Spiritual Beings in the Heavenly Bodies and in the Kingdoms of Nature
GA 136
8 April 1912, Helsinki
Lecture VI
In our last lecture we tried to consider a planetary system in its dependence on the various spiritual beings of the three hierarchies, ranged, as it were, one above the other; and which we tried to describe in the previous lectures. We gained an idea of all that participates in forming a planet, and we have seen how a planet receives its form, its enclosed form, as a result of the activity of the Spirits of Form. We saw further that the inner life, the inner mobility of the planet, is the result of the activity of the Spirits of Motion. What we may call the lowest consciousness of the planet, which can be compared with the consciousness present in man in his astral body, we have to allot to the Spirits of Wisdom. That impulse through which the planet, instead of remaining stationary changes its place in space, we have to allot to the Spirits of Will, or Thrones. The organizing of the planet in such a way that it does not follow an isolated course in space but so moves that its impulses of motion are in harmony with the whole planetary system to which it belongs, the regulating of the individual movements of the planet in harmony with the whole system, that is an activity of the Cherubim. Finally we ascribe to the Seraphim what we may call the inner soul-life of the planet, whereby the planet comes as it were, into connection with the other heavenly bodies, as a man by means of his speech enters into relation with other men. So that we must observe a sort of coherence in the planet; and in this, what comes from the Spirits of Form is but a sort of kernel. On the other hand every planet has something like a spiritual atmosphere, we might even say something like an aura, in which work the spirits belonging to those two higher hierarchies which are higher than the Spirits of Form. Now if we want to understand all this aright, we must make ourselves acquainted with yet other concepts than those I have just recalled to you—concepts to which we shall most easily attain if we begin with the beings of that hierarchy which stands, so to speak, nearest to humanity in the spiritual world, namely the beings of the Third Hierarchy.
We have said that characteristic of the beings of the Third Hierarchy is the fact that what is perception in man is in them manifestation, and that what in man is inner life, in them is being filled with spirit. Even in those beings who start immediately above man in the cosmic order, the Angels or Angeloi, we already find this peculiarity, that they are actually conscious of that which they manifest from out of themselves. When they return to their inner being, they have nothing independent, nothing self-enclosed, like the inner life of man; but they then feel shining and springing forth in their inner being, the forces and beings of the higher hierarchies above them. In short they feel themselves filled and inspired by the spirit and its beings, immediately above them. Thus what we men call our independent inner life, really does not exist in them. If they wish to develop their own being, if they wish to feel, think and will somewhat as a man does, all that is immediately manifested externally; not as in man, who can shut up within himself his thoughts and feelings, and allow the impulses of his will to remain unfulfilled. What lives as thought in these beings, in so far as they themselves bring forth these thoughts, is at the same time also externally revealed. If they do not wish to manifest externally they have no other means of returning into their inner being, but by once again filling themselves with the world above them. Thus, in the inner life of these beings dwells the world above them, and when they live a life of their own, they project themselves externally, objectively.
Thus, as we have seen, these beings could hide nothing within them as the product of their own thought and feeling, for whatever they bring about in their inner being must show itself externally. As we mentioned in one of the former lectures, they cannot lie, they cannot be untrue to their nature so that their thoughts and feelings did not harmonize with the external world; they cannot have an idea within them which does not agree with the external world; for any ideas which they have in their inner being, are perceived by them in their manifestation. But now let us just suppose that these beings had a desire to be untrue to their own nature, what would be the result? Well, in the beings we have designated as Angels, Archangels, and Spirits of the Age or Archai, we find throughout that everything which reveals itself to them, everything which they can perceive is, so to speak, their own being. If they were to wish to be untrue, they would be obliged to develop something in their inner being which would not be consistent with their own nature. Every untruth would be a denial of their nature. That would mean nothing less than a deadening, a damping-down of their own being. Now suppose that nevertheless these beings had the desire to experience something in their inner nature which they did not manifest externally; to do so they would have to take on another nature.
What I have just described as the denial of their own nature by beings of the Third Hierarchy, the taking on of another nature, did actually take place; it did occur in the course of the ages. We shall see, as these lectures go on, why this had to happen; but to begin with we will confine our attention to the fact that it did happen; that, as a matter of fact, among the beings of the Third Hierarchy there were some possessed with this desire to have experiences in their inner nature which they need not manifest externally. That is, they had the wish to deny their own nature. What did this bring about in these beings? Something entered, which the other beings, those of the Third Hierarchy which retained their own nature, cannot have. The beings of the Third Hierarchy can have no inner independence such as man has. If they wish to live in their inner being, they must immediately be filled with the spirit-world above them. A certain number of the beings of the Third Hierarchy had the desire to develop something within their inner being which they would not immediately encounter in the external world as perception, or revelation of their own being. Hence the necessity arose of denying their own nature and taking on another nature. To develop an inner life of their own, to attain inner independence, a number of beings of the Third Hierarchy had to give up their own nature, to deny it. They had, so to speak, to bring about in themselves the power not to manifest certain inner experiences externally. Now let us ask:—What then were the reasons which moved these beings of the Third Hierarchy to develop such a desire within them? If we fix our attention upon the nature of the beings of the Third Hierarchy, with their manifestation and enfilling with spirit, we see that these beings are in reality wholly at the service of the beings of the higher hierarchies. Angels have no life of their own; their own life is manifestation, which is for the whole world; as soon as they do not manifest themselves there radiates into their inner being the life of the higher hierarchies. That which induced a number of them to deny their nature was a feeling of power, of independence and freedom. At a certain time a number of beings of the Third Hierarchy had an impulse, an urge, not merely to be dependent upon the beings of the higher hierarchies, but to develop within themselves an inner life of their own. The result of this was very far-reaching for the whole evolution of the planetary system to which we belong; for these beings whom we may call the rebels of the Third Hierarchy, brought about nothing less than the actual independence of man—making it possible for him to develop an independent life of his own, which does not immediately manifest externally, but can be independent of external manifestation.
I am intentionally using many words to describe this circumstance, because it is extremely important to grasp accurately what is here in question, namely, that an impulse arose in a number of the Third Hierarchy to develop an inner life of their own. Everything else was simply the result, the consequence of this impulse. What then was this result? It was in fact a terrible one, namely, the betrayal of their own nature; untruth, falsehood. You see, it is important that you should understand that the spirits of the Third Hierarchy which had this impulse, did not do what they did for the sake of lying, but in order to develop an independent life of their own; but in so doing they had to take the consequence, they had to become Spirits of Untruth—spirits which betrayed their own being—in other words, Spirits of Lies. It is as though someone were to take a journey on foot—and he meets with a wet day; he must of necessity make the best of it and put up with getting wet, which he did not at all intend:—in the same way the spirits of which we are speaking, had no intention of doing something in order to sink into untruth. Their action arose from their wish to develop an inner life, an inner activity; but the result, the consequence was, that they at the same time became Spirits of Untruth. Now all the spiritual beings which in this way, through betraying their own nature, arose as a second category beside the spirits of the Third Hierarchy, are called in occultism, Luciferic Spirits.
The concept of the Luciferic Spirits consists essentially in the fact that these beings wish to develop an inner life. Now the question is—What have these spirits to do, to attain their goal? We have already seen what they had to develop as a result; and we shall now inquire further what they had to do in order to attain this goal of an inner independent life. What did these spirits wish to surmount? They wished to prevent themselves from being filled wholly with the substance of the higher hierarchies; they wished to be filled, not only with the beings of the higher hierarchies, but with their own being. They could only accomplish this in the following way: Instead of filling themselves with the spirit of the higher hierarchies, and, as it were, leaving themselves open to the free outlook towards the higher hierarchies, they cut themselves off, detached themselves from them, in order in this way to create substance of their own from the substance of the higher hierarchies. We can gain a correct idea of what is here in question if we think of the beings of the Third Hierarchy in the following way. We think of them represented symbolically, graphically, in such a way that they manifest their own being outwardly, as it were, as though it were their skin; so that each time they developed inner thought or feeling, a manifestation arises, like a shining-forth of their own being. The moment they do not manifest themselves, they take up the light of the higher hierarchies which flows into them; they fill themselves with the spirit of the higher hierarchies and, as it were, open their whole being to them.
Those spiritual beings of the Third Hierarchy of which we have just spoken did not wish to be filled with the spirit nor to be connected with the spiritual substance of the hierarchies. They wanted an independent spiritual life, they therefore cut themselves off, they detached themselves, so that the being of the higher hierarchies was above them; they cut the connection and detached themselves as independent beings, retaining the actual light in their inner being. Thus they, as it were, stole what should only have filled them, and then returned to the higher hierarchies. They stole it for themselves, filled their own inner being with it, and by that means developed an independent side to their nature. This concept can provide an explanation of events in the cosmos, without which we should be quite unable to grasp a stellar system, the constitution of the stars in general as we know them with our human physical consciousness. Without these concepts one cannot possibly grasp the life of the stars, the life of the heavenly bodies.
I have now tried to indicate to you how certain beings of the Third Hierarchy have become quite different beings—Luciferic Spirits. That which took place in these beings of the Third Hierarchy cannot, of course, take place in the same way in the beings of the other hierarchies but something similar takes place even with these. If we apply that which takes place in the beings of the other hierarchies to a consideration of the Spirits of Form, it will give us an idea of how a planetary system is actually formed. At the conclusion of the last lecture it was said that what our vision first perceives in the planets, proceeds from the Spirits of Form; but it is not quite accurate to represent it thus. If you consider the planets—Mars, Saturn or Jupiter for instance—which are outside in cosmic space; as you see them with your physical eyes, or with the telescope, you have in the form revealed to you, not merely the Spirits of Form. Let us take, for example, the planet which for a long period of time, has been reckoned as the outermost one in our system; Uranus and Neptune were added later, as we shall see; but to begin with we will consider Saturn as the outermost. If we look at Saturn with physical vision we find him outside in cosmic space, a sort of luminous globe (leaving his rings out of the question). To the occultist who follows the spiritual events in the cosmos, this globe which is seen out there is not what the occultist calls Saturn; to him Saturn is that which fills the whole space bounded by the apparently elliptical orbit of Saturn.
You know that astronomy describes an orbit of Saturn which it interprets as the path of Saturn round the Sun. We will not at present discuss the accuracy of that statement, but if you take this accepted concept and here in the center imagine the Sun (S), and the outer circle as the orbit of Saturn, as astronomy conceives it, then everything which is within this orbit of Saturn, within the ellipse of Saturn, is to the occultist Saturn. For to him not only is that which the external eye sees as the most external physical matter, Saturn; not only that which gleams in the heavens, for the occultist knows, occult vision teaches him that, as a matter of fact, a sort of accumulation exists which extends from the Sun to the orbit of Saturn (a,a,a, in the diagram). So that if with occult vision we regard this orbit of Saturn, we have a sort of etheric filling in of the whole space: (the wide crosslines). That which lies within this orbit we must think of as filled with matter, not however in the form of a globe, for we have to do with a very flattened ball, a lens. Looked at from the side, we should if we had the Sun at (S1) have to draw the Saturn of the occultist thus:—as a much flattened ball, and at (a1), would be that which is designated the physical Saturn. We shall understand still better what is in question if we add an idea which we can gain in a similar manner from occult science with regard to Jupiter. External physical astronomy knows as Jupiter that shining body which revolves round the Sun as the second planet (the inner circle). That to the occultist, is not Jupiter: to him, Jupiter is all that lies within the orbit of Jupiter (narrow sloping lines). Looked at from the side, we should have to draw Jupiter so that if we put wide sloping lines for Saturn, we can put narrow sloping lines for Jupiter. That which astronomy describes is only a body (bl) which is, so to speak, on the outermost limits of the true occult Jupiter.
What I am here saying is not a mere theoretical idea or fancy, the fact actually is, that matter, not coarse physical matter but fine etheric matter, fills the space within the orbit of Saturn in its lenticular, flattened, ball-like form, as drawn here. It is just as much a fact that the second smaller space for Jupiter is filled with a different etheric substance which permeates the first; so that there is simple etheric substance only between the two orbits; within, the two etheric substances permeate one another, mutually permeate one another.
Now let us ask: What is the task of the Spirits of Form in this whole disposition? That Spirit of Form which forms the basis of Saturn, sets a boundary, gives form to this etheric substance which in an occult sense we call Saturn. Thus the outermost line in the formation of Saturn has been shaped by the Spirit of Saturn, which is also a Spirit of Form. In the same way the line of Jupiter was formed by the Spirit of Form allotted to Jupiter; the line of Mars by the Spirit of Mars, which is a Spirit of Form. Now we may ask: Where then actually dwells the Spirit of Form which corresponds to Saturn, or Jupiter, or Mars? If we can speak of a place in which these beings are, where is this place? In the ordinary sense of the word we cannot so do; we can only say:—The spiritual beings which we call the Spirits of Form work as forces within the etheric substance I have just mentioned; but they all have a common center, and this is none other than the Sun. Thus if we seek for the actual place whence the Spirits of Form work, the Spirits of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, etc., as also the Spirit of Form belonging to our Earth—if we seek for the center, the starting point from which the Spirits of Form work—we find it in the Sun. That means that the Spirits of Form corresponding to our planets, comprise, as it were, a synod or council of Spirits, having its seat in the Sun, and from there sets boundaries to certain etheric substances, certain masses of ether, so that what we call occult Saturn, occult Jupiter, comes into being. Now let us ask: How would it be if the Spirits of Form alone were to work?
From the whole significance of these studies you will gather that those physical planets would not be in existence if only the Spirits of Form were to work. They would indeed have, as it were, their abode in the Sun, where they form a sort of college; and we should have around us the planetary spheres as far as the orbit of Saturn, for there would be, so to speak, concentric globes, flattened balls in existence as occult planets; the most external of these flattened globes being of the finest etheric matter, the next somewhat denser and the innermost of the densest etheric matter. Thus the physical planets would not be in existence if these Spirits of Form alone were to work, but there would be globe-shaped, accumulated masses bounded by what the physical astronomy of to-day calls the orbits of the planets. But within the cosmos there are certain spiritual beings corresponding to the Spirits of Form, but who, as it were, are rebels against those of their own class. Just as we find Luciferic Spirits among the beings of the Third Hierarchy, which in order to set up their own independent life, cut themselves off from the spiritual substance of the higher hierarchies, so do we also find within the category of the Spirits of Form that some separated and would not go through the usual development of a Spirit of Form, but went through an evolution of their own. These oppose the normal Spirits of Form, are in opposition to them. What then happens is as follows.
Let us suppose that we had at point S the centre-point of the spiritual Council of the Spirits of Form; the Spirit of Form working upon Saturn would call forth this etheric globe, so that by the agency of this Spirit of Form a flattened globe would arise, as in the diagram. At an outermost point of this etheric globe, in opposition to the Spirit of Form working from the centre of the Sun works the rebel, the Luciferic Spirit of Form. He works from without inwards; opposingly. Thus we have the normal Spirit of Form working outwards from the Sun, centrifugally; he brings about the occult Saturn, which is then to be seen as a mighty etheric globe with its centre-point in the Sun. At the periphery, working inwards from cosmic space, is an abnormal Spirit of Form who has cut himself off from the normal evolution of the others; and at point (a) through the combined working of the forces working inwards from cosmic space, and those others working outwards from the sun, there occurs an “inturning,” which finally becomes detached, and that is the physical planet Saturn. Thus we have to imagine that where our physical eyes ace the planet Saturn, there are two forces working together; the one, the, normal force of the Spirit of Form working outward from the Sun; and at a definite point in opposition works the detached Spirit of Form. This produces an “in-turned” structure; the ether is notched, and this notch appears to the physical eye as the physical planet Saturn. Just the same occurs with the physical Jupiter, and with the physical Mars. Hence, by this example you see how in individual cases there actually arises what we call “maya,” the great illusion. Where physical astronomy places a planet, there is in truth a combined working of two forces; and only because, in truth, a great and mighty etheric heavenly body is there, which, through the contact of these opposing forces, is dented in and has a notch formed in one place, does the appearance of the physical planet arise.
For in truth here we have actually to do with a turning in, and to be really accurate the matter must in the first place be described as:
The Spirits of form working from the Sun extended the etheric substance to a certain distance; there worked the abnormal Spirits of Form in opposition, and caved the substance in, so that in reality a hollow was made in the etheric substance. As regards the original etheric substance of the planet, where the physical eye believes it sees the planet—there is really nothing; the actual planet is where the physical eye sees nothing. That is the peculiarity of “maya.” Where the physical planet is seen, there is a hollow. It may perhaps be said: “It is a very strange idea that where the physical planet is to be seen, there is a hollow,” for you will ask about our Earth. In the sense of what has been expounded, our Earth must also be a sort of flattened ball having its central point in the Sun, and it must also be such a notch, such a sort of hollow on the outermost rim. “A fine thing that!” you can say, “We know quite well that we are walking on firm, solid earth. In like manner we might take for granted that where Saturn, Jupiter or Mars are, there would naturally have to be solid filling, not hollow. And nevertheless where you walk about on our Earth—where, in the sense of Maya-perception you believe yourselves to be walking on solid, firm ground—even then, in reality, you are walking about on a hollow. Our Earth itself, in so far as it is an accumulation of matter, is a hollow in cosmic space, something bored into cosmic space. All physical matter comes into being through the meeting together of forces coming from the Spirits of Form. In this case we have the meeting of the forces of the normal Spirits of Form and those of the abnormal Spirits of Form. They collide with one another and in reality an indentation is produced and consequently at this point a simultaneous breaking up of the form, but only of the form. The form breaks up and this hollow space is bored. Now broken spiritual form, crushed form, is in reality matter. In a physical sense matter only exists when spiritual forms are broken up. Thus the planets out there are also broken-up forms.
In our planetary system the Spirits of Form have helpers, as has been made evident by our previous considerations. They themselves determine the boundaries, as we have described:—but above the Spirits of Form stand the Spirits of Motion, above these the Spirits of Wisdom, above these the Spirits of Will, above them the Cherubim, the Seraphim. In all ranks of these spiritual beings there are those who can be likened to what we have described as Luciferic Spirits. So that wherever a planet is formed, on its outermost border not merely do the Spirits of Form cooperate, but that which goes out from the Sun, from the activities of the normal hierarchies, working from within outwards, is always being opposed by the forces coming from the abnormal, the rebellious hierarchies.
The Cherubim and Seraphim are those hierarchies which just as much take part in the whole working of the forces, as do the Spirits of Form. They have the task of bearing the power of light outwards from the center-point of the planetary system, from the center of the Sun. Inasmuch as the beings of the higher hierarchies, the Seraphim and Cherubim, become the bearers of light, they have now the same relation to the light as the forces of the Spirits of Form to the etheric substance. Just as the forces of the normal Spirits of Form pass outwards and encounter the forces of the abnormal spirits working in opposition, and by that means a notch is hollowed out, so also do the forces work which carry the light, filling the whole etheric space; but in opposition to them work the abnormal forces (See Figure 6, point a), so that the planet arrests the light. Just as it arrests the forces of the Spirits of Form, so does it arrest the light, and throw it back; hence it appears as a reflector, as a thrower-back of the light which the spirits we call the Cherubim and Seraphim carry to it from the Sun.
Hence the planets have no light of their own, because they claim for themselves the force of the light which would be their due as beings if they were to open themselves to the normal Cherubim and Seraphim—because they veil themselves, cut themselves from the whole. Thus every planet has a cut-off separated light. It is not correct to say that the planets only have light borrowed from the Sun; every planet has its own light; but it has cut it off, keeps it hidden within itself, and develops it for its own independent inner life of light. We shall see that each planet only shares this light with its own beings, belonging to the kingdoms of nature on the planet in question. But that light to which they ought to open themselves, which they ought to take up from outside, is brought to them from the Sun by the Cherubim and Seraphim, but to that they close themselves, and throw it back. Hence, seen in cosmic space, they are stars which have no light of their own. Thus, as it were, with the light which flows in from the Sun a notch is formed and the planet throws itself against that light flowing in from the Sun; arrests it and throws it back.
Thus to occult vision what we observe in the stellar world, is absolutely different from what it appears to physical astronomy. What exists for the latter is nothing but a description of a Maya, and only behind this Maya does the truth lie; for the truth behind the material world is the spiritual world. In reality the material world does not exist at all. What is called the material world is the interplay of the forces of the spiritual world.
We have tried to describe to-day how such a planetary system really arises. Very little is really known in the external world, in the world of physical science, of the origin of such a system; for though physical science imagines that a planetary system arises from a sort of massing of etheric substance, the first fundamental principle is omitted which should hold good in all natural science. How often are children told at school—at least I do not know whether it is done here, but in Central Europe they are always told—that according to the Kant-Laplace system of the origin of the world a mass of original matter was in rotation from which then the separate planets split off. (There may be some little improvement in that to-day, but the principle is the same.) And in order that this may be quite clear and comprehensible, the children are shown by means of a little experiment how easily a planetary system can be formed. A large drop of some oily substance which floats on water is taken, and a circle ingeniously made in the line of the equator which is pierced through with a card; then a needle is passed through from pole to pole, then one begins to turn, and behold, out of the drop of oil arises a pretty little planetary system. Quite in the sense of the Kant-Laplace theory of the origin of the world, little drops separate off and rotate, while in the center remains the big drop, the Sun. What is more natural than to represent this to young people as a visible proof that this was also once enacted in the great cosmic spaces. But in so doing an important error is made, one which ought never to be made in natural science. There are certain conditions that ought never to be forgotten in making experiments. A scientist who forgets conditions without which no experiment can come about does not describe it accurately even according to natural science. If you omit any essential condition you are not describing it correctly according to natural science. The essential condition in the origin of this planetary system is however that the teacher should stand there and make it revolve, otherwise the whole system could not originate! The Kant-Laplace theory would thus only be possible if those who believe in it could at the same time supply a gigantic teacher in cosmic space, who would revolve the whole etheric mass. People notice even small errors in logic—perhaps not always, but often;—but capital errors, such errors as those which in their effects extend to the whole cosmic-conception, are not remarked.
Now there is no great teacher outside, making the axis of the world revolve, but there are the individual beings of the various hierarchies, who through the interplay of their forces, bring about the distribution and regulation of the movements of the different heavenly bodies. This should be the answer to those who would believe that the ordinary materialistic theory as expressed in Kant-Laplace, or in later hypotheses, is sufficient to explain the cosmic system, and that it is not necessary to consider anything else, as do the occultists. To those people who from a materialistic standpoint object to this living interplay of the hierarchies, we must again reply: with the capital error in logic which must be made by all cosmic materialistic hypotheses we cannot reach our goal; for there is no possibility of explaining a planetary system without calling to one's aid what occult vision can actually see. It is certainly abundantly proved to occult vision that what must he described with the physical senses is indeed, considered in its reality, something quite different. Thus what the eye sees is really nothing but the reflected light, which is thrown back, because, when the Seraphim and Cherubim carry the light of the Sun into cosmic space, the Luciferic Cherubim and Seraphim throw themselves against them, so to speak, and insert darkness into the substance of the sunlight; cutting off the light within, and claiming for each of the planets a light of its own.
These thoughts, now given out on the basis of occult observation and occult investigation, were first expounded in the post-Atlantean period in a sublime way by the great Zarathustra to his pupils. Everything which is rayed down from the Sun into cosmic space in the way just described, by the beings of the higher hierarchies centered in the Sun, was ascribed by Zarathustra to the Spirit whom he named Ahura Mazdao, or Ormuzd. That spirit who carried the forces of his being from the center-point of the Sun into the periphery, was everywhere opposed by the abnormal spirits of the different hierarchies, which in their totality, form the kingdom of Ahriman. We shall, however, see that we must separate the kingdom of Ahriman from that of Lucifer with regard to the planetary system. We shall have more to say about this; but at the conclusion of this lecture, attention must be drawn to the fact that Zarathustra in his own way symbolically pointed out to his pupils this connection of the Light of Ahura Mazdao, or Ormuzd, streaming out from the Sun, and of the kingdom of Ahriman embedded within it. Zarathustra said: What proceeds from the Sun we represent symbolically through that which the Seraphim and Cherubim carry, i.e. through the light. That which is hurled against the light in opposition by all the abnormal spirits of the higher hierarchies, the notch thus hollowed out, we represent by what is accepted as darkness. (That is, an individual light imprisoned within, manifesting externally as darkness.) That, Zarathustra represented as a kingdom of Angramanyu, or Ahriman. Thus we see how this teaching which, having originated in Asia Minor, is in a sense, once more given to us today, was met first in the Zarathustra civilisation. What always fills us with such significant feelings with regard to the evolution of humanity, is that we ourselves come upon certain things which even if they were not traditional and not to be observed in the Akasha Chronicle, are furnished by the results of present-day occult investigations; and which we can re-discover in the great teachings of antiquity. And only when we permeate ourselves with the truth which at the present time can be found in occult investigation, and when this same truth shines towards us from the old teachers and leaders of humanity, do we acquire a right relation to these leaders of humanity. Then only do they become living to us, then only do we understand them aright. Then, too, does the evolution of humanity reveal itself to us as a mighty discourse held by the spirits, now not only resounding forth to one another in space, but interpreting one another in the successive periods of time, completing one another, and leading the stream of civilisation on into the future.
Sechster Vortrag
Gestern haben wir versucht, ein Planetensystem zu betrachten, wie es abhängig ist von den verschiedenen geistigen Wesenheiten der drei gleichsam übereinandergeschichteten Hierarchien, die wir im Lauf der bisherigen Vorträge zu beschreiben suchten. Wir haben eine Vorstellung davon gewonnen, was alles an einem Planeten beteiligt ist, und wir haben gesehen, wie der Planet seine Form erhält, also seine abgeschlossene Gestalt, dadurch, daß da wirken die Geister der Form. Wir haben ferner gesehen, daß das innere Leben, die innere Beweglichkeit des Planeten eine Wirkung ist der Tätigkeit der Geister der Bewegung. Dasjenige, was wir das niederste Bewußtsein des Planeten nennen können, das wir vergleichen können mit dem Bewußtsein, das beim Menschen in seinem astralischen Leibe vorhanden ist, das haben wir zuzuteilen den Geistern der Weisheit. Jene Impulse, durch die der Planet nicht feststehend im Raum ist, sondern im Raum seinen Ort ändert, wir haben sie zuzuteilen den Geistern des Willens oder den Thronen. Dasjenige, was den Planeten eingliedert in sein ganzes System, wodurch er sozusagen nicht seinen eigenen Weg im Raume geht, sondern so schreitet, daß seine Bewegungsimpulse im Einklang sind mit den Bewegungsimpulsen seines ganzen Planetensystems, zu dem er gehört, das, was also die Einzelbewegung eines Planeten im Zusammenhang mit dem ganzen Planetensystem regelt, das ist eine Wirkung der Cherubim. Und endlich dasjenige, was wir nennen können das innere seelische Leben des Planeten, wodurch der Planet gleichsam in Verbindung tritt mit den anderen Himmelskörpern, wie der Mensch durch seine Sprache etwa mit anderen Menschen in Verbindung tritt, das schreiben wir den Seraphim zu. So daß wir im Planeten einen Zusammenhang zu betrachten haben, innerhalb dessen dasjenige, was von den Geistern der Form kommt, nur wie eine Art von Kern vorhanden ist; dagegen ergibt sich etwas für jeden Planeten wie eine Art von geistiger Atmosphäre, wir könnten auch sagen etwas wie eine Aura, in welcher die Geister der beiden höheren Hierarchien leben, die oberhalb der Geister der Form sind.
Nun aber müssen wir, wenn wir alles das richtig verstehen wollen, was wir im letzten Vortrag angeführt haben und was ich soeben versuchte, in ein paar Sätzen zu wiederholen, uns noch mit anderen Vorstellungen bekannt machen, mit Vorstellungen, welche wir am leichtesten gewinnen werden, wenn wir von den Wesenheiten jener Hierarchie ausgehen, die unmittelbar sozusagen nach oben, nach der geistigen Welt zu, an den Menschen angrenzt, wenn wir also ausgehen von den Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie. Wir haben gesagt, daß diese Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie dadurch charakterisiert werden, daß das, was beim Menschen Wahrnehmung ist, bei ihnen Offenbarung ist, und dasjenige, was beim Menschen Innenleben ist, ist bei ihnen Geist-Erfüllung. Schon in jenen Wesenheiten, die wir um eine Stufe höher stehen haben in der Rangordnung der Welt als die Menschen selber, bei den Engeln, Angeloi, finden wir diese Eigentümlichkeit, daß sie eigentlich dasjenige wahrnehmen, was sie aus sich selber heraus offenbaren, und daß sie, wenn sie in ihr Inneres einkehren, nicht etwas so Selbständiges, in sich Abgeschlossenes haben wie der Mensch, sondern daß sie in ihrem Innern dann aufleuchten und aufsprießen fühlen die Kräfte und Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien, die über ihnen sind, kurz, daß sie sich erfüllt, inspiriert fühlen von dem Geist der höheren Hierarchien, von den Wesenheiten, die über ihnen sind. So ist das, was wir beim Menschen selbständiges Innenleben nennen, eigentlich bei diesen Wesenheiten nicht vorhanden. Wollen sie ihr eigenes Wesen entwickeln, wollen sie das, was sie sind, gleichsam wie der Mensch denken, fühlen und wollen, so offenbart sich alles gleich nach außen; nicht wie beim Menschen, der da in sich selber verschließen kann seine Gedanken und seine Gefühle und der seine Willensimpulse ungetan lassen kann. Was als Gedanken in diesen Wesen lebt, insofern sie diese Gedanken selber hervorbringen, das ist zugleich auch ihre Offenbarung nach außen. Und wenn sie sich nicht offenbaren wollen, dann können sie nicht anders in ihr Inneres einkehren, als sich wiederum im Innern erfüllen mit der über ihnen stehenden Welt. So lebt im Innern dieser Wesenheiten die über ihnen stehende Welt, oder, wenn sie sich selber leben, leben sie sich nach außen hin objektiv dar.
Diese Wesenheiten können also nichts in sich verbergen, was Produkt ihres eigenen Denkens oder Fühlens wäre, denn es würde sich alles, was sie in ihrem Innern sich erarbeiten, nach außen zeigen. Sie können, wie wir in einem der vorigen Vorträge erwähnt haben, nicht lügen, so daß das, was sie vorstellen, was sie fühlen, nicht stimmen würde mit der Außenwelt. Sie können nicht irgendeine Vorstellung in sich haben, die mit irgendeiner Außenwelt nicht stimmen würde, denn jene Vorstellungen, die sie in ihrem Innern haben, nehmen sie eben wahr in ihrer Offenbarung. Nun aber wollen wir einmal annehmen, diese Wesenheiten bekämen das Gelüste, ihre eigene Natur zu verleugnen; was würde sich da zeigen? Nun, bei den Wesenheiten, die wir als Engel, Erzengel und Geister der Zeiten oder Archai bezeichnet haben, finden wir durchaus, daß alles das, was sich ihnen offenbart, was sie wahrnehmen können, sozusagen ihr eigenes Wesen ist. Würden sie lügen wollen, dann würden sie in ihrem Innern etwas entwickeln müssen, was zu ihrem eigenen Wesen nicht stimmt. Jede Lüge wäre eine Verleugnung ihrer Natur, das heißt aber nichts anderes als eine Betäubung, eine Vernichtung der eigenen Wesenheit. Nehmen wir aber an, dennoch würden diese Wesenheiten das Gelüste bekommen, in ihrem Innern etwas zu erleben, was sie nicht unmittelbar nach außen hin offenbaren — dann würden sie eben eine andere Natur annehmen müssen.
Das, was ich Ihnen jetzt geschildert habe, die Verleugnung der Natur der Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie, das Annehmen einer anderen Natur, das ist wirklich geschehen, es ist im Laufe der Zeiten geschehen. Wir werden noch sehen im Laufe der Vorträge, warum es geschehen mußte, aber wir wollen zunächst einmal darauf aufmerksam machen, daß es geschehen ist, daß tatsächlich unter den Wesen der dritten Hierarchie sich solche gefunden haben, welche das Gelüste bekamen, in ihrem Innern Erlebnisse zu haben, die sie nicht nach außen hin zu zeigen brauchten, das heißt, sie bekamen das Gelüste, ihre Natur zu verleugnen. Was ist für diese Wesenheiten dadurch eingetreten? Es ist dadurch etwas eingetreten, was die anderen Wesenheiten, die ihre Natur beibehalten innerhalb der dritten Hierarchie, nicht haben können: die Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie können keine innere Selbständigkeit haben, wie sie der Mensch etwa hat. Wollen sie in ihrem Innern leben, so müssen sie sich gleich erfüllen mit der geistigen Welt, die über ihnen steht. Das war das Gelüste einer gewissen Anzahl von Wesenheiten dieser dritten Hierarchie, in ihrem Innern etwas zu entwickeln, was ihnen nicht gleich in der Außenwelt als Wahrnehmung, das heißt als Offenbarung ihres eigenen Wesens entgegentrete. Damit war die Notwendigkeit gegeben, ihre eigene Natur zu verleugnen, eine andere Natur anzunehmen. Um eigenes Leben, innere Selbständigkeit entwickeln zu können, mußte eine Anzahl von Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie ihre Natur aufgeben, verleugnen. Sie mußten sozusagen an sich selber bewirken, daß gewisse innere Erlebnisse sich nicht nach außen offenbarten. Fragen wir uns jetzt: Was waren denn die Gründe, die diese Wesenheiten bewogen haben können, solch ein Gelüste in sich zu entwickeln? Wenn wir die Natur der Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie mit der Offenbarung und Geist-Erfüllung ins Auge fassen, dann merken wir, daß eigentlich diese Wesenheiten ganz und gar in den Dienst der Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien gestellt sind, daß sie eigentlich kein Eigenleben haben. Angeloi haben kein Eigenleben, ihr Eigenleben ist Offenbarung, ist da für alle Welt, und sobald sie nicht sich selber offenbaren, ist in ihrem Innern das in sie hineinleuchtende Leben der höheren Hierarchien. Das, was eine Anzahl von ihnen bewog, ihre Natur zu verleugnen, war Kraftgefühl, Selbständigkeitsgefühl, Freiheitsgefühl. In einer gewissen Zeit kam über eine Anzahl von Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie der Trieb, der Drang, nicht bloß abhängig zu sein von den Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien, sondern in sich selbst Eigenleben zu entwickeln. Damit war für die gesamte Evolution des Planetensystems, dem wir zunächst angehören, außerordentlich viel getan. Denn nichts Geringeres haben diese Wesenheiten, die wir da nennen können die Rebellen der dritten Hierarchie, angerichtet, als daß sie vorbereitet haben die eigene Selbständigkeit des Menschen, die Möglichkeit, daß der Mensch nun für sich selbständiges Leben entwickelt, das sich nicht unmittelbar nach außen offenbart, sondern das von der äußeren Offenbarung unabhängiges Innenleben sein kann.
Ganz absichtlich mache ich, um dieses Verhältnis, um das es sich hier handelt, zu charakterisieren, so viele Worte. Aus dem Grund mache ich so viele Worte, weil es außerordentlich wichtig ist, ganz genau zu fassen, um was es sich hier handelt. Es handelt sich darum, daß der Trieb entstand in einer Anzahl von Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie, selbständige innere Lebendigkeit zu entwickeln. Alles übrige war nur Folge, war nur Konsequenz dieses Triebes. Aber was war diese Folge? Diese Folge war im Grunde genommen etwas Furchtbares: die Verleugnung des eigenen Wesens, die Unwahrheit, die Lüge.
Sehen Sie, darum handelt es sich, daß Sie verstehen, daß die Geister der dritten Hierarchie, welche diesen Trieb erlangt hatten, das, was sie dann taten, nicht etwa getan haben, um zu lügen, sondern um der Entwickelung eines eigenen Lebens willen, aber mit dieser Entwickelung eines Eigenlebens mußten sie die Konsequenz auf sich nehmen, Geister der Unwahrheit, Geister der Verleugnung der eigenen Wesenheiten, Geister der Lüge mit anderen Worten, zu werden. Geradeso wie wenn jemand, sagen wir, eine Reise zu Fuß zu machen hat, die über einen Regentag hin dauert, er notwendigerweise in den Kauf nehmen muß, den Regen auszuhalten und naß zu werden, während er das gar nicht beabsichtigt hat, geradeso haben die Geister, von denen hier die Rede ist, keineswegs irgendeine Tat unternommen, um in Unwahrheit zu versinken. Ihre Tat entspringt aus der Absicht, inneres Leben, innere Regsamkeit zu entwickeln, und die Folge, die Konsequenz davon war, daß sie zugleich Geister der Unwahrheit wurden.
Alle die geistigen Wesenheiten nun, welche in dieser Art wie eine zweite Kategorie neben den Geistern der dritten Hierarchie durch die Verleugnung ihrer inneren Natur entstanden sind, nennen wir im Okkultismus die luziferischen Geister. Der Begriff der luziferischen Geister besteht im wesentlichen darin, daß diese Geister ein selbständiges inneres Leben entwickeln wollen. Es fragt sich jetzt nur, was haben sie tun müssen, diese Geister, um zu ihrem Ziel zu gelangen? Was sie als Konsequenz entwickeln mußten, das haben wir eben gesehen. Was sie tun mußten, um zu ihrem Ziel zu kommen, selbständiges inneres Leben zu entwickeln, das wird sich uns durch eine andere Betrachtung ergeben. Was wollten sie denn überwinden, diese Geister? Sie wollten überwinden die Geist-Erfüllung mit der Substanz der höheren Hierarchien. Sie wollten nicht nur mit diesen Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien erfüllt sein, sondern mit ihrem eigenen Wesen. Das konnten sie nicht anders machen, als indem sie, statt sich zu erfüllen mit dem Geist der höheren Hierarchien und gleichsam sich den freien Ausblick nach den höheren Hierarchien offenzulassen, sich abschnürten, abspalteten von den Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien, um sich auf diese Weise Eigensubstanz aus der Substanz der höheren Hierarchien zu verschaffen.
Wir können uns über das, um was es sich handelt, eine genaue Vorstellung machen, wenn wir uns das Folgende denken. Wir denken uns symbolisch graphisch dargestellt die Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie so, daß sie ihr eigenes Wesen gleichsam wie ihre Haut nach außen offenbaren, daß jedesmal eine Offenbarung wie ein Aufleuchten ihres Wesens entsteht, wenn sie inneres Denken oder Fühlen entwickeln. In dem Augenblick, wo sie sich nicht selbst offenbaren, da nehmen sie dasjenige auf, was als Licht der höheren Hierarchien in sie hereinfließt; da erfüllen sie sich mit dem Geiste der höheren Hierarchien und öffnen gleichsam ihre ganze Wesenheit nach diesen höheren Hierarchien. Die geistigen Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie, von denen ich Ihnen jetzt erzählt habe, wollen nicht geist-erfüllt sein, nicht zusammenhängen mit der geistigen Substanz der Hierarchien. Sie wollen selbständiges geistiges Leben. Sie schnüren sich daher ab, sie spalten sich ab, so daß über ihnen ist das Wesen der höheren Hierarchien. Da heben sie den Zusammenhang auf und spalten sich als selbständige Wesenheiten ab, in ihrem Inneren das eigene Licht dadurch erhaltend, daß sie dasjenige gleichsam rauben, was sie nur erfüllen sollte und hinaufgehen sollte nach den höheren Hierarchien. Das rauben sie für sich, füllen sich in ihrem Inneren damit aus und entwickeln dadurch eine selbständige Seite. Dies ist nun eine Vorstellung, die uns Aufklärung verschaffen kann über Vorgänge im Kosmos, ohne welche wir ein Sternensystem, überhaupt den Bestand der Sterne, wie wir sie als Menschen mit dem physischen Bewußtsein kennen, gar nicht zu begreifen in der Lage wären. Ohne diese Vorstellungen begreift man gar nicht das Leben der Sterne, das Leben der Himmelskörper.
Sehen Sie, ich habe jetzt versucht, Ihnen anzudeuten, wie gewisse Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie zu ganz anderen Wesenheiten werden: zu luziferischen Geistern. Dasjenige, was mit den Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie vorgeht, das kann allerdings nicht in derselben Weise geschehen bei den Wesenheiten der anderen Hierarchien, aber etwas Ähnliches geht auch mit ihnen vor sich. Es wird uns das, was mit den Wesenheiten der anderen Hierarchien vor sich geht, insbesondere wenn wir es anwenden auf die Betrachtung der Geister der Form, eine Vorstellung davon geben, wie eigentlich ein Planetensystem sich bildet.
Wir haben am Schlusse der gestrigen Betrachtung gesehen, daß das, was unser Blick zunächst wahrnimmt am Planeten, von den Geistern der Form herrührt. Aber es ist dies, wenn man es so darstellt, noch nicht ganz genau gesprochen. Wenn Sie nämlich den Planeten, sagen wir den Mars oder den Saturn oder Jupiter, der draußen im Weltenraum steht, so betrachten, wie Sie ihn mit den physischen Augen oder mit einem Fernrohr als Planeten sehen, so haben Sie in dem, was er Ihnen als solche Form zeigt, nicht ohne weiteres die Geister der Form. Betrachten wir zum Beispiel einmal den äußersten Planeten, der eine lange Zeit hindurch als der äußerste auch unseres Sonnensystems gegolten hat. Später kam ja, wie wir noch sehen werden, Uranus und Neptun dazu, wir wollen aber zunächst als äußersten den Saturn betrachten. Betrachten wir den Saturn mit dem physischen Blick, dann haben wir draußen im Weltenraum — ich will absehen von dem Ring — eine Art leuchtender Kugel. Für den Okkultisten, für denjenigen, der die geistigen Vorgänge im Kosmos verfolgt, ist diese Kugel, die da draußen gesehen wird, nicht dasjenige, was der Okkultist den Saturn nennt, wohlgemerkt, sondern für den Okkultisten heißt etwas ganz anderes Saturn. Für den Okkultisten heißt Saturn dasjenige, was den ganzen Raum erfüllt, der begrenzt ist von der scheinbaren elliptischen Bahn des Saturn. Sie wissen, daß die Astronomie einen Weg des Saturn beschreibt, den sie auffaßt als einen Weg des Saturn um die Sonne. Wie es damit sein mag, wollen wir jetzt nicht weiter berühren, aber wenn Sie diese gewöhnliche Vorstellung zu Hilfe nehmen, sich hier in der Mitte die Sonne vorstellen und den äußeren Kreis als den Weg des Saturn, wie ihn die Astronomie annimmt, beschreiben, so ist alles das, was innerhalb der Saturnbahn, innerhalb der Saturnellipse ist, für den Okkultisten der Saturn. Denn für den Okkultisten ist nicht nur das, was das physische Auge als die äußerste physische Materie des Saturn sieht, nicht nur das, was da glänzt am Himmel, der Saturn, sondern der Okkultist weiß, der okkulte Blick lehrt es uns, daß tatsächlich eine Art von Substanzanhäufung besteht, welche von der Sonne bis zu der Saturnbahn hingeht, so daß, wenn wir alles das mit dem okkulten Blick ins Auge fassen bis zu dieser Saturnbahn hin, wir eine Art ätherischer Erfüllung in dem ganzen Raum haben (weite Schrafherung). Sie müssen sich das, was innerhalb dieser Bahn liegt, erfüllt denken von ätherischer Substanz, allerdings nicht kugelförmig, sondern so, daß wir es mit einer Art stark abgeplatteter Kugel, mit einer Linse zu tun haben. Wenn wir also das von der Seite her ansehen würden, so würden wir, wenn wir hier die Sonne hätten, den Saturn des Okkultisten so zu zeichnen haben: eine ganz abgeplattete Kugel, und hier würde das sein, was als physischer Saturn zu bezeichnen ist.
Wir werden noch besser verstehen, um was es sich da handelt, wenn wir gleich eine Vorstellung anschließen, die wir in ähnlicher Weise aus der okkulten Wissenschaft heraus über den Jupiter gewinnen können. Nicht wahr, die äußere physische Astronomie nennt den Jupiter jenen leuchtenden Körper, den sie, sagen wir, als zweiten um die Sonne kreisen läßt (innerer Kreis). Für den Okkultisten ist nicht das der Jupiter, sondern alles das, was innerhalb der Jupiterbahn liegt (engere Schraffierung). Von der Seite gesehen hätten wir den Jupiter so zu zeichnen, daß, wenn wir den Saturn so weit schraffieren, wir etwas enger schraffieren könnten den Jupiter. Und das, was der Astronom beschreibt, das ist nur ein Körper, der sozusagen an dem äußersten Rand des wahren okkulten Jupiter ist. Das, was ich hier sage, sind nicht bloße theoretische Begriffe oder Phantastereien, sondern die Sache ist wirklich so, daß zwar nicht grobphysische Materie, aber feine ätherische Substanz den Raum innerhalb der Saturnbahn ausfüllt in seiner linsenförmig abgeplatteten kugeligen Gestalt, wie es hier gezeichnet ist. Und ebenso ist es eine Tatsache, daß dieser zweite kleinere Raum für den Jupiter wirklich von einer anderen ätherischen Substanz ausgefüllt ist, welche die erste durchdringt, so daß nur hier zwischen den beiden Bahnen einfache Äthersubstanz ist, da drinnen aber zwei Äthersubstanzen ineinander stecken, sich gegenseitig durchdringen. Und nun fragen wir: Was tun bei dieser ganzen Anordnung die Geister der Form? Nun, jener Geist der Form, welcher zugrunde liegt dem Saturn, der begrenzt eben, gibt Form dieser Äthersubstanz hier, welche wir im okkulten Sinn den Saturn nennen. Diese äußerste Linse also ist in ihrer Formung so gestaltet worden durch den Geist des Saturn, der ein Geist der Form ist. Ebenso ist die Linse des Jupiter durch den Geist der Form, der dem Jupiter zugeteilt ist, gestaltet, die Linse des Mars durch den Geist des Mars, der ein Geist der Form ist.
Nun fragen wir aber: Wo ist denn eigentlich der Geist der Form, der dem Saturn, oder der, der dem Jupiter, der dem Mars entspricht? Wenn wir von einem Ort, an dem diese Geister sind, sprechen wollen, wo ist dieser Ort? Ja, im gewöhnlichen Sinn des Wortes läßt sich darüber nicht sprechen, sondern man kann nur sagen: Diese geistigen Wesenheiten, die wir die Geister der Form nennen, die wirken als Kräfte innerhalb der ätherischen Substanz, die ich eben erwähnt habe, aber sie haben alle einen gemeinsamen Mittelpunkt, und dieser gemeinsame Mittelpunkt ist nichts anderes als die Sonne. Wenn wir also den eigentlichen Ort, von dem aus die Geister der Form wirken, sowohl der Geist des Saturn wie der des Jupiter wie der des Mars und so weiter, auch der Geist der Form, der der Erde entspricht, wenn wir den Angriffspunkt, den Ausgangspunkt, von dem aus diese Geister der Form wirken, aufsuchen, so finden wir ihn in der Sonne. Das heißt, diese Geister der Form, die unseren Planeten entsprechen, sie sind gleichsam ein Kollegium, ein Komitee von Geistern, das seinen Sitz in der Sonne hat und von der Sonne aus gewisse Äthersubstanzen, Äthermassen, begrenzt, so daß das entsteht, was wir nun genannt haben «okkulter Saturn», «okkulter Jupiter» und so weiter. Jetzt fragen wir uns: Wie wäre es, wenn nur diese Geister der Form wirken würden?
Nun, der ganze Sinn der Betrachtungen, die wir angestellt haben, kann Ihnen zeigen, daß im Grunde genommen diese physischen Planeten nicht da wären, wenn diese Geister der Form allein wirken würden. Sie hätten ja gleichsam ihren Sitz da, wo sie ein Kollegium bilden, in der Sonne, und wir hätten rings herum die planetarischen Sphären bis zur Saturnsphäre, denn es würden sozusagen konzentrische Kugeln, abgeplattete Kugelschalen da sein als okkulte Planeten: die äußerste Kugelschale von dünnster Äthersubstanz, die nächste von etwas dichterer und die innerste von dichtester Äthersubstanz. Nicht würden also, wenn diese Geister der Form allein wirken würden, die physischen Planeten da sein, sondern kugelförmige Äthermassen-Anhäufungen, welche begrenzt würden durch das, was die physische Astronomie heute die Planetenbahnen nennt. Nun aber entsprechen innerhalb des Kosmos auch den Geistern der Form solche geistige Wesenheiten, welche gleichsarn eine Art Rebellen bilden gegen ihre gleiche Klasse. Wie wir bei den Wesenheiten der dritten Hierarchie die luziferischen Geister finden, die zur Herstellung jenes selbständigen Innenlebens sich abschnüren von der geistigen, von der spirituellen Substanz der höheren Hierarchien, so finden wir auch, daß innerhalb der Kategorie der Geister der Form solche da sind, welche sich abschnüren, welche die übrige Entwickelung der Geister der Form nicht mitmachen, sondern welche eine eigene Entwickelung durchmachen. Diese Geister der Form widersetzen sich den normalen Geistern der Form, stellen sich ihnen entgegen. Und nun geschieht folgendes:
Nehmen wir einmal an, wir hätten hier an diesem Punkt den Mittelpunkt des geistigen Kollegiums der Geister der Form; es würde derjenige Geist der Form, welcher auf den Saturn hin wirkt, hervorrufen diese Ätherkugel, so daß durch diesen Geist der Form eine solche abgeplattete Ätherkugel entstünde. An einem äußersten Punkt dieser Ätherkugel wirkt nun entgegen diesem Geist der Form, der aus dem Mittelpunkt der Sonne heraus wirkt, der Rebell, derjenige, der eine Art luziferischer Geist der Form ist. Der wirkt ihm von außen herein entgegen. So daß wir den normalen Geist der Form von der Sonne nach außen, zentrifugal, wirksam haben; der bewirkt den okkulten Saturn, welcher da als eine mächtige Ätherkugel mit dem Mittelpunkt in der Sonne anzusehen ist. An der Peripherie wirkt aus dem Weltenraum herein ein abnormer Geist der Form, welcher sich abgeschnürt hat von den Wesen der normalen Geister der. Form, und durch das Zusammenwirken dessen, was aus dem Weltenraum hereinwirkt, und dessen, was von der Sonne hinauswirkt, entsteht hier eine Einstülpung, die zuletzt zu einer wirklichen Abschnürung wird, und das ist der physische Planet Saturn. So daß wir uns vorzustellen haben, daß da, wo das Auge den physischen Planeten Saturn sieht, zwei Kräfte zusammenwirken: die eine, normale Kraft des Geistes der Form, die von der Sonne nach auswärts wirkt, und ihr entgegen in einem bestimmten Punkt der abgespaltene Geist der Form. Dadurch entsteht dort eine Einstülpung, der Äther wird eingestülpt, und diese Einstülpung, die sieht das physische Auge als den physischen Saturn. Und ebenso verhält es sich mit dem physischen Jupiter, dem physischen Mars.
Sie sehen hier an diesem besonderen Beispiel, wie eigentlich in den einzelnen Fällen das zustande kommt, was wir die Maja nennen, die große Illusion. In Wahrheit ist an der Stelle, wohin man in der physischen Astronomie einen Planeten versetzt, ein Zusammenwirken von zwei Kräften, und nur dadurch, daß in Wahrheit eigentlich ein großer, mächtiger ätherischer Himmelskörper da ist, der durch eine entgegenwirkende Kraft ein Loch bekommt, an einer Seite eingestülpt wird, dadurch entsteht der Schein des physischen Planeten. Denn in Wahrheit haben wir es hier eigentlich mit einer Einstülpung zu tun, und ganz genau müßte zunächst die Sache so geschildert werden: Die Geister der Form dehnten die ätherische Substanz von der Sonne her aus bis zu einer gewissen Grenze; hier wirken entgegen die abnormen Geister der Form und stülpen die Materie ein, so daß eigentlich ein Loch entsteht in der Äthersubstanz. In bezug auf die ursprüngliche ätherische Substanz des Planeten ist nämlich dort gerade nichts, wo das physische Auge den Planeten zu sehen glaubt, und der wirkliche Planet ist dort, wo das physische Auge nichts sieht. Das ist das Eigenartige der Maja: an der Stelle, wo der physische Planer gesehen wird, ist ein Loch. Sie werden vielleicht sagen, das sei eine kuriose Vorstellung, daß eigentlich da, wo der physische Planet gesehen wird, ein Loch sein soll, denn Sie werden sich berufen auf unsere Erde. Unsere Erde müßte ja im Sinne dessen, was auseinandergesetzt worden ist, nun eigentlich auch eine Art abgeplatteter Kugel sein, die ihren Mittelpunkt in der Sonne hat, und sie müßte auch am äußersten Rande solch eine Einstülpung, solch eine Art Loch sein. Sie können sagen: Schöne Sache das, wir wissen doch ganz genau, daß wir auf der festen, massiven Erde herumgehen! — Ebenso könnten wir annehmen, daß da, wo der Saturn, der Jupiter, der Mars ist, daß da selbstverständlich massive Ausfüllungen sein müßten, nicht Löcher. Und dennoch, auch da, wo Sie herumgehen auf unserer Erde, wo Sie glauben im Sinne der Majawahrnehmung auf festem, massivem Boden zu gehen, auch da gehen Sie in Wahrheit auf einem Loch herum. Unsere Erde selber, insofern sie physische Massenanhäufung ist, ist ein Loch im Weltenraum, eine Einbohrung im Weltenraum. Alle physische Materie kommt nämlich dadurch zustande, daß sich Kräfte begegnen, die von den Geistern der Form herrühren. So haben wir hier die Begegnung von Kräften der normalen Geister der Form und von Kräften der abnormen Geister der Form. Die prallen aufeinander. Es entsteht in Wahrheit eine Einstülpung, und damit zugleich an dieser Stelle ein Zerbrechen der Form, aber eben nur der Form. Die Form zerbricht, und es entsteht diese Einbohrung. Und zerbrochene Form, zersplitterte Form, das ist in Wahrheit Materie. Materie im physischen Sinne gibt es nur da, wo Formen zersplittert werden. So sind auch die Planeten draußen zersplitterte Formen.
In unserem Planetensystem haben die Geister der Form, wie ja aus dem ganzen Geist der bisherigen Betrachtungen hervorgeht, Hilfen. Sie stellen die Grenzen her, wie wir das eben beschrieben haben. Aber über den Geistern der Form stehen die Geister der Bewegung, über diesen die Geister der Weisheit, über diesen die Geister des Willens, über ihnen die Cherubim und über den Cherubim die Seraphim. Für alle diese geistigen Wesenheiten gibt es auch solche, welche sich vergleichen lassen mit dem, was wir beschrieben haben als die luziferischen Geister. So daß wir je am äußersten Rande, da, wo ein Planet sich bildet, nicht bloß die Geister der Form zusammenwirkend haben, sondern daß sich da immer etwas so abspielt, daß von der Sonne aus die Wirksamkeit der normalen Hierarchien geht und von außen nach innen die der abnormen, der rebellischen Hierarchien.
Die Seraphim und die Cherubim, das sind diejenigen Hierarchien, die ebenso zu dem ganzen Spiel der Kräfte hier gehören wie die Geister der Form. Die haben die Aufgabe, aus dem Mittelpunkt des Planetensystems, aus dem Sonnenmittelpunkt her nach außen zu tragen die Kraft des Lichtes. Indem die Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien, Cherubim und Seraphim, Träger des Lichtes werden, haben sie nun dasselbe Verhältnis zu dem Licht, wie die Kräfte der Geister der Form es zu der Äthersubstanz haben. Wie die Kräfte der normalen Geister der Form nach außen gehen und ihnen die abnormen entgegenwirken und dadurch eine Einbohrung entsteht, so wirken auch die Kräfte, welche das Licht tragen, ausfüllend den ganzen Ätherraum, aber da wirken ihnen die abnormen entgegen, so daß der Planet das Licht aufhält. Ebenso wie er aufhält die Kräfte der Geister der Form, so hält er das Licht auf, wirft es zurück und erscheint damit als ein Reflektor, als ein Zurück werfer des Lichtes, das ihm die Geister, die wir als Cherubim und Seraphim bezeichnen, von der Sonne aus zutragen. Daher haben die Planeten auch kein Eigenlicht, weil sie die Kraft des Lichtes, die ihnen als Wesenheiten zukommen würde, wenn sie sich gegenüber den normalen Cherubim und Seraphim öffnen würden, für sich in Anspruch nehmen, weil sie sich einhüllen, abschnüren von dem Ganzen. Jeder Planet hat auch solch eingeschnürtes, abgesondertes Licht. Es ist nicht richtig, daß die Planeten nur erborgtes Licht von der Sonne haben. Jeder Planet hat sein Eigenlicht, nur hat er dieses Licht abgeschnürt, hält es in sich selber verborgen, entwickelt es zu einem selbständigen inneren Lichtleben. Wir werden sehen, daß sie es nur ihren eigenen Wesenheiten der Naturreiche mitteilen, die auf dem betreffenden Planeten sind. Dasjenige Licht aber, dem sie sich öffnen sollen, das sie aufnehmen sollen von außen, das ihnen von der Sonne durch die Cherubim und Seraphim zugetragen wird, dem verschließen sie sich, das werfen sie zurück. Daher sind sie für den Weltenraum Sterne, die nicht mit eigenem Licht ausgestattet sind. Also in dem Licht, das von der Sonne hinfließt, wird gleichsam eine Einstülpung gemacht, und der Planet wirft sich entgegen dem von der Sonne hinflutenden Licht, hält es auf, wirft es zurück.
Es ist eben dasjenige, was wir in der Sternenwelt zu beobachten haben, vor dem okkulten Blick etwas durchaus anderes, als es sich für die physische Astronomie ausnimmt. Was für diese vorhanden ist, ist eben nichts anderes als die Beschreibung einer Maja, und erst hinter dieser Maja liegt die Wahrheit; denn die Wahrheit hinter der materiellen Welt ist die geistige Welt. Die materielle Welt existiert gar nicht einmal in Wirklichkeit. Das, was man materielle Welt nennt, ist das Zusammenspielen der Kräfte der geistigen Welt.
Damit haben wir heute versucht zu beschreiben, wie eigentlich ein solches Planetensystem entsteht. Es ist von der Entstehung eines solchen Planetensystems eigentlich recht wenig bekannt in der äußeren Welt, in der Welt der physischen Wissenschaft, denn diese physische Wissenschaft läßt ein Planetensystem wohl auch aus einer Art ätherischer Anhäufung von Substanz entstehen, aber nun wird sonderbarerweise der allererste Grundsatz versäumt, der in aller Naturwissenschaft gelten sollte. Wie oft wird es den Kindern in der Schule erzählt — ich weiß nicht, ob es auch hier geschieht, aber in Mitteleuropa wird ihnen erzählt —, wie im Sinne des Kant-Laplaceschen Weltentstehungssystems — heute sind ja diese Dinge etwas reformiert, aber bei Betrachtung des Prinzips kommt es darauf nicht an — eine Urmaterie in Rotation gewesen wäre und sich dann abgetrennt hätten die einzelnen Planetenkugeln. Und damit dies recht anschaulich, recht begreiflich wird, wird den Kindern gezeigt in einem kleinen Experiment, wie leicht ein Planetensystem entstehen kann. Man bildet einen großen Tropfen aus einer öligen Substanz, die auf Wasser schwimmt, und macht kunstvoll in der Äquatorrichtung einen Kreis und durchsteckt ihn mit einem Kartenblatt: Oben steckt man dann eine Nadel hinein von Pol zu Pol, dann beginnt man zu drehen und siehe da: künstlich entsteht aus diesem Öltropfen ein kleines, niedliches Planetensystem. Ganz im Sinne der Kant-Laplaceschen Weltentstehungstheorie spalten sich da kleine Tropfen ab, die dann rotieren, und in der Mitte bleibt der größere Tropfen, die Sonne. Was ist natürlicher, als daß man das der Jugend hinstellt als anschaulichen Beweis, daß das auch einmal im großen Weltenraum sich habe abspielen können. Man macht dabei aber einen gewaltigen Fehler, den man in der Naturwissenschaft niemals machen sollte. Man darf bei keinem Experiment, das man macht, gewisse Bedingungen vergessen. Derjenige, welcher Bedingungen vergißt, ohne welche ein Experiment nicht zustande kommen kann, der beschreibt naturwissenschaftlich nicht richtig. Wenn Sie irgendeine wesentliche Bedingung auslassen, so beschreiben Sie naturwissenschaftlich nicht richtig. Die wesentliche Bedingung bei der Entstehung dieses Planetensystems ist aber, daß der Herr Lehrer dasteht und dreht, sonst würde das Ganze nicht zustande kommen. So daß die Kant-Laplacesche Theorie nur möglich wäre, wenn zugleich von denen, die sie vertreten, ein riesiger Lehrer in den Weltenraum hinausversetzt würde, der die ganze ätherische Masse drehen würde. Kleine logische Fehler bemerken die Leute vielleicht auch nicht immer. Solche Kapitalfehler aber, solche logischen Fehler, welche sich in ihrer Wirkungsweise über den ganzen Weltgedanken ausdehnen, merken die Leute oftmals nicht. Nun, ein großer Herr Lehrer ist nicht da, der draußen die Weltenachse drehte, aber es sind vorhanden die einzelnen geistigen Wesenheiten der verschiedenen Hierarchien, die durch das Zusammenspiel ihrer Kräfte hervorbringen die Verteilung und auch die Anordnung der Bewegung der einzelnen Himmelskörper. Das ist denjenigen zu erwidern, welche etwa glauben sollten, daß die gewöhnliche materialistische Theorie, wie sie sich in der Kant-Laplaceschen oder in den späteren Hypothesen ausspricht, genüge, um das Weltensystem zu erklären, und man hätte nicht nötig, auf etwas anderes zu reflektieren, wie die Okkultisten es tun. Solchen, die vom materialistischen Standpunkt etwas einwenden gegen dieses lebendige Zusammenspiel der Hierarchien, muß erwidert werden: Mit dem kapitallogischen Fehler, der von allen kosmisch-materialistischen Hypothesen gemacht werden muß, kommt man nicht durch, denn es gibt keine Möglichkeit, ein Planetensystem zu erklären, ohne zu Hilfe zu rufen das, was der okkulte Blick wirklich schaut. Allerdings zeigt sich für diesen okkulten Blick dann vielfach, daß das, was man mit physischen Sinnen beschreiben muß, eigentlich, in seiner Wahrheit betrachtet, etwas ganz anderes ist. So ist das, was das Auge sieht, eigentlich nichts anderes als das zurückgeworfene Licht, das dadurch zurückgeworfen wird, daß die Seraphim und Cherubim in den Weltenraum das Licht der Sonne hinaustragen und daß sich diesen Wesenheiten sozusagen luziferische Cherubim und Seraphim entgegenwerfen, die einstülpen in die Sonnenlichtsubstanz Finsternis nach außen, weil sie das Licht im Inneren abschnüren und ein eigenes Licht in Anspruch nehmen für den Planeten.
Diese Gedanken, die jetzt geäußert worden sind auf Grundlage okkulter Beobachtungen und okkulter Forschungen, in einer grandiosen Weise trug sie in der nachatlantischen Zeit zuerst der große Zarathustra seinen Schülern vor. Alles das, was von der Sonne hinausstrahlt in den Weltenraum, in ähnlicher Weise, wie wir das heute beschrieben haben von den in der Sonne zentrierten Wesenheiten der höheren Hierarchien, das schrieb Zarathustra jenem Geist zu, den er Ahura Mazdao oder Ormuzd nannte. Jedem Geist, der von dem Sonnenmittelpunkt in den Umfang die Kräfte seiner Wesenheit hinausträgt, ihm werfen sich überall die abnormen Geister der einzelnen Hierarchien entgegen, die in ihrer Gesamtheit das Reich des Ahriman bilden. Wir werden allerdings sehen, daß wir noch trennen müssen das Reich des Ahriman von dem des Luzifer — davon werden wir noch genauer sprechen — auch in bezug auf das Planetensystem. Es sollte nur aufmerksam gemacht werden am Schluß dieser Betrachtung, daß Zarathustra seinen Schülern diesen Zusammenhang von einem von der Sonne ausstrahlenden Licht des Ahura Mazdao oder Ormuzd, in das sich einbettet das Reich des Ahriman, symbolisch angedeutet hat in seiner Art, indem er, Zarathustra, sagte: \Was von der Sonne ausgeht, stellen wir uns symbolisch vor als das, was die Cherubim und Seraphim hinaustragen durch das Licht. Das, was sich entgegenwirft von allen abnormen Geistern der höheren Hierarchien, was die einstülpen, das stellen wir uns vor als das, was von Finsternis, das heißt von innen gefangengenommenem Eigenlicht, das nach außen als Finsternis sich offenbart, eingenommen wird. — Das stellte Zarathustra als ein Reich des Angramainyu, des Ahriman dar. So sehen wir, wie von Vorderasien ausgehend gerade diese Lehre, die uns auch heute in einer gewissen Weise wieder gegeben wird, wie diese Anschauung uns in der Zarathustra-Kultur zuerst entgegentritt. Das ist es, was uns immer gegenüber der Entwickelung der Menschheit mit so bedeutsamen Empfindungen erfüllt: daß wir selber auf gewisse Dinge kommen, die einfach, wenn gar nichts überliefert und in der Akasha-Chronik nichts zu beobachten wäre, die heutige okkulte Forschung lieferte und die wir dann wiederentdecken bei den großen Lehrern in der Vorzeit. Das macht uns dann erst richtig bekannt mit diesen großen Lehrern der Vorzeit. Und wenn wir uns durchdringen mit der Wahrheit, die gegenwärtig gefunden werden kann in der okkulten Forschung, und wenn uns dann dieselbe Wahrheit entgegenleuchtet von alten Lehrern und Führern der Menschheit, dann bekommen wir erst ein richtiges Verhältnis zu diesen Führern der Menschheit. Dann werden uns diese erst lebendig, dann verstehen wir sie erst in richtiger Art. Dann wird uns auch die Menschheitsevolution zu einem gewaltigen Gespräch, das die Geister führen, nur jetzt nicht im Raum zueinander tönend, sondern in den aufeinanderfolgenden Zeitperioden einander aufklärend, einander ergänzend und die Kultur im Strome weiter führend.
Sixth Lecture
Yesterday we tried to consider a planetary system as dependent on the various spiritual beings of the three hierarchies, which we have attempted to describe in the course of the previous lectures. We have gained an idea of everything that is involved in a planet, and we have seen how the planet receives its form, that is, its finished shape, through the activity of the spirits of form. We have also seen that the inner life, the inner mobility of the planet, is an effect of the activity of the spirits of movement. What we can call the lowest consciousness of the planet, which we can compare to the consciousness present in the human being in his astral body, we must attribute to the spirits of wisdom. Those impulses through which the planet is not fixed in space but changes its place in space, we must attribute to the spirits of will or the thrones. That which integrates the planet into its entire system, whereby it does not, so to speak, follow its own path in space, but moves in such a way that its impulses of movement are in harmony with the impulses of movement of the entire planetary system to which it belongs, that which regulates the individual movement of a planet in relation to the entire planetary system, is an effect of the cherubim. And finally, what we can call the inner spiritual life of the planet, whereby the planet enters into connection with the other heavenly bodies, just as man enters into connection with other people through his language, we attribute to the seraphim. Thus, we have to consider a connection within the planet in which that which comes from the spirits of form is only present as a kind of core; on the other hand, something arises for each planet like a kind of spiritual atmosphere, we could also say something like an aura, in which the spirits of the two higher hierarchies live, which are above the spirits of form.
But now, if we want to understand correctly everything we said in the last lecture and what I have just tried to repeat in a few sentences, we must familiarize ourselves with other ideas, ideas that we will most easily gain if we start from the beings of that hierarchy which, so to speak, immediately above, toward the spiritual world, if we start from the beings of the third hierarchy. We have said that these beings of the third hierarchy are characterized by the fact that what is perception in human beings is revelation in them, and what is inner life in human beings is spiritual fulfillment in them. Already in those beings who stand one step higher than human beings in the world order, in the angels, the angeloi, we find this peculiarity that they actually perceive what they reveal from themselves, and that when they turn inward, they do not have something as independent and self-contained as human beings, but that they then feel the forces and beings of the higher hierarchies above them light up and sprout within them, in short, that they feel fulfilled and inspired by the spirit of the higher hierarchies, by the beings above them. Thus, what we call an independent inner life in humans does not actually exist in these beings. If they want to develop their own being, if they want to think, feel, and will what they are, just as human beings do, then everything is immediately revealed to the outside world; not as with human beings, who can shut their thoughts and feelings within themselves and leave their impulses of will unacted upon. What lives as thoughts in these beings, insofar as they themselves produce these thoughts, is at the same time their revelation to the outside world. And if they do not want to reveal themselves, they can do nothing else but turn inward and fill themselves with the world above them. Thus, the world above these beings lives within them, or, when they live themselves, they live objectively outwardly.
These beings cannot therefore hide anything within themselves that is the product of their own thinking or feeling, for everything they work out within themselves would be revealed to the outside world. As we mentioned in one of the previous lectures, they cannot lie, so that what they imagine or feel would not correspond to the outside world. They cannot have any ideas within themselves that would not correspond to the external world, because the ideas they have within themselves are precisely what they perceive in their revelation. But let us now suppose that these beings were to feel the desire to deny their own nature; what would then be revealed? Well, in the beings we have called angels, archangels, and spirits of the ages or archai, we find that everything that is revealed to them, everything they can perceive, is, so to speak, their own being. If they wanted to lie, they would have to develop something within themselves that does not correspond to their own being. Every lie would be a denial of their nature, which means nothing other than a numbing, a destruction of their own being. But let us suppose that these beings nevertheless felt the desire to experience something within themselves that they do not immediately reveal to the outside world — then they would have to take on a different nature.
What I have just described to you, the denial of the nature of the beings of the third hierarchy, the assumption of a different nature, really happened; it happened in the course of time. We will see in the course of these lectures why this had to happen, but first we want to draw attention to the fact that it did happen, that there were indeed beings among the beings of the third hierarchy who felt the desire to have experiences within themselves that they did not need to reveal to the outside world, that is, they felt the desire to deny their nature. What happened to these beings as a result? Something happened that the other beings who retained their nature within the third hierarchy cannot have: the beings of the third hierarchy cannot have inner independence as human beings have. If they want to live within themselves, they must immediately fill themselves with the spiritual world that stands above them. This was the desire of a certain number of beings of this third hierarchy: to develop something within themselves that did not immediately confront them in the outer world as perception, that is, as a revelation of their own being. This made it necessary for them to deny their own nature and take on a different nature. In order to develop their own life and inner independence, a number of beings of the third hierarchy had to give up their nature, to deny it. They had to effect, as it were, that certain inner experiences did not reveal themselves to the outside world. Let us now ask ourselves: What were the reasons that could have moved these beings to develop such a desire within themselves? If we consider the nature of the beings of the third hierarchy with revelation and spirit fulfillment, we realize that these beings are actually completely at the service of the beings of the higher hierarchies, that they actually have no life of their own. Angeloi have no life of their own; their life is revelation, it is there for the whole world, and as soon as they do not reveal themselves, the life of the higher hierarchies shines within them. What moved a number of them to deny their nature was a feeling of power, a feeling of independence, a feeling of freedom. At a certain time, a number of beings of the third hierarchy were overcome by the urge, the compulsion, not merely to be dependent on the beings of the higher hierarchies, but to develop a life of their own within themselves. This was an extraordinarily important step for the entire evolution of the planetary system to which we initially belong. For these beings, whom we may call the rebels of the third hierarchy, have done nothing less than prepare the way for the independence of human beings, the possibility that human beings may now develop an independent life for themselves, which is not immediately apparent to the outside world, but which can be an inner life independent of external manifestation.
I am deliberately using so many words to characterize the relationship that is at stake here. I am using so many words because it is extremely important to grasp exactly what is at stake here. What is at stake is that the urge arose in a number of beings of the third hierarchy to develop independent inner vitality. Everything else was merely a consequence of this urge. But what was this consequence? This consequence was, in essence, something terrible: the denial of one's own being, untruth, lies.
You see, it is important to understand that the spirits of the third hierarchy who had acquired this impulse did not do what they did in order to lie, but for the sake of developing their own life. However, with the development of their own life, they had to accept the consequence of becoming spirits of untruth, spirits of denial of their own beings, in other words, spirits of lying. Just as when someone, say, has to make a journey on foot that lasts over a rainy day, he must necessarily accept that he will have to endure the rain and get wet, even though he did not intend to do so, so the spirits we are talking about here did not in any way undertake any action to sink into untruth. Their action springs from the intention to develop inner life, inner activity, and the result, the consequence of this, was that they simultaneously became spirits of untruth.
All the spiritual beings which have arisen in this way as a second category alongside the spirits of the third hierarchy through the denial of their inner nature are called Luciferic spirits in occultism. The concept of Luciferic spirits essentially consists in the fact that these spirits want to develop an independent inner life. The question now is, what did these spirits have to do to achieve their goal? We have just seen what they had to develop as a consequence. What they had to do to achieve their goal of developing an independent inner life will become clear to us from another point of view. What did these spirits want to overcome? They wanted to overcome the filling of the spirit with the substance of the higher hierarchies. They did not want to be filled only with these beings of the higher hierarchies, but with their own being. They could not do this except by cutting themselves off, separating themselves from the beings of the higher hierarchies, instead of filling themselves with the spirit of the higher hierarchies and, as it were, leaving themselves open to the free view of the higher hierarchies, in order to obtain their own substance from the substance of the higher hierarchies.
We can form a precise idea of what this means if we imagine the following. We symbolically imagine the beings of the third hierarchy as if they were graphically represented, revealing their own nature outwardly, as if it were their skin, so that every time they develop inner thinking or feeling, a revelation occurs, like a flash of their nature. At the moment when they do not reveal themselves, they take in what flows into them as the light of the higher hierarchies; they fill themselves with the spirit of the higher hierarchies and open their entire being, as it were, to these higher hierarchies. The spiritual beings of the third hierarchy, of whom I have now told you, do not want to be filled with spirit, do not want to be connected with the spiritual substance of the hierarchies. They want an independent spiritual life. They therefore cut themselves off, they split off, so that above them is the essence of the higher hierarchies. In this way they break off their connection and split off as independent beings, preserving their own light within themselves by stealing, as it were, that which should only fill them and rise up to the higher hierarchies. They steal this for themselves, fill themselves with it, and thereby develop an independent side. This is now a concept that can enlighten us about processes in the cosmos, without which we would not be able to comprehend a star system, or even the existence of stars as we know them as human beings with physical consciousness. Without these concepts, one cannot comprehend the life of the stars, the life of the heavenly bodies.
You see, I have now tried to indicate to you how certain beings of the third hierarchy become completely different beings: Luciferic spirits. What happens to the beings of the third hierarchy cannot happen in the same way to the beings of the other hierarchies, but something similar happens to them. What happens to the beings of the other hierarchies, especially when we apply it to the consideration of the spirits of form, will give us an idea of how a planetary system actually forms.
At the end of yesterday's consideration, we saw that what our gaze first perceives on the planet comes from the spirits of form. But when you put it like that, it's not quite accurate. For if you look at a planet, say Mars or Saturn or Jupiter, out there in space, as you see it with your physical eyes or through a telescope, you do not immediately perceive the spirits of form in what it shows you as such a form. Let us consider, for example, the outermost planet, which for a long time was considered the outermost planet in our solar system. Later, as we shall see, Uranus and Neptune were added, but let us first consider Saturn as the outermost planet. If we look at Saturn with our physical eyes, we see a kind of luminous sphere out there in space — I will disregard the ring for now. For the occultist, for those who follow the spiritual processes in the cosmos, this sphere that is seen out there is not what the occultist calls Saturn, mind you, but for the occultist, Saturn means something completely different. For the occultist, Saturn means that which fills the entire space bounded by Saturn's apparent elliptical orbit. You know that astronomy describes Saturn's path as a path around the sun. We will not go into that now, but if you take this common idea and imagine the Sun here in the middle and describe the outer circle as the path of Saturn, as assumed by astronomy, then everything within the orbit of Saturn, within the Saturn ellipse, is Saturn for the occultist. For the occultist, it is not only what the physical eye sees as the outermost physical matter of Saturn, not only what shines in the sky, Saturn, but the occultist knows, the occult view teaches us, that there is actually a kind of accumulation of substance that extends from the Sun to Saturn's orbit, so that if we take in all of this with the occult gaze up to Saturn's orbit, we have a kind of ethereal fulfillment in the entire space (wide shading). You must imagine what lies within this orbit as filled with ethereal substance, but not spherical, rather as a kind of strongly flattened sphere, like a lens. So if we were to look at this from the side, if we had the Sun here, we would have to draw the occultist's Saturn as a completely flattened sphere, and this would be what we call physical Saturn.
We will understand even better what this is all about if we immediately follow up with an idea that we can gain in a similar way from occult science about Jupiter. Isn't it true that external physical astronomy calls Jupiter that luminous body which it has, let us say, orbiting around the sun as the second (inner circle)? For the occultist, this is not Jupiter, but everything that lies within Jupiter's orbit (closer hatching). Seen from the side, we would have to draw Jupiter in such a way that, if we shaded Saturn to that extent, we could shade Jupiter a little more closely. And what the astronomer describes is only a body that is, so to speak, at the outermost edge of the true occult Jupiter. What I am saying here are not mere theoretical concepts or fantasies, but the fact is that, although not coarse physical matter, a fine ethereal substance fills the space within Saturn's orbit in its lens-shaped, flattened spherical form, as drawn here. And it is also a fact that this second smaller space for Jupiter is really filled with another etheric substance which penetrates the first, so that only here between the two orbits is there simple etheric substance, but inside there are two etheric substances interpenetrating each other. And now we ask: What do the spirits of form do in this whole arrangement? Well, that spirit of form which underlies Saturn, which limits it, gives form to this ether substance here, which we call Saturn in the occult sense. This outermost lens has thus been shaped by the spirit of Saturn, which is a spirit of form. Similarly, the lens of Jupiter is shaped by the spirit of form assigned to Jupiter, and the lens of Mars by the spirit of Mars, which is a spirit of form.
Now we ask: Where is the spirit of form that corresponds to Saturn, or to Jupiter, or to Mars? If we want to speak of a place where these spirits are, where is this place? Yes, in the ordinary sense of the word, it is impossible to speak about it, but one can only say: These spiritual beings, which we call the spirits of form, work as forces within the etheric substance I just mentioned, but they all have a common center, and this common center is nothing other than the sun. So if we seek the actual place from which the spirits of form work, both the spirit of Saturn and that of Jupiter and that of Mars and so on, including the spirit of form that corresponds to the Earth, if we seek the point of attack, the starting point from which these spirits of form work, we find it in the Sun. That is to say, these spirits of form, which correspond to our planets, are, as it were, a collegium, a committee of spirits, which has its seat in the sun and from the sun limits certain etheric substances, etheric masses, so that what we have now called “occult Saturn,” “occult Jupiter,” and so on, comes into being. Now we ask ourselves: What would it be like if only these spirits of form were at work?
Well, the whole point of the considerations we have made can show you that, basically, these physical planets would not exist if these spirits of form were acting alone. They would, as it were, have their seat where they form a collegium, in the sun, and we would have the planetary spheres around them up to the sphere of Saturn, for there would be, so to speak, concentric spheres, flattened spherical shells, as occult planets: the outermost spherical shell of the thinnest ether substance, the next of a slightly denser substance, and the innermost of the densest ether substance. So if these spirits of form were acting alone, the physical planets would not be there, but rather spherical accumulations of ether masses, which would be limited by what physical astronomy today calls the planetary orbits. Now, however, within the cosmos there are spiritual beings corresponding to the spirits of form, who likewise form a kind of rebellion against their own class. Just as we find in the beings of the third hierarchy the Luciferic spirits who cut themselves off from the spiritual substance of the higher hierarchies in order to create their own independent inner life, so we also find that within the category of the spirits of form there are those who cut themselves off, who do not participate in the further development of the spirits of form, but undergo their own development. These spirits of form oppose the normal spirits of form, they stand in their way. And now the following happens:
Let us assume that we have here at this point the center of the spiritual collegium of the spirits of form; the spirit of form that acts upon Saturn would bring forth this etheric sphere, so that through this spirit of form a flattened etheric sphere would arise. At an extreme point of this ether sphere, the rebel, who is a kind of Luciferic spirit of form, now acts against this spirit of form, which acts from the center of the sun. He acts against it from outside. Thus we have the normal spirit of form acting outwards from the Sun, centrifugally; this causes the occult Saturn, which can be regarded as a powerful etheric sphere with its center in the Sun. At the periphery, an abnormal spirit of form acts in from the world space, which has cut itself off from the beings of the normal spirits of form, and through the interaction of what acts in from the world space and what acts out from the sun, an invagination arises here, which ultimately becomes a real cutting off, and that is the physical planet Saturn. So we have to imagine that where the eye sees the physical planet Saturn, two forces are working together: one, the normal force of the spirit of form, which works outward from the sun, and opposing it at a certain point, the separated spirit of form. This creates an invagination, the ether is invaginated, and this invagination is what the physical eye sees as the physical Saturn. And the same is true of physical Jupiter and physical Mars.
Here, in this particular example, you can see how what we call Maya, the great illusion, actually comes about in individual cases. In reality, at the point where physical astronomy places a planet, there is an interaction of two forces, and it is only because there is actually a large, powerful etheric celestial body there, which is pierced by a counteracting force and pushed in on one side, that the appearance of the physical planet arises. For in truth, we are actually dealing here with an inward bulge, and to be completely accurate, the matter should first be described as follows: The spirits of form expanded the etheric substance from the sun to a certain limit; here, the abnormal spirits of form counteract this and bulge the matter inward, so that a hole is actually created in the etheric substance. In relation to the original etheric substance of the planet, there is nothing where the physical eye believes it sees the planet, and the real planet is where the physical eye sees nothing. This is the peculiarity of the Maya: at the place where the physical planet is seen, there is a hole. You may say that it is a curious idea that there should actually be a hole where the physical planet is seen, because you will refer to our Earth. According to what has been explained, our Earth should actually be a kind of flattened sphere with its center in the Sun, and it should also have a kind of indentation, a kind of hole, at its outermost edge. You may say: That's all well and good, but we know very well that we walk around on solid, massive Earth! — We could just as well assume that where Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars are, there must of course be solid fillings, not holes. And yet, even where you walk around on our earth, where you believe, in the sense of the Mayan perception, that you are walking on solid, massive ground, even there you are in truth walking around on a hole. Our Earth itself, insofar as it is an accumulation of physical mass, is a hole in the world space, a hole drilled into the world space. All physical matter comes into being through the encounter of forces that originate from the spirits of form. So here we have the encounter of forces of normal spirits of form and forces of abnormal spirits of form. They collide with each other. In reality, an inward bulge is created, and at the same time, the form breaks at this point, but only the form. The form breaks, and this indentation is created. And broken form, fragmented form, is in reality matter. Matter in the physical sense only exists where forms are fragmented. Thus, the planets outside are also fragmented forms.
In our planetary system, the spirits of form have helpers, as is evident from the whole spirit of our previous considerations. They establish the boundaries, as we have just described. But above the spirits of form are the spirits of movement, above these the spirits of wisdom, above these the spirits of will, above them the cherubim, and above the cherubim the seraphim. Among all these spiritual beings there are also those who can be compared to what we have described as the Luciferic spirits. So that at the outermost edge, where a planet is forming, we do not merely have the spirits of form working together, but something is always happening there such that the activity of the normal hierarchies proceeds from the sun, and from the outside to the inside that of the abnormal, rebellious hierarchies.
he seraphim and cherubim are those hierarchies that belong to the whole play of forces here just as much as the spirits of form. Their task is to carry the power of light outward from the center of the planetary system, from the center of the sun. By becoming carriers of light, the beings of the higher hierarchies, cherubim and seraphim, now have the same relationship to light as the forces of the spirits of form have to the etheric substance. Just as the forces of the normal spirits of form go outward and the abnormal ones counteract them, thereby creating a drilling effect, so too do the forces that carry the light fill the entire etheric space, but the abnormal ones counteract them so that the planet holds back the light. Just as it holds back the forces of the spirits of form, so it holds back the light, throws it back, and thus appears as a reflector, as a reflector of the light that the spirits we call cherubim and seraphim carry to it from the sun. This is why the planets have no light of their own, because they claim for themselves the power of light that would come to them as beings if they opened themselves to the normal cherubim and seraphim, because they envelop themselves, cut themselves off from the whole. Every planet also has such constricted, separated light. It is not correct that the planets only have borrowed light from the sun. Each planet has its own light, but it has cut itself off from this light, keeps it hidden within itself, and develops it into an independent inner light life. We will see that they communicate it only to their own nature beings of the natural kingdoms that are on the planet in question. But they close themselves off from the light to which they should open themselves, which they should receive from outside, which is brought to them from the sun through the cherubim and seraphim; they throw it back. Therefore, for the world space, they are stars that are not endowed with their own light. Thus, in the light flowing from the sun, an indentation is made, as it were, and the planet throws itself against the light flowing from the sun, holds it back, and throws it back.
It is precisely what we observe in the world of the stars that, to the occult eye, is something quite different from what it appears to be in physical astronomy. What exists for the latter is nothing more than the description of a Maya, and only behind this Maya lies the truth; for the truth behind the material world is the spiritual world. The material world does not even exist in reality. What we call the material world is the interaction of the forces of the spiritual world.
Today we have attempted to describe how such a planetary system actually comes into being. Very little is actually known about the formation of such a planetary system in the outer world, in the world of physical science, because physical science allows a planetary system to arise from a kind of ethereal accumulation of substance, but strangely enough, the very first principle that should apply in all natural science is overlooked. How often are children told in school—I don't know if this happens here, but in Central Europe they are told—how, according to the Kant-Laplace system of world creation—today these things have been somewhat reformed, but when considering the principle, it doesn't matter—a primordial matter was in rotation and then the individual planetary spheres separated. And to make this really clear and understandable, children are shown in a little experiment how easily a planetary system can come into being. A large drop is formed from an oily substance floating on water, and an artful circle is made in the equatorial direction and pierced with a sheet of paper: a needle is then stuck into it from pole to pole, and then it is turned, and lo and behold: a small, cute planetary system is artificially created from this drop of oil. In keeping with Kant and Laplace's theory of the origin of the universe, small drops split off and rotate, while the larger drop, the sun, remains in the center. What could be more natural than presenting this to young people as clear proof that this could also have happened in the vastness of space? However, this is a huge mistake that should never be made in science. Certain conditions must never be forgotten in any experiment. Anyone who forgets conditions without which an experiment cannot be carried out is not describing science correctly. If you omit any essential condition, you are not describing science correctly. The essential condition for the formation of this planetary system, however, is that the teacher stands there and turns it, otherwise the whole thing would not come about. So that Kant's and Laplace's theory would only be possible if, at the same time, those who advocate it would send a giant teacher out into space to turn the whole ethereal mass. People may not always notice small logical errors. But people often do not notice such capital errors, such logical errors, which extend their effect over the entire world concept. Now, there is no great teacher out there turning the axis of the world, but there are individual spiritual beings of various hierarchies who, through the interaction of their forces, bring about the distribution and also the arrangement of the movement of the individual heavenly bodies. This is the reply to those who believe that the ordinary materialistic theory, as expressed in the Kant-Laplace hypothesis or in later hypotheses, is sufficient to explain the world system, and that there is no need to reflect on anything else, as the occultists do. To those who object to this living interaction of hierarchies from a materialistic point of view, it must be replied: The capitalistic error that must be made by all cosmic-materialistic hypotheses cannot be overcome, for there is no way to explain a planetary system without calling upon what the occult gaze actually sees. However, this occult vision then reveals in many ways that what must be described with the physical senses is actually, when viewed in its truth, something completely different. Thus, what the eye sees is actually nothing other than the reflected light that is thrown back by that the seraphim and cherubim carry the light of the sun out into the world space and that these beings are opposed, so to speak, by Luciferic cherubim and seraphim, who turn the substance of sunlight inward, because they cut off the light within and claim their own light for the planet.
These thoughts, which have now been expressed on the basis of occult observations and occult research, were first presented in a magnificent way by the great Zarathustra to his disciples in the post-Atlantean era. Everything that radiates out from the sun into the world space, in a similar way to what we have described today about the beings of the higher hierarchies centered in the sun, Zarathustra attributed to that spirit whom he called Ahura Mazdao or Ormuzd. Every spirit that carries the forces of its being out from the center of the sun into the periphery is confronted everywhere by the abnormal spirits of the individual hierarchies, which in their totality form the realm of Ahriman. We will see, however, that we must still separate the realm of Ahriman from that of Lucifer—we will speak more precisely about this later—also in relation to the planetary system. At the end of this consideration, it should only be pointed out that Zarathustra symbolically indicated this connection to his disciples in his own way by saying that the light of Ahura Mazdao or Ormuzd radiates from the sun and that the realm of Ahriman is embedded in it. “What emanates from the sun, we symbolically imagine as that which the cherubim and seraphim carry forth through the light. That which opposes all abnormal spirits of the higher hierarchies, that which they turn inward, we imagine as being taken in by darkness, that is, by inner light that has been captured and revealed outwardly as darkness. Zarathustra represented this as the realm of Angramainyu, the Ahriman. Thus we see how, starting in the Near East, this very teaching, which is also given to us again today in a certain way, how this view first confronts us in the Zarathustra culture. This is what always fills us with such significant feelings when we consider the development of humanity: that we ourselves arrive at certain things which, if nothing had been handed down and nothing could be observed in the Akashic records, would have been provided by today's occult research and which we then rediscover in the great teachers of ancient times. This is what makes us truly familiar with these great teachers of the past. And when we immerse ourselves in the truth that can currently be found in occult research, and when the same truth shines back at us from the ancient teachers and leaders of humanity, only then do we gain a proper relationship with these leaders of humanity. Only then do they come alive for us, only then do we understand them in the right way. Then the evolution of humanity also becomes a tremendous conversation conducted by the spirits, only now not sounding in space to one another, but enlightening and complementing one another in successive periods of time and continuing the culture in the stream.