Spiritual Hierarchies and the Evolution of Planetary Bodies

Spiritual Science maintains that each separate human being is complete ruler over his inner world, the world of his deeds, and of his will, between birth and death; but we know that the essential inner being of man has passed through many incarnations, and that in his present normal development man is incapable of working beyond one incarnation. Higher powers must co-operate to give the directing force necessary which is able to work, not only between birth and death, but also beyond death, from one incarnation to another. In Christian esotericism these Spiritual Beings are called Angels, and in Anthroposophical parlance Spirits of Twilight; they may also in accordance with Rosicrucian occultism be called the Sons of Life—all these designations will become clearer to you later. We also heard how communities of men—races and peoples—are guided by an order of Spirits called Archangels, or Fire Spirits; and, lastly, how that which goes beyond the limits of a community of people—that which finds expression in the “Spirit of the Age,” or Zeitgeist—is guided by the Archai, also called Spirits of Personality or Original Forces, or, in Theosophical parlance, Asuras. Spiritual Beings are at work everywhere in the world, and we must realize that three more kingdoms have to be added to those immediately around us. We will now try to give some idea of how it is with the more external manifestations of these Beings.