From the foregoing observations it will be seen that man's being is built up of four principles: the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the vehicle of the ego. The ego works within the three other principles, and transforms them. By means of this transformation, are formed on a lower level, the sentient-soul, the rational- or intellectual-soul, and the consciousness-soul: on a higher level of human existence, are formed the Spirit-Self, the Life-Spirit, and Spirit-Man. The relations existing between these human principles and the whole universe are of a most varied character and their evolution is related to that of the universe. By studying this evolution an insight is obtained into the deeper mysteries of man's being.
It is clear that human life is related in the most varied ways to the environment or dwelling place in which it evolves. Physical science, through the facts presented to it, has already been driven to the opinion that the earth itself, man's dwelling place in the broadest sense of the word, has undergone evolution. Science points to former conditions of the earth when man, in his present form, did not yet [pg 104] exist on our planet and it shows how man has slowly and gradually evolved to his present condition from primitive states of civilization. Physical science, therefore, comes also to the conclusion that there is a connection between man's evolution and that of the heavenly body on which he lives—the earth.
Occult science traces this connection by means of a knowledge which obtains its data from observation quickened by spiritual organs of perception. It traces man backwards in his course of development, and the fact becomes evident to occult science that the real inner spiritual being of man has progressed through a series of lives on this earth. Occult research arrives in this way at an epoch far back in the remote past, when for the first time that inner being of man made its entry into “external life” as we understand it. It was in this first earthly incarnation that the ego began to function in the three bodies—the astral body, the etheric or vital body, and the physical body; and it then carried over the results of that activity into its next life.
If in our investigation we proceed backwards, in the manner indicated, as far as that epoch, we discover that the ego finds an earth condition in which the three bodies, physical, etheric, and astral, are already developed and in which they bear a certain relation to each other. The ego is, for the first time, united with the being composed of these three bodies; and henceforth takes part in the further evolution of the three bodies. Hitherto, up to the stage at [pg 105] which that ego came in touch with them, they had evolved without a human ego.
Occult science must now go back still farther in its researches if it is to answer the questions, “How did the three bodies reach that stage of evolution at which they were able to receive an ego within them?” and “How did that ego itself come into being and acquire the capacity for working within these bodies?”
It is possible to answer these questions only when the gradual development of the earth-planet itself is studied from the occult point of view. By such investigation we arrive at a beginning of the earth-planet. That method of examination which is based only on the facts of the physical senses cannot arrive at conclusions concerning the beginning of the earth. A certain point of view which avails itself of such conclusions arrives at the result that everything material on the earth was formed out of a primeval essence, or vapour. It is not the purpose of this work to enter more fully into such conceptions of our planet's origin; for in occult science the important matter is not merely to inquire into the material processes of the earth's evolution, but first and foremost to discover the spiritual causes lying behind what is material.
If we see before us a man raising his hand, we may consider his action in two different ways: we may examine the mechanism of the arm and the rest of the organism, in order to describe the process as it takes place from the purely physical standpoint, [pg 106] or we may direct the spiritual vision to what takes place in the man's soul and there discover what constitutes the inner motive for raising the hand. In this way an investigator, trained in occult research, sees spiritual processes behind all the events of the physical sense-world. In his eyes all transformations of the material part of the earth-planet are manifestations of spiritual forces lying behind what is material.
But if occult observation of this kind goes farther and farther back in the life of the earth it comes to that point in evolution at which material things first came into being. The material element is evolved out of the spiritual. Up to this point the spiritual element was the only one existing. By occult investigation the spiritual element is perceived, and the observer can see how it becomes partly condensed, as it were, into matter. We have before us a process which is taking place—on a higher level—much as though we were observing a lump of ice being formed by artificial means in a vessel of water. Just as we see the ice being condensed out of what was previously only water, so may we, by means of occult observation, watch the condensation of what was previously entirely spiritual, so to speak, into material things, processes, and beings. In this way the physical earth-planet was evolved out of a cosmic spiritual essence; and everything that is combined materially with the earth-planet has been condensed out of what was previously united with it spiritually. We must not, however, think that everything [pg 107] spiritual was at any one time changed into material form; but, in the latter we have before us merely the transformed portions of what was originally spiritual. Thus, even during the period of material evolution, it is always Spirit that is really the guiding and ruling principle.
It is obvious that the mode of thought which restricts itself to the processes of physical sense—and to what reason is able to infer from them—is incapable of expressing an opinion about the spiritual element of which we are speaking. Let us assume that a being might exist to whose senses ice would be perceptible, but not the finer condition of water, from which ice is detached by refrigeration. For such a being, water would be non-existent, and could become visible only when parts of it had been transformed into ice. In the same way, the spiritual element behind earthly processes remains hidden from one who only admits the existence of what is perceptible to his physical senses. And if, from the physical facts which he now perceives, he draws correct conclusions about earlier conditions of the earth-planet, he can penetrate only as far as that point in evolution at which the previous spiritual element was partially condensed into material substance. Such a method of observation no more discovers the spirit previously existing, than it perceives the spirit which even now rules unseen behind the world of matter.
Not until we come to the last chapters of this work can we deal with those methods by which man acquires [pg 108] the faculty of looking back, by means of occult perception, upon those earlier conditions of the earth which are now under discussion. For the present we shall merely intimate that the facts concerning the primeval past have not passed beyond the reach of occult research. If a being comes into corporeal existence his material part perishes after physical death. But the spiritual forces, which from out their own depth gave existence to the body, do not “disappear in this way.” They leave their traces, their exact images behind them impressed upon the spiritual ground-work of the world. Any one who is able to raise his perceptive faculty through the visible to the invisible world, attains at length a level on which he may see before him what may be compared to a vast spiritual panorama, in which are recorded all the past events of the world's history. These imperishable traces of everything immaterial are called in occult science the “Akashic Records.”
Here it must once more be repeated that investigations of the supersensible realms of existence can be carried on only with the aid of spiritual perception, and consequently can be instituted in the sphere now under consideration, only by reading the Akashic Records above-mentioned. Nevertheless, what was said earlier in this book in a similar instance holds good here. Supersensible facts are only to be investigated by supersensible perceptions; but once investigated and communicated by occult science, they may be grasped by the ordinary powers of [pg 109] thought, if these are honestly exercised without bias. In the following pages the various conditions of the earth's evolution, as given by occult science, will be detailed. The transformation of our planet will be traced down to the conditions of life in which we now find it. Any one who surveys what comes before him at the present time merely through the evidence of his senses, and then lends an ear to what occult science has to say on the subject, namely:—how that which now lies before him has been evolved from a far distant past,—will be able, if his thought is genuinely unbiased, to say to himself: “In the first place, what occult science reports is quite logical; in the second place, I can, if I assume the reports of occult investigation to be correct, understand how things have become as they now appear.” By “logical” is not meant, in this connection, of course, that errors might not be made from a logical standpoint in some description given by occult research. We are here speaking of “logic” as it is understood in the ordinary life of the physical world. Just as a logical demonstration is accepted there as it is in physical research, even though a single investigator, in a certain domain of facts, may make illogical statements, so is it also with regard to occult science. It may even happen that an investigator who possesses the power of vision in supersensible spheres may make mistakes in a logical presentment of them, and may be corrected by another who has no supersensible perception, but has, none the less, a capacity for sound thinking. In reality, nothing [pg 110] of any weight can be said against the logical deductions of occult science. And it ought to be unnecessary to insist that nothing can be adduced, on purely logical grounds, against the facts themselves. In the domain of the physical world it can never be proved by logic, but only by ocular demonstration, whether or no there is such an animal as a whale; similarly, supersensible facts can be known only through occult perception.
But it cannot be sufficiently emphasized that an obligation is laid upon the explorer of supersensible regions, before he determines to approach the invisible worlds with his own power of perception, to acquire first of all the aforementioned logical faculty, and this is none the less essential if he recognizes that the world, manifest to his senses, will become comprehensible if he accepts the communications of occult science as correct. All experiences in the supersensible world are nothing but an uncertain—nay, a dangerous—groping in the dark if we despise the method of preparation which has been described. Therefore in this book the facts concerning the supersensible processes of the earth's evolution will first be given, before the path leading to the attainment of supersensible knowledge is dealt with.
We have also, it is true, to take into account that the man who, by sheer thinking, comes to accept what supersensible research has to impart, is by no means in the same position as one who listens to the account of a physical occurrence which he is unable to see. For thinking is in itself a supersensible activity. [pg 111] Materialistic thinking cannot of itself lead to supersensible phenomena. But if thought is directed to supersensible matters through the accounts given of them by occult science, it grows by its own activity into the supersensible world. What is more, one of the very best ways of acquiring supersensible perception is to grow into the higher worlds by meditation upon what has been communicated by occult science. For such a mode of entry insures great clearness of perception. For this reason such thinking is regarded by a certain school of occult investigation as a most valuable first step to take in occult training.
It will be readily understood that it is impossible to mention in this book all the details of the earth's evolution, as it has been spiritually perceived by occultists, in order to illustrate the way in which the supersensible world is reflected in the manifested. Nor was this what was intended when it was said that the unseen may everywhere be demonstrated by its manifest effects. It was meant rather that everything that man encounters may, step by step, become clear and comprehensible if he brings manifested events under the illumination of occult science. Only in a few characteristic instances will reference be made in the following pages to confirmations of the invisible by the manifest, in order to show how this may be done everywhere in the course of practical life, if desired.
Pursuing the evolution of the earth backward according to the above method of scientific spiritual investigations we arrive at a spiritual condition of our planet. But if we go farther back along this path of research we find that everything spiritual had previously passed through a kind of physical incarnation. Thus we come upon a bygone physical planetary condition, which was afterwards spiritualized, and subsequently transformed into our earth by repeated materialization. Our earth is therefore presented to us as the reincarnation of a very ancient planet. But occult science can go back still farther; and it then finds the whole process twice repeated. Thus, our earth has passed through three previous planetary conditions separated by intermediate spiritual conditions of rest. The physical substance, however, proves to be finer and finer the farther back we follow the incarnations.
Now man, in the form in which he is at present evolving, makes his first appearance upon the fourth of the planetary incarnations which have been described, the Earth proper. And the essential characteristic of his form is that it is composed of four principles, the physical, etheric, and astral bodies and the ego. But that form could not have appeared if it had not been prepared by the preceding events of evolution. The method of preparation was that, in the earlier planetary incarnation, beings were evolved who already had three of the present four principles of man: the physical, etheric, and astral bodies. These beings who, in a certain [pg 113] sense, may be called man's ancestors, had as yet no ego, but they developed the three other principles and their mutual relationship to such a point that they became sufficiently mature to receive an ego. Thus man's ancestor attained to a certain degree of maturity of his three principles during the earlier planetary incarnation. This condition became spiritualized; and out of it a new planetary condition was formed in which man's matured ancestors were contained, as it were, in embryo. Because the whole planet had passed through a process of spiritualization and had appeared in a new form, it offered those embryos, with their physical, etheric, and astral bodies, which were contained therein, not only the opportunity of again evolving up to the level on which they had previously stood, but the further possibility, after having arrived at that level, of reaching out beyond themselves through receiving the ego.
The evolution of the Earth divides itself, therefore, into two parts. During the first period the Earth itself appears as a reincarnation of the previous planetary state. But that recurring state is a higher one than that of the previous incarnation, in consequence of the intervening period of spiritualization. And the Earth contains within itself the germs of man's ancestors belonging to the earlier planet. These were first developed up to the level they had previously reached. The attainment of this level marks the end of the first period. But now, owing to its own higher stage of evolution, the Earth is able [pg 114] to carry the germs still higher, that is, to qualify them for receiving the ego. The second period of the Earth's evolution is that of the development of the ego in the physical, etheric, and astral bodies.
In the same way that man had been thus carried a stage farther by the evolution of the Earth, so also had this been the case during the earlier planetary incarnations. For man had in some measure existed as early as the first of these. Light is therefore thrown on the present constitution of man if his evolution is followed back to the far-remote past of the first of the planetary incarnations mentioned above.
In occult science the first of these is called Saturn; the second is termed Sun; the third, Moon; and the fourth is the Earth. It must be distinctly understood that these occult terms are not to be in any way associated with the names used to designate the members of the present solar system.8 In occult science Saturn, Sun, and Moon [pg 115] are merely names for bygone forms of evolution through which the Earth has passed. In the course of the following account it will be shown what relation these worlds of remote antiquity bear to the celestial bodies composing the present solar system.
The relationship of the four planetary incarnations previously mentioned, can here be only briefly sketched; for the events, the beings and their destiny on Saturn, Sun and Moon were in truth, just as varied as they are on the Earth itself. Therefore only a few characteristics of these conditions can be chosen to illustrate just how these earth conditions have evolved out of earlier ones. In this connection, one should bear in mind that the further back we go the more dissimilar to the present ones do these conditions become. And yet they can only be described by making use of ideas borrowed from existing conditions of the earth. If, for instance, light, heat, etc., are mentioned in connection with these earlier conditions, it must not be overlooked that they are not exactly the same as that which we now term light and heat. And yet such terminology is accurate, for the clairvoyant observer of earlier stages of evolution perceives something that has developed into the [pg 116] light and heat of the present time. And one who follows the descriptions thus given by occult science will, from the inner relation of these things, easily be able to form such perceptions as correspond to those events which have taken place in a primeval past.
Of course there will be considerable difficulty in treating of those planetary conditions which preceded the Moon incarnation. For during the latter, conditions prevailed which bore, at least to a degree, some resemblance still to earthly conditions. When one attempts to describe these conditions one finds that such resemblances to the present time form a certain basis on which may be expressed in clear concepts the observations made through clairvoyance. It is quite different when the Saturn and Sun evolutions are to be described. In that case, what lies before clairvoyant observation is utterly different from the objects and beings now belonging to the sphere of human life. And this difference makes it exceedingly difficult to bring the corresponding facts of primeval times within the scope of clairvoyant consciousness at all.
Since however the present constitution of man cannot be understood without going back to the Saturn [pg 117] state, the description therefore must be given. And surely no one will misunderstand such a description who keeps in view the existence of the difficulty, and the fact that owing to it much that is said must be in the nature of a suggestion or hint of the facts in question, rather than an exact description of them.
The physical body is the oldest of the present four principles of man's being. It is also the one, which, in its way, has attained the greatest perfection. Occult research shows that this part of man already existed during the Saturn evolution. It will be shown in the following account that the form taken by the physical body on Saturn was, of course, something quite different from the present physical body of man. The earthly physical human body, from its nature, can only exist by being in connection with the etheric and astral bodies and the ego, in the manner described earlier in this book. Such a condition did not as yet exist on Saturn. The physical body was then passing through the first stage of its evolution, without having a human etheric body, an astral body, or an ego incorporated in it.
During the Saturn evolution it was growing ripe for the reception of an etheric body. For that purpose Saturn had eventually to pass into a spiritual condition, and then to be reincarnated as the Sun. During the Sun incarnation the physical body developed again to the stage it had reached on Saturn as from a germ brought over and only then could it be [pg 118] inter-penetrated by an etheric body. By means of this incorporation of an etheric body, a change took place in the nature of the physical body; it was raised to a second stage of perfection. A similar thing took place during the Moon evolution. Man's ancestor, as he had developed himself when passing from the Sun to the Moon, incorporated in himself the astral body. As a result, the physical body was changed for the second time, and thus raised to its third stage of perfection; at the same time the etheric body was likewise changed, and passed to its second stage of perfection. On the earth the ego was incorporated in man's ancestor, now composed of the physical, etheric, and astral bodies. Thereby the physical body reached its fourth stage of perfection, the etheric body its third, and the astral body its second stage; the ego is only now at the first stage of its existence.
If we give ourselves up to an unprejudiced examination of man's nature, there will be no difficulty in acquiring a correct idea of these different stages of perfection of his separate principles. For this purpose we have merely to compare the physical with the astral body. It is true, the astral body, as a psychic principle, stands on a higher level of evolution than the physical body. And in future ages, when the former has been perfected, it will be of very much more consequence to man's complete being than the present physical body. Yet, in its own way, the latter has reached a certain high degree of perfection. Consider the marvelous wisdom with [pg 119] which the structure of the heart is planned, the amazing structure of the brain—nay, even of part of a single bone, such as the upper end of the thigh bone. In the end of this bone we find a net-work or scaffolding, wonderfully constructed and composed of delicate spicules and lamellæ. The whole is so arranged that with the least expenditure of material the most effective action on the joint-surfaces is obtained—hence the most efficient distribution of friction and a proper freedom of movement. Thus wise arrangements are found in the parts of the physical body. And if we go on to observe the harmonious co-operation of the part with the whole, we shall find that it is certainly true that this principle of man's being is perfect and it does not affect the question that in certain parts something apparently useless appears, or that disturbances of structure or functions may take place. It will even be found that such disturbances are in a way only the necessary shadows of the wisdom-filled light which is poured out over the whole physical organism.
Now compare with this the astral body as the medium or vehicle of pleasure and pain, desires and passions. What uncertainty rules in it with regard to pleasure and pain; how the desires and passions, of which it is the scene, run counter to the higher goal of man; how senseless they often are. The astral body is only now on its way to attain the harmony and inner poise already possessed by the physical body. Similarly it might be shown that the [pg 120] etheric body is certainly more perfect in its own way than the astral but less perfect than the physical body. And it will equally result from a corresponding study of the ego that this, the real kernel of man's being, is now only at the beginning of its evolution. For how much has already been accomplished of its mission, that of transforming the other principles of man's being in order that they may become a revelation of the ego's own nature?
The result of an outer examination of this kind is intensified for the occult student by something else. It might be pointed out that the physical body is attacked by diseases. Now occult science is in a position to show that a large proportion of all diseases owe their origin to the fact that the perverse actions and mistakes of the astral body are transmitted to the etheric body, and indirectly through the etheric, destroy the perfect harmony of the physical body. The deeper connection, which can here be only hinted at, and the true cause of many of the conditions of disease, elude that kind of scientific observation which confines itself solely to the facts obtained by means of the physical senses. The connection in most cases comes about in such a way that an injury to the astral body does not cause manifestations of disease in the physical body in the same incarnation in which the injury takes place, but in a later one. Hence the laws now under consideration have a meaning only for one who is able to admit that human earth-life is repeated again and again. But even if deeper knowledge of this [pg 121] kind is rejected, ordinary observation of life makes it plain that human beings indulge in far too many pleasures and desires which undermine the harmony of the physical body. And the seat of pleasure, desire, passion, is not in the physical but in the astral body. The latter is still so imperfect, in many respects, that it is able to destroy the harmony of the physical body.
It should also be mentioned here that such explanations as these are by no means intended as proofs of the assertions of occult science about the evolution of the four principles of man's being. The proofs are drawn from spiritual research, which shows that the physical body has behind it a transformation, enacted four times, into higher degrees of perfection, and that man's other principles have been perfected to a lesser degree, as has been described. It is desired merely to indicate here that these communications made by spiritual research relate to facts which are visible in their effects even to ordinary observation, in the degrees of perfection reached by the physical body, etheric body, and so forth.
If we wish to draw an approximately true picture of the conditions prevailing during the Saturn evolution, we must take into account the fact that while it lasted, there were virtually, as yet, none of the things and creatures existing which now belong to the earth and are included in the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The beings of these three kingdoms [pg 122] were formed during later periods of evolution. Of all the earthly beings physically perceptible today, man alone existed at that time and of him only the physical body existed as described. But there are at present belonging to the earth not only the denizens of the mineral, vegetable, animal and human kingdoms, but other beings as well, not manifesting in a physical embodiment. Such entities were also present during the Saturn evolution, and their activity on the Saturn scene of action brought about the subsequent evolution of man.
If the organs of spiritual perception are directed, not to the beginning and end, but to the middle period of evolution of this Saturn incarnation, we find there a condition which consists principally of heat. Nothing is to be found composed of gaseous, fluid, or even solid constituents. All these states appear only in later incarnations. Let us assume that a human being, with the present organs of sense, were to approach the Saturn condition as a spectator. None of the sense-impressions possible to him would confront him there except the feeling of warmth, or heat. Suppose such a being approached this Saturn; he would only sense, upon entering the space occupied by it, that it was in a different degree of heat from the rest of surrounding space. But he would not find that portion of space by any means equally warm throughout, for warmer and colder parts would alternate in the most complicated manner. Radiating heat would be felt along certain lines. And not only straight lines, but regular figures [pg 123] would be formed by the variation in heat. Something like a cosmic being, organically constructed in itself would be discerned, appearing in changing conditions, and consisting only of heat.
It is difficult for a man of the present day to form an idea of anything consisting only of heat, for he is not accustomed to think of heat as something self-existent, but as a perceptible quality of warm or cold gaseous, liquid, or solid bodies. To one who has adopted the physical conceptions of our time it will seem particularly absurd to speak of heat in the foregoing manner. He will, perhaps, say: “There are solid, liquid, and gaseous bodies; but heat only denotes a condition assumed by one of these three bodily forms. If the smallest particles of gas are in motion, the movement will be felt by heat. Where there is no gas, there can be no movement, consequently no heat.”
To an occult investigator the fact appears differently. To him heat is something of which he speaks in the same sense as he speaks of gases, of liquids, or of solid bodies. To him it is simply a still finer substance than gas. And gas to him is nothing but condensed heat, in the same sense that liquid is condensed vapour, or a solid body condensed liquid. Thus the occultist speaks of heat bodies just as he does of bodies formed of gas and vapour.
If we are to follow the spiritual investigator into this region, it is however necessary to admit that there is such a thing as psychic perception. In the world, as it presents itself to the physical senses, [pg 124] heat appears entirely as a condition of solid, liquid, or gaseous bodies; but that condition is merely the outward appearance of heat, or the effect of it. Physicists speak only of this effect of heat, not of its inner nature. Just let us try then to leave entirely out of consideration any effect of heat received through external bodies, and to realize merely the inner experience which comes from saying the words: “I feel warm,” “I feel cold.” That inner experience is the only thing capable of giving an idea of what Saturn was during its period of evolution described above. It would have been possible to pass right through the portion of space it occupied; no gas would have been there to exercise pressure, no solid or liquid body from which light-impressions could have come; but at every point of space occupied, one would have felt inwardly, without any external impression: “Here there is such and such a degree of heat.”
In a cosmic body of this character there are no conditions for the animal, vegetable, and mineral organisms of to-day.9 The beings whose sphere of action was this Saturn, were at quite a different stage of evolution from that of the present inhabitants of the earth who are perceptible to the senses. In the first place there were beings there who had no physical body like that of contemporary man. We [pg 125] must also guard against thinking of man's present physical embodiment, when mention is made of a “physical body” in this connection. We should instead carefully distinguish between the physical and the mineral body. A physical body is one governed by the physical laws which are now observable in the mineral kingdom. Now man's present physical body is not only ruled by those physical laws, but is also permeated with mineral matter. There can be no question as yet on Saturn of a physical-mineral body of this kind. There is only a physical bodily form, governed by physical laws; but these laws are manifested only through the agency of heat.
Therefore the physical body is a fine, subtle, ethereal heat body; and the whole of Saturn consists of such heat bodies. They are the beginnings of the present physical-mineral human body. The latter has been formed out of the former, because there have become incorporated with the original body the more recently formed gaseous, liquid, and solid substances.
Among the beings of which we are now speaking, who, besides man, were inhabitants of Saturn, there were, for instance, some which did not need a physical body at all. The lowest principle of their nature was an etheric or vital body. On the other hand, they had one principle higher than the human principles. Man's highest principle is the Spirit-Man (Atma); these beings have one still higher. And between the etheric body and the Spirit-Man they have all the principles described in this treatise [pg 126] which are also found in man: the astral body, ego, Spirit-Self, and Life-Spirit. Just as our earth is surrounded by an atmosphere, so too was Saturn; only in this case the “atmosphere” was of a spiritual nature. It really consisted of the beings just named and some others. Now there was constant reciprocal action between the heat bodies of Saturn and the beings we have described. The latter projected the principles of their being down into the physical heat bodies of Saturn. And while there was no life in those heat bodies themselves, the life of their neighbours was expressed in them. They might be compared to mirrors; only there were reflected in them, not the images of the living beings mentioned above, but their conditions of life. Therefore, although nothing living could have been discovered in Saturn itself, yet it had a vivifying effect on its environment in celestial space, because it reflected back into space, like an echo, the life which had been sent down into it. The whole of Saturn appeared as a mirror of celestial life. The very high beings, whose life was reflected by Saturn, are called in occult science “Lords of Wisdom.”10 Their activity on Saturn was not just beginning in the middle period of that evolution, which has been described; in a certain way it had even then already ceased. Before they could be in a position to rejoice in the reflection of their own life from Saturn's heat bodies they had to make those bodies capable of producing [pg 127] such a reflection. Therefore their activity began soon after the beginning of the Saturn evolution. When this happened, the body of Saturn was still chaotic material, which could not have reflected anything.
And in contemplating this chaotic matter, one has transferred himself, by spiritual observation, to the beginning of the Saturn evolution. What is to be observed there does not as yet bear anything of the later character of heat. If we wish to describe it, we can only speak of a quality which may be compared with the human will. From first to last it is nothing but “Will.” Therefore it is an entirely spiritual condition that meets us here. If we ask whence came this “Will,” we see it proceeding from the effluence of exalted beings, who brought their evolution, by steps only to be dimly conceived, up to such a height that when the Saturn evolution began they were able to pour forth “Will” from their own being. When this effluence had lasted a certain time, the activity of the Lords of Wisdom described above was combined with this Will. Through this means the will, which had hitherto had no attributes, gradually received the quality of reflecting life back into celestial space. In occult science the beings who found their happiness in pouring forth will, at the beginning of the Saturn evolution are called the “Lords of Will.”11
After a certain stage of the Saturn evolution had been reached, through the co-operation of will and [pg 128] life, begins the influence of other beings, who are also within Saturn's environment. These are the “Lords of Motion.”12 They have no physical or etheric body. Their lowest principle is the astral body. When the Saturn bodies have acquired the capacity for reflecting life, the qualities which have their seat in the astral bodies of the Lords of Motion interpenetrate that reflected life. In consequence of this, it appears as though expressions of feelings, emotions, and similar psychic forces had been cast out of Saturn into celestial space. The whole of Saturn appears like one animated being, manifesting sympathies and antipathies. These psychic manifestations, however, are by no means its own, but merely the activity of the Lords of Motion reflected back.
This also having lasted for a certain period, there begins the activity of yet other beings, that is, of the “Lords of Form.”13 Their lowest principle, too, is an astral body; but that body is at a different stage of evolution from that of the Lords of Motion; whereas the latter communicate only general manifestations of feeling to the reflected life, the astral body of the Lords of Form operates in such a way that the manifestations of feeling are flung out into cosmic space as if they came from individual beings. It might be said that the Lords of Motion make the whole of Saturn appear as an animated being. The Lords of Form separate that life into individual living [pg 129] beings, so that Saturn now appears as a conglomerate of such psychic beings.
Let us imagine, for the sake of illustration, a mulberry or blackberry, made up, as it is, of small individual berries. In a similar manner, to clairvoyant vision, Saturn, during the period of evolution now being described, is made up of individual Saturn beings, which of course have neither life nor soul of their own, but reflect the life and soul of its denizens. Into this condition of Saturn now come beings whose astral body is also their lowest principle, but who have brought it to such a high stage of development that it operates in the same way as the present human ego. Through these beings, the ego in the environment of Saturn looks down on that planet, and imparts its nature to Saturn's individual living beings. Thus something is sent out from Saturn into cosmic space, which has an effect similar to that of human personality in the present conditions of life. The beings causing that effect are designated “Sons of Personality.”14 They confer on the Saturn bodies the appearance of personality. Personality itself, however, is not present on Saturn, but only, as it were, its reflected image, the shell or husk of personality. The real personality of these spirits is in the environment of Saturn. As a result of these Sons of Personality letting their essence stream back from the Saturn bodies in the manner described, that fine substance is bestowed on those bodies which has previously been described [pg 130] as heat. In the whole of Saturn there is no subjectivity; but the Sons of Personality recognize the image of their own subjectivity, when it streams out to them from Saturn as heat.
When all this is taking place, the Sons of Personality are on the same level on which man now stands. They are then passing through their “human” period. In order to look at this fact with an unprejudiced eye, we must imagine it possible for a being to be human without being in the exact form in which man now exists. The Sons of Personality are “human beings” on Saturn. They have as their lowest principle not the physical body, but the astral body with the ego. Hence they cannot express the experiences of their astral body in such physical and etheric bodies as those of contemporary man; they not only have an ego, however, but are aware of the fact, because the heat of Saturn brings that ego streaming back into their consciousness. In fact, they are human beings under different circumstances from those of earth.
As the Saturn evolution progressed, facts follow of a different kind from those already related. Whereas everything hitherto was a reflection of outer life and feeling, there now begins a kind of inner life. In the Saturn world a life of light begins flickering here and there, and growing dim again. A quivering glimmer is seen in some places, something like flashes of lightning in others. The Saturn heat bodies begin to glimmer, to sparkle, and even to emit rays. This stage of evolution having been [pg 131] reached, there again arises the possibility for certain beings to develop their activity. They are those known to occult science as “Sons of Fire.”15 Although these beings have an astral body, they are unable at his particular stage of their existence to stir their own astral bodies; they would not be capable of any feeling or emotion unless they could act upon the Saturn heat bodies which have attained the stage of evolution described. That action affords them the possibility of recognizing their own existence from the effect which they produce. They cannot say to themselves, “I am here”; but rather, “My environment causes me to be here.” They have perceptions, and what they perceive is the light-effects in Saturn which have been described. These are, in a certain manner, their ego. This gives them a peculiar kind of consciousness. It is designated “picture-consciousness.” It may be represented as having the nature of human dream-consciousness, except that the degree of activity it enjoys must be imagined as being very much greater than it is in human dreams, and also that it is not a question of shadowy dream-pictures floating hither and thither, but of pictures that have a real connection with the play of light on Saturn.
During this reciprocal action between the Sons of Fire and the Saturn heat bodies, the germs of the human sense organs begin their evolution. The organs, by means of which contemporary man becomes cognizant of the physical world, begin to [pg 132] shine in their first delicate ethereal outlines. Human phantoms, displaying as yet nothing but the primeval light pictures of the sense-organs, become discernible within Saturn to the clairvoyant faculty of perception. Thus these sense-organs are the result of the activity of the Sons of Fire; but they are not the only spirits who shared in their creation. Other beings come upon the scene of Saturn at the same time as these Sons of Fire,—beings so far advanced in their evolution that they are able to make use of the germs of the human sense-organs for beholding the cosmic events taking place in the Saturn life. They are the “Lords of Love.”16 If they were not there, the Sons of Fire could not have the consciousness described above. They behold the events on Saturn with a consciousness which makes it possible for them to convey these events as pictures to the Sons of Fire. They themselves forego all the advantages which might accrue to them from contemplating events on Saturn; they renounce all joys and pleasures; they give up all these in order that the Sons of Fire may come into possession of them.
A new period of Saturn's existence succeeds these occurrences. Something else is added to the play of light. If what here presents itself to clairvoyant perception be reported, it may seem an absurdity to many. Within Saturn, intermingled sensations of taste seem to be surging. Sweet, bitter, sour, etc., are perceived throughout the interior of Saturn; [pg 133] while without, in cosmic space, all this expresses itself as tone, as a kind of music.
In the course of these processes there are again certain beings who find it possible to develop activity on Saturn. These are the “Sons of Twilight, or Life.”17 They enter into reciprocal action with the forces of taste surging up and down within Saturn. By this means their etheric or vital body attains a state of such activity that it may be called a kind of metabolism. They bring life into the interior of Saturn. Hence processes of nutrition and excretion take place. This inner life makes it possible for yet other beings to come into the planet, the “Lords of Harmony.”18 They bestow a dim kind of consciousness on the Sons of Life, which is even more vague and dim than the dream-consciousness of contemporary man. It is of the kind that now comes to man in dreamless sleep, and is, indeed, of such a low order that it does not, so to speak, “enter into his consciousness.” Yet it is there. It differs from waking consciousness in degree and also in its nature. Plants, too, have this dreamless-sleep consciousness at the present time. Even though it does not bring about any perceptions of an external world, in the human sense of the word, yet it regulates the life processes and brings them into harmony with the processes of the outer world.
This adjustment cannot be perceived by the Sons of Life at the stage of Saturn's evolution now being [pg 134] described; but the Lords of Harmony perceive it, and therefore it is they who really do the adjusting. All this life is enacted within the human phantoms already described. To clairvoyant vision they consequently appear animated; yet their life is only a semblance of life. It is the life of the “Sons of Life,” who, so to speak, make use of the human phantoms in order to manifest themselves.
Let us now turn our attention to the human phantoms with their semblance of life. During the Saturn period described, their form is constantly changing. Sometimes they bear one aspect, sometimes another. In the further course of evolution, their forms become more definite, and occasionally permanent. This is due to their becoming interpenetrated by the action of the Spirits described at the beginning of the Saturn evolution,—the Lords of Will (the Thrones). The consequence is that the human phantom itself is endowed with the simplest, dullest form of consciousness. This must be thought of as still duller than the consciousness of dreamless sleep. Under present conditions, minerals have that consciousness. It brings the inner being into harmony with the outer physical world. On Saturn it is the Lords of Will who regulate that harmony. And thus man appears as a copy of the Saturn life itself. That life which is on a large scale on Saturn, is at this stage on a small scale in man. Thus the first germ is prepared for that which is still only a germ in contemporary man the “Spirit-Man” (Atma). This dull human will (within Saturn) is [pg 135] manifested to clairvoyant faculty by effects which may be compared with odours. Outside in celestial space, there is a manifestation like that of a personality, which however is not directed by an inner ego but is regulated from without, like a machine. Those who regulate it are the Lords of Will.
It will become evident, from a survey of the foregoing, that starting from the previously described middle period of the Saturn evolution, the following steps of that evolution can be characterized by comparing their effects with the sense-perceptions of the present time. It might be said that the Saturn evolution manifests as heat; then a play of light is added; then an appearance of taste and sound; finally something emerges which manifests within the interior of Saturn as sensations of smell, and without, as a human ego acting mechanically.
What have the Saturn revelations to say about what preceded the heat condition? Now this is something that cannot be compared with anything accessible to outer sense-perception. A state of things precedes the heat condition, which contemporary man experiences only in his inner being. When he gives himself up to ideas which he forms in his own soul, without having any inducement brought to bear on him by an external impression, then he has something within himself which cannot be perceived by any physical sense, but is only accessible to the perception of the higher clairvoyant vision. Manifestations precede the heat condition of Saturn, which can only be perceived by a clairvoyant. Three such [pg 136] conditions may be mentioned: pure psychic warmth, not outwardly perceptible; pure spiritual light, which is outward darkness; and lastly, something of a spiritual essence which is complete in itself, and needs no outer being in order to become self-conscious. Pure, inner heat accompanies the appearance of the Lords of Motion; pure, spiritual light, that of the Lords of Wisdom; pure inner being is linked with the first emanation of the Lords of Will.
Thus, with the appearance of heat on Saturn, our evolution comes forth out of the inner life of pure spirituality into outwardly manifested existence. It will be particularly difficult for present-day consciousness to accept this, if it must be said in addition that at the same time, with the advent of the Saturn heat condition, what we call “Time” also makes its first appearance. That is to say, the previous conditions have nothing to do with time. They belong to that sphere which may be called, in occult science, “duration.” Consequently, everything that is said in this book about the conditions existing in the “Sphere of Duration” must be understood in such a way that when expressions referring to time conditions are used, they are only to be accepted for the sake of comparison and explanation. That which, in a certain sense, precedes “time,” can be expressed in human language only by terms which imply the idea of time. Even if we are aware that the first, second, and third Saturn conditions were not enacted “one after the other,” [pg 137] in the present sense of the word, yet we cannot do otherwise than describe them one after the other. Indeed, in spite of their duration or coexistence in time, they are so dependent on one another that this very dependence may be compared with sequence, in time.
This indication of the first conditions of evolution on Saturn also throws light on any further questions that may be asked as to the origin of those conditions. From the purely intellectual point of view, it is, of course, quite possible, when dealing with the source of anything, to inquire after “the source of the source.” But in the face of facts, this is not possible. A comparison, however, will help us to realize this. If we find ruts on a road we may ask, “To what are they due?” And the reply may be, “To a carriage.” It may further be asked: “Whence did the carriage come? Whither is it going?” An answer founded on fact is again possible. We may then proceed to ask, “Who occupied the carriage? What purpose had the person in using it? What was he, or she, doing?” At last, however, we shall reach a point at which inquiry by means of facts finds its natural limit; and on inquiring further we get away from the original questions. We only continue the inquiry mechanically, as it were.
In such matters as the one brought forward as a comparison, it is easy to see where facts demand the end of the inquiry. It is not so evident when we are face to face with great cosmic questions. But [pg 138] as the result of really exact observation, it will nevertheless be seen that all inquiry as to origins must come to an end at the Saturn condition portrayed above. For we have reached a region in which beings and events are no longer justified by that from which they proceed, but by themselves.
As a result of the Saturn evolution it appears that the human germ developed up to a certain point. It attained the low, dim state of consciousness described above. We must not imagine that its evolution does not begin until the last of the Saturn stages. The Lords of Will carry on their work through all conditions. Only the result is most striking to clairvoyant perception in the last period. There is nothing like a fixed boundary between the activities of the several groups of beings. If it is said that the Lords of Will work first, then the Lords of Wisdom, and so on, it is not meant that they are working only at that time. They are working all through the Saturn evolution; only their activity can best be observed during the periods specified. The several groups have, as it were, the leadership at those times.
Thus the whole Saturn evolution appears as a working out of what streamed forth from the Lords of Will through the Lords of Wisdom, Motion, Form, and the rest. Through this process those spiritual beings themselves experience evolution. For instance, after they have received their life reflected back from Saturn, the Lords of Wisdom stand on a different level than before. The result of that activity [pg 139] exalts the faculties of their own being. The consequence is that, on the completion of such activity, something similar to human sleep comes upon them. To their periods of activity in connection with Saturn succeed other periods, during which they live, as it were, in other worlds. At these times their activity is withdrawn from Saturn. On this account clairvoyant perception sees an ascent and a descent in the Saturn evolution that has been described. The ascent lasts until the formation of the heat condition. Then, with the play of light, the ebb-tide sets in. When the human phantoms have assumed form through the Lords of Will, the spiritual beings have also gradually withdrawn themselves. The Saturn evolution dies away; as a phase of evolution, it disappears. A kind of resting pause occurs.
The human germ at the same time enters upon a state of dissolution; not, however, a state in which it passes away, but one like that of a plant seed, resting in the earth in order that it may ripen into a new plant. Thus the human germ reposes, until a new awakening, in the depth of the cosmos. And by the time the moment of awakening has arrived, the spiritual beings described above have acquired, under other conditions, the faculties by means of which they can further advance the human germ. The Lords of Wisdom have, in their etheric body, gained the faculty not only of enjoying the reflection of life as they did on Saturn, but of pouring life forth from themselves, and endowing other beings with it. The [pg 140] Lords of Motion are now as far advanced as were the Lords of Wisdom on Saturn. Then the lowest principle of their being was the astral body; they now possess an etheric, or vital body; and in a corresponding degree the other spiritual beings have reached a further stage of evolution. All these spiritual beings are therefore able to work at the further evolution of the human germ in a different way than on Saturn.
But the human germ was dissolved at the end of the Saturn evolution. In order that the more highly evolved spirit-beings might resume their work where they had left it off, the human germ must once more briefly recapitulate the stages through which it had passed on Saturn. This, in fact, is what appears to clairvoyant faculties of perception. The human germ comes forth out of its retirement and begins to develop by its own ability, by means of the forces which had been implanted within it on Saturn. It comes forth out of the darkness as a “being of Will,” and assumes the appearance of life, of soul qualities, etc., up to that mechanical manifestation of personality which it possessed at the end of the Saturn evolution.