The Rudolf Steiner Archive

About the Logoi

[ 1 ] The first thing from which everything else emerged is the unmanifested deity. From this emerged the second thing, life, or the unmanifested creative substance. This life then passes through the most diverse forms and is named in the forms Akasha or Mahat. This Akasha or Mahat contains all the forms of life that exist in the world. The entire hierarchies of thrones, cherubim, seraphim, powers, primordial forces, archangels, and angels emerged through life and form the shapes in which this one life appears.

[ 2 ] The first force, the unmanifested deity, is also called the Father; the second force is the Son, who is both life and creative substance, and the third force is the Spirit. Together, these three primordial forces appear as Father, Son, and Spirit, as consciousness, life, and form. The force of life is under the direction of Michael, who belongs to the sun; the force of form is under the direction of Samael, who belongs to the volcano, where all life will be transformed into living forms. The power of consciousness is under the direction of Anael, who encompasses all that is. The three highest are therefore:

[ 3 ] These three are reflected in the higher trinity of the human being:

[ 4 ] The [Atma] is the part of the human being to which he must develop himself completely. In it, the life spirit is reflected in two reflections in his spirit: as the intellectual soul and the sentient soul. And the spirit self is reflected in his soul in the astral as the feeling body and etheric double body. Finally, Atma is reflected in him as his physical body.

[ 5 ] A reflection of the highest Three is also found in man, but as that which descends below his actual physical level, as the lower nature.

[ 6 ] Humanity's descent actually went down to the fourth planet, the fourth round, the fourth globe, the fourth root race. Humanity had descended so far into form that the right moment had come to ascend, to express the ascending development in form. But the physical body of the human being went beyond this lowest point of descent, and what developed in the physical human being after this time was actually below the level of the actual physical human being. These are the lower forces that pull people down and hinder progress. These forces, which reign as the lower trinity in humans, do contain the reflection of the highest trinity, but their use leads to the path of black magic. It is these forces that led the ancient Turanians to ruin and which are once again beginning to become known in our time, leading people onto the black path. The white magician makes use only of the higher forces in the human being, all of which are contained in his head. Through the seven gates of his head, he is connected with the seven reflections of the world forces. [Right eye, left eye, right ear, left ear, right nostril, left nostril, mouth = 7]. Through an organ at the top of the head, which is not yet open, the human being is connected to Atma; through the right eye, the spirit of life, Budhi, flows into him; through the left eye, the spirit self, Manas, flows into him.

[ 7 ] Budhi is reflected in his spirit as the intellectual soul and the sentient soul. Through the right ear, he is connected to everything that flows through the world as thoughts; through the left ear, the sensations in the world flow into him. Manas is reflected in his soul as the sentient body and the etheric double body.

[ 8 ] Through the right nostril, he is connected to the nourishing forces of world life, which flow into his feeling body; through the left nostril, he is connected to the growing forces in the world, which flow into his etheric double body. Through his mouth, man is connected to the spirit man—Atma. Through his mouth, the highest that is in him is expressed. That is why human beings should regard their words as sacred and should not speak unnecessarily, but only when they want to express thoughts. They must accustom themselves to chastity of speech.

[ 9 ] When a person immerses himself in the meaning of his sense organs, he can connect with the forces of the world through his sense organs. He must reject everything that lies below the level of physical development. The real person is the one who lives in his head and is connected to the forces of the world through the seven gates of his head.