An Esoteric Cosmology
GA 94
8 June 1906, Paris
XII. The Devachanic World (Heaven) II
Devachan (abode of the Gods) corresponds to the heaven of the Christians, the spiritual world of the occultists.
These regions of existence are beyond the range of our physical senses, although they are intimately connected with this world. In attempting to describe them, we must have recourse to allegories and symbols. The words of human language are only adapted to express the world of sense.
There are seven distinct stages or degrees of Devachan. The seven stages are not definite ‘localities’ but conditions or states of the life of soul and Spirit. Devachan is everywhere present; it envelops us as does the astral world, only it is invisible. By dint of training, the Initiate acquires, one by one, the faculties necessary for beholding it.
At the first stage of clairvoyance, greater order enters into dreams; man sees marvelous forms and hears words that are pregnant with meaning. It becomes more and more possible to decipher the meaning of dreams and to relate them to actuality. We may dream, for example, that a friend's house is on fire and then hear that he is ill. The first faint glimpses of Devachan give the impression of a sky streaked with clouds which gradually turn into living forms.
At the second stage of clairvoyance, dreams become precise and clear. The geometrical and symbolic figures employed as the sacred signs of the great religions are, properly speaking, the language of the creative Word, the living hieroglyphs of cosmic speech. Among such symbols are: the cross, the sign of life; the pentagram or five-pointed star, the sign of sound or word; the hexagram or six-pointed star (two interlaced triangles) the sign of the macrocosm reflected in the microcosm, and so forth. At the second stage of clairvoyance, these signs—which we today delineate in abstract lines—appear full of colour, life and radiance on a background of light. They are not, as yet, the garment of living beings, but they indicate, so to say, the norms and laws of creation. These signs were the basis of the animal forms chosen by the earliest Initiates to express the passage of the Sun through the Zodiacal constellations. The Initiates translated their visions into such signs and symbols. The most ancient characters employed in Sanscrit, Egyptian, Greek and Runic scripts—every letter of which has ideographic meaning—were the expressions of heavenly ciphers.
At this stage of his seership, the disciple is still at the threshold of Devachan. His task is to penetrate into Devachan, to find the path leading from the astral world to the first stage of the devachanic world proper. This path was known to all the occult schools and even during the first centuries, Christianity contained esoteric teaching of which traces can be found. The ancient methods of Initiation, however, were abandoned from the beginning.
In the Acts of the Apostles, mention is made of Dionysius the Areopagite. He was an initiated disciple of St. Paul and taught an esoteric Christianity. Later on, at the Court of Charles the Bald in the ninth century, John Scotus Erigena again taught the esoteric doctrines. Esoteric Christianity was then gradually obscured by dogma. When the Initiate has penetrated into Devachan, however, he finds that the descriptions given by Dionysius of this world are correct.
The rhythmic breathing practised in Yoga was one of the methods by means of which man was enabled to penetrate the world of Devachan. A certain sign that this entrance has been made is a conscious experience indicated in Vedic philosophy by the words: tat twam asi (Thou art That).
In dream, man beholds his own bodily form from without. He sees his body stretched on the couch but merely as an empty sheath. Around this empty form shines a radiant, ovoid form—the astral body. It has the appearance of an aura from which the body has been eliminated. The body itself seems like a hollow, empty mould. It is a vision where everything is reversed as in a photographic negative. The soul of crystal, plant and animal is seen as a kind of radiation, whereas the physical substance appears as an empty sheath. But it is only the phenomena of Nature that so appear—nothing that has been made by the hands of men. At the first stage of Devachan, we are contemplating the astral counterparts of the phenomena of the physical world. This region has been spoken of as the ‘continents’ of Devachan—the ‘negative’ forms of the valleys, mountains and physical continents.
If he enters into deep meditation while the breath is held, man reaches the second stage of Devachan. The moulds which represent physical substance are seen to be filled with spiritual currents—the currents of life universal. This is the ocean of Devachan. At this stage the Initiate enters the well-spring of all life. This life has the appearance of a network of vast streams with their tributaries. At the same time there is a strange and new experience of living within the metals. Reichenbach, the author of L'Od, speaks of this phenomenon in connection with sensitive subjects who were able to detect different metals wrapped in paper.
The Beings living in the region which becomes perceptible at the second stage of clairvoyant vision are called by Dionysius the Areopagite, the Archangels. [In German, Erzengel,—Erz = ore, mineral.] They represent the living soul of the minerals.
To attain the third stage of Devachan, thought must be freed from bondage to the things of the physical world. Man can then live consciously in the world of thought, quite independently of the actual content of thought. The pupil must experience the function of pure intellect, apart from its content. A new world will then be revealed. To the perception of the ‘continents’ and ‘waters’ of Devachan (the astral soul of things and the streaming currents of life) will be added the perception of its ‘air’ or ‘atmosphere.’ This atmosphere is altogether different from our own; its substance is living, sonorous, sensitive. Waves, gleams of light and sounds arise in response to our gestures, acts and thoughts. Everything that happens on Earth reverberates in colours, light and sound. Whether it be in sleep or after death, the echoes of Earth can be experienced in these ‘airs’ of Devachan. It is possible, for example, to experience the effects of a battle. We do not actually see the battle, nor hear the cries of the soldiers and the booming of the cannons. Strife and passions appear in the form of lightning and thunder. Thus Devachan does not separate us from the Earth, but reveals it to us from outside, as it were. We do not experience sorrow and joy as if they were arising in ourselves; we behold them objectively, as a spectacle. Devachan is a school of apprenticeship where we learn to regard sorrows and joys from a higher point of view, where we strive to transmute suffering into joy, failures into renewed efforts, death into resurrection.
This has nothing in common with the passive contemplation and more or less egotistic bliss of heaven conceived of by certain writers on religion who think that the sufferings of the damned are part of the bliss of the elect. Devachan is a living heaven, where the overwhelming urge to sympathy and action contained in the human soul is faced with a boundless field of activity and a vista of infinity.
At the fourth stage of Devachan, the archetypes of things arise—not the ‘negatives’ but the original types. This is the laboratory of the Cosmos wherein all forms are contained, whence creation has proceeded; it is the home of the Ideas of Plato, the ‘Realm of the Mothers’ of which Goethe speaks in Faust in connection with Helena. In this realm of Devachan, the Akashic Record of Indian philosophy is revealed. In our modern terminology we speak of this Record as the astral impression of all the events of the world. Everything that passes through the astral bodies of men is ‘fixed’ in the infinitely subtle substance of this Record as in a sensitive plate. To understand the images which hover in the astral nimbus of the Earth, we must have recourse to analogies. The human voice pronounces words which set up waves of sound, penetrating by the ears into the brains of others, where images and thoughts are evoked. Each of these words is a wave of sound with an absolutely definite form which—if we could see it—is distinct from all others. Let us imagine these words congealing somewhat as water congeals to ice by sudden, intense cold. In such a case the words would descend to Earth as congealed air and we could recognise each word by its form.
And now, instead of a process of densification, let us imagine the reverse. We know that matter can pass through the most solid to the most rarified states: solid, liquid, gaseous. Matter can be subtilised to a point at which we are led over to ‘negative’ matter—Akasha. Events on Earth impress themselves into this akashic substance and can be rediscovered there even those which occurred in far remote ages of the past.
Akashic pictures are not static and immobile. They unroll before the eye of the seer as living tableaux where objects and persons move and even speak. The astral form of Dante would speak as he spoke in his own milieu. It is almost invariably this kind of image that is seen in spiritualistic séances, where it is thought to be the spirit of the dead.
Our task is to learn how to decipher the pages of this book of living images and to unroll the innumerable scrolls of the ‘Chronicle’ of the universe. This can only be done if we are able to distinguish between appearance and reality, between the human sheath and the living soul. Daily discipline and long training are necessary if false interpretations are to be prevented. Definite answers to questions, for example, might be received from the form of Dante thus perceived. But they do not emanate from the individuality of Dante, for the individuality continues to evolve; they emanate from the ancient figure of Dante, ‘fixed’ in the etheric milieu of his time.
The fifth realm of Devachan is the sphere of heavenly harmony. The higher regions of Devachan are characterised by the fact that all sounds have a greater clarity, brilliance and richness. In a mighty harmony we hear the voice of all beings. This harmony was called by Pythagoras, the ‘Music of the Spheres.’ It is the living, Cosmic Word. To the clairvoyant who has now become clairaudient, each being communicates his true name in a definite sound or tone. In Genesis, Jehovah takes the hand of Adam and Adam gives all beings their names. On Earth, the individual is lost among the crowd of other beings. In the highest sphere of Devachan, each being has his own particular sound; yet at the same time the Initiate is united with all beings, becomes one with his environment.
The Initiate who has attained to this degree is called the ‘Swan.’ He hears the sounds through which his master speaks to him and then communicates them to the world. The singing swan of Apollo brings to the ears of men the tones of the Beyond. The swan is said to come from the land of the Hyperboreans—that is to say from the world where the Sun sinks to rest, from heaven.
At this point, the Initiate passes to a sphere beyond the world of stars. He no longer reads the Akashic Records from the side of the Earth but from the side of the heavens. The Akashic Record becomes the occult script of the stars and the Initiate experiences the primal source of the universe, of the Logos.
In the myths, we find indications of this degree of the Swan, notably in the Middle Ages in the Grail stories which give expression to experiences in the devachanic world. All the exploits there described are by knights of the Grail, who represent the great spiritual impulses given to mankind by command of the masters.
The time when the legend of the Grail was composed, under the inspiration of high Initiates, is the age when the reign of the Bourgeoisie began and when the movement connected with the freedom of great cities had its rise, coming from Scotland into England and thence to France and Germany. When he is a free citizen, man aspires unconsciously to truth and divine life. In the legend of Lohengrin, Elsa represents the soul of man in the Middle Ages, striving to develop what is always expressed in occultism by a female figure. Lohengrin, the knight who comes from an unknown country, from the Castle of the Holy Grail, to deliver Elsa, represents the master who is the bearer of truth. He is the messenger of the Initiate and is borne by the symbolic swan. The messenger of the great Initiates is a “Swan.” None may ask his true name nor whence he comes. His authority may not be doubted. By his words he must be believed; by the truth shining in his countenance he must be recognised. He who has not this faith is incapable of understanding, unworthy to listen. That is why Lohengrin forbids Elsa to ask his name and whence he comes. The Swan is the chela who bears the master.
The disciple who has reached the fifth degree of initiation is sent by the master into the world. The legend of Lohengrin is a description of events occurring in the higher worlds. The light of the Logos—the solar and planetary Word—shines through the myths and legends of the ages.
Kosmogonie XII
Das Devachan - oder der Sitz der Götter - entspricht dem christlichen Himmel und der Geisteswelt der Okkultisten. Es versteht sich von selbst, daß man diese Regionen — die nur scheinbar außerirdisch sind, da sie in lebendiger Beziehung zu unserer Welt stehen, die aber außerhalb der Reichweite unserer physischen Sinne sind nur in Symbolen und Gleichnissen beschreiben kann, denn unsere Sprache taugt nur für die Welt der Sinne.
Das Devachan umfaßt sieben Grade oder sieben verschiedene Regionen, die sich in aufsteigender Ordnung staffeln. Es handelt sich nicht um Stockwerke oder genaue Orte, sondern um Zustände der Seele und des Geistes. Das Devachan ist überall. Es umgibt uns wie die Astralwelt, nur sehen wir es nicht. Der Eingeweihte erwirbt durch Übungen aufeinander folgend die nötigen Fähigkeiten, um es zu sehen. Betrachten wir, wie es sich nach und nach demjenigen öffnet, der sich neue Wahrnehmungsfähigkeiten erwirbt.
Auf der ersten Stufe der Hellsichtigkeit werden die Träume regelmäßiger, sie lassen bestimmte Gestalten erscheinen, sinnvolle Worte hören; sie erhalten mehr und mehr einen Sinn, den man entziffern kann und der sich auf das wirkliche Leben bezieht. Man träumt beispielsweise, daß das Haus eines Freundes brennt, und man erfährt nachher, daß er eben krank geworden ist. Diese ersten Einblikke in das Devachan lassen es einem Himmel ähnlich erscheinen, der von Wolken durchzogen ist, die sich gruppieren und nach und nach lebende Formen annehmen.
Mit der zweiten Stufe der Hellsichtigkeit nehmen die Träume sehr bestimmte Konturen an. Das sind die geometrischen und symbolischen Formen der großen Religionen, die heiligen Zeichen aller Zeiten, die sozusagen die Sprache des schöpterischen Wortes sind, die heiligen Hieroglyphen der kosmischen Sprache: das Kreuz, Zeichen des Lebens; das Pentagramm oder der Fünfstern, Zeichen des Wortes; das Hexagramm oder der Sechsstern, zwei ineinandergekehrte Dreiecke, Zeichen des Makrokosmos, gespiegelt im Mikrokosmos und so weiter. Aber diese Zeichen, die wir in abstrakten Linien darstellen, erscheinen hier farbig, lebendig und blitzartig auf einem Grund von Licht. Sie sind gleichwohl nicht das Kleid lebendiger Wesen, sondern bezeichnen sozusagen die Normen und Gesetze der Schöpfung. Von ihnen sind die Tiergestalten geformt, die die ersten Eingeweihten gewählt haben, um die Sonnenumschwünge in den Konstellationen des Tierkreises darzustellen. Die Eingeweihten haben ihre Schauungen in diesen Zeichen überliefert, zum Beispiel in dem des Krebses, das einen Wirbel aus zwei entgegengesetzten Linienzügen darstellt. Die ältesten Schriftzeichen im Sanskrit, in Ägyptisch, Griechisch, Runenzeichen, von denen jedes stets eine eigene Bedeutung hat, gehen alle ursprünglich auf geistige Formen zurück.
Auf dieser Stufe seiner Hellsichtigkeit ist der Schüler jedoch immer noch auf der Schwelle zum Devachan. Es handelt sich darum, über sie hinauszudringen und den Durchgang zu finden, der von der Astralwelt zur ersten Stufe der devachanischen Welt führt. Alle Geheimschulen haben diesen Weg gekannt, und sogar das Christentum der ersten Jahrhunderte hat, obwohl es nicht auf die alten Arten der Einweihung zurückging, gleichwohl eine esoterische Zeichensprache besessen, deren Spuren wir wiederfinden.
So erwähnt die Apostelgeschichte den Dionysius, der ein eingeweihter Schüler des Paulus war und ein esoterisches Christentum lehrte. Später hat Johannes Scotus Eriugena am Hofe Karls des Kahlen noch im 9. Jahrhundert ein esoterisches Christentum begründet. Dieses ist dann nach und nach durch das Dogma verdeckt worden. Dringt man aber in das Devachan ein, so sieht man die Beschreibung, die Dionysius davon gegeben hat, bestätigt.
Die rhythmische Atmung nach dem Yogasystem ist eines der Mittel, das angewendet wird, um in die Welt des Devachan einzutreten. Das sichere Zeichen, daß dieser Eintritt stattgefunden hat, ist, daß das Bewußtsein durch eine Erfahrung geht, die in der Vedantaphilosophie bezeichnet wird durch die Worte: tat tvam asi = das bist du.
Der Mensch sieht im Traum seine eigene Körpergestalt von außen. Er sieht seinen Körper ausgestreckt auf seinem Bett, aber wie eine leere Hülle. Rings um diese hohle Form leuchtet der Astralleib wie ein eiförmiger Lichtschein; er erscheint wie eine Aura, von der man den Körper zurückgezogen haben würde, während der Körper wie eine leere Hohlform erscheint. Es ist eine Schauung, bei der die Verhältnisse umgekehrt sind wie bei einem photographischen Negativ. Man gewöhnt sich an diesen Anblick hinsichtlich aller Dinge. Man sieht gewissermaßen die Seele der Kristalle, der Pflanzen, der Tiere in Form eines Strahlenkranzes, während ihre physische Substanz wie eine Hohlform, ein Leerraum erscheint. Aber nur die Naturgegenstände können so erscheinen, nichts von dem, was durch Menschenhand geschaffen ist.
Auf dieser ersten Stufe des Devachan sieht man also das Astralbild der physischen Welt; es ist das, was man das Festland des Devachan nennt, die Negativform der Täler, der Gebirge, der physischen Kontinente.
Indem man sich im Meditieren mit angehaltenem Atem übt, gelangt man zur zweiten Stufe des Devachan. Die Hohlräume, welche die physische Substanz bildet, füllen sich mit einem System von geistigen Strömungen. Es sind die Strömungen des universellen Lebens, welche alles durchziehen, es ist der Ozean des Devachan. Hier taucht der Initiierte in die sprudelnde Quelle allen Lebens ein. Er sieht dieses Leben wie ein ungeheures Flußnetz, dessen Kanäle alles durchziehen. Zugleich durchdringt ihn eine fremdartige und ganz neue Empfindung. Er fühlt, wie er anfängt in den Metallen zu leben. Reichenbach, der Autor des Buches über das Od, hatte dieses Phänomen bei den sensitiven Personen entdeckt, von denen er in Papierstücke eingewickelte Metalle erraten ließ.
Die Wesenheiten, denen man in dieser Region begegnet, sind diejenigen, die Dionysius Areopagita die Erzengel oder Beleber der Metalle nennt”; sie entsprechen dem zweiten Grad der Hellsichtigkeit.
Man gelangt zur dritten Stufe des Devachan, wenn man sein Gedankenleben von jeder Verbindung mit der physischen Welt löst, wenn man sich im Gedankenleben erfühlen kann ohne Gedankeninhalt. Der Meister sagt zu seinem Schüler: Lebe so, daß du dein Verstandesdenken ohne Gegenstand in Tätigkeit setzest! - Dann öffnet sich eine neue Welt. Nachdem man die Kontinente und die Flüsse des Devachan gesehen hat, das heißt die Astralseele der Dinge und dieLebensströmungen, nimmt man die Luft, die devachanische Atmosphäre wahr. Diese Atmosphäre ist ganz verschieden von der unsrigen. Ihre Substanz ist lebendig, tönend, voller Empfindung, als ob sie fühlte. Sie antwortet auf Jede unserer Gesten, unserer Handlungen, unserer Gedanken durch Schwingungen, Lichterscheinungen, Töne. Alles was auf der Erde geschieht, wirkt sich hier aus in Form von Farbe, Licht und Ton. Sei es, daß man hier während des Schlafes lebt, sei es nach dem Tode- immer kann man dort das Echo von dem, was auf der Erde geschieht, verfolgen. Man kann zum Beispiel eineSchlacht beobachten: man sieht nicht die Schlacht selbst, noch ihr Hinundherschwanken, man hört weder die Schreie der Kämpfer, noch die Kanonenschüsse. Vielmehr äußern sich Kämpfe und Leidenschaften als Blitz und Donner. So trennt uns das Devachan nicht von der Erde, aber er zeigt sie uns wie von außen. Man empfindet nicht mehr den Schmerz und die Freude als etwas, was sich in uns abspielt. Man betrachtet sie objektiv wie ein Schauspiel. Es ist eine neue Lehrzeit für Mitgefühl und Erbarmen. Das Devachan ist eine Schule, wo man lernt, die Leiden und Freuden dieser Welt von einem höheren Gesichtspunkt aus zu betrachten, wo man alle Kräfte aufbietet, um die Leiden in Freude, die Stürze in neue Aufschwünge, den Tod in Auferstehung zu verwandeln.
Das hat nichts zu tun mit passiver Kontemplation und einem mehr oder weniger egoistischen Himmelsglück, wie es gewisse religiöse Autoren ausgemalt haben, die meinen, daß die Leiden der Verdammten zum Glück der Auserwählten gehören. Es handelt sich um einen lebendigen Himmel, wo der unbegrenzte Wunsch nach Sympathie und Tätigkeit, der in der menschlichen Seele veranlagt ist, nach unbegrenzten Wirkungsfeldern und unendlichen Ausblicken drängt.
Auf der vierten Stufe des Eindringens in das Devachan erscheinen die Dinge in der Gestalt ihrer Urformen. Das ist nicht mehr der negative Aspekt, sondern der ursprüngliche Typus, der sich da enthüllt. Das ist die Werkstatt der Welt, die alle Formen in sich einschließt, aus denen die Schöpfung entsprungen ist. Das ist die Ideenwelt Platos, das Reich der Mütter, von dem Goethe spricht und aus dem er das Phantom der Helena aufsteigen läßt. Was auf dieser Stufe des Devachan erscheint, ist dasjenige, was der Inder die Akasha-Chronik nennt. In unserer neuzeitlichen Sprache würden wir es das Astralbild aller Weltereignisse nennen. Alles, was durch den Astralleib der Menschen hindurchgegangen ist, ist hier in einer unendlich subtilen Substanz, die eigentlich eine negative Materie ist, festgehalten.
Um die Berechtigung dieser Bilder, die im Astrallicht der Erde schwimmen, zu begreifen, muß man sich vergleichender Analogien bedienen. Die menschliche Stimme spricht Worte aus und formt dadurch Tonwellen, die durch andere Ohren in andere Gehirne dringen, um dort Bilder und Gedanken hervorzurufen. Jedes dieser Worte ist eine Tonwelle von ganz eigenartiger Form, die, wenn wir sie sehen könnten, sich von jeder anderen unterscheiden würde. Denken wir uns nun, diese Worte könnten erstarren und gefrieren wie eine Wasserwoge durch eine plötzliche ungeheure Kälte. In diesem Falle würden diese Wortgebilde in Form gefrorener Luft zur Erde fallen, und man könnte jedes von ihnen an seiner Form erkennen. Das wären dann kristallisierte Worte.
Und nun denken wir uns anstelle eines Verdichtungsprozesses das Umgekehrte. Wir wissen, daß jeder Körper aus einem mehr festen in einen mehr immateriellen Zustand übergehen kann: vom festen zum flüssigen und zum gasförmigen Zustand. Die Verfeinerung des materiellen Zustandes kann einen Grad erreichen, der, wenn man ihn überschreitet, bei einer negativen Materie endet; man nennt ihn Akasha. In ihr drücken sich alle Ereignisse in einer endgültigen Weise ab,.und man kann sie alle wiederfinden, selbst diejenigen aus der tiefsten Vergangenheit.
Die Bilder der Akasha-Chronik sind nicht unbeweglich. Sie entfalten sich beständig wie lebende Bilder, wo die Dinge und Personen sich bewegen und manchmal sogar sprechen. Würde man die Astralgestalt Dantes aufrufen, so spräche sie in seinem Stil, wie aus seiner einstigen Lebenssphäre heraus. Das sind die Bilder, die fast immer in spiritistischen Sitzungen erscheinen und für den Geist des Verstorbenen gehalten werden. Das ist irreführend.
Man muß lernen, die Blätter dieses Buches mit lebenden Bildern zu entziffern und die unzähligen Rollen dieser Chronik des Weltalls zu entfalten. Man gelangt dazu nur, indem man die äußere Erscheinungsform von der Wirklichkeit, den Abdruck des Menschen von der lebendigen Seele unterscheidet. Das erfordert tägliche Übung und eine lange Schulung, um Irrtümer in der Auslegung zu vermeiden. Denn es könnte beispielsweise geschehen, daß man angesichts des Erscheinungsbildes Dantes exakte Antworten erhält, aber sie stammen nicht von der Individualität Dantes, die sich fortschreitend weiter entwickelt, sondern vom alten Dante, wie er der Äthersphäre seines Zeitalters verhaftet ist.
Die fünfte Stufe ist die der himmlischen Sphärenharmonie. Die oberen Regionen des Devachan zeichnen sich dadurch aus, daß alle Töne dort klarer, leuchtender, volltönender sind. Man vernimmt dort in einer grandiosen Harmonie die Stimme aller Wesen, und das ist dasjenige, was Pythagoras die Sphärenmusik nennt. Es ist das innere Sprechen, das lebendige Wort des Weltalls. Jedes Wesen nimmt nun für den hellhörig gewordenen Hellseher eine besondere Klangfarbe an, gewissermaßen eine tönende Aura. Da nennt jedes Wesen dem Okkultisten seinen Namen. In der Genesis nimmt Jehova den Adam bei der Hand, und Adam benennt alle Wesen mit Namen. Auf der Erde ist das Individuum verloren unter der Menge der anderen Wesen. Dort hat jedes seine eigene Klangfarbe, und trotzdem taucht der Mensch zugleich in alle Wesen unter, wird eins mit seiner Umgebung.
Auf dieser Stufe wird der Schüler der Schwan genannt. Er hört die Töne, durch welche der Meister zu ihm spricht, und übermittelt sie der Welt. Der singende Schwan des Apollo läßt die Klänge vom Jenseits hören. Man sagt, daß er vom Land der Hyperboräer kommt, das heißt von jener Welt, in der sich die Sonne bei ihrem Untergang vom Himmel birgt.
Wir sind an dem Punkt angekommen, wo man von der anderen Seite her von der Sternenwelt Abschied nimmt. Man liest die Akasha-Chronik nicht mehr von der Erdenseite, sondern von der Hiimmelsseite her; sie wird zur okkulten Sternenschrift. Man sieht in das Innere der Sternensphäre hinein, und man empfindet die Ursprungsquelle des Universums, des Logos.
Wir finden in den Mythen Erinnerungen an diesen Grad des Schwans, ganz besonders im Mittelalter durch die Sagen vom Gral, die der Widerhall von Erfahrungen in der devachanischen Welt sind. Alle Heldentaten, die dort berichtet werden, werden verrichtet durch die Gralsritter, welche die großen Impulse verkörpern, die auf Anordnung der Meister die Menschheit durchziehen.
Der Zeitpunkt, zu welchem die Gralslegende unter dem Einfluß der großen Eingeweihten entstand, ist derjenige, wo die Herrschaft des Bürgertums beginnt und wo von Schottland aus in England und von dort aus in Frankreich und Deutschland die Gründung der großen freien Städte sich ausbreitet. Der frei gewordene Mensch sehnt sich unbewußt nach der Wahrheit und nach dem göttlichen Leben. In der Sage von Lohengrin repräsentiert Elsa die menschliche Seele, die Seele des Mittelalters, die nach Entfaltung strebt und die im Okkultismus immer durch eine weibliche Gestalt dargestellt wird. Der Ritter Lohengrin, der zu ihrer Befreiung aus einer unbekannten Welt, von der Burg des Heiligen Gral, kommt, stellt den Meister dar, der die Wahrheit bringt. Er ist der Bote des Eingeweihten, symbolisch herangetragen durch den Schwan. Der Bote der großen Eingeweihten heißt «Schwan». Man darf weder nach seinem Ursprung noch nach seinem wahren Namen fragen. Man darf nicht an den Zeichen seiner Hoheit zweifeln. Man muß ihm aufs Wort glauben und an seinem Antlitz den Strahl der Wahrheit erkennen. Wer diesen Glauben nicht hat, ist nicht fähig, ihn zu begreifen, und nicht würdig, ihn zu hören. Daher das Verbot Lohengrins an Elsa, seinen Ursprung und seinen Namen zu erfragen. Der Schwan ist der Chela, der den Meister herbeiführt.
Der Bote des Meisters auf dem physischen Plan ist der eingeweihte Schüler, der zum fünften Grad aufgestiegen ist und den der Meister in die Welt sendet. So drückt diese Legende aus, was sich in den höheren Welten ereignet. In die Mythen und Legenden läßt der Logos, das Sonnen- und Planetenwort, sein Licht hineinscheinen.
Cosmogony XII
Devachan—or the seat of the gods—corresponds to the Christian heaven and the spirit world of occultists. It goes without saying that these regions—which are only seemingly extraterrestrial, since they are in a living relationship with our world, but which are beyond the reach of our physical senses—can only be described in symbols and parables, for our language is only suitable for the world of the senses.
Devachan comprises seven degrees or seven different regions, which are arranged in ascending order. These are not floors or specific locations, but states of the soul and spirit. Devachan is everywhere. It surrounds us like the astral world, only we cannot see it. Through successive exercises, the initiate acquires the necessary abilities to see it. Let us consider how it gradually opens up to those who acquire new powers of perception.
At the first stage of clairvoyance, dreams become more regular, certain figures appear, meaningful words are heard; they increasingly take on a meaning that can be deciphered and that relates to real life. For example, one dreams that a friend's house is on fire, and later learns that he has just fallen ill. These first glimpses into the devachan make it appear like a sky streaked with clouds that group together and gradually take on living forms.
With the second stage of clairvoyance, dreams take on very definite contours. These are the geometric and symbolic forms of the great religions, the sacred signs of all times, which are, so to speak, the language of the creative word, the sacred hieroglyphs of the cosmic language: the cross, sign of life; the pentagram or five-pointed star, sign of the word; the hexagram or six-pointed star, two triangles turned inward, sign of the macrocosm, mirrored in the microcosm, and so on. But these symbols, which we represent in abstract lines, appear here in color, alive and flashing on a background of light. They are not, however, the clothing of living beings, but rather denote, so to speak, the norms and laws of creation. They form the animal figures that the first initiates chose to represent the solar cycles in the constellations of the zodiac. The initiates have handed down their visions in these symbols, for example in that of Cancer, which represents a vortex of two opposing lines. The oldest characters in Sanskrit, Egyptian, Greek, and runes, each of which always has its own meaning, all originally go back to spiritual forms.
At this stage of his clairvoyance, however, the disciple is still on the threshold of Devachan. It is a matter of going beyond it and finding the passage that leads from the astral world to the first stage of the Devachanic world. All secret schools have known this path, and even Christianity in the first centuries, although it did not go back to the ancient forms of initiation, nevertheless possessed an esoteric sign language, traces of which we can still find today.
The Acts of the Apostles mentions Dionysius, who was an initiated disciple of Paul and taught esoteric Christianity. Later, in the 9th century, John Scotus Eriugena founded an esoteric Christianity at the court of Charles the Bald. This was then gradually obscured by dogma. But if one penetrates into the Devachan, one sees that Dionysius' description of it is confirmed.
Rhythmic breathing according to the yoga system is one of the means used to enter the world of Devachan. The sure sign that this entry has taken place is that consciousness goes through an experience which in Vedanta philosophy is described by the words: tat tvam asi = that is you.
In dreams, humans see their own physical form from the outside. They see their body stretched out on their bed, but as an empty shell. Around this hollow form, the astral body shines like an egg-shaped glow; it appears like an aura from which the body has been withdrawn, while the body appears as an empty hollow form. It is a vision in which the conditions are reversed, as in a photographic negative. One becomes accustomed to this view of all things. One sees, as it were, the soul of crystals, plants, and animals in the form of a halo, while their physical substance appears as a hollow form, an empty space. But only natural objects can appear this way, nothing created by human hands.
At this first stage of Devachan, one sees the astral image of the physical world; it is what is called the mainland of Devachan, the negative form of the valleys, the mountains, the physical continents.
By practicing meditation with held breath, one reaches the second stage of Devachan. The hollow spaces formed by physical substance fill with a system of spiritual currents. These are the currents of universal life that permeate everything; it is the ocean of Devachan. Here the initiate immerses himself in the bubbling source of all life. He sees this life as an immense network of rivers whose channels permeate everything. At the same time, he is filled with a strange and completely new sensation. He feels himself beginning to live in metals. Reichenbach, the author of the book on the od, discovered this phenomenon in sensitive individuals whom he asked to guess metals wrapped in pieces of paper.
The beings encountered in this region are those whom Dionysius Areopagita calls the archangels or animators of metals; they correspond to the second degree of clairvoyance.
One reaches the third stage of Devachan when one detaches one's thought life from any connection with the physical world, when one can feel oneself in one's thought life without any thought content. The master says to his disciple: Live in such a way that you put your intellectual thinking into action without any object! - Then a new world opens up. After seeing the continents and rivers of Devachan, that is, the astral soul of things and the currents of life, one perceives the air, the Devachanic atmosphere. This atmosphere is very different from ours. Its substance is alive, resonant, full of sensation, as if it could feel. It responds to each of our gestures, our actions, our thoughts with vibrations, light phenomena, sounds. Everything that happens on earth has an effect here in the form of color, light, and sound. Whether one lives here during sleep or after death, one can always follow the echo of what is happening on earth. For example, one can observe a battle: you do not see the battle itself, nor its ebb and flow, you hear neither the cries of the fighters nor the cannon shots. Rather, battles and passions manifest themselves as lightning and thunder. Thus, Devachan does not separate us from Earth, but it shows it to us as if from the outside. We no longer perceive pain and joy as something that takes place within us. We view them objectively, like a spectacle. It is a new apprenticeship in compassion and mercy. Devachan is a school where we learn to view the sufferings and joys of this world from a higher perspective, where we summon all our powers to transform suffering into joy, downfalls into new upsurges, death into resurrection.
This has nothing to do with passive contemplation and a more or less selfish heavenly bliss, as depicted by certain religious authors who believe that the suffering of the damned contributes to the happiness of the elect. It is a living heaven, where the unlimited desire for sympathy and activity, which is inherent in the human soul, strives for unlimited fields of activity and infinite vistas.
On the fourth level of penetration into Devachan, things appear in their original forms. This is no longer the negative aspect, but the original type that is revealed there. This is the workshop of the world, which contains all the forms from which creation sprang. This is Plato's world of ideas, the realm of mothers of which Goethe speaks and from which he lets the phantom of Helen rise. What appears at this stage of Devachan is what the Indians call the Akashic Records. In our modern language, we would call it the astral image of all world events. Everything that has passed through the astral body of human beings is recorded here in an infinitely subtle substance, which is actually a negative matter.
In order to understand the validity of these images floating in the astral light of the earth, one must use comparative analogies. The human voice utters words and thereby forms sound waves that penetrate other ears and other brains, evoking images and thoughts there. Each of these words is a sound wave of a very peculiar shape, which, if we could see it, would differ from every other. Now let us imagine that these words could solidify and freeze like a wave of water due to a sudden, tremendous cold. In this case, these word formations would fall to the earth in the form of frozen air, and each of them could be recognized by its shape. These would then be crystallized words.
And now let us imagine the opposite of a process of condensation. We know that every body can transition from a more solid to a more immaterial state: from a solid to a liquid to a gaseous state. The refinement of the material state can reach a degree which, if exceeded, ends in negative matter; it is called Akasha. In it, all events are imprinted in a definitive way, and one can find them all again, even those from the deepest past.
The images in the Akashic Records are not immobile. They unfold constantly like living pictures, where things and people move and sometimes even speak. If one were to summon the astral form of Dante, it would speak in his style, as if from his former sphere of life. These are the images that almost always appear in spiritualist séances and are taken for the spirit of the deceased. This is misleading.
One must learn to decipher the pages of this book with living images and to unfold the countless scrolls of this chronicle of the universe. This can only be achieved by distinguishing the outer appearance from reality, the imprint of the human being from the living soul. This requires daily practice and long training in order to avoid errors in interpretation. For example, it could happen that, in view of Dante's appearance, one receives exact answers, but they do not come from Dante's individuality, which is progressively developing, but from the old Dante, as he is attached to the etheric sphere of his age.
The fifth stage is that of heavenly sphere harmony. The upper regions of Devachan are characterized by the fact that all sounds there are clearer, brighter, and more resonant. There, in a grandiose harmony, one hears the voice of all beings, and this is what Pythagoras calls the music of the spheres. It is the inner speech, the living word of the universe. Each being now takes on a special timbre for the clairvoyant who has become sensitive to sound, a kind of sounding aura. Each being tells the occultist its name. In Genesis, Jehovah takes Adam by the hand, and Adam names all beings. On earth, the individual is lost among the multitude of other beings. There, each has its own timbre, and yet at the same time, the human being merges into all beings, becoming one with his surroundings.
At this stage, the student is called the swan. He hears the sounds through which the master speaks to him and transmits them to the world. The singing swan of Apollo lets the sounds from the beyond be heard. It is said that he comes from the land of the Hyperboreans, that is, from the world where the sun hides from the sky at sunset.
We have arrived at the point where we bid farewell to the starry world from the other side. We no longer read the Akashic Records from the earthly side, but from the heavenly side; they become occult star writing. We look into the interior of the starry sphere and sense the source of the universe, the Logos.
We find memories of this degree of the Swan in myths, especially in the Middle Ages through the legends of the Grail, which are the echo of experiences in the devachanic world. All the heroic deeds reported there are performed by the Knights of the Grail, who embody the great impulses that permeate humanity at the behest of the Masters.
The time when the Grail legend arose under the influence of the great initiates is the time when the rule of the bourgeoisie began and when the founding of the great free cities spread from Scotland to England and from there to France and Germany. The liberated human being unconsciously longs for truth and divine life. In the legend of Lohengrin, Elsa represents the human soul, the soul of the Middle Ages, which strives for development and is always represented by a female figure in occultism. The knight Lohengrin, who comes from an unknown world, from the castle of the Holy Grail, to liberate her, represents the master who brings the truth. He is the messenger of the initiate, symbolically carried by the swan. The messenger of the great initiates is called “Swan.” One must not ask about his origin or his true name. One must not doubt the signs of his majesty. One must believe his word and recognize the ray of truth in his face. Those who do not have this faith are incapable of understanding him and are not worthy of hearing him. Hence Lohengrin's prohibition to Elsa to inquire about his origin and his name. The swan is the chela who brings forth the Master.
The messenger of the Master on the physical plane is the initiated disciple who has ascended to the fifth degree and whom the Master sends out into the world. Thus, this legend expresses what happens in the higher worlds. The Logos, the Word of the Sun and the Planets, shines its light into myths and legends.