The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture VIII

[ 1 ] The various reincarnations of human individuality are a kind of pendulum swing until a rhythmic calm has been achieved and the higher part of the human being has found a suitable expression, a suitable tool, in the physical world. The position of the sun, moon, and earth as we know it today has existed for about as long as human reincarnation has existed. We must understand that human beings belong to the great cosmic organism. In times when great changes occur in the life of humanity, tremendous changes also take place in the cosmos. Before reincarnation existed, the sun, moon, and earth were not yet separated as they are now. Kant and Laplace observed only from the physical plane, and in that respect their theory is quite correct. However, they did not know the connection with spiritual forces. When the sun, moon, and earth emerged as separate bodies from the original nebula, human beings also began to incarnate. When human incarnations cease again, the sun will also be connected to the earth again. Both in the big picture and in detail, one must take into account these relationships between human beings and the universe.

[ 2 ] You will often have heard that humans usually reincarnate after a period of about two thousand years. It is possible to check when people who are currently alive were previously incarnated. As a rule, the souls that are now incarnated can be found around 300 to 400 AD. In addition, there are others who were incarnated at different times, some earlier, some later. But there is another way to determine incarnations, a way that leads more reliably to the goal. One can say that if the people who die today were to return in a short time, they would encounter almost the same conditions as now. But human beings should learn as much as possible on earth. This can only happen if, in their next incarnation, they encounter something new that is significantly different from their previous circumstances.

[ 3 ] Let us go back to the time around 600 to 800 BC, which is roughly when the Iliad and the Odyssey were written. The advanced peoples of that time had very different living conditions than we do now. For example, one would be astonished to see the strange instruments they used to eat with. At that time, people had not yet learned to write. The great poems were passed down orally. When a person from that time is reincarnated today, he must learn very different things as a child than he did then. He must now learn to write as a child. The stream of culture has continued in the meantime. One must distinguish the stream of culture from the development of the individual soul. As a child, one must catch up on culture, and for that reason one must be reborn as a child.

[ 4 ] We must now ask: What causes such completely new conditions to arise on Earth? — This is related to the progression of the vernal equinox of the sun. Around 800 BC, the sun began to rise in the constellation of Aries, the lamb, in spring. Every year it moves a little further with the vernal equinox. As a result, conditions on earth are constantly changing a little. Around 800 BC, the sun was in the constellation of Aries. Even earlier, it was in the constellation of Taurus, and before that in Gemini and Cancer. Now it has been rising in the constellation of Pisces for several centuries. Next comes Aquarius. The progress of cultures is also linked to the sun's advance from one constellation to another.

[ 5 ] At the time when the sun was in the constellation of Cancer, the ancient Vedic culture of the Indians, the culture of the Rishis, reached its peak. The Rishis, these still semi-divine beings, taught the people. The Atlantean culture had perished; a new impact came. In occultism, this is called a “vortex.” That is why the sign of Cancer is also used for the zodiac sign in which the sun stood at that time:

[ 6 ] Cancer signifies a new impact, a vortex. The second culture is represented by the constellation of Gemini. At that time, the twin nature of the world, the opposites in the world, Ormuzd and Ahriman, good and evil, were understood. That is why the Persians also speak of the twins.

[ 7 ] The third culture is that of the Sumerians in the Near East and the ancient Egyptians. The constellation of Taurus corresponds to it. That is why Taurus is worshipped in Asia and Apis in Egypt. The Sumerian language was then the language of wisdom in Babylonia, Assyria, and so on. Then Taurus fell into decadence and Aries appeared. The first reference to this is the legend of the Golden Fleece.

[ 8 ] The fourth culture is that of Aries or the Lamb; Christ stands in the sign of Aries or the Lamb, which is why he calls himself the Lamb of God.

[ 9 ] The fifth culture was the outwardly material culture in the constellation of Pisces. This developed mainly from the 12th century onwards and reached its peak around 1800. This is the culture of the fifth sub-race, the present.

[ 10 ] In the constellation of Aquarius, the new Christianity will be proclaimed in the future. “Aquarius” is also the one who will bring it, who was already there: John the Baptist. He will also precede Christ later, when the sixth, the spiritual sub-race, will be founded. The theosophical movement is intended to be the preparation for that time.

[ 11 ] In the New Testament, the expression “on the mountain” is used several times. “On the mountain” means: in mystery, in the inner, in the intimate. - Even the Sermon on the Mount is not to be understood as a sermon to the people, but as an intimate teaching of the disciples. The transfiguration on the mountain must also be understood in this sense. Jesus went up the mountain with the three disciples Peter, James, and John. It is said that the disciples were enraptured; Moses and Elijah appeared beside Jesus. For a moment, space and time were erased; they found themselves with their consciousness on the mental plane. Moses and Elijah, who were no longer physically present, appeared. As real apparitions, they had before them: “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The way = Elijah, Moses = the truth, Christ = the life. This appeared here to the disciples in essential form. Jesus also said to them once: “Elijah has appeared again; John was Elijah, but people did not recognize him.” — But he went on to say: “Tell no one until I reappear.” - Christianity was not to teach reincarnation for two millennia. Not out of capriciousness, but for educational reasons, people were not to know anything about it for two millennia. In the Gospel of John, this is indicated by the miracle at the wedding in Cana, where water is turned into wine. In the ancient mysteries, only water is administered, but in the Christian mysteries, wine is administered. For the priesthood, the knowledge of reincarnation was to be erased through the enjoyment of wine. Those who enjoy wine cannot come to any true knowledge of Manas, Buddhi, Atma. They can never comprehend reincarnation. By “coming again,” Christ means reappearing in the sixth sub-race, where he will be proclaimed to us by the “Aquarian.” Theosophy actually carries out the testament of Christianity and works toward this time.

[ 12 ] Every time the sun moves from one zodiac sign to another, radical changes take place in culture. A period of approximately two thousand six hundred years elapses between them. If we take the time when the sun entered the sign of Aries or the Lamb, around 800 BC and 1800 AD, that is two thousand six hundred years. Around 1800, we entered the sign of Pisces. This marked the peak of material culture. It had been preparing itself in the Middle Ages, and now it has begun to ebb away again. Around the year 4400, humanity will enter the sign of spiritual culture, Aquarius. But this is already preparing itself earlier.

[ 13 ] So with the constellation, conditions also change. With the advance from one constellation to another, new conditions also arise, so that rebirth has a meaning. Approximately every two thousand six hundred years, a person is reborn. But the experiences they have as a man and as a woman are so fundamentally different that two such incarnations, as a man and as a woman, are counted as one. Approximately one thousand three hundred years pass between two incarnations as a man or a woman, and approximately two thousand six hundred years between such double incarnations, if both are counted as one. Humans are actually only male or female in their physical bodies. While the physical body is male, the etheric body is female, and vice versa; while the physical body is female, the etheric body is male. Only the astral body is both male and female at the same time. Humans carry the opposite sex within themselves as an etheric body. Thus, men are etherically female, and women are etherically male. The physical woman therefore also has many hidden masculine qualities; the physical incarnation is only exoterically present. Thus, human beings go through each constellation as both man and woman. That is why the Master also said to Sinneit that human beings are incarnated about twice in a subrace. Occultly, the two incarnations are counted as one. There must come a time when women actually approach male culture. In the current women's movement, the preparation for a completely different later women's movement can be seen. In the future, dual sexuality will be completely overcome.

[ 14 ] There was a special reason why the doctrine of reincarnation was completely suppressed for about two millennia. Human beings should learn to know and appreciate the importance of the one life. Every slave in ancient Egypt was still convinced that he would return, that he would one day be a ruler instead of a slave, but that he had karma to work off. That is why the one life was not so important to him. But now human beings should learn to gain firm ground under their feet, so reincarnation should remain unknown during an incarnation. Christ therefore expressly forbade the teaching of reincarnation. But from 800 BC to around 1800 AD, the period had passed in which almost all people had gone through one incarnation without learning anything about reincarnation. The great masters have the task of not always teaching the whole truth, but only what people need. The lack of awareness of reincarnation during this period was poetically expressed in Dante's Divine Comedy. Within monastic esotericism, however, reincarnation was probably still taught occasionally. Trappists must remain silent throughout one incarnation so that they may become good speakers in the next. They are deliberately trained to be good speakers in this way, because the Church needs them. When St. Augustine established the doctrine of predestination, he was quite consistent. Because reincarnation should not be taught in the age of materialism, the Augustinian doctrine of predestination had to emerge. Only in this way could the different circumstances among people be explained.

[ 15 ] This is connected to the deeply materialistic nature of [traditional] Christianity, which lies in the fact that the afterlife was made dependent on physical existence. This materialistic doctrine of Christianity has, as it were, borne fruit. Today, people are completely unaware of the afterlife. Social democracy is the ultimate consequence of traditional Christianity. But now a new influence must come into the world. When one cycle ends, a new influence begins. Christianity paved the way for the gradually dawning materialistic age. In order to bring about materialistic culture, people had to have a doctrine such as Christianity brought for thirteen hundred years, that man makes the whole of eternity dependent on one earthly life. The urban bourgeoisie is then the actual founder of the materialistic age. Even at the time of Christ, the spiritual had to be betrayed by the purely material. Judas Iscariot had to betray Christ. But one could say: if there had been no Judas, there would be no Christianity. Judas is the first to cling to money, that is, to material culture. The whole material age is incarnated in Judas. This material age has obscured and darkened the spiritual. Through his death, Christ becomes the redeemer of the material age.