgeistern, und die zu ihrem Schauplatz den Merkur und die Venus haben, jene Weltkörper, die zwischen Sonne und Erde eingestreut sind. So wie nun die Sonnengeister die normale Entwickelung erlangt hatten und genau den Zeitpunkt trafen, in dem sie in der richtigen Weise wirken konnten, so fanden diejenigen Wesen, die zwischen der Erde und den Sonnengeistern standen, diesen Zeitpunkt nicht in derselben Weise, und weil sie nicht in der normalen Entwickelung waren, griffen sie zu einer anderen Zeit ein. Und jetzt wollen wir einmal betrachten, was dadurch entstanden ist.
Wir betrachten die Menschenentwickelung noch einmal so, wie sie verlaufen ist. Stellen wir uns wieder den physischen, den Äther-, den Astralleib und das Ich vor. Nun wissen wir ja, daß das Ich dazu berufen ist, die anderen Glieder der menschlichen Wesenheit umzugestalten, daß es damit beginnen muß, nach und nach den astralischen Leib in seine Gewalt und Herrschaft zu bekommen; das heißt nichts anderes, als daß der Mensch seine Leidenschaften und Triebe beherrscht. So war also der Zeitpunkt gekommen, wo das Ich so in normaler Weise im Menschen auftreten sollte, wo es am astralischen Leibe arbeiten sollte; nach und nach sollte der astralische Leib umgewandelt, sollte das Geistselbst ausgebildet werden. Als die erhabenen Gewalten in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit eingriffen, war die erste Möglichkeit zu einer solchen Umwandlung gegeben. Jetzt werden wir verstehen, welch eine merkwürdige Aufgabe sich die zurückgebliebenen Wesenheiten stellen mußten. Sie waren nicht so weit, daß sie den Menschen bei der Ausarbeitung seines Geistselbst unterstützen konnten. Die Folge davon war, daß sie auf seinen noch nicht bis zum Ich vorgedrungenen Astralleib wirkten. Und sie wirkten auch schon vorher. Wir haben also in der Erdenmenschheitsentwickelung einen gewissen Zeitraum, wo der Astralleib, der sich noch nicht bis zum Ich heraufgestaltet hat, von diesen zurückgebliebenen geistigen Wesenheiten bearbeitet wird. Sie werden das noch besser verstehen, wenn Sie sich daran erinnern, daß der Mensch auf dem Monde physischen, Äther- und Astralleib hatte, und daß die Gewalten damals normalerweise auf den Astralleib eingewirkt haben. Diejenigen nun, die sich normal weiterentwickelt hatten, die wirkten jetzt auf das Ich, die anderen aber, die zurückgeblieben waren, wirkten nach ihrer alten Mondgewohnheit weiter auf den Astralleib. Ehe also der Mensch sein Ich ausgebildet hatte, wirkten diese zurückgebliebenen, aber hoch über den Menschen erhabenen Wesenheiten auf seinen Astralleib. Wir nennen sie nach ihrem Hauptrepräsentanten, nach ihrem Anführer die luziferischen Wesenheiten. Zwei Gattungen von Wesenheiten wirkten also auf den Menschen ein: jene normal wirkenden Geister, von denen wir das vorige Mal gesprochen haben, und diese luziferischen Wesenheiten, die es sozusagen nicht bis zu einem Wirken auf das Ich gebracht hatten, und die den menschlichen Astralleib vorher schon bearbeiteten. Und dadurch hielten diese letzteren auch den Menschen in seiner Entwickelung zurück. Hätten solche Wesen nicht auf den Menschen eingewirkt, dann wäre er in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit so weit gewesen, daß die erhabenen Gewalten auf sein Ich eingewirkt hätten.
Nun können wir fragen: Ist das, was diese zurückgebliebenen Geister an dem Menschen getan haben, gegenüber dem, was die erhabenen Gewalten an ihm taten, im trivialen Sinne als etwas Schlechtes zu bezeichnen? Nein, durchaus nicht. Wenn wir uns die Tatsache vorhalten, die der hellseherische Blick prüfen kann, dann finden wir, daß sie in Wirklichkeit sogar die Entwickelung des Menschen beschleunigt haben. Der Mensch hätte mit der Ausbildung gewisser Fähigkeiten bis zum allerletzten Zeitpunkt warten müssen, während er sie dadurch früher erlangt hat. So erhielt der Mensch durch die luziferischen Wesenheiten vor der Zeit, die ihm zugedacht war, gewisse geistige Fähigkeiten und wurde so auf eine gewisse geistige Stufe hinaufgehoben. Das ist nichts Schlimmes, sondern so sonderbar es auch erscheinen mag, sogar etwas, was im höheren Sinne eine unendlich weise Führung in der Fortentwickelung der Menschheit bedeutet. Denn dadurch, daß der Mensch auf einer niedrigen Stufe gewisse Fähigkeiten erlangt hat, die ihm sonst erst in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit zugedacht waren, trat er diesen Fähigkeiten in einer ganz anderen, selbstbewußten, freien Weise entgegen. Der Mensch wäre bis zur Mitte der atlantischen Zeit am Gängelbande geführt worden, wenn diese zurückgebliebenen Wesenheiten nicht eingegriffen hätten. Wie müssen wir daher ihr Zurückbleiben auffassen? Bei oberflächlichem Denken könnte man es leicht so auffassen, als ob sie zurückgeblieben wären, wie der Schüler im Gymnasium sitzen bleibt. Aber jene Geister sind nicht zurückgeblieben wegen ihrer Trägheit, sondern der Grund ihres Zurückbleibens war Opferwilligkeit. Um dem Menschen die Möglichkeit zu geben, die Gabe der Geister der Form in einer höheren, freien Weise zu empfangen, opferten sie sich. Wir haben einen langen Zeitraum menschlicher Entwickelung, wo der Mensch durch diese luziferischen Wesenheiten die Anfänge erhalten hat von Sprache, von Denken, namentlich von denkerischem Gedächtnis, wo er die Keimanlage zu Kunst und Wissenschaft erhalten hat. Alles das würde er, da er nur eine instinktive Tätigkeit sonst gehabt hätte, vorher nicht erlangt haben. Allerdings wurde dadurch auch etwas anderes, das sonst durch die Leitung der Geister der Form unabhängig von dem Menschen gewesen wäre, nun in seine Macht, in seine Gewalt gegeben: der Mensch wurde ausgesetzt dem Guten und dem Bösen; abzuirren vom rechten Wege, dem wurde er dadurch ausgesetzt. Ohne das Eingreifen der luziferischen Wesenheiten wäre er nie dem Guten und Bösen ausgesetzt worden, aber es wäre auch um seine Freiheit geschehen gewesen. Dadurch, daß diese Wesenheiten ein Stück der Entwickelung in eine Vorzeit hinaufgerückt haben, dadurch haben sie dem Menschen die Freiheit gegeben. Wir alle tragen in uns den Samen der Wirksamkeit dieser luziferischen Geister.
Wir müssen also sagen: In der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit sind die Geister der Form heruntergestiegen, jene Geister, die ihre Entwickelung so weit vollendet hatten, daß sie dem Menschen abgeben konnten das, was sie selbst hatten: in dieser Zeit erst würde der Mensch seine völlige Keimanlage zum Ich erreicht haben, wenn nur sie tätig gewesen wären. Nun aber sind von einem früheren Zeitpunkt an die luziferischen Wesenheiten tätig gewesen, sie haben die Entwickelung um ein bedeutsames Stück beschleunigt — nach der einen Seite herauf, nach der anderen herunter, Dadurch ist etwas anderes, Wichtiges eingetreten. Hätte sich der Fortschritt ohne die luziferischen Wesenheiten vollzogen, dann hätte der Mensch in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit einen gewissen Zustand, aber ohne die Möglichkeit der Freiheit erlangt. Ohne sein Verdienst wäre er reif geworden, die Gabe der Geister der Form zu empfangen. Da nun die luziferischen Wesenheiten ihn früher reif gemacht, war nach der anderen Richtung hin eine gewisse Verschlechterung eingetreten, und dadurch konnten in diesem Zeitpunkte nicht alle Kräfte der Geister der Form, nicht alle höheren Sonnengewalten auf ihn einwirken. Das schließt ein Wichtiges in sich. Wäre der Mensch ohne Freiheit, daher auch ohne sein Verdienst, bloß wie durch einen geistigen, höheren Instinkt in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit angekommen, er hätte die Reife gehabt, daß schon damals jenes Prinzip auf die Erde heruntergestiegen wäre, das wir das Christus-Prinzip nennen: dann wäre der Christus schon damals erschienen. So aber war die Freiheit des Menschen gegeben, der Mensch dadurch unter seine instinktive, normale Entwickelungsstufe heruntergedrängt worden, und die Folge war, daß er jetzt erst durch sich selber heranreifen mußte: so daß er also das Christus-Prinzip um dieselbe Zeit später empfangen konnte, als vorher die luziferischen Wesen eingegriffen hatten. Wir müssen uns klar sein darüber, daß das Herabsteigen und Wirken des Christus durch das Eingreifen der luziferischen Wesenheiten verzögert worden ist. Dadurch aber waren auch die Menschen in einer reiferen Form, als der Christus niederstieg.
So sehen wir, daß diese Wesenheiten es sind, die den Menschen zu dem gemacht haben, was er heute ist, die ihn vorbereitet haben auf den großen Zeitpunkt des Niederstieges des Christus-Prinzips. Sie haben sich gleichsam gesagt: Lassen wir den Menschen so, daß er in die atlantische Zeit nur instinktiv hineinlebt, dann empfängt er auch das Christus-Prinzip instinktiv, dann ist er nicht frei, nicht in Freiheit reif. Wir opfern uns und bilden in ihm gewisse Fähigkeiten aus, gewisse Eigenschaften, und verzögern den Zeitpunkt, wo er des Christus ansichtig werden kann. — Genau ebenso lange vor der Mitte der atlan"tischen Zeit haben die luziferischen Wesenheiten ihr Wirken begonnen, als nach diesem Zeitpunkte der Christus erschienen ist.
Wenn wir nun fragen: Was war der Anteil derjenigen Gewalten, die der Mensch schon hat empfangen können in der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit? — so müssen wir antworten: Es war etwas, was nur von außen herantreten konnte an den Menschen, wobei er noch nicht mit seiner eigenen Seele sein konnte. Deshalb war alles, was von den Gewalten, die schon früher wirken konnten, an den Menschen herankam, so, daß es nicht aus dem innersten Wesen des Menschen herausfloß: er folgte einem Äußeren, er gehorchte Gesetzen. Geradeso wie auch das Tier seinen Gesetzen, die ihm eingepflanzt sind, folgen muß, ganz instinktiv, so gab Jehova den Menschen Gesetze. Das Gesetz gab er ihnen, das dann auch äußerlich realisiert wurde durch Moses und die Propheten. Mittlerweile aber reiften sie heran, um in sich selbst den Antrieb und Impuls zu dem zu empfangen, was sie tun soliten. Und so sehen wir, daß ohne das Zutun der Menschen ihre Ordnung auf der Erde vorbereitet wird durch die Gewalten. Wo wirken sie denn, diese Gewalten? Sie wirken vorzugsweise da, wo, trivial ausgedrückt, das Blut redet: in der Fortpflanzung und in all dem, was damit zusammenhängt. Da haben wir in der alten Zeit Götter und Volksgeister, wir haben Gruppengeister, und innerhalb der Gruppen schaffen sie durch die Gesetzesordnung. Da liebt sich, was blutsverwandt ist, und es liebt sich, indem die Liebe durch Naturgesetze eingepflanzt ist. Und je weiter wir zurückgehen, desto mehr finden wir, daß sich alles das als zusammengehörig betrachtet, daß alles das sich liebt, was die Liebe durch Naturgesetze, durch äußere Formkräfte eingepflanzt bekommen hat. Das Jehovaprinzip wirkte in dem gleichen Blut, daher das Zusammengehören. Da lebte und schaffte Jehova durch diese Verwandtschaft, die mit dem Blute zusammenhängt, Ordnung und Harmonie. Und diejenigen, die ihm entgegenwirkten, die ihre stärksten Angriffe gegen das Prinzip der Blutsverwandtschaft richteten, das waren die luziferischen Wesenheiten. Sie wollen immer den Menschen auf den Mittelpunkt seiner eigenen Persönlichkeit stellen, sie wollen ihn herausreißen aus seiner Blutsverwandtschaft bis zu der Zeit, wo Christus kommt und ihn ganz auf die Spitze seiner Persönlichkeit stellt, indem er seine innerste Kraft gibt, die Weisheit und Gnade zu dem innersten Impuls seines Wesens macht. Und das haben zubereitet lange, lange Zeiten hindurch die luziferischen Wesenheiten. Reif ist der Mensch geworden für das, was diese luziferischen Wesenheiten wollten, erst als Christus niedergestiegen ist. Die Bekenner solcher Anschauungen wußten wohl, was sie sagten, wenn sie den Ausspruch taten: Christus verus Luciferus, Christus ist der wahre Luzifer. - Das ist ein esoterischer Ausspruch.
Und so sehen wir, daß in der Tat immerfort zwei Prinzipien wirken in jener alten Zeit, die wir die vorchristliche nennen: immer ein durch Blutsverwandtschaft bindendes Prinzip und ein trennendes, das den Menschen auf die Spitze seiner eigenen Persönlichkeit stellen will. Und wir können nun sehen, wie die ganze Menschheit ausgestaltet wird unter dem Einfluß dieser beiden Prinzipien.
Denken wir uns ein gewisses atlantisches Menschenstadium, wo der Mensch schon entgegengeht seiner späteren Verhärtung in den Knochenleib hinein. Ich muß mich hier populär ausdrücken. Es mußte nun wiederum von seiten der leitenden Geister achtgegeben werden, daß die Knochen nicht zu schnell verhärteten. Es mußte in der atlantischen Entwickelung das Knochensystem während einer gewissen Zeit genügend weich bleiben, so daß es umgestaltet werden konnte. Aber wir wissen, auf allen Stufen blieben Wesenheiten zurück. So blieben ziemlich spät dadurch Menschheitsgruppen zurück, daß sich das Knochensystem zu früh verhärtete. Da arbeiteten die Prinzipien so, daß das Formprinzip einen starken Sieg davontrug, indem es eine Gruppe von Menschen in der Form erhielt, in der sie war. Was mußte die Folge davon sein? Man kann wohl auf der Erde etwas verhärten, zurückhalten, aber die ganze Erdenentwickelung geht darüber hinweg, so daß, was so künstlich zurückgehalten wird, dann später Zeiten antrifft, zu denen es nicht mehr paßt. Es kamen Zeiten, wo die Luft sich mehr vom Wasser gereinigt hatte, wo die klimatischen Verhältnisse anders geworden waren, da paßte das Stehengebliebene nicht mehr hinein. Solche Gruppen von Menschen, bei denen das Knochensystem sozusagen zuviel abgekriegt hatte, blieben dann als degenerierte Menschenrasse zurück. Sie konnten sich nicht mehr hineinfinden in die Verhältnisse der nachatlantischen Zeit; und die letzten Überbleibsel davon sind die ameriikanischen Indianer. Sie waren degeneriert. - Und auch solche sind zurückgeblieben, bei denen nicht nur das Knochensystem zu früh verhärtet ist, sondern auch das System, das der Ernährung zugrunde liegt, das von den Kräften des Ätherleibes beherrscht wird, während das Knochensystem von den Kräften des physischen Leibes beherrscht wird. Die letzten Überbleibsel derjenigen Menschengruppe, bei denen das Ernährungssystem verhärtet ist, bilden heute die schwarze Rasse. Und dann gibt es solche Menschen, die dadurch degeneriert sind, daß das Nervensystem auf zu früher Stufe verhärtet ist und nicht lange genug weich blieb, um zu einem höheren Gedankenwerkzeug tauglich zu werden, davon sind die letzten Überbleibsel die malayische Rasse. Daher finden Sie bei ihnen gewisse Triebe und Instinkte, gewisse Neigungen zu sinnlichen Instinkten. Und endlich haben wir solche Menschen, bei denen auf einer gewissen Stufe das Ich im Blute, im äußeren Ausdruck des Ich, verhärtet ist, wenn wir so sagen dürfen. Diese Menschen, die - symbolisch ausgedrückt — so im Blute verhärtet sind, haben ihre letzten Ausläufer in den Völkern der mongolischen Rasse. Diejenigen Menschen aber, welche die eben genannten Elemente so weich erhielten, daß sie nicht bei irgendeiner Verhärtungsform stehen blieben, sondern sich immer weiter fortentwickeln konnten, so daß sie über das geschlossene Ich sogar noch hinauskamen, diese Menschengruppe ging von einem Punkt der Erdenentwickelung, auf den wir schon hingedeutet haben, im Atlantischen Ozean, in der Nähe des heutigen Irland, hinüber in diejenigen Gegenden, die das heutige Europa und Asien bilden.
Und wir finden folgende merkwürdige Tatsache: Wir finden, daß vom atlantischen Kontinent aus förmliche Auswanderungszüge gehen. Und wir werden dies jetzt genauer betrachten, als das früher in anderen Zusammenhängen geschehen ist. Diese Züge bestanden aus solchen Menschen, welche im Knochensystem verhärtet waren und deren letzte Nachzügler bei der Entdeckung des amerikanischen Kontinents argetroffen wurden. Dann gab es Gruppen, welche nach Afrika, andere, die nach Asien gingen. Letztere waren diejenigen, die wir als die mongolische Rasse bezeichnet haben. Die am letzten auswanderten, das waren diejenigen Menschen, die in der Nähe des heutigen Irland wohnten, und die sich am längsten schmiegsam erhalten hatten, die sich sozusagen am längsten im Paradiese erhalten hatten. Sie wanderten vom Westen nach dem Osten und ließen überall auf dem ganzen Umfange des europäischen Kontinents gewisse Völkerschaften zurück. Die Fortgeschrittensten wanderten nach Asien und vermischten sich dort auf mannigfache Weise mit denen, die auf anderen Wegen hinübergekommen waren.
Und nun denken wir uns einmal eine gar nicht so weit zurückliegende Zeit, als noch ein gewisses, allerdings sehr dumpfes Hellsehen vorhanden war, und die Eingeweihten noch einen großen Einfluß besaßen. Wenn da unter den Menschen ein Bewußtsein dieser Verhältnisse vorhanden war, wie mußte sich das äußern? Nehmen wir an, im alten Griechenland drüben fanden sie Völkerschaften vor, welche sich vor ihnen verhärtet hatten; dann fanden sie da unten noch eine andere Rasse, durch Mischung entstanden, die sich in einem noch früheren Zustande verhärtet hatte: so war es nämlich in der Tat im griechischen Bewußtsein. Der Grieche, wenn er auf die Entwickelung bis zu sich selbst zurückschaute, sagte sich: Ich blicke nach Afrika, da finde ich in der ägyptischen Zeit schon vorgeschrittene Menschen, auf welche frühere Kulturepochen - die babylonische, chaldäische - schon gewirkt haben. Aber noch früher war auf diesem Boden eine Bevölkerung, unter der ein starkes Verhärtungselement war in bezug auf Eigenschaften, die ins Niedere, in das Ernährungsprinzip hinuntergehen. Und eine andere Stufe hatte sich später gebildet, als sie auf die asiatischen Auswanderer gestoßen waren. Und zu denen kamen diejenigen, welche sich selbst am längsten schmiegsam erhalten hatten. Nun hat der Grieche in seinen plastischen Göttergestalten das idealisiert, was er über die Entwickelung des Menschen wußte und was er als ein Ergebnis der göttlich wirkenden Kräfte ansah. Er wußte, daß auf einer sehr frühen Stufe Menschenwesen sich verhärtet hatten, und daß andere sich die Weichheit und Schmiegsamkeit erhalten hatten. Dann sah er auf sich selbst. Er war zwar in bezug auf gewisse Dinge zurückgeblieben, aber er gehörte zu denen, die sich am längsten schmiegsam und bildsam erhalten hatten. Das alles sehen wir wunderbar hineingeheimnißt in die griechische plastische Kunst. Wer sie mit tieferem Blick verfolgt, der findet drei verschiedene Göttertypen:
1. den Zeustypus, zu dem der ganze Kreis der Götter gehört, die sich um Zeus gruppieren;
2. einen Typus, der später dem Zeustypus angegliedert wurde, der aber im griechischen Bewußtsein in ganz anderer Form vorhanden war: in der Form des Hermes oder Merkur. Sehen Sie sich die Haarbildung beim Zeustypus an und dagegen das geringelte, gekräuselte Haar des Merkur, ferner die Augenbildung und die Ohrenstellung, da sehen Sie bald, daß der Grieche etwas anderes damit ausdrücken wollte, wenn man das auch später so dargestellt hat, daß es dem Zeustypus angegliedert wurde;
3. den Fauntypus. Einer noch älteren Menschheit gehört dieser Typus an, und deutlich unterscheidet er sich von dem Merkurtypus.
Da haben wir, was der Grieche in seiner Art zum Ausdruck bringen wollte. Das, was im Süden von ihm war, das repräsentierte der Fauntypus. Was im Osten war, brachte er mit dem Hermestypus zusammen, und was er selbst war, was man als seinen eigenen Typus bezeichnen könnte, diejenige Rasse, die den arischen Stamm begründet hat, das brachte er in dem erhabenen idealen Zeustypus zum Ausdruck.
Wer sehen will, kann in allen Formen sehen, wie fein der Grieche das, was in der äußeren Form lebt, den inneren Gestaltungskräften angepaßt hat. Nur an einer Kleinigkeit möchte ich zeigen, wie fein die griechischen Künstler in ihrem Bestreben sind, die großen Weltanschauungen in der Kunstform zum Ausdruck zu bringen. Denken wir uns einmal jenen asiatischen Typus, der in der Hermesgestalt festgehalten ist: Dieser Typus, weil er bei den niederen menschlichen Kräften stehengeblieben ist, wirkt so, daß die Kräfte, die in Betracht kommen, die ihm die Form des Gesichts geben, sozusagen in niederen Regionen der menschlichen Wesenheit walten. Dagegen wirken diejenigen Kräfte, die dem Typus des Griechen selbst angehören, in höheren Regionen; das können Sie vor allen Dingen bei Zeus in der erhabenen Stirnbildung sehen.
Wir sehen, bis in die plastische Form hinein wirkte das eigentümliche Bewußtsein des Griechen, und wir begreifen, daß wir nur dann verstehen können, was im Laufe der Entwickelung geschaffen worden ist, wenn wir die wirkenden Kräfte verfolgen bis in die Art hinein, wie die Künstler die Augen gebildet haben. Nicht nur die feine Beobachtung des griechischen Künstlers sehen wir hier, sondern wie er in der besonderen Ausbildung dessen, was er schuf, wie er in der äußeren Form verwirklicht hat, was die inneren Formkräfte gestaltet haben. Wir erkennen, wie sich in den einzelnen Gestalten der griechischen Kunst - in den Gestalten der Mythologie — die Rassenbildung erhalten hat, und wie in dieser Kunst, selbst bei Kleinigkeiten, wie beim Auge, die geistig wirkenden Kräfte in eigenartiger Weise festgehalten sind.
Sixth Lecture
The nature of our subject requires us to proceed in a very peculiar way, approaching our goal, so to speak, in circles, drawing ever narrower circles from the periphery in order to reach what we want to reach. Therefore, it may seem at first as if our considerations lack an inner system. But it is precisely by gradually approaching the inner from the outer that we will arrive at a correct understanding of the matter.
The day before yesterday, we took our observations so far that we encountered the spirits of form, the Exusiai, or, as they are called in Christian esotericism, the powers, as the actual rulers of human existence on earth. This is the inner reality of the matter, that in the course of our earthly evolution, these spirits, who are on such a sublime level that at a certain point in time they could no longer use the earth as their own theater, worked their way into the material and also into the soul. We have seen how they drew the finest forces and substances out of the earth and made our sun the theater of their own development. And further, we have seen how one of the greatest spirits separated itself from its companions in the sun and sacrificed itself completely. This is the same being who remained connected with the forces of the moon from that time onward and who is referred to in the Bible as Jehovah. We must therefore imagine that during the entire time when the sun was still connected with the earth, high, exalted spirits were also connected with earthly existence; that then the most exalted spirits separated themselves and that one of the companions of these exalted powers remained behind, remaining connected with the earth until the next great cosmic event, until the separation of the moon from the earth. And since that time, what we call the outflow, the work of Jehovah, has been contained in the forces of the moon acting from outside. Thus, on the one hand, the high sun spirits worked on our Earth from outside, and on the other hand, Jehovah with his host, with the spirits serving him, and in their interaction they now regulated the earthly development of humanity, which we must now examine more closely.
What does this mean: that the spirits of form are the actual rulers of earthly existence? Were these spirits of form not already active in the earlier stages of our planet's development? During the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods? Yes, they were certainly active earlier, but they had a different sphere of activity than on Earth. We will understand this if we simply consider the facts that have already been presented to us. On Saturn, only the first rudiments of the physical body were present; the etheric body and the astral body had not yet flowed in. Of course, these spirits of form, one of whom is Jehovah, were already active at that time; but, if we may express ourselves trivially, they did not have such a prepared ground for their activity. It was only when the spirits of wisdom bestowed the etheric body on the Sun and the spirits of movement bestowed the astral body on the Moon that those beings whom we call the forces found a prepared human being. For only to a human being who already had a physical, etheric, and astral body could they give what we now know as the human form. This form, as you can observe it in yourselves today, did not exist in any earlier phase of development; preparatory stages existed on the moon, the sun, and Saturn, and everything had to undergo a certain development before human beings could be raised to the noble human form. When we ask why the spirits of form could not intervene on Saturn, we must reply: because the germ elements of the physical body formed there were, so to speak, still too young; a certain state of maturity had to be reached first. And this state of maturity did not occur until our Earth stood before the stage of development I spoke of when I described how the Earth, together with the Sun, formed a kind of fine, substantial world body and then continued its development. The spirits of form were already active there, slowly and gradually working on the human body until it was finally able to attain the human form.
We can point to a time when this shaping of the human being reached a certain conclusion, when the human form was, so to speak, essentially complete. This was not yet the case in the early days of the Atlantean period. If we go back to the early period after the great catastrophe that swept away ancient Atlantis, we find our ancestors in a state very different from our present one. It was not until about the middle of the Atlantean epoch that we reached the point where human beings had essentially acquired the human form we know today. Before that, humans were not at all as solid as they were afterwards, but their entire material content, if we may express it that way, was softer. In the first Atlantean period, we find humans consisting of soft matter that did not yet have the hardness of today's bones, not even as solid as cartilage. Humans were still floating around, so to speak, in air that was still completely filled and permeated with dense water; they were a kind of water creature, similar to certain animals today that can hardly be distinguished from water. The bone structure was already present in the forces at that time, but it had not yet hardened. This is the time when there was also a completely different relationship between the higher and lower members of the human being. Let us remember once again that today, when a human being sleeps, they leave their physical and etheric bodies in bed, while the astral body and the I are outside. Since today the etheric body is almost identical in form and size to the physical body, when a person leaves the physical body with their astral body, they also very quickly leave the etheric body. This was not the case in the first Atlantean epoch. At that time, the etheric body protruded on all sides, especially at the head, beyond the physical body. This protrusion meant that the astral body, even after it had left the physical body, remained connected to the etheric body. When the astral body leaves the physical body in modern humans, it leaves the etheric body at the same moment. And the consequence of this connection between the astral body and the etheric body, which used to continue even after the physical body had been left behind, was that human beings did not experience such darkness and unconsciousness around and within themselves at night as is the case today. Then, when they were out of their physical bodies, they could perceive soul-spiritual beings in a twilight clairvoyance. It is like this: when you imagine that you are falling asleep and your astral body is leaving your physical body, your gaze is diverted from the physical world, but instead you are confronted with a world populated by soul-spiritual beings. Such a person, however, could not need a solid physical body, nor could they need a solid skeletal system; for because the physical body was soft, it was also more mobile.
And here we come to something that was once quite real to clairvoyant consciousness, however abhorrent it may be to today's materialistic consciousness: in the first Atlantic epoch, human beings had great power over the form of their bodies. Imagine that a person at that time wanted a limb that later became a hand — to put it crudely — to look different, for example, to be longer; then he could actually lengthen it elastically. He could not only move all his limbs, but also stretch them elastically; he could, so to speak, inflate himself. This was entirely possible at that time, however much it may repel today's materialistic thinking; they could stretch their fingers far out, lengthen them; and this was particularly strong if we go back even further, to the Lemurian epoch. And now you will see how two things come together. When did humans lose the ability to stretch and contract their limbs? When the spirits of form had finished working out the forms. As long as humans had not yet completely acquired the physical form that was to remain with them, they were still able to change their shape, controlled by other spirits. If we go back to times before the Atlantean epoch, we find that the human form was not yet complete, that humans had a constantly metamorphosing form. And we must be clear that there came a time when the spirits of form had completed everything they had to do in order to shape the human form in their own image, for they poured their own form into it.
Let us now assume — and we will see through what events something like this came about — that some human beings could not wait until this point in time when the spirits of form had finished their work: then these beings would have become frozen at some earlier stage, they would have become ossified in their form, so to speak; they would have retained an earlier form. But it was precisely important that this being, which was to become a human being, retained its form and shape in a flexible state until the normal time for the fixed form could arrive. Let us take a point in time shortly before this—in reality, however, it lies far back, for we are dealing with long periods of time. At that time, the outer being of the human being was such that it still needed the forces that worked on it, that reworked it, that refined it. Let us now assume that, through events which we shall learn about later, certain human beings detached themselves from the constantly working formative forces, that they fell out of them so that they were no longer completely permeated by the formative forces as before: then these human beings would have remained at an earlier stage. This is indeed what happened, and in these beings who detached themselves too early, who are closest to us but who did not allow the spirits of form to work on them long enough, we have the apes. They could not wait, they did not remain long enough in the womb of the divine beings we call the spirits of form. And what we have now described for the apes happened again and again during the existence of the earth for various beings; again and again, beings remained behind and became rigid.
There you have the whole series of today's animals. But if you ask: Does any human being originate from such animal forms? The answer is no! Man remained, so to speak, above the surface of the earth in the pure elements and only condensed when the time was right for him. The biblical account beautifully captures the moment when man descended from pure spiritual heights, without having undergone earthly condensation, to the earth in the story of Paradise. Despite all research, paradise is not located on the earth's surface, but in the vicinity of the earth. Man only descended from paradise to earth later, after he had received his completed form.
But now let us clarify what should have happened in the middle of the Atlantean period, when these spirits of form had finished forming the physical body. At this point, human beings, whose senses had also been completed, should have looked out into their surroundings and first had to live with their external physical environment. Before that, everything in the physical environment had existed in unclear contours. Only then would the time have come when human beings should have entered into a normal relationship with the external world, so to speak. Then, at that point, human beings would have learned to distinguish themselves from their surroundings, and they would have learned to say “I” to themselves, for one can only say “I” to oneself if one can distinguish oneself from other things. Human beings would have learned this at that point. At that time, they would have had a physical body that they could have called a suitable vehicle for their “I.”
But we have already mentioned how certain beings have remained behind at all stages of world evolution. Not all beings have reached the stage where they could have worked in the manner just described, not even all the beings we have called the spirits of form or forces. And it is precisely these beings who have remained behind who are of essential importance for human evolution on earth.
We have already considered that, apart from the exalted beings who work from the sun and the moon, there are others who stand on an intermediate stage, on a stage between human beings and the high sun and moon spirits, and whose sphere of activity is Mercury and Venus, those world bodies that are scattered between the sun and the earth. Just as the sun spirits had attained normal development and arrived at the precise moment when they could work in the right way, so those beings who stood between the earth and the sun spirits did not find this moment in the same way, and because they were not in normal development, they intervened at a different time. And now let us consider what this resulted in.
Let us look once more at human development as it has taken place. Let us again imagine the physical, etheric, and astral bodies and the I. Now we know that the I is called upon to transform the other members of the human being, that it must begin by gradually bringing the astral body under its control and dominion; this means nothing other than that the human being masters his passions and instincts. So the time had come when the ego was to appear in the human being in the normal way, when it was to work on the astral body; little by little, the astral body was to be transformed and the spiritual self was to be formed. When the exalted powers intervened in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, the first opportunity for such a transformation presented itself. Now we will understand what a strange task the retarded beings had to set themselves. They were not far enough advanced to be able to help human beings in the development of their spiritual self. The consequence of this was that they worked on the astral body, which had not yet advanced to the ego. And they had already been working on it before. So we have a certain period in the evolution of humanity on Earth when the astral body, which has not yet developed up to the ego, is worked on by these lagging spiritual beings. You will understand this better if you remember that on the Moon, human beings had a physical, etheric, and astral body, and that the forces at that time normally acted upon the astral body. Those who had developed normally now acted upon the ego, but the others who had remained behind continued to act upon the astral body according to their old Moon habits. So before human beings had developed their I, these backward but highly exalted beings acted upon their astral body. We call them, after their chief representative, their leader, the Luciferic beings. Two kinds of beings thus acted upon human beings: the normally acting spirits we spoke of last time, and these Luciferic beings, which had not, so to speak, reached the stage of acting upon the ego, and which had already been working upon the human astral body. And in this way the latter also held human beings back in their development. Had such beings not acted upon human beings, they would have been so far advanced in the middle of the Atlantean epoch that the sublime powers would have been able to act upon their egos.
Now we may ask: Is what these backward spirits did to human beings, in comparison with what the sublime powers did to them, to be regarded as something bad in the trivial sense? No, not at all. If we consider the fact that can be verified by clairvoyant vision, we find that in reality they actually accelerated human development. Human beings would have had to wait until the very last moment to develop certain abilities, whereas they acquired them earlier as a result. Thus, through the Luciferic beings, human beings received certain spiritual abilities before the time that was intended for them and were thus raised to a certain spiritual level. This is not a bad thing, but, strange as it may seem, it is even something that, in a higher sense, represents an infinitely wise guidance in the further development of humanity. For by acquiring certain abilities at a lower level that were otherwise intended for him only in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, man approached these abilities in a completely different, self-conscious, free manner. Man would have been led by the hand until the middle of the Atlantean epoch if these backward entities had not intervened. How, then, are we to understand their backwardness? With superficial thinking, one could easily interpret this as if they had remained behind like a student who has to repeat a year at school. But these spirits did not remain behind because of their sluggishness; the reason for their remaining behind was their willingness to sacrifice themselves. In order to give human beings the opportunity to receive the gift of the spirits of form in a higher, free way, they sacrificed themselves. We have a long period of human development in which human beings received the beginnings of language, thinking, and especially intellectual memory from these Luciferic beings, and in which they received the germ of art and science. Since they would otherwise have had only instinctive activity, they would not have attained any of this before. However, this also meant that something else, which would otherwise have been independent of man through the guidance of the spirits of form, was now given into his power, into his control: man was exposed to good and evil; he was exposed to straying from the right path. Without the intervention of the Luciferic beings, he would never have been exposed to good and evil, but his freedom would also have been lost. By moving a part of evolution forward into a previous age, these beings gave humans freedom. We all carry within us the seed of the activity of these Luciferic spirits.
We must therefore say: In the middle of the Atlantean epoch, the spirits of form descended, those spirits who had completed their development to such an extent that they could give to human beings what they themselves had: only at that time would human beings have attained their complete germ of the I, if only they had been active. But now, from an earlier time, the Luciferic beings have been active, accelerating evolution by a significant degree—upward on the one side, downward on the other. As a result, something else, something important, has happened. If progress had taken place without the Luciferic beings, human beings would have attained a certain state in the middle of the Atlantean epoch, but without the possibility of freedom. Without merit, he would have become ripe to receive the gift of the spirits of form. But since the Luciferic beings had made him ripe earlier, a certain deterioration had occurred in the other direction, and as a result, not all the forces of the spirits of form, not all the higher solar powers, could act upon him at that point in time. This implies something important. If man, without freedom and therefore without merit, had arrived in the middle of the Atlantean epoch merely through a spiritual, higher instinct, he would have been mature enough for the principle we call the Christ principle to descend to earth at that time, and Christ would have appeared then. But human freedom was given, and human beings were thereby forced down below their instinctive, normal stage of development. The result was that they now had to mature through their own efforts, so that they could receive the Christ principle at the same time that the Luciferic beings had previously intervened. We must be clear that the descent and work of Christ was delayed by the intervention of the Luciferic beings. But this also meant that human beings were in a more mature form when Christ descended.
So we see that it is these beings who have made man what he is today, who have prepared him for the great moment of the descent of the Christ principle. They said to themselves, as it were: Let us leave man as he is, so that he lives only instinctively in the Atlantean era, then he will also receive the Christ principle instinctively, then he will not be free, not mature in freedom. We will sacrifice ourselves and develop certain abilities and qualities in him, and delay the moment when he can see Christ. — The Luciferic beings began their work exactly as long before the middle of the Atlantean epoch as Christ appeared after that time.
If we now ask: What was the share of those powers that human beings had already been able to receive in the middle of the Atlantean epoch? — we must answer: It was something that could only approach human beings from outside, whereby they could not yet be with their own souls. Therefore, everything that came to human beings from the powers that were already at work earlier was such that it did not flow from the innermost being of human beings: they followed something external, they obeyed laws. Just as animals must follow the laws that are implanted in them, completely instinctively, so Jehovah gave human beings laws. He gave them the law, which was then also realized externally through Moses and the prophets. In the meantime, however, they matured to receive within themselves the drive and impulse to do what they were supposed to do. And so we see that without the intervention of human beings, their order on earth is prepared by the forces. Where do these powers work? They work primarily where, to put it trivially, blood speaks: in procreation and in everything related to it. In ancient times, we had gods and folk spirits, we had group spirits, and within the groups they created order through laws. There, those who are related by blood love each other, and they love each other because love is implanted through natural laws. And the further back we go, the more we find that everything is considered to belong together, that everything loves everything else that has been implanted with love through natural laws, through external formative forces. The Jehovah principle worked in the same blood, hence the belonging together. Through this kinship, which is connected with the blood, Jehovah lived and created order and harmony. And those who opposed him, who directed their strongest attacks against the principle of blood kinship, were the Luciferic beings. They always want to place man at the center of his own personality; they want to tear him away from his blood relationship until the time when Christ comes and places him completely at the summit of his personality by giving him his innermost power, making wisdom and grace the innermost impulse of his being. And this is what the Luciferic beings have been preparing for a long, long time. Only when Christ descended did human beings become ripe for what these Luciferic beings wanted. Those who professed such views knew well what they were saying when they uttered the words: Christus verus Luciferus, Christ is the true Lucifer. This is an esoteric statement.
And so we see that in fact two principles were always at work in those ancient times we call pre-Christian: always a principle binding through blood relationship and a separating principle that wants to place human beings at the peak of their own personality. And we can now see how the whole of humanity is shaped under the influence of these two principles.
Let us imagine a certain Atlantean stage of human development, where human beings are already moving toward their later hardening into the bone structure. I must express myself in popular terms here. The guiding spirits now had to take care that the bones did not harden too quickly. During the Atlantean development, the skeletal system had to remain sufficiently soft for a certain period of time so that it could be transformed. But we know that beings remained behind at all stages. Thus, groups of human beings remained behind at a fairly late stage because the skeletal system hardened too early. The principles worked in such a way that the form principle won a strong victory by preserving a group of people in the form they were in. What had to be the consequence of this? One can harden and hold back something on earth, but the whole evolution of the earth goes beyond this, so that what is artificially held back later encounters times when it no longer fits. Times came when the air had become more purified from water, when climatic conditions had changed, and what had remained standing no longer fit in. Such groups of people, whose skeletal system had, so to speak, been overburdened, then remained behind as a degenerate human race. They could no longer find their place in the conditions of the post-Atlantean era, and the last remnants of them are the American Indians. They were degenerate. And there are also those who have been left behind, not only because their skeletal system hardened too early, but also because the system underlying their nutrition, which is controlled by the forces of the etheric body, while the skeletal system is controlled by the forces of the physical body. The last remnants of that group of people whose nutritional system has hardened now form the black race. And then there are people who have degenerated because their nervous system hardened at too early a stage and did not remain soft long enough to become a suitable tool for higher thinking. The last remnants of this are the Malay race. That is why you find certain drives and instincts in them, certain tendencies toward sensual instincts. And finally, we have those people in whom, at a certain stage, the ego is hardened in the blood, in the outer expression of the ego, if we may say so. These people, who are symbolically speaking hardened in the blood, have their last remnants in the peoples of the Mongolian race. But those people who kept the elements just mentioned so soft that they did not remain in any form of hardening, but were able to develop further and further, so that they even went beyond the closed ego, this group of people went from a point in the Earth's development, which we have already indicated, in the Atlantic Ocean, near present-day Ireland, to those regions that now form Europe and Asia.
And we find the following remarkable fact: we find that formal emigration movements set out from the Atlantic continent. And we will now examine this in more detail than has been done previously in other contexts. These movements consisted of people whose skeletal systems had hardened, and the last stragglers were encountered during the discovery of the American continent. Then there were groups that went to Africa and others that went to Asia. The latter were those we have called the Mongolian race. The last to emigrate were those who lived near present-day Ireland and who had remained most flexible, who had, so to speak, remained longest in paradise. They migrated from west to east, leaving behind certain peoples all over the European continent. The most advanced migrated to Asia, where they mixed in many ways with those who had come there by other routes.
Now let us imagine a time not so long ago when a certain, albeit very dim, clairvoyance still existed and the initiates still wielded great influence. If there was an awareness of these circumstances among the people, how must this have manifested itself? Let us assume that in ancient Greece they found peoples who had become hardened before them; then they found another race down there, created by mixing, which had become hardened in an even earlier state: this was indeed the case in the Greek consciousness. When the Greek looked back on the development that had led to himself, he said to himself: I look to Africa, where I find advanced people in the Egyptian period who have already been influenced by earlier cultural epochs—the Babylonian and Chaldean. But even earlier, there was a population on this soil with a strong element of hardening in relation to characteristics that descend into the lower, into the principle of nutrition. And another stage had formed later when they encountered the Asian emigrants. And to these were added those who had remained most flexible for the longest time. Now, in their plastic figures of gods, the Greeks idealized what they knew about human development and what they regarded as the result of divine forces. They knew that at a very early stage human beings had become hardened, and that others had retained their softness and pliability. Then they looked at themselves. Although they were backward in certain respects, they belonged to those who had remained supple and malleable the longest. We see all this wonderfully hidden in Greek plastic art. Those who study it more deeply will find three different types of gods:
1. the Zeus type, to which the entire circle of gods grouped around Zeus belongs;
2. a type that was later affiliated with the Zeus type, but which existed in the Greek consciousness in a completely different form: in the form of Hermes or Mercury. Look at the hair of the Zeus type and compare it with the curly, frizzy hair of Mercury, and also the shape of the eyes and the position of the ears, and you will soon see that the Greeks wanted to express something different, even though it was later depicted in such a way that it was incorporated into the Zeus type;
3. the faun type. This type belongs to an even older humanity and differs clearly from the Mercury type.
Here we have what the Greeks wanted to express in their own way. What was to the south of them was represented by the faun type. What was to the east, they brought together with the Hermes type, and what they themselves were, what could be called their own type, the race that founded the Aryan tribe, they expressed in the sublime, ideal Zeus type.
Anyone who wants to see it can see in all forms how finely the Greeks adapted what lives in the outer form to the inner creative forces. I would like to show just one small detail to illustrate how refined Greek artists were in their endeavor to express great worldviews in art. Let us consider the Asian type captured in the figure of Hermes: This type, because it has remained at the level of the lower human forces, has the effect that the forces that give it the form of the face, so to speak, reign in the lower regions of human existence. In contrast, the forces that belong to the Greek type itself work in higher regions; you can see this above all in Zeus in the sublime formation of his forehead.
We see that the peculiar consciousness of the Greeks influenced even the plastic form, and we understand that we can only comprehend what has been created in the course of development if we trace the forces at work back to the way in which the artists formed the eyes. We see here not only the fine observation of the Greek artist, but also how, in the particular development of what he created, he realized in the outer form what the inner formative forces had shaped. We recognize how the formation of races has been preserved in the individual figures of Greek art—in the figures of mythology—and how in this art, even in small details such as the eye, the spiritually active forces are captured in a unique way.