Rhythms in the Cosmos and in the Human Being
GA 350
One can also call these lectures dialogues, because their content was always determined by the workers themselves, at Rudolf Steiner's request. They were allowed to choose their topics themselves; he encouraged them to ask questions and share their thoughts, and he encouraged them to express themselves and to voice their objections. Both the far-reaching and the obvious were touched upon. Particular interest was shown in the therapeutic and hygienic aspects of life; this showed how much these things are part of the daily concerns of the worker. But all phenomena of nature, of the mineral, plant and animal world were touched upon, and this led out into the cosmos again, to the origin of things and beings. Finally, the workers requested an introduction to spiritual science and the basic knowledge for understanding the mysteries of Christianity.
This spiritual work together had developed out of a few courses that Dr. Roman Boos had initially given for those interested in such questions after finishing work on the construction site; they were later continued by other members of the Anthroposophical Society. But now the workers asked Rudolf Steiner if he would take charge of them and quench their thirst for knowledge. They also asked if it would be possible to use one hour of the usual working hours for this purpose, when they were still fresh and receptive. This was done in the morning hour after the vesper break. Some employees of the construction office were also allowed to attend, along with two or three of Dr. Steiner's closest colleagues. Practical matters were also discussed, such as beekeeping, which interested beekeepers. The transcript of those lectures on bees was later published by the Agricultural Experimental Ring at the Goetheanum as a brochure for its members, when Dr. Steiner was no longer with us.
Now, more and more people wanted to get to know these lectures. However, they were intended for a special audience and were spoken off the cuff in a special situation, as suggested by the circumstances and the mood of the listening workers — and certainly not with a view to publication and printing. But it is precisely the way they were spoken that has a fresh and immediate quality that one would not want to be missed. One would rob them of the special atmosphere that is based on the interaction of what lived in the souls of the questioners and the answerer. One would not want to wipe away the color and atmosphere by pedantically rearranging the sentence structure. Therefore, the attempt is made to touch them as little as possible. Even if not everything in them corresponds to the conventions of literary style, they have the immediacy of life.
This collection consists of automated translations of lectures 1-7 and 12-15 out of 16.
| I. | Reincarnation, Gymnastics, Dance and Sport | May 30, 1923 |
| What causes the shifts in the earth's population. Why do we not remember past incarnations? Man remembers only what he has experienced during the day while awake. However, much more is experienced during sleep. Post-mortem conditions. In ordinary dancing, the human being does not follow his physical body, but his etheric body; gymnastics consists of the human being adapting to the earth more than he can otherwise adapt to it. In sport, he follows only the physical movements of the earth. These movements must be countered by others: the eurythmic movements. About the first chapter of the 'Kernpunkte'. One can only think with the ether body. About today's sports obsession. | ||
| II. | The Work of the Ethereal and Astral in Man and on Earth | June 2, 1923 |
| Eye disease. Living lens and glasses. We see through them that our astral body is inside our etheric body. The eye disease comes from the fact that the salts deposited in the eye and in the lens do not allow the etheric body to enter the eye. About fire-breathing mountains. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions come from the star constellations. Fallacy. Firedamp. Plants that absorb the astral: poisonous plants. Treatment of starlight with deadly nightshade juice. The human liver as an inner observer. | ||
| III. | Blood Circulation and Heartbeat — Mental Perception through the Lens of the Eye | June 6, 1923 |
| False views about the movement of the heart. About the hydra animalcule. The heart is moved by our astral body. The heart as the inner sense organ. Left- and right-handed hearts. You can see externally when everything is transparent in the eye, and you can see internally when something is made opaque at will. Right and wrong movements. Everything mechanical must be adapted to the human being. | ||
| IV. | The Effects of Light and Color in Earthen Materials are Reflected in the Heavenly Bodies | June 9, 1923 |
| The color of a body is connected to the entire way in which it is situated in the world. The seven colors of the rainbow. The colors of the prism. Gassy flames. Spectral analysis. How do colors arise? Sodium flame. Emitting substances. Iron in the blood. Mars and Saturn as opposites. | ||
| V. | The Work of a Guardian Angel | June 13, 1923 |
| Examples of the workings of the spiritual essence that guides people from life to life on earth and that warns them. Stephenson and the prejudices of scholars of his time. About Schleich's experiences with patients who had premonitions of their death. About Sir Oliver Lodge, who lost a son in the World War and contacted mediums who provided information about his son. | ||
| VI. | On The Deeper Causes of the World War Catastrophe | June 16, 1923 |
| How the spiritual strength of one person can have an extraordinarily strong influence on the soul of another, who is very weak himself. Examples of the fact that we are all much cleverer in our etheric body than in our astral body and in our ego. Julius Robert Mayer and his observations as a ship's doctor. Because people did not want to learn anything spiritual until 1914, they were beaten by the fate of the world. | ||
| VII. | The Influence of the Star Constellations on the Earth and on Humans | June 25, 1923 |
| The extraordinary weather conditions of recent years. About the Siberian mammoth finds. Cold spells, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are caused by extraordinary stellar influences. Hemorrhage. Lunar influences on humans. What the discovery of America actually means. Christopher Columbus and Copernicus: the spherical shape of the earth and the movement of the earth around the sun. Robert Hamerling's experience with the sleepwalker Filomena Gavazzi in Trieste, the effects of star constellations on the earth, humans and animals. | ||
| VIII. | Human and Cosmic Breathing — The Light Breathing of the Earth – The Fertilization of Plants and Humans; The Fertilization of Water Through Lightning | July 20, 1923 |
| On cataleptic states. Hansen's hypnotic and post-hypnotic experiments. The head thinks slowly, the belly quickly. Balancing opposing states. In life, a person goes through as many days as breaths in a day. The earth's breathing of light. If head breathing predominates: rigidity of will; if belly breathing predominates: flight of thoughts. Through fertilization, the female organism takes in the whole world into its breathing process. Through the light that comes from the universe, the plant blossom is fertilized. The fertilization of water from the universe through light and warmth can be seen in a flash of lightning. Cataleptic states: root-like, people who are always talking: similar to the flower. The earth has existed as it is now for 25,920 years; we are now a little past the middle. | ||
| IX. | The Emergence of Conscience in The Course of Human Development; Unbornness and Immortality — The Teaching of Aristotle and the Catholic Church | July 25, 1923 |
| The human being comes down from the spiritual world with his ego and his astral body. The ancient Indian culture 8000 years ago: people felt they were the sons of the gods. In the ancient Persian period, a certain appreciation of the earth arose for the first time. Life after death became increasingly important to the ancient Egyptians; they had a terrible fear of dying. The ancient Greeks loved the earth the most. Aristotle's old views later became Christian church dogma. Early humans brought their moral impulses down from the spiritual world. The origin of conscience. The church as the custodian of conscience. The tragic fate of Augustin Smetana. The dogma of the eternity of hell. Conscience as a legacy from the pre-earthly life. | ||
| X. | Lung and Kidney Knowledge | July 28, 1923 |
| We always need a certain blood pressure in our body. Blood pressure that is too weak and blood pressure that is too strong. If the blood pressure is too strong, the kidneys become unsuitable. With the right blood pressure, the astral body expands. If the blood pressure is too low, the person always feels something like a slight fainting spell and as a result, they become weak and their organs cannot be formed in the right way; with blood pressure that is too strong, we age too quickly and our kidneys degenerate early. About eating potatoes. People are actually ignorant through and through. It is the air that sets the head in motion. 6000 or 8000 years ago, people practiced breathing a great deal in order to gain knowledge. Transition from lung knowledge to kidney knowledge. World War as a kidney disease of humanity. The world will not become better through external means, but only by beginning to know something. | ||
| XI. | Druidic Wisdom — Mithraism — Catholic Worship — Freemasonry — The Christian Community | September 10, 1923 |
| Druidic circles and dolmens or kromlechs. For the Druids, the whole of life was determined by the movement of the sun. Svastika. Runic writing. Mithraism. The Catholic cult has emerged from the fusion of the most diverse cults. Altar and monstrance. On the Masonic cult, which consists of nothing but symbols. On the cult of the Christian community. | ||