Nature and Spirit Beings
Their Effects in Our Visible World
GA 98
11 February 1908, Stuttgart
VIII. The Influence of Other Worlds on the Earth II
Last Saturday, we’ve looked into remote worlds. Today, we would also like to immerse ourselves a little into spiritual worlds, yet in a slightly different way. When I call lectures, like the ones I am giving today and gave last week, suitable for those who have progressed, what I mean is not so much progress in intellectual comprehension. I refer to a different kind of understanding that we gain by immersing ourselves more and more into the spiritual worlds, and developing habitual feelings and emotions that will enable us to believe that things, like those we shall talk about today, exist in the world around us.
The occupation with Theosophy brings the human being to a point where he will gain a feeling for the spiritual world. Spiritual worlds and spiritual facts are around us, as was often emphasized. By following our path through the world, we are not only walking through physical air, but we are constantly also walking through spiritual beings and facts. The first things that someone ascends to in whom the gift of clairvoyance slowly dawns, are those spiritual worlds that are somehow connected to tangible things—to what a human being is able to perceive with his ordinary senses. Everything that the senses perceive is related to the spiritual worlds. We know that underlying our whole animal world, as it physically exists, is an array of animal group-souls. These live on the astral plane, and one who obtains clairvoyance on the astral plane, will meet these group-souls there as self-contained personalities, just like the human being here on the physical plane meets physical personalities. They really are distinct personalities. Simply said, one can meet group-souls on the astral plane, just like people here. However, in some ways, those group-souls are different from human beings. As strange as it may sound, they are wiser than human beings; their deeds are the wise arrangements of animal burrows and also include everything related to the necessities of animal life.
A further type of being the clairvoyant meets on the Devachan plane is connected to plants. The plant-Egos are on the Devachan plane. And in the higher areas of Devachan, that we call Arupa,1The Arupa mental plane: the upper or higher spiritual world. are the group-Egos of the minerals. For all these entities there are connections, as it were, on the physical plane. The astral and Devachan plane are all around us, as are all the group-Egos, who have tangible revelations and manifestations in the physical world also.
Someone who, as a seer, gets to know these worlds—the Devachan and the Arupa—also gets to know other quite different entities whose physicality is not so openly expressed in the physical world, but they also intervene in fate in a certain way, even if not as tangibly as the others. On the astral plane we find very strange-seeming beings. They reveal themselves initially only through their influences—we only perceive their effects. Many such beings are teeming around where, for example, somnambulism occurs in mediumistic personalities, in all states of diminished consciousness, and especially during quite ordinary full-moon nights. But we only perceive their effects. It is a strange feeling to observe such beings clairvoyantly. To use a rough comparison, it seems as if they would stretch out their hands from far away to here, as if you were in Cannstatt2Bad Cannstatt - nowadays a municipal district of Stuttgart. and had such long hands that you could work with them in Stuttgart. Then you would see those hands here in Stuttgart. You would see the effect of their work, but if you wanted to see the people themselves, you would have to go to Cannstatt.
Of course, no such physical beings exist, but there are astral beings like that. We discover their effects here on Earth. But if we wish to get to know them as self-contained personalities, then we have to visit them in their proper home which is the Moon. There on the Moon, these beings even possess a corporeality, albeit such a very fine one that would not be visible even under a microscope. They do not become very tall, but they are well known to the clairvoyant. They will not get taller than, say, a 7-year-old child. A peculiarity of them is that they possess a terribly roaring voice. Their roars are not individual ones, but an expression of the climatic conditions on the Moon. Depending on whether it is a full Moon or a new Moon, the Moon-beings either roar or keep silent as they extend their activities into the Earth. As said, it is precisely the human being who is dependent on these beings. Especially for human life, these beings are of great importance. One learns to know their effects by practising a little of what is called occult anatomy.3Refer to An Occult Physiology, (Prague) 1911, GA 128. We have often looked at the human being—today we want to examine him by probing into his juices.
There are three juices that we wish to focus on today. The first one is the chyle, or nutritive juice. Food gets from the stomach into the digestive tract and then is absorbed through the intestinal walls by the human organism.
A second juice flows through the lymphatic vessels, that criss-cross the whole body. This juice has a similarity to the white blood corpuscles in the blood. In a way, the lymphatic vessels accompany the blood vessels; they are partly destined to pick up the chyme and lead it to where it can enter into the blood. The protein substances and fats are prepared in the lymph vessels for passing into the blood. Substances that are being absorbed directly by the blood do not pass through the lymph vessels first. Therefore we have a transitional juice, in between the chyle and the blood, flowing through our body.
The third juice is the blood itself, which streams through the blood vessels and is consistently renewed by the breathing process, by provision of oxygen, and so on. These juices represent three states of liquids that a human being contains. Chyle is sort of the rawest liquid, the lymph is finer, and the blood is the most refined human liquid.
Now you are aware that the blood is the outer material expression of the Ego, that the Ego, so to speak, lives and pulsates in the blood. When the blood runs through the body, it is not only the material matter, but also the Ego that runs through all parts of the body. Of the three juices, the blood is the only one that is so intimately connected with one’s own spiritual nature. Man is most likely to become master of his blood. Today, only very few are so far advanced that their Ego has become master of their blood, but man will gain more and more influence over it.
The Ego has less influence over the lymph. Spirit also pulsates through the lymph. Precisely with the lymph, you have a juice in which the beings, described earlier as Moon-beings, exert their influences. The lymph is pulsating up and down within you, and within it the effect of the Moon-beings is pulsating within your body. There you can see what you have locked in your body.
Another type of being, that also exerts an influence on the lymph, has its home on Mars. The Mars beings, as they can be perceived by clairvoyance, are very peculiar beings as well. They have a certain type of speech, very soft speech, that easily and supplely expresses what these beings wish to express. When you come across such Martian beings, they appear to have an expression of their inner being, of their soul, on their face. A malicious Mars being will have a mean facial expression. But when the Mars being is a good one, it will carry the expression of that goodness as beauty on its face. Their soul being is visible at the surface of their corporeality.
These are beings a clairvoyant meets when advancing to Moon and Mars. He will learn to know their deeds by way of assessing the composition of the lymph and by gauging whether the speed of its flow is faster or slower. This is because underneath each soul experience, the lymph has a different kind of its own nature. This temperament, or character, is associated with the composition of the lymph. Only someone who gets acquainted with these Mars- and Moon-beings will be able to realise, through the spiritual foundation of the lymph, what really is happening within a human being.
In the same region where the group-souls of plants reside, in Devachan, other beings are found by the clairvoyant, beings that also exert influence on the Earth and on whom the fate of mankind depends. Their real home is on Venus, where they can be found in the Devachan area. Their effects and deeds are expressed by deeply affecting the chyle. Whether you eat one thing or another determines whether good or bad entities from Venus will gain influence on you. There are beings that are good, gentle and mild who have developed to a high degree a religiousness like that which appears in Christianity here on Earth. But there are also beings of bad character, predatory beings who destroy everything. Between those two radical extremes, beings at all possible stages are present on Venus, expressing their activities in the human digestive juice.
Now you can imagine how another heavenly body and its beings play into the human body and into the whole human existence. Remember how humanity is distributed all over the Earth. People live in a region where certain foods are grown, elsewhere completely different foods are grown. Depending on what food a person consumes, certain beings will assert themselves in that person. This is the reason for the diversity of human character. A clairvoyant sees quite different influences from these beings in people who eat different things than others do. Now you can comprehend why, from a spiritual viewpoint that pays attention to human nature, value is placed on eating certain foods. Any recommendation made by occultists, in regard to food products, has been researched in relation to those beings. That which occultism is able to offer in regard to practical life depends upon such complicated issues.
There are further beings that also exert their strange effects on our Earth, however, they are not as hands-on as the group-souls. These are entities that the clairvoyant sees when ascending to the Saturn existence. Their workings can be found in the higher Devachan and have a deeply intervening influence on human beings. With this we enter a chapter where we are no longer concerned with the juices, but with much more subtle things. To a clairvoyant investigating them, those beings will appear to be very strange in themselves, because they are endowed with a magnificent power of invention. They really are in every moment of their lives, inventors. However, they do not need to think about their inventions. They look, and by looking at things the thoughts appear to them that things should be different, and they immediately remodel them. Thus, they are beings that are engaged in continuous revolutionary activity. Everything they see will be changed by them at once in the most inspired way. Their sensory perception and spiritual invention are instantaneous. They do not want to have anything to do with thinking, logic, and such things. They are reformers and revolutionaries as far as the sense-impression is concerned, where they change everything immediately.
These beings also exert their influence on our Earth. They creep into our inner being through our sensory perceptions. The spiritual effects of those Saturn entities creep into a human being with everything he perceives through his senses—with colour, sound, smell, taste, and feelings of warmth. They walk through the world and exert their influence in abundance on whatever you perceive with your senses. How dry and sober, indeed, how ridiculous seems what an ordinary anatomist examines materialistically! Because with a flash of lightning, the effects of those beings are penetrating the eye. It is not unimportant to know such things for practical life. Actually, a person who doesn’t know this, doesn’t know the most important thing about life. The worst—and under certain circumstances also the best because they are the strongest—are the influences of the Saturn beings in so far as they make themselves known through the sense of smell.
Through the smells, their influences are continuously penetrating us. There are smells through which downright infernal effects of these beings penetrate into us. If a human being knows such things, he gains an understanding of what he is doing to his fellow human beings when he forces them to breathe in all sorts of horrible perfumes. For example, through Patchouli, he gives the saturnalian spirits of the worst kind access to humans. Influencing his fellow beings through smells belongs to the worst kinds of black magic.
I could tell you about long periods of history where intrigues were played at certain Courts by people, knowledgeable about the effects, who used scents for the purposes of gaining influence and power. For long periods of time, intriguers existed who more or less consciously ruled in this way. Such magic tools have often played an important role in history. An example from more recent history might be of interest: A Minister at a small European Court wrote his memoirs about his time there.4Presented in more detail in The Influence of Spiritual Beings upon Man, GA 102, Lecture 1. He did not know anything about all these things, but in his naive way, he tells very nicely how such things played out at a certain small Court, at which at the time a sensational catastrophe had happened. There was a female personality, who understood all the arts of influencing people through scents. When the minister appeared before the Queen5Draga Maschin, Queen of Serbia, was killed together with her husband, Alexander I, in 1903. in question, all sorts of perfumes would waft towards him, and so he knew he had to leave because she understood something about the use of scents. Through this experience, he realised that a game was being played. He didn’t know about occultism. Whoever reads such chapters as an occultist looks deeply into this and sees how human beings are influenced.
You may now want to think a bit about how occultism is related to true knowledge of reality. People will have to shine a light more and more often from an occult perspective onto the immediate human life. It would be bad for humanity if such a pseudoscience continued to be practised, which attempts to find the truth by way of cutting and slicing. Only the most distorted truth can be found through anatomy. Precisely such knowledge will never be of practical value and, unless it is arrested by spiritual insights, will bring disaster to mankind. Currently, we are standing in a high tide of materialism. In legislation, it sneaks in everywhere and has enormous effects. Church and religion are intolerant like never before. How intolerant is the materialistic medicine today! They are not going to burn their opponents, but they will do something different. They want to save themselves from the bad reputation that burning would bring. Therefore, they make sure that people are unable to do things for which they would have been burned in the past. Today, the adversaries are not even able to sin. Burning was certainly something terrible, but before that at least people were able to do what they were burned for!
People don’t understand this because they do not have the attention span to follow one train of thought to the next. It is important for people to once again obtain healthy thinking through spiritual knowledge. Here is another example: I told you that fat and proteins go through the lymph vessels and that sugar goes directly into the blood. The ego, as it lives in our time, is the carrier of the pure power of deduction, of egoism, because in our European culture it focuses primarily solely on utility. Whoever can observe life will be able to derive from this the large role that sugar plays in the life of a human being. Precisely where egoism is most active, namely in its sophisticated forms—where it appears as scientific criticism that occurs purely rationally—you will also see, everywhere, in a mysterious relationship, diabetes! But you should not think that the individual who gets diabetes should be looked at from this perspective. The individual doesn’t really live as an individual. And you should understand that you cannot simply help an individual. Imagine a person who lives in a marshy area; he can only become healthy once he leaves the marshy area. One must take into account that the human being lives within his environment.
This is why, above all, we must realise that we have to become selfless because Theosophy is there for all humanity. It is very important to understand this thoroughly. Only when more and more people decide to devote their efforts to the whole of humanity, will there be an atmosphere in which the individual will be set free. If an individual innocently becomes diabetic, this is not an instance of the general knowledge that has been correctly presented by Theosophy. Diabetes is connected with the increased prevalence of egoism.
You can cast a probing glance across two different regions of Europe. Look towards Russia and the farmers, where the Ego-feeling exists only in germinal form—and look to England, where a strong Ego-feeling holds sway. This is not meant to be a criticism. It is only meant to establish facts. And now have a look at the sugar consumption; how much more sugar is consumed in England than in Russia. Now, one or another can say, “So, what should we do? Do we have to recommend to someone to eat less sugar, because it is the right thing to do, and so that he becomes selfless?” The truth is not that convenient. Man would like it best to have firm rules for every situation—a kind of fixed marching route. There are people who, due to their psychic and spiritual constitution, tend to lose themselves easily in a pious form of devotion. This is something good. It helps them reach the highest bliss of knowledge. But this must have a counter pole—such people need to eat a lot of sugar. So that they stand firm on Earth, one has to give them lots of sugar. In contrast, there are others who are always out to assert themselves; they are the opposite of a devotional nature. To those, one could recommend to practise asceticism when it comes to sugar consumption. Thus we can see that we have to gain from Theosophy the ability to take all sides into consideration, and not rashly judge something based on an abstraction.
From today’s explanations, once again you have learned about other kinds of beings who are intimately connected with our lives. You may feel a bit timid about all these worlds we have discussed today. Perhaps you think it would be better not to know anything about them. But consider how not knowing would be like the ostrich hiding his head in the sand, because these things exist! And because you will never be able to free yourself by closing your eyes, but only through getting to know things. If you arrange your life in such a way that, starting from the I, you gain more and more control of your bodies, then you will drive all these beings out of your lives. Realisation and truth are the means to becoming free, and it is true, what is stated in a religious scripture: “You will realise the truth6The Gospel of John, 8:32. and the truth will set you free.”
Einflüsse as Anderen Welten auf die Erde
[ 1 ] Am letzten Samstag haben wir einen Blick getan in entlegene Welten. Auch heute wird es uns obliegen, ein Ähnliches zu vollführen in einer etwas anderen Art, auch heute wollen wir uns ein wenig hineinvertiefen in geistige Welten. Wenn ich solche Vorträge, wie den heutigen und den. vom Samstag als «für die Vorgerückten bestimmt» bezeichne, meine ich weniger das, was man intellektuelles Verständnis nennt. Ich meine ein anderes Verständnis, das uns kommt, wenn wir uns mehr und mehr hineinleben in die geistigen Welten, wenn wir uns sozusagen Empfindungen und Gefühle angewöhnen, die es uns möglich machen, zu glauben, daß es wirklich in der Welt unmittelbar um uns so etwas gibt, wie das, was heute behandelt wird.
[ 2 ] Die Beschäftigung mit der Theosophie bringt den Menschen dahin, eine Empfindung für geistige Welten zu bekommen. Geistige Welten, geistige Tatsachen sind um uns herum, das haben wir schon oft betont. Indem wir unseren Weg in der Welt gehen, durchqueren wir nicht nur die materielle Luft, sondern wir gehen fortwährend durch geistige Wesen und Tatsachen hindurch. Das erste, wozu sich der Mensch erhebt, wenn die Sehergabe in ihm aufdämmert, sind diejenigen geistigen Welten, welche irgendwie angeknüpft sind an das, was der Mensch mit den gewöhnlichen physischen Sinnen hier wahrnimmt, was also gewissermaßen an Handgreifliches anknüpft; alles, was die Sinne wahrnehmen, steht ja in Beziehung zu geistigen Welten. Wir wissen, daß unsere gesamte Tierwelt, wie sie äußerlich sich erweist, zugrunde liegen hat eine Summe von tierischen Gruppenseelen. Diese leben auf dem astralischen Plan, und derjenige, der sich die Sehergabe des astralischen Planes erwirbt, begegnet ihnen hier ebenso als abgeschlossenen Persönlichkeiten, wie der Mensch hier auf dem physischen Plan physischen Persönlichkeiten begegnet. Es sind wirklich begrenzte Persönlichkeiten. Und wenn man sich trivial ausdrücken will, kann man sagen, daß man auf dem astralischen Plan die Bekanntschaft der Gruppenseelen machen kann, wie hier die der Menschen. Allerdings unterscheiden sich in gewisser Beziehung diese Gruppenseelen von den Menschen hier. Sie sind, so sonderbar das klingen mag, weiser als die Menschen; ihre Taten sind die weisen Einrichtungen des tierischen Baues, aber auch alles dessen, was in der Zweckmäßigkeit der tierischen Lebensart liegt.
[ 3 ] Eine zweite Art von Lebewesen lernt der Seher des Devachanplanes kennen, die an die Pflanzen anknüpfen. Die Pflanzen-Iche sind auf dem Devachanplan. Und in dem höheren Gebiete dieses Devachanplanes, das wir Arupa nennen, sind die Gruppen-Iche der Mineralien. Für alle diese Wesenheiten gibt es sozusagen Anknüpfungen auf dem physischen Plan. Um uns herum ist auch der Astral- und der Devachanplan, und um uns herum sind alle diese Gruppen-Iche. Sie haben also, man könnte sagen, handgreifliche Offenbarungen, Ausgestaltungen in der physischen Welt.
[ 4 ] Wer aber einmal als Seher alle diese Welten kennenlernt, den Devachanplan, den Arupaplan, der lernt nicht nur diese Wesenheiten kennen, sondern ganz andere noch, die nicht in so offenbarer Art ihren physischen Ausdruck in der physischen Welt finden, die auch in einer gewissen Weise in das Schicksal hineingreifen, aber nicht so handgreiflich, wie es bei den anderen der Fall ist. Solche Wesenheiten ganz merkwürdiger Art finden wir auf dem astralischen Plan. Diese Wesenheiten verraten sich zunächst durch ihre Wirkungen, also nur dadurch, daß wir ihre Wirkungen erleben. Da zum Beispiel, wo der Somnambulismus auftritt, bei medialen Personen, bei allen Zuständen des herabgedämpften Bewußtseins, und namentlich auch ganz gewöhnlich in mondhellen Vollmondnächten, da wimmelt es um uns herum von solchen Wesen; aber wir nehmen nur ihre Wirkungen wahr. Es geht uns sonderbar, wenn wir hellseherisch diese Wesenheiten betrachten. Es ist, als ob sie von weit her ihre Hände hereinstrekken würden, so - um einen groben Vergleich zu wählen -, als ob Sie in Cannstatt wären und so lange Hände hätten, daß Sie damit in Stuttgart arbeiten könnten. Dann würden Sie hier in Stuttgart diese Hände sehen, die Wirkung der Arbeit; aber um die Menschen selbst zu sehen, müßten Sie nach Cannstatt gehen.
[ 5 ] Physische Wesen solcher Art gibt es natürlich nicht, wohl aber astralische. Ihre Wirkungen entdecken wir auf der Erde; wenn wir sie aber selbst als abgeschlossene Persönlichkeiten kennenlernen wollen, dann müssen wir sie in ihrer eigentlichen Heimat aufsuchen, und das ist der Mond. Diese Wesenheiten haben dort sogar eine, allerdings sehr feine Körperlichkeit. Mit dem Mikroskop wären sie nicht wahrzunehmen. Sie werden nicht sehr groß, dem Hellseher aber sind sie wohl bekannt. Sie werden nicht größer als etwa ein siebenjähriges Kind und das Eigentümliche dieser Wesenheiten ist, daß sie eine furchtbar brüllende Stimme haben, und ihr Brüllen ist nicht ein individuelles Gebrülle, sondern der Ausdruck der klimatischen Verhältnisse auf dem Monde. Je nachdem Vollmond oder Neumond ist, brüllen oder schweigen diese Mondwesen, und ihr Wirken erstrecken sie auf die Erde herein. Wie gesagt, gerade der Mensch ist abhängig von diesen Wesenheiten, gerade für das menschliche Leben haben diese Wesenheiten eine große Bedeutung. Und man lernt diese Wirkungen kennen, wenn man ein wenig treibt, was man okkulte Anatomie nennt. Wir haben uns ja schon oft den Menschen angeschaut, heute wollen wir ihn einmal hinsichtlich seiner Säfte prüfen.
[ 6 ] Dreierlei Säfte gibt es, die wir heute ins Auge fassen wollen. Zuerst denjenigen, den man den Chylus-, den Speisesaft nennt. Die Speise kommt ja vom Magen in die Gedärme und wird durch die Darmwände hindurch vom menschlichen Organismus aufgenommen. Eine zweite Flüssigkeit ist diejenige, die in den Lymphgefäßen fließt, die ja den ganzen Körper durchziehen. Diese Flüssigkeit hat Ähnlichkeit mit den weißen Blutkörperchen im Blut. Die Lymphgefäße begleiten in einer gewissen Weise die Blutgefäße; sie sind zum Teil dazu bestimmt, gerade den Speisebrei aufzunehmen und ihn weiterzuführen, bis er in das Blut eintreten kann. Namentlich sind es die Eiweißsubstanzen und Fette, die in den Lymphgefäßen vorbereitet werden, um in das Blut übergeführt zu werden. Direkt in das Blut aufgenommen werden ja nur Zucker und zuckerbildende Substanzen; die gehen nicht erst durch die Lymphgefäße hindurch. So daß wir also durch den Körper fließen haben einen Saft, der eine Art von Übergangssaft ist zwischen dem Chylus und dem Blute. Ein dritter Saft ist eben dieses Blut selbst, das in den Blutgefäßen strömt und durch den Atmungsprozeß, durch Zufuhr von Sauerstoff und so weiter stets erneuert wird. So haben wir in den drei Säften drei Stufen der Flüssigkeit, die der Mensch enthält. Chylus ist gewissermaßen der roheste, feiner ist schon die Lymphe und der feinste der menschlichen Säfte ist das Blut.
[ 7 ] Nun wissen Sie, daß das Blut der äußere materielle Ausdruck ist des Ich, daß das Ich sozusagen lebt und pulsiert im Blute. Wenn das Blut durch den Körper rinnt, ist es nicht nur die Materie, sondern auch das Ich, das durch alle Teile des Körpers hindurchrinnt. Aber das Blut ist von den drei Säften der einzige, der so intim mit der eigenen geistigen Wesenheit zusammenhängt. Am ehesten wird der Mensch Herr über sein Blut werden. Zwar sind heute die wenigsten schon so weit, daß ihr Ich Herr über ihr Blut ist, aber immer mehr wird der Mensch Einfluß darauf gewinnen.
[ 8 ] Weniger Finfluß hat das Ich auf die Lymphe. Auch durch die Lymphe pulsiert Geistiges. Gerade in der Lymphe haben Sie einen Saft, in dem die Wesenheiten ihre Wirkung ausüben, die Ihnen vorhin als Mondwesenheiten geschildert worden sind. Auf und ab pulsiert diese Lymphe in Ihnen, und in ihr pulsiert die Wirkung dieser Mondwesenheiten in Ihrem Leibe. Da können Sie sehen, was Sie in Ihrem Leibe eingeschlossen haben! Eine andere Art von Wesenheiten, die ebenfalls Einfluß auf die Lymphe haben, sind solche, die ihre eigentliche Heimat auf dem Mars haben. Diese Marswesenheiten, die der hellseherischen Beobachtung zugänglich werden, sind wiederum ganz merkwürdige Geschöpfe. Sie haben eine gewisse Art von Sprache, ein sanftes Sprechen, das leicht und schmiegsam ausdrückt, was diese Wesenheiten ausdrücken wollen. Wenn Sie solchen Marswesenheiten begegnen, erscheinen sie Ihnen so, daß sie in ihrem Antlitz den Ausdruck ihres inneren Wesens, ihrer Seele tragen. Ein bösartiges Wesen hat einen bösartigen Ausdruck im Gesicht, wenn die Marswesenheit gut ist, dann trägt sie die Güte als Schönheit des Antlitzes; ihr Seelenwesen ist an der Oberfläche ihrer Körperlichkeit.
[ 9 ] Das sind Wesenheiten, denen der Hellseher begegnet, wenn er bis zum Monde und Mars dringt. Ihre Taten lernt er kennen in der Zusammensetzung der Lymphe und daraus, ob sie schneller oder langsamer dahinfließt. Denn unter jedem Seelenerlebnis hat diese Lymphe eine andere Art ihres Wesens. Das Temperament, der Charakter hängt zusammen mit der Beschaffenheit dieser Lymphe. Und nur derjenige kann erkennen, was wirklich geschieht im Menschen in der geistigen Unterlage der Lymphe, der Bekanntschaft schließt mit diesen Wesenheiten des Mars und des Mondes.
[ 10 ] Andere Wesenheiten findet der Hellseher in derselben Region, in der die Gruppenseelen der Pflanzen sind — also im Devachan -, Wesenheiten, die ihre Wirkung auch auf Erden äußern und von denen das Schicksal der Menschen abhängt. Ihre eigentliche Heimat ist auf der Venus, da findet man sie in der devachanischen Region. Ihre Wirkungen und ihre Handlungen drücken sich aus in einer tiefgreifenden Wirkung auf den Chylussaft. Ob Sie das eine oder das andere essen, davon hängt es ab, ob gute oder böse Wesenheiten der Venus Einfluß auf Sie gewinnen. Es gibt Wesenheiten, die gut, sanft und milde sind, die in hohem Maße schon eine Religiosität in sich ausgebildet haben, wie sie hier auf Erden im Christentume zur Erscheinung kommt. Es gibt aber auch Wesenheiten von schlechtem Charakter - raubgierige Wesenheiten -, welche alles zerstören, und zwischen diesen zwei radikalen Extremen sind alle möglichen Stufen auf der Venus vertreten; sie äußern ihr Wirken in dem menschlichen Verdauungssaft.
[ 11 ] Und jetzt machen Sie sich ein Bild, wie da hereinspielt ein anderer Himmelskörper mit seinen Wesenheiten in den menschlichen Leib, in das ganze menschliche Sein. Denken Sie sich, wie das Menschengeschlecht verteilt ist auf Erden. In einem Landstriche leben Menschen mit einer bestimmten Nahrung, in einem anderen wächst ganz andere Nahrung. Je nachdem, was der Mensch in sich als Nahrung aufnimmt, machen sich in ihm ganz bestimmte Wesenheiten geltend. Das macht die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Charakters aus. In dem Menschen, der etwas anderes ißt als ein anderer Mensch, sieht der Hellseher ganz andere Einflüsse von jenen Wesenheiten, und jetzt begreifen Sie, warum überall da, wo man von dem geistigen Gesichtspunkt aus auf das Wesen des Menschen eingeht, Wert gelegt wird auf das, was der Mensch ißt. Dasjenige, was der Okkultismus anregt in bezug auf die Nahrungsmittel, ist mit Rücksicht auf diese Wesenheiten erforscht. Von so komplizierten Dingen ist dasjenige abhängig, was uns der Okkultismus in bezug auf das praktische Leben bieten kann.
[ 12 ] Es gibt noch andere Wesenheiten, die auch ihre merkwürdigen Wirkungen auf unsere Erde haben - wiederum nicht so handgreiflich, wie die Gruppenseelen —, Wesenheiten, die der Hellseher wahrnimmt, wenn er sich bis zum Saturndasein erhebt. Ihre Wirkungen sind in der höheren devachanischen Welt zu finden und von tief eingreifendem Einfluß auf den Menschen. Damit kommen wir auf ein Kapitel, wo wir es nicht mehr mit den Säften, sondern mit viel feineren Dingen zu tun haben. Wenn der Hellseher diese Wesenheiten prüft, dann erscheinen sie ihm ganz merkwürdig an sich selbst. Sie sind nämlich mit einer grandiosen Kraft der Erfindung begabt, eigentlich sind sie in jedem Augenblick ihres Lebens Erfinder. Aber sie brauchen nicht nachzudenken über ihre Erfindungen. Sie sehen, und indem sie die Sachen sehen, kommt ihnen der Gedanke, das solle anders sein, und sie formen sie gleich um. So sind sie Wesenheiten, die eigentlich in fortwährender revolutionären Tätigkeit begriffen sind. Alles was sie sehen, ändern sie gleich um in der geistvollsten Weise; unmittelbar ist die sinnliche Wahrnehmung und unmittelbar die geistige Erfindung. Mit Nachdenken, mit Logik und dergleichen wollen sie nichts zu tun haben, aber unmittelbar im Sinneseindruck ändern sie alles um, da sind sie Reformatoren, Revolutionäre.
[ 13 ] Diese Wesenheiten äußern auch ihren Einfluß auf unsere Erde. Sie schleichen sich ein mit unseren Sinneswahrnehmungen in unser Inneres. Mit Farbe, mit Ton, mit Geruch, Geschmack, mit Wärmeempfindung, mit allem, was der Mensch durch seine Sinne wahrnimmt, schleichen sich die geistigen Wirkungen dieser Saturnwesenheiten in ihn ein. Sie gehen durch die Welt und auf das, was Sie in Ihrer Sinnesempfindung erleben, haben diese Wesenheiten in Hülle und Fülle ihren Einfluß. Wie trocken und nüchtern, ja wie lächerlich erscheint das, was der gewöhnliche Anatom materialistisch untersucht! Denn mit dem Blitzstrahl, der ins Auge dringt, dringen Wirkungen solcher Wesenheiten ein. Es ist nicht unwichtig, so etwas zu wissen für das praktische Leben. Eigentlich weiß der Mensch, der das nicht weiß, vom Leben das Allerwichtigste nicht. Am schlimmsten, unter Umständen auch am besten, weil am stärksten, sind die Einflüsse der saturnischen Wesenheiten, insofern sie sich durch den Geruchssinn geltend machen. Mit den Gerüchen ziehen wir fortwährend ihre Wirkungen in uns ein: es gibt Gerüche, in denen geradezu infernalische Wirkungen dieser Wesenheiten in uns einziehen. Wenn der Mensch so etwas weiß, bekommt er einen Begriff davon, was er seinen Nebenmenschen antut, wenn er ihn zwingt, alle möglichen scheußlichen Parfüme einzuatmen. Durch Patschuli zum Beispiel gibt er den Saturngeistern schlimmster Art Zugang zum Menschen, und es gehört zu den schlimmsten Arten schwarzer Magie, aut die Mitmenschen durch Gerüche einzuwirken.
[ 14 ] Ich könnte Ihnen lange Epochen der Geschichte erzählen, wo Intrigen an gewissen Höfen dadurch ausgeführt wurden, daß Kenner dieser Wirkungen die Gerüche dazu verwendet haben, Einfluß und Macht zu gewinnen. Lange Zeit hat es Intriganten gegeben, die mehr oder weniger bewußt durch diese Art und Weise geherrscht haben. Solche magische Mittel haben in der Geschichte oft eine wichtige Rolle gespielt. Interessant dürfte ein Beispiel aus der neuesten Geschichte sein: Ein Minister an einem kleinen europäischen Hofe hat ein memoirenhaftes Buch geschrieben über seine Ministerzeit. Er hat von all diesen Dingen nichts gewußt, aber in seiner naiven Art erzählt er sehr schön, wie solche Dinge gespielt haben an dem betreffenden kleinen Hof, an dem sich damals eine aufsehenerregende Katastrophe vollzogen hat. Da war eine weibliche Persönlichkeit, die verstand alle die Künste, durch Gerüche auf die Menschen zu wirken. Und wenn der Minister bei der betreffenden Königin erschien, dann kamen ihm alle möglichen Parfums entgegen, und er wußte, er mußte weggehen, denn die versteht etwas von den Gerüchen. Durch diese Erfahrung wurde ihm klar, daß da etwas spielte. Vom Okkultismus wußte er nichts. Wer als Okkultist solche Kapitel liest, sieht da tief hinein, wie Wirkungen auf Menschen ausgeübt werden.
[ 15 ] Und nun nehmen Sie von hier aus doch ein wenig den Gedanken auf, wie der Okkultismus zusammenhängt mit der wahren Erkenntnis der Wirklichkeit. Die Menschen werden immer mehr hineinleuchten müssen in das unmittelbare Menschenleben vom okkultistischen Gesichtspunkt aus. Es wäre schlimm für die Menschheit, wenn man noch lange weiter eine solche Pseudowissenschaft betreiben würde, in der man durch Tranchieren die Wahrheit finden will. Es ist die verfälschteste Wahrheit, die man durch Anatomie finden kann. Praktisch verwertbar werden gerade diese Erkenntnisse nie sein, und sie werden Unheil über die Menschheit bringen, wenn sie nicht durch spirituelle Erkenntnisse paralysiert werden. Und wir stehen ja gerade in einer Hochflut des Materialismus; in der Gesetzgebung, überall schleicht er sich ein und wirkt in ungeheurer Weise. Kirche und Religion sind in einer Art unduldsam, wie sie es früher nie waren. Wie unduldsam ist heute die materialistische Medizin! Verbrennen werden sie ja den Gegner nicht, aber sie tun etwas anderes. Sie möchten sich den schlechten Ruf ersparen, den das Verbrennen hat. Sie sorgen deshalb dafür, daß der Mensch gar nicht das tun kann, wofür er früher verbrannt wurde. Heute kommen die Gegner gar nicht dazu zu sündigen. Das Verbrennen war gewiß etwas Schlimmes, aber vorher konnten sie doch das tun, wofür sie nachher verbrannt wurden!
[ 16 ] Der Mensch sieht das nicht ein, weil er nicht so lange Gedanken hat, daß er von einem zum andern die Gedankenfäden hinüberzieht. Aber es ist wichtig, daß der Mensch durch die spirituelle Erkenntnis wieder ein gesundes Denken erwirbt. Nehmen Sie noch ein Beispiel: Ich habe Ihnen gesagt, daß Fette, Eiweißstoffe durch die Lymphgefäße gehen und Zucker direkt in das Blut geht. Das Ich, wie es in unserer Zeit sich auslebt, ist der Träger der reinen Kombinationskraft, des Egoismus, da es zunächst in unserer europäischen Kultur nur auf den Nutzen ausgeht. Wer das Leben beobachten kann, wird daraus entnehmen können die große Rolle, die der Zucker im Leben des Menschen spielt. Gerade dort, wo der Egoismus am meisten waltet, namentlich in seinen raffinierten Formen, da, wo er auftritt als wissenschaftliche Kritik, wo diese rein verstandesmäßig auftritt, da sehen Sie auch überall im geheimnisvollen Zusammenhange die Zuckerkrankheit! Dabei dürfen Sie aber nicht denken, daß der Einzelne, der davon befallen wird, unter diesem Gesichtspunkte betrachtet werden soll. Der Einzelne lebt eben nicht als Einzelner. Und Sie müssen sich auch die Erkenntnis aneignen, daß man dem Einzelnen nicht so einfach helfen kann. Denken Sie sich einmal einen Menschen, der in einer Sumpfgegend lebt: er kann erst gesund werden, wenn er diese Sumpfgegend verläßt. Man muß berücksichtigen, daß der Mensch in seiner Umgebung lebt.
[ 17 ] Und deshalb handelt es sich vor allen Dingen darum einzusehen, daß wir uns selbstlos machen müssen, denn die Theosophie ist für die Gesamtheit da. Das ist sehr wichtig, daß man das durchgreifend versteht. Erst wenn die Menschen sich mehr und mehr entschließen werden, ihr Streben der ganzen Menschheit zu widmen, erst dann wird eine Atmosphäre sein, in der der Einzelne befreit sein wird. Wenn der Einzelne unschuldig zu dieser Zuckerkrankheit kommt, so ist das kein Indiz für die allgemeine Erkenntnis, die richtig in der Theosophie angegeben ist. Die Zuckerkrankheit hängt zusammen mit dem Überhandnehmen des Egoismus.
[ 18 ] Sie können den prüfenden Blick schweifen lassen über zwei recht verschiedene Ländergebiete Europas. Schauen Sie nach Rußland zu den Bauern, wo das Ich-Gefühl erst im Keim vorhanden ist, und nach England, wo das starke Ich-Gefühl herrscht. Keine Kritik soll das sein, nur ein Konstatieren. Und nun sehen Sie nach dem Konsum des Zuckers; wieviel mehr in England als in Rußland Zucker konsumiert wird. Nun kann der eine oder andere sagen: Also, was sollen wir tun? Müssen wir, weil das richtig ist, einem Menschen anempfehlen, wenig Zucker zu essen, damit er selbstlos werde? - So bequem liegt die Wahrheit nicht. Die Menschen möchten am liebsten feste Regeln, die für alle Verhältnisse passen; eine Art gebundene Marschroute. Es gibt Menschen, die neigen durch ihre seelische und geistige Konstitution dazu, sich selbst leicht zu verlieren in eine fromme Form der Hingebung. Das ist etwas Gutes, das hilft ihnen zu den höchsten Seligkeiten der Erkenntnis. Aber das muß einen Gegenpol haben: solche müssen viel Zucker essen. Damit sie auf der Erde auch fest stehen, muß man ihnen viel Zucker geben. Andere dagegen sind überall darauf aus, ihr Selbst geltend zu machen, sie sind das Gegenteil von einer devotionellen Natur. Denen kann man Askese im Zuckergenuß anraten. So sehen wir, daß wir aus der Theosophie heraus uns die Fähigkeit aneignen müssen, allseitig zu werden, nicht aus der Abstraktion heraus rasch mit dem Urteil bereit zu sein.
[ 19 ] So haben Sie aus den heutigen Ausführungen wieder andere Arten von Wesenheiten kennengelernt, die innig mit unserem Leben verknüpft sind. Wenn Sie zum Teil eine gewisse Scheu haben sollten vor all den Welten, von denen Sie hier gehört haben, wenn Sie vielleicht denken, es wäre doch besser, von all dem nichts zu wissen, so bedenken Sie, daß das dasselbe ist, als wenn der Vogel Strauß seinen Kopf im Sande versteckt, denn die Sachen sind ja da! Und befreien können Sie sich niemals dadurch, daß Sie die Augen verschließen, sondern nur dadurch, daß Sie die Dinge kennenlernen. Wenn Sie Ihr Leben so einrichten, daß Sie vom Ich aus immer mehr Herrscher über Ihre Leiber werden, dann treiben Sie alle diese Wesenheiten heraus aus Ihrem Leben. Erkenntnis und Wahrheit sind die Mittel, um frei zu werden. Und wahr ist, was in einer religiösen Urkunde steht: «Ihr werdet die Wahrheit erkennen und die Wahrheit wird euch frei machen.»
Influences of other worlds on Earth
[ 1 ] Last Saturday, we took a look at distant worlds. Today, we will do something similar in a slightly different way; today, we will delve a little deeper into spiritual worlds. When I describe lectures such as today's and Saturday's as “intended for the advanced,” I am referring less to what is commonly called intellectual understanding. I mean a different kind of understanding that comes to us when we immerse ourselves more and more in the spiritual worlds, when we accustom ourselves, so to speak, to sensations and feelings that enable us to believe that there really is something like what we are discussing today in the world immediately around us.
[ 2 ] The study of theosophy leads people to develop a feeling for spiritual worlds. Spiritual worlds, spiritual facts are all around us, as we have often emphasized. As we go our way in the world, we do not only pass through material air, but we are constantly passing through spiritual beings and facts. The first thing that rises up in a person when the gift of clairvoyance dawns in them are those spiritual worlds that are somehow connected to what people perceive here with their ordinary physical senses, that is, to what is tangible in a certain sense; everything that the senses perceive is related to spiritual worlds. We know that our entire animal world, as it appears externally, is based on a sum of animal group souls. These live on the astral plane, and those who acquire the gift of clairvoyance on the astral plane encounter them there as complete personalities, just as human beings encounter physical personalities here on the physical plane. They are truly limited personalities. And if one wants to express it trivially, one can say that on the astral plane one can make the acquaintance of group souls, just as one does here with human beings. However, in a certain respect these group souls differ from the human beings here. Strange as it may sound, they are wiser than human beings; their deeds are the wise institutions of the animal kingdom, but also everything that lies in the expediency of the animal way of life.
[ 3 ] The seer of the Devachan plane encounters a second type of being, which is connected to plants. The plant Iches are on the Devachan plane. And in the higher region of this Devachan plane, which we call Arupa, are the group Iches of minerals. All these beings have connections, so to speak, to the physical plane. The astral and Devachan planes also surround us, and all these group Iches are around us. They therefore have, one might say, tangible manifestations, forms in the physical world.
[ 4 ] But anyone who, as a seer, gets to know all these worlds, the Devachan plane and the Arupa plane, learns not only about these beings, but also about completely different ones that do not find their physical expression in the physical world in such an obvious way, but which also intervene in destiny in a certain way, but not as tangibly as is the case with the others. We find such beings of a very strange nature on the astral plane. These beings reveal themselves first through their effects, that is, only through our experience of their effects. For example, where somnambulism occurs, in mediumistic persons, in all states of subdued consciousness, and especially on moonlit nights, such beings swarm around us; but we only perceive their effects. We feel strange when we observe these beings clairvoyantly. It is as if they were reaching their hands in from far away, as if—to choose a crude comparison—you were in Cannstatt and had hands so long that you could work with them in Stuttgart. Then you would see these hands here in Stuttgart, the effects of their work; but to see the people themselves, you would have to go to Cannstatt.
[ 5 ] Physical beings of this kind do not exist, of course, but astral beings do. We discover their effects on Earth; but if we want to get to know them as complete personalities, we must seek them out in their actual home, which is the moon. These beings even have a physical form there, albeit a very subtle one. They cannot be seen with a microscope. They do not grow very large, but they are well known to clairvoyants. They do not grow larger than a seven-year-old child, and the peculiarity of these beings is that they have a terribly roaring voice, and their roaring is not an individual roar, but an expression of the climatic conditions on the moon. Depending on whether it is a full moon or a new moon, these moon beings roar or remain silent, and their influence extends to the Earth. As I said, human beings are particularly dependent on these beings, and these beings are of great importance for human life. And one learns about these effects when one pursues a little of what is called occult anatomy. We have often looked at human beings, but today we want to examine them in terms of their juices.
[ 6 ] There are three kinds of juices that we want to consider today. First, there is the one called chyle, or food juice. Food comes from the stomach into the intestines and is absorbed by the human organism through the intestinal walls. A second fluid is that which flows in the lymphatic vessels, which run throughout the entire body. This fluid is similar to the white blood cells in the blood. The lymphatic vessels accompany the blood vessels in a certain way; they are partly intended to absorb the chyme and transport it until it can enter the blood. Specifically, it is the protein substances and fats that are prepared in the lymphatic vessels for transfer into the blood. Only sugar and sugar-forming substances are absorbed directly into the blood; they do not first pass through the lymphatic vessels. So, flowing through our body, we have a fluid that is a kind of transitional fluid between the chyle and the blood. A third fluid is blood itself, which flows through the blood vessels and is constantly renewed through the respiratory process, through the supply of oxygen, and so on. Thus, in the three fluids, we have three levels of fluid that humans contain. Chyle is, in a sense, the crudest, lymph is finer, and the finest of the human fluids is blood.
[ 7 ] Now you know that blood is the outer material expression of the I, that the I lives and pulsates, so to speak, in the blood. When blood flows through the body, it is not only matter, but also the I flowing through all parts of the body. But blood is the only one of the three fluids that is so intimately connected with one's own spiritual being. Man will most likely become master of his blood. Admittedly, very few people today have reached the point where their ego is master of their blood, but human beings will increasingly gain influence over it.
[ 8 ] The ego has less influence on the lymph. Spiritual forces also pulsate through the lymph. It is precisely in the lymph that you have a fluid in which the beings described earlier as moon beings exert their influence. This lymph pulsates up and down within you, and within it pulsates the influence of these moon beings in your body. Here you can see what you have enclosed within your body! Another type of being that also influences the lymph are those whose actual home is on Mars. These Martian beings, which can be observed clairvoyantly, are again very strange creatures. They have a certain kind of language, a gentle way of speaking that expresses what these beings want to say in a light and supple manner. When you encounter such Mars beings, they appear to you as if their faces bear the expression of their inner being, their soul. A malicious being has a malicious expression on its face; if the Mars being is good, then it bears goodness as the beauty of its face; its soul being is on the surface of its physicality.
[ 9 ] These are beings that the clairvoyant encounters when he penetrates to the moon and Mars. He learns about their deeds from the composition of the lymph and from whether it flows faster or slower. For under every soul experience, this lymph has a different nature. Temperament and character are connected with the nature of this lymph. And only those who become acquainted with these beings of Mars and the moon can recognize what is really happening in the human being in the spiritual foundation of the lymph.
[ 10 ] The clairvoyant finds other beings in the same region where the group souls of plants are — that is, in the Devachan — beings that also exert their influence on Earth and on whose actions the fate of human beings depends. Their actual home is on Venus, where they are found in the devachanic region. Their effects and actions are expressed in a profound influence on the chyle. Whether you eat one thing or another depends on whether good or evil beings from Venus gain influence over you. There are beings that are good, gentle, and mild, who have already developed a high degree of religiosity, as it appears here on Earth in Christianity. But there are also beings of bad character—predatory beings—who destroy everything, and between these two radical extremes, all possible stages are represented on Venus; they express their activity in the human digestive juices.
[ 11 ] And now imagine how another heavenly body with its beings plays into the human body, into the whole of human existence. Think of how the human race is distributed on Earth. In one region, people live on a certain diet, while in another, completely different foods grow. Depending on what a person takes in as food, very specific beings assert themselves within them. This is what accounts for the diversity of human character. In a person who eats something different from another person, the clairvoyant sees completely different influences from those beings, and now you understand why, wherever one approaches the nature of the human being from a spiritual point of view, importance is attached to what a person eats. What occultism inspires in relation to food has been researched with these entities in mind. What occultism can offer us in practical life depends on such complicated things.
[ 12 ] There are other beings that also have strange effects on our earth — again not as tangible as the group souls — beings that the clairvoyant perceives when he rises to the Saturn stage of existence. Their effects are to be found in the higher devachanic world and have a profound influence on human beings. This brings us to a chapter where we are no longer dealing with juices, but with much finer things. When the clairvoyant examines these beings, they appear very strange to him. They are endowed with a magnificent power of invention; in fact, they are inventors at every moment of their lives. But they do not need to think about their inventions. They see, and as they see things, the thought occurs to them that they should be different, and they immediately transform them. Thus, they are beings who are actually engaged in continuous revolutionary activity. Everything they see, they immediately change in the most ingenious way; sensory perception is immediate, and mental invention is immediate. They want nothing to do with reflection, logic, and the like, but immediately, based on sensory impressions, they change everything; they are reformers, revolutionaries.
[ 13 ] These beings also express their influence on our earth. They creep into our inner being through our sensory perceptions. With color, sound, smell, taste, with the sensation of warmth, with everything that human beings perceive through their senses, the spiritual effects of these Saturn beings creep into them. They go through the world, and these beings have an abundance of influence on what you experience in your sensory perception. How dry and sober, even ridiculous, the materialistic investigations of the ordinary anatomist appear! For the effects of such beings penetrate with the flash of light that enters the eye. It is not unimportant to know such things for practical life. In fact, those who do not know this do not know the most important thing about life. The worst, and in some circumstances also the best, because they are the strongest, are the influences of Saturnian beings, insofar as they assert themselves through the sense of smell. With smells, we continually draw their effects into ourselves: there are smells in which the downright infernal effects of these beings enter into us. When people know this, they get an idea of what they are doing to their fellow human beings when they force them to inhale all kinds of horrible perfumes. Patchouli, for example, gives the worst kind of Saturn spirits access to people, and influencing fellow human beings through smells is one of the worst kinds of black magic.
[ 14 ] I could tell you about long periods in history when intrigues were carried out at certain courts by people who knew how to use smells to gain influence and power. For a long time, there have been schemers who have ruled more or less consciously in this way. Such magical means have often played an important role in history. An example from recent history may be interesting: a minister at a small European court wrote a memoir about his time as a minister. He knew nothing about any of these things, but in his naive way he recounts very beautifully how such things played out at the small court in question, where a sensational catastrophe took place at the time. There was a female personality who understood all the arts of influencing people through smells. And when the minister appeared before the queen in question, he was met by all kinds of perfumes, and he knew he had to leave, because she understood something about smells. This experience made him realize that something was going on. He knew nothing about occultism. Anyone who reads such chapters as an occultist can see deeply into how effects are exerted on people.
[ 15 ] And now, starting from here, consider a little how occultism is connected with the true knowledge of reality. People will have to look more and more into immediate human life from an occult point of view. It would be terrible for humanity if such a pseudo-science were to continue for much longer, in which people try to find the truth by dissecting things. The most distorted truth is that which can be found through anatomy. These insights will never be of practical use, and they will bring disaster upon humanity if they are not paralyzed by spiritual insights. And we are currently in the midst of a flood of materialism; it is creeping into legislation and everywhere else and having an enormous impact. The church and religion are intolerant in a way they never were before. How intolerant materialistic medicine is today! They will not burn their opponents, but they do something else. They want to spare themselves the bad reputation that burning has. They therefore ensure that people cannot do what they used to be burned for. Today, their opponents do not even get the chance to sin. Burning was certainly a terrible thing, but at least before they could do what they were burned for afterwards!
[ 16 ] People do not realize this because they do not think long enough to connect one thought to another. But it is important that people regain healthy thinking through spiritual knowledge. Take another example: I have told you that fats and proteins pass through the lymphatic vessels and sugar goes directly into the blood. The ego, as it lives out its life in our time, is the carrier of pure combinatory power, of egoism, since in our European culture it is initially concerned only with utility. Anyone who can observe life will be able to deduce the great role that sugar plays in human life. It is precisely where egoism reigns supreme, especially in its refined forms, where it appears as scientific criticism, where it appears purely intellectual, that you will also see diabetes everywhere in a mysterious connection! However, you must not think that the individual who is afflicted by it should be viewed from this perspective. The individual does not live as an individual. And you must also realize that it is not so easy to help the individual. Think of a person who lives in a swampy area: he can only become healthy if he leaves this swampy area. One must take into account that human beings live in their environment.
[ 17 ] And that is why it is above all important to realize that we must make ourselves selfless, for Theosophy is there for the whole. It is very important to understand this thoroughly. Only when people increasingly decide to devote their efforts to the whole of humanity will there be an atmosphere in which the individual will be liberated. If the individual innocently develops diabetes, this is no indication of the general knowledge that is correctly stated in Theosophy. Diabetes is connected with the prevalence of egoism.
[ 18 ] You can cast your searching gaze over two very different regions of Europe. Look at the peasants in Russia, where the sense of self is only just beginning to develop, and look at England, where a strong sense of self prevails. This is not meant as criticism, only as a statement of fact. And now look at sugar consumption; how much more sugar is consumed in England than in Russia. Now some may say: So what should we do? Because it is right, must we recommend that people eat less sugar so that they become selfless? The truth is not so simple. People would prefer to have fixed rules that apply to all circumstances; a kind of fixed route. There are people who, due to their mental and spiritual constitution, tend to easily lose themselves in a pious form of devotion. This is a good thing; it helps them to attain the highest bliss of knowledge. But there must be a counterbalance: such people must eat a lot of sugar. In order for them to stand firm on earth, they must be given a lot of sugar. Others, on the other hand, are always out to assert themselves; they are the opposite of a devotional nature. They can be advised to practice asceticism in their consumption of sugar. Thus we see that, based on theosophy, we must acquire the ability to become well-rounded, not to be quick to judge based on abstractions.
[ 19 ] Thus, from today's explanations, you have learned about other kinds of beings that are intimately connected with our lives. If you feel a certain shyness toward all the worlds you have heard about here, if you perhaps think it would be better not to know anything about them, consider that this is the same as the ostrich hiding its head in the sand, for these things are there! And you can never free yourself by closing your eyes, but only by getting to know these things. If you organize your life in such a way that you become more and more the ruler of your body from your ego, then you drive all these entities out of your life. Knowledge and truth are the means to become free. And what is written in a religious document is true: “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”