xi. Some Necessary Points of View

We shall next consider the development of man and of the entities connected with him in the time which preceded the “earthly period.” For when man began to unite his destiny with the planet one calls “earth,” he had already passed through a series of developmental steps in the course of which he had prepared himself for earthly existence, as it were. One must distinguish three such steps, which are designated as three planetary developmental stages. The names used in mystery science for these stages are the Saturn, Sun and Moon periods. It will become apparent that these designations at first have nothing to do with the heavenly bodies of today which bear these names in physical astronomy, although in a broader sense a relationship to them exists, which is known to the advanced mystic.