The Astral World
As long as we observe the physical world only, the earth, as man"s dwelling place, appears like a separate cosmic body. But when supersensible cognition rises to higher spheres, this separation ceases.
Thus one can say that the imagination, when beholding the earth, at the same time also perceives the Moon condition as it has developed up to the present time.
Now that world which is entered in this way is one to which not only the supersensible part of the Earth belongs, but is one in which also other cosmic bodies are imbedded, which in a physical sense are entirely separate from the earth. Therefore, the observer of supersensible worlds thus beholds not only the supersensible part of the earth, but also the supersensible part of other cosmic beings. If one should be impelled to ask why clairvoyants do not describe the appearance of Mars, etc., he should bear in mind that it is primarily a question of observing supersensible conditions of other planetary bodies, whereas the questioner is thinking of physical sense conditions. Therefore in this work it was possible to speak of certain relations of the earth"s evolution to the simultaneous evolution on Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, etc. Now when the human astral body has been drawn away by sleep, it belongs not only to the earth, but to worlds of which still other regions of the universe (stellar worlds) are a part. Indeed, these worlds extend their influence to man"s astral body even when he is awake. For this reason the name "astral body"
appears to be justified.
Of Man"s Life After Death
Mention has been made, in the course of this book, of the time during which the astral body still remains joined to the etheric body of man after death. During this time there exists a slowly paleing recollection of the whole earth life just ended. The duration of this time varies in different individuals. It depends upon the strength with which the astral body clings to the etheric body, on the power which the former has over the latter. Supersensible cognition can gain an idea of this power by observing a person who, judging from his degree of fatigue, must of necessity fall asleep, but, by sheer inner force, keeps awake. It then appears that different people can keep awake for different lengths of time without being overpowered by sleep. The memory of the past life, in other words the connection with the etheric body, lasts about as long after death as the length of time a man can keep awake when, in the most extreme case, he is compelled to.
When the etheric body is detached from the individual after death, something of it nevertheless remains for man"s whole subsequent development; this may be described as an extract, or the essence of it.
This extract contains the result of the past life, and is the vehicle of all that which, during man"s spiritual development between death and a new birth, unfolds like a germ for the following life.
The duration of time between death and a new birth is determined by the fact that the ego, as a rule, returns to the physical sense-world only when that world has been so transformed that the ego can experience something new. During its sojourn in spiritual regions, its dwelling place on earth undergoes a change. But this change is connected with the great changes in the universe, with changes in the constellation of the earth, sun and so forth. These are changes in which certain repet.i.tions take place, in connection with new conditions. They find an external expression in the fact, for example, that the point in the vault of heaven at which the sun rises at the beginning of spring makes a complete circuit in the course of about twenty-six thousand years. Hence this vernal point, in the course of the period mentioned, moves from one region of the heavens to another. In the course of the twelfth part of that time, that is to say, in about twenty-one hundred years, conditions on the earth have changed sufficiently for the human soul to experience something new upon it since its previous incarnation. However, since the experiences of an individual vary according to whether he is incarnated as a woman or as a man, there are, as a rule, two incarnations within the time stated, one as a man and one as a woman. But these things are also dependent upon the nature of the forces which man carries with him from his earthly existence through death. Therefore all the statements given here are to be taken only in a general sense, but can be subject to the greatest variations in special cases.
The Course Of Human Life
Man"s life, as it manifests itself in the sequence of events between birth and death, can be fully understood only by taking into account both the physical body with its senses and the changes undergone by man"s supersensible principles. Occult science views those changes in the following manner. Physical birth is seen to be the detachment of the human being from its maternal covering. Forces which before birth the embryo shared in common with its mother"s body, are present independently in the child after birth. But in later life supersensible events, similar to those of the sense-world at physical birth, become perceptible to supersensible observation. That is, the etheric body of the human being up to the change of teeth (the sixth or seventh year) is still enveloped in an etheric sheath. The etheric sheath falls away at that period, and then the "birth" of the etheric body occurs. But man is still surrounded by an astral sheath, which falls away between its twelfth and sixteenth year (at the time of p.u.b.erty). This is the "birth" of the astral body; and at a still later period the real ego is born.(33)
Now after the birth of the ego, man lives in such a way that he adapts himself to the conditions of the world and of life, and occupies himself within them, in accordance with the principles active through his ego,-the sentient,- the intellectual- and the consciousness-soul. Then there comes a time in which the etheric body retraces the process of its development from the seventh year onward, in reverse order. At first the astral body has so developed itself that it unfolds that which was present within it at birth as a germ. After the birth of the ego, this astral body enriches itself by experiencing the outer world. Finally, at a definite time, it begins to nourish itself spiritually by consuming its own etheric body; it actually lives upon the etheric body. The decay of the physical body in old age is a consequence of this.
The course of human life therefore falls into three divisions: a time of unfoldment for the physical and etheric bodies, then one in which the astral body and the ego develop, and lastly that in which the etheric and physical bodies are changed back again. But the astral body plays a part in all the events that take place between birth and death. Since it is really born in a spiritual sense only between the twelfth and sixteenth years and must, during man"s declining years, draw upon the forces of the etheric and physical bodies, that which it is able to perform by its own powers will develop more slowly than if it were not within a physical and an etheric body. After death, when the physical and etheric bodies have fallen away, evolution, during the time of purification, proceeds in such a manner that it occupies about one-third of the duration of life between birth and death.
The Higher Regions Of The Spiritual World
By imagination, inspiration, and intuition, supersensible cognition gradually ascends into those regions of the spiritual world within which it can reach the beings who have to do with human and cosmic evolution.
And thus it also becomes possible to trace human evolution between death and a new birth in such a way that it becomes comprehensible. Now there are still higher regions of existence, which can only be briefly indicated here. When supersensible cognition has risen to intuition, it lives in a world of spiritual beings. These too, are evolving. That which concerns humanity of the present day extends upward, in a certain sense, as far as the world of intuition. True, man receives impulses from yet higher worlds in the course of his evolution between death and re-birth. But he does not experience these impulses directly; they are brought to him by beings belonging to the spiritual world. And if these are considered, everything that happens reveals itself to man. But the special conditions of these beings, that which they themselves require in order to guide human evolution, can only be observed by means of a cognition that transcends intuition. We thus have a glimpse of worlds which we must so picture that within them the most highly spiritual features of the earth are there among the lowest. Logical decisions, for example, count among the highest things within the earthly sphere; while the activities of the mineral kingdom are among the lowest. Now in those higher spheres, logical decisions correspond to about what the mineral activities are on earth.
Above the domain of intuition, lies the region in which the cosmic plan is woven out of spiritual causes.
The Principles Of Man
When it is said that the ego works on the human principles, on the physical, etheric, and astral bodies, and transforms them in reverse order into Spirit-Self, Life-Spirit, and Spirit-Man, this statement relates to the work of the ego on the human being by means of the highest faculties, the development of which was begun only under earthly conditions. But this transformation is preceded at a lower level by another change, giving rise to the sentient-, the intellectual- or rational-, and the consciousness-soul. For while, in the course of human evolution, the sentient-soul is being formed, changes are taking place in the astral body; the growth of the intellectual-soul expresses itself in transformations in the etheric body; and that of the consciousness-soul in similar transformations in the physical body. Fuller information on this subject has been given in this book in the accounts of the evolution of the earth. Thus in a certain sense we may say that the sentient-soul itself is the result of a transformed astral body, the intellectual- or rational-soul of a transformed etheric body, and the consciousness-soul of a transformed physical body. But we may also say that these three divisions of the soul are parts of the astral body; for example, the consciousness-soul is only possible because it is an astral ent.i.ty existing in a physical body suited to it. It lives an astral life within a physical body fashioned to be its dwelling place.
The Dream State
A description of the dream state has been given in another chapter of this book. On the one hand it is to be regarded as a relic of the old picture-consciousness peculiar to man during the Moon evolution, and also during a great part of the evolution of the Earth. Evolution goes forward in such a way that earlier conditions resolve themselves into later ones.
And so, in the dream state, there now appears in man a relic of what was once his normal condition. But at the same time this condition from another aspect is different from the old picture-consciousness. For since its development, the ego also has taken part in those activities of the astral body which are carried on during sleep in the dream life. Thus through the presence of the ego there arises in dreams a transformed picture-consciousness. But since the ego does not consciously exercise its authority over the astral body during dream life, nothing belonging to the sphere of that life can be regarded as being really able to lead to a knowledge of higher worlds in an occult sense. Something similar holds good with regard to what is often called vision, premonition, or "second sight." These arise through silencing the ego and the consequent appearance of remnants of the old condition of consciousness. In spiritual science these are of no value. What may be observed in them cannot in any real sense be regarded as a result of it.
The Attainment Of Supersensible Knowledge
The path to the attainment of knowledge of the higher worlds, which has been more fully described in this book, may also be called the "direct path of knowledge." In addition to this path there is another, which we may designate as the "path of feeling." It would be quite a mistake, however, to believe that the former had nothing to do with the development of feeling. On the contrary, it leads to the greatest possible deepening of the life of feeling. But the "path of feeling" addresses itself directly and solely to the feelings, and seeks from this point to rise to knowledge. It rests on the fact that when the soul entirely surrenders itself to a feeling for a certain length of time, the latter is transformed into knowledge, into imaginative perception. When, for example, the soul is filled for weeks or months, or even longer, with the feeling of humility, the content of the feeling becomes transformed into a perception. Now a path leading to supersensible regions may be found by devoting oneself to such feelings one by one; but for the man of today, bound by the ordinary circ.u.mstances of life, this is not easily carried out. Solitude, retirement from the life of the present day, is almost indispensable. For the impressions of everyday life disturb the soul especially at the beginning of development, through absorption in certain feelings. On the other hand, the path of knowledge described in this book can be pursued in every situation of present-day life.
Observation Of Special Events And Beings In The Spiritual World
The question may be asked whether inner concentration and the other means described for the attainment of supersensible cognition permit us to observe only in a general way what happens between death and a new birth or other spiritual events; or whether they furnish the possibility of observing quite definite events and beings, as, for example, any given deceased person. To this we must answer that one who has acquired the ability to see in the spiritual world by the methods explained, can also perceive particular events which occur there; he acquires the power of putting himself in communication with individuals living in the spiritual world between death and a new birth. It must be observed, however, that in an occult sense this ought to take place only after the proper training required for supersensible cognition has been undergone. For not until then is it possible to distinguish between illusion and reality, in regard to certain events and beings. A man who tries to observe particular cases without due instruction, may fall a victim to innumerable deceptions. The training which leads to the observation in higher worlds of what has been described in this book, also leads to the ability to trace the post-mortem life of any special individual, and no less does it lead to the observation and comprehension of all psycho-spiritual beings who, from the hidden worlds, work upon the visible ones. Correct observation of individual cases is only possible, however, on the basis of a knowledge of the universal great facts of the spiritual world,-facts regarding the world and humanity which concern every human being. The desire for the one without the other, leads one into error.
FOOTNOTES
1 We may also say, it could only live the life of a plant in the physical body.
2 Explanations such as those given in this book regarding the faculty of memory may very easily be misunderstood. For one who observes external events only would not at first sight notice the difference between what happens in the animal, or even in the plant, when something appears in them resembling memory, and what is here characterized as actual recollection in man. Of course, when an animal has performed an action for a third or fourth time it may perform it in such a way that the outer process gives the impression that memory and the training a.s.sociated with it are present. Nay, we may even extend our conception of memory or of recollection as far as some naturalists and their disciples, when they point out that the chicken begins to pick up grain as soon as it comes out of the sh.e.l.l; that it even knows the proper movements of head and body for gaining its end. It could not have learned this in the eggsh.e.l.l; hence it must have done so through the thousands and thousands of creatures from which it is descended (so says Hering, for example).
We may call the phenomenon before us something resembling memory, but we shall never arrive at a real comprehension of human nature if we do not take into account that every distinctive element which shows itself in the human being as an inner process, as an actual perception of earlier experiences at a later date, is not merely the working of earlier conditions in later ones. In this book it is this perception of what is past that is called memory, not alone the reappearance (even though transformed) of what once existed, in a later form. Were we to use the word memory for the corresponding processes in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, we should be required to use a different word in speaking of man. In the description given here the important thing is not the particular word used, but rather that in attempting to understand human beings this distinction should be recognized. Just as little do the apparently very intelligent actions of animals have any relation to what is _here_ called memory.
3 The term "Verstandesseele" is sometimes translated by "rational soul." From a certain point of view one might prefer the term "intellectual soul," because it expresses better the activity of the soul than does "rational soul." In the latter one thinks of the knowledge about a perception; in intellectuality, one thinks of the actual possibility of forming this knowledge through inward activity. In German the expression "emotional soul" only coincides as it should with the second member of the soul when the inward activity is kept in view.
4 No hard and fast line can be drawn between the changes which are accomplished in the astral body through the activity of the ego and those taking place in the etheric body. The one merges into the other. When a man learns something, and thereby gains a certain capacity for judgment, a change takes place in his astral body; but when this judgment changes his natural disposition, so that he habituates himself to _feel_ differently, in consequence of his learning, from what he did before, this means a change in his etheric body. Everything that becomes so much a man"s own that he can always recall it, is based on the transformation of the etheric body. That which little by little becomes an abiding possession of the memory has its foundation in the transmission to the etheric body of the work of the astral body.
5 As a matter of fact, it is always very profitable for any one who is taking up the study of occult science to acquaint himself with the statements of those who regard this science as merely fanciful. Such statements cannot be so easily branded as due to partiality on the part of the observer. Let occultists learn as much as possible from those who regard their efforts as nonsense. They need not be disturbed if in this respect their love is not reciprocated. Occult observation a.s.suredly does not require such things for the verification of its results, nor are these allusions intended as proofs but as ill.u.s.trations.
6 In current theosophical literature, the condition of the ego from death to the end of purification is called "Kamaloca."
7 The a.s.sertion that a man"s personal talents, if governed purely by the law of "heredity," must show themselves at the beginning of a line of descent, not at its end, might of course easily be misunderstood. It might be said, indeed, that they could not show themselves then, for they must first be developed. But this is no objection; for if we wish to prove that something has been inherited from an ancestor, we must show how that which was there formerly is repeated in a descendant. Now if it were demonstrated that something existed at the beginning of a genealogical line which reappeared in its further course, we might speak of heredity. We cannot do so when something appears at the end of it which was not there before. The reversal of the above proposition is only to show that the belief in heredity is impossible.
8 In different chapters of this book it has been shown how the world of humanity, and man himself, pa.s.s, in their progressive evolution, through conditions which have been named Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter, Venus, and Vulcan. The relationship has also been indicated in which human evolution stands with regard to the celestial bodies which exist besides the earth and which are called saturn, jupiter, mars, and so on. These latter planets are also pa.s.sing through their evolution in the natural way. At the present period they have reached such a stage that their physical portions are seen as those bodies which physical astronomy calls saturn, jupiter, mars, and so forth. Now when the saturn of the present day is observed by occultism it is seen to be, in a certain sense, a reincarnation of the old Saturn. It has come into existence because of the presence of certain beings, who before the separation of the sun from the earth were unable, like the others, to leave with the sun. The reason of this was that they had gained so many qualities which are suitable for a saturn existence, that their place could not be where the qualities of the sun were specially unfolded. The present jupiter, however, arose in consequence of the presence of beings possessed of qualities which can only be matured on the future jupiter of the whole evolution. A dwelling place appeared for them on which they can already begin in antic.i.p.ation of this later evolution.
In the same way mars is a planetary body on which dwell beings whose lunar evolution was such that further progress on the earth could bring them nothing. Mars is a reincarnation of the old Moon at a higher stage. The present mercury is the dwelling place of beings who are beyond the evolution of the earth; but this is just because they have developed certain qualities in a higher way than is possible on the earth itself. The present venus is a prophetic antic.i.p.ation of the future Venus condition of a similar kind. It is consequently justifiable to give to the conditions preceding and following the Earth the names of their corresponding representatives in the universe.
9 Therefore it is perhaps scarcely necessary to remark that what has been described above could never actually happen. A contemporary man, as he is, could not have approached ancient Saturn as a spectator. The account was given merely for the sake of ill.u.s.tration.
10 In Christian spiritual science they bear the name of "Kyriotetes,"
that is, "Dominions."
11 In Christian esoteric science they are called "Thrones."
12 The Christian "Dynamis," or "Powers."
13 The Christian "Exusiai," or "Authorities."
14 The Christian "Archai," or "Princ.i.p.alities."
15 The Christian "Archangeloi," or "Archangels."
16 The Christian "Seraphim."
17 The Christian "Angeloi," or "Angels."
18 The Christian "Cherubim."