Nature and Spirit Beings
Their Effects in Our Visible World
GA 98
17 March 1908, Munich
IX. The Development of the Earth and Humanity
When I last had an opportunity1See Lecture given on Munich, 15 January 1908, GA 98, Lecture 4. to talk to you, we raised our eyes to the firmament, to the planets that have a certain relation to our human organisation, to our immediate life. Today we want to take a closer look at the development of our planetary system, insofar as it is related to humanity. You might be aware that we basically look at all developments in the cosmos always from the perspective of human evolution. No matter how far we cast a glance back, we always do this with the intention of precisely understanding human nature. This forces us to look at the evolutionary history of our own nature from many different angles. As you may imagine, earlier stages of our Earth and other planetary bodies were no less complicated than our present circumstances. It is not possible to grasp with a few concepts the development of our system—one can only get closer to this development by approaching it from various starting points. It might look as if there are contradictions between the separate imagined pictures. But these are only the result of the occult facts being described from different perspectives. If one were to paint a picture of a tree from various angles, one could create a hundred paintings of that same tree, yet the pictures might all differ. Thus, to gain a comprehensive idea, one has to produce a description from different starting points, and when one has captured many characteristics, these will fit together like different photos from various spatial viewpoints.
Today, the Earth’s development will be described as it appears to the clairvoyant eye. We know that the present embodiment of our Earth was preceded by three others—Saturn, Sun, and Moon. We also know how we have to imagine the Saturn state. We cannot imagine that it had a material composition like our current material matter. We differentiate between matter: our solid matter—Earth; liquid matter—our water; gaseous matter—the air; and the first subtler state—the warmth-matter. If one had come close to the ancient Saturn, one would have noticed its existence only because it felt like entering a warmer space, like a baking oven. In this fire matter, the first rudiment of the physical body was brought forth. But this was only a mirror image, reflected back into space.
After a Pralaya (dissolution or resting period), the Saturn state developed into the Sun state. The matter densifies and becomes gaseous. The human body permeates itself with the etheric body, but everything is still a very thin gaseous matter. What exists of the physical and etheric bodies presents itself like a Fata Morgana, like a mirage, in this Sun.
After another Pralaya, the Sun state passes into the Moon state. The matter liquefies. The human being permeates itself with the astral body. A significant event took place during the Moon’s development. What was present in the Moon’s water matter was a mixture of our present Sun, the Moon and the Earth. But then came a time when a kind of Sun separated itself off, together with the finest and most vital substances and the highest developed beings. What makes up our present Moon and the Earth remained behind as the old Moon. In the moment of separation, those beings that were left behind hardened.
The whole Moon-globe became a semi-living world body. There, the lowest realm is located between the present mineral and plant kingdoms; the second realm is between the plant and animal kingdoms; and the third is between the animal and human kingdoms. What is now rock was once like the wood of trees. All the substances on Earth were like peat or spinach. The mountains were lignified. From this basic substance grew beings that were between our plant and animal kingdoms. The mistletoe has maintained its habit of growing on living substance, though at that time it had a dawning sensation that it no longer has as it degenerated. The third stage were the “human animals”. These were the ancestors of human beings. This form of the old Moon only developed after it had separated from the Sun and orbited around it.
Then there was a reunification and, after a Pralaya, our Earth appeared. Our Earth had to repeatedly go through the earlier Saturn, Sun and Moon states. Only then did it bring forth its actual Earth shape. That it was at first of a fiery composition is something that has been maintained as a halfway suggestion. Physicists say that the Earth developed out of a fiery state. But the fiery state wasn’t gaseous, it was a completely different substance than what physicists mean by gas. It was there that the first rudiment of the physical body was formed again. What appeared then was different from what had appeared in the Saturn state, in that it had already matured out of earlier states of Saturn, Sun, and Moon. It had now become a more complicated human rudiment, the result of the earlier states, made out of a subtle etheric substance. Earth consisted of a conglomerate of such human rudiments. It looked like a blackberry made from the most subtle warmth-matter. The Earth is nothing but a compilation of human rudiments in warmth-matter.
It is now incumbent upon me to give you an idea of what these first rudiments looked like. We must take as an aid what has remained of these first human rudiments until later times. It is now enclosed by other limbs of the human nature. Today it pulsates in us as the body-heat of the blood. This is the remnant of the first human rudiments. What appeared then as warmth lines has again been transformed considerably over time. A child has a soft spot on the top of its head—this is an opening that the human being had since ancient times. During the middle of human development, a kind of warmth-organ was protruding from this spot like a blazing radiation, like suction arms, like an etheric lantern—the cyclopean eye. However, it was not an eye but a warmth organ that the human being needed for orientation purposes. Mankind lived at that time in warmer and colder liquid elements, and this organ told him which environment was useful or detrimental to him. The organ is a reshaped version of an organ from the fire state of the Earth. One has to imagine strength lines running from it to the heart, an independent development without the other limbs, as these do not exist yet, so that it looked like a lantern with protruding suction arms radiating downwards, that will later become veins. This is the “warmth human”.
During the initial Earth’s warmth period, the Earth was still united with the Sun, the Moon, and other planets. Later, a densification occurs. The warmth-matter state becomes a gaseous one. This evolutionary stage is of great importance for the human being because the development of warmth into air was such that channels of air surrounded the energy lines of warmth-matter. During this Earth development, the respiratory circulation process emerged for the first time. Now comes a very important fact. Whenever thermal matter densifies into air-matter, it also dilutes itself into a still more subtle state, into light-matter. This was the case when Saturn formed itself into the Sun—the gaseous state was permeated by light, radiating into cosmic space. Likewise, that is how it was when the Earth densified itself into the air-matter state—it was completely permeated by light; it radiated into cosmic space.
The Earth, as it were, had become a sun. Light is also the initiator of something different—it penetrates into the dark warmth-matter. The first human rudiments were not radiant; at best one would have been able to feel them through differences in warmth. Now this whole system, this warm bloodstream, is surrounded by glowing and radiating light. This light settles into the human body—this is the nervous system. The strength lines, the structure-lines of the nervous system, are light that has taken on a shape. The brain was distributed around the fiery matter, around the lantern, as a light-power. The nervous system that perceives light, was once itself light. And the whole Earth radiated out into space.
The time came when, once again, the Sun peeled itself out of the Earth. The finest materials and beings formed an independent world body, so that our Earth circulated around the Sun. Connected with the removal of the subtlest materials was the densification of the remaining matter. The subtle radiant Sun body emerged on one side, on the other side the Earth matter becomes much more dense. The Earth moves into a watery state, thicker than our ocean water, because everything that is firm today was also contained in it. With the liquefying process a new element emerges. To the extent to which water appears, the music of the spheres, the cosmic sounds, are emanating from the cosmos and out of the Earth. This is not music such as ours today that travels through the air. The development of the Earth is now under the influence of cosmic music. The material substances separate out from a larger mass of undifferentiated matter. Under the influence of the music of the spheres, the Earth’s substances begin to dance. This is the differentiation of substances into purely organic substances, for example, into protein. This is how organic matter, the protoplasm, came about under the influence of the music of the spheres, like today’s Chladni sound figures.2Chladni sound figures are forms created by way of sound vibration. These are made visible by covering a metal plate with fine dust and using a violin bow to create vibrations. Discovered by the physicist Ernst Chladni (1756-1827). These substances, protein-like, sticky substances, are pushed into the earlier strength lines of the human rudiments. The cells, which today are considered to be the origin of organisms’ evolutionary history, arose much later only, when they were born of certain beings. The atom, too, is never primary—it is always what falls out of the whole. A whole is never put together out of individual cells. The whole process was assisted by the Moon‘s continued presence within the Earth’s body. The three human races who lived through those times are the Polar, the Hyperborean and the Lemurian race. Then the Moon separated from the Earth.
While the Moon was still connected with the Earth, something else arose. This was a time of continuous densification. Nearing the end of the Earth's connection with the Moon something special happened. The original fire was like our blood warmth, a living fire. The external fire emerged at the end of the Moon stage. What arose under the influence of this physical combustion, is understood best if one were to look at a burning physical corpse. What emerges as ash, is comparable with the residue of this earth combustion. This had a fresh impact on our Earth development. This is how everything mineral came into being. Out of the organic substances the mineral, the ashen, emerges like a darkening, like a dusk. Before this there were only protein-like substances. Now there are clouds of ash embedded in the protein. These ash clouds are integrated into the organic substances of all natural kingdoms; the plant, animal and human kingdoms.
If this development had continued, then everything would have become mummified and rigid. We have already mentioned the reason why the Sun and the Moon separated. The purpose of this separation was that if all the powers and beings had remained connected, then the human being would not have been able to obtain the living conditions that he has today. If the Sun had stayed connected with the Earth, the conditions would have been too rapid for human life. He would have grown old, right at birth. Only the highly developed beings were able to participate in such a vehement life development. They went with the Sun. The other beings had to firm up. But the firmness would have become complete—and therefore, the Moon had to be removed from the Earth so that the human being could be kept in the proper balance. The Sun gives the power of continuous living growth. The Moon impedes this development at a level suitable for the human being. The human being is in the midst of beings who develop much faster than he is and those who develop much more slowly. The Sun has taken on the development of life, the Moon the development of forms. The human being was given the opportunity to reshape the form that he had reached. Now he was prepared so that the germ of the “I” could sink into him. In this way, the development of the human being in the psychic-spiritual (soul-spirit) direction was instigated. This was at the end of the Lemurian era. From then onwards, here on Earth, the human being had to develop his I with the help of his other limbs. This development falls into the last Lemurian, the Atlantean, and our present time.
But the human I is only very slowly learning to take control of itself. At the outset, when the body was impregnated with the I, it could not yet have controlled its own development. If we follow the whole development of the Earth, we first see the Earth in a state of warmth. At that time it was not yet separated from the other planets that belonged to its system. Physics also knows of this starting point, but only in a physical sense. It talks about a dead gas ball. But from where life arose, it doesn’t say. One illustrates the origin of a planetary system by placing a drop of oil on water. Then the drop is sliced by a card and this is then turned around by a needle. One can observe small drops separating themselves. However, those experimenters are forgetting that they are standing there and are turning the needle. They do not explain how the experiment would proceed without them. Spiritual beings were connected with this gaseous body, with the warmth-matter. The reason why the planets separated out into globes is that on our Earth not only human beings were developing, but also beings that stand above and below mankind. On Old Saturn, beings already existed that went through their human stage there. Today, those beings have developed far beyond the human stage. The Fire Spirits on the Sun are at present two stages above humanity. Moon-men are one stage above human beings. The humans on Saturn were the Spirits of Personality. However, at the same time even higher beings lived there, who had been human beings even earlier. All of those beings remain connected to the planetary system.
The Sun separated from the Earth because higher beings, who required another setting, were connected to it. Had they remained on Earth they would have been delayed in their development. They needed fast speed. However, there existed not only beings who needed the Sun, but there was a whole range of diverse beings at different stages of development. Some beings pushed out Uranus for themselves, for other beings Saturn was created. Jupiter has become another setting. Jupiter emerged when the Earth had lit up already. In this way, one site after another was constructed according to the needs of the spiritual beings. When the Sun split off, it took along certain beings, who were unable to remain connected with the Earth, but were still unable to cope with the very fast pace of the Sun. These beings were more exalted than human beings, but not as mature as the other beings of the Sun. For these beings, the Sun split off Mercury and Venus, whose beings were in-between the Sun-beings and the human beings on Earth. These beings are the ones that directed and led the development of the I, when the I itself was not yet able to do this. The mission of the Earth’s evolution is to develop the I. Only when Christianity bears its most ripe fruits will humanity reach its stage. Venus beings worked through the astral or Devachan world, or incarnated themselves in humans and became their leaders. In a way that humans were not conscious of, they laid the germ for further human evolution into them. From a different viewpoint, they are called Luciferian beings. The Mercurial beings were also related to the Earth’s development. They were the first great mystery teachers. In secret, they led the training of the oldest initiates. Whilst Venus beings have a very long lifespan, Mercurial beings do not know anything about birth and death because they have developed Budhi. They remain fully conscious throughout birth and death.
Now we have talked quite a bit about how the Earth’s development proceeded, the purpose of the origin of the world globe and the human being. This is a new picture of evolution. By following descriptions from different viewpoints, one will gain a true image of reality. The moment one becomes dogmatic, one becomes unable to ever penetrate into real occultism. When trying to gain an overview, like the one given at the beginning of this lecture,3The overview mentioned here was included in the first edition of this lecture, but has been omitted from the current edition, as it is not a text by Rudolf Steiner. one will be able to slowly observe the spiritual life in its reality.
Erden- und Menschenentwickelung
[ 1 ] Als ich das letzte Mal zu Ihnen sprechen durfte, wandten wir den Blick hinauf zum Himmel, zu den Planeten, die einen gewissen Bezug haben zu unserer menschlichen Organisation, zu unserem unmittelbaren Leben. Heute wollen wir uns einmal die Entwickelung unseres Planetensystems, insofern es mit dem Menschen im Zusammenhang ist, näher ansehen. Sie wissen, daß wir im Grunde genommen alle Entwickelung im Kosmos immer vom Gesichtspunkt der Menschheitsentwickelung aus betrachten. Wenn wir den Blick noch so weit zurückschweifen lassen, so tun wir dies immer mit der Absicht, das Wesen des Menschen genau zu verstehen. Wir sind dabei genötigt, die Entwickelungsgeschichte unserer eigenen Wesenheit von den verschiedensten Seiten aus zu betrachten. Denn Sie können sich vorstellen, daß frühere Zustände unserer Erde und anderer Himmelskörper nicht weniger kompliziert waren als unsere heutigen Verhältnisse. Und man kann nicht mit ein paar Vorstellungen die Entwickelung unseres Systems begreifen, man kann sich dieser Entwickelung nur von verschiedenen Ausgangspunkten nähern. Es kann einem vorkommen, als ob zwischen den einzelnen Bildern, die entworfen werden, Widersprüche beständen. Der okkulte Tatbestand wird aber nur von verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten aus geschildert, wie wenn man einen Baum von verschiedenen Seiten aus malen würde. Da würde man hundert Bilder von demselben Baum machen können und man hätte doch immer denselben Baum gemalt, aber die Bilder sind verschieden. So muß man, wenn man einen umfassenden Begriff erhalten will, von verschiedenen Ausgangspunkten aus schildern. Und wenn man dann viele Charakteristiken gewonnen hat, werden sich diese zusammenfügen wie verschiedene Aufnahmen von verschiedenen räumlichen Standpunkten aus.
[ 2 ] Heute soll die Erdenentwickelung geschildert werden, wie sie sich dem geistigen Auge darstellt. Wir wissen, daß unserer jetzigen Erdenverkörperung drei andere vorangegangen sind. Saturn, Sonne und Mond. Wir wissen auch, wie wir uns den Saturnzustand vorzustellen haben. Wir können uns nicht vorstellen, daß er eine solche materielle Beschaffenheit hatte, wie unsere heutige Materie. Wir unterscheiden an Materien: unsere feste, materielle Erde; das Flüssige, unser Wasser; das Gasförmige, die Luft, und den ersten feineren Zustand, die Wärmematerie. Hätte man sich dem alten Saturn genähert, so hätte man das Dasein desselben nur dadurch bemerkt, daß man in einen wärmeren Raum gekommen wäre, wie in einen Backofen. Innerhalb dieser Feuermaterie wurde die erste Anlage des physischen Leibes zustandegebracht. Das war aber nur ein Spiegelbild, das zurückgeworfen wurde in den Weltenraum.
[ 3 ] Nach einem Pralaya ging der Saturn über in den Sonnenzustand. Die Materie verdichtet sich und wird gasförmig. Der Menschenleib durchdringt sich mit dem Ätherleib, aber alles ist noch sehr dünne, gasförmige Materie. Und was vorhanden ist vom physischen und Ätherleib, zeigt sich wie eine Fata Morgana, wie eine Luftspiegelung in dieser Sonne.
[ 4 ] Wiederum nach einem Pralayazustand geht die Sonne über in den Mondenzustand. Die Materie wird flüssig. Der Mensch durchdringt sich mit dem astralischen Leibe. Nun haben wir während der Mondenentwickelung ein wesentliches Ereignis zu verzeichnen. Was in dessen Wassermaterie vorhanden war, war eine Mischung der heutigen Sonne, des Mondes und der Erde. Aber es kommt eine Zeit, wo sich eine Art Sonne heraustrennt, mit den feinsten und lebendigsten Materien und den höchsten Wesenheiten. Dasjenige, was heute Mond und Erde sind, blieb zurück als der alte Mond. In dem Augenblick der Trennung verhärteten sich diejenigen Wesenheiten, die zurückgeblieben waren.
[ 5 ] Der ganze Mondenball wurde ein halb lebendiger Weltenkörper. Das niederste Reich ist da zwischen heutigem Mineral- und Pflanzenreich, das zweite zwischen Pflanzen- und Tierreich, das dritte zwischen Tier- und Menschenreich. Was heute Felsen sind, war wie das Holz der Bäume. Die ganze Erdmasse war wie Torf oder Spinat. Die Berge waren verholzt. Aus dieser Grundsubstanz wuchsen Wesenheiten, die zwischen unserem Pflanzen- und Tierreich waren. Die Mistel hat die Gewohnheit, auf lebendigem Boden zu wachsen, beibehalten. Damals aber hatte sie eine dämmerhafte Empfindung; die hat sie nicht mehr, weil sie verkommen ist. Die dritte Stufe, die Menschentiere, waren die Vorfahren der Menschen. Diese Gestalt des alten Mondes entwickelte sich erst nach der Trennung von der Sonne und umkreiste diese.
[ 6 ] Dann fand eine Wiedervereinigung statt, und es tauchte, nach einem Pralaya, unsere Erde auf. Unsere Erde hatte, wiederholend, durchzumachen die früheren Zustände: Saturn-, Sonnen- und Mondenzustand. Dann erst brachte sie ihre eigentliche Erdenform hervor. Daß sie erst feurige Beschaffenheit hatte, ist etwas, was sich wie eine halbe Suggestion erhalten hat. Die Physiker sagen, daß sich die Erde aus einem feurigen Zustand entwickelt hat. Aber der Feuerzustand war nicht gasförmig, sondern etwas ganz anderes als Gas, wie sie es meinen. Darin bildete sich wieder die erste Anlage zum physischen Leibe. Was da herauskam, war aber anders als auf dem Saturn. Denn das hatte sich schon herausgereift in früheren Zuständen auf Saturn, Sonne und Mond. Es war jetzt eine kompliziertere Menschenanlage, das Resultat der früheren Zustände, aus feinätherischem Stoff. Die Erde bestand aus einem Konglomerat solcher Menschenanlagen. Sie sah aus wie eine Brombeere in feinster Wärmematerie. Sie ist nichts anderes als eine Zusammenfügung von Menschenanlagen in Wärmematerie.
[ 7 ] Es obliegt mir nun, eine Vorstellung zu geben, wie diese erste Anlage ausgesehen hat. Wir müssen zu Hilfe nehmen, was für spätere Zeiten von dieser ersten Menschenanlage geblieben ist. Es ist eingefaßt von anderen Gliedern der Menschennatur. Es pulsiert heute als Eigenwärme des Blutes in uns. Das ist das Überbleibsel der ersten Menschenanlage. Was sich als Wärmelinien zeigte, hat sich im Laufe der Zeit wieder sehr umgestaltet. Oben im Kopfe hat das Kind eine weiche Stelle. Das ist die Öffnung, die der Mensch dort in Urzeiten hatte. Dort ging, etwa in der Mitte der Menschheitsentwickelung, eine Art Wärmeorgan heraus, eine Flammenstrahlung, wie Saugarme, wie eine ätherische Laterne — das Zyklopenauge. Es war aber kein Auge, sondern ein Wärmeorgan. Der Mensch brauchte dieses Organ, um sich zu orientieren. Damals lebte er in wärmeren und kälteren flüssigen Elementen. Dieses Organ sagte ihm, welche Umgebung nützlich oder schädlich für ihn sei. Es ist dieses Organ eine Umbildung eines Organs des Feuerzustandes der Erde. Von ihm muß man sich Kraftlinien ausgehend denken nach dem Herzen, eine Verselbständigung, ohne daß die übrigen Glieder bereits vorhanden sind, so daß es aussah wie eine Art Laterne, davon ausgehende Saugarme, wie Strahlen nach unten, was später Adern werden. Das ist der Wärmemensch.
[ 8 ] In dieser ersten Zeit der Erdwärme war die Erde noch vereint mit Sonne, Mond und noch anderen Planeten. Später tritt eine Verdichtung ein. Aus dem wärmemateriellen Zustand wurde ein Gaszustand. Diese Entwickelungsstufe hat eine große Bedeutung für den Menschen. Denn die Entwickelung aus Wärme in Luft war so, daß sich Luftlinien rings um die Kraftlinien der Wärmematerie ansetzten. Der Kreislauf im Atmungsprozeß fand damals seine erste Anlage in der Erdenentwickelung. Nun kommt eine sehr wichtige Tatsache. Immer, wenn sich Wärmematerie in Luftmaterie verdichtet, verdünnt sie sich andererseits zu einem noch feineren Zustand, zu Lichtmaterie. So war es, als sich der Saturn zur Sonne bildete; der Gaszustand war durchdrungen von Licht, leuchtend in den Weltenraum. So war es auch jetzt, als die Erde sich selbst verdichtete zum Luftzustand; sie war ganz durchdrungen von Licht, sie leuchtete in den Weltenraum hinaus. Die Erde ist sozusagen eine Sonne geworden. Das Licht ist die Veranlassung von etwas anderem; es dringt ein in die dunkle Wärmematerie. Die ersten Menschenanlagen waren nicht leuchtend; man hätte sie höchstens fühlen können durch Wärmedifferenzen. Nun umglimmt und umstrahlt Licht dieses ganze System, diesen warmen Blutstrom. Dieses Licht setzt sich an im Menschenleib; das ist das Nervensystem. Die Kraftlinien, die Strukturlinien des Nervensystems sind formgewordenes Licht. Das Gehirn war herumgelagert als Lichtkraft um die feurige Materie, um die Laterne. Das Nervensystem, das Licht wahrnimmt, war einst selbst Licht. Und die ganze Erde leuchtete hinaus in den Weltenraum.
[ 9 ] Jetzt kam die Zeit, wo die Sonne sich wieder aus der Erde herausschälte. Die feinsten Materien und Wesenheiten bildeten einen selbständigen Weltenkörper, so daß unsere Erde die Sonne umkreiste. Mit dem Heraustreten der feinsten Materien war eine Verdichtung der zurückbleibenden Materie verbunden. Auf der einen Seite tritt heraus der fein leuchtende Sonnenleib, auf der anderen Seite wird die Materie der Erde viel dichter. Sie kommt in einen wässerigen Zustand, dichter als unser Meerwasser, denn es war in ihr auch alles enthalten, was heute fest ist. Mit dem Flüssigwerden tritt ein neues Element auf. In dem Maße, wie das Wasser auftritt, wirkt aus dem Kosmos und aus der Erde heraus die Sphärenmusik, die Weltentöne. Es ist nicht solche Musik wie heute, die durch die Luft fortgepflanzt wird. Die Entwickelung der Erde steht nun unter dem Einfluß der Weltenmusik. Die Materien heben sich als einzelne Stoffe aus der undifferenzierten, großen Materie heraus. Es fangen die Erdenstoffe an zu tanzen unter dem Einfluß der Weltenmusik. Das ist die Differenzierung der Stoffe in lauter organische Stoffe, zum Beispiel in Eiweiß. So entstand organische Materie, das Protoplasma, unter dem Einfluß der Weltenmusik, ähnlich wie heute die Chladnischen Klangfiguren. Diese Stoffe, eiweißartige, leimige Substanz, werden hineingeschoben in die früheren Kraftlinien der Menschenanlage. Die Zellen, die man heute als das erste in der Entwickelungsgeschichte der Organismen ansieht, entstanden viel später. Sie wurden erst geboren von gewissen Wesenheiten. Auch das Atom ist nie das ursprüngliche, ist immer das, was aus dem Ganzen herausfällt. Niemals setzt sich das Ganze aus den Zellen zusammen. Gefördert wurde der ganze Vorgang dadurch, daß der Mond noch in dem Erdenkörper darin war. Die drei Menschenrassen, die diese Zeiten mit durchmachten, sind die polarische, die hyperboräische und die lemurische Rasse. Da trennte sich der Mond von der Erde.
[ 10 ] Während der Mond noch mit der Erde verbunden war, entstand noch etwas anderes. Es ist eine Zeit fortwährender Verdichtung. In der letzten Zeit der Verbindung der Erde mit dem Monde geschieht etwas Besonderes. Das ursprüngliche Feuer war wie die Blutwärme lebendiges Feuer. Das äußere Feuer trat am Ende der Mondeszeit hervor. Was da entstand unter dem Einfluß der physischen Verbrennung, davon bekommt man am besten eine Vorstellung, wenn man einen physischen verbrennenden Leichnam ansieht. Was da als Asche herausfällt, ist zu vergleichen mit dem Rückstand bei der Erdverbrennung. Das ist ein neuer Einschlag unserer Erdenentwikkelung. So entstand alles Mineralische. Aus den organischen Substanzen fällt heraus das Mineralische, das Aschenhafte, wie eine Verdunkelung, Verdämmerung. Vorher waren nur eiweißartige Substanzen da. Nun treten auf im Eiweiß eingelagert Aschenwolken. Diese Aschenwolken gliedern sich ein in die organischen Substanzen aller Naturreiche, des Pflanzen-, Tier- und Menschenreiches.
[ 11 ] Wenn nun die Entwickelung so fortgegangen wäre, so würde alles mumifiziert, starr geworden sein. Wir haben schon erwähnt, welchen Sinn es hatte, daß Sonne und Mond sich trennten. Der Sinn dieser Trennung ist, daß, wenn alle die Kräfte und Wesenheiten verbunden geblieben wären, dann hätte der Mensch nicht die Lebensbedingungen annehmen können, die er heute hat. Wäre die Sonne mit der Erde verbunden geblieben, so hätte der Mensch zu rasche Lebensbedingungen gehabt. Wenn er geboren wäre, wäre er gleich wieder alt geworden. Nur die hochentwickelten Wesen konnten die vehemente Lebensentwickelung mitmachen. Sie gingen mit der Sonne. Die anderen Wesen mußten sich verhärten. Aber die Verhärtung wäre ganz und gar geworden; da mußte der Mond aus der Erde heraus. So ist der Mensch in der richtigen Mitte gehalten. Die Sonne gibt die Kraft des fortschreitenden, lebendigen Wachstums. Der Mond hemmt diese Entwickelung auf das Maß, das für den Menschen paßt. Der Mensch steht mittendrin zwischen Wesenheiten, die sich viel rascher entwickeln als er, und solchen, die sich viel langsamer entwickeln. Die Sonne hat die Lebensentwickelung übernommen, der Mond die Formentwickelung. Dem Menschen war die Möglichkeit gegeben, die Gestalt, die er erlangt hatte, umzubiilden. Nun war er so vorbereitet, daß der Keim des Ich sich einsenken konnte. Dadurch wurde die Entwickelung des Menschen nach der seelisch-geistigen Richtung angefacht. Das war am Ende der lemurischen Zeit. Nun mußte der Mensch auf der Erde dieses sein Ich ausbilden mit Hilfe der anderen Glieder. Diese Entwickelung fällt in die letzte lemurische, die atlantische und in unsere Zeit.
[ 12 ] Aber das menschliche Ich kann sich nur langsam in die Hand nehmen. Am Anfang, als die Leiblichkeit mit dem Ich befruchtet wurde, da hätte das Ich seine Entwickelung noch nicht in die Hand nehmen können. Wenn wir diese ganze Entwickelung der Erde verfolgen, so sehen wir die Erde zuerst im Wärmezustand. Da war sie noch nicht getrennt von den anderen Planeten, die in ihr System gehören. Die Physik kennt auch diesen Ausgangspunkt, aber nur in physischer Weise. Sie spricht von einem toten Gasball. Aber woher dann das Leben kommt, das beantwortet sie nicht. Man veranschaulicht die Entstehung eines Planetensystems mit einem Tropfen Öl auf Wasser; zwischen den Tropfen schiebt man eine Karte, die man mit einer Nadel dreht. Da lösen sich auch kleine Tropfen ab. Die das Experiment machen, vergessen aber, daß sie da stehen und drehen. Wie ohne sie das Experiment zustande kommt, sagen sie nicht. Geistige Wesenheiten waren verknüpft mit diesem gasförmigen Körper, mit der Wärmematerie. Die Gründe, warum sich die Planeten herausgeballt haben, sind darin zu suchen, daß auf unserer Erde sich nicht nur Menschen entwickelten, sondern auch Wesen, die höher und tiefer stehen als die Menschen. Auf dem alten Saturn waren schon Wesenheiten, die dort ihre Menschheitsstufe durchmachten. Die sind heute weit über die Menschheitsstufe hinausgeschritten. Feuergeister auf der Sonne sind heute um zwei Stufen höher, Mondmenschen um eine Stufe höher als die Menschen. Die Menschen auf dem Saturn waren die Geister der Persönlichkeit, aber damals lebten dort zugleich noch höhere Wesen, die noch früher Menschen gewesen waren. Alle diese Wesen bleiben in Verbindung mit dem Planetensystem.
[ 13 ] Die Sonne trennte sich von der Erde, weil mit ihr verbunden waren höhere Wesenheiten, die einen anderen Schauplatz brauchten. Wären sie bei der Erde geblieben, sie wären aufgehalten worden in ihrer Entwickelung. Sie brauchten das rasche Tempo. Nun waren nicht nur solche Wesenheiten, die die Sonne brauchten, vorhanden, sondern die verschiedensten Wesen auf den verschiedensten Entwickelungsstufen. Einige drängten für sich den Uranus ab, für gewisse Wesenheiten entstand der Saturn. Ein anderer Schauplatz war der Jupiter geworden. Er entstand, als die Erde schon aufleuchtete. So gliederte sich Schauplatz um Schauplatz ab, nach dem Bedürfnis der geistigen Wesenheiten. Als die Sonne sich abspaltete, nahm sie gewisse Wesenheiten mit, die mit der Erde nicht hätten verbunden bleiben können, die aber das ganz rasche Tempo der Sonne noch nicht mitmachen konnten. Diese Wesenheiten waren erhabener als die Menschen, aber noch nicht so reif wie die anderen Wesenheiten der Sonne. Da splitterte die Sonne Planeten für diese Wesen ab: Merkur und Venus, deren Wesenheiten zwischen Erden- und Sonnenwesenheiten standen. Diese Wesenheiten sind es auch, die die Entwickelung des Ich lenkten und leiteten, als das Ich es selbst noch nicht konnte. Das Ich zu entwickeln, ist die Mission der Erdenentwickelung. Erst wenn das Christentum seine reifsten Früchte zeitigt, erreichen die Menschen ihre Stufe. Die Venuswesenheiten wirkten durch die astralische oder devachanische Welt, oder verkörperten sich in Menschen und wurden ihre Führer. Auf eine dem Menschen unbewußte Weise legten sie den Keim zur Weiterentwickelung in die Menschen. Von einem anderen Gesichtspunkte aus heißen sie die luziferischen Wesenheiten. Die Merkurwesen standen auch in Verbindung mit der Erdenentwickelung. Sie waren die ersten großen Lehrer in den Mysterien. Sie leiteten im Geheimen den Unterricht der ältesten Eingeweihten. Während die Venuswesen eine sehr lange Lebenszeit haben, wissen die Merkurwesen überhaupt nichts von Geburt und Tod, weil sie Budhi entwickelt haben. Ihr Bewußtsein dauert durch Geburt und Tod voll an.
[ 14 ] So haben wir einiges besprochen über das Werden der Erdenentwickelung, den Sinn der Entstehung der Weltenkugel und des Menschen. Das ist ein neues Bild der Evolution. Durch die Beschreibung von verschiedenen Gesichtspunkten aus bekommt man eine wahre Vorstellung von der Realität. In dem Augenblick, wo man dogmatisiert, kann man niemals in den wirklichen Okkultismus eindringen. Dann kann man das geistige Leben allmählich in seiner Realität erschauen, wenn man einen Überblick zu gewinnen sucht, wie er zu Anfang geschildert wurde.
The Evolution of Earth and Humanity
[ 1 ] When I last spoke to you, we turned our gaze upward to the sky, to the planets that have a certain connection to our human organization, to our immediate life. Today, we want to take a closer look at the development of our planetary system insofar as it relates to human beings. You know that we basically always view all development in the cosmos from the perspective of human development. When we cast our gaze back so far, we always do so with the intention of understanding the nature of human beings precisely. In doing so, we are compelled to view the history of the development of our own being from a wide variety of angles. For you can imagine that earlier states of our Earth and other heavenly bodies were no less complicated than our present conditions. And one cannot comprehend the development of our system with just a few ideas; one can only approach this development from different starting points. It may seem as if there are contradictions between the individual images that are created. However, the occult facts are only described from different points of view, as if one were painting a tree from different sides. One could make a hundred pictures of the same tree and still have painted the same tree, but the pictures would be different. So if you want to gain a comprehensive understanding, you have to describe things from different starting points. And once you have gained many characteristics, these will come together like different photographs taken from different spatial viewpoints.
[ 2 ] Today we will describe the development of the earth as it appears to the spiritual eye. We know that our present earthly embodiment was preceded by three others: Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon. We also know how to imagine the Saturn state. We cannot imagine that it had a material constitution like our present matter. We distinguish between different types of matter: our solid, material earth; liquid matter, our water; gaseous matter, the air; and the first, more refined state, heat matter. If we had approached the old Saturn, we would only have noticed its existence by entering a warmer space, like an oven. Within this fiery matter, the first formation of the physical body came into being. But this was only a mirror image that was reflected back into the world space.
[ 3 ] After a Pralaya, Saturn passed into the solar state. The matter condenses and becomes gaseous. The human body permeates the etheric body, but everything is still very thin, gaseous matter. And what is present of the physical and etheric bodies appears like a mirage, like a reflection in this sun.
[ 4 ] After another Pralaya state, the sun passes into the lunar state. Matter becomes liquid. The human being permeates itself with the astral body. Now we have an essential event to record during the lunar evolution. What was present in its watery matter was a mixture of today's sun, moon, and earth. But there comes a time when a kind of sun separates itself, with the finest and most living matter and the highest beings. What are now the moon and the earth remained behind as the old moon. At the moment of separation, those beings that remained behind hardened.
[ 5 ] The entire moon ball became a semi-living world body. The lowest realm is between today's mineral and plant kingdoms, the second between the plant and animal kingdoms, and the third between the animal and human kingdoms. What are rocks today were like the wood of trees. The entire earth's mass was like peat or spinach. The mountains were wooded. From this basic substance grew beings that were between our plant and animal kingdoms. Mistletoe has retained the habit of growing on living soil. At that time, however, it had a dim sense of perception; it no longer has this because it has degenerated. The third stage, the human animals, were the ancestors of humans. This form of the old moon developed only after its separation from the sun and orbited around it.
[ 6 ] Then a reunification took place, and after a Pralaya, our Earth appeared. Our Earth had to go through the earlier states again: Saturn, Sun, and Moon. Only then did it produce its actual Earth form. The fact that it initially had a fiery nature is something that has been preserved as a kind of half-suggestion. Physicists say that the Earth developed from a fiery state. But the fiery state was not gaseous, but something completely different from gas as they understand it. Within it, the first beginnings of the physical body formed again. What emerged, however, was different from what had emerged on Saturn. For that had already matured in earlier states on Saturn, the Sun, and the Moon. It was now a more complicated human germ, the result of earlier states, made of fine etheric matter. The Earth consisted of a conglomerate of such human germs. It looked like a blackberry in the finest heat matter. It is nothing other than an amalgamation of human structures in heat matter.
[ 7 ] It is now my task to give an idea of what this first structure looked like. We must make use of what has remained of this first human structure for later times. It is enclosed by other members of human nature. Today it pulsates within us as the inherent warmth of the blood. This is the remnant of the first human structure. What appeared as lines of warmth has been greatly transformed over time. At the top of the head, the child has a soft spot. This is the opening that humans had there in primeval times. There, around the middle of human evolution, a kind of heat organ emerged, a flame-like radiation, like suction arms, like an ethereal lantern—the cyclops eye. But it was not an eye, but a heat organ. Man needed this organ for orientation. At that time, he lived in warmer and colder liquid elements. This organ told them which environment was useful or harmful to them. This organ is a transformation of an organ from the fiery state of the Earth. One must imagine lines of force emanating from it toward the heart, becoming independent without the other limbs already existing, so that it looked like a kind of lantern with suction arms emanating from it, like rays pointing downward, which later became veins. This is the heat human being.
[ 8 ] In this first period of geothermal heat, the Earth was still united with the Sun, Moon, and other planets. Later, a condensation occurred. The heat-material state became a gaseous state. This stage of development is of great significance for human beings. For the development from heat into air was such that lines of air formed around the lines of force of the heat matter. The cycle in the breathing process found its first expression in the development of the earth at that time. Now comes a very important fact. Whenever heat matter condenses into air matter, it dilutes into an even finer state, into light matter. This was the case when Saturn formed into the sun; the gaseous state was permeated by light, shining into the universe. This was also the case when the Earth condensed itself into an air state; it was completely permeated by light, shining out into the universe. The Earth became, so to speak, a sun. Light is the cause of something else; it penetrates the dark heat matter. The first human beings were not luminous; they could at most be felt through differences in heat. Now light surrounds and illuminates this entire system, this warm stream of blood. This light settles in the human body; this is the nervous system. The lines of force, the structural lines of the nervous system, are light that has taken form. The brain was stored as light energy around the fiery matter, around the lantern. The nervous system, which perceives light, was once light itself. And the whole Earth shone out into space.
[ 9 ] Now came the time when the sun peeled itself out of the earth again. The finest substances and beings formed an independent world body, so that our earth revolved around the sun. The emergence of the finest substances was accompanied by a condensation of the remaining matter. On the one hand, the finely luminous body of the sun emerges, and on the other hand, the matter of the earth becomes much denser. It enters a watery state, denser than our sea water, because it also contained everything that is solid today. With the liquefaction, a new element appears. To the extent that water appears, the music of the spheres, the world tones, emanate from the cosmos and from the earth. It is not music like today's, which is propagated through the air. The development of the earth is now under the influence of the music of the worlds. The materials emerge as individual substances from the undifferentiated, great matter. The earth substances begin to dance under the influence of the music of the worlds. This is the differentiation of substances into purely organic substances, for example into protein. Thus, organic matter, the protoplasm, arose under the influence of the music of the worlds, similar to Chladni's sound figures today. These substances, protein-like, gluey substances, are pushed into the former lines of force of the human constitution. The cells, which are now regarded as the first in the evolutionary history of organisms, arose much later. They were first born from certain entities. Even the atom is never the original, it is always what falls out of the whole. The whole is never composed of cells. The whole process was promoted by the fact that the moon was still within the Earth's body. The three human races that lived through these times are the Polar, Hyperborean, and Lemurian races. Then the moon separated from the Earth.
[ 10 ] While the moon was still connected to the earth, something else came into being. It is a time of continuous condensation. Something special happens in the last period of the earth's connection with the moon. The original fire was like the warmth of blood, a living fire. The outer fire emerged at the end of the lunar period. The best way to get an idea of what was created under the influence of physical combustion is to look at a physical burning corpse. What falls out as ashes can be compared to the residue left behind when the earth burns. This is a new impact on the development of our earth. This is how everything mineral came into being. From the organic substances, the mineral, the ashy, falls out like a darkening, a twilight. Before, there were only protein-like substances. Now, clouds of ash appear stored in the protein. These clouds of ash integrate themselves into the organic substances of all the kingdoms of nature, the plant, animal, and human kingdoms.
[ 11 ] If development had continued in this way, everything would have become mummified and rigid. We have already mentioned the significance of the separation of the sun and the moon. The purpose of this separation is that if all the forces and beings had remained connected, human beings would not have been able to accept the conditions of life that they have today. If the sun had remained connected to the earth, human beings would have had conditions of life that were too rapid. If they had been born, they would have grown old immediately. Only highly developed beings could have coped with the vehement development of life. They went with the sun. The other beings had to harden. But the hardening would have become complete; the moon had to leave the earth. In this way, human beings are kept in the right middle. The sun gives the power of progressive, living growth. The moon inhibits this development to the extent that is appropriate for humans. Humans stand in the middle between beings that develop much more quickly than they do and those that develop much more slowly. The sun has taken over the development of life, the moon the development of form. Human beings were given the opportunity to transform the form they had attained. Now they were prepared for the seed of the I to sink in. This sparked the development of human beings in a spiritual direction. That was at the end of the Lemurian epoch. Now human beings had to develop this I on Earth with the help of the other members. This development falls into the last Lemurian, the Atlantean, and our own time.
[ 12 ] But the human ego can only slowly take control of itself. In the beginning, when the physical body was fertilized with the ego, the ego could not yet take control of its development. If we follow the entire development of the Earth, we see that it was initially in a state of heat. At that time, it was not yet separated from the other planets belonging to its system. Physics also recognizes this starting point, but only in a physical sense. It speaks of a dead ball of gas. But it does not answer the question of where life came from. The formation of a planetary system is illustrated with a drop of oil on water; a card is inserted between the drops and rotated with a needle. Small drops then detach themselves. Those conducting the experiment forget that they are standing there and turning the card. They do not explain how the experiment could take place without them. Spiritual beings were connected to this gaseous body, to the heat matter. The reasons why the planets formed can be found in the fact that not only humans developed on our Earth, but also beings that are higher and lower than humans. On ancient Saturn, there were already beings who were going through their human stage. Today, they have advanced far beyond the human stage. Fire spirits on the sun are now two stages higher, and moon people are one stage higher than humans. The people on Saturn were the spirits of personality, but at that time, even higher beings who had been humans in an earlier stage also lived there. All these beings remain connected to the planetary system.
[ 13 ] The Sun separated from the Earth because higher beings were connected to it who needed a different setting. If they had remained with the Earth, they would have been held back in their development. They needed the rapid pace. Now, it was not only such beings who needed the sun, but also the most diverse beings at the most diverse stages of development. Some pushed Uranus away for themselves, and Saturn came into being for certain beings. Jupiter had become another scene. It came into being when the Earth was already shining. Thus, scene after scene separated according to the needs of the spiritual beings. When the sun split off, it took with it certain beings that could not remain connected to the earth but were not yet able to keep up with the sun's rapid pace. These beings were more exalted than humans but not yet as mature as the other beings of the sun. So the sun split off planets for these beings: Mercury and Venus, whose beings stood between the beings of the earth and those of the sun. These beings are also the ones who guided and directed the development of the ego when the ego itself was not yet able to do so. Developing the ego is the mission of Earth's development. Only when Christianity bears its ripest fruit will humans reach their level. The Venus beings worked through the astral or devachanic world, or incarnated in humans and became their leaders. In a way unknown to humans, they planted the seed for further development in humans. From another point of view, they are called the Luciferic beings. The Mercury beings were also connected with the development of the earth. They were the first great teachers in the mysteries. They secretly guided the instruction of the oldest initiates. While the Venus beings have a very long lifespan, the Mercury beings know nothing of birth and death because they have developed budhi. Their consciousness continues uninterrupted through birth and death.
[ 14 ] We have thus discussed some aspects of the development of the Earth, the meaning of the origin of the world sphere and of human beings. This is a new picture of evolution. By describing it from different points of view, one gains a true idea of reality. The moment one becomes dogmatic, one can never penetrate into real occultism. Then, if one seeks to gain an overview as described at the beginning, one can gradually see spiritual life in its reality.