III. The Relation of the Human Being to Nature

Watch what happens to the Earth itself if we look at it from this perspective. It will no longer be the body as portrayed by geology, but the Earth will thereby become a living being with an Ego. A single plant does not possess an astral body, but all plants are immersed in and enclosed by an astral body, so that we can imagine the plant world of the Earth vaguely like this: All plants belong to the astral body of the Earth and in the centre of the Earth is the Ego of the plants. In this way, the Earth becomes a conscious being to us. Just as your Ego, which is located within your body, sends its rays towards your fingers, the Ego of the Earth, which is located in its centre, sends its rays towards the individual plants. Like our hair, the plants are organs of the Earth organism. Each plant strives towards the centre of the Earth as towards its Ego. In the spiritual world countless beings can be tucked in together at one single location. The spatial relationships in the spiritual world are different from those in the physical world. All plant Egos are able to meet each other in the centre of the Earth. The weeds have a different Ego than the wheat. Both Egos don't get on well with each other, but both their Egos are within the centre of the Earth. Such a truth must not only be grasped by the intellect, but must also be felt with every step you take through life. The plant cover of the Earth will become something different for us, when we stride along with the feeling that these plants are the outer physical expression of a spiritual content connected with the Earth. Earth has its Ego, which is realised through all the plants.