The Foundations of Esotericism
GA 93a
26 September 1905, Berlin
Lecture I
In all esoteric teaching it is important to learn how we should look at the things around us. Naturally everyone experiences something or other when looking at a flower or anything else in the environment. It is however necessary to gain a higher standpoint, to penetrate more deeply, to connect specific observations with every object. This is the basis, for instance, of the profound medical insight of Paracelsus. He sensed, felt and perceived the force inherent in a particular plant and the relationship of this force to some corresponding function in man. For example he perceived which organ of the human body was affected by Digitalis purpurea (foxglove).
To make this manner of observation clear we will take a particular example. All religions have symbols. We hear much about these today, but such explanations are usually external and arbitrary. Profound religious symbols are however drawn out of the very nature of the things themselves. Let us consider for instance the symbol of the serpent, which was imparted to Moses in the Egyptian Mystery Schools. We will consider what inspired him, what gave him Intuition.
A fundamental difference exists between all those animal creatures having a vertebral column and those, such as beetles, molluscs, worms and so on which have none. The entire animal kingdom falls into the main sections of the vertebrate and the invertebrate animals. In the case of the invertebrates one can put the question: Where are their nerves situated? For the principal nerve-cord passes through the spinal column. The invertebrates however do also have a nervous system, as is the case with human beings and vertebrate animals. With the latter it is distributed outside along the spine until it spreads into the cavity of the body. This is called the sympathetic nervous system together with the solar plexus. It is the same system which the invertebrate animals also possess: only for the vertebrates and man, it has less significance. With the invertebrates this system is much more closely connected with the rest of the world than the nervous system in man's head and spine. The activity of this latter can be obliterated in a condition of trance; then the sympathetic nervous system comes into action. This occurs for instance in the case of somnambulists. The consciousness of the sleepwalker is spread out over the whole life of the environment and goes over into the other beings surrounding us. The somnambulist experiences external things within him. Now the Life-ether is the element which everywhere streams around us. The solar plexus is its mediator. If we were only able to perceive with the solar plexus we should live in intimate communion with the whole world. This is so with the invertebrate animals. For instance, such a creature feels a flower as being within itself. In the earth system the invertebrate animal is somewhat similar to the eye and ear in man. It is part of the organism. There is actually a common spiritual organism which perceives, sees, hears and so on through the invertebrate animals. The Earth-Spirit is such a common spiritual organism. Everything which we have around us is a body for this common spirit. Just as our soul creates eyes and ears in order to perceive the world, so does this common Earth-Soul create the invertebrate animals as eyes and ears in order to see and hear the world.
In the evolution of the Earth there came a time when a process of separation set in. A part separated itself off, as though in a tube. Only when this point of time was reached did it become in any way possible for beings to develop which could become separate entities. The others are members of the one Earth-Soul. Now for the first time a special grade of separation began. For the first time the possibility arose that one day something would be able to say ‘I’ to itself. This fact—that there are two epochs on the Earth, firstly, the epoch in which there were no animals having a nervous system enclosed within a bony tube; secondly, the epoch in which such animals came into being—this fact is distinctly expressed in all religions. The snake is the first to enclose within a tube the selfless undifferentiated gaze of the Earth Spirit, thus forming the basis of ego hood. This fact was impressed on their pupils by the esoteric teachers in such a way that they were able to say to themselves: ‘Look at the snake and you will see the sign of your ego’. This had to be accompanied by the vivid experience that the independent ego and the snake belong together. Thus an awareness of the significance of the things around us was developed, so that the pupils endowed each being in the realm of Nature with the appropriate feeling-content. Moses also was forearmed by such an experience when he went out from the Egyptian Mystery Schools, and so he lifted up the snake as a symbol. In those schools one did not learn in such an abstract way as one does nowadays; one learned to comprehend the world out of one's own inner perception.
We have a description of the human being based on the external investigation of the different parts of his organism, but we can also find man described in old mystical and occult works. These descriptions, however, have arisen in quite another way than by anatomical examination. They are indeed of far greater exactitude and much more correct than what is described today by the anatomist, for he only describes the corpse. The old descriptions were gained in such a way that the pupils, through meditation, through inner illumination, became visible to themselves. By means of the so-called Kundalini Fire1 See glossary of theosophical terms. man is able to observe himself from within outwards. There are different stages of this observation. The exact, correct observation appears at first in symbols. If man concentrates for instance on his spinal cord, it is a fact that he always sees a snake. He may perhaps also dream of a snake, because this is the creature which was placed out in the world when the spinal cord was formed, and has remained at this stage. The snake is the spinal column outwardly projected into the world. This pictorial way of seeing things is astral vision (Imagination). But it is only through mental vision (Inspiration) that the full significance is revealed.
This path of knowledge leads man to the recognition of the connection between microcosm and macrocosm, so that he is able to divide himself up within the kingdoms of Nature, so that he is able to say to which part of the world each single one of his organs belongs. The old Germanic myth distributes the giant Imir in this way. The dome of the heavens is made from his skull; the mountains from his bones and so on.2 In the old Nordic germanic myth dealing with the beginning of the world the different parts of the world were created out of the body of the primaeval giant: from the flesh the earth, from the blood the water, from the bones the rocks, from the hair the forests, from the skull the sky, from the brain the clouds. That is the mythological presentation of this inner vision. Each part of the world reveals to the esotericist its connection with something in himself. The inner relationship then becomes apparent. All religions point to this kind of intensive development. The Gospels also indicate it. The esotericist says to himself: Everything in the surrounding world—stones, plants and animals are signposts along the path of my own evolution. Without these kingdoms I could not exist. This consciousness fills us not only with the feeling that we have risen above these kingdoms, but also with the knowledge that our existence depends upon them.
There are seven grades of human consciousness: trance consciousness, deep sleep, dream consciousness, waking consciousness, psychic, super-psychic and spiritual consciousness. Actually these are in all twelve stages of consciousness;3 See: Cosmic Memory, chapter on Saturn, also lecture 27.1.1908, The Influence of Spiritual Beings upon Man. Lec. 2. the five others are creative stages. They are those of the Creators, of the creative Gods. These twelve stages are related to the twelve signs of the zodiac. The human being must pass through the experiences of these twelve stages. He ascended through the trance, deep sleep and dream consciousness up to the present clear day consciousness. In the succeeding stages of planetary evolution he will reach still higher stages. All those which he has already passed through he will also retain within him. The physical body has the dull trance consciousness as this was gained by man on Old Saturn. The human etheric body has the consciousness of dreamless sleep, as this developed on Old Sun. The astral body dreams in the same way as one dreams during sleep. Dream consciousness derives from the Old Moon period. On our present Earth, man achieves waking consciousness. The ego has clear day-consciousness.
Higher development consists in this, that one casts out what is in one's own being in the same way as man has cast out the snake, thereby retaining the snake on a higher level in his spinal cord. With still further development human beings will not only cast out stones, plants and animals into the world, but also stages of consciousness. In a stock of bees, for example, there are three kinds of beings which have a soul in common.4 See: Nine Lectures on Bees. Seemingly quite separated beings carry out a common work. In the future this will also be the case with man; he will separate off his organs. He will have to control consciously from outside all the single molecules of his brain. Then he will have become a higher being. This will also be so with his stages of consciousness. One can imagine a lofty being who has put forth from himself all twelve stages of consciousness. He himself is then present as the thirteenth and will say: I could not be what I am, if I had not separated off from myself these twelve stages of consciousness. The twelve apostles represent the stages of consciousness through which the Christ passed. This can be recognised in the thirteenth chapter of St. John in the description of the Washing of the Feet,5 See: The Gospel of John in Relation to the other Three Gospels, Lecture 14. The Gospel of St. John. Notes on 3 lectures, Lecture 2. also: Festivals of the Seasons, second lecture on Easter which indicates that Christ is indebted to the apostles for his attainment of the higher stages of consciousness: ‘Verily, Verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his lord’. The more highly developed being has left the others behind on the way and has himself now become their servant. Not many people understand the meaning of these words; nevertheless, when they hear this narrative, through feeling they are prepared for understanding. In the first centuries after Christ, for example, through these narratives, our feeling life has been prepared. Otherwise, our causal body would not have been sufficiently prepared to receive the truth. It is through pictorial forms that the soul is prepared. This is why in earlier times the great initiates, with their outlook into the far future, taught people by means of stories. Even today such teachers have a concept of what will be brought about in the future by the teachings of Theosophy. Now man has in himself both good and evil. In the future this will become externally apparent as a kingdom of good and a kingdom of evil6 See: The Apocalypse, lecture 12. And how at some future time those who are good will have to deal with those who are evil—this is what is being implanted in the soul today through the concepts of Theosophy. At first people were given pictures, now they receive concepts and, in the future, they will have to act in accordance with these in their practical life.
I
Bei jedem esoterischen Lehrgang kommt es darauf an zu lernen, wie wir die Dinge um uns her anzuschauen haben. Jeder Mensch empfindet natürlich bei einer Blume und allen Dingen der Umgebung irgend etwas. Es kommt aber darauf an, einen höheren Standpunkt zu gewinnen, tiefer hineinzuschauen, bestimmte Schauungen mit jedem Ding zu verbinden. Darauf beruht zum Beispiel die tiefsinnige Medizin des Paracelsus. Er spürte, fühlte, sah die Kraft einer bestimmten Pflanze und die Verwandtschaft dieser Kraft mit einer entsprechenden im Menschen. So sah er zum Beispiel, auf welches Organ des Menschen die Kraft der Digitalis purpurea (roter Fingerhut) wirkt.
Wir wollen uns diese Art, die Dinge zu betrachten, an einem besonderen Beispiele klarmachen. Alle Religionen haben Symbole. Über diese Sinnbilder kann man heute vieles hören, was vielfach aber nur eine äußere willkürliche Auslegung ist. Die tiefen religiösen Symbole sind aber aus dem Wesen der Dinge selbst herausgeholt. Besprechen wir zum Beispiel das Schlangensymbol, wie es Moses in den ägyptischen Geheimschulen mitgeteilt worden war. Was ihn begeisterte, was ihm die Intuition gab, wollen wir besprechen.
Es besteht ein grundlegender Unterschied zwischen all denjenigen tierischen Lebewesen, welche eine Wirbelsäule haben, und denjenigen, welche, wie die Käfer, Mollusken, Würmer und so weiter, keine Wirbelsäule haben. Das ganze Tierreich zerfällt in die Hauptabteilungen der Wirbeltiere und der Wirbellosen. Bei den wirbellosen Tieren kann man sich nun die Frage vorlegen: Wo haben diese Tiere ihre Nerven? - Denn der Hauptnervenstrang geht sonst durch die Wirbelsäule hindurch. Die Wirbellosen haben aber auch ein Nervensystem, und zwar findet es sich ebenso beim Menschen wie bei den Wirbeltieren. Bei diesen verläuft es außen, längs der Wirbelsäule, bis es sich in der Leibeshöhle ausbreitet. Dies nennt man das sympathische Nervensystem mit dem Sonnengeflecht. Es ist dasselbe System, welches auch die wirbellosen Tiere besitzen, nur daß es bei den Wirbeltieren und beim Menschen weniger Bedeutung hat. Dieses System steht in einem viel engeren Zusammenhang mit der übrigen Welt als das Nervensystem in Kopf und Rückenmark des Menschen. Man kann die Tätigkeit der letzteren im Trancezustand auslöschen, dann tritt das sympathische Nervensystem in Tätigkeit. So geschieht es zum Beispiel bei den Somnambulen. Das somnambule Bewußtsein erstreckt sich auf das ganze Leben der Umgebung und geht über in die anderen Wesen um uns her. Die Somnambulen fühlen die Dinge in sich. Der Lebensäther ist nun das Element, das uns überall umströmt. Im Sonnengeflecht hat er seine Vermittlung. Könnten wir nur mit dem Sonnengeflecht wahrnehmen, so würden wir in einer intimen Gemeinschaft mit der ganzen Welt leben. Diese intime Gemeinschaft ist bei den wirbellosen Tieren vorhanden. Ein solches Tier fühlt zum Beispiel eine Blume in sich. Das wirbellose Tier ist im Erdensystem etwas Ähnliches wie beim Menschen Auge und Ohr. Es ist ein Teil des Organismus. Es gibt tatsächlich einen gemeinschaftlichen geistigen Organismus, welcher durch die wirbellosen Tiere wahrnimmt, sieht, hört und so weiter. Der Erdengeist ist ein solcher gemeinschaftlicher Organismus. Alles was wir so um uns haben, ist ein Körper für diesen gemeinschaftlichen Geist. Wie sich unsere Seele Augen und Ohren schafft, um die Welt wahrzunehmen, so schafft sich diese gemeinschaftliche Erdenseele die wirbellosen Tiere als Augen und Ohren, um in die Welt hineinzusehen und hineinzuhören.
In der Entwickelung der Erde kam nun ein Zeitpunkt, wo in dem gemeinsamen Leben und Weben des Erdengeistes eine Besonderung eintrat. Es schloß sich ein Teil ab, wie in ein Rohr hinein. Erst als dieser Zeitpunkt eintrat, war es überhaupt möglich, daß Wesen entstehen, die auch Sonderwesen werden können. Die anderen sind Glieder einer Erdenseele. Jetzt erst beginnt ein besonderer Grad von Sonderung. Jetzt beginnt erst die Möglichkeit, daß einmal etwas zu sich «Ich» sagen kann. Diese Tatsache, daß zwei Epochen auf der Erde sind, erstens die Epoche, in der es auf der Erde noch keine Tiere gab mit einem in ein Knochenrohr eingeschlossenen Nervensystem, zweitens die Epoche, in welcher dann solche entstanden, wird in allen Religionen besonders ausgedrückt. Die Schlange schließt zuerst das selbstlose, ungesonderte Schauen des Erdengeistes in ein Rohr ein, und bildet so den Grund zur Ichheit. Das prägten die esoterischen Lehrer den Schülern ein, so daß sie es empfinden konnten: Seht ihr die Schlange an, so seht ihr das Merkzeichen für euer Ich. - Dabei mußten sie lebhaft empfinden, daß das zusammengehört, das selbständige Ich und die Schlange. So wurde diese Empfindung von der Bedeutung der Dinge um uns her ausgebildet. So durchdrangen die Schüler ein jegliches Naturwesen mit dem richtigen Empfindungsgehalt. Mit dieser Empfindung ausgerüstet war auch Moses, als er herausging aus den ägyptischen Geheimschulen, und so stellte er die Schlange als Symbol auf. Man lernte in jenen Schulen nicht so abstrakt, wie man heute lernt, sondern indem man aus dem eigenen inneren Erleben heraus die Welt erfassen lernte.
Es gibt eine Beschreibung des Menschen auf Grund der äußerlichen Untersuchung der einzelnen Teile seines Organismus. Aber in alten mystischen und okkulten Werken kann man den Menschen ebenfalls beschrieben finden. Diese Beschreibungen sind aber auf ganz andere Weise zustande gekommen als durch anatomische Untersuchungen. Sie sind sogar weit genauer und viel richtiger, als was der Anatom von heute beschreibt, denn dieser beschreibt nur den Leichnam. Die alten Beschreibungen sind so gewonnen, daß die Schüler durch Meditation, durch innere Erleuchtung sich selbst sichtbar wurden. Durch das sogenannte Kundalinifeuer kann der Mensch sich von innen heraus betrachten. Es gibt verschiedene Stufen dieser Betrachtung. Die genaue, richtige Betrachtung tritt zuerst symbolisch auf. Wenn der Mensch sich zum Beispiel auf sein Rückenmark konzentriert, sieht er in der Tat immer die Schlange. Er träumt vielleicht auch von der Schlange, weil diese das Wesen ist, das äußerlich in die Welt hinausversetzt wurde, als das Rückenmark sich bildete und auf dieser Stufe stehengeblieben ist. Die Schlange ist das äußerliche, in die Welt hinausversetzte Rückenmark. Diese bildhafte Art, die Dinge zu sehen, ist das astrale Schauen (Imagination). Aber erst durch das mentale Schauen (Inspiration) ergibt sich die völlige Bedeutung.
Dieser Erkenntnisweg führt den Menschen dazu, den Zusammenhang zwischen Mikrokosmos und Makrokosmos zu erkennen, daß er sich aufteilen kann in die Natur, daß er sich sagen kann, zu welchem Teil der Welt jedes einzelne seiner Organe gehört. Die altgermanische Mythe läßt den Riesen Ymir so aufgeteilt werden. Aus seiner Gehirnschale wird das Himmelsgewölbe gemacht, aus seinen Knochen die Gebirge und so weiter. Das ist die mythologische Darstellung von dem inneren Schauen. Bei jedem Stück in der Welt sieht der Esoteriker den Zusammenhang mit irgend etwas in ihm selbst. Die innere Verwandtschaft tritt dann hervor. Dieses Schauen muß intensiv ausgebildet werden. Alle Religionen weisen auf solche intensive Ausbildung hin. In den Evangelien wird auch darauf hingewiesen. Der Esoteriker sagt sich: Alle Dinge der Umwelt, Stein, Pflanzen und Tiere, sind Merkzeichen meiner eigenen Entwickelung; ich könnte nicht sein, wenn nicht diese Reiche da wären. Dieses Bewußtsein erfüllt uns nicht nur mit dem Gefühl, daß wir hinausgestiegen sind über diese Reiche, sondern auch mit der Erkenntnis, daß wir ohne sie nicht sein könnten.
Es gibt sieben Grade des menschlichen Bewußtseins: Trancebewußtsein, Tiefschlaf-, Traumbewußtsein, Wachbewußtsein, psychisches, überpsychisches und spirituelles Bewußtsein. Eigentlich gibt es im ganzen zwölf Bewußtseinsstufen; die fünf anderen sind schöpferische Bewußtseinsstufen. Es sind solche der Schöpfer, der schaffenden Götter. Diese hängen mit den zwölf Tierkreiszeichen zusammen. Diese zwölf Stufen muß der Mensch nacheinander durchmachen. Er stieg auf durch das Trance-, Tiefschlaf- und Traumbewußtsein bis zum heutigen hellen Tagesbewußtsein. Auf den folgenden planetarischen Entwickelungsstufen wird er noch höhere Bewußtseinsstufen erreichen. Alle, die er schon durchgemacht hat, hat er auch in sich. Der physische Körper hat das dumpfe Trancebewußtsein, wie es auf dem alten Saturn vom Menschen erworben wurde. Der Ätherkörper des Menschen hat das Bewußtsein des traumlosen Schlafes, wie es auf der alten Sonne entstand. Der Astralkörper träumt, so wie er auch im Traume während des Schlafes träumt. Das Traumbewußtsein stammt aus der alten Mondenzeit. Auf der gegenwärtigen Erde erreicht der Mensch das Wachbewußtsein. Das Ich hat das helle Tagesbewußtsein.
Die höhere Entwickelung besteht darin, daß sich das, was im Wesen ist, hinaussetzt, so wie der Mensch die Schlange hinausgesetzt hat und dabei die Schlange auf einer höheren Stufe in seinem Rückenmark beibehält. Bei einer noch weiteren Entwickelung werden die Menschen nicht nur Steine, Pflanzen und Tiere in die Welt hinaussetzen, sondern Bewußtseinsstufen. In einem Bienenstock sind zum Beispiel dreierlei Wesen, die eine gemeinsame Seele haben. Scheinbar ganz getrennte Wesen wirken gemeinsam. So wird es auch einmal beim Menschen sein; er wird seine Organe trennen. Alle einzelnen Gehirnmoleküle wird er bewußt von außen her dirigieren müssen. Dann ist er ein höheres Wesen geworden. So wird es auch mit den Bewußtseinsstufen sein. Man kann sich ein hohes Wesen denken, das alle zwölf Bewußtseinsstufen aus sich herausgesetzt hat. Es selbst ist dann als Dreizehntes da und wird sich sagen: Ich könnte das, was ich bin, nicht sein, wenn ich nicht diese zwölf Bewußtseinsstufen aus mir herausgesondert hätte. - Diesen Fall haben wir in Christus mit den zwölf Aposteln. Die zwölf Apostel stellen die Bewußtseinsstufen dar, durch die Christus hindurchgegangen ist. Das erkennt man im Johannes-Evangelium durch die Schilderung der Fußwaschung, im dreizehnten Kapitel, durch die angedeutet wird, daß Christus es den Aposteln verdankt, daß er die höhere Bewußtseinsstufe erreicht hat: Wahrlich, merket euch das, es ist der Diener niemals höher zu achten als der Herr. - Das höherentwickelte Wesen hat die anderen auf der Bahn zurückgelassen und ist nun selbst der Diener der anderen geworden. Nicht viele Menschen verstehen den Sinn dieser Worte, doch werden sie, wenn sie diese Erzählung hören, durch die Empfindung vorbereitet zum Verstehen. Wir sind zum Beispiel in den ersten Jahrhunderten nach Christus durch diese Erzählungen in der Empfindung vorbereitet worden. Sonst wäre unser Kausalkörper nicht vorbereitet, um jetzt die Wahrheit aufzunehmen. Durch die bildliche Form wird die Seele vorbereitet. Darum haben früher die großen Weisen den Menschen Märchen erzählt mit dem großen Ausblick auf die Zukunft. Auch heute haben die Lehrer schon einen Begriff davon, was in Zukunft durch die Lehren der Theosophie bewirkt wird. Heute hat der Mensch Gut und Böse in sich. Das wird in der Zukunft äußerlich in die Erscheinung treten als ein Reich des Guten und ein Reich des Bösen. Und wie die Guten die Bösen dereinst zu behandeln haben, das wird in der Seele veranlagt durch die theosophischen Begriffe von heute. Zuerst wurden den Menschen Bilder gegeben, jetzt erhalten sie die Begriffe, und in der Zukunft haben sie danach praktisch zu handeln.
I
In every esoteric course, it is important to learn how to look at the things around us. Of course, every person feels something when they see a flower or anything else in their environment. But it is important to gain a higher perspective, to look deeper, to connect certain insights with each thing. This is the basis, for example, of Paracelsus' profound medicine. He sensed, felt, and saw the power of a particular plant and the relationship of this power to a corresponding power in humans. For example, he saw which organ in the human body was affected by the power of Digitalis purpurea (red foxglove).
Let us illustrate this way of looking at things with a special example. All religions have symbols. Today, we hear a lot about these symbols, but much of it is only an arbitrary external interpretation. Deep religious symbols, however, are drawn from the essence of things themselves. Let us discuss, for example, the symbol of the serpent as it was communicated to Moses in the Egyptian mystery schools. Let us discuss what inspired him, what gave him his intuition.
There is a fundamental difference between all animal creatures that have a spine and those that, like beetles, mollusks, worms, and so on, do not have a spine. The entire animal kingdom is divided into the main divisions of vertebrates and invertebrates. With invertebrates, one can now ask the question: Where do these animals have their nerves? After all, the main nerve cord usually runs through the spine. However, invertebrates also have a nervous system, which is found in humans as well as in vertebrates. In vertebrates, it runs along the outside of the spine until it spreads out into the body cavity. This is called the sympathetic nervous system with the solar plexus. It is the same system that invertebrates have, only that it is less important in vertebrates and humans. This system is much more closely connected to the rest of the world than the nervous system in the human head and spinal cord. The activity of the latter can be suppressed in a trance state, and then the sympathetic nervous system becomes active. This is what happens, for example, in somnambulists. Somnambulistic consciousness extends to the whole life of the environment and merges with the other beings around us. Somnambulists feel things within themselves. The life ether is the element that flows around us everywhere. It is mediated by the solar plexus. If we could perceive only with the solar plexus, we would live in intimate communion with the whole world. This intimate communion exists in invertebrate animals. Such an animal feels a flower within itself, for example. The invertebrate animal is something similar in the earth system to the human eye and ear. It is part of the organism. There is indeed a communal spiritual organism that perceives, sees, hears, and so on through invertebrate animals. The Earth spirit is such a communal organism. Everything we have around us is a body for this communal spirit. Just as our soul creates eyes and ears to perceive the world, this communal Earth soul creates invertebrates as eyes and ears to see and hear into the world.
In the development of the earth, there came a time when a specialization occurred in the communal life and weaving of the Earth Spirit. A part closed off, as if into a tube. Only when this moment arrived was it possible for beings to arise that could also become special beings. The others are members of an Earth soul. Only now does a special degree of separation begin. Only now does the possibility arise that something can one day say “I” to itself. This fact, that there are two epochs on Earth, first the epoch in which there were still no animals on Earth with a nervous system enclosed in a bone tube, and second the epoch in which such animals then came into being, is expressed in a special way in all religions. The serpent first encloses the selfless, undifferentiated vision of the Earth spirit in a tube, thus forming the basis for the ego. The esoteric teachers impressed this upon their students so that they could feel it: when you look at the serpent, you see the mark of your ego. In doing so, they had to feel vividly that the independent ego and the serpent belong together. In this way, this feeling for the meaning of the things around us was developed. In this way, the students permeated every natural being with the right feeling. Moses was also equipped with this feeling when he left the Egyptian secret schools, and so he established the serpent as a symbol. In those schools, learning was not as abstract as it is today, but rather one learned to understand the world from one's own inner experience.
There is a description of the human being based on the external examination of the individual parts of his organism. But in ancient mystical and occult works, one can also find descriptions of the human being. However, these descriptions came about in a completely different way than through anatomical examinations. They are even far more accurate and correct than what today's anatomists describe, for they describe only the corpse. The ancient descriptions were obtained in such a way that the students became visible to themselves through meditation and inner enlightenment. Through the so-called Kundalini fire, human beings can observe themselves from within. There are different stages of this observation. The precise, correct observation first occurs symbolically. For example, when a person concentrates on their spinal cord, they always see the snake. They may also dream of the serpent, because it is the being that was transferred outward into the world when the spinal cord was formed and remained at this stage. The serpent is the external spinal cord that has been transferred into the world. This pictorial way of seeing things is astral vision (imagination). But it is only through mental vision (inspiration) that the complete meaning emerges.
This path of knowledge leads people to recognize the connection between the microcosm and the macrocosm, that they can divide themselves into nature, that they can say to which part of the world each of their organs belongs. The ancient Germanic myth divides the giant Ymir in this way. His skull becomes the vault of heaven, his bones become mountains, and so on. This is the mythological representation of inner vision. In every part of the world, the esotericist sees a connection with something within himself. The inner relationship then emerges. This vision must be intensively trained. All religions point to such intensive training. This is also pointed out in the Gospels. The esotericist says to himself: All things in the environment, stones, plants, and animals, are signs of my own development; I could not be if these realms did not exist. This awareness fills us not only with the feeling that we have risen above these realms, but also with the realization that we could not be without them.
There are seven degrees of human consciousness: trance consciousness, deep sleep consciousness, dream consciousness, waking consciousness, psychic consciousness, superpsychic consciousness, and spiritual consciousness. Actually, there are twelve degrees of consciousness in all; the other five are creative degrees of consciousness. These are the levels of the creators, the creative gods. They are connected with the twelve signs of the zodiac. Human beings must pass through these twelve levels one after the other. They rose through trance consciousness, deep sleep consciousness, and dream consciousness to today's bright daytime consciousness. On the following planetary stages of development, they will reach even higher levels of consciousness. All the stages he has already passed through are also within him. The physical body has the dull trance consciousness that was acquired by humans on ancient Saturn. The etheric body of the human being has the consciousness of dreamless sleep, as it arose on the ancient Sun. The astral body dreams, just as it dreams in sleep. Dream consciousness originates from the ancient Moon. On the present Earth, human beings attain waking consciousness. The ego has bright daytime consciousness.
Higher development consists in what is in the being being put out, just as human beings put out the serpent and thereby retain the serpent at a higher level in their spinal cord. In a further stage of development, humans will not only project stones, plants, and animals into the world, but also levels of consciousness. In a beehive, for example, there are three kinds of beings that have a common soul. Beings that appear to be completely separate work together. This will also be the case with humans one day; they will separate their organs. They will have to consciously direct all the individual brain molecules from outside. Then they will have become a higher being. It will be the same with the levels of consciousness. One can imagine a high being that has separated all twelve levels of consciousness from itself. It will then exist as the thirteenth and will say to itself: I could not be what I am if I had not separated these twelve stages of consciousness from myself. We have this case in Christ with the twelve apostles. The twelve apostles represent the stages of consciousness through which Christ passed. This can be seen in the Gospel of John in the description of the washing of the feet in the thirteenth chapter, which suggests that Christ owes it to the apostles that he has reached the higher level of consciousness: Truly, remember this, the servant is never to be esteemed higher than the master. The more highly developed being has left the others behind on the path and has now become the servant of the others himself. Not many people understand the meaning of these words, but when they hear this story, they are prepared to understand through their feelings. For example, in the first centuries after Christ, we were prepared for this through these stories. Otherwise, our causal body would not be prepared to receive the truth now. The soul is prepared through the figurative form. That is why the great sages of old told people fairy tales with a broad view of the future. Even today, teachers already have an idea of what will be achieved in the future through the teachings of theosophy. Today, human beings have both good and evil within them. In the future, this will manifest externally as a realm of good and a realm of evil. And how the good will one day treat the evil is predisposed in the soul through the theosophical concepts of today. First, people were given images; now they are receiving the concepts, and in the future they will have to act practically according to them.