2. Spiritual Science as Preparation for a New Etheric Vision

Another epoch followed, during which human beings already could see much less of the spiritual world; the influences of the spiritual world upon man were no longer so strong and alive as they had been. This period was originally called Treta Yuga, later on, the Silver Age. During this epoch, human beings living between birth and death obtained their certainty of the spiritual world in yet another way. Their immediate experiences of the spiritual world were unclear, it is true, but to compensate for this they could remember the time that preceded their birth when they had lived together with the spiritual beings. This period, therefore, was one in which the human being was still as certain of the existence of the spiritual world as is the case today when he has grown old and cannot deny that he has passed through his youth. This age was designated as Treta Yuga by the wisdom that knows about such things. Later on, it was replaced by the less clear expression, Silver Age. All of these ancient expressions have at the same time their deep significance, and it is really childish when modern science explains them in the way it does, since it has not the faintest idea of the realities from which these designations flow.