Self-Knowledge and God-Knowledge I

GA 90a — 21 May 1904, Berlin

XXV. On the Apocalypse I

Yesterday we arrived at the point where the earth passed over into spiritualization; mature people go along with it and return with it to the sun.

The forces of matter have been eliminated, are no longer present. This development initially leads to an ever-increasing spiritualization; only then does the human being rise with his planet into the astral, then into the devachanic state. The sun spiritualizes with the earth. The beings who have not cared for such spiritualization do not take part in this. Initially, no lump can remain, everything astralizes, but the immature form a kind of sputum in this stage of development. There is such an astral, which is pure, noble, higher than the physical.

But another astral, in which are those beings who are more malignant and lower than those of physical development.

• devachanic
• astral
• physical

• astral world, which is below the physical. In this world, the beings that are in it are not in a physical body like a human being, but they have a terrible power of evil. All the powers that oppose our development dwell in it. The spirit of Mammon dwells in it, the spirit of obstacles, which puts the brakes on wherever there is a desire for progress. It is already active today.

When the earth itself enters an astral state, then all those beings who could not go into the higher astral world must go down into this lower one.

Thus, after the trumpets, we have a world that has been cast out, and this is a world of darkness. In the astral body, all beings are present that were unable to attain the degree of maturity to enter the sun. Before the Lemurian development, man descended into the physical body. At that time, peculiar spiritual beings were connected to the earth. Each of the planetary stages has seen a stage of humanity develop: on the moon, sun, Saturn...

There are beings that could not complete their development in a particular planetary state. This also happened on the moon. These beings were transferred to the earth. The world progresses beyond a certain level, but certain beings remain behind. The angels who had not matured stood between human beings and angels; the hosts of Lucifer. They were the ones who pulled people back in their development, who caused a deeper entanglement in matter. Thus, the Luciferic development is linked to the human being. It has its good and bad sides. The good consists in the fact that without the luciferic influence man could not have become a free being. He has made himself independent of the direct guidance of higher beings. But this has made possible the fall into evil. Thus, for the salvation of man, the luciferic beings have also made a sacrifice by holding back their development.

Now it is different. The conditions are quite different before the middle of a development and afterwards. So it is not materialistic people who are making a sacrifice now, but on the contrary, progressive people. - Do not schematize.

What is the positive thing that the luciferic beings have done?

On Saturn, man had only a physical body.

Sun: etheric body
Moon: astral body
Earth: I

The physical is the oldest link that has undergone the most transformations. Marvelous construction of the heart, brain, etc.

Sun, Moon on Earth, I-aura.

If the Luciferic beings had not been present in Lemurian times, when the 'I' began to develop, the higher beings would have remained with man. And Yahweh.

The Luciferic beings could not participate in the development of the 'I', only in the astral body. So the effect of the Luciferic beings came into that. They gave the astral body independence, but also the possibility of falling into evil. In this way, the beings of Lucifer undergo a certain development. They make up in the astral body of man what they missed on the moon and achieve what they should have achieved there. They can vicariously experience in man what they missed on the moon. They advance with us. When the Earth unites with the Sun, there will be such Luciferic beings who will unite with the Sun with it. And so, by working on the sublimation of his instincts, man can redeem Lucifer. But only to the extent that he allows himself to be redeemed. There will be those who resist, who during their time on Earth remain in the state in which they were when they came to Earth. They will be cast out and appear as the evil astral world. There emerges the group of Luciferian entities that did not want to come any further. The old serpent is cast out, and the first of the dragons emerges. When the earth enters the sun, it is what is left behind.

But there are still other returnees: the people who do not move forward. There are those who cannot help it, who do not come to the state of awakening that is necessary for spirituality. They remain slaves to their animal instincts. Even if they cannot help it, they are still an evil force. This is the second of the animals, those who remain stuck in animality, cast out as the second of the animals. The “old serpent” says the Apocalypse – the luciferic beings – appear from heaven; the second dragon rises from the sea, that is what has remained in the lower nature in the development of the earth itself, “the animal in its totality – remaining in its instincts.

Now for the third type of being that lags behind. These are those who acquire the potential for black magic on earth. They lag behind within humanity, develop abilities that lead to the supersensible nature, but they use this ability in the service of black magic. Not in their instincts, but in full consciousness, they have turned away and yield to carnal matter for the sake of Sorat. He incarnates in them as their group soul. These people will be the incarnation of the Sun Demon. When will they emerge?

Let us imagine the further course of the earth's development. Union with the Sun. Because not everything has matured, man must return to the physical plane once more. Once again, the solar element separates. This also offers a chance of salvation for those who have been left behind by instinct. The mature decide in the moment of highest union to form another world body next to the sun, and to take in the beings that have been left behind, in order to be taken back again by the sun in the next cycle.

This present cycle means what? Every world body must undergo repetitions of what it has already undergone. Before the earth was able to begin as the earth, it had to repeat [gap in the transcript]

After the earth has united with the sun, it must prophetically anticipate future planetary developments. A pre-advent of the Jupiter, Venus, Vulcan state. During the pre-advent of the Jupiter state, the beings come out and the Jupiter Earth is there next to the Sun. On the Jupiter Earth, the beings have the opportunity to be taken back; the lower states are only there in hints and on the Vulcan state everything merges into one another. So, after our Earth, we experience a Jupiter Earth. There even the black magicians – Sorat – have the opportunity to return to the sun. But a number of them will not do so. And now that they have remained on the Jupiter Earth, a number of people, the Earth spiritualizes again. Once more, those who have spiritualized decide to return and form an intermediate Earth. Some Sorat-beings allow themselves to be redeemed once again; others still stubbornly resist on Venus Earth; and for them there is no longer any possibility of redemption on Vulcan Earth. The sixth, the Venus intermediate state, is therefore the decisive one. It is only in the sixth state of the Venus Earth planet that this decisive step comes. In this, there is again something that parallels the sub-races, so development waits for the smallest cycle, that is, for the sixth sub-state there, in order to still save. And only there, in the sixth sub-state of the sixth main state of the Venus cycle, is everything over: 666.

Those who give their corporeality to incarnate the sun demon as their group soul have finally decided to put their powers at the service of evil. The first dragon is therefore not a human being – Lucifer. Nor is the second – animal. But in the most eminent sense, they are people who have surrendered to the Sorat. 666 is therefore not an animal sign, but a human one. “Here is wisdom."

The apocalypticist therefore probably knew what we know as the development of the earth through 7x7x7 states. This apocalypse is truly an outline of the whole development. Let us consider the Venus Earth. It is a colorful place. On the Jupiter Earth, many can still be saved. For the Venus Earth, the worst human material remains. But there is not much hope there either. Those who spiritualize have only limited power to save. The forces are not sufficient to save. The worst have to wait for the future Jupiter and the future Venus, where the spiritual people have stronger powers. So the most wicked prevail on this Venus Earth. Indeed, much must be expelled; vice must be overcome, for which there is no power to redeem it. This presents itself to the apocalyptic as a plunge into the abyss of evil Babylon. The woman - the spirit of Venus-Earth - is completely filled with evil vices. Thus the fall of Venus-Earth is foreshadowed in the fall of Babylon.

Those people who have tried to save what can still be saved continue to develop; what has reached maturity rises to a final state of the earth, to Vulcan. There everything is cleansed and purified.

In what field is man creative today? He is able to put the lifeless forces of nature at his service by painting a canvas or carving marble. But he cannot make marble come alive. He does not rule over the living, he masters inanimate nature. In the white-magical sense, he will only be able to control plant forces on the future Jupiter.

What will become of the cathedrals, the domes, the Raphael Madonnas? Their physical materiality will disintegrate - Leonardo's Last Supper. But they will not disappear. Analogous to this are today's crystals, which are formed out of the mountains. The saying of the Egyptian sages: [gap in the transcript] Just as we build and create works of art today, in the past forms were gradually worked out in the cosmos. This now grows out of the earth as a natural being. When the Earth has reached its goal, the works of art will grow out of it like natural products out of the renewing Earth. The Madonna on the canvas will fade away, but today's human labor will give the dwelling place into which later humanity will be born. The apocalyptic calls this dwelling place the “New Jerusalem.” There human labor will be resurrected. The human labor invested in it will be the seeds for the New Jerusalem. Thus the new earth will come into being, and it will be possible for people to live there who fit into this new state and who have kept pace with the development. These people will be able to say to themselves: This is the place for us, who will have developed love out of wisdom so that peace can be. “Jeru Salem” means “the place of peace.”