The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Lecture XXVIII

[ 1 ] Let us give another special example of how one can immerse oneself in the depths of religious scriptures and understand more and more of what is written therein.

[ 2 ] If we consider our sensory organs as they are usually considered, we have the ability to perceive matter itself through the organ of smell. Without matter emanating, it is impossible for humans to smell. What takes place is a connection with the matter itself. The organ of taste does not connect with the matter itself, but dissolves things and perceives the effect. We can therefore call taste a chemical sense, because it penetrates the nature of the substance. The third sense, sight, has nothing to do with substance at all, because it only perceives images that are projected by the substance. The fourth, the sense of touch, has even less to do with what substance is, since it only perceives properties of the environment on objects, such as heat and cold; this is a state of matter that no longer depends on the matter itself, but on the state of the surroundings. Hearing does not depend on air at all, because we only perceive the vibrations of the air, which is something that is completely external to the material world. It is matter, air, that is merely the medium through which sound waves travel.

[ 3 ] The lowest level of material perception is smell, then comes taste, then sight, then touch, and then hearing. We can now ask ourselves—taking the sense of touch as an example—what is heat and cold? It is what is contained in the heat ether. So the sense of touch perceives the ether of warmth, sight perceives the ether of light, taste perceives the ether of chemistry, smell perceives the ether of atoms or life, and hearing perceives the ether of air. A sixth and seventh sense, which will only develop in the future, would perceive water and earth.

[ 4 ] Thus, in our senses, we have a successive series of stages for what we call our substances. Let us first follow our three lower senses.

[ 5 ] The sense of sight perceives the objects around us through the light ether. But there was a time when it was dark and gloomy all around. Let us go back to the time when human beings first opened their eyes and the outside world became perceptible to us as such. Before that, the eye was not yet open to the outside world. Imagine the same power that the eye receives from outside in the light ether, poured out from the inside to the outside, flowing in the opposite direction through the eyes. If that were the case, the being would illuminate those around it. Such a thing existed at a certain time when humans possessed the cyclops eye. The glow was caused by the light flowing out; it flowed from the inside to the outside. At that time, humans illuminated the objects around them and their own bodies, as some sea creatures still do today. At that time, humans had no consciousness of themselves, but were merely a means for the corresponding deity to illuminate the world for the deity. The deity had no other means of seeing the objects around them than through the eyes of humans.

[ 6 ] When humans did not yet have a mind, it was possible for the active light of the deity to pass through them and illuminate objects. Humans were mediators for the deity. The deity wanted to make the fixed objects visible through the light. As the light passed through humans, humans themselves were formed. Before the light passed through humans, the deity did not yet need the light, because objects were not yet solid, but fluid, so that light was not yet necessary. This is the state described in the Bible: “There was darkness on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” At that time, the world was pure water; even gold, silver, and other metals flowed and were fluid. When solid objects emerged from within the water like chunks of ice, human beings separated themselves, and light became necessary. God said, “Let there be light, and there was light,” and only then did human beings take shape. This is the moment when the light ether is introduced and the solid components separate: “God made a firmament.” Previously, everything was a watery substance. Just as the light ether was introduced into the solid, so the chemical ether was introduced into the water. Chemical affinity was worked into human beings when they were still liquid. The chemical relationships according to which the various substances combine today were imprinted on the individual. Then we return to a state when human beings and the whole earth were still airy; then the life ether or atomistic ether was instilled into them. At that time, the life ether was introduced into the world through human beings.

[ 7 ] Now let us once again consider the state that existed when God said, “Let there be light!” The earth begins to condense. The earth is illuminated. So it was that human beings actually only began to become solid at that time. Now the earlier forces had to remain with them. We have now reached the state in which human beings allow light to pass through themselves. Then a complete reversal took place. Human beings now began to perceive light from outside.

[ 8 ] Originally, the following were introduced into this world through them:

1. the atomistic or life ether
2. the chemical ether
3. the light ether

[ 9 ] Reversal:

3. Perception of the life ether
2. Perception of the chemical ether
1. Perception of the light ether.

[ 10 ] Then human beings receive the light back from the world (reversal of the vortex). They used to shine themselves, but now the light flows into them. They have closed themselves off; this has made them conscious. The light shines within him; the human being begins to reflect the world around him within himself. The next step is that the human being begins to get to know objects in terms of their chemical composition. He develops sympathy or antipathy for substances, a kinship with the rest of the world. Finally, he also perceives the atomistic or life ether within himself.

[ 11 ] By introducing light into the world, man has acquired his fixed form. By introducing the chemical ether, he has acquired a kinship with the world. By introducing the atomistic ether, he has acquired life.

[ 12 ] So through the eyes he acquired form; through the sense of taste, kinship with the world; through his sense of smell, his nose: life. Jehovah breathed the breath of life into his nose.

[ 13 ] When we approach religious writings with such ideas, we find that the deepest truths are contained within them. Let us see whether they were originally placed there in the way we now have them.

[ 14 ] Imagine, for example, the builder of the Gotthard Tunnel and then the writer who describes it. The man who built the Gotthard Tunnel may not have needed to have had so much engineering skill in his conscious state, but he turned a thought into reality. This is how the ancient sages relate to the present ones. At that time, they possessed a creative wisdom. Now we have perceived wisdom. Creative wisdom is the wisdom that once made human beings, built them up piece by piece, and which anatomists now extract and describe. Creative wisdom is exactly the same as the wisdom extracted today; it has been placed into the world. Ancient wisdom deals with the plan of the world. Now you can understand why the mystic must withdraw into himself. The true mystic must be an explorer of the inner world. He tries to rediscover the stages of development through which he was created.

[ 15 ] If we could completely close our eyes to all light and then create light within ourselves until the world appears illuminated from within, then we could immerse ourselves in the creative wisdom within ourselves and see through everything inwardly. This has practical value, for we remember that, basically, human beings have built themselves up by passing through the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms; all of which is also within him. What is outside in the world are the remnants of what human beings once were.

[ 16 ] In its formation, the human heart was related to what was happening outside. The moment one immerses oneself in the heart, one creates the environment as it was when the heart was formed in the Lemurian period. When you concentrate on the activity of the heart, you can conjure up the entire environment of the Lemurian era when the heart was formed. The Lemurian landscapes then appear within us. Those who concentrate on the heart see the emergence of the human race.

[ 17 ] By concentrating on the interior of the brain, which only gradually came into being during the Atlantean epoch, one sees the Atlantean landscapes emerge. If one concentrates on the solar plexus, one is led to the Hyperboreans. In this way, one ascends backwards into the worlds of the past. This is not brooding within oneself, but a real perception of the individual organs in their relationship to the world. In this way, Paracelsus found his remedies and cured. He knew that Digitalis purpurea came into being when the human heart came into being. By concentrating on an organ, the corresponding remedies appear. Thus, the members of the macrocosm are related to the microcosmic nature of man.

[ 18 ] Now it is easy to understand what it means: humans have red, warm blood, and so do higher animals. This means that from then on, humans are able to separate themselves from their entire environment and become independent, self-contained wholes. Fish are not like this. Fish are as warm as their environment. With red, warm blood came the ability for humans to develop warmth within themselves. This enabled humans to separate themselves from their environment. Before that, they were as warm as their environment. What actually happened there?

[ 19 ] Consider the undifferentiated human organism before the Lemurian epoch. We have a uniform temperature ratio across the entire Earth. The state of warmth in humans is the same as the state of warmth outside. Now the state of warmth inside becomes higher. This state of warmth in humans now means intrinsic warmth, warmth that is used in a special way; and outside in the world, the opposite arises: warmth, fire that is given away. Before, there was no fire outside either. It only became possible to create sparks in nature when fire appeared inside human beings. Since that time, there has been beneficial fire outside, which is given away, and selfish fire inside human beings.

[ 20 ] And now we have reached the point in time when fire was taken away from human beings as spiritual beings. Human beings took their warmth away from the body of a certain spiritual being – Agni! As a result, what used to be present in the world as the spirit of fire had to retreat and could then only appear temporarily in the form of fire. The Prometheus legend is based on this fact. The god has lost his former body and creates a new body for himself in the outer fire. Here you have a very special example of how humans have a destructive effect on the elemental forces of nature in a certain way. Human beings have brought forth the element of fire themselves by becoming special beings themselves. That is why it is an occult statement that human beings are basically destroyers of elemental beings. This goes very far and makes it clear to us that human beings today are still constantly creating new conditions and new forces of nature in their environment by continuing to develop themselves. They are shaping the earth. Fire came into being in the Lemurian epoch, which is why Lemuria was destroyed by the fire that humans themselves had created.

[ 21 ] The Atlantic continent was destroyed by water. The fifth continent will be destroyed by evil. A kind of decline can be observed in the following way:

[ 22 ] The next thing was — during the Atlantean period — the creation of the human being's own etheric body. He drew in the air from his surroundings. He changed his etheric body in such a way that conditions on Atlantis became completely different. The surface of the earth during the Atlantean era was once only fog, an atmosphere in which rainbows were not possible. At that time, man acted on water. During the Lemurian era, he acted on solid earth, which brought forth fire; during the Atlantean era, he acted on water, which brought forth light. (This corresponds to the light of our inner understanding.) Then they acted upon the air.

[ 23 ] The fifth root race will destroy humanity through what is called evil. Then the sixth root race will come. The fifth root race is the one that develops manas on the physical plane.

[ 24 ] In ancient Indian culture, people lived in a state corresponding to manas in a kind of deep trance. There, the ancient Indians were revealed the ancient wisdom by the rishis. The second revelation occurred among the Persians in a state similar to our deep sleep. In this state, man heard the word. It was the state of the ancient Persian sleep trance. “Honover” is the word used by the Persians.

[ 25 ] Third revelation: The peoples of the Near East, Babylonians, Egyptians perceive through Manas in image consciousness; they have visions or dream visions.

[ 26 ] Fourth revelation: Bright, alert daytime consciousness was developed among the Semites, Greeks, and Romans. There, Manas is perceived in bright daytime consciousness as an embodied human being, Christ Jesus.

[ 27 ] Among the Indians, we find the trance of the physical body. Among the Persians, we find the deep sleep of the etheric body. Among the peoples of the Near East, we find the image consciousness of the astral body. Among the Semitic, Greek, and Roman peoples, we find the waking consciousness of the ego.

[ 28 ] Now, in the fifth subrace, one does not have the perception of a changing Manas, but this race sees the highest in the psychic experience of simple concepts. Our subrace has developed the psychic Manas, ordinary science.

[ 29 ] The sixth subrace will develop a super-psychic Manas. What is now merely a kind of knowledge in humans will become immediate reality, social power, in the sixth subrace. The sixth subrace will have to permeate the social organism with what all previous development has produced. Only then will Christianity emerge as a social force. The sixth sub-race will be the fundamental germ race for the sixth root race. The fifth root race descends from the Ur-Semites, the fifth sub-race of the fourth root race. They developed their own ego, which gives rise to selfishness. Humanity owes its independence to the Ur-Semites. Human beings must first find themselves, but then also surrender themselves again. They must surrender to that which makes thoughts real. The sixth sub-race is destined to replace blood kinship with manas kinship, kinship in spirit. Altruistic thinking will develop the capacity to overcome egoism.

[ 30 ] The seventh sub-race will be premature. It will translate what comes out of the manas too early into an even stronger reality.

[ 31 ] In the sixth sub-race, the predisposition to overcome egoism will be given, but in such a way that a balance is maintained between selfhood and selflessness. The human being of the sixth sub-race will neither lose himself outwardly nor shut himself off inwardly. In the seventh sub-race, a kind of hypertrophy occurs. The human being then pours out what he now has within himself: his egoism. The members of the sixth sub-race, on the other hand, maintain balance. The seventh sub-race hardens egoism. Later, the Anglo-American people will protrude into the sixth root race as something rigid, just as the Chinese today are a rigid remnant of the Atlantean era, the fourth root race.

[ 32 ] World egoism emanates from the Anglo-American race. From that side, the whole earth will be covered with egoism. All the inventions that cover the earth like a net of egoism come from England and America. Thus, the whole earth will be covered from there by a net of egoistic evil. But from a small colony in the East, new life for the future will be formed, like from a seed.

[ 33 ] English-American culture is consuming the culture of Europe. The sects in England and America represent nothing more than the most incredible preservation of old things. But societies such as the Salvation Army, the Theosophical Society, and so on are emerging precisely there to rescue souls from decadence, for racial development does not go hand in hand with soul development. But the race itself is going to ruin. It is the predisposition of the evil race.

In the fourth sub-race, work was performed as tribute (slave labor).
In the fifth sub-race, work is performed as a commodity (sold).
In the sixth sub-race, work is performed as a sacrifice (free labor).

[ 34 ] Economic existence will then be separated from work; there will be no more property, everything will be common property. People will no longer work for their own existence, but will perform everything as an absolute sacrifice for humanity.