The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Planetary Development: Tenth Lecture

[ 1 ] A being undergoes seven times seven times seven metamorphoses to get from the beginning to the end of evolution:

7 states of consciousness
7 realms or states of life
7 states of form

[ 2 ] The seven states of consciousness that a being undergoes are:

Deep trance
Dreamless sleep
The dream state
The waking state
The psychic state
The superpsychic state
The spiritual state.

[ 3 ] The seven realms or states of life are:

The first elemental realm
The second elemental realm
The third elemental realm
The mineral realm
The plant realm
The animal realm
The human realm.

[ 4 ] The seven states of form or metamorphoses of form are:

[ 5 ] These seven globes or states of form are not in reality seven different globes, but only one sphere; this sphere passes through seven successive states. One state must always be transformed into the next. For this to take place, an entity is needed that represents a certain amount of power and transforms the sphere from one state to another. Such an entity is called Prajapati. Such exalted spiritual entities, which have such tremendous power, have acquired this power in previous evolutions. They have undergone a long period of learning. As a result, they have become energies that are capable of transferring one sphere into another in the new universe.

[ 6 ] These seven states of form are passed through in all seven realms of life and in all seven states of consciousness. We now understand that these beings (Prajapatis) can accomplish in other cycles what they accomplish in one cycle, for example, on Earth, on the Moon, and so on, so that similar conditions can always be brought about by similar beings.

[ 7 ] This is what happens in all cycles, on all seven planets. The Prajapatis of form are present once and for all; they are the lowest Prajapatis here, who have to effect the final transformation and who spring into action whenever a transition is necessary.

[ 8 ] The arupa state and the archetypal state differ significantly from the five other states. In reality, the form state actually begins on the rupaplan. On the arupaplan, there is no form yet, only the potential for it, and on the archetypal plan, form gives itself its form; it is completely life there. Therefore, the first and seventh form states are actually states of life, in which the seventh is always the status nascendi (emergence) of the following first, or in which the seventh (the archetypal) has become what was in the first in the status nascendi.

[ 9 ] The archetypal state of form is one in which form has become life, and the arupic one is one in which form is still life. Actually, we therefore only have five Prajapatis of form, because two of the seven already belong to the higher Prajapatis of consciousness. One could perhaps say that stages of life and states of form are only condensed states of consciousness, or also the passive side of active consciousness, or also the actual negative side of the world view, while consciousness is the positive side. Thus, the first and last of the Prajapatis of the states of form already belong to the higher hierarchy of the Prajapatis of consciousness.

[ 10 ] Every being also passes through the realms of life. This brings us to the Prajapatis of the rounds, each of whom rules a realm of life. There are seven states of life, which are transferred into one another by seven beings. Each time we complete the seventh round, we are dealing with a state that corresponds to that of the first round, but at a higher level. Humanity entered into the development of the earth with the awakening of bright daytime consciousness; now it is developing this consciousness, and at the end of the seventh round, humanity will have achieved in its development what it had in the first round, at the beginning, in its potential.

[ 11 ] These seven rounds are the seven days of creation in Genesis. We are now in the fourth day of creation. In the second chapter of Genesis, we have a special description of the fourth round: the creation of man, at the point in time that falls in the middle of the Lemurian epoch. Only on the seventh day does man reach his true godlikeness in relation to his physical, astral, mental, and arupa bodies. What was content at the end of the lunar development becomes potential at the beginning of the Earth's development.

[ 12 ] Actually, only six rounds can be called rounds of life, since the seventh round is a round of the next higher state of consciousness. Therefore, there are actually only six states of life and consequently only six Prajapatis of life. We count one Prajapati of life among the seven Prajapatis of consciousness, and two Prajapatis of form are also added. So we actually have ten Prajapatis of consciousness, one of whom is the Prajapati who transitions to the six Prajapatis of life, and two Prajapatis who transition to the Prajapatis of form. This gives rise to:

10 Prajapatis of consciousness
6 Prajapatis of life
5 Prajapatis of form

[ 13 ] or ten + six + five = a total of 21 Prajapatis.

[ 14 ] This is referred to in H. P. Blavatsky's “Secret Doctrine,” stanza 4 of the book Dzyan: “The One from the egg, the Six, the Five.” The ten is called: the One from the egg = 0. From the egg (0), the 10 Prajapatis of consciousness, first came the first Prajapati of life, then followed six other Prajapatis of life and five Prajapatis of form = 1065, cross sum 21 (value of Jehovah).

[ 15 ] About the chakrams of the astral body: Just as the physical body of a human being has senses, so too does the astral body. They are lined up in a row. One of these senses is located above the larynx. These senses are called chakrams, sacred wheels. In ordinary people, they are immobile, but in seers, they are mobile and rotate. The chakram above the larynx is essentially a leaf-shaped formation. All astral chakrams are called lotus blossoms. The chakram above the larynx is called the sixteen-petaled lotus blossom. This wheel has slowly formed in the evolution of man. It was only in the Lemurian race, in the middle of the Lemurian period, that the concept of the ability to think began to develop gradually, and only the last Lemurian race had developed it to a certain extent. At that time, the first of the lotus leaves shone forth, and each subsequent race added another leaf in normal development, namely:

[ 16 ] seven leaves in the seven sub-races of the fourth root race, the Atlantean,

[ 17 ] seven leaves in the seven sub-races of the fifth root race, the Aryan, (five so far, since we are in the fifth sub-race),

[ 18 ] one leaf in the first sub-race of the sixth root race.

[ 19 ] Then all 16 leaves of the faculty of imagination shine forth. Now, from the third subrace of the fourth root race, the memory has also developed. The flow of memory also gradually passes to the wheels, through five subraces of the fourth Atlantean root race, through seven subraces of the fifth root race, and through four subraces of the sixth root race.

[ 20 ] The average person has now developed thirteen leaves of imagination, and memory has reached the tenth leaf. When the memory, which began at the fourth leaf of the imagination, meets the stream of the imagination, the chakra begins to turn, that is, in the normally developed human being in the fourth sub-race of the sixth root race. The wheel then turns like a whirlwind. With each subsequent race, the light passes to another spoke of the wheel or to another petal of the lotus flower.

[ 21 ] With the first subrace of the sixth root race, the wheel is fully formed. The average human being is now missing three spokes, which are still dark space. The wheel has not one vortex, but two.

[ 22 ] The second current crosses the first: in the third sub-race of the Atlanteans, memory is added to the power of imagination. Memory extends to the fourth sub-race of the sixth root race. Then it is lost because it will become superfluous.

[ 23 ] When memory appeared in the fourth sub-race, the enlightenment of the power of imagination had progressed to the fourth spoke; three sub-races had no memory. The last part of the memory stream meets the other stream. In the fourth sub-race of the sixth root race, the wheel only begins to move. When this wheel is set in motion, man will hand over his word to the astral world. What man then speaks will have an immediate effect on his fellow human beings. For example, his fellow human beings will feel the goodwill expressed by the word; they will feel every word.

[ 24 ] The human Manu of the sixth root race, who will lead this race, he who is the first human Manu, can only speak to human beings when they are ready to speak to the Master, and they can only do so when this chakram is fully developed, when the word of human beings passes directly into the stream of the wheels. The normal human being achieves this in the fourth sub-race of the sixth root race. Falling behind would mean that the 16 spokes would not all be developed. Then the human being would not be able to speak before the Master, so that at this stage of evolution he could not be guided by the Master. It is particularly important to develop this chakram, and that depends on whether the human being breaks the habit of wounding through the voice.

[ 25 ] Human beings have 16 opportunities — through 16 sub-races — to develop this chakram. If they do not do so, they go through the 16 paths of destruction through the word.

[ 26 ] In the next metamorphoses, the [last petals of the sixteen-petaled lotus flower] will be further developed, first plastically, then in thought matter, then archetypically. Then, in the next round, the sixteen-petaled lotus flower will actually be a vegetative leaf on the physical plane. Its spokes will then be real leaves, and the mineral element will have disappeared completely. In the seventh root race, the chakram will be developed, which is called the two-petaled lotus flower and lies between the eyebrows.

[ 27 ] The two notes by Rudolf Steiner (reduced in size) on the following pages are obviously related to this lecture.

[ 28 ] Arupa / disposition of form / archetypal / form that has already / become life Rupa / intellectual / real / form astral / plastic / physical

[ 29 ] 2. Prajapati of life / 5. Prajapati of form / cycles of life states

[ 30 ] 4 states of life / The 3 states of life in ascending order are already an elevation of consciousness

[ 31 ] 10 Praj. of consciousness / 6 Praj. of life / 5 Praj. of form / 1065

[ 32 ] 777 incarnations / 700 + 70 +7

[ 33 ] 7 planets are written in the hundreds place

[ 34 ] 7 rounds (cycles) are written in the tens place

[ 35 ] 7 globes (metamorphoses) are written in the ones place

[ 36 ] 7 x 7 x 7 = 343 incarnations or total metamorphoses

[ 37 ] i.e. [the Master] demands that it be recognized that one is not dealing with / externalities, but with states, that esoterically / the cycle relates to the globe as 10: 1 / and further, that the planet relates to the cycle or round / as 100: 10 / thus the solution of 777 = 343

[ 38 ] Page 191 of The Secret Doctrine - / Praj. - 10 6 5 / Form spirits (Jehovah) / Cycles: Life spirits (Elohim) / Plan. (Seph.)