The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Planetary Development: Third Lecture

[ 1 ] We need to familiarize ourselves with three concepts. We must form a mental image that every being in the universe consists of three parts, just like humans. However, we do not need to be familiar with all three parts of other beings. But they are present in every being:

1. Consciousness,
2. Life,
3. Form.

[ 2 ] When we look at the beings on our Earth, we find that they all have the form of what we call the mineral kingdom. Within the earthly world, there is no other form for humans. This form of the mineral kingdom can only be elevated by being enlivened, and every being can only gain a center by becoming conscious of life.

[ 3 ] Therefore, form, life, and consciousness are the three principles of every being. Accordingly, humans consist of body, soul, and spirit. We know that the soul extends into the body and thus forms the soul body. This is, as it were, filled with the life of feeling. The higher principle is always integrated into the lower; the lower principle has life through the integration of the higher. The soul has consciousness through the integration of the spirit into the consciousness soul. Thus, human beings are threefold in their nature — as form, life, and consciousness.

[ 4 ] If we form a mental image of the various beings in the world, we can divide them into three types according to this definition:

[ 5 ] 1. those beings in which form prevails over the others, life and consciousness;

[ 6 ] 2. consciousness can prevail [dominate, predominate] over life and form;

[ 7 ] 3. all three can be in balance.

[ 8 ] For our cycle, we now call:

[ 9 ] I. Beings in which consciousness predominates: Dhyanis. They have a powerful consciousness.

[ 10 ] II. Beings in which consciousness, life, and form are in balance are called esoterically substances.

[ 11 ] III. Those entities in which form prevails are elemental beings, elementals (see note).

[ 12 ] In the case of “substances,” there is a certain relationship between Dhyanis and Elementals. Man was in the state of substances when he emerged from the state of elemental being and united with the soul. At that time, human beings were, as it were, only models, only forms. They were something like beautifully glowing spheres surrounded by their souls. In the middle of the Lemurian period, humans were “substance.” Now humans have gone beyond the mere level of substance. They are on the path of dhyanic development. In esoteric language, what was ripe in the Lemurian period to take possession of these bodies is called “human.”

[ 13 ] We now ask: What can these three types of beings do? First, let us take those in whom consciousness predominates. They have a comprehensive consciousness, more comprehensive than their own life and form. This enables them to exercise power over other life and other forms. In Christian esotericism, such beings are called angels of the cycles. How can a planet move around the sun? By being driven by an angel of the cycle: these are the planetary Dhyanis or planetary spirits. So our Earth also has its own angel of the cycle, its Earth Dhyan. I am reminded here of the Earth spirit in Goethe's “Faust”; its body is the entire astral matter of the Earth.

[ 14 ] Human beings are on the way to becoming planetary spirits. At present, however, they are only the mineral image of the deity, for they still have to develop their astral, rupamental, and arupamental beings. Then, at the end of the seventh round, they can become angels of the cycle. Then the highest Dhyan-Chohan will say to them: All animals and plants are handed over to you. — This occurs on the seventh day of creation. Then man has become a Dhyan-Chohan, a dhyanic world spirit (Chohan = world spirit).

[ 15 ] Secondly: Beings in whom form, life, and consciousness are in balance exercise power over form and are themselves guided by their consciousness. The beings of this kind that we know are human beings up to a certain level. They develop in such a way that they increasingly free themselves from being dominated by their form, by their lower nature. They strive toward the higher, toward consciousness.

[ 16 ] Thirdly, elemental spirits are beings in whom form is more powerful than life and consciousness, whose form must therefore be dominated by consciousness and life. They are the exact opposite of dhyanic beings. The latter can dominate more than their form and life. In elemental spirits, form is more comprehensive than life and consciousness. They therefore require other life and other consciousness to control their form. This means that the elemental spirit must establish itself in other life and other consciousness in order to use it for itself. Therefore, it is the retarding force that holds back other life and consciousness. Thus, elemental spirits are the actual inhibiting beings of evolution. All parasitic entities are dominated by such elemental spirits. They are the beings for us humans that were already complete in their nature in the lunar epoch, which is why form prevails in them. They are now ebbing away and are in a state of declining development.

[ 17 ] Animals that have a skeleton on the outside, that are encased in their skeleton, have been pushed beyond development. Their internal development has dissolved, and they surround themselves with a layer of horn (beetles, insects). They are preparing to flow into the eighth sphere. The old moon also had an eighth sphere, a secondary moon. These beings were completed at that time, they have gone beyond their development and are now like overripe fruit. The eighth sphere includes, for example, spiders and, among plants, mistletoe. Goethe therefore attributes the realm of spiders and flies to Mephisto. Everything parasitic is an outward expression of the elemental beings living on the astral plane.

[ 18 ] Previously, humans themselves were elemental beings. Not everything physical in humans is destined to be redeemed. A dross remains of the human being. This dross that remains is constantly present in the human being, which is why they are under the influence of astral elemental beings; the corresponding elemental being clings to them. The human being is therefore in constant connection with what is an inhibiting enemy, a troublemaker in their development. The beings that attach themselves to humans were called Alben in German mythology. They appear in an indeterminate form in so-called nightmares. These dreams manifest themselves in such a way that one believes a being is sitting on one's chest. When one becomes astral-sighted, one first sees these beings (The Dweller on the Threshold in Bulwer's “Zanoni”). It is the reflection of man's astral acquaintance with his nightmare, a defense of man against his enemy. The being is the projection of an astral being within ourselves. It is the [little] guardian of the threshold. The person who cannot overcome the fear of the inner enemy usually turns back at the gate of initiation.

[ 19 ] On the higher realm of the astral plane, it is [the image] of the sphinx that must be cast into the abyss before one can proceed. The human being who must develop approaches this moment. But not every human being must go through this stage of development in the same way. It is possible that they will be led through as if blindfolded. By developing our moral nature, we can overcome. If one can raise one's moral nature before becoming sighted in the astral world, the appearance of the guardian of the threshold becomes less frightening.

[ 20 ] In the Atlantean race, it is mainly the Turanians who surrendered to black magic and became thoroughly acquainted with the elemental world.

[ 21 ] In order to better equip human beings for the struggle, occult schools now place great emphasis on the practice of the virtues of devotion and selflessness, on moral education. All occultists who remain ambitious, vain, and selfish will come to know these retarding forces in evolution in a terrible way, which will have an even stronger effect on them. One must love the teaching, be modest, humble, and devoted in order to be sure of winning this battle. Evolution is retarded and held back by the elemental beings, while it is accelerated and hastened by the dhyanic beings.