Cosmosophy II
GA 208
13 November 1921, Dornach
Lecture XI
Yesterday we concentrated on the condition of the human astral body and I between going to sleep and waking up. Let us pick up the thread again. I said that if we consider the human physical and ether body during sleep and compare this to the I and astral body we have to say: The will-endowed or will-related I is given form out of the relationship it develops to the spirits of the other world during sleep. Using a diagram to show the I being given form, I said that if we see the furrowing given to the I (Fig. 42, light colour - white in diagram) as a kind of photographic negative—ignoring aspects of scale—the structure of the human brain would be like the Positive. The astral body would have to be envisaged as coloured by the soul element in its environment; I have shown this schematically by using a number of different colours (Fig. 43).
As I said yesterday, this does not cover the behaviour of the physical and ether bodies during sleep. Let us add this today. The human physical body is seemingly known in modern science, but it really and truly is only seemingly. Scientists take little account of the great difference between the human being in limbs and metabolism and the human being in the head. The constitution of the head person is a reflection of what the individual has been between death and rebirth. Again all aspects of scale are left aside.
Modern scientists take the structure of the physical brain to derive from the paternal and maternal organizations. Considering the matter from a number of different points of view, we have already realized that this is not the case. Put somewhat crudely and in radical terms, human beings develop in the physical world because initially substance is thrown into chaos in the maternal body. Into this chaotic matter, which is now outside the laws of both chemistry and physics, the powers to make the embryo what it will be are implanted out of the universe. The powers the individual has gained in the time between death and rebirth are inoculated, if I may put it like this, into these powers. The way I’d really like to put it is: With regard to form, the human being is implanted in the maternal body. Only the bed for the new human being is created in the maternal body, and the universe is constituted in such a way that if the opportunity is created for something specific to evolve, then this specific something will evolve.
The inner structure of the human head is such that in the first place it reflects what has been furrowed and coloured here during the previous life on earth, but in addition the whole universe may also be said to be re-created in this head. Modern science really does not have a very good grasp of the process by which insight and perception is gained. It is better to say: The complexity of the human brain really is a recreation of the universe. The form principles existing in the head cannot be penetrated by the 1 and astral body. They live an independent life in the human head, as I have shown before. Human beings know themselves to be I and astral body exactly because these two have an independent life. I and astral body can really only connect with the human being in limbs and metabolism. There they flourish, making us essentially into will-endowed creatures. This means that the human being of limbs and metabolism is essentially the dwelling place of the principle which on death returns to the world of the spirit. That world receives the individual human I and astral body and takes them onwards to new stages of existence. The human head, on the other hand, holds everything that comes from earlier lives, and from lives between death and rebirth, elements which have taken form in the head organization, as it were, and made themselves at home in it. The human head relates to the past, the human limbs and metabolism to the future. The rhythmical human being moves to and fro between past and future.
We need to see the physical human being in this light if we are to understand the form and structure of the limbs and their inner life. We then understand why the organization of the head is actually always breaking down, paralysing itself, whilst the organization of limbs and metabolism is always building itself up. We shall also understand why the organization of limbs and metabolism has to be connected with the chemical and physical nature of the earth, a connection which comes to expression in nutrition.
The human being of limbs and metabolism takes in elements which have a real need to develop further. In waking life, however, this human being needs to reckon with the forces that come from the earth itself. In this aspect we are subject to the earth’s gravity and to other earth forces. We are subject to the forces which enter into us with the food we eat. In this regard, therefore, we may be said to be entirely creatures of the earth. The evolution of form in limbs and metabolism had no part in what the individual lived through between death and rebirth, before entering into the present life on earth. This is the reason why the human being of limbs and metabolism also is not able to adapt to the spiritual universe outside when we are awake in life. In the waking state this aspect of the human being is given up to the physical earth.
This is not the case during sleep, however, for the human head contains the form principles of everything connected with the individual’s past, including life between death and rebirth. The forms of the organs in the human head contain subtle, fleeting images of the whole cosmos.
In waking life, the head, being all these images of the universe, is not able to influence the human being of limbs and metabolism. As the seat of the major sense organs, the head is continuously communicating with the earth world outside. In waking life, everything we see or hear influences us via the head. During sleep, the human head is not merely provided with physical nourishment. Physical nutrition, which essentially also happens in waking life, is not what matters most; something else is most essential for the human physical body during sleep.
The eye, for example, is not only the organization which provides for vision but at the same time it is also an image of the spiritual powers of the cosmos. Between death and rebirth the individual lives in the cosmos of soul and spirit. Like all organs in the head, the eye has a double function. The first is to enable communication with the outside world through vision, which happens during waking life. In the life of sleep, the eye and its surrounding parts, above all the surrounding nerves and blood, influence the physical organism in its metabolic and limb aspects. The powers of the eye closed in sleep influence the kidney system, for example, imbuing it with the cosmic image. Other organs in the head imprint other aspects of the cosmos on the human system of metabolism and limbs. For the physical body, therefore, the time we spend in sleep serves mainly to let the powers of the head structure the human being of metabolism and limbs (Fig. 42, reddish arrows). It is particularly during sleep that structuring powers radiate continually from the head to the lower human being, so that in sleep the soul and spirit aspect of the head is indeed the structurer of the human being of metabolism and limbs.
We have quite the wrong idea of creation if we see it as being limited to particular moments. We are in fact being created all the time. We are created out of the spirit every night; our system of metabolism and limbs is given structure and life out of the spirit night after night.
As you know, in modern materialistic science only the opposite of this is known, i.e. that the powers of the metabolism influence the used-up brain. That is only half the story, however, for as this effect is brought to bear from below upwards, the human being is enlivened out of soul and spirit in a process that takes the opposite direction. It is important to realize that these marvellous processes working from above downwards are governed by a high level of consciousness as we sleep, a level we human beings will not achieve until evolution on the planet Vulcan. It is the level of consciousness of the spirit human being. This level of consciousness is truly present in the human being today. It takes effect during sleep in the way I have just described. At our present level of consciousness we are not able to know our true nature well enough to be aware, under normal conditions, of the reality and activity of a level of consciousness which is infinitely higher than the conscious awareness we have of our daytime activities.
Real appreciation of such things is certainly dependent on human beings becoming more deeply religious through the science of the spirit. If people pursue activities in life that allow their true nature to be neglected so that it withers away, if they do not seek to implant in their physical bodies what can be implanted in them during life on earth, they bring destruction to something in themselves which, unknown to them in ordinary conscious awareness, is a much higher form of consciousness than they themselves are able to have.
Looking out into the universe we perceive a world which, if we gain real understanding, makes us go down on our knees in admiration. We must have the same attitude as we look, with real understanding, into the working of powers in our own inner nature that are greater than human powers. This, then, gives you an approximate indication of the situation in which the human physical body finds itself during sleep.
Apart from the physical body we also have an ether body (Fig. 42, hatched area). In the waking state this is continuously exposed to influences coming from the I, which is active in the world, and the astral body, which is connected with the I. In the waking state we always see the colours arising and fading away again and the other colouring effects which take place in the astral body and go across into the ether body. In fact, we see the ether body adapt itself to the astral body. We also see something enter into the ether body which is the I in its structuring. In short, in the waking state we see I and astral body play into the ether body. When asleep, the human being as I and astral body is outside the ether body, and the colouring of the astral body and structuring of the I do not enter into it. The ether body is then left to its own structuring principles. The way this comes to expression is that in sleep, the ether body assumes a structure that is an image of the universe and does so in a truly magnificent way.
The main substance of the etheric body is taken up by human beings as they move from pre-birth life to physical life on earth. Its composition depends on how the individual lived between death and rebirth. Everything the human being receives into himself from the universe—shown in symbolic form, as it were, in spiritual science as something the human being has taken in of the heavens from North, South, East, West—all this the etheric body bears within it. For the reasons given above, the ether body is unable to make this apparent in the waking state, but it does so in sleep. The human being is all memory then, to begin with memory of life on earth.
Occasionally people are aware that on entering into their etheric body they enter into a sea of images; they consider it part of their dreams. Anyone who has made the effort, however, to observe the sea of images which a person passes through, as it were, in the process of waking up, and observe the experiences made at that time, discovers that this ether body really contains the whole of our life on earth when we are asleep. In our sleep we are really alive and active in everything we have gone through in the ether body from the time we were born. It has however been structured for the ether body by cosmic powers. As astral body and I are not playing into it at this time, the ether body radiates what has been inculcated, inoculated into it at birth. The human ether body grows radiant (Fig. 43, yellow arrows).
This radiance of the human being in sleep is something truly significant. When the sun has gone down and the earth world is immersed in darkness of night, it represents the soul radiance of humanity, quite distinct from the physical radiance of the sun. Unfortunately, however, this soul radiance also contains everything the human being implants into the ether body via the astral body and I during life because he is bad, elements which are destructive and cause the ether body to wither. The evolution of the earth could not progress, however, without this radiance coming from human beings.
Someone equipped with the necessary organs who was out there in the cosmos, observing the earth from out there, would say: During the day you see the sunlight reflected from the part of the earth where the sun is shining; but when night covers part of the earth, the earth phosphoresces. The phosphorescence comes from the human ether bodies. The earth needs all this to progress in its evolution. If no human beings were asleep on earth, the vegetative powers of the earth would die down much more rapidly than they actually do. Human beings certainly do not exist on earth just for their own sake; they are not without significance for the way the earth as a whole is structured. For the whole of their life on earth, sleeping human beings radiate from their ether bodies into earth evolution what they have taken up in the world of the spirit between death and rebirth.
Thus we are able to say: For the physical body, radiation is from above downwards; for the ether body it is from the inside outwards. Human sleep definitely also has cosmic significance.
This is why I had to tell you yesterday that when an I and astral body return to the ether body it feels like autumn, and when they are free of the body in sleep it feels like spring or summer. It is indeed true that human beings become more sun-like or wintry in soul and spirit as the astral body goes in and out.
We may say, therefore, that during sleep the nature of the human ether body is such that the powers human beings gather between death and rebirth in the cosmos have a structuring effect on the earth. Again the level of consciousness is higher than that normally available for people’s waking activities. The consciousness of the life spirit is at work in the ether body’s activity during sleep. This is a level of consciousness human beings will only develop when our planet earth has reached its Venus metamorphosis.
We can see, therefore, that the relationship of I and astral body on the one hand, and physical body and ether body on the other, is such that they do not work together during sleep, but only from the time we wake up until we fall asleep. The relationship changes, with the swing of the pendulum moving between collaboration and non-collaboration. It is also the case that at the moment when I and astral body approach the physical and ether bodies on waking, and at the moment when they withdraw again on going to sleep, the interaction which occurs is governed by yet another level of consciousness which is above that used in human waking activity. We are able to influence our waking up and going to sleep in a certain, indirect way. But the subtle processes between I and astral body on the one hand and physical and ether bodies on the other as we go to sleep and wake up again are something our conscious human mind is not able to perceive.
I’d like to show this interaction with these arrows going in opposite directions (Fig. 43, blue). In this direction, in this interaction, as it comes to expression especially on waking up and going to sleep, though in a certain way it also continues in waking life and even during sleep, a principle comes into its own which we can say applies mainly to the astral body. We are able to say that the situation is such that the astral body is stimulated in a cosmic sense. Remember that from going to sleep to waking up the astral body is coloured in accord with its moral reactions, as I have shown yesterday. On waking up it enters into an ether body structured by the cosmos. It has to follow it and adapt to it. And we are able to say that cosmic astral powers influence human astral powers. This can be observed quite clearly in a specific case.
Imagine someone who has not gone through life between death and rebirth—which is true in the case of animals—and was newly created at birth, which is what Aristotelian philosophy postulates. This individual would not bring the effects of earlier lives on earth and between death and rebirth into the new life. His eyes, his senses would roam over experiences in the outside world, but he would have no concepts based on geometry and mathematics to make connections between them. This is just one instance, one of those where geometry, which holds true for the cosmos, enters into interaction with principles that apply only in the earth environment. Rational concepts of mathematics and geometry enter into empirical experience gained on earth. This interaction is continuous, and it takes place in such a way that the spirit self is the consciousness active in it. Observing the world from a mathematical point of view, people have no idea, of course, that as they do so, the spirit self has them by the scruff of the neck. They fail to take note of this because they limit themselves to the reflection of it which exists in ordinary human consciousness.
When the human being is finally neither sleeping nor in the process of waking up or going to sleep, when I and astral body have entered fully into ether body and physical body, we have the ordinary level of present-day conscious awareness, when we are given up to everything that is outside of spirit human being, life spirit and spirit self. When humanity will have reached the level of existence which it will have when the earth has gone through its metamorphosis into Jupiter existence, as described in my Occult Science, it will no longer be the case that people use geometry to create a cube in an external way, and then discover that this ideal cube form fits a salt crystal. Human beings will be given up to the outside world to such an extent that they will be in the salt themselves, as it were. There won’t be any salt of this kind on Jupiter, of course, but analogies like this help us to get a clearer picture of human life as it will be in the future.
Using the method we used yesterday to consider astral body and I, we can therefore also gain an idea of how physical and etheric body are during sleep. The physical body is actually self-structuring in limbs and metabolism during sleep, the ether body world-structuring.
Thinking back to what we were considering yesterday, we have to say: The human astral body moves out of the physical and ether bodies during sleep. The powers of soul in the universe stream into it, and the way they enter into it depends on the inner life of mind and soul. If someone is in sympathy with all that is good, the most beautiful powers of the universe will be able to enter. If people develop their inclinations towards evil, their astral bodies will wither away. During sleep, the astral body assumes different nuances of colour for different levels of feeling and inner responsiveness (Fig. 43, reddish, yellow, pink, mauve). We may say that individual people sparkle up in their astral bodies during sleep depending on the way they are. The astral body represents our inner state of heart and soul during waking hours. This, as it were, pours into the soul universe, and human beings experience themselves in this pouring-out process in so far as their inner state has changed, but in a situation where they encounter the world of the spirit in that inner state.
If human beings were able to enter into the consciousness of the life spirit when their astral bodies are active and alive out there, they would be able to speak to that which happens with their astral bodies. This actually happens, but at an unconscious level. Who would be speaking, if humans beings suddenly achieved the level of consciousness of the life spirit in their sleep? The only way of putting this is to say: The human astral body would be speaking, as judge over good and evil in the human being. So that we really have to say: In sleep, the astral body becomes the judge of the soul. Rightly understood, this statement is important for human life. It is a truth that shines out as if from beyond the threshold of the world of the spirit, a truth human beings should call to mind as often as possible.
Take the corresponding situation for the I. The I moves out of the physical and ether bodies, structuring itself in accord with the powers of the universal entities in the sphere of the spirit. It becomes what it can become in the light of how it lives in the physical body. If it were to come awake to the spirit human being level of consciousness, it would not merely speak to itself, as the astral body would if suddenly given the life spirit level of consciousness; the I would be given the level of consciousness which is active in the physical body it has left behind, sending powers from above downwards. If, then, human ‘I’s had this level of consciousness when out of the body during sleep, human beings would know not only the totality of judgements passed on them but they would see that which they are in the process of becoming, now as images, which will be the seed for future lives on earth.
I cannot think of any other way of putting this in a sentence than this: The I becomes its own sacrifice, a sacrifice brought by the spirit which is active in the body. A sacrifice may be such that it is accepted with pleasure, which may also be the case for the I when it is given structure out there. A sacrifice may also be such that it is rejected. These are the extremes. Mostly, of course, human beings experience something which lies more in the middle. But a sacrifice may be rejected, having been found unworthy. If human beings present themselves to the spirits of the universe in such a way that they have to wither away greatly because of experiences they had in their physical and etheric bodies during waking hours, they become rejects.
You see, therefore, that the idea of sacrifice is certainly applicable in this case. And it seems to me that these two statements: In sleep, the astral human being becomes the judge of the soul, and: The I becomes its own sacrifice, are extraordinarily important if we are to understand human nature fully.
If we consider what the instinctive judgements of humanity have achieved in the past, judgements made not with the clarity of mind we must use today to search for anthroposophical knowledge of the spirit, but from instinct, we become aware of images representing significant original wisdom possessed by humanity. I have spoken of this before. They come to expression in ancient myths and sayings and also in the rites which have survived in different religious systems.
This is why we feel profound reverence for traditional religious paintings and images of ancient rites if we understand them rightly. Essentially it is true to say that religious feeling can only come alive again in human hearts if insight into the world gained through the science of the spirit—insight that is more than mere words, but perceived in its deepest meaning—takes hold not only of the head, but of the whole human being. The science of the spirit must not only provide us with insight into the world but make us feel reverence for the spirit which is at work in the world. This has been particularly evident to us today.
This science of the spirit will be able to quicken religious feeling in human hearts. Humanity has however also gone through a time when people lived only for intellectualism, rationalism and the materialism connected with this—we know this had to be, for the sake of achieving independence. Today the greater part of humanity is still caught up in these things. There has to be a return, however, to perception of the spiritual in the world, to living beyond mere intellectual understanding of the world, beyond experience limited to the purely head aspect of the human being.
If we go back beyond the age of the intellect to the days when the religious images of old were still alive—also serving as images to convey insight well into the Medieval period of modern humanity—if we consider the images created in the performance of religious rites, we find something in all of these which is enormously similar, except that it was gained through instinct, to the insights we are now able to gain in the worlds of the spirit, though now in the light of clear conscious awareness.
I really have to say that if the idea expressed in the words: “In sleep, the astral body becomes the judge of the soul” comes from Inspiration, we find this well represented in Michelangelo’s fresco The Last Judgement on the altar of the Sistine Chapel. Here we have something that comes from time immemorial. It has merely assumed Christian form and with this become more traditional. Pictures like these were painted out of tradition. There were times in human evolution, however, when they were seen in a living way, when instinct made people see the inspired Imagination of human souls pass judgement on themselves in sleep.
Again, if we consider the image of the Lamb of God, which touches us so deeply, the image of the Christ uniting himself with the human I, entering into it, the thought of the I becoming the sacrifice as it enters into sleep arises in heart and mind—particularly when we contemplate the Lamb sacrificing itself—we discover how fittingly the image of the Lamb expresses the sacrificial nature of the human being in sleep. We discover that an instinctive, wisdom-filled consciousness gave rise to this image, which the I needs in its life on earth, because during sleep it becomes the sacrifice of its own selfhood.
We can do no other but again and again point out that the anthroposophical science of the spirit, as it evolves, seeks to develop completely clear concepts, the kind of clear concepts which otherwise exist only in mathematics, or geometry. But because the concepts gained in the science of the spirit have their roots in the living life of the cosmic spirits they are always such that they do not leave us cold, the way mathematical concepts do, but also fill us with the warmth of inner feeling and with will impulses to fire us. Here we see the close relationship between clear thinking, warmth of feeling and energy-laden will impulses. This, then, is a point of view which allows us to perceive human nature in its fullness.
Many aspects of history, too, only find their explanation if we are able to base ourselves on such a perception of the human being. Well into the Middle Ages, as I said, many people still understood the ancient images, in which the world is seen sub specie aeternitatis, in the light of eternity, a kind of understanding that still existed in the old instinctive life of wisdom and which has to be regained in clarity of mind, seeking to achieve it through the anthroposophical science of the spirit.
We sometimes see strange individuals come up in history, people who seem rather out of place in the present-day situation. Travelling in Italy, I once talked to a priest belonging to the Benedictine order in Monte Cassino. He told me that the list of saints in his breviary included the Saxon German emperor Henry II,41Henry the Saint (973–1024). also called “the Saint”—I do not know how far this is still mentioned in the history books. What Henry II was after was an Ecclesia catholica non Romana, that was his true aim, though he is called a saint. In his day, that is, in the 10th, 11th century, it was certainly still possible to speak out of real experience of old traditional wisdom and say that what had come into the world through Christianity should be an Ecclesia catholica, meaning a church for the whole of humanity in which the spirit reigns which was intended to come into the world through Christianity. But he wanted an Ecclesia catholica non Romana, for the Roman Catholic Church had become a worldly kingdom. Truth is that everywhere where kingdoms of the spirit become worldly kingdoms the ahrimanic principle takes hold of what lives as a holy of holies and has lived as such in the ancient wisdom possessed by humanity. In the days of Henry II, people were still strongly aware that it was possible to separate Ecclesia catholica and Ecclesia catholica Romana and that the desirable aim was an Ecclesia catholica non Romana.
As I said, Henry II is out of place as a saint in the breviary. The Ecclesia catholica Romana has not the least cause to include him among the saints, for he was one of the people who in a fiery, holy enthusiasm for a catholic church actually wanted to vanquish the Roman Catholic Church.
Historical facts like these ought to be brought to mind especially when reference is made to the tremendously important truths which can be brought back again to the surface of human awareness through anthroposophical science of the spirit. It is very necessary to point this out today, for individual instances which may disgust us as they come up from the Ecclesia catholica Romana right here on our doorstep42Diatribe entitled “The Secrets of the Dornach Temple” published by M. Kully in Basle, 1920-21. allow us to see how the ahrimanic spirit was able to enter into it. On the one hand we must not let this ahrimanic spirit deceive us into thinking that the Ecclesia catholica Romana does not hold the light-filled wisdom of eternity. When I was able to give a course here for theologians, it was evident that with the longing felt by Protestants to deepen Protestantism in its spiritual aspects, to get out of rationalism, out of intellectualism, it came as a real liberation for some of those present to hear the words: Ecclesia catholica non Romana. For today we have definitely reached a point where rationalism must be overcome just as much as the worldly nature of the Catholic Church has to be overcome; humanity must come together again in a life of the spirit that is for all, a life of the spirit to which none may lay claim who have any kind of desire to rule the world.
The ahrimanic spirit is a lying spirit. It may happen that lying minds fall so low in this lying spirit as to declare falsehood to be truth. It is necessary, therefore, that out of the depths of what is happening in the world we come to abhor lies utterly. We truly come to abhor lies if we are able to say, in full awareness: In sleep, the astral body becomes the judge of the soul. The I in sleep becomes the sacrifice of its selfhood.
Darkness is thrown on these profound truths by the ahrimanic spirit, which has also entered into the religious creeds of recent times. It will be up to people who in all honesty, and with some energy, profess themselves to be followers of anthroposophy not just to develop a superficial, intellectual liking for the wisdom anthroposophy is able to offer, but to develop real inner energy of feelings and will, and to let this energy unite with what mind and spirit are able to perceive of the world of the spirit through the science of the spirit which takes its orientation from anthroposophy.
This, my friends, is also intended to teach you how important it is to distinguish between the element to be found even in the traditional continuation of religious images and images created in religious rites and the way in which these are sometimes used today.
Surely all of us must feel the deepest reverence for something which is contained in the ritual of the Russian Orthodox Church, something which as it were shines out to us from the spiritually grey-haired ancient Orient. Our approach to these ritual acts can always be such that we penetrate through what is happening there to the tremendous depth which comes to revelation. Millennia and millennia of wisdom evolved from instinct come to expression in these ritual acts.
Years ago I attended such a ritual in Helsingfors.43Helsingfors, Easter 1912. See letter Marie Steiner wrote on 13 April 1912 to Mieta Waller: “There was an Easter celebration in the church ...”. Nachrichten der Rudolf Steiner Nachlassverwaltung Easter 1967, No. 7, p. 12. It was at Easter and it is fair to say this was one of the saddest events in my life to remember, to see how the popes, the most terrible inner liars, acted out their comedy based on eternal truth. That is how it is in the world today. Under the influence of ahrimanic materialism, lies are presented on the outside, and the deepest truth lies within, and the two are brought together in a truly dreadful way. You have to have a real feeling for this, or you will not develop the right energy in your understanding of the nature of the human being.
That was an extreme case, but the same happens everywhere today, with differing degrees of intensity. Anthroposophical awareness should be such that we see these things, and are able to distinguish clearly between truth and falsehood, a falsehood which under the pressures of external circumstances is very much hidden. We must always gain something from entering deeply into anthroposophy—for the human being as a whole and above all for the conscious awareness belonging to our age. This is what I wanted to say to you in connection with what we have been considering here.
Zweiundzwanzigster Vortrag
[ 1 ] Gestern haben wir das Hauptaugenmerk darauf gerichtet, wie der astralische Leib des Menschen und das Ich sich verhalten in dem Zustande zwischen dem Einschlafen und dem Aufwachen, und wir wollen noch einmal an dieses anknüpfen. Ich sagte, wenn wir dem Menschen, wie er im schlafenden Zustande als physischer Leib und Ätherleib ist, gegenüberstellen wollen sein Ich und seinen astralischen Leib, so müssen wir sagen: Das willensbegabte Ich, das willensmäßige Ich, das wird durch das Verhältnis, in das es kommt zu den Wesen der geistigen Welt während des Schlafes, gestaltet. - Also, wenn wir schematisch zeichnen: wir bekommen eine Gestaltung des Ich. Und ich sagte: Wenn man diese furchige Gestaltung des Ich (siehe Zeichnung Seite 197, hell) als eine Art Negativ betrachtet, wie man es in der Photographie hat - allerdings, auf die Größenverhältnisse darf man dabei nicht Rücksicht nehmen -, so würde die Gestaltung des menschlichen physischen Gehirns wie das Positiv sein. Den astralischen Leib, ihn müßten wir uns tingiert mit dem Seelischen der Umwelt denken, was ich schematisch dadurch ausdrücke, daß ich ihn in verschiedener Färbung zeichne (siehe, rosa, rötlich, gelb, lila).
[ 2 ] Nun sagte ich gestern, daß damit ja noch nicht das Verhalten des physischen Leibes und des ätherischen Leibes im Schlafe besprochen ist, und wir haben das gestern weggelassen.Wir wollen das heute hinzufügen. Der physische Leib des Menschen, er ist ja scheinbar der äußeren Wissenschaft bekannt, aber eben wirklich nur scheinbar. Denn diese äußere Wissenschaft berücksichtigt wenig, wie gründlich verschieden der Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch und der Hauptesmensch sind. Der Hauptesmensch, der Kopfmensch, er ist nach seiner physischen Konstitution so, daß er eigentlich ein Nachbild ist dessen, was der Mensch während der Zeit zwischen dem Tod und einer neuen Geburt ist. Wiederum können dabei Größenverhältnisse nicht in Betracht kommen.
[ 3 ] Das physische Gehirn, man betrachtet es ja heute in der Wissenschaft so, als ob es in seinem Bau nur ein Ergebnis der väterlichen und mütterlichen Organisation sei. Aber wir haben aus verschiedenen Betrachtungen, die wir angestellt haben, ja schon gesehen, daß das nicht den Tatsachen entspricht. Was beim Werden des Menschen hier in der physischen Welt vor sich geht, das besteht, wenn man es etwas grob und radikal ausspricht, darin, daß im mütterlichen Leibe eigentlich zunächst die Substanz ins Chaos geworfen wird und daß dieser chaotischen Substanz, die verlassen hat die Gesetzmäßigkeit sowohl des Chemischen wie des Physischen, eingepflanzt werden aus dem Universum heraus die Kräfte, welche den Embryo konstituieren. Und in diesen Kräften, die aus dem Universum heraus im mütterlichen Leibe gestaltend wirken, in denen befinden sich ja auch eingeimpft, möchte ich sagen, die Kräfte, die der Mensch selber mitbringt, nachdem er die Zeit durchlaufen hat zwischen dem Tod und einer neuen Geburt. Man möchte eigentlich sagen: Der Mensch wird selbst seiner Form nach dem mütterlichen Leib eingepflanzt. Im mütterlichen Leib wird nur das Bett für den Menschen geformt, und es ist eben im Universum so eingerichtet, daß da, wo eine Gelegenheit geschaffen wird, daß etwas Bestimmtes entstehen kann, dann dieses Bestimmte entsteht.
[ 4 ] Nun ist das menschliche Haupt innerlich so geformt, daß es erstens eine Nachbildung ist von dem, was sich hier gefurcht und tingiert hat im vorigen Erdenleben, daß aber in diesem Haupt auch ausgeprägt ist, man kann sagen, das ganze Universum. Den Erkenntnisvorgang begreift eigentlich die heutige Wissenschaft sehr schlecht, denn er ist so zu fassen, daß man sagt: In diesem menschlichen, kompliziert gebauten Gehirn, ist eigentlich durchaus eine Nachbildung des Universums vorhanden. Und was da drinnen an Formen auftritt, das ist so, daß es nicht durchdrungen werden kann von dem Ich und von dem astralischen Leibe. Die leben frei, wie ich in früheren Betrachtungen ausgeführt habe, in dem menschlichen Haupte. Darum weiß sich der Mensch gerade als Ich und astralischer Leib, weil diese frei leben. Nur mit dem Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmenschen können sich Ich und astralischer Leib wirklich verbinden, wie wir gesehen haben. Da wuchern sie drinnen und machen ihn vorzugsweise zu einem Willenswesen, wie wir ja auch wissen. Dadurch aber lebt in dem Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmenschen vorzugsweise das, was durch den Tod wiederum hinaustritt in die geistige Welt, die den Menschen seinem Ich und seinem astralischen Leib nach aufnimmt und zu weiteren Daseinsstufen trägt, während in dem Haupt des Menschen alles das vorhanden ist, was aus den früheren Leben und Leben zwischen Tod und neuer Geburt herkommt und sich gewissermaßen dieser Hauptesorganisation eingeformt und in sie eingelebt hat. Das Haupt des Menschen weist nach rückwärts, der Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch weist nach vorwärts und der rhythmische Mensch ist eben das Hinundherpendeln zwischen Vergangenheit und Zukunft.
[ 5 ] Erst wenn man in dieser Weise auch den physischen Menschen versteht, wird man den Bau der Glieder, wird man das innere Leben der Glieder verstehen. Man wird verstehen, warum die Hauptesorganisation des Menschen eigentlich eine absteigende, eine sich fortwährend ablähmende ist, währenddem die Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselorganisation eine sich fortwährend aufbauende ist. Man wird auch verstehen, warum die Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselorganisation mit der chemisch-physikalischen Beschaffenheit der Erde zusammenhängen muß, welcher Zusammenhang sich ja durch die Ernährung ausdrückt.
[ 6 ] Nun, dieser Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch, der nimmt eigentlich das auf, was darauf angewiesen ist, sich weiterzubilden. Während des wachen Lebens ist aber der Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch im Grunde genommen sehr darauf angewiesen, mit den Kräften, die von der Erde selbst ausgehen, zu rechnen. Der Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch ist der Schwere der Erde unterworfen; er ist den anderen Kräften der Erde unterworfen. Er ist denjenigen Kräften unterworfen, die ausgehen von seinen Nahrungsmitteln und ihn durchdringen. Er ist gewissermaßen durchaus ein Erdenwesen. Und weil der Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch seiner Formung nach nicht teilgenommen hat an dem, was der Mensch durchlebt hat zwischen dem Tod und einer neuen Geburt vor dem gegenwärtigen Erdendasein, dadurch ist dieser Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmensch auch während des wachen Lebens nicht fähig, sich dem äußeren geistigen Universum anzupassen. Er ist gewissermaßen der Physis der Erde hingegeben während des wachen Zustandes.
[ 7 ] Das ist aber im Schlafe nicht so. Denn im Haupte des Menschen ist ja alles das gebildet, was mit der Vergangenheit des Menschen, auch mit dem Leben zwischen dem Tod und der Geburt zusammenhängt. In diesem Haupte des Menschen sind, wie ich eben auseinandergesetzt habe, in den Formen der Organe auf eine leise, flüchtige Weise Bilder des ganzen Kosmos enthalten.
[ 8 ] Das alles, was das Haupt des Menschen als ein Abbild des Universums ist, kann während des wachen Zustandes nicht auf den Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmenschen wirken. Das Haupt des Menschen ist ja als der Sitz der eminentesten Sinnesorgane in fortwährender Korrespondenz mit der äußeren irdischen Welt. Es wirkt durch das Haupt während des Wachens alles das ein, was gesehen, was gehört wird. Während des Schlafes ist es nicht etwa so, daß das menschliche Haupt nur auf eine physische Weise ernährt wird; das geschieht im Grunde genommen auch während des Wachens. Das ist gar nicht das Wesentliche für den physischen Leib während des Schlafes, sondern für den physischen Leib des Menschen während des Schlafes ist etwas ganz anderes die Hauptsache.
[ 9 ] Wir haben, sagen wir zum Beispiel in dem Auge nicht nur diejenige Organisation, welche das Sehen vermittelt, sondern wir haben im Auge zu gleicher Zeit ein Abbild des Kosmos, der geistigen Kräfte des Kosmos. Der Mensch hat in der Zeit vom Tode bis zu der Geburt gelebt im geistig-seelischen Kosmos. Die Organisation des Auges ist nachgebildet diesem Leben im geistig-seelischen Kosmos. Das Auge hat, so wie alle Organe des Hauptes, eine doppelte Aufgabe: erstens die Korrespondenz mit der Außenwelt durch das Sehen zu vermitteln. Das geschieht während des wachen Lebens. Während des Schlafeslebens wirkt das Auge mit seiner Umgebung, namentlich mit seiner Nerven- und Blutumgebung zurück auf den physischen Organismus, insofern dieser der Stoffwechsel-Gliedmaßenorganismus ist, und es wirken zum Beispiel während des Schlafes die Kräfte des geschlossenen Auges auf das Nierensystem des Menschen und prägen dem Nierensystem das kosmische Bild ein. Andere Organe des Hauptes prägen anderes aus dem Kosmos dem menschlichen Stoffwechsel-Gliedmaßensystem ein. Und so haben wir für den physischen Leib unsere Schlafenszeit vor allen Dingen dazu, daß die Kräfte des Hauptes gestaltend wirken auf den Stoffwechsel-Gliedmaßenmenschen (siehe Zeichnung, rötliche Pfeile, und Schema). Gerade während des Schlafes geschieht es, Tan daß, wenn ich schematisch zeichnen will, vom Haupte fortwährend gestaltende Kräfte nach dem unteren Menschen hin strahlen, so daß tatsächlich das Haupt sich während des Schlafes zum Stoffwechsel-Gliedmaßenmenschen als der geistig-seelische Gestalter verhält.
[ 10 ] Der Schöpfungsbegriff wird ganz falsch gedacht, wenn man ihn auf irgendwelche Momente konzentriert. Wir werden eigentlich fortwährend geschaffen. Wir werden jede Nacht aus dem Geiste heraus geschaffen; es wird unser Stoffwechsel-Gliedmaßensystem geformt, belebt jede Nacht aus dem Geistigen heraus.
[ 11 ] Sie wissen ja, daß die materialistische Wissenschaft der Gegenwart eigentlich nur das Gegenteil weiß, daß nämlich die Kräfte des Stoffwechsels auf das verbrauchte Gehirn wirken. Allein, dies ist nur die eine Seite. Während diese Wirkung von unten nach oben stattfindet, findet von oben nach unten die geistige und seelische Belebung des Menschen statt. Und es ist wichtig, sich klarzumachen, daß diese geistig-seelische Belebung einer hohen Bewußtseinsstufe untersteht. Wir Menschen werden diese Bewußtseinsstufe, die notwendig ist, um jene wunderbaren Vorgänge hervorzurufen, welche da für den physischen Leib des Menschen im Schlafe geschehen, erst während der Entwickelung des Vulkanplaneten haben; denn die Bewußtseinsstufe, die dem entspricht, das ist die des Geistesmenschen. Das Bewußtsein des Geistesmenschen ist wirklich im Menschen drinnen. Es macht sich geltend im Schlafe, und es macht sich geltend in den Vorgängen, die ich eben geschildert habe. Aber der Mensch ist auf seiner gegenwärtigen Entwickelungsstufe nicht in der Lage, sich gewissermaßen so weit selbst zu erkennen, daß er unter normalen Verhältnissen dieses Weben und Wesen eines viel höheren Bewußtseinsgrades, als er ihn für seine wachen Betätigungen hat, in sich verspüren würde.
[ 12 ] Die rechte Würdigung solcher Dinge ist schon verknüpft damit, daß der Mensch durch die Geisteswissenschaft, wie wir sie hier kennenlernen, religiös vertieft wird. Wenn der Mensch das, was er ist, durch seine Lebensbetätigung vernachlässigt, verkümmern läßt, wenn er seinem physischen Leib nicht einzupflanzen versucht, was während des Erdenlebens eingepflanzt werden kann, dann greift er zerstörend ein in etwas, in dem, ihm unbewußt für sein normales Bewußtsein, ein viel höheres Bewußtsein herrscht, als er es selber haben kann.
[ 13 ] Wenn wir hinausblicken in das Universum, blicken wir nicht nur in eine Welt, vor der wir, wenn wir sie richtig verstehen, bewundernd niedersinken im Geiste, sondern wir müssen uns ebenso verhalten, wenn wir mit richtigem Verständnis in das Walten des Übermenschlichen im eigenen menschlichen Inneren hineinschauen.
[ 14 ] Damit habe ich Ihnen ungefähr angedeutet, wie es sich für den Schlafzustand verhält mit dem physischen Leib des Menschen.
[ 15 ] Nun haben wir außer dem physischen Leib dann den Ätherleib (siehe Zeichnung Seite 197, schraffiert). Dieser Ätherleib des Menschen ist in wachem Zustande ja fortwährend den Wirkungen unterworfen, welche vom Ich, das sich in der Welt betätigt, und vom astralischen Leibe, der mit diesem Ich in Verbindung steht, ausgehen. Während des wachen Zustandes sehen wir stets die aufleuchtenden und sich abdämpfenden Farben und die anderen Tingierungen, die im astralischen Leibe stattfinden und in den Ätherleib hinüberschlagen, und wir sehen eigentlich während des Wachzustandes den Ätherleib sich anpassen an den astralischen Leib. Wir sehen aber auch das, was das Ich durch seine Gestaltung ist, hereinschlagen in den Ätherleib. Kurz, wir sehen während des wachen Zustandes ein Spielen des Ich und des astralischen Leibes im Ätherleib. Während des Schlafes, da ist der Mensch als Ich und als astralischer Leib außerhalb des Ätherleibes. Da spielt der astralische Leib mit seiner Tingierung, das Ich mit seiner Gestaltung nicht herein in den Ätherleib. Da ist der Ätherleib seiner eigenen Gestaltung überlassen. Und diese eigene Gestaltung, sie drückt sich dadurch aus, daß der Ätherleib in einer ganz großartigen Weise sich während des Schlafes gestaltet als ein Abbild des Universums.
[ 16 ] Der ätherische Leib wird ja von dem Menschen seiner wesentlichen Substantialität nach aufgenommen, indem sich der Mensch aus dem vorgeburtlichen Leben hereinbegibt in das physische Erdenleben. Der ätherische Leib wird ja zusammengesetzt in dem Sinne, wie der Mensch gelebt hat zwischen dem 'Tod und einer neuen Geburt. Und alles, was da aus dem Universum heraus, wie symbolisch die Geisteswissenschaft sagt: was da der Mensch aus Nord, Süd, Ost, West in sich aufgenommen hat von den Himmeln, das trägt der ätherische Leib in sich. Er kann es nur aus dem angegebenen Grunde während des Wachzustandes nicht zeigen. Er zeigt es während des Schlafzustandes. Da ist der Mensch eigentlich ganz Erinnerung, Erinnerung zunächst an das Erdenleben.
[ 17 ] Es kommt den Menschen ab und zu ins Bewußtsein, daß sie, indem sie in ihren ätherischen Leib untertauchen, in ein Bildermeer untertauchen, was sie dann zu den Träumen zählen. Wer aber in dieser Beziehung sich die Mühe gegeben hat, beim Aufwachen das Bildermeer zu beobachten, das der Mensch gleichsam durchmißt beim Aufwachen, wenn er beobachtet, was da erlebt wird, dann entdeckt er, wie eigentlich das ganze Erdenleben enthalten ist in diesem Ätherleib während des Schlafes. Der Mensch lebt und webt eigentlich in alledem, was er seit seiner Geburt durchgemacht hat im Ätherleib während des Schlafes. Aber alles das ist für den Ätherleib eben durchgestaltet vom Kosmos heraus, von kosmischen Kräften. Und weil jetzt nichts hereinspielt vom astralischen Leib und vom Ich, deshalb strahlt der ätherische Leib das aus, was er eingegliedert, eingeimpft erhalten hat bei seiner Geburt. Der Ätherleib des Menschen wird strahlend (siehe Zeichnung, gelbe Pfeile).
[ 18 ] Das ist eine bedeutsame Tatsache, dieses Strahlendwerden des Menschen im Schlafzustande. Dieses Strahlendwerden des Menschen im Schlafzustande ist in der Tat etwas, was für die Erdenwelt, wenn diese in die Nacht getaucht ist nach der untergegangenen Sonne, im Gegensatz zu den physischen Strahlen der Sonne, ein seelisches Strahlen der Menschheit darstellt. Allerdings, in diesem seelischen Strahlen der Menschheit ist eingegliedert ruinierend, verkümmernd, zerstörend alles das, was die Menschen aus ihrer Schlechtigkeit heraus durch ihren astralischen Leib und durch ihr Ich dem ätherischen Leib während ihres Lebens einpflanzen. Aber die Erde würde mit ihrer Entwickelung nicht zurecht kommen, wenn dieses Erstrahlen der Menschheit nicht stattfände.
[ 19 ] Hätte ein Beobachter dazu die nötigen Organe, und wäre er im Kosmos draußen und würde die Erde vom Kosmos aus beobachten, er würde sagen: Während des Tages sieht man auf der von der Sonne beschienenen Seite der Erde eben das zurückgestrahlte Sonnenlicht; aber wenn die Nacht sich über einen Teil der Erde lagert, dann phosphoresziert, dann leuchtet nach die Erde. — Und das, was da ein solcher Beobachter nachleuchtend finden würde, das sind die menschlichen Ätherleiber. Das alles braucht aber auch die Erde, um weiterzukommen in ihrer Entwickelung. Wenn auf der Erde keine Menschen schlafen würden, würde die vegetabile Kraft der Erde viel schneller ersterben müssen, als sie im Erdenleben eben erstirbt. Der Mensch ist durchaus nicht eingegliedert in das Erdendasein, um bloß für sich zu leben, er ist nicht bedeutungslos für die ganze Gestaltung der Erde. Was er in geistigen Welten aufnimmt zwischen dem Tod und einer neuen Geburt, das strahlt er wiederum schlafend aus seinem Ätherleibe in die Erdenentwickelung aus während seines irdischen Lebens.
[ 20 ] So daß wir sagen können: Für den physischen Leib ist es so, daß von oben nach unten gestrahlt wird; für den ätherischen Leib verhält es sich so, daß von innen nach außen gestrahlt wird. Das Schlafen des Menschen hat eben durchaus auch eine kosmische Bedeutung.
[ 21 ] Deshalb mußte ich Ihnen gestern auch sagen: Wenn nun das Ich und der astralische Leib wiederum untertauchen in den Ätherleib, dann hat man die Empfindung des Herbstlichen, während man, wenn der Ätherleib frei liegt im Schlafe, die Empfindung des Frühlingshaften, Sommerlichen hat. Es ist in der Tat so, daß gewissermaßen mit dem Aus- und Eingehen des astralischen Leibes der Mensch sonnenhafter oder winterlicher wird in geistig-seelischer Beziehung.
[ 22 ] Wir können also sagen: Der ätherische Leib des Menschen ist im Schlafe so, daß die Kräfte des Kosmos, nämlich diejenigen, die der Mensch sammelt zwischen dem Tode und einer neuen Geburt, gestaltend wirken auf die Erde. Darinnen wirkt auch ein höheres Bewußtsein als das, was dem Menschen zunächst für seine wache Betätigung zur Verfügung steht. In dieser Tätigkeit, in dieser schlafenden Tätigkeit des Ätherleibes wirkt nämlich das Bewußtsein des Lebensgeistes. Es ist dasjenige Bewußtsein, zu dem der Mensch sich erst hinaufentwickeln wird, wenn unser Erdenplanet bei der Metamorphose des Venusdaseins angekommen sein wird.
[ 23 ] Wir sehen also: für das Ich und den astralischen Leib auf der einen Seite, für den physischen Leib und den Ätherleib auf der anderen Seite ist das Verhältnis so, daß sie im Schlafe nicht zusammenwirken, vom Aufwachen bis zum Einschlafen aber zusammenwirken. Ein Wechselverhältnis findet statt, eine Art Pendelschlag zwischen Zusammenwirken und Nichtzusammenwirken. Aber auch da ist es so, daß in dem Augenblicke, wo beim Aufwachen das Ich und der astralische Leib heranschlagen an den physischen Leib und den Ätherleib, und in dem Augenblick, wo sie beim Einschlafen wiederum sich herausziehen, daß da eine Wechselwirkung stattfindet, welche von einem Bewußtsein geregelt wird, zu dem der Mensch auch nicht mit seinem für die wache Betätigung geeigneten Bewußtsein herankommt. Der Mensch kann ja in einer gewissen indirekten Weise auf das Aufwachen und Einschlafen einen Einfluß haben. Aber jene feinen, intimen Vorgänge, die sich abspielen zwischen dem Ich und dem astralischen Leib einerseits und dem physischen und ätherischen Leib andererseits beim Einschlafen und beim Aufwachen, für diese intimeren Vorgänge hat das menschliche Bewußtsein keine Fähigkeit des Wahrnehmens.
[ 24 ] Ich möchte diese Wechselwirkung, die da stattfindet, durch diese gegeneinander sich bewegenden Pfeile (siehe Zeichnung Seite 200, blau) ausdrücken. In dieser Richtung, in diesem Ineinanderwirken, wie es sich namentlich ausspricht beim Aufwachen und Einschlafen, aber wie es in einer gewissen Weise doch fortdauert auch während des Wachens und sogar während des Schlafes, in diesem Durcheinanderweben astralischer und ätherischer Kräfte, da macht sich geltend, was wir nun für den astralischen Leib hauptsächlich konstatieren können. Wir können sagen: Für den Astralleib ist es ja so, daß er angeregt wird im kosmischen Sinne. Denken Sie, daß vom Einschlafen bis zum Aufwachen der astralische Leib ja durchaus seinen moralischen Empfindungen nach, wie ich gestern dargestellt habe, tingiert wird. Beim Aufwachen dringt er ein in den kosmisch gestalteten Ätherleib. Da muß er sich nach diesem richten, da muß er sich ihm anpassen. Und wir können sagen: Die kosmisch-astralischen Kräfte wirken auf die menschlich-astralischen Kräfte. Man kann das sehr gut verfolgen in einem besonderen Falle.
[ 25 ] Denken Sie sich, der Mensch hätte nicht durchgemacht dieses Leben zwischen dem Tod und einer neuen Geburt — wie ja das Tier es nicht durchgemacht hat -, sondern er käme so zur Welt, wie es die Aristotelische Weltanschauung fordert: Er würde ein neugeschaffenes Wesen bei seiner Geburt sein. Er brächte sich nicht die Wirkungen früherer Erdenleben und des Lebens zwischen dem Tod und einer neuen Geburt in das Leben herein. Dann würde der Mensch seinen Blick schweifen lassen, seine Sinne schweifen lassen über die äußeren Erfahrungen, aber er würde niemals diese äußeren Erfahrungen durch Begriffe, Vorstellungen der Geometrie und der Mathematik verbinden. Das ist nur ein Fall, aber es ist einer derjenigen Fälle, wo das, was für den Kosmos gilt, die Geometrie, in eine Wechselwirkung tritt mit dem, was nur für die irdische Umgebung gilt. Es wird das Irdische durchsetzt, die empirische Erfahrung wird durchsetzt von dem rationellen MathematischGeometrischen. Aber diese Wechselwirkung findet fortwährend statt, und sie findet so statt, daß darin das Geistselbst als Bewußtsein wirkt. Davon wissen natürlich die mathematischen Weltenbetrachter nichts, daß, während sie wirklich mathematisch betrachten, eigentlich immer das Geistselbst sie hinten beim Schüppel hat. Aber sie beachten das nicht, weil sie sich beschränken auf die Reflexion, die im gewöhnlichen menschlichen Bewußtsein davon vorhanden ist.
[ 26 ] Dann erst, wenn der Mensch weder im Schlafe noch im Aufwachen oder Einschlafen ist, sondern wenn er voll untergetaucht ist mit seinem Ich und seinem astralischen Leib in den Ätherleib und in den physischen Leib, dann ist das gewöhnliche heutige Bewußtsein vorhanden, dann ist der Mensch nur hingegeben alldem, was heraus ist aus Geistesmenschen, Lebensgeist und Geistselbst. Wenn der Mensch angelangt sein wird auf jener Stufe des Daseins, die er haben wird, wenn die Erde die Metamorphose zum Jupiterdasein im Sinne meiner «Geheimwissenschaft im Umriß» wird durchgemacht haben, dann wird es so sein, daß der Mensch nicht mehr äußerlich durch Geometrie sich einen Würfel bilden wird und dann finden wird, daß diese ideelle Würfelform paßt auf das kristallisierte Salz, sondern er wird das als eine Einheit erblicken. Er wird so weit hingegeben sein an die äußere Welt, daß er gewissermaßen in dem Salz selber drinnen stecken wird. Es wird ein solches Salz zwar auf dem Jupiter nicht vorhanden sein, aber wir können uns durch solche Vorstellungen das Leben des Menschen in der Zukunft klarmachen.
[ 27 ] So also können wir uns auch in derselben Weise, wie wir gestern den astralischen Leib und das Ich betrachtet haben, Vorstellungen darüber bilden, wie sich während des Schlafes der physische Leib und der ätherische Leib verhalten. Der physische Leib ist eigentlich während des Schlafes ein Selbstgestalter in bezug auf den Gliedmaßen-Stoffwechselmenschen, und der ätherische Leib des Menschen ist ein Weltgestalter.
[ 28 ] Wenn wir nun noch einmal zurückblicken auf das, was wir gestern betrachtet haben, so müssen wir sagen: Der astralische Leib des Menschen tritt aus dem physischen Leib und dem Ätherleib heraus während des Schlafes. In ihn strömen ein die seelischen Kräfte des Universums. Er wird von ihnen durchdrungen. Und je nachdem er seine Empfindung, seine Gemütsverfassung hat, können ihn diese Kräfte durchdringen. Wenn der Mensch sympathisiert mit dem Guten, dann werden ihn die schönsten Kräfte des Universums durchdringen können. Wenn der Mensch seine Neigungen entwickelt zum Bösen, dann wird sein astralischer Leib verkümmern. Für alle Stufen des Fühlens und Empfindens im Inneren gibt es gewisse Tingierungsnuancen, die der astralische Leib während des Schlafzustandes annimmt (siehe Zeichnung Seite 200, rötlich, gelb, rosa, lila). Man kann sagen, so wie der Mensch ist, so erfunkelt er in bezug auf seinen astralischen Leib während des Schlafzustandes. Der astralische Leib ist ja das, was während des Wachzustandes die Seelenverfassung ausmacht, die Gemütsverfassung. Diese Gemütsverfassung, die ergießt sich gewissermaßen während des Schlafzustandes in das seelische Universum, und in dieser Ergießung erlebt sich dann der Mensch, indem er seine Seelenverfassung verändert hat, aber indem er mit Bezug auf seine Seelenverfassung vor der seelisch-geistigen Welt steht.
[ 29 ] Würde der Mensch, indem er mit seinem astralischen Leibe da hinauslebt, eindringen können in das Bewußtsein des Lebensgeistes, dann würde er sprechen können zu dem, was mit seinem astralischen Leib geschieht. Es geschieht das zunächst für den Menschen unbewußt, aber es geschieht. Wer würde denn sprechen, wenn der Mensch plötzlich schlafend das Bewußtsein des Lebensgeistes erlangte? Wer würde sprechen? Man kann da kein anderes Wort sagen als: Es würde sprechen der astralische Leib des Menschen als Richter über das Gute und Böse im Menschen. So daß man wirklich sagen muß: Schlafend wird der astralische Leib der Richter der Seele. -— Es ist dieses, wenn man es richtig versteht, ein wichtiger Satz für das menschliche Leben. Es ist eine Wahrheit, die wie von jenseits der Schwelle zur geistigen Welt herüberleuchtet und die der Mensch sich möglichst oft vor seine Seele stellen sollte.
[ 30 ] Nehmen Sie das Entsprechende für das Ich. Das Ich tritt heraus aus dem physischen und dem Ätherleib, gestaltet sich in Gemäßheit der Kräfte der universellen Geistwesenheiten. Es wird so, wie es werden kann nach dem, wie es im physischen Leibe lebt. Würde es erwachen zum Bewußtsein des Geistesmenschen, dann würde es nicht bloß zu sich sprechen, wie der astralische Leib zu sich sprechen würde, wenn er plötzlich mit dem Bewußtsein des Lebensgeistes ausgestattet würde; sondern würde das Ich mit dem Bewußtsein ausgestattet, das in dem zurückgebliebenen physischen Leib wirkt, das die Kräfte von oben nach unten sendet in dem zurückgebliebenen physischen Leib, würde der Mensch also mit diesem Bewußtsein ausgestattet in seinem Ich, wenn es im schlafenden Zustand herausgetreten ist, dann würde der Mensch nicht nur eine Summe von Richtersprüchen über sich erleben, sondern dann schaut er, was er als Bild jetzt wird und was dann als Keim wirkt für seine folgenden Erdenleben.
[ 31 ] Ich finde für diese Tatsache keinen anderen Ausdruck, wenn ich sie in einen Satz prägen will, als daß ich sage: Das Ich wird das Opfer seiner selbst, das Opfer des im Leibe wirkenden Geistes. — Ein Opfer kann so sein, daß es wohlgefällig aufgenommen wird; das kann auch bei dem Ich sein, indem es draußen gestaltet wird. Ein Opfer kann auch so sein, daß es verworfen wird. Das sind die äußersten, radikalsten Enden des Vorganges. Das, was der Mensch erlebt, liegt natürlich im wesentlichen in der Mitte. Aber ein Opfer kann auch verworfen werden, wenn es nicht würdig ist, geopfert zu werden. Wenn der Mensch also so erscheint vor den geistigen Wesen des Universums, daß er stark verkümmern muß durch das, was er durchlebt im physischen und im ätherischen Leibe während des Wachens, dann wird er ein verworfenes Wesen.
[ 32 ] Sie sehen also, daß der Opferbegriff durchaus angewendet werden kann für das, was da stattfindet. Und mir scheint, daß diese zwei Sätze: Schlafend wird der astralische Mensch der Richter seiner Seele —, und: Das Ich wird das Opfer seiner selbst -, daß diese zwei Sätze außerordentlich wichtig sind für das vollständige Verständnis der menschlichen Wesenheit.
[ 33 ] Wenn man auf das sieht, was ältere instinktive Weistümer der Menschheit erlangt haben, nicht aus jener Klarheit des Bewußtseins heraus, aus der man heute nach anthroposophischer Geisteswissenschaft streben muß, sondern eben aus dem Instinkte heraus, dann wird man, wie ich Ihnen schon öfter angedeutet habe, Bilder bedeutsamer Urweisheit der Menschheit gewahr. Sie drücken sich aus in den Mythen, in den alten Weisheitssprüchen; sie drücken sich aber auch aus in den Kulthandlungen, die sich in den verschiedenen religiösen Systemen erhalten haben.
[ 34 ] Daher bekommen wir, wenn wir sie richtig verstehen, die tiefe Ehrfurcht vor den Überlieferungen von alten Religionsbildern, von alten Kultbildern. Und im Grunde genommen ist es so, daß ein lebendiges religiöses Empfinden des Menschen erst wieder kommen kann, wenn es aus der geisteswissenschaftlichen Erfassung der Welt, nicht bloß der Phrase, sondern dem tiefsten Gehalte nach, eben nicht bloß den Kopfmenschen, sondern den vollen Menschen erfaßt, indem sie ihm beibringt nicht nur Verständnis der Welt, sondern auch Ehrfurcht vor dem Walten des Geistigen in der Welt. Das haben wir ja besonders heute wieder gesehen. Diese Geisteswissenschaft wird wiederum religiöse Empfindungen des Menschen beleben können. Aber der Mensch ist auch durchgegangen — wir wissen, daß er das zum Behufe der ErJangung seiner Freiheit mußte — durch diejenige Zeit, in der er nur dem Intellektualismus, dem Rationalismus und dem damit verbundenen Materialismus gelebt hat, und der größte Teil der Menschheit lebt ja heute noch darin. Aber es muß wiederum zurückgekommen werden zum Erfassen dessen, was Geistiges in der Welt ist. Es muß wiederum gekommen werden zum Leben außerhalb des bloß intellektualistischen Erfassens der Welt, außerhalb des Erlebens des bloßen Kopfmenschen.
[ 35 ] Aber wenn wir, ich möchte sagen, überspringen diesen Zeitraum des Intellektualismus und zurückblicken in Zeiten, in denen noch lebendig waren die alten religiösen Bilder, die aber bis weit in das Mittelalter der modernen Menschheit herein zu gleicher Zeit Erkenntnisbilder waren, wenn wir auf die Kultbilder hinschauen, die in der religiösen Praxis geübt wurden, dann finden wir in alledem etwas, was ungeheuer ähnlich ist, nur eben aus dem Instinkt gewonnen, dem, was wir heute wiederum mit klarem Bewußtsein aus den geistigen Welten herausholen können. Denn ich muß schon sagen: Wenn der Gedanke aus der Inspiration hervorkommt, der sich ausdrückt in dem Satze: Der astralische Leib wird schlafend der Richter der Seele -, dann kann man finden, wie einem als adäquates Bild entgegentritt, was Michelangelo gemalt hat in der Sixtinischen Kapelle als «Weltgericht». Man hat in diesem Bilde des «Weltgerichtes» am Altar der Sixtinischen Kapelle etwa, was aus uralten Zeiten heraufragt. Es hat nur christliche Form angenommen. Und als es christliche Form angenommen hatte, war es schon mehr traditionell. Aus der Überlieferung heraus wurden diese Dinge hingemalt. Es hat Zeiten in der Menschheitsentwickelung gegeben, in denen diese Dinge lebendig angeschaut worden sind. Da hat der Instinkt eben hingeschaut auf die inspirierte Imagination der im Schlafe sich richtenden Menschenseelen.
[ 36 ] Und wiederum, wenn wir hinblicken auf das, was uns als ein so ungeheuer ergreifendes Bild entgegentritt als das Bild des Gotteslammes, des Christus, jenes Christus, der sich verbindet mit dem menschlichen Ich, der dieses menschliche Ich durchdringt, dann wird in unserer Seele rege der Gedanke — gerade wenn wir auf das sich opfernde Lamm hinschauen — des Opfers, das das Ich wird, indem es in den Schlafzustand übergeht, und wir finden, wie treffend durch das Bild des Lammes diese Opfernatur des Menschen während des Schlafes ausgedrückt wird. Wir kommen darauf, wie aus einem instinktiven Weisheitsbewußtsein heraus dieses Bild gefunden worden ist für jene Hilfe, welche das Ich in seinem Erdendasein braucht, weil es im Schlafe das Opfer wird seines eigenen Selbstes.
[ 37 ] Man kann nicht anders, als immer wieder und wiederum darauf hinweisen, wie anthroposophische Geisteswissenschaft, indem man sie entwickelt, zwar strebt nach vollständig klaren Begriffen, aber nach solchen klaren Begriffen, wie sie sonst nur vorhanden sind im Aufbau der Mathematik oder der Geometrie; wie aber, weil diese Begriffe wurzeln in dem lebendigen Leben der Weltengeister, wie diese Begriffe, die da heraufkommen durch Geisteswissenschaft, überall so sind, daß sie uns nicht kalt lassen wie die mathematischen Begriffe, daß sie uns zu gleicher Zeit mit der Wärme der Empfindung, mit der Wärme anfeuernder Willensimpulse durchdringen. Wir erblicken hier den innigen Zusammenhang zwischen dem klaren Denken, dem warmen Fühlen und dem energischen Wollen im Menschen. Wir ermessen eigentlich erst von einem solchen Gesichtspunkte aus die ganze volle Menschennatur.
[ 38 ] Und auch mancher Blick in die Geschichte wird erst erhellt, wenn man von einem solchen Verständnisse des Menschen ausgehen kann. Bis tief ins Mittelalter herein, sagte ich, finden wir durchaus bei vielen Menschen noch ein Verständnis für den Wahrheitsgehalt der alten Bilder, für jenes Erleben der Welt sub specie aeternitatis, wie es vorhanden war im alten instinktiven Weisheitsleben, wie es wieder errungen werden muß durch klares Bewußtsein, zu dem man streben muß durch anthroposophische Geisteswissenschaft.
[ 39 ] Manchmal sehen wir im Laufe der Geschichte merkwürdige Persönlichkeiten auftauchen, und in einer sonderbaren Weise leben sich solche merkwürdigen Persönlichkeiten gegenüber den Verhältnissen der Gegenwart, man möchte sagen, recht deplaciert in die Gegenwart herein. Ich sprach einmal während einer italienischen Reise mit einem Benediktiner-Ordenspriester in Monte Cassino. Er sprach davon, wie in seinem Brevier unter den Namen der Heiligen auch angeführt ist jener sächsische deutsche Kaiser, Heinrich II., der ja auch - ich weiß nicht, in wievielen Geschichtsbüchern es noch angeführt wird — der «Heilige» genannt wird. Wenn wir aber eingehen auf das, was dieser Heinrich II. gewollt hat — dessen Name also noch unter denjenigen ist, die in gewissen Breviergebeten katholischer Priester eine Rolle spielen -, der gewollt hat: Ecclesia catholica non Romana. — Das war das Losungswort Heinrich II., des Heiligen! Und in der Zeit, in der er lebte, also im 10., 11. Jahrhundert, da war es durchaus noch möglich, daß man aus einem richtigen Erleben alter überlieferter Weisheit davon sprechen konnte, daß das, was durch das Christentum in die Welt gekommen ist, werden soll eine Ecclesia catholica, das heißt eine Kirche für die ganze Menschheit, in der derjenige Geist herrscht, welcher eigentlich durch das Christentum hat in die Welt kommen sollen. Aber Heinrich II., der Heilige, wollte eine Ecclesia catholica non Romana, denn die Ecclesia catholica Romana ist geworden ein weltliches Reich. Und es ist so, daß überall da, wo die geistlichen Reiche weltliche Reiche werden, das Ahrimanische erfaßt das, was als ein Heiligtum lebt und auch schon lebte in den Urweistümern der Menschheit. Es war noch ein starkes Bewußtsein vorhanden in der Zeit Heinrichs II., daß die Ecclesia catholica getrennt werden kann von der Ecclesia catholica Romana, und daß man eigentlich streben müßte nach einer Ecclesia catholica non Romana.
[ 40 ] Ich sage, im Brevier steht dieser Heinrich II. als ein deplacierter Heiliger. Die Ecclesia catholica Romana hat nicht die geringste Veranlassung, ihn unter ihre Heiligen zu stellen, denn er war einer derjenigen, die aus heiligem katholischem Feuereifer heraus gerade die römisch-katholische Kirche überwinden wollten wegen der katholischen Kirche.
[ 41 ] Das sind historische Tatsachen, welche man gerade dann ins Gedächtnis der Menschen hereinrufen soll, wenn man auf die wichtigsten Wahrheiten hinweist, die wiederum durch anthroposophische Geisteswissenschaft an die Oberfläche des bewußten menschlichen Daseins gebracht werden können. Heute ist es sehr notwendig, auf diese Dinge hinzuweisen, denn in den einzelnen abstoßenden Erscheinungen, die Ihnen hier in unmittelbarer Nähe entgegentreten können aus der Ecclesia catholica Romana heraus, sehen Sie, wie ahrimanischer Geist eindringen konnte. Man darf sich auf der einen Seite durch diesen ahrimanischen Geist nicht täuschen lassen darüber, daß die Ecclesia catholica non Romana eben doch in sich birgt lichtvolle ewige Weisheit. Und in dem hiesigen Theologenkursus, den ich abhalten durfte, zeigte es sich, daß aus jener protestantischen Sehnsucht, die sich da geltend machte nach einer Vertiefung des Protestantismus nach der spirituellen Seite hin, aus dem Rationalismus, aus dem Intellektualismus heraus, es zeigte sich, daß einigen der Teilnehmer gegenüber das Wort: Ecclesia catholica non Romana geradezu wie eine Befreiung gewirkt hat. Denn wir sind heute durchaus auf dem Standpunkte, daß der Rationalismus ebenso überwunden werden muß wie das Welttum der römischen Kirche; daß die Menschheit wiederum sich zusammenfinden muß in einem allgemeinen geistigen Leben, das aber nicht in Anspruch genommen werden darf durch irgendein weltliches Herrschaftsgelüste.
[ 42 ] Der ahrimanische Geist ist ein Lügengeist. Aus diesem ahrimanischen Geist heraus kann es selber vorkommen, daß sich Lügengeister dazu hergeben, das, was Fälschung ist, für Wahrheit zu erklären. Da ist es eben notwendig, daß man gerade aus der Tiefe des Weltgeschehens heraus den gründlichen Abscheu bekommt vor der Lüge. Diesen gründlichen Abscheu vor der Lüge, man bekommt ihn wahrhaftig, wenn man mit vollem Bewußtsein die Worte aussprechen kann: Der astralische Leib wird schlafend der Richter der Seele. Das Ich wird schlafend das Opfer seiner selbst.
[ 43 ] Verdunkelnd gegenüber diesen tiefen Wahrheiten wirkt der ahrimanische Geist, der auch in die Religionsbekenntnisse der neueren Zeit eingezogen ist. An denen, die sich ehrlich, aber auch mit einiger Energie zur anthroposophischen Anschauung bekennen, sollte es sein, in diesen Dingen nicht nur ein äußerliches, intellektualistisches Hinneigen zu den Weistümern zu empfinden, welche diese Anthroposophie bringen kann, sondern eine wirkliche innere Energie, eine Gefühls- und Willensenergie zu entwickeln, welche sich verbindet mit dem, was der Geist aus der geistigen Welt heraus durch anthroposophisch orientierte Geisteswissenschaft erfassen kann. Das, meine lieben Freunde, soll eben zu gleicher Zeit eine Anleitung dafür sein, wie unterschieden werden muß das, was auch in dem traditionellen Fortleben von religiösen Bildern und religiösen Kultbildern enthalten ist, von dem, wie heute manchmal diese religiösen Bilder und diese religiösen Kulte gehandhabt werden.
[ 44 ] Wer würde nicht die tiefste Ehrfurcht haben auch vor dem, was wie aus geistesgrauem Altertum vom Oriente herüberleuchtend, in den Kulthandlungen der russischen orthodoxen Religion enthalten ist! Man kann überall zu diesen Kulthandlungen sich so verhalten, daß man gewissermaßen durch das, was da geschieht, durchdringt zu der ungeheuren Tiefe, die sich da enthüllt. Jahrtausende und Jahrtausende instinktiver Weisheitsentwickelung drückt sich in diesen Kulthandlungen aus.
[ 45 ] Nun, ich nahm einmal teil an einer solchen Kulthandlung in Helsingfors vor Jahren, wo zum ÖOsterfeste eine solche Kulthandlung zelebriert wurde, und ich darf sagen: Zu den traurigsten Erinnerungen meines Lebens gehört das, was da die Popenkomödianten, die furchtbaren innerlichen Lügner, mit der ewigen Wahrheit zusammenkomödiantisiert haben! Heute ist es eben in der Welt so, daß zusammenstoßen in der furchtbarsten Weise, unter dem Einflusse des ahrimanischen Materialismus, Lüge in der äußeren Darstellung und tiefe Wahrheit im Inneren. Ohne daß man dieses wirklich fühlen kann, kommt man heute nicht bis zu einer energischen Erfassung des Menschenwesens.
[ 4 ] Aber wir haben es sehr nötig, bis zu dieser energischen Erfassung des Menschenwesens zu kommen, denn ich konnte es dazumal sehen, wie selbst begabten Leuten, die an jener Osterzeremonie teilgenommen haben, alles Bewußtsein von Menschenwesenheit ausgelöscht wurde, weil eine Zeremonie, die bei würdigem Zelebrieren im höchsten Maße geeignet gewesen wäre, eben von komödiantenhaften Popen mißbraucht worden ist.
[ 47 ] Aber was hier in einer radikalen Weise geschehen konnte, das geschieht heute im Grunde genommen mehr oder weniger intensiv allüberall. Anthroposophisches Bewußtsein sollte dazu kommen, diese Dinge zu sehen, gründlich zu unterscheiden Wahrheit von Lüge auch da, wo sich diese Unterscheidung gar sehr unter dem Zwange der äußeren Verhältnisse verhüllt. Wir müssen überall für den ganzen Menschen und vor allen Dingen für das Zeitbewußtsein etwas gewinnen aus anthroposophischer Vertiefung. Das ist es, was ich in Anknüpfung an die letzten Betrachtungen heute noch vor Ihnen aussprechen wollte.
Twenty-second Lecture
[ 1 ] Yesterday we focused on how the astral body of the human being and the I behave in the state between falling asleep and waking up, and we want to pick up on this again. I said that if we want to compare the human being in the sleeping state as a physical body and etheric body with his ego and his astral body, we must say: The willful ego, the ego that acts according to its will, is shaped by the relationship it enters into with the beings of the spiritual world during sleep. So, if we draw a diagram, we get a representation of the I. And I said: If we consider this grooved representation of the I (see drawing, light) as a kind of negative, as in photography — although we must not take the proportions into account — then the representation of the human physical brain would be like the positive. We would have to think of the astral body as tinged with the soul of the environment, which I express schematically by drawing it in different colors (see page 200, pink, reddish, yellow, purple).
[ 2 ] Now, yesterday I said that this does not yet discuss the behavior of the physical body and the etheric body during sleep, and we left that out yesterday. Let us add that today. The physical body of the human being is apparently known to external science, but only apparently. For this external science takes little account of how thoroughly different the limb-metabolism human being and the head human being are. The head human being, the head man, is, according to his physical constitution, actually an afterimage of what the human being is during the time between death and a new birth. Again, proportions cannot be taken into account here.
[ 3 ] The physical brain is regarded in science today as if its structure were solely the result of paternal and maternal organization. But we have already seen from various observations that this does not correspond to the facts. What happens during the development of the human being here in the physical world consists, to put it somewhat crudely and radically, in the fact that in the mother's womb, the substance is initially thrown into chaos, and that this chaotic substance, which has abandoned both chemical and physical laws, is implanted with forces from the universe that constitute the embryo. And in these forces, which work formatively from the universe into the mother's body, there are also implanted, I would say, the forces that human beings bring with them after they have passed through the time between death and a new birth. One would actually say: human beings are themselves implanted in the mother's body according to their form. In the mother's body, only the bed for the human being is formed, and it is arranged in the universe in such a way that where an opportunity is created for something specific to arise, then this specific thing arises.
[ 4 ] Now, the human head is formed internally in such a way that it is, first of all, a replica of what has been furrowed and tinged here in the previous earthly life, but that the entire universe is also pronounced in this head, one might say. Modern science actually understands the process of cognition very poorly, because it can be understood as follows: in this human brain, with its complicated structure, there is actually a replica of the universe. And what appears there in the form of shapes is such that it cannot be penetrated by the ego and the astral body. They live freely, as I have explained in earlier considerations, in the human head. That is why the human being knows itself as I and astral body, because these live freely. Only with the limb-metabolism human being can the I and the astral body really connect, as we have seen. There they proliferate and, as we know, make him primarily a being of will. But through this, what lives in the limb-metabolism human being is primarily that which, through death, passes back into the spiritual world, which takes up the human being according to his ego and astral body and carries him to further stages of existence, while everything that comes from previous lives and lives between death and rebirth is present in the human head, where it has, so to speak, been molded into the structure of the head and has become established there. The human head points backward, the limb-metabolism human being points forward, and the rhythmic human being is precisely the oscillation between past and future.
[ 5 ] Only when one understands the physical human being in this way will one understand the structure of the limbs and the inner life of the limbs. One will understand why the organization of the human head is actually a descending, continuously weakening one, while the metabolism of the limbs is a continuously building one. One will also understand why the metabolism of the limbs must be connected with the chemical and physical nature of the earth, a connection that is expressed through nutrition.
[ 6 ] Now, this limb metabolism human actually takes in what is necessary for further development. During waking life, however, the limb metabolism human is basically very dependent on the forces emanating from the earth itself. The limb metabolism person is subject to the heaviness of the earth; they are subject to the other forces of the earth. They are subject to the forces that emanate from their food and permeate them. In a sense, they are thoroughly earth beings. And because the limb-metabolism human being, by virtue of his form, did not participate in what the human being went through between death and a new birth before the present earthly existence, this limb-metabolism human being is also incapable of adapting to the outer spiritual universe during waking life. He is, in a sense, devoted to the physical nature of the earth during the waking state.
[ 7 ] But this is not the case during sleep. For everything that is connected with a person's past, including their life between death and birth, is formed in the human head. As I have just explained, images of the entire cosmos are contained in the head of the human being in the forms of organs in a subtle, fleeting manner.
[ 8 ] Everything that the human head is as an image of the universe cannot affect the limb-metabolism human being during the waking state. The human head, as the seat of the most eminent sense organs, is in constant correspondence with the external earthly world. Everything that is seen and heard during waking life is received through the head. During sleep, it is not the case that the human head is nourished only in a physical sense; this also happens during waking life. This is not essential for the physical body during sleep; something else is essential for the physical body during sleep.
[ 9 ] Let us say, for example, that in the eye we have not only the organization that enables us to see, but at the same time we have in the eye a picture of the cosmos, of the spiritual forces of the cosmos. From the time of death until birth, the human being has lived in the spiritual-soul cosmos. The organization of the eye is modeled on this life in the spiritual-soul cosmos. Like all organs of the head, the eye has a dual function: first, to mediate correspondence with the outside world through seeing. This happens during waking life. During sleep, the eye interacts with its surroundings, namely with its nervous and blood environment, back onto the physical organism, insofar as this is the metabolic-limb organism, and during sleep, for example, the forces of the closed eye act upon the human kidney system and imprint the cosmic image upon it. Other organs of the head imprint other things from the cosmos on the human metabolic-limb system. And so, for the physical body, our sleep time serves above all to allow the forces of the head to have a formative effect on the metabolic-limb human being (see drawing, reddish arrows, and diagram). It is precisely during sleep that, if I want to draw a diagram, formative forces radiate continuously from the head toward the lower human being, so that during sleep the head actually acts as the spiritual-soul formative force for the metabolic-limb human being.
[ 10 ] The concept of creation is completely misunderstood when it is concentrated on any particular moment. We are actually being created continuously. Every night we are created out of the spirit; our metabolic limb system is formed and enlivened every night out of the spiritual realm.
[ 11 ] You know that contemporary materialistic science actually knows only the opposite, namely that the forces of metabolism act on the exhausted brain. But this is only one side of the coin. While this effect takes place from below, the spiritual and soul animation of the human being takes place from above. And it is important to realize that this spiritual and soul animation is subject to a high level of consciousness. We humans will only attain this level of consciousness, which is necessary to bring about those wonderful processes that occur in the physical body of the human being during sleep, during the development of the volcanic planet; for the level of consciousness that corresponds to this is that of the spiritual human being. The consciousness of the spiritual human being is truly within the human being. It asserts itself in sleep, and it asserts itself in the processes I have just described. But at its present stage of development, man is not in a position to recognize himself to such an extent that, under normal circumstances, he would feel within himself this weaving and being of a much higher level of consciousness than he has for his waking activities.
[ 12 ] The correct appreciation of such things is already linked to the fact that human beings are deepened religiously through spiritual science as we are learning it here. When human beings neglect what they are through their life activities, when they allow it to wither away, when they do not try to implant in their physical body what can be implanted during earthly life, then they interfere destructively in something in which, unconsciously to their normal consciousness, a much higher consciousness prevails than they themselves can have.
[ 13 ] When we look out into the universe, we do not only look into a world before which, if we understand it correctly, we sink down in awe, but we must behave in the same way when we look with correct understanding into the workings of the superhuman within our own human inner being.
[ 14 ] I have now given you a rough idea of how the physical body of the human being behaves during the state of sleep.
[ 15 ] Now, in addition to the physical body, we have the etheric body (see drawing on page 197, hatched). In the waking state, this etheric body of the human being is constantly subject to the effects emanating from the I, which is active in the world, and from the astral body, which is connected with this I. During the waking state, we constantly see the colors and other tints that appear and fade away in the astral body and spill over into the etheric body, and we actually see the etheric body adapting itself to the astral body during the waking state. But we also see what the I is through its configuration striking into the etheric body. In short, during the waking state we see the I and the astral body playing in the etheric body. During sleep, the human being as I and as astral body is outside the etheric body. The astral body plays with its tinging, the I with its formation, but does not enter into the etheric body. The etheric body is left to its own formation. And this own formation expresses itself in that the etheric body forms itself in a very magnificent way during sleep as an image of the universe.
[ 16 ] The etheric body is taken in by the human being in its essential substantiality when the human being enters physical earthly life from pre-birth life. The etheric body is composed in the sense that the human being has lived between death and a new birth. And everything that comes out of the universe, as spiritual science symbolically says: everything that humans have absorbed from the heavens in the north, south, east, and west, is carried within the etheric body. It cannot show this during the waking state for the reason stated. It shows it during the sleeping state. Then humans are actually completely memory, memory first of earthly life.
[ 17 ] People occasionally become aware that, as they submerge into their etheric body, they submerge into a sea of images, which they then count as dreams. But anyone who has taken the trouble to observe the sea of images that the human being traverses, as it were, upon awakening, when they observe what is experienced there, will discover how the entire earthly life is actually contained in this etheric body during sleep. The human being actually lives and weaves in everything they have gone through since birth in the etheric body during sleep. But all of this is shaped for the etheric body by the cosmos, by cosmic forces. And because nothing now plays in from the astral body and the I, the etheric body radiates what it has received, what has been incorporated and instilled in it at birth. The etheric body of the human being becomes radiant (see drawing, yellow arrows).
[ 18 ] This is a significant fact, this radiant state of the human being in sleep. This radiance of human beings in the state of sleep is in fact something that, when the earth is plunged into night after the sun has set, represents a spiritual radiance of humanity in contrast to the physical rays of the sun. However, incorporated into this spiritual radiance of humanity is everything that is ruinous, stifling, and destructive, everything that human beings implant in their etheric body during their lives through their astral body and through their ego out of their own wickedness. But the earth would not be able to cope with its development if this radiance of humanity did not take place.
[ 19 ] If an observer had the necessary organs and were outside the cosmos observing the Earth from there, he would say: During the day, on the side of the Earth illuminated by the Sun, one sees the sunlight reflected back; but when night falls over part of the Earth, it phosphoresces, then the Earth glows. — And what such an observer would find glowing are the human etheric bodies. But the Earth also needs all of this in order to continue its development. If no humans slept on Earth, the vegetative power of the Earth would have to die much faster than it does in Earth life. Human beings are by no means integrated into earthly existence merely to live for themselves; they are not insignificant for the entire structure of the earth. What they absorb in spiritual worlds between death and a new birth, they radiate back into earthly development from their etheric bodies while they are asleep during their earthly lives.
[ 20 ] So we can say that for the physical body, radiation proceeds from above downward; for the etheric body, it proceeds from within outward. Human sleep therefore has a cosmic significance as well.
[ 21 ] That is why I had to tell you yesterday: When the ego and the astral body submerge again into the etheric body, one has the sensation of autumn, whereas when the etheric body is free during sleep, one has the sensation of spring and summer. It is indeed the case that, in a sense, with the astral body's coming and going, the human being becomes more sunny or wintery in a spiritual-soul sense.
[ 22 ] We can therefore say that during sleep, the etheric body of the human being is such that the forces of the cosmos, namely those that the human being gathers between death and a new birth, have a formative effect on the earth. Within this, a higher consciousness also works than that which is initially available to the human being for his waking activity. In this activity, in this sleeping activity of the etheric body, the consciousness of the life spirit is at work. It is the consciousness to which human beings will first evolve when our Earth planet has reached the metamorphosis of the Venus existence.
[ 23 ] We see, then, that the relationship between the I and the astral body on the one hand, and the physical body and the etheric body on the other, is such that they do not interact during sleep, but do interact from the moment of waking until the moment of falling asleep. There is an interrelationship, a kind of pendulum swing between interaction and non-interaction. But even then, at the moment when the I and the astral body strike the physical body and the etheric body upon awakening, and at the moment when they withdraw again upon falling asleep, an interaction takes place that is regulated by a consciousness which the human being cannot access with the consciousness suitable for waking activity. Humans can influence waking and falling asleep in a certain indirect way. But the human consciousness has no ability to perceive those subtle, intimate processes that take place between the ego and the astral body on the one hand and the physical and etheric bodies on the other during falling asleep and waking up.
[ 24 ] I would like to express this interaction that takes place by means of these arrows moving toward each other (see drawing on page 200, blue). In this direction, in this interaction, as it is expressed particularly in waking and falling asleep, but as it continues in a certain way even during waking and even during sleep, in this interweaving of astral and etheric forces, what we can now mainly observe in the astral body comes to the fore. We can say that the astral body is stimulated in a cosmic sense. Consider that from the moment of falling asleep until the moment of waking up, the astral body is completely tinged with its moral feelings, as I explained yesterday. Upon awakening, it penetrates the cosmically formed etheric body. There it must conform to it, it must adapt to it. And we can say: the cosmic-astral forces act upon the human-astral forces. This can be traced very well in a special case.
[ 25 ] Imagine that human beings had not gone through this life between death and a new birth — as animals have not — but had come into the world as the Aristotelian worldview demands: they would be newly created beings at birth. They would not bring into their lives the effects of previous earthly lives and of the life between death and a new birth. Then human beings would let their gaze wander, let their senses wander over external experiences, but they would never connect these external experiences through concepts, ideas of geometry and mathematics. This is only one case, but it is one of those cases where what applies to the cosmos, geometry, enters into an interaction with what applies only to the earthly environment. The earthly is permeated, empirical experience is permeated by the rational, mathematical-geometric. But this interaction takes place continuously, and it takes place in such a way that the spirit itself acts as consciousness. Of course, mathematical observers of the world know nothing of this, that while they are really looking at mathematics, the spirit itself is actually always behind them. But they do not notice this because they limit themselves to the reflection that is present in ordinary human consciousness.
[ 26 ] Only when the human being is neither asleep nor waking nor falling asleep, but is fully immersed with his ego and his astral body in the etheric body and in the physical body, only then is ordinary consciousness present, only then is the human being completely devoted to everything that comes from spiritual human beings, the life spirit, and the spirit itself. When human beings have reached that stage of existence which they will have when the earth has undergone the metamorphosis into a Jupiter existence in the sense of my “Outline of Secret Science,” then it will be so that human beings will no longer form a cube externally through geometry and then find that this ideal cube shape fits the crystallized salt, but they will see it as a unity. They will be so devoted to the external world that they will, in a sense, be stuck inside the salt itself. Such salt does not exist on Jupiter, but we can use such ideas to clarify the life of human beings in the future.
[ 27 ] In the same way that we looked at the astral body and the I yesterday, we can also form ideas about how the physical body and the etheric body behave during sleep. During sleep, the physical body is actually a self-shaper in relation to the metabolism of the limbs, and the etheric body of the human being is a world shaper.
[ 28 ] If we now look back at what we considered yesterday, we must say: The astral body of the human being emerges from the physical body and the etheric body during sleep. The soul forces of the universe stream into it. It is permeated by them. And depending on his feelings and state of mind, these forces can permeate him. If a person sympathizes with goodness, then the most beautiful forces of the universe will be able to permeate him. If a person develops inclinations toward evil, then his astral body will wither away. For all stages of inner feeling and perception, there are certain shades of color that the astral body takes on during sleep (see drawing on page 200, reddish, yellow, pink, purple). One can say that the way a person is, is the way they sparkle in relation to their astral body during sleep. The astral body is what constitutes the soul's state of mind, the state of mind, during the waking state. This state of mind pours out, as it were, into the soul universe during sleep, and in this outpouring the human being experiences himself by changing his state of mind, but by standing before the soul-spiritual world in relation to his state of mind.
[ 29 ] If, while living out there with his astral body, man were able to penetrate into the consciousness of the life spirit, he would be able to speak to what is happening to his astral body. This happens unconsciously at first, but it happens nonetheless. Who would speak if a person suddenly attained consciousness of the life spirit while asleep? Who would speak? One can say nothing else but this: the astral body of the person would speak as judge of good and evil in the person. So one must truly say: while asleep, the astral body becomes the judge of the soul. — If you understand it correctly, this is an important statement for human life. It is a truth that shines over from beyond the threshold to the spiritual world, and which human beings should hold before their souls as often as possible.
[ 30 ] Take the corresponding for the I. The I emerges from the physical and etheric bodies and forms itself in accordance with the forces of the universal spiritual beings. It becomes what it can become according to how it lives in the physical body. If it were to awaken to the consciousness of the spiritual human being, it would not merely speak to itself, as the astral body would speak to itself if it were suddenly endowed with the consciousness of the life spirit; but the I, endowed with the consciousness that works in the physical body left behind, sending forces from above down into the physical body left behind, if the human being were thus endowed with this consciousness in his ego when it has emerged in the sleeping state, then the human being would not only experience a sum of judgments about himself, but would then see what he is now becoming as an image and what will then act as a seed for his subsequent earthly lives.
[ 31 ] I can find no other expression for this fact, if I want to put it into a sentence, than to say: The ego becomes the victim of itself, the victim of the spirit working in the body. — A sacrifice can be such that it is accepted with pleasure; this can also be the case with the ego when it is formed outside. A sacrifice can also be such that it is rejected. These are the extreme, most radical ends of the process. What human beings experience naturally lies essentially in the middle. But a sacrifice can also be rejected if it is not worthy of being sacrificed. If a human being appears before the spiritual beings of the universe in such a way that he must suffer greatly through what he experiences in his physical and etheric bodies during waking life, then he becomes a rejected being.
[ 32 ] You see, then, that the concept of sacrifice can certainly be applied to what is taking place here. And it seems to me that these two sentences: “While sleeping, the astral human being becomes the judge of his soul” and “The ego becomes the victim of itself” are extremely important for a complete understanding of the human being.
[ 33 ] If we look at what older instinctive wisdom has achieved for humanity, not from the clarity of consciousness that we must strive for today according to anthroposophical spiritual science, but rather from instinct, then we become aware, as I have often indicated to you, of images of significant primordial wisdom of humanity. They are expressed in myths, in ancient sayings of wisdom; but they are also expressed in the cultic acts that have been preserved in various religious systems.
[ 34 ] Therefore, when we understand them correctly, we gain a deep reverence for the traditions of ancient religious images and cult images. And basically, it is so that a living religious feeling in human beings can only return when it is grasped from a spiritual-scientific understanding of the world, not merely in phrases, but in its deepest content, not merely grasping the intellectual human being, but the whole human being, teaching him not only understanding of the world, but also reverence for the working of the spiritual in the world. We have seen this again today in particular. This spiritual science will in turn be able to revive religious feelings in human beings. But human beings have also gone through — we know that they had to do so in order to gain their freedom — a period in which they lived only for intellectualism, rationalism, and the materialism associated with them, and the majority of humanity still lives in this state today. But we must return to understanding what is spiritual in the world. We must return to a life outside the merely intellectual understanding of the world, outside the experience of the mere intellectual.
[ 35 ] But if we, I would say, skip over this period of intellectualism and look back to times when the old religious images were still alive, but at the same time were images of knowledge well into the Middle Ages of modern humanity, if we look at the cult images that were practiced in religious practice, then we find in all of this something that is tremendously similar, only derived from instinct, to what we can now extract from the spiritual worlds with clear consciousness. For I must say: when the thought arises from inspiration and is expressed in the sentence: The astral body becomes the judge of the soul in sleep — then one can find how what Michelangelo painted in the Sistine Chapel as the “Last Judgment” appears as an adequate image. In this image of the “Last Judgment” on the altar of the Sistine Chapel, for example, we have something that has emerged from ancient times. It has only taken on a Christian form. And once it had taken on a Christian form, it was already more traditional. These things were painted based on tradition. There have been times in human development when these things were viewed as living beings. Then instinct looked to the inspired imagination of human souls judging themselves in sleep.
[ 36 ] And again, when we look at what appears to us as such an incredibly moving image as the image of the Lamb of God, the Christ, that Christ who connects with the human ego, who permeates this human ego, then the thought becomes active in our soul — precisely when we look at the sacrificing lamb — of the sacrifice that becomes the I when it passes into the state of sleep, and we find how aptly the image of the lamb expresses this sacrificial nature of the human being during sleep. We come to realize how, out of an instinctive wisdom consciousness, this image was found for the help that the I needs in its earthly existence, because in sleep it becomes the sacrifice of its own self.
[ 37 ] One cannot help but point out again and again how anthroposophical spiritual science, in developing itself, strives for completely clear concepts, but for clear concepts such as are otherwise only found in the structure of mathematics or geometry; but because these concepts are rooted in the living life of the world spirits, because these concepts that arise through spiritual science are everywhere such that they do not leave us cold like mathematical concepts, but at the same time permeate us with the warmth of feeling, with the warmth of inspiring impulses of the will. Here we see the intimate connection between clear thinking, warm feeling, and energetic will in human beings. It is only from such a point of view that we can truly appreciate the whole of human nature.
[ 38 ] And many a glance at history is only illuminated when one can start from such an understanding of human beings. Until well into the Middle Ages, I said, we still find in many people an understanding of the truth content of the old images, of that experience of the world sub specie aeternitatis, as it existed in the old instinctive wisdom life, as it must be regained through clear consciousness, which must be strived for through anthroposophical spiritual science.
[ 39 ] Sometimes we see strange personalities emerge in the course of history, and in a peculiar way such strange personalities live in relation to the circumstances of the present, one might say, quite out of place in the present. I once spoke with a Benedictine priest in Monte Cassino during a trip to Italy. He mentioned how his breviary lists among the names of saints the Saxon German emperor Henry II, who is also called “the Saint” — I don't know in how many history books this is still mentioned. But if we consider what this Henry II wanted — whose name is still among those who play a role in certain breviary prayers of Catholic priests — who wanted: Ecclesia catholica non Romana. That was the slogan of Henry II, the saint! And in the time in which he lived, that is, in the 10th and 11th centuries, it was still quite possible to speak from a genuine experience of ancient wisdom handed down that what had come into the world through Christianity was to become an Ecclesia. 11th century, it was still entirely possible to speak from a genuine experience of ancient wisdom handed down through the ages that what Christianity had brought into the world was to become an Ecclesia catholica, that is, a church for all humanity, in which the spirit that was actually supposed to have come into the world through Christianity would reign. But Henry II, the saint, wanted an Ecclesia catholica non Romana, because the Ecclesia catholica Romana had become a worldly empire. And it is so that wherever spiritual empires become worldly empires, the Ahrimanic seizes what lives as a sanctuary and already lived in the primordial mysteries of humanity. There was still a strong awareness in the time of Henry II that the Ecclesia catholica could be separated from the Ecclesia catholica Romana, and that one should actually strive for an Ecclesia catholica non Romana.
[ 40 ] I say that in the breviary, Henry II is described as a misplaced saint. The Ecclesia catholica Romana has not the slightest reason to include him among its saints, for he was one of those who, out of holy Catholic zeal, wanted to overcome the Roman Catholic Church for the sake of the Catholic Church.
[ 41 ] These are historical facts that should be brought to people's minds when pointing out the most important truths, which in turn can be brought to the surface of conscious human existence through anthroposophical spiritual science. Today it is very necessary to point out these things, because in the individual repulsive phenomena that you may encounter here in your immediate vicinity, emanating from the Ecclesia catholica Romana, you can see how the Ahrimanic spirit was able to penetrate. On the one hand, we must not allow ourselves to be deceived by this Ahrimanic spirit into thinking that the Ecclesia catholica non Romana does not contain luminous, eternal wisdom. And in the local theology course that I was allowed to hold, it became apparent that out of the Protestant longing that was asserting itself there for a deepening of Protestantism toward the spiritual side, out of rationalism, out of intellectualism, it became apparent that for some of the participants, the words Ecclesia catholica non Romana seemed to be a liberation. For we are today firmly convinced that rationalism must be overcome just as much as the worldliness of the Roman Church; that humanity must once again come together in a universal spiritual life, which, however, must not be claimed by any worldly desire for power.
[ 42 ] The Ahrimanic spirit is a spirit of lies. Out of this Ahrimanic spirit, it can happen that spirits of lies lend themselves to declaring what is false to be true. It is therefore necessary to develop a profound aversion to lies from the depths of world events. This profound aversion to lies can truly be attained when one can say with full consciousness: The astral body becomes the judge of the soul while it sleeps. The I becomes the victim of itself while it sleeps.
[ 43 ] The Ahrimanic spirit, which has also found its way into the religious creeds of recent times, obscures these profound truths. Those who profess the anthroposophical view honestly, but also with some energy, should not only feel an outward, intellectual inclination toward the truths that anthroposophy can bring, but should develop a real inner energy, an energy of feeling and will that connects with what the spirit can grasp from the spiritual world through anthroposophically oriented spiritual science. This, my dear friends, should at the same time serve as a guide for distinguishing between what is contained in the traditional survival of religious images and religious cult images and how these religious images and religious cults are sometimes handled today.
[ 44 ] Who would not have the deepest reverence for what shines forth from the spiritual gray ages of the East in the cultic acts of the Russian Orthodox religion! One can approach these cultic acts in such a way that one is, as it were, penetrated by what is happening there, by the immense depth that is revealed there. Thousands upon thousands of years of instinctive wisdom development are expressed in these rituals.
[ 45 ] Well, I once took part in such a ritual in Helsingfors years ago, where such a ritual was celebrated at Easter, and I can say: One of the saddest memories of my life is what the popes, those terrible inner liars, did to the eternal truth! Today, under the influence of Ahrimanic materialism, lies in outward appearance and deep truth within clash in the most terrible way. Without really feeling this, it is impossible today to arrive at an energetic grasp of the human being.
[ 46 ] But we have a great need to arrive at this energetic grasp of the human being, for I could see at that time how even gifted people who took part in that Easter ceremony had all consciousness of human nature wiped out because a ceremony that would have been highly suitable if celebrated with dignity was misused by comedians posing as priests.
[ 47 ] But what could happen here in such a radical way is happening today, more or less intensively, everywhere. Anthroposophical consciousness should come to see these things, to thoroughly distinguish truth from falsehood, even where this distinction is very much veiled by the constraints of external circumstances. We must gain something from anthroposophical deepening everywhere for the whole human being and, above all, for the consciousness of time. That is what I wanted to say to you today in connection with my last remarks.p>