Introduction to the Basics of Theosophy

GA 111 — 28 September 1907, Hanover

VIII. The Development of the Human Entity

To understand the development of humanity as a whole, it is necessary to look at it from different perspectives. Apparent contradictions dissolve when you think about them more deeply.

We saw how the body approached its present state through the Lemurian and Atlantean periods, when the Earth was still covered by vast masses of fog. We saw how a group of the advanced migrated to Ireland, not to the present one, but to a neighboring one. These people developed logical thinking. A mighty change had taken place with these people. Previously, the etheric body of man towered mightily above the head. The etheric body is the architect of the body, it builds the organs. It could work quite differently when it was inside instead of outside; this is how the brain became an instrument of thought. Thus, through this change, the brain became the organ of thought, and everything else had to adapt to it. The etheric body first had to remodel the head, then itself, in order to work back again. It is necessary to understand the development of man according to the method of the Rosicrucians or the Druids; they divided man into nine parts.

Firstly, the “physical body”; secondly, the “etheric body”; thirdly, the “sentient body”, in which the “sentient soul” is the fourth link; fifthly, the “mind soul” or “lower Manas“, sixthly It was the most important event in the Atlantean era for the physical body that man learned to think in it. The task of our time until the farthest future is to align the other parts accordingly, except for the ninth link, which will be further developed in other cycles. We have now arrived at the fifth, the [Germanic-Anglo-American] epoch. After the seventh epoch, an event will take place, like the old Atlantic flood. The spiritual man will then move into the human being, like the etheric body into the physical body in the Atlantic period. In India, the influence of the etheric body became apparent. This is the reason for their longing to merge into Brahman, to lose themselves in the heights of the music of the spheres. They lived with constant awareness in the etheric body and had a great understanding for everything that rises above the earthly. They fulfilled the task of adapting the etheric body to culture. The Persians trained the sentient soul to perceive the outer world and to overcome it through work. They cultivated agriculture and viticulture. The body no longer indulges in inner feelings, it applies muscle power. Perfecting the sentient soul was reserved for the Egyptians. Their mystery schools were in full bloom. The disciples of Hermes regarded the heavens as an ocean of stars; the stars were entities to them, animated by sympathy and antipathy. Intellect, sentiment, and imagination expanded among the Greeks; the Romans founded jurisprudence. The nations became aware that reason celebrates its victory in the individual human being. In the past, the connection between states was always guided by priestly wisdom, so hierarchies and castes formed. The spiritual life of ancient peoples was different from ours; it was a prophetic one. The Sibylline books, in which events were predicted a thousand years in advance, came from such a source. The initiates foresaw the course of events. Thus we see Egyptian history guided by divine inspiration. The leaders drew up a plan, saying: “If we are to achieve salvation, we must direct our destiny according to heaven.” They followed the laws of planetary orbits and divine numbers. True disciples of the great masters thus wisely guided the Egyptians through seven ages. There was a priest cult until Greek times. By personally turning to himself, man breaks away from divine revelations. Turning to oneself was symbolized in the snake as a sign of wisdom. The snakes of Laocoon show the struggle of priests with the snake, the struggle of the fourth with the third epoch. For another part of the ancient world, the horse was the sign of wisdom. The horse is a retarded human being. It was the last of the equine natures to evolve. Those who observe the world with a more refined sensibility will understand how some peoples love their horses. The Arab and his horse are one. People instinctively feel a certain gratitude for this animal. The meaning of the centaur is an ancient secret. The Indians revered the horse, as do our Nordic peoples, and it is [in the coat of arms of Lower Saxony]. In the Apocalypse, reference is made to the horse. Odysseus made the wooden horse to bring about the fall of Troy, where priestly wisdom was preserved the longest. The Romans felt their descent from the priestly caste and depicted it ingeniously. Aeneas, son of Anchises, founded “Alba Longa”, that is, ‘Long Priory’. He organized time according to the seven books of the Sybilline Oracles, and according to this division the Roman kings were already predetermined. This division relates the kings to the structure of the human being. Romulus: physical body. Numa Pompilius the Wise: etheric body. Tullus Hostilius: astral body. He destroys Alba Longa and is struck dead by lightning. Ancus Marcius: mind soul. He built canals and built a wall around the city. Tarquinius Priskus: spirit self. He waged wars and promoted the arts. Servius Tullus: Spirit of life, he gives laws. Tarquinius Superbus: Man of spirit. He is of an ambiguous nature, he strives for the most sublime, which he cannot obtain. The modern mind knows only the profane, it cannot see how such a line-up as that of the Roman kings is possible. What a hassle the historians went to explaining Livy. Christ, the God who leads people upwards, is not a particular member of a people, he belongs to all peoples. He is the man who speaks to man. Our era, the Germanic-Anglo-American era, follows. Christianity was too high for the young tribes to understand. It is only now beginning to seep in. Our time is partly lost to the outside world. Those with occult eyes would see the transition that separates the last third of the previous century from the past as the dawn of a new era. Before, students were plagued with dry facts. There is a change taking place in physics, geology, biology and natural science. Ten years ago, at the meeting of natural scientists in Vienna, the chemist Ostwald put energetics, power, in the place of atomism. The spirit will take its place. [...] In the sixth period, the manas or spirit self will infuse into the consciousness soul. Since the fourteenth century, initiates have said that they have to reckon with science, and the spiritual researcher knows all the facts of it. The consciousness soul has the consciousness of the Atma truths that have become real. The spiritual researcher knows, for example, that light is not created by objective vibrations. What is necessary for our time is the inflow of the spirit self. This is what the Rosicrucian training aims at; it helped to prepare the time. Christ Jesus came in the fourth epoch, he gave the world direction. He will return when people will have the ability to recognize him. The human culture will look into higher worlds through the spirit self. The system of Copernicus, the theory of Darwin were great because they trained thinking, as did the physics of Galilei and so on, but they are only the presentation of objective facts. Thinking can put oneself in the place of spiritual science. In the sixth period, a great change will take place in Europe, the peoples of the East will merge with those of the West. The coincidence of the consciousness soul with the manas or spirit self is what is referred to in the New Testament as the Holy Spirit. This is the program for the future. It will happen in any case, despite any opposition. Like leaves falling from a tree, the countercurrents will be repelled. Those who have learned to walk with the true laws can work together. Not only the soul life is changing, but also the human body. We have organs that are in decline, others are developing. Those for reproduction have the shortest life, they came last and will be the first to fall away. They formed in the Lemurian period and were blackmailed by the astral body. Before that, humans and animals had reproductive organs that were permeated by the etheric body; they were of a plant-like nature. The change occurred when the etheric body was seized by the astral body, so later the lowest acts became of a carnal nature. In the Vatican collections, in a corner, you can see a man with a plant-like structure growing out of his back, so faithfully did art preserve the secret of early reproduction. The “fig leaf” has a completely different meaning than is usually assumed; it is a reference to the descent of man through the plant leaf. In the ascent, the larynx will be the organ that serves reproduction. The inner soul is reproduced outwards through images and inferences that express themselves in words. The word is a condensed form. This is the process of creation; the [solar beings] created through the spoken creative word. Everything created is the condensed word of God. Goethe had a sense of this when he wrote: “The sun sounds.” The angels are creative sun gods. Man is called to become creative through the word. In the beginning was the word, the word became flesh. This is the Christ Jesus, as John testifies in the Gospel.