XX. Esoteric Christianity

In this way, Christian esotericism passes through all human feelings and is entirely built on the development of emotional life as the necessary counterpart to the ancient mysteries, which aimed at the development of the mind. The principle of initiation also undergoes a development. As long as man lives in the world of the senses, he is connected to all realms of nature through the material body; the etheric body holds the material body together; the astral body is shared with the animal world; it is the seat of passions and desires. The fourth link of the human being is the crown of creation. He alone possesses the “I”, the “Ich-bim, the unspeakable name of God. ‘I’ can only be said to oneself. It is the [divine] spark, a ”drop of the divine substance.