Nature and Spirit Beings
Their Effects in Our Visible World
GA 98
9 June 1908, Cologne
VI. Whitsuntide: Collective Spiritual Striving and Working toward Spiritualisation of the World II
In the last lecture, we observed some spiritual beings who are standing below the human being, some of which have abilities that are comparable with human abilities, but they are lacking any feeling of responsibility. We have seen how they are to be considered detritus of evolution, that would be obstructive if left to their own devices, but how they, used by a higher wisdom, will be transformed out of harmful into good beings.
Today, we want to widen the multitude of entities we observe by adding some more, to show how humans are interacting with them. We want to assume initially, that at nightfall each time the human being will experience a change from waking state to sleeping state. We know that when someone is in a state of day consciousness his four bodies are connected with and are mutually penetrating each other. Further, let us remember that each night the astral body and the ego raise themselves out of the physical and the etheric body. Now we have seen how at night, out of this human connection, out of the four-bodied human entity, two separate beings, different from each other, arose. The physical body and the etheric body stay back lying on the bed—outside remain the astral body and the ego.
Modern man experiences completely different states of consciousness at night than during the day. We can compare his state of night time consciousness with the consciousness of plants. A plant has the state of consciousness of ‘dreamless sleep’. During sleep, a kind of plant consciousness adheres to human beings too—at night, during the dreamless sleep, man is also in the spiritual worlds.
To these concepts we add that every element of the human being finds expression in the physical body. The physical body is, so to say, the result of all basic elements of a human. The ego has its expression in the blood, the astral body is expressed in the nervous system, the etheric body finds its expression in the lymphatic system, and the sensory system represents the expression of the physical body. If we perceive the human physical body as an expression of the manifestation of its different parts, then we have to say to ourselves that the blood circulation is there because of the individual ego. No nervous system can exist without the astral body structuring and creating it. At night, we draw the astral body and the ego out of the physical body, but not the nervous system and the blood. However, the blood and the ego belong together, and the astral body and the nervous system belong together.
At night, man behaves extremely disdainfully towards his corporeality. In order for the human being to have tools for the ego and the astral body, the blood and the nervous system had to emerge. Now he deserts the blood and the nervous system at night. It is impossible for a physical body with blood and nervous system to exist even for one second without the astral body and the ego. The plant is able to exist without these, because it has neither a nervous system nor a blood circulation. If we would at night solely be dependent upon ourselves, we would find the physical body dead in the morning. We take away those higher powers, the astral body and the ego, which must provide for the physical body at night. What we don’t do during the night, other beings must do. At night such beings penetrate into the physical and etheric body and lower themselves into them. Every night, higher spiritual beings enter into the human being’s physical and etheric bodies and carry out the work, that during the day is performed by the individual’s own ego and astral body. They are high, noble beings, who once created the physical and the etheric bodies of the human being, who take care of them again at night. At night the astral body and the ego stay in the higher world above, and down below remain the physical body and the etheric body. They have been abandoned at night by the astral body and the ego. To the same extent that the physical and etheric bodies are being deserted by the astral body and the ego, the powers of higher beings enter into them.
The etheric human body is not the same as the etheric body of a plant. Higher powers from a higher world stream into the physical and the etheric body of a human being at night. The following could happen: During the day, man constantly influences the physical body and the etheric one. When someone thinks and feels, then this happens in the astral body, but it reaches beyond into the etheric body and the physical body. It impresses itself into these.
In the past, the physical and the etheric body emerged purely by will of higher beings. But once a human being becomes conscious of its ego, the influences of the higher beings exit out of the physical and etheric body. That which lives in the soul is not without impact on these bodies. An anatomist, of course, cannot establish what kind of changes are taking place in a person’s physical and etheric body, but they are taking place. A large effect happens in these bodies when someone lies. Lies and hypocrisy are processes within the soul and the ego. From a materialistic perspective one could believe that lies only happen on the inside. But the occult observer knows that through lying, changes happen inside the physical body that affect the bodily structure. Such changes also come about through the countless conventional lies that live in the world.
Surveying the material reality, we know that our life is riddled with all sorts of untruths. If people tell each other something they do not mean, then this is like an impression of a signet in sealing wax. This imprint stays. All hypocrisy, untruths, slander remain like an imprint in the physical body. When someone leaves his physical and the etheric body at night, such imprints can be seen. Now the beings from the higher worlds come and find these. This is incompatible with the higher worlds. Through this something new occurs, something completely new is being created. The higher beings will now excise ‘beings’ through the physical body, which will then lead an independent life between our worlds. In the occult science these are called phantoms. They are called phantoms, because they are closest to physical perception. Furthermore, they are beings with physical regularity. They are swarming through our space. They are obstructing human development and evolution. They make what lives in the world worse than it would be if they would not exist. The phantoms are beings that mankind creates by way of lies, hypocrisy and so on, which hold back evolution.
Learning to know about the impact of the spiritual beings is much more helpful than preaching morals. Mankind in the future will know what it creates by lies, hypocrisy and slander. The most effective morals are created by learning to know the facts, not through moral principles. By existence based on the science of the spirit, the strongest moral drives and impulses are created. Phantoms are also a kind of nature beings who exist—created by the activity of man. In the evening, the human being deserts the physical body and leaves in it the signet imprints of lies, hypocrisy and so on. When he returns in the morning, then these phantoms first stream out of the physical body.
The etheric body too can be manipulated so that it creates excised beings. Once again, certain processes in the human world are causing such excisions to come into existence through the etheric body. Like all unjust things, such as unjust laws that punish in the wrong way, bad arrangements in a social community work back onto the etheric body, so that from them beings are created. In today’s superstitious time such entities are only ridiculed. These beings are spectres, ghosts. They are real and thus can be categorized as true spectres and ghosts. Mankind should make an effort to make its arrangements as well as possible, so that they are not creating such beings.
Now let us focus on the ego and the astral body during the night. Keep in mind that also the human astral body and the ego are in a special situation. They have aligned themselves to the blood and nervous system. During the night, higher powers from a higher world stream down onto the astral body and the ego. If a human being takes along certain things from his daily life, so again an excision process will occur. Again, the things that cause the excision process are things of the soul life. Let’s imagine two people have opinions that differ. One tries to convince the other and feels a longing to convince him. This longing is nowadays widely spread amongst humans. People should present their opinion to one another and wait to see if some forces stir within the other through which he would accept the opinion. There are so many opinionated fanatics, who are not at all content if they are unable to force their opinion on someone else. If something like this happens, then it is detrimental to both astral bodies. They pick up persuasions and wrong advice. Whatever is imprinted into the astral body from these persuasions and ill advice, will at night cause beings to be produced. Such beings are called demons.
These demonic beings exert particularly unfavourable influence on our human development. They whizz through the spiritual room and prevent people from developing their personal ideas. Imagine how much will be sinned in this regard in many coffee shops, at the beer table! Continuously, forces are collected for the creation of demons. These creep into the human soul. Ask yourself how many appear at this or that court hearing, when people act as witnesses. They are convinced, and therefore are not really committing perjury, because they are convinced. Once an ”experiment” was conducted and it went according to plan. Thirty people were asked to describe it. Two described the process correctly, all other twenty-eight people added things that had not happened. In this way, demonic beings are created that exert all sorts of influences. There is no other remedy for the human being than the recognition of this fact, to know what to do to free himself from the influences of these detrimental spiritual entities. They are present everywhere where there is opportunity to exert their destructive influences. The occult observer can see this in the courtroom. The beings always work into the direction from which they have emerged. Such beings that have come about through bad laws will again work so that they entice people to make more bad laws.
The human being should look into the spiritual world, so that he will become practical and not continually create obstacles. When we look across that which we have just examined, we have to say that during the waking hours of daily life people create a lot of causes for the emergence of all sorts of spiritual beings—elemental beings. We have to ask what significance they have in regard to the future development of mankind. We take a look back into ancient times, when our ancestors were living in the Atlantean world. If we would go back far enough into the old Atlantean development, then we would gradually arrive at humans in a totally different shape. Imagine back, approximately in the middle of the Atlantean time. We must imagine the human beings as follows: the part of the etheric body which today is within our head, was at that time widely extended out across the physical head, as it can be perceived even today by a clairvoyant in the horse. The same is still particularly noticeable in an elephant, who currently has a large protrusion in front of and above its physical head, just like this was the case for human beings in the old Atlantis. Evolutionary progress consisted of these parts moving closer together, so that today a human’s etheric head and the physical head are almost covering each other.
In earlier times, the human being had a twilight clairvoyance. When he would, during the day, dive into the physical body, he did not see distinct contours, but he would perceive the objects surrounded by an aura. At night, he would not recognise any boundaries at all, but only the spiritual element of things. Since the post-Atlantean time we differentiate thus far five cultural ages. In the ancient India, the first of the post-Atlantean ages, the connection of the etheric head of a human being with his physical head was very light. Increasingly, the fusion of the etheric with the physical head became stronger. During our time, the fifth post-Atlantean age, it became the strongest, as mankind descended into the physical, material world, and where they penetrated most deeply into the material substance. Throughout these many incarnations during the various epochs, people learned a lot until today in their present incarnation. Everything that happens in the world, does so in a descending and an ascending line. As truly as the etheric head always connected itself more and more strongly with the physical head, it is also true that little by little a loosening occurs. We have already arrived at a point in time where the etheric head begins to loosen again. Here we must differentiate between development of races and the development of the soul. In the future, there will be souls who have not done enough whilst the etheric head was united with the physical one. Because of the fusion of the etheric head with the physical head, many people are reluctant nowadays to embrace spiritual truths. Human beings who accept spiritual truths now, will when they return later, have absorbed enough in this incarnation, to be able to make a connection to incarnate. But those, who fail to do now what needs to happen, will not be able to find suitable bodies in the future. This is because the development of the races will create normal bodies, that are fit for those souls who have not neglected anything. Other bodies will be so that the loose etheric body cannot absorb anything. These people will be a special kind of human being, who will drop out of the progressive development of mankind.
It takes quite something to find your bearings within a future body. Imagine a soul that will live in a physical body with a loose etheric body. This soul would no longer understand if one would tell it about demons and so on. Today is the point in time where one can talk about those things. When the etheric body has loosened up again, one can no longer do this. Currently, the etheric body has a calling to quite different perceptions. The etheric body will later live in the spiritual world. This is populated with demons, and so on. Then this world of spiritual beings will be around the human being, and if he is not prepared for this now through the teachings, then he will be at a loss when he faces these beings. However, those that carry with them the knowledge obtained in this incarnation about these beings, will understand how to behave towards them. In the future, these knowledgeable individuals are destined to transform these beings into servants of the ongoing evolution. So, we understand how people can fail to complete their task to further the development of humanity and that of other beings.
All these demons, ghosts and phantoms are harmful today, but in the future they will be transformed by us into servants to human development. For this to happen human beings must prepare themselves. The development of the soul and the development of the race do not run side by side.
In the future, humanity will separate into the good and the bad. By one part developing in the proper ascending way to transform the demons, ghosts and phantoms in the future, they will push down another part. These will be the bad ones. What the human spirit creates has a real meaning—this has always been so during the development of mankind.
Another example will demonstrate how the human being co-creates in today’s world. We will focus on the fourth cultural period—on the Greek temple. The idea about the temple arose initially from the human soul. The concept for the temple is based on what we call a column, and on what this column carries. Never again has humanity achieved what it did at the time when humans succeeded to put themselves into the ‘supported space’ of the Greek temple. Let us compare a Greek temple with a modern building. Once a column becomes decorative it is no longer the true column that it is when it is free standing and really load-bearing. The human being must feel that the column consists of the right material. If we paint a thin iron column, that carries the same load as a thicker stone column, then it lies to us.
A Greek temple is a Greek spatial idea. This would be understood by people who can imagine that forces are moving from top to bottom and from right to left. We can imagine three painted angels, suspended in the air, so that one knows they are carrying each other. We find this spatial feeling with the old painters. Nowadays we can't find it anymore, not even by Boecklin.1Arnold Boecklin, Swiss Painter, 1827-1901. His painting Pietà was in the National Museum in Berlin until 1945, and has since been missing. On his Pietà there is an angel, that we feel could fall down any moment.
This is something that even the greatest genius might be missing when spiritual culture is lacking: a sense of space. Each time a person creates a real spatial concept, then this creates an opportunity for a higher being to fill this room. We are then ‘captivating’ higher beings to descend into the room. Quite different beings are enticed to descend by a Greek column and the horizontal beams resting upon it—quite other beings by the Gothic cathedral and its pointed arcs. The Gothic cathedral differs spiritually from the Greek temple in the following way: In the Greek temple humans have worked the spatial sense into it in an occult way, so that the temple is a crystallised spatial thought. In this way, the temple, being the way it is, is the home of a higher being, a god, even if it has been deserted by people. But to the Gothic cathedral belong people. It must be complemented by the devotions of the human beings and the folded hands they raise up. The Greek temple is an abode of a god. The Gothic cathedral is a cultural site, and an abode of a god when human beings are present. The Greek temple is, even if it has been deserted, the abode of a spiritual entity. So we can see, that people, by being in harmony with the spiritual world, are working together with it. So we can see in the spirit, how, through human deeds, more and more can be done to entice higher beings to descend.
Once again the Whitsuntide thought steps in front of our soul. The Whitsuntide thought expresses symbolically what we are able to recognise through such observation: that people through their work create sites for spiritual beings to descend to, that people are working on the spiritualisation of the world.
We must understand the spiritual science thought in such a way that it permeates into all branches of life. In our materialistic time the outer life is only in a small way an expression of the inner life. In the past, every door lock, every key was an expression of something spiritual. Now everything is comparatively insignificant. The human being will once again learn to work in such a way that the outside will be a replica of the inside. Then a railway station too will emerge as a thought, like the Greek temple and the Gothic cathedral came about. Our time too has a building style that corresponds to our time. This is the warehouse. It is the replica of the ‘utility’ thought, the replica of the human egoism. The time of usefulness has brought forth as the only original style that of the warehouse.
Previously, people put their spiritual feelings into a building style. The warehouse is an expression for the feelings of the 19th century. But already now there is a spiritual movement underway, that prepares for a later spiritualisation. Those humans who understand the anthroposophical movement in this way will make the Whitsuntide thought a reality. In the future we will see the anthroposophical thoughts crystallised in what the Earth will be covered with.
Das Pfingstfest des Seelischen Zusammenstrebens und des Arbeitens an der Vergeistigung Der Welt
[ 1 ] Wir haben im letzten Vortrag einige geistige Wesenheiten betrachtet, die unter dem Menschen stehen, von denen einige solche Fähigkeiten haben, die sich vergleichen lassen mit den Fähigkeiten der Menschen; aber es fehlt ihnen das Verantwortlichkeitsgefühl. Wir haben gesehen, wie sie anzusehen sind als Abfälle der Evolution, die hindernd sein würden, wenn sie sich selbst überlassen blieben, wie sie aber unter einer höheren Weisheit verwendet werden und wie sie aus schädlichen Wesenheiten in gute umgewandelt werden.
[ 2 ] Heute wollen wir die Schar dieser Wesenheiten um einige andere, die wir betrachten, vermehren, um zu zeigen, wie das Zusammenwirken des Menschen mit diesen Wesenheiten stattfindet. Zunächst wollen wir davon ausgehen, daß der Mensch jedesmal, wenn die Nacht eintritt, einen Wechsel durchmacht vom Wachzustand zum Schlafzustand. Wir wissen, wenn der Mensch im wachen Tageszustande ist, daß dann seine vier Glieder miteinander verbunden sind, sich gegenseitig durchdringen. Ferner erinnern wir uns daran, daß jede Nacht der Astralleib und das Ich aus dem physischen und Ätherleib sich herausheben. Nun haben wir also entstehen sehen aus dieser Menschenverbindung, aus der viergliedrigen Menschenwesenheit, in der Nacht zwei voneinander verschiedene Wesenheiten. Im Bette bleiben liegen der physische Leib und der Ätherleib; außerhalb bleiben der Astralleib und das Ich.
[ 3 ] Für den heutigen Menschen treten in der Nacht ganz andere Zustände ein als am Tage. Wir können den Bewußtseinszustand des heutigen Menschen in der Nacht vergleichen mit dem Bewußtseinszustand der Pflanzen. Die Pflanze hat den Bewußtseinszustand des traumlosen Schlafes. Die Menschen sind im Schlafe auch mit einer Art von Pflanzenbewußtsein behaftet. Der Mensch ist in der Nacht auch im traumlosen Schlafzustand in den geistigen Welten.
[ 4 ] Zu diesen Vorstellungen nehmen wir die hinzu, daß ein jedes Glied der menschlichen Wesenheit seinen Ausdruck im physischen Leibe hat. Der physische Leib ist sozusagen das Ergebnis der Grundglieder des Menschen. Das Ich hat seinen Ausdruck im Blut, der Astralleib hat seinen Ausdruck im Nervensystem, der Ätherleib hat seinen Ausdruck im Drüsensystem, und das Sinnessystem steht für den physischen Leib als Ausdruck da. Wenn wir im physischen Leib des Menschen den Ausdruck der Offenbarung der verschiedenen Glieder sehen, so müssen wir uns sagen, daß der Blutkreislauf da ist durch das individuelle Ich. Kein Nervensystem kann da sein, ohne daß der Astralleib dieses Nervensystem gliedert und schafft. Nachts ziehen wir den astralischen Leib und das Ich aus dem physischen Leibe heraus, aber nicht das Nervensystem und das Blut. Aber Blut und Ich gehören zusammen, und der Astralleib und das Nervensystem gehören zusammen.
[ 5 ] Der Mensch benimmt sich nachts gegenüber seiner Leiblichkeit außerordentlich schnöde. Damit der Mensch Werkzeuge hat für das Ich und für den astralischen Leib, mußten das Blut und das Nervensystem entstehen. Jetzt verläßt er in der Nacht das Blut und das Nervensystem. Unmöglich könnte ein physischer Leib mit Blut und Nervensystem auch nur eine Sekunde bestehen ohne Astralleib und Ich. Die Pflanze kann ohne diese bestehen, weil sie kein Nervensystem und kein Blutsystem hat. Wir würden den physischen Leib morgens tot finden, wenn wir nachts nur auf uns selbst angewiesen wären. Wir nehmen ihm die höheren Kräfte, den Astralleib und das Ich, die den physischen Leib versorgen müssen. Was wir nicht tun, das müssen andere Wesen in der Nacht tun. Nachts dringen sie in den physischen Leib und den Ätherleib; sie senken sich in den physischen Leib und Ätherleib hinein. Jede Nacht kehren ein in des Menschen physischen Leib und Ätherleib höhere geistige Wesenheiten und üben die Arbeit aus, die während des Tageslebens vom eigenen Ich und Astralleib ausgeübt werden. Das sind hohe, erhabene Wesenheiten, die einst den physischen Leib und Ätherleib des Menschen geschaffen haben, die sich nachts derselben wieder annehmen. Oben, in der höheren Welt ist des Nachts der Astralleib mit dem Ich; unten bleibt der physische Leib und der Ätherleib. Sie sind in der Nacht verlassen vom Astralleib und dem Ich. In demselben Maße, wie sie vom Astralleib und dem Ich verlassen werden, ziehen die Kräfte höherer Wesenheiten in sie ein.
[ 6 ] Der Ätherleib des Menschen ist nicht dasselbe wie der Ätherleib der Pflanzen. In den physischen und Ätherleib des Menschen strömen nachts ein höhere Kräfte aus einer höheren Welt. Es kann folgendes geschehen: Der Mensch wirkt während des Tagesbewußtseins fortwährend auf den physischen Leib und den Ätherleib. Wenn der Mensch denkt und empfindet, dann spielt sich das ab im astralischen Leibe, aber es geht über in den Ätherleib und den physischen Leib. Das prägt sich darin aus. Früher gingen physischer Leib und Ätherleib rein aus dem Willen der höheren Wesenheiten hervor. Wenn aber der Mensch ichbewußt wird, so gehen die Einflüsse dieser höheren Wesenheiten aus dem physischen Leib und Ätherleib hinaus. Das, was in der Seele lebt, ist nicht ohne Wirkung auf den physischen Leib und Ätherleib. Der Anatom kann natürlich nicht feststellen, welche Veränderungen in des Menschen physischem Leib und Ätherleib vorgehen, aber sie finden statt. Eine große Wirkung geht vor im physischen Leib und Ätherleib, wenn der Mensch lügt. Lüge und Heuchelei sind Vorgänge in der Seele und im Ich. Man kann vom materialistischen Standpunkt aus glauben, daß Lügen nur im Innern sich abspielen. Aber der okkulte Beobachter weiß, daß dadurch bis in den physischen Leib, bis in die Struktur Veränderungen vor sich gehen. Solche Veränderungen gehen auch vor sich durch die zahlreichen konventionellen Lügen, die in der Welt leben.
[ 7 ] Überblicken wir die materielle Wirklichkeit: wir wissen, wie unser Leben gespickt ist mit allerlei Unwahrhaftigkeiten. Wenn die Leute sich etwas sagen, was sie nicht so meinen, so ist es damit wie der Abdruck von einem Petschaft im Siegellack. Dieser Abdruck bleibt. Alle Heuchelei, Unwahrheit, Verleumdung bleibt wie ein Abdruck im physischen Leibe vorhanden. Wenn der Mensch in der Nacht seinen physischen Leib und Ätherleib verläßt, so kann man solche Abdrücke sehen. Nun kommen die Wesen aus den höheren Welten und finden diese darin. Das verträgt sich nicht mit den höheren Welten. Dadurch tritt etwas Neues ein, es wird etwas ganz Neues geschaffen. Nun werden von den höheren Wesenheiten Wesen abgeschnürt durch den physischen Leib, die dann ein selbständiges Dasein führen, zwischen unseren Welten. Man nennt sie in der Geheimwissenschaft Phantome. Phantome nennt man sie deshalb, weil sie dem physischen Wahrnehmen am nächsten stehen. Sie sind ferner Wesenheiten mit physischer Gesetzmäßigkeit. Sie durchschwirren unseren Raum. Sie halten die menschliche Entwikkelung auf. Sie machen das, was in der Welt lebt, schlechter, als wenn sie nicht da wären. Diese Phantome sind Wesenheiten, die die Menschen schaffen durch Lüge, Heuchelei und so weiter, welche die Entwickelung zurückhalten.
[ 8 ] Dadurch, daß wir die Wirkungen der geistigen Wesenheiten kennenlernen, wird viel mehr geholfen als durch Moralpredigen. Eine zukünftige Menschheit wird wissen, was sie schafft durch Lüge, Heuchelei und Verleumdung. Indem man Tatsachen kennenlernt, schafft man die wirksamste Moral, nicht durch moralische Grundsätze. Durch die geisteswissenschaftliche Grundlegung des Daseins werden die stärksten Antriebe und Impulse der Moral geschaffen. Phantome sind auch eine Art von Naturwesen, die da sind, durch die Tätigkeit des Menschen geschaffen. Abends verläßt der Mensch den physischen Leib und läßt darin zurück die Siegelabdrücke von Lüge, Heuchelei und so weiter. Wenn der Mensch morgens wieder hineinzieht, dann strömen zuerst diese Phantome aus dem physischen Leib heraus.
[ 9 ] Auch der Ätherleib kann so beeinflußt werden, daß er abgeschnürte Wesenheiten erzeugt. Es sind wiederum gewisse Vorgänge in der Menschenwelt, die bewirken, daß solche Abschnürungen durch den Ätherleib entstehen. Alle Dinge, wie ungerechte, schlechte Gesetze, die in unrichtiger Weise bestrafen, schlechte Einrichtungen in einer sozialen Gemeinschaft, die wirken zurück auf den Ätherleib, daß im Ätherleib sich jene Wesenheiten abschnüren, die man heute in der abergläubischen Zeit nur verlacht. Diese Wesenheiten sind Spektren, Gespenster. Wahre Gespenster sind diejenigen, zu deren Klasse oder Ordnung solche Wesenheiten gehören. Die Menschen sollten sich bemühen, ihre Einrichtungen so gut als möglich zu treffen, damit sie nicht derartige Wesenheiten schaffen.
[ 10 ] Nun wenden wir den Blick zu dem Ich und dem Astralleib während der Nacht. Bedenken wir, daß auch der astralische Leib und das Ich beim Menschen in einer besonderen Lage sind. Sie haben sich dem Blut- und Nervenleben angepaßt. Auf den Astralleib und das Ich strömen auch in der Nacht höhere Kräfte aus einer höheren Welt hernieder. Wenn der Mensch aus seinem Tagesleben gewisse Dinge mitnimmt, so findet wieder ein Abschnürungsprozeß statt. Wieder sind es Dinge des Seelenlebens, die den Abschnürungsprozeß hervorbringen. Denken wir uns, zwei Menschen haben zwei Meinungen, die verschieden sind. Einer versucht, den anderen zu überreden und hat die Sehnsucht, ihn zu überzeugen. Diese Sehnsucht ist heute unter den Menschen sehr verbreitet. Die Menschen sollten dem anderen ihre Meinung vorlegen und abwarten, ob in dem anderen sich Kräfte regen, wodurch er die Meinung annimmt. Es sind so viele Fanatiker ihrer Meinung vorhanden, die gar nicht zufrieden sind, wenn sie nicht imstande sind, dem anderen zwangsmäßig ihre Meinung beizubringen. Wenn so etwas geschieht, dann schadet das beiden Astralleibern. Sie nehmen Überredungen und falsche Ratschläge mit. Was in die Astralleiber hineinversenkt wird, das verursacht, daß in der Nacht aus dem Astralleib sich Wesenheiten abschnüren, die man Dämonen nennt.
[ 11 ] Diese dämonischen Wesenheiten sind von ganz besonders ungünstigem Einfluß auf unsere menschliche Entwickelung. Sie durchschwirren den geistigen Raum und halten die Menschen ab, ihre persönliche Anschauung zu entwickeln. Man denke, wieviel in mancher Kaffeestube, am Biertisch gesündigt wird in dieser Richtung! Da werden fortwährend Kräfte mitgenommen zur Dämonenbildung. Diese schleichen sich ein in die menschliche Seele. Man frage sich, wieviel bei dieser oder jener Gerichtsverhandlung vorkommt, wie die Menschen zeugen! Sie sind überzeugt, leisten im Grunde genommen keinen falschen Eid, weil sie überzeugt sind. Man hat einmal ein Ereignis verabredet, das programmäßig verlaufen ist. Dreißig Menschen sollten das beschreiben. Zwei hatten den Vorgang richtig beschrieben; alle anderen achtundzwanzig hatten aber Dinge dazu geschrieben, die nicht geschehen waren. So kommen allerlei Einflüsse von dämonischen Wesen, die auf diese Weise gebildet werden. Es gibt für den Menschen kein anderes Mittel als die Erkenntnis dieser Tatsachen; zu wissen, was er tut, um ihn zu befreien von den Einflüssen dieser schädlichen geistigen Wesenheiten. Überall da, wo Gelegenheit ist, daß diese Wesenheiten ihre verheerenden Einflüsse ausüben, sind sie da. Im Gerichtssaal kann der okkulte Beobachter das sehen. Die Wesenheiten wirken immer in der Richtung, wie sie entstanden sind. Solche Wesenheiten, die entstanden sind durch schlechte Gesetze, wirken wieder so, daß sie die Menschen zu schlechten Gesetzen verleiten.
[ 12 ] Der Mensch soll hineinschauen in die geistige Welt, damit er praktisch wird und nicht fortwährend Hindernisse schafft. Wenn wir so den Blick schweifen lassen über dasjenige, was uns eben beschäftigt hat, müssen wir uns sagen, der Mensch gibt während des wachen Tageslebens Veranlassung, daß allerlei geistige Wesenheiten, Elementarwesenheiten entstehen. Wir müssen fragen, welche Bedeutung diese Wesenheiten in der zukünftigen Entwickelung der Menschheit haben. Wir blicken zurück in frühere Zeiten, als unsere Vorfahren in der atlantischen Welt gelebt haben. Wenn wir weit genug in der alten atlantischen Entwickelung zurückgehen würden, dann würden wir dazu kommen, daß wir allmählich Menschen in einer ganz anderen Gestalt finden würden. Ungefähr in die Mitte der atlantischen Zeit denken wir uns zurück. Die Menschen müssen wir uns da so vorstellen, daß der Teil des Ätherleibes, der heute in unserem Kopfe ist, damals weit hervorstand über den physischen Kopf, so wie es jetzt noch für den Hellseher bei dem Pferd wahrnehmbar ist. Besonders auffällig ist dies noch bei dem Elefanten. Er hat einen großen Vorbau vor dem jetzigen physischen Kopf und oberhalb desselben. So war es in der alten Atlantis bei den Menschen der Fall. Das Vorwärtsschreiten in der Entwickelung bestand darin, daß diese Teile mehr zusammenrückten, so daß der Ätherkopf und der physische Kopf sich heute bei den Menschen beinahe decken.
[ 13 ] Der Mensch hatte früher ein dämmerhaftes Hellsehen. Wenn der Mensch am Tage untertauchte in den physischen Leib, so sah er nicht die festen Grenzen, sondern er sah die Gegenstände mit einer Aura umgeben. In der Nacht sah er diese Grenzen überhaupt nicht, sondern nur das Geistige der Dinge. In der nachatlantischen Zeit haben wir bis jetzt fünf Kulturzeitalter zu unterscheiden. Im alten Indien, in der ersten nachatlantischen Zeit, waren die Menschen so, daß die Verbindung des Ätherkopfes mit dem physischen Kopfe eine sehr leichte war. Immer stärker wurde die Verwachsung des Ätherkopfes mit dem physischen Kopfe. Am stärksten ist sie geworden in unserer Zeit, der fünften nachatlantischen Kultur, wo die Menschen heruntergestiegen sind in die physische, materielle Welt, wo die Menschen am tiefsten in die Materie eingedrungen sind. In diesen vielen Inkarnationen während der verschiedenen Epochen hat der Mensch mancherlei gelernt bis zu dem Tage seiner heutigen Inkarnation. Alles, was geschieht in der Welt, geschieht in einer absteigenden und einer aufsteigenden Linie. So wahr der Ätherkopf sich immer mehr mit dem physischen Kopf verbunden hat, so wahr ist es, daß nach und nach eine Lockerung eintritt. Wir sind bereits bei dem Zeitpunkte angekommen, da der Ätherkopf wieder beginnt, sich zu lockern. Wir müssen hier unterscheiden zwischen Rassenentwickelung, und Seelenentwickelung. Es wird in der Zukunft Seelen geben, die nicht genug getan haben, während der Ätherkopf mit dem physischen Kopf vereint war. Heute sträuben sich viele, infolge der Verwachsung des Ätherkopfes mit dem physischen Kopfe, gegen das Entgegennehmen spiritueller Wahrheiten. Die Menschen, welche spirituelle Wahrheiten jetzt annehmen, werden, wenn sie später wiederkommen, genügend aufgenommen haben in dieser Inkarnation, um dann den Anschluß zu finden. Solche aber, die jetzt versäumen, was geschehen muß, die finden in der Zukunft keine Leiber, die zu ihnen passen. Denn die Rassenentwickelung wird normale Leiber schaffen, die zu den Seelen passen, die nichts versäumt haben. Andere werden so sein, daß der gelockerte Ätherleib nichts aufnehmen kann. Diese Menschen werden ein besonderer Menschenschlag sein, die herausfallen aus der fortschreitenden Menschheitsentwickelung.
[ 14 ] Es gehört etwas dazu, sich hineinzufinden in einen zukünftigen Leib. Man denke sich eine Seele, die in einem Leibe leben wird, der einen gelockerten Ätherleib hat. Die Seele würde nicht mehr verstehen, wenn man ihr von Dämonen und so weiter redet. Heute ist der Zeitpunkt, wo man von diesen Dingen reden kann. Wenn einmal der Ätherleib wieder gelockert ist, so kann man das nicht. Jetzt ist der Ätherleib zu ganz anderen Wahrnehmungen berufen. Der Ätherleib wird später in der geistigen Welt leben. Diese ist bevölkert mit Dämonen und so weiter. Dann wird diese Welt geistiger Wesenheiten um den Menschen herum sein, und wenn er jetzt nicht darauf vorbereitet wird durch die Lehren darüber, dann wird er später keinen Rat wissen diesen Wesenheiten gegenüber. Die aber aus dieser Inkarnation das Wissen von diesen Wesenheiten mitnehmen, werden verstehen, sich zu benehmen gegenüber diesen Wesenheiten. Diese wissenden Menschen sind dazu berufen, in der Zukunft diese Wesenheiten zu Dienern einer fortschreitenden Entwickelung umzugestalten. So sehen wir, wie die Menschen ihre Aufgabe in der Fortentwickelung der Menschheit und der anderen Wesenheiten verpassen können.
[ 15 ] Alle diese Dämonen, Gespenster und Phantome - heute sind sie schädlich. Aber wir werden sie in der Zukunft umgestalten zu Dienern des Fortschreitens der Menschheit. Dazu muß sich aber der Mensch vorbereiten. Seelen- und Rassenentwickelung laufen nicht nebeneinander.
[ 16 ] Die Menschen werden sich in der Zukunft teilen in die Guten und die Bösen. Indem sich ein Teil in der richtigen Weise heraufentwikkelt, um in der Zukunft umzugestalten die Dämonen, Gespenster und Phantome, werden sie einen anderen Teil herunterstoßen. Das werden die Bösen sein. Was der Menschengeist schafft, das hat eine reale Bedeutung. So war es immer in der Menschheitsentwickelung.
[ 17 ] Ein anderes Beispiel soll dafür gegeben werden, wie der Mensch heute in der Welt mitschafft. Wir wenden den Blick auf die vierte Kulturperiode, auf den griechischen Tempel. Der Gedanke des Tempels ist zunächst aus der Menschenseele entsprungen. Der Gedanke des Tempels ruht auf dem, was wir nennen die Säule, und auf dem, was die Säule trägt. Niemals wieder hat man es in der Menschheit so wie damals erreicht, sich hineinzuversetzen in den getragenen Raum. Vergleichen wir einen griechischen Tempel mit einem modernen Bau. Wenn die Säule dekorativ wird, so ist sie nicht mehr die wahre Säule, die sie ist, wenn sie frei steht und wirklich trägt. Der Mensch muß empfinden, daß die Säule aus dem richtigen Material bestehen muß. Wenn wir eine Eisensäule anstreichen, die dünn ist und dasselbe trägt wie eine dickere Steinsäule, so lügt sie uns etwas vor.
[ 18 ] Ein griechischer Tempel ist ein griechischer Raumgedanke. Das würden die Menschen verstehen, wenn sie sich vorstellen könnten, daß von oben nach unten, von rechts nach links Kräfte gehen. Wir können uns drei Engel gemalt denken, schwebend in der Luft, so daß man weiß, daß sie sich gegenseitig tragen. Bei den alten Malern finden wir dieses Raumgefühl. Wir finden es nicht mehr heute, auch nicht bei Böcklin. Auf seiner Pietà ist ein Engel, bei dem wir das Gefühl haben, daß er im nächsten Moment herunterfallen muß.
[ 19 ] Das ist etwas, was selbst dem größten Genius abgehen kann, wenn die spirituelle Kultur fehlt: das Raumgefühl. Jedesmal, wenn der Mensch einen wirklichen Raumgedanken schafft, dann gibt das Wesenheiten Gelegenheit, diesen Raum zu erfüllen. Wir bannen dann höhere Wesenheiten herunter in den Raum. Ganz andere Wesenheiten rufen wir herunter mit der griechischen Säule und dem horizontal darauf ruhenden Gebälk, ganz andere Wesenheiten mit dem gotischen Dom und seinen Spitzbogen. Der gotische Dom unterscheidet sich in spiritueller Beziehung vom griechischen Tempel in folgender Art. Beim griechischen Tempel hat der Mensch den Raumgedanken so hineingeheimnißt, daß der Tempel ein kristallisierter Raumgedanke ist. Dadurch, daß der Tempel so ist, wie er ist, ist er die Wohnung einer höheren Wesenheit, eines Gottes, auch wenn er verlassen ist von Menschen. Aber zum gotischen Dom gehören die Menschen. Der muß ergänzt werden durch die Andacht der Menschen und die gefalteten Hände, die sie erheben. Der griechische Tempel ist eine Wohnung des Gottes. Der gotische Dom ist eine Kultusstätte und eine Wohnung des Gottes, wenn die Menschen dabei sind. Der griechische Tempel ist, auch wenn er verlassen ist, die Wohnung einer geistigen Wesenheit. So sehen wir, daß die Menschen dadurch, daß sie im Einklang mit der geistigen Welt sind, zusammenwirken mit der geistigen Welt. So sehen wir im Geiste, wie durch die Taten der Menschen immer mehr gearbeitet werden kann zum Herunterführen höherer Wesenheiten.
[ 20 ] Wieder tritt vor unsere Seele der Pfingstgedanke. Der Pfingstgedanke drückt in einem Symbolum aus, was wir durch solche Betrachtung erkennen können: daß die Menschen durch ihre Arbeit Stätten schaffen für das Herabsteigen geistiger Wesenheiten, daß sie arbeiten an der Vergeistigung der Welt.
[ 21 ] Wir müssen den geisteswissenschaftlich-spirituellen Gedanken so verstehen, daß er in alle einzelnen Zweige des Lebens eindringt. In unserer materalistischen Zeit ist das äußere Leben nur wenig ein Ausdruck des Innern. Früher war jedes Türschloß, jeder Schlüssel der Ausdruck eines Geistigen. Jetzt ist alles so nichtssagend dagegen. Der Mensch wird wieder in der Weise schaffen lernen, daß das Äußere ein Abbild des Innern ist. Dann wird auch ein Bahnhof als ein Gedanke entstehen, wie der griechische Tempel und der gotische Dom entstanden. Auch unsere Zeit hat einen Baustil, der unserer Zeit entspricht. Das ist das Warenhaus. Das ist der Abdruck des Nützlichkeitsgedankens, der Abdruck des Menschenegoismus. Die Zeit der Nützlichkeit hat als einzigen originalen Sul das Warenhaus erzeugt.
[ 22 ] Früher bauten die Menschen ihre Seelenempfindungen in den Baustil hinein. Das Warenhaus ist der Ausdruck für die Empfindungen des 19. Jahrhunderts. Aber jetzt ist schon eine spirituelle Bewegung da, die vorarbeitet für eine spätere Vergeistigung. Die Menschen, welche so die anthroposophische Bewegung verstehen, die verwirklichen den Pfingstgedanken. Wir werden in der Zukunft in dem, was die Erde bedecken wird, die anthroposophischen Gedanken kristallisiert sehen.
The Pentecost of Spiritual Convergence and Work on the Spiritualization of the World
[ 1 ] In the last lecture, we looked at some spiritual beings that are below human beings, some of whom have abilities comparable to those of humans, but lack a sense of responsibility. We have seen how they are to be regarded as the dregs of evolution, which would be a hindrance if left to themselves, but how they are used under a higher wisdom and how they are transformed from harmful beings into good ones.
[ 2 ] Today we want to add a few more beings to this group in order to show how human beings interact with these beings. Let us begin with the assumption that every time night falls, human beings undergo a transition from the waking state to the sleeping state. We know that when a person is awake during the day, their four members are connected and interpenetrate each other. We also remember that every night the astral body and the I rise out of the physical and etheric bodies. So we have seen two different beings arise at night out of this human connection, out of the fourfold human being. The physical body and the etheric body remain in bed; the astral body and the I remain outside.
[ 3 ] For modern human beings, completely different states occur at night than during the day. We can compare the state of consciousness of modern humans at night with the state of consciousness of plants. Plants have the state of consciousness of dreamless sleep. When asleep, humans are also imbued with a kind of plant consciousness. At night, humans are also in a dreamless state of sleep in the spiritual worlds.
[ 4 ] To these ideas we add that every member of the human being has its expression in the physical body. The physical body is, so to speak, the result of the basic members of the human being. The ego finds expression in the blood, the astral body finds expression in the nervous system, the etheric body finds expression in the glandular system, and the sensory system stands for the physical body as expression. When we see the expression of the revelation of the various members in the physical body of the human being, we must say that the blood circulation is there through the individual ego. No nervous system can exist without the astral body structuring and creating this nervous system. At night, we withdraw the astral body and the ego from the physical body, but not the nervous system and the blood. However, blood and the ego belong together, and the astral body and the nervous system belong together.
[ 5 ] At night, human beings behave extremely contemptuously toward their physical bodies. In order for human beings to have tools for the ego and for the astral body, the blood and the nervous system had to come into being. Now, at night, they leave the blood and the nervous system. It would be impossible for a physical body with blood and a nervous system to exist for even a second without the astral body and the ego. Plants can exist without these because they have no nervous system and no blood system. We would find the physical body dead in the morning if we were dependent only on ourselves at night. We take away from it the higher forces, the astral body and the ego, which must supply the physical body. What we do not do, other beings must do at night. At night they penetrate the physical body and the etheric body; they descend into the physical body and etheric body. Every night, higher spiritual beings return to the human physical body and etheric body and carry out the work that is performed during the day by the individual's own ego and astral body. These are high, exalted beings who once created the physical body and etheric body of human beings and who take them back again at night. Above, in the higher world, the astral body is with the ego at night; below, the physical body and etheric body remain. They are abandoned by the astral body and the ego during the night. To the same extent that they are abandoned by the astral body and the ego, the forces of higher beings enter into them.
[ 6 ] The etheric body of the human being is not the same as the etheric body of plants. At night, higher forces from a higher world stream into the physical and etheric bodies of the human being. The following can happen: During daytime consciousness, the human being continuously acts upon the physical body and the etheric body. When humans think and feel, this takes place in the astral body, but it passes into the etheric body and the physical body. It is imprinted there. In the past, the physical body and etheric body arose purely from the will of higher beings. But when humans become self-conscious, the influences of these higher beings leave the physical body and etheric body. What lives in the soul is not without effect on the physical body and etheric body. The anatomist cannot, of course, determine what changes take place in the human physical body and etheric body, but they do take place. A great effect occurs in the physical body and etheric body when a person lies. Lying and hypocrisy are processes in the soul and in the I. From a materialistic point of view, one may believe that lying takes place only within. But the occult observer knows that it causes changes to take place in the physical body, even in its structure. Such changes also take place through the numerous conventional lies that exist in the world.
[ 7 ] Let us survey material reality: we know how our lives are peppered with all kinds of untruths. When people say something they do not mean, it is like the impression left by a seal in sealing wax. This impression remains. All hypocrisy, untruth, and slander remain in the physical body like an imprint. When a person leaves their physical body and etheric body at night, such imprints can be seen. Now beings from the higher worlds come and find them there. This is not compatible with the higher worlds. As a result, something new enters, something completely new is created. Now, beings are cut off from the higher entities by the physical body and then lead an independent existence between our worlds. In secret science, they are called phantoms. They are called phantoms because they are closest to physical perception. They are also beings with physical laws. They buzz around our space. They hold back human development. They make what lives in the world worse than if they weren't there. These phantoms are beings that people create through lies, hypocrisy, and so on, which hold back development.
[ 8 ] Learning about the effects of spiritual beings is much more helpful than moral preaching. A future humanity will know what it creates through lies, hypocrisy, and slander. By learning facts, one creates the most effective morality, not through moral principles. The strongest moral drives and impulses are created through the spiritual-scientific foundation of existence. Phantoms are also a kind of natural being that exist through human activity. In the evening, the human being leaves the physical body and leaves behind the imprints of lies, hypocrisy, and so on. When people move back into their bodies in the morning, these phantoms are the first to stream out of the physical body.
[ 9 ] The etheric body can also be influenced in such a way that it produces constricted entities. There are certain processes in the human world that cause such severances to arise through the etheric body. All things, such as unjust, bad laws that punish in an incorrect manner, bad institutions in a social community, have an effect back on the etheric body, so that those entities that are only laughed at in our superstitious age are severed in the etheric body. These beings are specters, ghosts. True ghosts are those to whose class or order such beings belong. People should strive to organize their institutions as well as possible so that they do not create such beings.
[ 10 ] Now let us turn our attention to the I and the astral body during the night. Let us remember that the astral body and the I are also in a special position in the human being. They have adapted themselves to the life of the blood and nerves. Higher forces from a higher world also stream down onto the astral body and the I during the night. When human beings take certain things with them from their daily lives, a process of separation takes place again. Once again, it is things of the soul life that bring about the process of separation. Let us imagine that two people have two different opinions. One tries to persuade the other and has a longing to convince him. This desire is very common among people today. People should present their opinions to others and wait to see whether forces are stirred in the other person that cause them to accept the opinion. There are so many fanatics of their own opinions who are not satisfied unless they are able to force their opinions on others. When this happens, it harms both astral bodies. They take persuasion and false advice with them. What is absorbed into the astral bodies causes beings called demons to detach themselves from the astral body at night.
[ 11 ] These demonic beings have a particularly unfavorable influence on our human development. They swarm through the spiritual realm and prevent people from developing their own personal views. Think how much sinning in this direction takes place in many a coffee shop or at the beer table! There, forces are constantly being drawn away for the formation of demons. These creep into the human soul. Ask yourself how much of this happens in this or that court case, how people testify! They are convinced that they are not swearing falsely, because they are convinced. An event was once arranged that went according to plan. Thirty people were supposed to describe it. Two described the event correctly; but all the other twenty-eight wrote things that did not happen. In this way, all kinds of influences come from demonic beings that are formed in this way. There is no other means for human beings than to recognize these facts, to know what they are doing in order to free themselves from the influences of these harmful spiritual beings. Wherever there is an opportunity for these beings to exert their devastating influences, they are there. In the courtroom, the occult observer can see this. The beings always work in the direction in which they came into being. Such beings, which have come into being through bad laws, work again in such a way that they lead people to bad laws.
[ 12 ] Human beings should look into the spiritual world so that they become practical and do not continually create obstacles. When we let our gaze wander over what has just occupied us, we must say to ourselves that during our waking life, human beings give rise to all kinds of spiritual beings, elemental beings. We must ask what significance these beings have in the future development of humanity. We look back to earlier times when our ancestors lived in the Atlantean world. If we were to go back far enough in the ancient Atlantean development, we would gradually find human beings in a completely different form. Let us think back to approximately the middle of the Atlantean epoch. We must imagine human beings at that time with the part of the etheric body that is now in our head protruding far beyond the physical head, as it is still perceptible to the clairvoyant in the horse. This is particularly noticeable in elephants. They have a large protuberance in front of and above their physical head. This was also the case with humans in ancient Atlantis. Progress in evolution consisted in these parts moving closer together, so that today the etheric head and the physical head almost coincide in humans.
[ 13 ] Humans used to have a dim clairvoyance. When humans immersed themselves in their physical bodies during the day, they did not see fixed boundaries, but saw objects surrounded by an aura. At night, they did not see these boundaries at all, but only the spiritual aspect of things. In the post-Atlantean era, we can distinguish five cultural epochs so far. In ancient India, in the first post-Atlantean era, human beings were such that the connection between the etheric head and the physical head was very slight. The fusion of the etheric head with the physical head became increasingly stronger. It has become strongest in our time, the fifth post-Atlantean culture, where people have descended into the physical, material world, where people have penetrated deepest into matter. In these many incarnations during the various epochs, human beings have learned many things up to the day of their present incarnation. Everything that happens in the world happens in a descending and ascending line. Just as the etheric head has become more and more connected with the physical head, so it is true that a loosening is gradually taking place. We have already reached the point where the etheric head is beginning to loosen again. We must distinguish here between racial evolution and soul evolution. In the future, there will be souls who have not done enough while the etheric head was united with the physical head. Today, as a result of the fusion of the etheric head with the physical head, many resist accepting spiritual truths. Those who accept spiritual truths now will, when they return later, have absorbed enough in this incarnation to find the connection. But those who now fail to do what must be done will not find bodies that suit them in the future. For racial evolution will create normal bodies that suit souls who have not missed anything. Others will be such that their loosened etheric body will be unable to absorb anything. These people will be a special breed of human beings who will fall out of the progressive development of humanity.
[ 14 ] It takes something to find one's way into a future body. Imagine a soul that will live in a body that has a loosened etheric body. The soul would no longer understand if one spoke to it about demons and so on. Today is the time when one can speak about these things. Once the etheric body is loosened again, one will not be able to do so. Now the etheric body is called to completely different perceptions. The etheric body will later live in the spiritual world. This world is populated by demons and so on. Then this world of spiritual beings will surround human beings, and if they are not prepared for this through the teachings about it, they will later be at a loss as to how to deal with these beings. But those who take the knowledge of these beings with them from this incarnation will understand how to behave towards them. These knowledgeable people are called upon in the future to transform these beings into servants of progressive development. Thus we see how people can fail in their task of further developing humanity and other beings.
[ 15 ] All these demons, ghosts, and phantoms are harmful today. But in the future, we will transform them into servants of human progress. To this end, however, humans must prepare themselves. Soul and racial development do not run parallel to each other.
[ 16 ] In the future, humans will divide into good and evil. As one part develops in the right way to transform the demons, ghosts, and phantoms in the future, they will push down another part. These will be the evil ones. What the human spirit creates has real meaning. This has always been the case in human development.
[ 17 ] Another example can be given of how humans are co-creating in the world today. Let us turn our gaze to the fourth cultural period, to the Greek temple. The idea of the temple first arose from the human soul. The idea of the temple rests on what we call the column and on what the column supports. Never again has humanity achieved such an ability to empathize with the space that is supported. Let us compare a Greek temple with a modern building. When the column becomes decorative, it is no longer the true column that it is when it stands freely and truly supports. Man must feel that the column must be made of the right material. If we paint an iron column that is thin and supports the same weight as a thicker stone column, it is deceiving us.
[ 18 ] A Greek temple is a Greek concept of space. People would understand this if they could imagine forces flowing from top to bottom and from right to left. We can imagine three angels painted, floating in the air, so that we know they are supporting each other. We find this sense of space in the paintings of the old masters. We no longer find it today, not even in Böcklin. In his Pietà, there is an angel who gives us the feeling that he is about to fall down at any moment.
[ 19 ] This is something that even the greatest genius can lack if spiritual culture is missing: a sense of space. Every time a person creates a real idea of space, it gives beings the opportunity to fill that space. We then summon higher beings down into the space. We summon down completely different beings with the Greek column and the horizontal beams resting on it, and completely different beings with the Gothic cathedral and its pointed arches. The Gothic cathedral differs from the Greek temple in the following way in spiritual terms. In the Greek temple, man has imbued the space with his concept of space in such a way that the temple is a crystallized concept of space. Because the temple is as it is, it is the dwelling place of a higher being, a god, even when it is deserted by humans. But humans belong to the Gothic cathedral. It must be complemented by the devotion of humans and the folded hands they raise. The Greek temple is a dwelling place of God. The Gothic cathedral is a place of worship and a dwelling place of God when humans are present. Even when abandoned, the Greek temple is the dwelling place of a spiritual being. Thus we see that by being in harmony with the spiritual world, people interact with the spiritual world. Thus we see in spirit how, through the deeds of human beings, more and more work can be done to bring higher beings down to earth.
[ 20 ] Once again, the idea of Pentecost comes before our soul. The idea of Pentecost expresses in a symbol what we can recognize through such contemplation: that through their work, human beings create places for spiritual beings to descend, that they work on the spiritualization of the world.
[ 21 ] We must understand the spiritual-scientific idea in such a way that it penetrates into all individual branches of life. In our materialistic age, outer life is only a poor expression of the inner life. In the past, every door lock, every key was an expression of something spiritual. Now everything is so meaningless in comparison. Human beings will learn to create again in such a way that the outer is a reflection of the inner. Then a train station will also arise as a thought, just as the Greek temple and the Gothic cathedral arose. Our time also has an architectural style that corresponds to our time. That is the department store. It is the imprint of the idea of utility, the imprint of human egoism. The age of utility has produced the department store as its only original product.
[ 22 ] In the past, people built their soul feelings into the architectural style. The department store is an expression of the feelings of the 19th century. But now there is already a spiritual movement that is paving the way for a later spiritualization. People who understand the anthroposophical movement in this way are realizing the idea of Pentecost. In the future, we will see the anthroposophical ideas crystallized in what will cover the earth.