Chapter 9

The second of the great periods of evolution that have been mentioned, the“Sun period,”effects the raising of man's being to a higher stage of consciousness than that which it had attained on Saturn. Compared with man's present state of consciousness, the Sun condition might certainly be[pg 141]termed“unconsciousness.”For it is approximately that condition which contemporary man experiences during absolutely dreamless sleep. Or it might be compared to the low degree of consciousness in which our vegetable world now slumbers. For occult science there is no such thing as unconsciousness, but only different degrees of consciousness. Everything in the world is conscious.In the course of the Sun evolution, the human being attains a higher degree of consciousness through the incorporation within it of the etheric, or vital body. Before this can take place the Saturn conditions must be recapitulated in the manner described above. This recapitulation has quite a definite meaning. That is to say, when the period of rest which was spoken of in the foregoing statement has come to an end, that which was formerly Saturn issues forth, out of“cosmic sleep,”as a new celestial body, the Sun. But the conditions of evolution have meanwhile changed. The spiritual beings, whose activity on behalf of Saturn we have portrayed, have progressed onward into different conditions. Yet at first the human germ appears on the newly formed Sun in the form it possessed on Saturn. It has first of all so to transform the various stages of evolution through which it has passed on Saturn that they may suit the new conditions on the Sun. Consequently, the sun epoch begins with a recapitulation of the occurrences on Saturn, adjusted to the changed conditions of Sun life. Now when the human being has advanced so far that the stage of[pg 142]evolution it reached on Saturn has been adapted to the Sun conditions, the Lords of Wisdom already mentioned, begin to let the etheric, or vital body, pour into the physical body. The higher stage which man reaches on the Sun may therefore be characterized in this way: the physical body, already formed in the germ-state on Saturn, is raised to a second stage of perfection by becoming the vehicle of an etheric or vital body. This last-named etheric body attains its first degree of perfection on its own account during the Sun evolution. In order, however, that the second degree of perfection for the physical and the first for the etheric body may be reached, the intervention of still other spirit-beings is necessary during the further course of the Sun life, in a similar manner to that which has been described as taking place during the Saturn stage.When the Lords of Wisdom begin to stream forth their etheric body, the Sun, previously dark, begins to shine. At the same time the first appearances of inner activity are seen in the human germ; life has begun. What had to be described as a semblance of life on Saturn now becomes actual life. The influx lasts for a certain time, at the end of which an important change for the human germ sets in—that is to say, it organizes itself into two parts. Whereas up to this point the physical and etheric bodies formed an intimately connected whole, the physical body now begins to detach itself as a separate part. Yet even that separated physical body is still pervaded by the etheric body. Therefore we[pg 143]have now to do with a human being composed of two principles. One portion is a physical body permeated by an etheric body; the other is an etheric body and nothing else. This separation comes to pass, however, during a period of rest in the Sun life. During this pause the shining, which had begun to appear, dies away. The separation takes place during a“cosmic night,”as it were. Yet this interval of rest is much shorter than the one between the Saturn and Sun evolutions mentioned above. At the expiration of the rest period the Lords of Wisdom work for a while on the two-fold being of man, just as they had previously done on the undivided being. Then the Lords of Motion begin their activity. They cause their own astral body to stream through the human etheric body. By this means man acquires the capacity for executing certain inner movements in the physical body. These movements may be compared with those of sap in a plant of our own time.The Saturn body consisted exclusively of heat substance. During the Sun evolution that heat substance is condensed into a state which may be compared with that of our present-day gas or steam. In occult science“air”is the name ordinarily used for this condition. The first beginnings of such a state are seen after the Lords of Motion have begun their activity. The following spectacle is presented to clairvoyant consciousness. Within the heat substance there appears something like delicate formations which are set in rythmic motion by the forces[pg 144]of the etheric body. These formations represent the human physical body at the stage of evolution now attained by it. They are permeated through and through with heat, and are also wrapped, as it were, in a heat envelope. From a physical point of view, man's nature may now be said to be composed of heat structures with air forms embedded in them—the latter in regular motion. Hence, if we wish to retain the foregoing comparison with a plant of the present day, we must remember that it is not a solid plant organism which we have to consider, but an air or gas form,19the movements of which may be compared with the circulation of the sap in plants of to-day.The evolution thus indicated continues. After a certain time another interval of rest sets in; after this the Lords of Motion go on working until their activity is supplemented by that of the Lords of Form. The effect of the latter is that the gas structures, which before were constantly changing, now assume lasting form. This, too, happens because the Lords of Form cause their forces to flow in and out of the human etheric body. When the Lords of Motion alone were acting on the gaseous organisms, these were in perpetual motion, not keeping their form for an instant. Now, however, they temporarily assume distinguishable shapes. Again, after a certain period, there occurs a time of rest; and then once more the Lords of Form continue[pg 145]their activity. But the conditions within the Sun evolution are now entirely changed. For the point has been reached when the Sun evolution has attained its zenith. This is the time at which the Lords of Personality, who attained their human stage on Saturn, ascend to a higher degree of perfection. They advance beyond the human stage; they attain a form of consciousness which contemporary man does not yet possess in his normal course of development on the earth. He will acquire it when the earth—the fourth of the planetary stages of evolution—has reached its goal and has entered upon the next planetary period. Then man will not only perceive around him what his present physical senses enable him to apprehend, but he will be able to see in images the inner psychic conditions of the beings surrounding him. He will have a (clairvoyant) picture-consciousness, although retaining complete self-consciousness. There will be nothing dream-like or vague in his clairvoyance, but he will perceive what is psychic, in pictures certainly, but in such a way that these images will be the expression of realities, as physical colours and sounds are now. Man, at present, can attain to this degree of clairvoyance only through occult training, which will be treated later in this book.Now this clairvoyance is attained by the Sons of Personality, as a gift of their normal evolution, midway in the Sun period; and it is just on this account that they become capable of acting on the newly formed etheric body of man during the Sun[pg 146]evolution, in a way similar to that in which they acted on the physical body on Saturn. Just as there the heat reflected their own personality back to them, so do the gaseous organisms now reflect back to them, in gleams of light, the images of their clairvoyant consciousness. They clairvoyantly behold what is taking place on the Sun. And this vision is by no means mere observation; it is as though something of the force which mortals call love made itself felt in the images which stream forth from the Sun. If a clairvoyant looks more closely, he will find the cause of this phenomenon. Exalted beings have blended their activity with the light that is being radiated from the Sun. They are the Lords of Love (the Christian Seraphim) already mentioned. Henceforth they act, together with the Sons of Personality, on the human etheric, or vital body. By means of that activity the etheric body advances a step farther along its path of evolution. It acquires the capacity not only of transforming the gaseous forms within it, but of so elaborating them that the first indications of a propagation of living human beings appear. Emanations, so to speak, are driven out (as though exuded) from the gaseous organisms that take on shapes resembling their mother-forms.In order to describe the further course of the Sun evolution, reference must be made to a fact in the formation of worlds which is of the greatest possible significance. It is this,—that by no means every being attains the goal of its evolution in the[pg 147]course of one epoch; there are some that fall short of that goal. Thus, during the Saturn evolution, not all of the Sons of Personality actually reached the human stage for which, as described above, they were destined; and just as little did all the physical human bodies, developed on Saturn, attain the degree of maturity which qualifies them to become vehicles of an independent etheric body on the Sun. The consequence is that beings and organisms are present on the Sun which are not in harmony with their environment. These must now make up, during the Sun evolution, for what they failed to attain on Saturn. The following may, therefore, be clairvoyantly observed during the Sun period. When the Lords of Wisdom begin their pouring in of the etheric body, the Sun body is to some extent darkened. Structures are mingled with it which, properly speaking, belong to Saturn. They are heat organisms which are not able to condense themselves into air in the proper manner. These are the human beings left behind in the Saturn stage. They are not able to become vehicles of a normally developed etheric body.Now the heat substance of Saturn, which has thus been left behind, splits into two parts on the Sun. One part is absorbed, as it were, by human bodies, and henceforward forms a kind of lower nature within man's being. Thus something, which really corresponds to the Saturn stage, is incorporated in the bodily part of man on the Sun. Now just as the Saturn body of man made it possible for the Sons[pg 148]of Personality to raise themselves to the human stage, the Saturn part of man performs the same office on the Sun for the Sons of Fire. They raise themselves to the human stage by letting their forces flow in and out of the Saturn part of man, as did the Sons of Personality on Saturn.This also happens during the middle period of the Sun evolution. The Saturn part of the human being is then so far matured that with its help the Sons of Fire (Archangeloi) are able to pass through their human stage. Another part of the Saturnian heat substance becomes detached and attains an independent existence alongside of and among the human beings on the Sun. This forms a second kingdom by the side of the human kingdom, a kingdom which develops on the Sun only a perfectly independent physical body, like a heat body. In consequence of this, the fully evolved Sons of Personality are not able to direct their activity toward any independent etheric body in the manner before described. But there were also certain Sons of Personality left behind at the Saturn stage who fell short of the human stage. A bond of attraction exists between them and the second Sun kingdom which has become independent. They must now act toward the backward kingdom on the Sun as their advanced brethren did on Saturn in regard to human beings. The latter had only their physical body perfected here. But there is no possibility on the Sun for such a work on the part of the backward Sons of Personality. They therefore separate themselves from the[pg 149]Sun body, and form an independent celestial body outside it. This body, accordingly, withdraws from the Sun, and from it the backward Sons of Personality act on the beings of the second Sun kingdom which have been described. In this way two world-organisms have been formed out of the one which was previously Saturn. The Sun has now in its environment a second celestial body, one which exhibits a kind of re-birth of Saturn, a new Saturn. From this Saturn the character of personality is conferred on the second Sun kingdom. Therefore within this kingdom we have to do with beings which have no personality on the Sun itself. Yet they reflect back to the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn the special personality of those spirits. Clairvoyant consciousness is able to observe among the human beings on the Sun, heat forces which act upon the regular course of Sun evolution, and in which the sway of the spirits described as belonging to the new Saturn is to be seen.We notice the following facts about man's being during the middle period of the Sun evolution. It is divided into a physical body and an etheric body. Within these the activity of the advanced Sons of Personality plays, conjointly with that of the Lords of Love. Now part of the backward Saturn nature is mingled with the physical body. In this plays the activity of the Sons of Fire. We now see in everything which the Sons of Fire effect on the backward Saturn nature, the forerunners of the present human sense-organs. It has been shown how these Sons[pg 150]of Fire were already at work on the elaboration of the sense-germs in the heat substance on Saturn. The first outline of the present human glands is to be recognized in what is accomplished by the Sons of Personality conjointly with the Lords of Love (Seraphim).But the above described is not the whole of the activity of the Sons of Personality dwelling on the new Saturn. They not only extend their activity to the second Sun kingdom mentioned above, but they also establish a kind of connection between that kingdom and the human senses. The heat substances of this kingdom flow in and out of the germs of the human sense-organs. By this means the human being on the Sun acquires a kind of perception of the lower kingdom situated outside him. That perception is naturally a dim one, closely corresponding to the dull Saturn-consciousness previously described. And it consists essentially of varied heat effects.Everything here described as taking place in the middle of the Sun evolution continues for a certain definite period. Then a time of rest again occurs. After that, things continue for a while in the same manner up to a certain point of evolution, at which the human etheric body is so far matured that a united action of the Sons of Life (Angeloi) and the Lords of Harmony (Cherubim) can set in. To clairvoyant consciousness, certain manifestations now appear within man's being, which may be compared with perceptions of taste, and which are[pg 151]made known externally as sounds. A similar thing has already been stated about the Saturn evolution. But here on the Sun the processes relating to human beings are more from within and are full of more independent life.The Sons of Life thereby acquire that dim picture-consciousness which the Sons of Fire had already attained on Saturn. In this the Lords of Harmony are their helpers. They really behold clairvoyantly what is now being enacted within the Sun evolution; only they give up all the results of that contemplation, and the enjoyment of those revelations of Wisdom that arise from it, and allow them to stream, like splendid visions of enchantment, into the dream-like consciousness of the Sons of Life. The latter again work these pictures of their visions into the etheric body of man, so that it attains higher and higher stages of development.Again an interval of rest ensues, again everything is awakened from“cosmic sleep”; and after further lapse of time the human being is sufficiently advanced to use its own forces. These forces are the same that were poured forth into man's being by the“Thrones”during the latter part of the Saturn period. This human being now evolves an inner life, which, in its manifestation to clairvoyant consciousness, may be compared with an inner perception of smell. But outside, in the direction of celestial space, man's being is manifested as a personality, though not one directed by an inner ego. It appears more like a plant with the character of a personality.[pg 152]It has been stated that at the end of the Saturn evolution personality is manifested somewhat machine like. And just as then, the first germ was developed of that which still remains a germ in contemporary man,—the Spirit-Man (Atma),—so at this point there is formed a similar first germ of the Life-Spirit (Budhi).When all this has continued for some time, an interval of rest again occurs. Following this, as in previous instances, the activity of the human being is resumed for a while. Then conditions commence, which mark a new intervention of the Lords of Wisdom. By its means human nature becomes capable of feeling the first traces of sympathy and antipathy for its environment. In all this there is still no real sensation but only a premonition of sensation. For the inner life-activity, which might be characterized in its manifestation as perception of smell, is revealed externally as a kind of primitive language. If the human being is inwardly conscious of a useful smell—or taste, or glitter,—it is manifested outwardly by a sound; and the same thing happens, in a corresponding way, with an inwardly uncongenial perception. Through all the events described, the real meaning of the Sun evolution for the human being is indicated. The human being has reached a higher stage of consciousness than that of the Saturn period. It is the consciousness of sleep.After a time, the point of evolution is also reached at which the higher beings connected with the Sun stage must pass into other spheres in order[pg 153]to work out that with which they have endowed themselves by their work on the human being. A long period of rest sets in, one similar to that between the Saturn and Sun evolutions. Everything that has been perfected on the Sun passes into a condition which may be compared with that of a plant when its powers of growth are resting in the seed. But just as those powers of growth appear again in a new plant, so does everything that was living on the Sun come forth again, after the period of rest, from the cosmic depths, to begin a new planetary existence.The meaning of such a term of rest, or“cosmic sleep,”will readily be understood if we will only direct our spiritual vision to one of the orders of beings already mentioned, for instance, to the Lords of Wisdom. They were not far enough evolved on Saturn to be able to ray forth an etheric body from themselves. They were only prepared for this after they had gone through their experiences on Saturn. During the rest (Pralaya) they transform into actual capacity what has been previously only prepared within them. Thus on the Sun they are evolved far enough to pour forth life from themselves, and to endow the human being with an etheric body of its own.After the interval of rest, that which had previously been the Sun comes forth again out of the“cosmic sleep.”That is, it again becomes perceptible to the clairvoyant faculties which had been able[pg 154]to observe it before, but had lost sight of it during the resting period. There are now two points to be observed with regard to the newly appearing planetary organism, which may, in occult science, be denoted the“Moon”(and this must not be confused with that portion of it which is now the earth's moon). In the first place, that which had detached itself during the Sun period as a“new Saturn”is once more within the new planetary body. This Saturn has therefore been again united with the Sun during the term of rest. Everything which was in the original Saturn reappears at first as one world-organism. Secondly, the human etheric bodies which had been formed on the Sun have been absorbed, during the resting period, by that which constitutes the spiritual sheath of the planet. At this point of time, therefore, they do not make their appearance united with the corresponding physical human bodies, but these latter at first appear separately. They contain everything which had been gained for them on Saturn and the Sun, but they are without the etheric, or vital body. Indeed, they cannot incorporate that etheric body within themselves immediately, for it has also been passing, during the period of rest, through an evolution with which they are not yet harmonized.What occurs at the beginning of the Moon evolution, in order to bring about this adjustment, is, first of all, another recapitulation of the Saturnian events. The physical part of man passes once more through the stages of the Saturn evolution, but[pg 155]under greatly altered circumstances. On Saturn there were only the forces of a heat body at work within him; now there are also those of the gas body that has been elaborated. These latter forces do not, however, appear quite at the beginning of the Moon evolution. Then everything appears as though man's being were composed only of heat substance, and as though the gas forces were lying dormant within that substance. Then comes a time when the first indications of these forces make their appearance; and lastly, in the latest period of the Saturn recapitulation, man's being has the same appearance as during the animated period of his Sun existence. Yet, all life still proves to be but a semblance of life.Next occurs a period of rest similar to the short periods of rest of the Sun evolution. Then the pouring in of the etheric body, for which the physical body has now become ripe, begins anew. As in the case of the recapitulation of Saturn, this influx takes place in three distinct periods. During the second of these, man's being is so far adjusted to the new Moon conditions that the Lords of Motion are able to bring into play the faculty they have acquired. This faculty consists in pouring the astral body out of their own being into man's being. They prepared themselves for this work during the Sun evolution, and during the time of rest between the Sun and Moon they transformed what had been prepared into the faculty alluded to. This influx lasts for a while, then one of the shorter intervals of rest sets in.[pg 156]After that the influx continues until the Lords of Form begin their activity. In consequence of this pouring of the astral body into the human being by the Lords of Motion, man acquires his first psychic qualities. He begins to develop sensations in connection with the processes which take place within, through the possession of an etheric body, and which during the Sun evolution were still of a plant-like nature; these processes now give him sensations of pleasure and displeasure. But it is nothing more than a constant inner ebb and flow of such pleasure and displeasure, until the Lords of Form intervene. Then these changing feelings are so transformed that there appear in man's being what may be regarded as the first signs of wish or desire. The human being strives after a repetition of what has once caused pleasure, and tries to avoid what has been felt as antipathetic. However, since the Lords of Form do not give up their own nature to the human being, but merely let their forces stream in and out, desire is wanting in depth of feeling and independence. It is directed by the Lords of Form, and has an instinctive character.The human physical body on Saturn was a heat body; on the Sun a condensation into the gaseous state, or into“air,”has taken place. Now, as during the Moon evolution, the astral element is rayed into the physical part, which at a definite moment attains a further degree of condensation and arrives at a state which may be compared with that of a liquid substance of today. In accordance with the usage[pg 157]of occult science this state may be called“water.”By water, is not meant only the water we now have, but this term applies to every liquid form in existence. The physical human body now gradually assumes a form composed of three kinds of material structures. The densest is a“water body”; through this flow air currents; and all of this again is permeated by manifestations of warmth.Now all the organisms do not attain full, adequate maturity during the Sun stage. Therefore there are organisms to be found on the Moon which are only at the Saturn stage, and others which have only reached the Sun stage. In this way two other kingdoms arise by the side of the normally evolved human kingdom. One consists of beings which have stopped short at the Saturn stage, and therefore have only a physical body, which even on the Moon is not yet able to become the vehicle of an independent etheric body. This is the lowest of the Moon kingdoms. A second consists of beings which have been left behind at the Sun stage, and which therefore do not mature sufficiently on the Moon to take on an independent astral body. These form a kingdom between the one just mentioned and the regularly developed human kingdom.But there is still something else taking place: The substances containing only heat forces and those containing only air forces, permeate these human beings. Thus it happens that the latter have within them on the Moon both a Saturnian and a solar nature. In this way a kind of cleavage has taken place[pg 158]in human nature; and by means of this cleavage, something very momentous is called forth within the Moon evolution after the activity of the Lords of Form has begun. The first evidences of a cleavage in the cosmic body of the Moon becomes then apparent. One part of its substances and beings separates from the other; two heavenly bodies are formed out of one. One of these becomes the abode of certain higher beings who were previously more closely connected with the undivided celestial body; while the other is occupied by human beings, the two lower kingdoms described above, and certain higher beings who did not pass over to the first celestial body.The first heavenly body, with the higher beings, appears like a reborn but refined Sun; the other is really the new formation, the“old Moon.”The regenerated Sun, on going out, takes with it only“heat”and“air”from the substances which have been formed on the Moon; on what is left as the Moon there is the liquid condition as well as the other two substances. As a result of this separation the beings which have withdrawn with the newborn Sun are not, in the first place, hampered in their further evolution by the denser Moon beings. Thus they are able to continue their own progress without hindrance. But thus they attain just that much more power to act now upon the Moon beings from their Sun. And they in turn also acquire thereby new possibilities of evolution. Most important of all, the Lords of Form are still in union with them.[pg 159]These accentuate the passions and the desire-nature, and this expresses itself gradually also in a further condensation of the physical human body. What was previously nothing but liquid in that body assumes a densely viscous form; and the air-like and heat-like formations are correspondingly condensed. Similar processes take place in the two lower kingdoms.The result of the separation of the Moon-body from the Sun-body is that the former bears the same relation to the latter as the Saturn-body once did to the whole cosmic evolution surrounding it. The Saturn-sphere was formed out of the body of the“Lords of Will”(the Thrones). From out its substance emanated back into cosmic space everything which the above-mentioned spiritual beings in the environment of Saturn experienced. And this radiation by degrees awakened independent life, by means of the subsequent processes. All evolution is due to the fact that independent beings differentiate themselves from their environment, then this environment like a reflection stamps itself upon those differentiated beings who then evolve further independently. The Moon-body, having likewise separated from the Sun-body, reflects at first the life of the latter. If nothing further had then happened, the following cosmic process would have taken place: There would have been a Sun-body in which spiritual beings adapted to that body would have lived through their experiences in the elements of heat and air.[pg 160]Set over against this Sun-body would have been a Moon-body, in which other beings of like nature with the Sun-beings would have undergone their experiences in the conditions of heat, air, and water. The progress from the Sun-incarnation to that of the Moon would have consisted in the Sun-beings seeing their own life, as in a reflection of the events on the Moon. They would have thus been able to enjoy it, something which they were still incapable of doing during the Sun incarnation. But evolution did not remain at this stage. Something occurred which was of the deepest significance for all future evolution. Certain beings adapted to the Moon-body, take possession of the element of will (the heritage of the Thrones) which was at their disposal, and by its means develop a life of their own, which takes shape independently of the Sun-life. Alongside of those Moon experiences which are entirely under the influence of the Sun, there arise independent Moon experiences, and, at the same time, states of rebellion or mutiny against the Sun-beings. And the various kingdoms which had arisen on the Sun and Moon, first and foremost of which was the kingdom of man's ancestors, are drawn into these conditions. In this way the Moon-body contains within it, spiritually and materially, two kinds of life: one that is in inner union with the Sun-life, and another which has“fallen away”from it and goes its own way independently. This division into a twofold life appears in all subsequent events of the Moon incarnation.[pg 161]What presents itself to clairvoyant consciousness in this period of evolution may be realized from the following pictures. The whole basic mass of the Moon is formed of a semi-animated substance which at one time moves sluggishly, at another quickly. This is not yet a mineral mass like the rocks and constituents of the earth upon which present day humanity walks. We might call it a kingdom of plant-minerals, only we have to imagine that the main body of the Moon consists wholly of this plant-mineral substance, as the earth today consists of rock, soil and other substances. Just as now we have towering masses of rock, so there were then harder portions embedded in the Moon's bulk; these may be compared with hard wooden structures or formations of horn; and as plants now arise out of mineral soil, so the surface of the Moon was covered and penetrated by the second kingdom, consisting of a kind of plant-animal. Their substance was softer than the general mass of the Moon, and more mobile. This kingdom extended over the other, like a viscous sea.Man himself at that time may be called animal-man. He had in his nature the component parts of the other two kingdoms; but his being was thoroughly interpenetrated by an etheric and an astral body, upon which the forces of higher beings worked, issuing from the severed Sun. His form was thus brought to greater perfection. While the Lords of Form were giving him a form which adapted him to Moon life, the Sun-Spirits were giving him[pg 162]a nature which lifted him beyond that life. He had the power of ennobling his own nature with the faculties given him by these Spirits,—in fact, of raising what was akin to the lower kingdoms to a higher level.Seen spiritually, the events now under consideration may be described in the following way. Man's ancestor had been brought to greater perfection by beings who had fallen away from the Sun kingdom. This improvement extended especially to everything that could be experienced in the element of water. Over that element the Sun-beings, who were rulers in the elements of heat and air, had less influence. The consequence of this was that in the organism of man's ancestor two kinds of beings manifested themselves. One part of the organism was wholly interpenetrated by the influences of the Sun-beings. In the other part, the rebellious Moon-beings were operative. Owing to this, the latter part was more independent than the former. In the former there could only arise states of consciousness in which the Sun-beings lived; in the latter there lived a kind of cosmic consciousness, such as was typical on Saturn, only now upon a higher level.Man's ancestor consequently felt himself to be an“image of the universe,”whereas his“Sun-part”felt itself to be only an“image of the Sun.”The two beings now came to a kind of conflict in man's nature. A settlement of this conflict was brought about by the influence of the Sun-beings, through which the material organism which made the independent[pg 163]universal consciousness possible, was rendered frail and perishable. From time to time this part of the organism had to be thrown off. During and also some time after the separation, man's ancestor was a being wholly dependent on the Sun influence. His consciousness became less independent; he lived within it, entirely surrendered to Sun-life. Then the independent portion of the Moon was once more renewed. After some time this process was repeated. Thus man's ancestor lived on the Moon in alternating conditions of clearer and duller consciousness; and the alternation was accompanied by a change of his being in a material respect. From time to time he laid aside his Moon-body and resumed it later. Seen physically, great variety appears in the kingdoms of the Moon above mentioned. The mineral-plants, plant-animals and animal-men are differentiated into groups. This will be understood when it is borne in mind that as a result of certain organisms having been left behind at each of the earlier stages of evolution, forms possessing most varied qualities took physical shape. There are formations still retaining the qualities of the early Saturn period, others showing those of the middle period and again others of the closing period of Saturn. A similar statement is true of all the stages of the Sun evolution.As organisms belonging to the evolving planet are left behind, so is it also with certain beings connected with that evolution. Through the progress of evolution up to the Moon period, different grades of[pg 164]such beings have already arisen. There are the Sons of Personality who not even on the Sun have attained their human stage; but there are also others who then caught up with evolving humanity. A number of the Sons of Fire, who should have attained humanity on the Sun, fell behind. Now, just as during the Sun evolution certain of the Sons of Personality withdrew from the Sun and caused the reappearance of Saturn as a separate body, so it also happens that in the course of the Moon evolution the beings described above separate and form individual celestial bodies. So far we have mentioned only the separation into Sun and Moon; but for the reasons already given, other world-organisms detached themselves from the Moon-body, which made its appearance after the great interval between the Sun and Moon.After a certain time we have a system of cosmic bodies the most advanced of which, as can easily be seen, must be called the New Sun. And just such a bond of attraction as was described above for the evolution as existing between the backward Saturn kingdom and the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn, is formed between each of these bodies and the corresponding Moon-beings. It would take us much too far to follow up in detail all the celestial bodies that come into existence. It must suffice to have pointed out the reason why a succession of them arises by degrees from the undivided world-organism which appears as Saturn at the beginning of human evolution.[pg 165]After the intervention of the Lords of Form, on the Moon, evolution proceeds for a while in the manner described. At the end of this time there is again a pause. While it lasts, the coarser portions of the three Moon kingdoms are in a sort of resting state, but the finer parts, in particular the human astral body, extricate themselves from those coarser organisms. They reach a condition in which the higher forces of exalted Sun-beings are able to act upon them very powerfully. After the interval of rest they again interpenetrate those parts of man's being which are composed of the coarser substances. Because they received such powerful forces during the pause—in a free state—they are able to make those coarser substances ripe for the influence, after a certain time, of the Sons of Personality and the Sons of Fire, who have progressed normally.In the meantime these Sons of Personality have raised themselves to a level upon which they possess the“consciousness of inspiration.”Here they are not only able—as was the case with clairvoyant picture-consciousness—to observe the inner state of other beings in images, but to apprehend the inner nature itself of those beings, as though in a spiritual tone-language. But the Sons of Fire have risen to that height of consciousness possessed on the Sun by the Sons of Personality. Thus both kinds of spirits are able to influence the now more developed life of the human being. The Sons of Personality act on the astral body, the Sons of Fire on the etheric body of this human being. The astral body thereby[pg 166]acquires the character of personality. It now not only experiences pleasure and pain, but relates them to itself. It has not arrived at a complete ego-consciousness, that says to itself,“I am here”; but it feels itself upheld and protected by other beings in its environment. When looking, as it were, up to these, it is able to say,“This, my environment, keeps me alive.”The Sons of Fire now work upon the etheric body. Under their influence the movement of forces in that body becomes more and more an inner function of life. What then results finds physical expression in a circulation of fluids and in phenomena of growth. The gaseous substances have become condensed into liquid substances; we may speak of a kind of nutritive process, in the sense that what is received from without becomes transformed and elaborated within. Perhaps if we think of something intermediate between nutrition and respiration in the present meaning of the terms, we may get an idea of what then happened in this respect. The nutritive matter was drawn from the animal-plant kingdom by the human being. We must think of those animal-plants as floating or swimming—or even lightly attached in an element surrounding them, as the lower animals of the present time live in water, or land animals in air. Yet the element is neither water nor air in the present sense, but something midway between the two, a kind of thick vapour in which most heterogeneous substances move hither and thither, as though dissolved in currents flowing in all directions.[pg 167]The animal-plants appear only as condensed regular forms of this element, often differing little physically from their environment. The process of respiration exists alongside of the process of nutrition. It is not as it is upon the earth, but like a drawing in and a streaming out of heat. To clairvoyant observation it is as though during those processes, organs opened and closed, through which a warming current passed in and out, and through which airy and watery substances were also carried in and out. And since man's nature at this stage of evolution already possesses an astral body, respiration and nutrition are accompanied by feelings, so that a sort of pleasure ensues when materials which promote the upbuilding of man's nature are taken in from without. Aversion is caused if injurious substances flow in, or even if they merely approach.Just as during the Moon evolution the respiratory and the nutritive processes were closely connected, as has been described, so was the process of perception in close connection with reproduction. No immediate effect was produced on any of the senses by the things and beings in the environment of Moon humanity. Perception was, on the contrary, of such a nature that the presence of things and beings called up pictures in the dull, dreamy consciousness. These pictures were much more closely connected with the real nature of the environment than the present sense-perceptions, which record[pg 168]in colour, sounds, smell etc., so to speak, only the outside of things and beings.In order to get a clearer idea of the human consciousness on the Moon, let us imagine human beings immersed in the vaporous environment described above. Most varied processes take place in this vapour-element. Materials unite, substances break asunder one from the other; some parts become condensed, others rarified. All this happens in such a way that human beings do not see or hear anything of it directly, but it calls up pictures in their consciousness. These may be compared with the images of our present dream-consciousness, as for instance when an object falls to the ground, and a sleeping man does not discern what has really happened but perceives it in the form of a picture; let us say he thinks that a shot has been fired. However, the pictures in the Moon-consciousness are not arbitrary, as is the case with such dream-pictures; although they are symbols, not representations, yet they correspond with outer events. A definite outer event can call up only one definite picture. The Moon-being is therefore in a position to regulate his conduct by means of these pictures, as present-day man does by means of his perceptions. We must nevertheless be careful to notice that conduct, regulated by perception, is governed by choice whereas action, under the influence of the pictures we have described, takes place as if prompted by some dim instinct.It is by no means as though only outer physical[pg 169]processes become perceptible through this picture-consciousness, but it is through the pictures that the spiritual beings, who rule behind the physical facts together with their activities, become likewise perceptible. Thus the Lords of Personality become visible, so to speak, in the phenomena of the animal-plant kingdom; the Sons of Fire appear behind and in the mineral-plant beings; and the Sons of Life appear as beings whom man is able to imagine unconnected with anything physical,—whom he sees, as it were, as etheric-psychic organisms.Though these pictures of the Moon-consciousness were not representations, only symbols of outer things, they nevertheless had a much more important effect on the inner nature of man than the images now caused by perception. They were able to set the whole inner being into motion and activity. The inner processes were moulded in conformity with them. They were genuine formative forces. Man's being became what those formative forces made it; it became, to a certain extent, a representation of the events of its consciousness.The further evolution progresses in this manner, the more it results in a deeply incisive change in man's being. The power issuing from the pictures in the consciousness gradually becomes unable to extend over the whole human bodily frame, which divides into two parts, or two natures. Members are formed subject to the shaping influence of the picture-consciousness, and they become to a great extent a copy of that life of imagination in the way[pg 170]just described. Other organs escape such an influence. They are, as it were, too dense, too much determined by other laws, to conform themselves to the picture-consciousness. These organs withdraw from the human influence; but they come under another, that of the exalted Sun-beings themselves. A period of rest, however, is first seen to precede this stage of evolution. During this pause, the Sun-Spirits are gathering force to influence the Moon-beings under quite new circumstances.After this term of rest, man's being is distinctly divided into two natures. One of these is withdrawn from the independent action of the picture-consciousness; it assumes a more definite form, and comes under the influence of forces which, though issuing from the Moon body, are only called forth there through the influence of the Sun-beings. This part of the human being shares more and more in the life which is stimulated by the Sun: the other part rises, like a kind of head, out of the first one. It is flexible, can move itself, and takes shape in conformity with the life of dull human consciousness. Yet the two parts are closely connected with each other; they send one another their vital fluids, and members extend from one into the other.An important harmony is now attained by the working out, during the time in which all this happened, of such a relation between the Sun and Moon as is in keeping with the aim of this evolution. It has already been intimated in a former passage how the advancing beings throughout their stages of evolution,[pg 171]shape their celestial bodies from out the general cosmic mass. They emanate, as it were, the forces which govern the aggregation of the substances. The Sun and Moon have thus separated from each other, as was necessary for the preparation of the right abodes for their respective beings. But this regulation of material and its forces by the spirit is carried very much farther. The beings themselves condition as well, certain movements of the heavenly bodies, and the definite revolutions of them around each other. In consequence, those bodies occupy changing positions with regard to each other. And if the position or situation of one body relative to another is altered, the effects of their respective inhabitants upon each other also change. So it is with the Sun and Moon. Through the movement of the Moon around the Sun, which by this time had come about, the human beings come alternately at one time more into the sphere of the Sun's influence, at another they are turned away from it and are then thrown back more on their own resources. The movement is a consequence of the“fall”of certain Moon-beings, as already described, and of the settlement of the conflict which was thereby brought about. It is the physical expression of the new relation of spiritual forces created by this falling away. As a consequence of the rotation of the one sphere round the other the beings inhabiting these heavenly bodies experience the alternating conditions of consciousness above described. We may put it thus, that the Moon alternately[pg 172]turns its life toward the Sun and away from it. There is a Sun time and a planetary time and during this latter, the Moon-beings develop on the side of the Moon which is turned away from the Sun.It is true however, that so far as the Moon is concerned, in addition to the movement of the celestial bodies, still something else must be considered. That is to say, clairvoyant consciousness, on looking back, can plainly see the Moon-beings wandering around their own planet, at quite regular periods of time. Thus at certain times they seek localities where they can give themselves up to the Sun influence; at other periods they wander to places where they are not subject to that influence, and where they can, as it were, reflect upon their own being.In order to complete the picture of these events, we must further notice that the Sons of Life attain their human stage during this period. Man's senses, the beginnings of which already existed on Saturn, cannot even yet, on the Moon, be used for his own perception of external objects. But at the Moon stage those senses become the instruments of the Sons of Life, who make use of them in order to perceive through them. These senses, belonging to the physical human body, enter thereby into reciprocal relations with the Sons of Life, by whom they are not only used but improved.Through the changing relations of the Sun, there appears now in the human being himself, as has been already indicated, a change in the conditions of life. Things so shape themselves that when the human[pg 173]being is dominated by the Sun influence, he devotes himself more to the Sun life and its phenomena than to himself. At such times he feels the greatness and glory of the universe; he, so to speak, absorbs them. Those very exalted beings who dwell on the Sun then influence the Moon, which again influences human beings. This influence, however, does not extend to the whole of man, but chiefly to those parts which have thrown off the influence of their own picture-consciousness. It is then that especially the physical and the etheric bodies attain a definite size and form. On the other hand, the phenomena of consciousness retire into the background. But when the human being is turned away from the Sun, it is occupied with its own nature; an inner activity begins, especially in the astral body while the outer form, on the contrary, becomes more insignificant, and less perfect in form.Thus during the Moon evolution there are two states of consciousness to be clearly distinguished, alternating with each other; duller during the Sun period and clearer during the time when life is left more to its own resources. The first state though duller, is on the other hand more unselfish; man then lives a life more devoted to the outer world, to the universe. It is an alternation of states of consciousness, which on one hand may be compared with the alternation of sleeping and waking in present day humanity, as well as with his life between birth and death, on the other hand with the more spiritual existence between death and a new birth. The[pg 174]awakening on the Moon, when the Sun period gradually ceases, might be described as something intermediate between the awakening of contemporary man each morning, and his being born. And in the same way the gradual dulling of consciousness at the approach of the Sun period resembles a condition midway between falling asleep and dying. For on the old Moon there was not yet such a consciousness of birth and death as man now possesses. Man gave himself up to the enjoyment of the universe in a kind of Sun life. During this period he was carried beyond his own life; he lived more spiritually. We can only attempt an approximate description, by way of comparison, of what man experienced during such times. He felt as though the forces of the universe were streaming into him, pulsing through him. He felt as though intoxicated with the harmonies of the universe which he thus experienced.As such times his astral body was as though set free from the physical body; also part of the etheric body went with it out of the physical body. This organism, consisting of the astral and etheric bodies, was like a delicate, wonderful musical instrument, from the strings of which the mysteries of the universe reverberated. And the members of that part of the human being on which consciousness had but slight influence were shaped in accordance with the harmonies of the universe. For the Sun-beings worked in those harmonies. Thus this part of man was given its form by the spiritual sounds of the universe; and at the same time the alternation between[pg 175]the clearer state of consciousness during the Sun period, and the duller one, was not so abrupt as was that between the waking state and that of absolutely dreamless sleep in contemporary man. The picture-consciousness was not so clear as the present waking consciousness; but on the other hand, the other consciousness was not so dull as the dreamless sleep of the present day.Thus the human being had a conception, even though dim, of the play of the cosmic harmonies in his physical body and in that part of his etheric body which had remained united with the physical body. During the time when, so to speak, the Sun did not shine on humanity, the picture-concepts replaced these harmonies in man's consciousness. There was then a revival particularly of those parts of the physical and etheric bodies which were under the immediate power of consciousness. On the other hand, other parts of the human being, now not exposed to the formative forces streaming from the Sun, underwent a kind of hardening and drying up process. When the Sun period again drew near, the old bodies decayed; they fell away from the human being, and as though from the grave of his old bodily form, the rejuvenated human being appeared, who even in this new form, was still uncomely.A renewal of the life-process had taken place. By the operation of the Sun-beings and their harmonies, the new-born body shaped itself again in its perfection, and the process described above was repeated. Man felt that renewal as if it were the putting on of[pg 176]new garments. The kernel of his being had not passed through an actual birth or death; it had only passed from a spiritual tone-consciousness, in which it was given over to the outer world, to one of a more inner nature. It had sloughed off its skin. The old body had become useless; it was thrown off and renewed. This then more clearly describes what has been characterized above as a kind of reproduction, and which as has been said, is closely connected with perception. Man's being has brought forth his likeness with respect to certain parts of the physical and etheric bodies. However a being totally different from the parent being does not come into existence, but the kernel of the parent-being passes over into the offspring. No new being arises, but the same one in a new form.Thus the Moon human being experiences a change of consciousness. When the Sun period draws near, his pictured images become dimmer and dimmer, and blissful devotion takes possession of him; the harmonies of the universe resound in his peaceful inner being. Toward the end of this time the images of the astral body begin to be animated; he begins to be more conscious of himself and able to experience sensation. Man experiences something like an awakening from the bliss and tranquility in which he was wrapped during the sun period.At the same time another important experience begins. With this new clearing up of the picture-consciousness the human being sees himself as[pg 177]though enveloped in a cloud, which has descended upon him like a being from the cosmos.And he feels that being as something belonging to him, as a completion of his own nature; he feels it as that which gives him existence, as his“ego.”That being is one of the Sons of Life. Man feels toward him somewhat like this:“I have lived in this being, even when I was given up to the glory of the universe in the Sun period,—only then he was not visible to me; now he is.”And it is also this Son of Life from whom proceeds the force which, during the Sunless period, acts upon the body of man. Then when the Sun period again approaches, man feels as though he himself became one with the Son of Life. Even if man does not see him, he nevertheless feels closely united with him.Now the connection with the Sons of Life was such that not every individual human being had a Son of Life to himself, but an entire group of people felt such a being belonging to them. Thus people on the Moon lived segregated into groups, and each group felt in one of the Sons of Life its common“group-ego.”The etheric body of each particular group had a specific form, in this way these groups differed from each other. But as the physical bodies shaped themselves in conformity with the etheric bodies, the differences of the latter were also stamped upon the former; and the individual groups of human beings appeared as so many species of people. As the Sons of Life looked down on the human groups belonging to them, they saw themselves to a certain extent reproduced[pg 178]in manifold individual human beings. And therein they felt their own egohood. They, so to speak, mirrored themselves in man. This was indeed the mission of the human senses at that time. It has already been shown that the senses did not as yet transmit objective perceptions. But they reflected the nature of the Sons of Life. What those Sons of Life perceived through reflection, gave them their“ego-consciousness.”What was aroused in the human astral body by this reflection was the dull dim pictures of the Moon-consciousness. By thus acting conjointly and reciprocally with the Sons of Life, the human beings laid the foundations of the nervous system within their physical bodies. The nerves appear, one might say, as continuations of the senses, directed inwardly into the human body.It is evident, from this description, in what manner the three kinds of Spirits, those of Personality, of Fire, and of Life, act upon Moon-humanity. If we look back upon the most important, namely the middle period of the Moon evolution, we may say that the Sons of Personality are at that time implanting in the human astral body independence and the character of personality. It is owing to this fact that man can turn his attention inwards and work upon himself during those times when the Sun is not shining upon him.The Sons of Fire act upon the etheric body in so far as the independent formation of the human being becomes imprinted upon it. Through their means it comes to pass that human beings are again[pg 179]conscious of themselves, as such, every time the body is renewed. Thus a kind of memory is bestowed on the etheric body through the Sons of Fire.The Sons of Life act on the physical body in such a way that it is able to become the expression of the astral body which has now become independent. They thus make it possible for the physical body to become a physiognomic copy of its astral body. On the other hand, higher spiritual beings, in particular the Lords of Form and of Motion, reach down into the physical and etheric bodies, as far as these are developing during the Sun periods, regardless of the independent astral body. Their intervention comes from the Sun, in the manner described above.Under the influence of such facts, the human being gradually matures to a point where it can develop within itself the germ of the Spirit-Self just as during the second half of the Saturn evolution it developed the germ of the Spirit-Man and on the Sun that of the Life-Spirit. Thereby all the Moon conditions are changed. Human beings have not only become more noble and refined through successive transformations and renewals, but they have also gained in power. For this reason the picture-consciousness was more and more maintained during the Sun periods. It also gained influence in the formation of the physical and etheric bodies, which hitherto had been formed entirely by the action of the Sun-beings.What took place on the Moon through human beings and the Spirits connected with them became[pg 180]more and more like that which had formerly been effected by the Sun with its higher beings. The consequence was that those Sun-beings were able more and more to concentrate their forces on their own evolution. By this means the Moon became, after a time, mature enough to be again re-united with the Sun. To spiritual vision, these occurrences take place as follows: The“rebellious Moon-beings”had been gradually overcome by the Sun-beings and compelled to submit to them in such a manner, that their activities became a part of and subordinate to the activities of the Sun-beings. It is true that this happened only after the lapse of long ages during which the Moon periods had become shorter and shorter, and the Sun periods longer and longer. Now there again comes an evolution during which the Sun and Moon form one world-organism. By this time the physical human body has become quite etheric.When it is said that the physical body has become etheric, it must not be imagined that under such circumstances there is no existing physical body. What was formed as a physical body during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods, still exists. It is important to recognize the physical element even where it is not externally and physically manifested. It may also be present in such a way that it shows outwardly an etheric or even an astral form. We must distinguish between the outward appearance and the inner law. What is physical may become etheric and astral, at the same time retain in itself[pg 181]the physical law. That is the case when the physical body of man has attained a certain degree of perfection on the Moon. It becomes etheric in form.But when clairvoyant observation, which can perceive such things, is directed toward an etheric body of this kind, that body is seen to be ruled by physical, not etheric, laws. The physical element has in this case been taken into the etheric world, there to rest and to be nurtured as though in a mother's tender care. Later it again emerges in a physical form, but at a higher stage. If Moon-humanity had kept its physical body in its coarse physical form, the Moon would never have been able to unite itself with the Sun. By accepting the etheric form, the physical body becomes more closely related to the etheric body, and by this means can again be more closely interpenetrated with those parts of the etheric and astral bodies which had been forced to withdraw from it during the Sun periods of the Moon evolution. Man, who appeared as a being with a two-fold nature during the separation of Sun and Moon, again becomes an undivided being. The physical becomes more psychic. Therefore the psychic also becomes more closely connected with the physical.Now the Sun-Spirits, into whose immediate sphere this undivided human being has entered, are able to act upon it in quite a different manner from their previous influence from without on the Moon. Man is now in a more psycho-spiritual environment. Owing to this, the Lords of Wisdom are able to effect something momentous. They imbue and inspire him[pg 182]with wisdom. He thereby becomes in a certain sense an independent soul. And to the influence of these beings is added that of the Lords of Motion. They act principally on the astral body, so that under their influence it produces psychic activity, and an etheric body filled with wisdom. The latter is the foundation of that which has been described above as the rational or intellectual soul in contemporary man, whereas the astral body, inspired by the Lords of Motion, is the germ of the sentient soul. And because all this is effected in man's being in his progressed condition of independence, these germs of the rational and sentient soul appear as the expression of the Spirit-Self. In this connection the mistake must not be made of thinking that at this period of evolution the Spirit-Self was something separate from the intellectual and sentient souls. The latter are only the expression of the Spirit-Self, which signifies their higher unity and harmony.It is especially significant that the Lords of Wisdom intervene at this period in the manner described. For they do this not only with regard to humanity but also for the benefit of the other kingdoms which have been elaborated on the Moon. Upon the reunion of Sun and Moon these lower kingdoms are drawn into the Sun sphere. Everything in them which was physical becomes etheric. There are, therefore, minela-plants and plant-animals now in the Sun, just as there is humanity there. But those other creatures are still endowed with their own laws of being. They therefore feel like strangers in[pg 183]their environment. They came upon the scene with a nature but little in harmony with their surroundings. But as they have become etheric, the activity of the Lords of Wisdom may also extend to them. Everything which has come from the Moon into the Sun now becomes pervaded with the forces of the Lords of Wisdom. Hence what is developed out of the Sun-Moon organism during this period of evolution may be called in occult science the“Cosmos of Wisdom.”When, therefore, after an interval of rest, our Earth system appears as the successor of this Cosmos of Wisdom, all the beings newly emerging on the earth, developing out of their Moon-germs, prove to be filled with wisdom. And this is the reason why earthly man when contemplating the things around him, is able to discover the wisdom concealed in their inner nature. The wisdom in each leaf of a plant, in every bone in animal and man, in the marvelous structure of the brain and heart, fills us with admiration. If man requires wisdom to understand things, and therefore gathers wisdom from them, this shows that there is wisdom in the things themselves. For however much man might have striven to understand things by means of wise perceptions, he could not draw wisdom from them unless it had first been put into them. He who tries by means of wisdom to understand things, assuming at the same time that wisdom had not first been concealed within them, may just as reasonably believe that he can empty water out of a glass into[pg 184]which it has not first been poured. As will be shown later in this book, the Earth is the“old Moon”risen again. And it appears as an organism full of wisdom, because it was permeated by the Lords of Wisdom and their forces during the epoch that has been described.It will easily be understood that this description of the Moon condition could take account only of certain temporary forms of evolution. It was necessary to pause at certain things in the progress of events, and single them out for delineation. It is true that this kind of description gives only isolated pictures, and it may be deplored for this reason, that in the foregoing account the evolutionary scheme was not brought down to a system of precise and definite concepts. But in the face of such an objection it may be well to point out that the description was intentionally given in less clearly defined outlines. For it is not of so much consequence here to give speculative ideas and to construct theories as to represent what really passes before the spiritual eyes of clairvoyant consciousness, when looking back upon these events. With regard to the Moon evolution this cannot be done in such sharp and definite outlines as are characteristic of earthly perceptions. In the Moon period we are mainly concerned with variable, changing impressions, with shifting, moving pictures and their transitory stages. We have, moreover, to bear in mind that we are contemplating an evolution continuing through long, long periods of time, and that[pg 185]out of all that presents itself, it is possible to seize upon only momentary pictures and fix them for delineation.The Moon period actually reached its highest point at the time when the astral body, implanted in man, had brought him so far along the evolutionary path that his physical body afforded the Sons of Life the possibility of attaining their human stage. Man had then attained all that this epoch could give him for himself, for his inner nature on the upward path. The following, or second half of the Moon evolution may therefore be termed the“ebb-tide,”or wane. But even during this ebb-tide one sees a most important thing taking place with regard to man's environment, and even with regard to himself. It is now that wisdom is implanted in the Sun-Moon body. It has been shown that during the ebb-tide the germs of the intellectual and sentient souls are implanted. But the development of these, as well as of the consciousness-soul and with it the birth of the“Ego”—the free self consciousness—does not ensue until the Earth period.At the Moon stage the intellectual- and sentient-souls have as yet no appearance of being used by human beings as a means of expression; they appear rather as instruments of those Sons of Life who belong to humanity. Were we to describe the feeling of the human dweller on the Moon in this respect, we should have to say that he experiences the following:“The Son of Life lives in and through me; he surveys through me the[pg 186]environment of the Moon; in me he reflects upon the things and beings of that environment.”The Moon human being feels himself overshadowed by the Son of Life, and looks upon himself as the instrument of that higher being. During the time of the separation of Sun and Moon he felt a greater measure of independence when the Sun was turned away from him; but at the same time he also felt as though the ego belonging to him, which had disappeared from the picture-consciousness during the Sun period, now became visible. It was, for Moon-humanity, what may be described as a change in the states of consciousness, so that the Moon-being had this feeling:“In the Sun period my ego wafts me away into higher regions, into the presence of exalted beings, and when the Sun disappears it descends with me into lower worlds.”The actual Moon evolution was preceded by a preparatory stage. In a certain way the Saturn and Sun evolutions were recapitulated. Now, after the reunion of Sun and Moon, during what we have termed the ebb-tide, two epochs may be distinguished one from the other. In the course of these, even physical condensation occurs to a certain degree. Therefore psycho-spiritual conditions of the Sun-Moon organism alternate with others of a more physical nature. In such physical epochs human beings and those of the lower kingdoms appear as though they were preparing, in stiff not yet self-reliant forms, the type of what they were to become in a more independent manner during the[pg 187]Earth period. We may therefore speak of two preparatory epochs in the Moon evolution, and of two others during the ebb-tide. In occult science such epochs may be termed cycles.20In that period which follows the two preparatory epochs, and precedes those of the ebb-tide—that is to say, during the time of the separation of the Moon—three epochs can again be distinguished. The middle period is the time when the Sons of Life reached the human level. It is preceded by a period in which all conditions lead up to that crowning event; and it is followed by one which may be called a time of adaptation and of perfecting the new creations.

The second of the great periods of evolution that have been mentioned, the“Sun period,”effects the raising of man's being to a higher stage of consciousness than that which it had attained on Saturn. Compared with man's present state of consciousness, the Sun condition might certainly be[pg 141]termed“unconsciousness.”For it is approximately that condition which contemporary man experiences during absolutely dreamless sleep. Or it might be compared to the low degree of consciousness in which our vegetable world now slumbers. For occult science there is no such thing as unconsciousness, but only different degrees of consciousness. Everything in the world is conscious.In the course of the Sun evolution, the human being attains a higher degree of consciousness through the incorporation within it of the etheric, or vital body. Before this can take place the Saturn conditions must be recapitulated in the manner described above. This recapitulation has quite a definite meaning. That is to say, when the period of rest which was spoken of in the foregoing statement has come to an end, that which was formerly Saturn issues forth, out of“cosmic sleep,”as a new celestial body, the Sun. But the conditions of evolution have meanwhile changed. The spiritual beings, whose activity on behalf of Saturn we have portrayed, have progressed onward into different conditions. Yet at first the human germ appears on the newly formed Sun in the form it possessed on Saturn. It has first of all so to transform the various stages of evolution through which it has passed on Saturn that they may suit the new conditions on the Sun. Consequently, the sun epoch begins with a recapitulation of the occurrences on Saturn, adjusted to the changed conditions of Sun life. Now when the human being has advanced so far that the stage of[pg 142]evolution it reached on Saturn has been adapted to the Sun conditions, the Lords of Wisdom already mentioned, begin to let the etheric, or vital body, pour into the physical body. The higher stage which man reaches on the Sun may therefore be characterized in this way: the physical body, already formed in the germ-state on Saturn, is raised to a second stage of perfection by becoming the vehicle of an etheric or vital body. This last-named etheric body attains its first degree of perfection on its own account during the Sun evolution. In order, however, that the second degree of perfection for the physical and the first for the etheric body may be reached, the intervention of still other spirit-beings is necessary during the further course of the Sun life, in a similar manner to that which has been described as taking place during the Saturn stage.When the Lords of Wisdom begin to stream forth their etheric body, the Sun, previously dark, begins to shine. At the same time the first appearances of inner activity are seen in the human germ; life has begun. What had to be described as a semblance of life on Saturn now becomes actual life. The influx lasts for a certain time, at the end of which an important change for the human germ sets in—that is to say, it organizes itself into two parts. Whereas up to this point the physical and etheric bodies formed an intimately connected whole, the physical body now begins to detach itself as a separate part. Yet even that separated physical body is still pervaded by the etheric body. Therefore we[pg 143]have now to do with a human being composed of two principles. One portion is a physical body permeated by an etheric body; the other is an etheric body and nothing else. This separation comes to pass, however, during a period of rest in the Sun life. During this pause the shining, which had begun to appear, dies away. The separation takes place during a“cosmic night,”as it were. Yet this interval of rest is much shorter than the one between the Saturn and Sun evolutions mentioned above. At the expiration of the rest period the Lords of Wisdom work for a while on the two-fold being of man, just as they had previously done on the undivided being. Then the Lords of Motion begin their activity. They cause their own astral body to stream through the human etheric body. By this means man acquires the capacity for executing certain inner movements in the physical body. These movements may be compared with those of sap in a plant of our own time.The Saturn body consisted exclusively of heat substance. During the Sun evolution that heat substance is condensed into a state which may be compared with that of our present-day gas or steam. In occult science“air”is the name ordinarily used for this condition. The first beginnings of such a state are seen after the Lords of Motion have begun their activity. The following spectacle is presented to clairvoyant consciousness. Within the heat substance there appears something like delicate formations which are set in rythmic motion by the forces[pg 144]of the etheric body. These formations represent the human physical body at the stage of evolution now attained by it. They are permeated through and through with heat, and are also wrapped, as it were, in a heat envelope. From a physical point of view, man's nature may now be said to be composed of heat structures with air forms embedded in them—the latter in regular motion. Hence, if we wish to retain the foregoing comparison with a plant of the present day, we must remember that it is not a solid plant organism which we have to consider, but an air or gas form,19the movements of which may be compared with the circulation of the sap in plants of to-day.The evolution thus indicated continues. After a certain time another interval of rest sets in; after this the Lords of Motion go on working until their activity is supplemented by that of the Lords of Form. The effect of the latter is that the gas structures, which before were constantly changing, now assume lasting form. This, too, happens because the Lords of Form cause their forces to flow in and out of the human etheric body. When the Lords of Motion alone were acting on the gaseous organisms, these were in perpetual motion, not keeping their form for an instant. Now, however, they temporarily assume distinguishable shapes. Again, after a certain period, there occurs a time of rest; and then once more the Lords of Form continue[pg 145]their activity. But the conditions within the Sun evolution are now entirely changed. For the point has been reached when the Sun evolution has attained its zenith. This is the time at which the Lords of Personality, who attained their human stage on Saturn, ascend to a higher degree of perfection. They advance beyond the human stage; they attain a form of consciousness which contemporary man does not yet possess in his normal course of development on the earth. He will acquire it when the earth—the fourth of the planetary stages of evolution—has reached its goal and has entered upon the next planetary period. Then man will not only perceive around him what his present physical senses enable him to apprehend, but he will be able to see in images the inner psychic conditions of the beings surrounding him. He will have a (clairvoyant) picture-consciousness, although retaining complete self-consciousness. There will be nothing dream-like or vague in his clairvoyance, but he will perceive what is psychic, in pictures certainly, but in such a way that these images will be the expression of realities, as physical colours and sounds are now. Man, at present, can attain to this degree of clairvoyance only through occult training, which will be treated later in this book.Now this clairvoyance is attained by the Sons of Personality, as a gift of their normal evolution, midway in the Sun period; and it is just on this account that they become capable of acting on the newly formed etheric body of man during the Sun[pg 146]evolution, in a way similar to that in which they acted on the physical body on Saturn. Just as there the heat reflected their own personality back to them, so do the gaseous organisms now reflect back to them, in gleams of light, the images of their clairvoyant consciousness. They clairvoyantly behold what is taking place on the Sun. And this vision is by no means mere observation; it is as though something of the force which mortals call love made itself felt in the images which stream forth from the Sun. If a clairvoyant looks more closely, he will find the cause of this phenomenon. Exalted beings have blended their activity with the light that is being radiated from the Sun. They are the Lords of Love (the Christian Seraphim) already mentioned. Henceforth they act, together with the Sons of Personality, on the human etheric, or vital body. By means of that activity the etheric body advances a step farther along its path of evolution. It acquires the capacity not only of transforming the gaseous forms within it, but of so elaborating them that the first indications of a propagation of living human beings appear. Emanations, so to speak, are driven out (as though exuded) from the gaseous organisms that take on shapes resembling their mother-forms.In order to describe the further course of the Sun evolution, reference must be made to a fact in the formation of worlds which is of the greatest possible significance. It is this,—that by no means every being attains the goal of its evolution in the[pg 147]course of one epoch; there are some that fall short of that goal. Thus, during the Saturn evolution, not all of the Sons of Personality actually reached the human stage for which, as described above, they were destined; and just as little did all the physical human bodies, developed on Saturn, attain the degree of maturity which qualifies them to become vehicles of an independent etheric body on the Sun. The consequence is that beings and organisms are present on the Sun which are not in harmony with their environment. These must now make up, during the Sun evolution, for what they failed to attain on Saturn. The following may, therefore, be clairvoyantly observed during the Sun period. When the Lords of Wisdom begin their pouring in of the etheric body, the Sun body is to some extent darkened. Structures are mingled with it which, properly speaking, belong to Saturn. They are heat organisms which are not able to condense themselves into air in the proper manner. These are the human beings left behind in the Saturn stage. They are not able to become vehicles of a normally developed etheric body.Now the heat substance of Saturn, which has thus been left behind, splits into two parts on the Sun. One part is absorbed, as it were, by human bodies, and henceforward forms a kind of lower nature within man's being. Thus something, which really corresponds to the Saturn stage, is incorporated in the bodily part of man on the Sun. Now just as the Saturn body of man made it possible for the Sons[pg 148]of Personality to raise themselves to the human stage, the Saturn part of man performs the same office on the Sun for the Sons of Fire. They raise themselves to the human stage by letting their forces flow in and out of the Saturn part of man, as did the Sons of Personality on Saturn.This also happens during the middle period of the Sun evolution. The Saturn part of the human being is then so far matured that with its help the Sons of Fire (Archangeloi) are able to pass through their human stage. Another part of the Saturnian heat substance becomes detached and attains an independent existence alongside of and among the human beings on the Sun. This forms a second kingdom by the side of the human kingdom, a kingdom which develops on the Sun only a perfectly independent physical body, like a heat body. In consequence of this, the fully evolved Sons of Personality are not able to direct their activity toward any independent etheric body in the manner before described. But there were also certain Sons of Personality left behind at the Saturn stage who fell short of the human stage. A bond of attraction exists between them and the second Sun kingdom which has become independent. They must now act toward the backward kingdom on the Sun as their advanced brethren did on Saturn in regard to human beings. The latter had only their physical body perfected here. But there is no possibility on the Sun for such a work on the part of the backward Sons of Personality. They therefore separate themselves from the[pg 149]Sun body, and form an independent celestial body outside it. This body, accordingly, withdraws from the Sun, and from it the backward Sons of Personality act on the beings of the second Sun kingdom which have been described. In this way two world-organisms have been formed out of the one which was previously Saturn. The Sun has now in its environment a second celestial body, one which exhibits a kind of re-birth of Saturn, a new Saturn. From this Saturn the character of personality is conferred on the second Sun kingdom. Therefore within this kingdom we have to do with beings which have no personality on the Sun itself. Yet they reflect back to the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn the special personality of those spirits. Clairvoyant consciousness is able to observe among the human beings on the Sun, heat forces which act upon the regular course of Sun evolution, and in which the sway of the spirits described as belonging to the new Saturn is to be seen.We notice the following facts about man's being during the middle period of the Sun evolution. It is divided into a physical body and an etheric body. Within these the activity of the advanced Sons of Personality plays, conjointly with that of the Lords of Love. Now part of the backward Saturn nature is mingled with the physical body. In this plays the activity of the Sons of Fire. We now see in everything which the Sons of Fire effect on the backward Saturn nature, the forerunners of the present human sense-organs. It has been shown how these Sons[pg 150]of Fire were already at work on the elaboration of the sense-germs in the heat substance on Saturn. The first outline of the present human glands is to be recognized in what is accomplished by the Sons of Personality conjointly with the Lords of Love (Seraphim).But the above described is not the whole of the activity of the Sons of Personality dwelling on the new Saturn. They not only extend their activity to the second Sun kingdom mentioned above, but they also establish a kind of connection between that kingdom and the human senses. The heat substances of this kingdom flow in and out of the germs of the human sense-organs. By this means the human being on the Sun acquires a kind of perception of the lower kingdom situated outside him. That perception is naturally a dim one, closely corresponding to the dull Saturn-consciousness previously described. And it consists essentially of varied heat effects.Everything here described as taking place in the middle of the Sun evolution continues for a certain definite period. Then a time of rest again occurs. After that, things continue for a while in the same manner up to a certain point of evolution, at which the human etheric body is so far matured that a united action of the Sons of Life (Angeloi) and the Lords of Harmony (Cherubim) can set in. To clairvoyant consciousness, certain manifestations now appear within man's being, which may be compared with perceptions of taste, and which are[pg 151]made known externally as sounds. A similar thing has already been stated about the Saturn evolution. But here on the Sun the processes relating to human beings are more from within and are full of more independent life.The Sons of Life thereby acquire that dim picture-consciousness which the Sons of Fire had already attained on Saturn. In this the Lords of Harmony are their helpers. They really behold clairvoyantly what is now being enacted within the Sun evolution; only they give up all the results of that contemplation, and the enjoyment of those revelations of Wisdom that arise from it, and allow them to stream, like splendid visions of enchantment, into the dream-like consciousness of the Sons of Life. The latter again work these pictures of their visions into the etheric body of man, so that it attains higher and higher stages of development.Again an interval of rest ensues, again everything is awakened from“cosmic sleep”; and after further lapse of time the human being is sufficiently advanced to use its own forces. These forces are the same that were poured forth into man's being by the“Thrones”during the latter part of the Saturn period. This human being now evolves an inner life, which, in its manifestation to clairvoyant consciousness, may be compared with an inner perception of smell. But outside, in the direction of celestial space, man's being is manifested as a personality, though not one directed by an inner ego. It appears more like a plant with the character of a personality.[pg 152]It has been stated that at the end of the Saturn evolution personality is manifested somewhat machine like. And just as then, the first germ was developed of that which still remains a germ in contemporary man,—the Spirit-Man (Atma),—so at this point there is formed a similar first germ of the Life-Spirit (Budhi).When all this has continued for some time, an interval of rest again occurs. Following this, as in previous instances, the activity of the human being is resumed for a while. Then conditions commence, which mark a new intervention of the Lords of Wisdom. By its means human nature becomes capable of feeling the first traces of sympathy and antipathy for its environment. In all this there is still no real sensation but only a premonition of sensation. For the inner life-activity, which might be characterized in its manifestation as perception of smell, is revealed externally as a kind of primitive language. If the human being is inwardly conscious of a useful smell—or taste, or glitter,—it is manifested outwardly by a sound; and the same thing happens, in a corresponding way, with an inwardly uncongenial perception. Through all the events described, the real meaning of the Sun evolution for the human being is indicated. The human being has reached a higher stage of consciousness than that of the Saturn period. It is the consciousness of sleep.After a time, the point of evolution is also reached at which the higher beings connected with the Sun stage must pass into other spheres in order[pg 153]to work out that with which they have endowed themselves by their work on the human being. A long period of rest sets in, one similar to that between the Saturn and Sun evolutions. Everything that has been perfected on the Sun passes into a condition which may be compared with that of a plant when its powers of growth are resting in the seed. But just as those powers of growth appear again in a new plant, so does everything that was living on the Sun come forth again, after the period of rest, from the cosmic depths, to begin a new planetary existence.The meaning of such a term of rest, or“cosmic sleep,”will readily be understood if we will only direct our spiritual vision to one of the orders of beings already mentioned, for instance, to the Lords of Wisdom. They were not far enough evolved on Saturn to be able to ray forth an etheric body from themselves. They were only prepared for this after they had gone through their experiences on Saturn. During the rest (Pralaya) they transform into actual capacity what has been previously only prepared within them. Thus on the Sun they are evolved far enough to pour forth life from themselves, and to endow the human being with an etheric body of its own.After the interval of rest, that which had previously been the Sun comes forth again out of the“cosmic sleep.”That is, it again becomes perceptible to the clairvoyant faculties which had been able[pg 154]to observe it before, but had lost sight of it during the resting period. There are now two points to be observed with regard to the newly appearing planetary organism, which may, in occult science, be denoted the“Moon”(and this must not be confused with that portion of it which is now the earth's moon). In the first place, that which had detached itself during the Sun period as a“new Saturn”is once more within the new planetary body. This Saturn has therefore been again united with the Sun during the term of rest. Everything which was in the original Saturn reappears at first as one world-organism. Secondly, the human etheric bodies which had been formed on the Sun have been absorbed, during the resting period, by that which constitutes the spiritual sheath of the planet. At this point of time, therefore, they do not make their appearance united with the corresponding physical human bodies, but these latter at first appear separately. They contain everything which had been gained for them on Saturn and the Sun, but they are without the etheric, or vital body. Indeed, they cannot incorporate that etheric body within themselves immediately, for it has also been passing, during the period of rest, through an evolution with which they are not yet harmonized.What occurs at the beginning of the Moon evolution, in order to bring about this adjustment, is, first of all, another recapitulation of the Saturnian events. The physical part of man passes once more through the stages of the Saturn evolution, but[pg 155]under greatly altered circumstances. On Saturn there were only the forces of a heat body at work within him; now there are also those of the gas body that has been elaborated. These latter forces do not, however, appear quite at the beginning of the Moon evolution. Then everything appears as though man's being were composed only of heat substance, and as though the gas forces were lying dormant within that substance. Then comes a time when the first indications of these forces make their appearance; and lastly, in the latest period of the Saturn recapitulation, man's being has the same appearance as during the animated period of his Sun existence. Yet, all life still proves to be but a semblance of life.Next occurs a period of rest similar to the short periods of rest of the Sun evolution. Then the pouring in of the etheric body, for which the physical body has now become ripe, begins anew. As in the case of the recapitulation of Saturn, this influx takes place in three distinct periods. During the second of these, man's being is so far adjusted to the new Moon conditions that the Lords of Motion are able to bring into play the faculty they have acquired. This faculty consists in pouring the astral body out of their own being into man's being. They prepared themselves for this work during the Sun evolution, and during the time of rest between the Sun and Moon they transformed what had been prepared into the faculty alluded to. This influx lasts for a while, then one of the shorter intervals of rest sets in.[pg 156]After that the influx continues until the Lords of Form begin their activity. In consequence of this pouring of the astral body into the human being by the Lords of Motion, man acquires his first psychic qualities. He begins to develop sensations in connection with the processes which take place within, through the possession of an etheric body, and which during the Sun evolution were still of a plant-like nature; these processes now give him sensations of pleasure and displeasure. But it is nothing more than a constant inner ebb and flow of such pleasure and displeasure, until the Lords of Form intervene. Then these changing feelings are so transformed that there appear in man's being what may be regarded as the first signs of wish or desire. The human being strives after a repetition of what has once caused pleasure, and tries to avoid what has been felt as antipathetic. However, since the Lords of Form do not give up their own nature to the human being, but merely let their forces stream in and out, desire is wanting in depth of feeling and independence. It is directed by the Lords of Form, and has an instinctive character.The human physical body on Saturn was a heat body; on the Sun a condensation into the gaseous state, or into“air,”has taken place. Now, as during the Moon evolution, the astral element is rayed into the physical part, which at a definite moment attains a further degree of condensation and arrives at a state which may be compared with that of a liquid substance of today. In accordance with the usage[pg 157]of occult science this state may be called“water.”By water, is not meant only the water we now have, but this term applies to every liquid form in existence. The physical human body now gradually assumes a form composed of three kinds of material structures. The densest is a“water body”; through this flow air currents; and all of this again is permeated by manifestations of warmth.Now all the organisms do not attain full, adequate maturity during the Sun stage. Therefore there are organisms to be found on the Moon which are only at the Saturn stage, and others which have only reached the Sun stage. In this way two other kingdoms arise by the side of the normally evolved human kingdom. One consists of beings which have stopped short at the Saturn stage, and therefore have only a physical body, which even on the Moon is not yet able to become the vehicle of an independent etheric body. This is the lowest of the Moon kingdoms. A second consists of beings which have been left behind at the Sun stage, and which therefore do not mature sufficiently on the Moon to take on an independent astral body. These form a kingdom between the one just mentioned and the regularly developed human kingdom.But there is still something else taking place: The substances containing only heat forces and those containing only air forces, permeate these human beings. Thus it happens that the latter have within them on the Moon both a Saturnian and a solar nature. In this way a kind of cleavage has taken place[pg 158]in human nature; and by means of this cleavage, something very momentous is called forth within the Moon evolution after the activity of the Lords of Form has begun. The first evidences of a cleavage in the cosmic body of the Moon becomes then apparent. One part of its substances and beings separates from the other; two heavenly bodies are formed out of one. One of these becomes the abode of certain higher beings who were previously more closely connected with the undivided celestial body; while the other is occupied by human beings, the two lower kingdoms described above, and certain higher beings who did not pass over to the first celestial body.The first heavenly body, with the higher beings, appears like a reborn but refined Sun; the other is really the new formation, the“old Moon.”The regenerated Sun, on going out, takes with it only“heat”and“air”from the substances which have been formed on the Moon; on what is left as the Moon there is the liquid condition as well as the other two substances. As a result of this separation the beings which have withdrawn with the newborn Sun are not, in the first place, hampered in their further evolution by the denser Moon beings. Thus they are able to continue their own progress without hindrance. But thus they attain just that much more power to act now upon the Moon beings from their Sun. And they in turn also acquire thereby new possibilities of evolution. Most important of all, the Lords of Form are still in union with them.[pg 159]These accentuate the passions and the desire-nature, and this expresses itself gradually also in a further condensation of the physical human body. What was previously nothing but liquid in that body assumes a densely viscous form; and the air-like and heat-like formations are correspondingly condensed. Similar processes take place in the two lower kingdoms.The result of the separation of the Moon-body from the Sun-body is that the former bears the same relation to the latter as the Saturn-body once did to the whole cosmic evolution surrounding it. The Saturn-sphere was formed out of the body of the“Lords of Will”(the Thrones). From out its substance emanated back into cosmic space everything which the above-mentioned spiritual beings in the environment of Saturn experienced. And this radiation by degrees awakened independent life, by means of the subsequent processes. All evolution is due to the fact that independent beings differentiate themselves from their environment, then this environment like a reflection stamps itself upon those differentiated beings who then evolve further independently. The Moon-body, having likewise separated from the Sun-body, reflects at first the life of the latter. If nothing further had then happened, the following cosmic process would have taken place: There would have been a Sun-body in which spiritual beings adapted to that body would have lived through their experiences in the elements of heat and air.[pg 160]Set over against this Sun-body would have been a Moon-body, in which other beings of like nature with the Sun-beings would have undergone their experiences in the conditions of heat, air, and water. The progress from the Sun-incarnation to that of the Moon would have consisted in the Sun-beings seeing their own life, as in a reflection of the events on the Moon. They would have thus been able to enjoy it, something which they were still incapable of doing during the Sun incarnation. But evolution did not remain at this stage. Something occurred which was of the deepest significance for all future evolution. Certain beings adapted to the Moon-body, take possession of the element of will (the heritage of the Thrones) which was at their disposal, and by its means develop a life of their own, which takes shape independently of the Sun-life. Alongside of those Moon experiences which are entirely under the influence of the Sun, there arise independent Moon experiences, and, at the same time, states of rebellion or mutiny against the Sun-beings. And the various kingdoms which had arisen on the Sun and Moon, first and foremost of which was the kingdom of man's ancestors, are drawn into these conditions. In this way the Moon-body contains within it, spiritually and materially, two kinds of life: one that is in inner union with the Sun-life, and another which has“fallen away”from it and goes its own way independently. This division into a twofold life appears in all subsequent events of the Moon incarnation.[pg 161]What presents itself to clairvoyant consciousness in this period of evolution may be realized from the following pictures. The whole basic mass of the Moon is formed of a semi-animated substance which at one time moves sluggishly, at another quickly. This is not yet a mineral mass like the rocks and constituents of the earth upon which present day humanity walks. We might call it a kingdom of plant-minerals, only we have to imagine that the main body of the Moon consists wholly of this plant-mineral substance, as the earth today consists of rock, soil and other substances. Just as now we have towering masses of rock, so there were then harder portions embedded in the Moon's bulk; these may be compared with hard wooden structures or formations of horn; and as plants now arise out of mineral soil, so the surface of the Moon was covered and penetrated by the second kingdom, consisting of a kind of plant-animal. Their substance was softer than the general mass of the Moon, and more mobile. This kingdom extended over the other, like a viscous sea.Man himself at that time may be called animal-man. He had in his nature the component parts of the other two kingdoms; but his being was thoroughly interpenetrated by an etheric and an astral body, upon which the forces of higher beings worked, issuing from the severed Sun. His form was thus brought to greater perfection. While the Lords of Form were giving him a form which adapted him to Moon life, the Sun-Spirits were giving him[pg 162]a nature which lifted him beyond that life. He had the power of ennobling his own nature with the faculties given him by these Spirits,—in fact, of raising what was akin to the lower kingdoms to a higher level.Seen spiritually, the events now under consideration may be described in the following way. Man's ancestor had been brought to greater perfection by beings who had fallen away from the Sun kingdom. This improvement extended especially to everything that could be experienced in the element of water. Over that element the Sun-beings, who were rulers in the elements of heat and air, had less influence. The consequence of this was that in the organism of man's ancestor two kinds of beings manifested themselves. One part of the organism was wholly interpenetrated by the influences of the Sun-beings. In the other part, the rebellious Moon-beings were operative. Owing to this, the latter part was more independent than the former. In the former there could only arise states of consciousness in which the Sun-beings lived; in the latter there lived a kind of cosmic consciousness, such as was typical on Saturn, only now upon a higher level.Man's ancestor consequently felt himself to be an“image of the universe,”whereas his“Sun-part”felt itself to be only an“image of the Sun.”The two beings now came to a kind of conflict in man's nature. A settlement of this conflict was brought about by the influence of the Sun-beings, through which the material organism which made the independent[pg 163]universal consciousness possible, was rendered frail and perishable. From time to time this part of the organism had to be thrown off. During and also some time after the separation, man's ancestor was a being wholly dependent on the Sun influence. His consciousness became less independent; he lived within it, entirely surrendered to Sun-life. Then the independent portion of the Moon was once more renewed. After some time this process was repeated. Thus man's ancestor lived on the Moon in alternating conditions of clearer and duller consciousness; and the alternation was accompanied by a change of his being in a material respect. From time to time he laid aside his Moon-body and resumed it later. Seen physically, great variety appears in the kingdoms of the Moon above mentioned. The mineral-plants, plant-animals and animal-men are differentiated into groups. This will be understood when it is borne in mind that as a result of certain organisms having been left behind at each of the earlier stages of evolution, forms possessing most varied qualities took physical shape. There are formations still retaining the qualities of the early Saturn period, others showing those of the middle period and again others of the closing period of Saturn. A similar statement is true of all the stages of the Sun evolution.As organisms belonging to the evolving planet are left behind, so is it also with certain beings connected with that evolution. Through the progress of evolution up to the Moon period, different grades of[pg 164]such beings have already arisen. There are the Sons of Personality who not even on the Sun have attained their human stage; but there are also others who then caught up with evolving humanity. A number of the Sons of Fire, who should have attained humanity on the Sun, fell behind. Now, just as during the Sun evolution certain of the Sons of Personality withdrew from the Sun and caused the reappearance of Saturn as a separate body, so it also happens that in the course of the Moon evolution the beings described above separate and form individual celestial bodies. So far we have mentioned only the separation into Sun and Moon; but for the reasons already given, other world-organisms detached themselves from the Moon-body, which made its appearance after the great interval between the Sun and Moon.After a certain time we have a system of cosmic bodies the most advanced of which, as can easily be seen, must be called the New Sun. And just such a bond of attraction as was described above for the evolution as existing between the backward Saturn kingdom and the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn, is formed between each of these bodies and the corresponding Moon-beings. It would take us much too far to follow up in detail all the celestial bodies that come into existence. It must suffice to have pointed out the reason why a succession of them arises by degrees from the undivided world-organism which appears as Saturn at the beginning of human evolution.[pg 165]After the intervention of the Lords of Form, on the Moon, evolution proceeds for a while in the manner described. At the end of this time there is again a pause. While it lasts, the coarser portions of the three Moon kingdoms are in a sort of resting state, but the finer parts, in particular the human astral body, extricate themselves from those coarser organisms. They reach a condition in which the higher forces of exalted Sun-beings are able to act upon them very powerfully. After the interval of rest they again interpenetrate those parts of man's being which are composed of the coarser substances. Because they received such powerful forces during the pause—in a free state—they are able to make those coarser substances ripe for the influence, after a certain time, of the Sons of Personality and the Sons of Fire, who have progressed normally.In the meantime these Sons of Personality have raised themselves to a level upon which they possess the“consciousness of inspiration.”Here they are not only able—as was the case with clairvoyant picture-consciousness—to observe the inner state of other beings in images, but to apprehend the inner nature itself of those beings, as though in a spiritual tone-language. But the Sons of Fire have risen to that height of consciousness possessed on the Sun by the Sons of Personality. Thus both kinds of spirits are able to influence the now more developed life of the human being. The Sons of Personality act on the astral body, the Sons of Fire on the etheric body of this human being. The astral body thereby[pg 166]acquires the character of personality. It now not only experiences pleasure and pain, but relates them to itself. It has not arrived at a complete ego-consciousness, that says to itself,“I am here”; but it feels itself upheld and protected by other beings in its environment. When looking, as it were, up to these, it is able to say,“This, my environment, keeps me alive.”The Sons of Fire now work upon the etheric body. Under their influence the movement of forces in that body becomes more and more an inner function of life. What then results finds physical expression in a circulation of fluids and in phenomena of growth. The gaseous substances have become condensed into liquid substances; we may speak of a kind of nutritive process, in the sense that what is received from without becomes transformed and elaborated within. Perhaps if we think of something intermediate between nutrition and respiration in the present meaning of the terms, we may get an idea of what then happened in this respect. The nutritive matter was drawn from the animal-plant kingdom by the human being. We must think of those animal-plants as floating or swimming—or even lightly attached in an element surrounding them, as the lower animals of the present time live in water, or land animals in air. Yet the element is neither water nor air in the present sense, but something midway between the two, a kind of thick vapour in which most heterogeneous substances move hither and thither, as though dissolved in currents flowing in all directions.[pg 167]The animal-plants appear only as condensed regular forms of this element, often differing little physically from their environment. The process of respiration exists alongside of the process of nutrition. It is not as it is upon the earth, but like a drawing in and a streaming out of heat. To clairvoyant observation it is as though during those processes, organs opened and closed, through which a warming current passed in and out, and through which airy and watery substances were also carried in and out. And since man's nature at this stage of evolution already possesses an astral body, respiration and nutrition are accompanied by feelings, so that a sort of pleasure ensues when materials which promote the upbuilding of man's nature are taken in from without. Aversion is caused if injurious substances flow in, or even if they merely approach.Just as during the Moon evolution the respiratory and the nutritive processes were closely connected, as has been described, so was the process of perception in close connection with reproduction. No immediate effect was produced on any of the senses by the things and beings in the environment of Moon humanity. Perception was, on the contrary, of such a nature that the presence of things and beings called up pictures in the dull, dreamy consciousness. These pictures were much more closely connected with the real nature of the environment than the present sense-perceptions, which record[pg 168]in colour, sounds, smell etc., so to speak, only the outside of things and beings.In order to get a clearer idea of the human consciousness on the Moon, let us imagine human beings immersed in the vaporous environment described above. Most varied processes take place in this vapour-element. Materials unite, substances break asunder one from the other; some parts become condensed, others rarified. All this happens in such a way that human beings do not see or hear anything of it directly, but it calls up pictures in their consciousness. These may be compared with the images of our present dream-consciousness, as for instance when an object falls to the ground, and a sleeping man does not discern what has really happened but perceives it in the form of a picture; let us say he thinks that a shot has been fired. However, the pictures in the Moon-consciousness are not arbitrary, as is the case with such dream-pictures; although they are symbols, not representations, yet they correspond with outer events. A definite outer event can call up only one definite picture. The Moon-being is therefore in a position to regulate his conduct by means of these pictures, as present-day man does by means of his perceptions. We must nevertheless be careful to notice that conduct, regulated by perception, is governed by choice whereas action, under the influence of the pictures we have described, takes place as if prompted by some dim instinct.It is by no means as though only outer physical[pg 169]processes become perceptible through this picture-consciousness, but it is through the pictures that the spiritual beings, who rule behind the physical facts together with their activities, become likewise perceptible. Thus the Lords of Personality become visible, so to speak, in the phenomena of the animal-plant kingdom; the Sons of Fire appear behind and in the mineral-plant beings; and the Sons of Life appear as beings whom man is able to imagine unconnected with anything physical,—whom he sees, as it were, as etheric-psychic organisms.Though these pictures of the Moon-consciousness were not representations, only symbols of outer things, they nevertheless had a much more important effect on the inner nature of man than the images now caused by perception. They were able to set the whole inner being into motion and activity. The inner processes were moulded in conformity with them. They were genuine formative forces. Man's being became what those formative forces made it; it became, to a certain extent, a representation of the events of its consciousness.The further evolution progresses in this manner, the more it results in a deeply incisive change in man's being. The power issuing from the pictures in the consciousness gradually becomes unable to extend over the whole human bodily frame, which divides into two parts, or two natures. Members are formed subject to the shaping influence of the picture-consciousness, and they become to a great extent a copy of that life of imagination in the way[pg 170]just described. Other organs escape such an influence. They are, as it were, too dense, too much determined by other laws, to conform themselves to the picture-consciousness. These organs withdraw from the human influence; but they come under another, that of the exalted Sun-beings themselves. A period of rest, however, is first seen to precede this stage of evolution. During this pause, the Sun-Spirits are gathering force to influence the Moon-beings under quite new circumstances.After this term of rest, man's being is distinctly divided into two natures. One of these is withdrawn from the independent action of the picture-consciousness; it assumes a more definite form, and comes under the influence of forces which, though issuing from the Moon body, are only called forth there through the influence of the Sun-beings. This part of the human being shares more and more in the life which is stimulated by the Sun: the other part rises, like a kind of head, out of the first one. It is flexible, can move itself, and takes shape in conformity with the life of dull human consciousness. Yet the two parts are closely connected with each other; they send one another their vital fluids, and members extend from one into the other.An important harmony is now attained by the working out, during the time in which all this happened, of such a relation between the Sun and Moon as is in keeping with the aim of this evolution. It has already been intimated in a former passage how the advancing beings throughout their stages of evolution,[pg 171]shape their celestial bodies from out the general cosmic mass. They emanate, as it were, the forces which govern the aggregation of the substances. The Sun and Moon have thus separated from each other, as was necessary for the preparation of the right abodes for their respective beings. But this regulation of material and its forces by the spirit is carried very much farther. The beings themselves condition as well, certain movements of the heavenly bodies, and the definite revolutions of them around each other. In consequence, those bodies occupy changing positions with regard to each other. And if the position or situation of one body relative to another is altered, the effects of their respective inhabitants upon each other also change. So it is with the Sun and Moon. Through the movement of the Moon around the Sun, which by this time had come about, the human beings come alternately at one time more into the sphere of the Sun's influence, at another they are turned away from it and are then thrown back more on their own resources. The movement is a consequence of the“fall”of certain Moon-beings, as already described, and of the settlement of the conflict which was thereby brought about. It is the physical expression of the new relation of spiritual forces created by this falling away. As a consequence of the rotation of the one sphere round the other the beings inhabiting these heavenly bodies experience the alternating conditions of consciousness above described. We may put it thus, that the Moon alternately[pg 172]turns its life toward the Sun and away from it. There is a Sun time and a planetary time and during this latter, the Moon-beings develop on the side of the Moon which is turned away from the Sun.It is true however, that so far as the Moon is concerned, in addition to the movement of the celestial bodies, still something else must be considered. That is to say, clairvoyant consciousness, on looking back, can plainly see the Moon-beings wandering around their own planet, at quite regular periods of time. Thus at certain times they seek localities where they can give themselves up to the Sun influence; at other periods they wander to places where they are not subject to that influence, and where they can, as it were, reflect upon their own being.In order to complete the picture of these events, we must further notice that the Sons of Life attain their human stage during this period. Man's senses, the beginnings of which already existed on Saturn, cannot even yet, on the Moon, be used for his own perception of external objects. But at the Moon stage those senses become the instruments of the Sons of Life, who make use of them in order to perceive through them. These senses, belonging to the physical human body, enter thereby into reciprocal relations with the Sons of Life, by whom they are not only used but improved.Through the changing relations of the Sun, there appears now in the human being himself, as has been already indicated, a change in the conditions of life. Things so shape themselves that when the human[pg 173]being is dominated by the Sun influence, he devotes himself more to the Sun life and its phenomena than to himself. At such times he feels the greatness and glory of the universe; he, so to speak, absorbs them. Those very exalted beings who dwell on the Sun then influence the Moon, which again influences human beings. This influence, however, does not extend to the whole of man, but chiefly to those parts which have thrown off the influence of their own picture-consciousness. It is then that especially the physical and the etheric bodies attain a definite size and form. On the other hand, the phenomena of consciousness retire into the background. But when the human being is turned away from the Sun, it is occupied with its own nature; an inner activity begins, especially in the astral body while the outer form, on the contrary, becomes more insignificant, and less perfect in form.Thus during the Moon evolution there are two states of consciousness to be clearly distinguished, alternating with each other; duller during the Sun period and clearer during the time when life is left more to its own resources. The first state though duller, is on the other hand more unselfish; man then lives a life more devoted to the outer world, to the universe. It is an alternation of states of consciousness, which on one hand may be compared with the alternation of sleeping and waking in present day humanity, as well as with his life between birth and death, on the other hand with the more spiritual existence between death and a new birth. The[pg 174]awakening on the Moon, when the Sun period gradually ceases, might be described as something intermediate between the awakening of contemporary man each morning, and his being born. And in the same way the gradual dulling of consciousness at the approach of the Sun period resembles a condition midway between falling asleep and dying. For on the old Moon there was not yet such a consciousness of birth and death as man now possesses. Man gave himself up to the enjoyment of the universe in a kind of Sun life. During this period he was carried beyond his own life; he lived more spiritually. We can only attempt an approximate description, by way of comparison, of what man experienced during such times. He felt as though the forces of the universe were streaming into him, pulsing through him. He felt as though intoxicated with the harmonies of the universe which he thus experienced.As such times his astral body was as though set free from the physical body; also part of the etheric body went with it out of the physical body. This organism, consisting of the astral and etheric bodies, was like a delicate, wonderful musical instrument, from the strings of which the mysteries of the universe reverberated. And the members of that part of the human being on which consciousness had but slight influence were shaped in accordance with the harmonies of the universe. For the Sun-beings worked in those harmonies. Thus this part of man was given its form by the spiritual sounds of the universe; and at the same time the alternation between[pg 175]the clearer state of consciousness during the Sun period, and the duller one, was not so abrupt as was that between the waking state and that of absolutely dreamless sleep in contemporary man. The picture-consciousness was not so clear as the present waking consciousness; but on the other hand, the other consciousness was not so dull as the dreamless sleep of the present day.Thus the human being had a conception, even though dim, of the play of the cosmic harmonies in his physical body and in that part of his etheric body which had remained united with the physical body. During the time when, so to speak, the Sun did not shine on humanity, the picture-concepts replaced these harmonies in man's consciousness. There was then a revival particularly of those parts of the physical and etheric bodies which were under the immediate power of consciousness. On the other hand, other parts of the human being, now not exposed to the formative forces streaming from the Sun, underwent a kind of hardening and drying up process. When the Sun period again drew near, the old bodies decayed; they fell away from the human being, and as though from the grave of his old bodily form, the rejuvenated human being appeared, who even in this new form, was still uncomely.A renewal of the life-process had taken place. By the operation of the Sun-beings and their harmonies, the new-born body shaped itself again in its perfection, and the process described above was repeated. Man felt that renewal as if it were the putting on of[pg 176]new garments. The kernel of his being had not passed through an actual birth or death; it had only passed from a spiritual tone-consciousness, in which it was given over to the outer world, to one of a more inner nature. It had sloughed off its skin. The old body had become useless; it was thrown off and renewed. This then more clearly describes what has been characterized above as a kind of reproduction, and which as has been said, is closely connected with perception. Man's being has brought forth his likeness with respect to certain parts of the physical and etheric bodies. However a being totally different from the parent being does not come into existence, but the kernel of the parent-being passes over into the offspring. No new being arises, but the same one in a new form.Thus the Moon human being experiences a change of consciousness. When the Sun period draws near, his pictured images become dimmer and dimmer, and blissful devotion takes possession of him; the harmonies of the universe resound in his peaceful inner being. Toward the end of this time the images of the astral body begin to be animated; he begins to be more conscious of himself and able to experience sensation. Man experiences something like an awakening from the bliss and tranquility in which he was wrapped during the sun period.At the same time another important experience begins. With this new clearing up of the picture-consciousness the human being sees himself as[pg 177]though enveloped in a cloud, which has descended upon him like a being from the cosmos.And he feels that being as something belonging to him, as a completion of his own nature; he feels it as that which gives him existence, as his“ego.”That being is one of the Sons of Life. Man feels toward him somewhat like this:“I have lived in this being, even when I was given up to the glory of the universe in the Sun period,—only then he was not visible to me; now he is.”And it is also this Son of Life from whom proceeds the force which, during the Sunless period, acts upon the body of man. Then when the Sun period again approaches, man feels as though he himself became one with the Son of Life. Even if man does not see him, he nevertheless feels closely united with him.Now the connection with the Sons of Life was such that not every individual human being had a Son of Life to himself, but an entire group of people felt such a being belonging to them. Thus people on the Moon lived segregated into groups, and each group felt in one of the Sons of Life its common“group-ego.”The etheric body of each particular group had a specific form, in this way these groups differed from each other. But as the physical bodies shaped themselves in conformity with the etheric bodies, the differences of the latter were also stamped upon the former; and the individual groups of human beings appeared as so many species of people. As the Sons of Life looked down on the human groups belonging to them, they saw themselves to a certain extent reproduced[pg 178]in manifold individual human beings. And therein they felt their own egohood. They, so to speak, mirrored themselves in man. This was indeed the mission of the human senses at that time. It has already been shown that the senses did not as yet transmit objective perceptions. But they reflected the nature of the Sons of Life. What those Sons of Life perceived through reflection, gave them their“ego-consciousness.”What was aroused in the human astral body by this reflection was the dull dim pictures of the Moon-consciousness. By thus acting conjointly and reciprocally with the Sons of Life, the human beings laid the foundations of the nervous system within their physical bodies. The nerves appear, one might say, as continuations of the senses, directed inwardly into the human body.It is evident, from this description, in what manner the three kinds of Spirits, those of Personality, of Fire, and of Life, act upon Moon-humanity. If we look back upon the most important, namely the middle period of the Moon evolution, we may say that the Sons of Personality are at that time implanting in the human astral body independence and the character of personality. It is owing to this fact that man can turn his attention inwards and work upon himself during those times when the Sun is not shining upon him.The Sons of Fire act upon the etheric body in so far as the independent formation of the human being becomes imprinted upon it. Through their means it comes to pass that human beings are again[pg 179]conscious of themselves, as such, every time the body is renewed. Thus a kind of memory is bestowed on the etheric body through the Sons of Fire.The Sons of Life act on the physical body in such a way that it is able to become the expression of the astral body which has now become independent. They thus make it possible for the physical body to become a physiognomic copy of its astral body. On the other hand, higher spiritual beings, in particular the Lords of Form and of Motion, reach down into the physical and etheric bodies, as far as these are developing during the Sun periods, regardless of the independent astral body. Their intervention comes from the Sun, in the manner described above.Under the influence of such facts, the human being gradually matures to a point where it can develop within itself the germ of the Spirit-Self just as during the second half of the Saturn evolution it developed the germ of the Spirit-Man and on the Sun that of the Life-Spirit. Thereby all the Moon conditions are changed. Human beings have not only become more noble and refined through successive transformations and renewals, but they have also gained in power. For this reason the picture-consciousness was more and more maintained during the Sun periods. It also gained influence in the formation of the physical and etheric bodies, which hitherto had been formed entirely by the action of the Sun-beings.What took place on the Moon through human beings and the Spirits connected with them became[pg 180]more and more like that which had formerly been effected by the Sun with its higher beings. The consequence was that those Sun-beings were able more and more to concentrate their forces on their own evolution. By this means the Moon became, after a time, mature enough to be again re-united with the Sun. To spiritual vision, these occurrences take place as follows: The“rebellious Moon-beings”had been gradually overcome by the Sun-beings and compelled to submit to them in such a manner, that their activities became a part of and subordinate to the activities of the Sun-beings. It is true that this happened only after the lapse of long ages during which the Moon periods had become shorter and shorter, and the Sun periods longer and longer. Now there again comes an evolution during which the Sun and Moon form one world-organism. By this time the physical human body has become quite etheric.When it is said that the physical body has become etheric, it must not be imagined that under such circumstances there is no existing physical body. What was formed as a physical body during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods, still exists. It is important to recognize the physical element even where it is not externally and physically manifested. It may also be present in such a way that it shows outwardly an etheric or even an astral form. We must distinguish between the outward appearance and the inner law. What is physical may become etheric and astral, at the same time retain in itself[pg 181]the physical law. That is the case when the physical body of man has attained a certain degree of perfection on the Moon. It becomes etheric in form.But when clairvoyant observation, which can perceive such things, is directed toward an etheric body of this kind, that body is seen to be ruled by physical, not etheric, laws. The physical element has in this case been taken into the etheric world, there to rest and to be nurtured as though in a mother's tender care. Later it again emerges in a physical form, but at a higher stage. If Moon-humanity had kept its physical body in its coarse physical form, the Moon would never have been able to unite itself with the Sun. By accepting the etheric form, the physical body becomes more closely related to the etheric body, and by this means can again be more closely interpenetrated with those parts of the etheric and astral bodies which had been forced to withdraw from it during the Sun periods of the Moon evolution. Man, who appeared as a being with a two-fold nature during the separation of Sun and Moon, again becomes an undivided being. The physical becomes more psychic. Therefore the psychic also becomes more closely connected with the physical.Now the Sun-Spirits, into whose immediate sphere this undivided human being has entered, are able to act upon it in quite a different manner from their previous influence from without on the Moon. Man is now in a more psycho-spiritual environment. Owing to this, the Lords of Wisdom are able to effect something momentous. They imbue and inspire him[pg 182]with wisdom. He thereby becomes in a certain sense an independent soul. And to the influence of these beings is added that of the Lords of Motion. They act principally on the astral body, so that under their influence it produces psychic activity, and an etheric body filled with wisdom. The latter is the foundation of that which has been described above as the rational or intellectual soul in contemporary man, whereas the astral body, inspired by the Lords of Motion, is the germ of the sentient soul. And because all this is effected in man's being in his progressed condition of independence, these germs of the rational and sentient soul appear as the expression of the Spirit-Self. In this connection the mistake must not be made of thinking that at this period of evolution the Spirit-Self was something separate from the intellectual and sentient souls. The latter are only the expression of the Spirit-Self, which signifies their higher unity and harmony.It is especially significant that the Lords of Wisdom intervene at this period in the manner described. For they do this not only with regard to humanity but also for the benefit of the other kingdoms which have been elaborated on the Moon. Upon the reunion of Sun and Moon these lower kingdoms are drawn into the Sun sphere. Everything in them which was physical becomes etheric. There are, therefore, minela-plants and plant-animals now in the Sun, just as there is humanity there. But those other creatures are still endowed with their own laws of being. They therefore feel like strangers in[pg 183]their environment. They came upon the scene with a nature but little in harmony with their surroundings. But as they have become etheric, the activity of the Lords of Wisdom may also extend to them. Everything which has come from the Moon into the Sun now becomes pervaded with the forces of the Lords of Wisdom. Hence what is developed out of the Sun-Moon organism during this period of evolution may be called in occult science the“Cosmos of Wisdom.”When, therefore, after an interval of rest, our Earth system appears as the successor of this Cosmos of Wisdom, all the beings newly emerging on the earth, developing out of their Moon-germs, prove to be filled with wisdom. And this is the reason why earthly man when contemplating the things around him, is able to discover the wisdom concealed in their inner nature. The wisdom in each leaf of a plant, in every bone in animal and man, in the marvelous structure of the brain and heart, fills us with admiration. If man requires wisdom to understand things, and therefore gathers wisdom from them, this shows that there is wisdom in the things themselves. For however much man might have striven to understand things by means of wise perceptions, he could not draw wisdom from them unless it had first been put into them. He who tries by means of wisdom to understand things, assuming at the same time that wisdom had not first been concealed within them, may just as reasonably believe that he can empty water out of a glass into[pg 184]which it has not first been poured. As will be shown later in this book, the Earth is the“old Moon”risen again. And it appears as an organism full of wisdom, because it was permeated by the Lords of Wisdom and their forces during the epoch that has been described.It will easily be understood that this description of the Moon condition could take account only of certain temporary forms of evolution. It was necessary to pause at certain things in the progress of events, and single them out for delineation. It is true that this kind of description gives only isolated pictures, and it may be deplored for this reason, that in the foregoing account the evolutionary scheme was not brought down to a system of precise and definite concepts. But in the face of such an objection it may be well to point out that the description was intentionally given in less clearly defined outlines. For it is not of so much consequence here to give speculative ideas and to construct theories as to represent what really passes before the spiritual eyes of clairvoyant consciousness, when looking back upon these events. With regard to the Moon evolution this cannot be done in such sharp and definite outlines as are characteristic of earthly perceptions. In the Moon period we are mainly concerned with variable, changing impressions, with shifting, moving pictures and their transitory stages. We have, moreover, to bear in mind that we are contemplating an evolution continuing through long, long periods of time, and that[pg 185]out of all that presents itself, it is possible to seize upon only momentary pictures and fix them for delineation.The Moon period actually reached its highest point at the time when the astral body, implanted in man, had brought him so far along the evolutionary path that his physical body afforded the Sons of Life the possibility of attaining their human stage. Man had then attained all that this epoch could give him for himself, for his inner nature on the upward path. The following, or second half of the Moon evolution may therefore be termed the“ebb-tide,”or wane. But even during this ebb-tide one sees a most important thing taking place with regard to man's environment, and even with regard to himself. It is now that wisdom is implanted in the Sun-Moon body. It has been shown that during the ebb-tide the germs of the intellectual and sentient souls are implanted. But the development of these, as well as of the consciousness-soul and with it the birth of the“Ego”—the free self consciousness—does not ensue until the Earth period.At the Moon stage the intellectual- and sentient-souls have as yet no appearance of being used by human beings as a means of expression; they appear rather as instruments of those Sons of Life who belong to humanity. Were we to describe the feeling of the human dweller on the Moon in this respect, we should have to say that he experiences the following:“The Son of Life lives in and through me; he surveys through me the[pg 186]environment of the Moon; in me he reflects upon the things and beings of that environment.”The Moon human being feels himself overshadowed by the Son of Life, and looks upon himself as the instrument of that higher being. During the time of the separation of Sun and Moon he felt a greater measure of independence when the Sun was turned away from him; but at the same time he also felt as though the ego belonging to him, which had disappeared from the picture-consciousness during the Sun period, now became visible. It was, for Moon-humanity, what may be described as a change in the states of consciousness, so that the Moon-being had this feeling:“In the Sun period my ego wafts me away into higher regions, into the presence of exalted beings, and when the Sun disappears it descends with me into lower worlds.”The actual Moon evolution was preceded by a preparatory stage. In a certain way the Saturn and Sun evolutions were recapitulated. Now, after the reunion of Sun and Moon, during what we have termed the ebb-tide, two epochs may be distinguished one from the other. In the course of these, even physical condensation occurs to a certain degree. Therefore psycho-spiritual conditions of the Sun-Moon organism alternate with others of a more physical nature. In such physical epochs human beings and those of the lower kingdoms appear as though they were preparing, in stiff not yet self-reliant forms, the type of what they were to become in a more independent manner during the[pg 187]Earth period. We may therefore speak of two preparatory epochs in the Moon evolution, and of two others during the ebb-tide. In occult science such epochs may be termed cycles.20In that period which follows the two preparatory epochs, and precedes those of the ebb-tide—that is to say, during the time of the separation of the Moon—three epochs can again be distinguished. The middle period is the time when the Sons of Life reached the human level. It is preceded by a period in which all conditions lead up to that crowning event; and it is followed by one which may be called a time of adaptation and of perfecting the new creations.

The second of the great periods of evolution that have been mentioned, the“Sun period,”effects the raising of man's being to a higher stage of consciousness than that which it had attained on Saturn. Compared with man's present state of consciousness, the Sun condition might certainly be[pg 141]termed“unconsciousness.”For it is approximately that condition which contemporary man experiences during absolutely dreamless sleep. Or it might be compared to the low degree of consciousness in which our vegetable world now slumbers. For occult science there is no such thing as unconsciousness, but only different degrees of consciousness. Everything in the world is conscious.In the course of the Sun evolution, the human being attains a higher degree of consciousness through the incorporation within it of the etheric, or vital body. Before this can take place the Saturn conditions must be recapitulated in the manner described above. This recapitulation has quite a definite meaning. That is to say, when the period of rest which was spoken of in the foregoing statement has come to an end, that which was formerly Saturn issues forth, out of“cosmic sleep,”as a new celestial body, the Sun. But the conditions of evolution have meanwhile changed. The spiritual beings, whose activity on behalf of Saturn we have portrayed, have progressed onward into different conditions. Yet at first the human germ appears on the newly formed Sun in the form it possessed on Saturn. It has first of all so to transform the various stages of evolution through which it has passed on Saturn that they may suit the new conditions on the Sun. Consequently, the sun epoch begins with a recapitulation of the occurrences on Saturn, adjusted to the changed conditions of Sun life. Now when the human being has advanced so far that the stage of[pg 142]evolution it reached on Saturn has been adapted to the Sun conditions, the Lords of Wisdom already mentioned, begin to let the etheric, or vital body, pour into the physical body. The higher stage which man reaches on the Sun may therefore be characterized in this way: the physical body, already formed in the germ-state on Saturn, is raised to a second stage of perfection by becoming the vehicle of an etheric or vital body. This last-named etheric body attains its first degree of perfection on its own account during the Sun evolution. In order, however, that the second degree of perfection for the physical and the first for the etheric body may be reached, the intervention of still other spirit-beings is necessary during the further course of the Sun life, in a similar manner to that which has been described as taking place during the Saturn stage.When the Lords of Wisdom begin to stream forth their etheric body, the Sun, previously dark, begins to shine. At the same time the first appearances of inner activity are seen in the human germ; life has begun. What had to be described as a semblance of life on Saturn now becomes actual life. The influx lasts for a certain time, at the end of which an important change for the human germ sets in—that is to say, it organizes itself into two parts. Whereas up to this point the physical and etheric bodies formed an intimately connected whole, the physical body now begins to detach itself as a separate part. Yet even that separated physical body is still pervaded by the etheric body. Therefore we[pg 143]have now to do with a human being composed of two principles. One portion is a physical body permeated by an etheric body; the other is an etheric body and nothing else. This separation comes to pass, however, during a period of rest in the Sun life. During this pause the shining, which had begun to appear, dies away. The separation takes place during a“cosmic night,”as it were. Yet this interval of rest is much shorter than the one between the Saturn and Sun evolutions mentioned above. At the expiration of the rest period the Lords of Wisdom work for a while on the two-fold being of man, just as they had previously done on the undivided being. Then the Lords of Motion begin their activity. They cause their own astral body to stream through the human etheric body. By this means man acquires the capacity for executing certain inner movements in the physical body. These movements may be compared with those of sap in a plant of our own time.The Saturn body consisted exclusively of heat substance. During the Sun evolution that heat substance is condensed into a state which may be compared with that of our present-day gas or steam. In occult science“air”is the name ordinarily used for this condition. The first beginnings of such a state are seen after the Lords of Motion have begun their activity. The following spectacle is presented to clairvoyant consciousness. Within the heat substance there appears something like delicate formations which are set in rythmic motion by the forces[pg 144]of the etheric body. These formations represent the human physical body at the stage of evolution now attained by it. They are permeated through and through with heat, and are also wrapped, as it were, in a heat envelope. From a physical point of view, man's nature may now be said to be composed of heat structures with air forms embedded in them—the latter in regular motion. Hence, if we wish to retain the foregoing comparison with a plant of the present day, we must remember that it is not a solid plant organism which we have to consider, but an air or gas form,19the movements of which may be compared with the circulation of the sap in plants of to-day.The evolution thus indicated continues. After a certain time another interval of rest sets in; after this the Lords of Motion go on working until their activity is supplemented by that of the Lords of Form. The effect of the latter is that the gas structures, which before were constantly changing, now assume lasting form. This, too, happens because the Lords of Form cause their forces to flow in and out of the human etheric body. When the Lords of Motion alone were acting on the gaseous organisms, these were in perpetual motion, not keeping their form for an instant. Now, however, they temporarily assume distinguishable shapes. Again, after a certain period, there occurs a time of rest; and then once more the Lords of Form continue[pg 145]their activity. But the conditions within the Sun evolution are now entirely changed. For the point has been reached when the Sun evolution has attained its zenith. This is the time at which the Lords of Personality, who attained their human stage on Saturn, ascend to a higher degree of perfection. They advance beyond the human stage; they attain a form of consciousness which contemporary man does not yet possess in his normal course of development on the earth. He will acquire it when the earth—the fourth of the planetary stages of evolution—has reached its goal and has entered upon the next planetary period. Then man will not only perceive around him what his present physical senses enable him to apprehend, but he will be able to see in images the inner psychic conditions of the beings surrounding him. He will have a (clairvoyant) picture-consciousness, although retaining complete self-consciousness. There will be nothing dream-like or vague in his clairvoyance, but he will perceive what is psychic, in pictures certainly, but in such a way that these images will be the expression of realities, as physical colours and sounds are now. Man, at present, can attain to this degree of clairvoyance only through occult training, which will be treated later in this book.Now this clairvoyance is attained by the Sons of Personality, as a gift of their normal evolution, midway in the Sun period; and it is just on this account that they become capable of acting on the newly formed etheric body of man during the Sun[pg 146]evolution, in a way similar to that in which they acted on the physical body on Saturn. Just as there the heat reflected their own personality back to them, so do the gaseous organisms now reflect back to them, in gleams of light, the images of their clairvoyant consciousness. They clairvoyantly behold what is taking place on the Sun. And this vision is by no means mere observation; it is as though something of the force which mortals call love made itself felt in the images which stream forth from the Sun. If a clairvoyant looks more closely, he will find the cause of this phenomenon. Exalted beings have blended their activity with the light that is being radiated from the Sun. They are the Lords of Love (the Christian Seraphim) already mentioned. Henceforth they act, together with the Sons of Personality, on the human etheric, or vital body. By means of that activity the etheric body advances a step farther along its path of evolution. It acquires the capacity not only of transforming the gaseous forms within it, but of so elaborating them that the first indications of a propagation of living human beings appear. Emanations, so to speak, are driven out (as though exuded) from the gaseous organisms that take on shapes resembling their mother-forms.In order to describe the further course of the Sun evolution, reference must be made to a fact in the formation of worlds which is of the greatest possible significance. It is this,—that by no means every being attains the goal of its evolution in the[pg 147]course of one epoch; there are some that fall short of that goal. Thus, during the Saturn evolution, not all of the Sons of Personality actually reached the human stage for which, as described above, they were destined; and just as little did all the physical human bodies, developed on Saturn, attain the degree of maturity which qualifies them to become vehicles of an independent etheric body on the Sun. The consequence is that beings and organisms are present on the Sun which are not in harmony with their environment. These must now make up, during the Sun evolution, for what they failed to attain on Saturn. The following may, therefore, be clairvoyantly observed during the Sun period. When the Lords of Wisdom begin their pouring in of the etheric body, the Sun body is to some extent darkened. Structures are mingled with it which, properly speaking, belong to Saturn. They are heat organisms which are not able to condense themselves into air in the proper manner. These are the human beings left behind in the Saturn stage. They are not able to become vehicles of a normally developed etheric body.Now the heat substance of Saturn, which has thus been left behind, splits into two parts on the Sun. One part is absorbed, as it were, by human bodies, and henceforward forms a kind of lower nature within man's being. Thus something, which really corresponds to the Saturn stage, is incorporated in the bodily part of man on the Sun. Now just as the Saturn body of man made it possible for the Sons[pg 148]of Personality to raise themselves to the human stage, the Saturn part of man performs the same office on the Sun for the Sons of Fire. They raise themselves to the human stage by letting their forces flow in and out of the Saturn part of man, as did the Sons of Personality on Saturn.This also happens during the middle period of the Sun evolution. The Saturn part of the human being is then so far matured that with its help the Sons of Fire (Archangeloi) are able to pass through their human stage. Another part of the Saturnian heat substance becomes detached and attains an independent existence alongside of and among the human beings on the Sun. This forms a second kingdom by the side of the human kingdom, a kingdom which develops on the Sun only a perfectly independent physical body, like a heat body. In consequence of this, the fully evolved Sons of Personality are not able to direct their activity toward any independent etheric body in the manner before described. But there were also certain Sons of Personality left behind at the Saturn stage who fell short of the human stage. A bond of attraction exists between them and the second Sun kingdom which has become independent. They must now act toward the backward kingdom on the Sun as their advanced brethren did on Saturn in regard to human beings. The latter had only their physical body perfected here. But there is no possibility on the Sun for such a work on the part of the backward Sons of Personality. They therefore separate themselves from the[pg 149]Sun body, and form an independent celestial body outside it. This body, accordingly, withdraws from the Sun, and from it the backward Sons of Personality act on the beings of the second Sun kingdom which have been described. In this way two world-organisms have been formed out of the one which was previously Saturn. The Sun has now in its environment a second celestial body, one which exhibits a kind of re-birth of Saturn, a new Saturn. From this Saturn the character of personality is conferred on the second Sun kingdom. Therefore within this kingdom we have to do with beings which have no personality on the Sun itself. Yet they reflect back to the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn the special personality of those spirits. Clairvoyant consciousness is able to observe among the human beings on the Sun, heat forces which act upon the regular course of Sun evolution, and in which the sway of the spirits described as belonging to the new Saturn is to be seen.We notice the following facts about man's being during the middle period of the Sun evolution. It is divided into a physical body and an etheric body. Within these the activity of the advanced Sons of Personality plays, conjointly with that of the Lords of Love. Now part of the backward Saturn nature is mingled with the physical body. In this plays the activity of the Sons of Fire. We now see in everything which the Sons of Fire effect on the backward Saturn nature, the forerunners of the present human sense-organs. It has been shown how these Sons[pg 150]of Fire were already at work on the elaboration of the sense-germs in the heat substance on Saturn. The first outline of the present human glands is to be recognized in what is accomplished by the Sons of Personality conjointly with the Lords of Love (Seraphim).But the above described is not the whole of the activity of the Sons of Personality dwelling on the new Saturn. They not only extend their activity to the second Sun kingdom mentioned above, but they also establish a kind of connection between that kingdom and the human senses. The heat substances of this kingdom flow in and out of the germs of the human sense-organs. By this means the human being on the Sun acquires a kind of perception of the lower kingdom situated outside him. That perception is naturally a dim one, closely corresponding to the dull Saturn-consciousness previously described. And it consists essentially of varied heat effects.Everything here described as taking place in the middle of the Sun evolution continues for a certain definite period. Then a time of rest again occurs. After that, things continue for a while in the same manner up to a certain point of evolution, at which the human etheric body is so far matured that a united action of the Sons of Life (Angeloi) and the Lords of Harmony (Cherubim) can set in. To clairvoyant consciousness, certain manifestations now appear within man's being, which may be compared with perceptions of taste, and which are[pg 151]made known externally as sounds. A similar thing has already been stated about the Saturn evolution. But here on the Sun the processes relating to human beings are more from within and are full of more independent life.The Sons of Life thereby acquire that dim picture-consciousness which the Sons of Fire had already attained on Saturn. In this the Lords of Harmony are their helpers. They really behold clairvoyantly what is now being enacted within the Sun evolution; only they give up all the results of that contemplation, and the enjoyment of those revelations of Wisdom that arise from it, and allow them to stream, like splendid visions of enchantment, into the dream-like consciousness of the Sons of Life. The latter again work these pictures of their visions into the etheric body of man, so that it attains higher and higher stages of development.Again an interval of rest ensues, again everything is awakened from“cosmic sleep”; and after further lapse of time the human being is sufficiently advanced to use its own forces. These forces are the same that were poured forth into man's being by the“Thrones”during the latter part of the Saturn period. This human being now evolves an inner life, which, in its manifestation to clairvoyant consciousness, may be compared with an inner perception of smell. But outside, in the direction of celestial space, man's being is manifested as a personality, though not one directed by an inner ego. It appears more like a plant with the character of a personality.[pg 152]It has been stated that at the end of the Saturn evolution personality is manifested somewhat machine like. And just as then, the first germ was developed of that which still remains a germ in contemporary man,—the Spirit-Man (Atma),—so at this point there is formed a similar first germ of the Life-Spirit (Budhi).When all this has continued for some time, an interval of rest again occurs. Following this, as in previous instances, the activity of the human being is resumed for a while. Then conditions commence, which mark a new intervention of the Lords of Wisdom. By its means human nature becomes capable of feeling the first traces of sympathy and antipathy for its environment. In all this there is still no real sensation but only a premonition of sensation. For the inner life-activity, which might be characterized in its manifestation as perception of smell, is revealed externally as a kind of primitive language. If the human being is inwardly conscious of a useful smell—or taste, or glitter,—it is manifested outwardly by a sound; and the same thing happens, in a corresponding way, with an inwardly uncongenial perception. Through all the events described, the real meaning of the Sun evolution for the human being is indicated. The human being has reached a higher stage of consciousness than that of the Saturn period. It is the consciousness of sleep.After a time, the point of evolution is also reached at which the higher beings connected with the Sun stage must pass into other spheres in order[pg 153]to work out that with which they have endowed themselves by their work on the human being. A long period of rest sets in, one similar to that between the Saturn and Sun evolutions. Everything that has been perfected on the Sun passes into a condition which may be compared with that of a plant when its powers of growth are resting in the seed. But just as those powers of growth appear again in a new plant, so does everything that was living on the Sun come forth again, after the period of rest, from the cosmic depths, to begin a new planetary existence.The meaning of such a term of rest, or“cosmic sleep,”will readily be understood if we will only direct our spiritual vision to one of the orders of beings already mentioned, for instance, to the Lords of Wisdom. They were not far enough evolved on Saturn to be able to ray forth an etheric body from themselves. They were only prepared for this after they had gone through their experiences on Saturn. During the rest (Pralaya) they transform into actual capacity what has been previously only prepared within them. Thus on the Sun they are evolved far enough to pour forth life from themselves, and to endow the human being with an etheric body of its own.After the interval of rest, that which had previously been the Sun comes forth again out of the“cosmic sleep.”That is, it again becomes perceptible to the clairvoyant faculties which had been able[pg 154]to observe it before, but had lost sight of it during the resting period. There are now two points to be observed with regard to the newly appearing planetary organism, which may, in occult science, be denoted the“Moon”(and this must not be confused with that portion of it which is now the earth's moon). In the first place, that which had detached itself during the Sun period as a“new Saturn”is once more within the new planetary body. This Saturn has therefore been again united with the Sun during the term of rest. Everything which was in the original Saturn reappears at first as one world-organism. Secondly, the human etheric bodies which had been formed on the Sun have been absorbed, during the resting period, by that which constitutes the spiritual sheath of the planet. At this point of time, therefore, they do not make their appearance united with the corresponding physical human bodies, but these latter at first appear separately. They contain everything which had been gained for them on Saturn and the Sun, but they are without the etheric, or vital body. Indeed, they cannot incorporate that etheric body within themselves immediately, for it has also been passing, during the period of rest, through an evolution with which they are not yet harmonized.What occurs at the beginning of the Moon evolution, in order to bring about this adjustment, is, first of all, another recapitulation of the Saturnian events. The physical part of man passes once more through the stages of the Saturn evolution, but[pg 155]under greatly altered circumstances. On Saturn there were only the forces of a heat body at work within him; now there are also those of the gas body that has been elaborated. These latter forces do not, however, appear quite at the beginning of the Moon evolution. Then everything appears as though man's being were composed only of heat substance, and as though the gas forces were lying dormant within that substance. Then comes a time when the first indications of these forces make their appearance; and lastly, in the latest period of the Saturn recapitulation, man's being has the same appearance as during the animated period of his Sun existence. Yet, all life still proves to be but a semblance of life.Next occurs a period of rest similar to the short periods of rest of the Sun evolution. Then the pouring in of the etheric body, for which the physical body has now become ripe, begins anew. As in the case of the recapitulation of Saturn, this influx takes place in three distinct periods. During the second of these, man's being is so far adjusted to the new Moon conditions that the Lords of Motion are able to bring into play the faculty they have acquired. This faculty consists in pouring the astral body out of their own being into man's being. They prepared themselves for this work during the Sun evolution, and during the time of rest between the Sun and Moon they transformed what had been prepared into the faculty alluded to. This influx lasts for a while, then one of the shorter intervals of rest sets in.[pg 156]After that the influx continues until the Lords of Form begin their activity. In consequence of this pouring of the astral body into the human being by the Lords of Motion, man acquires his first psychic qualities. He begins to develop sensations in connection with the processes which take place within, through the possession of an etheric body, and which during the Sun evolution were still of a plant-like nature; these processes now give him sensations of pleasure and displeasure. But it is nothing more than a constant inner ebb and flow of such pleasure and displeasure, until the Lords of Form intervene. Then these changing feelings are so transformed that there appear in man's being what may be regarded as the first signs of wish or desire. The human being strives after a repetition of what has once caused pleasure, and tries to avoid what has been felt as antipathetic. However, since the Lords of Form do not give up their own nature to the human being, but merely let their forces stream in and out, desire is wanting in depth of feeling and independence. It is directed by the Lords of Form, and has an instinctive character.The human physical body on Saturn was a heat body; on the Sun a condensation into the gaseous state, or into“air,”has taken place. Now, as during the Moon evolution, the astral element is rayed into the physical part, which at a definite moment attains a further degree of condensation and arrives at a state which may be compared with that of a liquid substance of today. In accordance with the usage[pg 157]of occult science this state may be called“water.”By water, is not meant only the water we now have, but this term applies to every liquid form in existence. The physical human body now gradually assumes a form composed of three kinds of material structures. The densest is a“water body”; through this flow air currents; and all of this again is permeated by manifestations of warmth.Now all the organisms do not attain full, adequate maturity during the Sun stage. Therefore there are organisms to be found on the Moon which are only at the Saturn stage, and others which have only reached the Sun stage. In this way two other kingdoms arise by the side of the normally evolved human kingdom. One consists of beings which have stopped short at the Saturn stage, and therefore have only a physical body, which even on the Moon is not yet able to become the vehicle of an independent etheric body. This is the lowest of the Moon kingdoms. A second consists of beings which have been left behind at the Sun stage, and which therefore do not mature sufficiently on the Moon to take on an independent astral body. These form a kingdom between the one just mentioned and the regularly developed human kingdom.But there is still something else taking place: The substances containing only heat forces and those containing only air forces, permeate these human beings. Thus it happens that the latter have within them on the Moon both a Saturnian and a solar nature. In this way a kind of cleavage has taken place[pg 158]in human nature; and by means of this cleavage, something very momentous is called forth within the Moon evolution after the activity of the Lords of Form has begun. The first evidences of a cleavage in the cosmic body of the Moon becomes then apparent. One part of its substances and beings separates from the other; two heavenly bodies are formed out of one. One of these becomes the abode of certain higher beings who were previously more closely connected with the undivided celestial body; while the other is occupied by human beings, the two lower kingdoms described above, and certain higher beings who did not pass over to the first celestial body.The first heavenly body, with the higher beings, appears like a reborn but refined Sun; the other is really the new formation, the“old Moon.”The regenerated Sun, on going out, takes with it only“heat”and“air”from the substances which have been formed on the Moon; on what is left as the Moon there is the liquid condition as well as the other two substances. As a result of this separation the beings which have withdrawn with the newborn Sun are not, in the first place, hampered in their further evolution by the denser Moon beings. Thus they are able to continue their own progress without hindrance. But thus they attain just that much more power to act now upon the Moon beings from their Sun. And they in turn also acquire thereby new possibilities of evolution. Most important of all, the Lords of Form are still in union with them.[pg 159]These accentuate the passions and the desire-nature, and this expresses itself gradually also in a further condensation of the physical human body. What was previously nothing but liquid in that body assumes a densely viscous form; and the air-like and heat-like formations are correspondingly condensed. Similar processes take place in the two lower kingdoms.The result of the separation of the Moon-body from the Sun-body is that the former bears the same relation to the latter as the Saturn-body once did to the whole cosmic evolution surrounding it. The Saturn-sphere was formed out of the body of the“Lords of Will”(the Thrones). From out its substance emanated back into cosmic space everything which the above-mentioned spiritual beings in the environment of Saturn experienced. And this radiation by degrees awakened independent life, by means of the subsequent processes. All evolution is due to the fact that independent beings differentiate themselves from their environment, then this environment like a reflection stamps itself upon those differentiated beings who then evolve further independently. The Moon-body, having likewise separated from the Sun-body, reflects at first the life of the latter. If nothing further had then happened, the following cosmic process would have taken place: There would have been a Sun-body in which spiritual beings adapted to that body would have lived through their experiences in the elements of heat and air.[pg 160]Set over against this Sun-body would have been a Moon-body, in which other beings of like nature with the Sun-beings would have undergone their experiences in the conditions of heat, air, and water. The progress from the Sun-incarnation to that of the Moon would have consisted in the Sun-beings seeing their own life, as in a reflection of the events on the Moon. They would have thus been able to enjoy it, something which they were still incapable of doing during the Sun incarnation. But evolution did not remain at this stage. Something occurred which was of the deepest significance for all future evolution. Certain beings adapted to the Moon-body, take possession of the element of will (the heritage of the Thrones) which was at their disposal, and by its means develop a life of their own, which takes shape independently of the Sun-life. Alongside of those Moon experiences which are entirely under the influence of the Sun, there arise independent Moon experiences, and, at the same time, states of rebellion or mutiny against the Sun-beings. And the various kingdoms which had arisen on the Sun and Moon, first and foremost of which was the kingdom of man's ancestors, are drawn into these conditions. In this way the Moon-body contains within it, spiritually and materially, two kinds of life: one that is in inner union with the Sun-life, and another which has“fallen away”from it and goes its own way independently. This division into a twofold life appears in all subsequent events of the Moon incarnation.[pg 161]What presents itself to clairvoyant consciousness in this period of evolution may be realized from the following pictures. The whole basic mass of the Moon is formed of a semi-animated substance which at one time moves sluggishly, at another quickly. This is not yet a mineral mass like the rocks and constituents of the earth upon which present day humanity walks. We might call it a kingdom of plant-minerals, only we have to imagine that the main body of the Moon consists wholly of this plant-mineral substance, as the earth today consists of rock, soil and other substances. Just as now we have towering masses of rock, so there were then harder portions embedded in the Moon's bulk; these may be compared with hard wooden structures or formations of horn; and as plants now arise out of mineral soil, so the surface of the Moon was covered and penetrated by the second kingdom, consisting of a kind of plant-animal. Their substance was softer than the general mass of the Moon, and more mobile. This kingdom extended over the other, like a viscous sea.Man himself at that time may be called animal-man. He had in his nature the component parts of the other two kingdoms; but his being was thoroughly interpenetrated by an etheric and an astral body, upon which the forces of higher beings worked, issuing from the severed Sun. His form was thus brought to greater perfection. While the Lords of Form were giving him a form which adapted him to Moon life, the Sun-Spirits were giving him[pg 162]a nature which lifted him beyond that life. He had the power of ennobling his own nature with the faculties given him by these Spirits,—in fact, of raising what was akin to the lower kingdoms to a higher level.Seen spiritually, the events now under consideration may be described in the following way. Man's ancestor had been brought to greater perfection by beings who had fallen away from the Sun kingdom. This improvement extended especially to everything that could be experienced in the element of water. Over that element the Sun-beings, who were rulers in the elements of heat and air, had less influence. The consequence of this was that in the organism of man's ancestor two kinds of beings manifested themselves. One part of the organism was wholly interpenetrated by the influences of the Sun-beings. In the other part, the rebellious Moon-beings were operative. Owing to this, the latter part was more independent than the former. In the former there could only arise states of consciousness in which the Sun-beings lived; in the latter there lived a kind of cosmic consciousness, such as was typical on Saturn, only now upon a higher level.Man's ancestor consequently felt himself to be an“image of the universe,”whereas his“Sun-part”felt itself to be only an“image of the Sun.”The two beings now came to a kind of conflict in man's nature. A settlement of this conflict was brought about by the influence of the Sun-beings, through which the material organism which made the independent[pg 163]universal consciousness possible, was rendered frail and perishable. From time to time this part of the organism had to be thrown off. During and also some time after the separation, man's ancestor was a being wholly dependent on the Sun influence. His consciousness became less independent; he lived within it, entirely surrendered to Sun-life. Then the independent portion of the Moon was once more renewed. After some time this process was repeated. Thus man's ancestor lived on the Moon in alternating conditions of clearer and duller consciousness; and the alternation was accompanied by a change of his being in a material respect. From time to time he laid aside his Moon-body and resumed it later. Seen physically, great variety appears in the kingdoms of the Moon above mentioned. The mineral-plants, plant-animals and animal-men are differentiated into groups. This will be understood when it is borne in mind that as a result of certain organisms having been left behind at each of the earlier stages of evolution, forms possessing most varied qualities took physical shape. There are formations still retaining the qualities of the early Saturn period, others showing those of the middle period and again others of the closing period of Saturn. A similar statement is true of all the stages of the Sun evolution.As organisms belonging to the evolving planet are left behind, so is it also with certain beings connected with that evolution. Through the progress of evolution up to the Moon period, different grades of[pg 164]such beings have already arisen. There are the Sons of Personality who not even on the Sun have attained their human stage; but there are also others who then caught up with evolving humanity. A number of the Sons of Fire, who should have attained humanity on the Sun, fell behind. Now, just as during the Sun evolution certain of the Sons of Personality withdrew from the Sun and caused the reappearance of Saturn as a separate body, so it also happens that in the course of the Moon evolution the beings described above separate and form individual celestial bodies. So far we have mentioned only the separation into Sun and Moon; but for the reasons already given, other world-organisms detached themselves from the Moon-body, which made its appearance after the great interval between the Sun and Moon.After a certain time we have a system of cosmic bodies the most advanced of which, as can easily be seen, must be called the New Sun. And just such a bond of attraction as was described above for the evolution as existing between the backward Saturn kingdom and the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn, is formed between each of these bodies and the corresponding Moon-beings. It would take us much too far to follow up in detail all the celestial bodies that come into existence. It must suffice to have pointed out the reason why a succession of them arises by degrees from the undivided world-organism which appears as Saturn at the beginning of human evolution.[pg 165]After the intervention of the Lords of Form, on the Moon, evolution proceeds for a while in the manner described. At the end of this time there is again a pause. While it lasts, the coarser portions of the three Moon kingdoms are in a sort of resting state, but the finer parts, in particular the human astral body, extricate themselves from those coarser organisms. They reach a condition in which the higher forces of exalted Sun-beings are able to act upon them very powerfully. After the interval of rest they again interpenetrate those parts of man's being which are composed of the coarser substances. Because they received such powerful forces during the pause—in a free state—they are able to make those coarser substances ripe for the influence, after a certain time, of the Sons of Personality and the Sons of Fire, who have progressed normally.In the meantime these Sons of Personality have raised themselves to a level upon which they possess the“consciousness of inspiration.”Here they are not only able—as was the case with clairvoyant picture-consciousness—to observe the inner state of other beings in images, but to apprehend the inner nature itself of those beings, as though in a spiritual tone-language. But the Sons of Fire have risen to that height of consciousness possessed on the Sun by the Sons of Personality. Thus both kinds of spirits are able to influence the now more developed life of the human being. The Sons of Personality act on the astral body, the Sons of Fire on the etheric body of this human being. The astral body thereby[pg 166]acquires the character of personality. It now not only experiences pleasure and pain, but relates them to itself. It has not arrived at a complete ego-consciousness, that says to itself,“I am here”; but it feels itself upheld and protected by other beings in its environment. When looking, as it were, up to these, it is able to say,“This, my environment, keeps me alive.”The Sons of Fire now work upon the etheric body. Under their influence the movement of forces in that body becomes more and more an inner function of life. What then results finds physical expression in a circulation of fluids and in phenomena of growth. The gaseous substances have become condensed into liquid substances; we may speak of a kind of nutritive process, in the sense that what is received from without becomes transformed and elaborated within. Perhaps if we think of something intermediate between nutrition and respiration in the present meaning of the terms, we may get an idea of what then happened in this respect. The nutritive matter was drawn from the animal-plant kingdom by the human being. We must think of those animal-plants as floating or swimming—or even lightly attached in an element surrounding them, as the lower animals of the present time live in water, or land animals in air. Yet the element is neither water nor air in the present sense, but something midway between the two, a kind of thick vapour in which most heterogeneous substances move hither and thither, as though dissolved in currents flowing in all directions.[pg 167]The animal-plants appear only as condensed regular forms of this element, often differing little physically from their environment. The process of respiration exists alongside of the process of nutrition. It is not as it is upon the earth, but like a drawing in and a streaming out of heat. To clairvoyant observation it is as though during those processes, organs opened and closed, through which a warming current passed in and out, and through which airy and watery substances were also carried in and out. And since man's nature at this stage of evolution already possesses an astral body, respiration and nutrition are accompanied by feelings, so that a sort of pleasure ensues when materials which promote the upbuilding of man's nature are taken in from without. Aversion is caused if injurious substances flow in, or even if they merely approach.Just as during the Moon evolution the respiratory and the nutritive processes were closely connected, as has been described, so was the process of perception in close connection with reproduction. No immediate effect was produced on any of the senses by the things and beings in the environment of Moon humanity. Perception was, on the contrary, of such a nature that the presence of things and beings called up pictures in the dull, dreamy consciousness. These pictures were much more closely connected with the real nature of the environment than the present sense-perceptions, which record[pg 168]in colour, sounds, smell etc., so to speak, only the outside of things and beings.In order to get a clearer idea of the human consciousness on the Moon, let us imagine human beings immersed in the vaporous environment described above. Most varied processes take place in this vapour-element. Materials unite, substances break asunder one from the other; some parts become condensed, others rarified. All this happens in such a way that human beings do not see or hear anything of it directly, but it calls up pictures in their consciousness. These may be compared with the images of our present dream-consciousness, as for instance when an object falls to the ground, and a sleeping man does not discern what has really happened but perceives it in the form of a picture; let us say he thinks that a shot has been fired. However, the pictures in the Moon-consciousness are not arbitrary, as is the case with such dream-pictures; although they are symbols, not representations, yet they correspond with outer events. A definite outer event can call up only one definite picture. The Moon-being is therefore in a position to regulate his conduct by means of these pictures, as present-day man does by means of his perceptions. We must nevertheless be careful to notice that conduct, regulated by perception, is governed by choice whereas action, under the influence of the pictures we have described, takes place as if prompted by some dim instinct.It is by no means as though only outer physical[pg 169]processes become perceptible through this picture-consciousness, but it is through the pictures that the spiritual beings, who rule behind the physical facts together with their activities, become likewise perceptible. Thus the Lords of Personality become visible, so to speak, in the phenomena of the animal-plant kingdom; the Sons of Fire appear behind and in the mineral-plant beings; and the Sons of Life appear as beings whom man is able to imagine unconnected with anything physical,—whom he sees, as it were, as etheric-psychic organisms.Though these pictures of the Moon-consciousness were not representations, only symbols of outer things, they nevertheless had a much more important effect on the inner nature of man than the images now caused by perception. They were able to set the whole inner being into motion and activity. The inner processes were moulded in conformity with them. They were genuine formative forces. Man's being became what those formative forces made it; it became, to a certain extent, a representation of the events of its consciousness.The further evolution progresses in this manner, the more it results in a deeply incisive change in man's being. The power issuing from the pictures in the consciousness gradually becomes unable to extend over the whole human bodily frame, which divides into two parts, or two natures. Members are formed subject to the shaping influence of the picture-consciousness, and they become to a great extent a copy of that life of imagination in the way[pg 170]just described. Other organs escape such an influence. They are, as it were, too dense, too much determined by other laws, to conform themselves to the picture-consciousness. These organs withdraw from the human influence; but they come under another, that of the exalted Sun-beings themselves. A period of rest, however, is first seen to precede this stage of evolution. During this pause, the Sun-Spirits are gathering force to influence the Moon-beings under quite new circumstances.After this term of rest, man's being is distinctly divided into two natures. One of these is withdrawn from the independent action of the picture-consciousness; it assumes a more definite form, and comes under the influence of forces which, though issuing from the Moon body, are only called forth there through the influence of the Sun-beings. This part of the human being shares more and more in the life which is stimulated by the Sun: the other part rises, like a kind of head, out of the first one. It is flexible, can move itself, and takes shape in conformity with the life of dull human consciousness. Yet the two parts are closely connected with each other; they send one another their vital fluids, and members extend from one into the other.An important harmony is now attained by the working out, during the time in which all this happened, of such a relation between the Sun and Moon as is in keeping with the aim of this evolution. It has already been intimated in a former passage how the advancing beings throughout their stages of evolution,[pg 171]shape their celestial bodies from out the general cosmic mass. They emanate, as it were, the forces which govern the aggregation of the substances. The Sun and Moon have thus separated from each other, as was necessary for the preparation of the right abodes for their respective beings. But this regulation of material and its forces by the spirit is carried very much farther. The beings themselves condition as well, certain movements of the heavenly bodies, and the definite revolutions of them around each other. In consequence, those bodies occupy changing positions with regard to each other. And if the position or situation of one body relative to another is altered, the effects of their respective inhabitants upon each other also change. So it is with the Sun and Moon. Through the movement of the Moon around the Sun, which by this time had come about, the human beings come alternately at one time more into the sphere of the Sun's influence, at another they are turned away from it and are then thrown back more on their own resources. The movement is a consequence of the“fall”of certain Moon-beings, as already described, and of the settlement of the conflict which was thereby brought about. It is the physical expression of the new relation of spiritual forces created by this falling away. As a consequence of the rotation of the one sphere round the other the beings inhabiting these heavenly bodies experience the alternating conditions of consciousness above described. We may put it thus, that the Moon alternately[pg 172]turns its life toward the Sun and away from it. There is a Sun time and a planetary time and during this latter, the Moon-beings develop on the side of the Moon which is turned away from the Sun.It is true however, that so far as the Moon is concerned, in addition to the movement of the celestial bodies, still something else must be considered. That is to say, clairvoyant consciousness, on looking back, can plainly see the Moon-beings wandering around their own planet, at quite regular periods of time. Thus at certain times they seek localities where they can give themselves up to the Sun influence; at other periods they wander to places where they are not subject to that influence, and where they can, as it were, reflect upon their own being.In order to complete the picture of these events, we must further notice that the Sons of Life attain their human stage during this period. Man's senses, the beginnings of which already existed on Saturn, cannot even yet, on the Moon, be used for his own perception of external objects. But at the Moon stage those senses become the instruments of the Sons of Life, who make use of them in order to perceive through them. These senses, belonging to the physical human body, enter thereby into reciprocal relations with the Sons of Life, by whom they are not only used but improved.Through the changing relations of the Sun, there appears now in the human being himself, as has been already indicated, a change in the conditions of life. Things so shape themselves that when the human[pg 173]being is dominated by the Sun influence, he devotes himself more to the Sun life and its phenomena than to himself. At such times he feels the greatness and glory of the universe; he, so to speak, absorbs them. Those very exalted beings who dwell on the Sun then influence the Moon, which again influences human beings. This influence, however, does not extend to the whole of man, but chiefly to those parts which have thrown off the influence of their own picture-consciousness. It is then that especially the physical and the etheric bodies attain a definite size and form. On the other hand, the phenomena of consciousness retire into the background. But when the human being is turned away from the Sun, it is occupied with its own nature; an inner activity begins, especially in the astral body while the outer form, on the contrary, becomes more insignificant, and less perfect in form.Thus during the Moon evolution there are two states of consciousness to be clearly distinguished, alternating with each other; duller during the Sun period and clearer during the time when life is left more to its own resources. The first state though duller, is on the other hand more unselfish; man then lives a life more devoted to the outer world, to the universe. It is an alternation of states of consciousness, which on one hand may be compared with the alternation of sleeping and waking in present day humanity, as well as with his life between birth and death, on the other hand with the more spiritual existence between death and a new birth. The[pg 174]awakening on the Moon, when the Sun period gradually ceases, might be described as something intermediate between the awakening of contemporary man each morning, and his being born. And in the same way the gradual dulling of consciousness at the approach of the Sun period resembles a condition midway between falling asleep and dying. For on the old Moon there was not yet such a consciousness of birth and death as man now possesses. Man gave himself up to the enjoyment of the universe in a kind of Sun life. During this period he was carried beyond his own life; he lived more spiritually. We can only attempt an approximate description, by way of comparison, of what man experienced during such times. He felt as though the forces of the universe were streaming into him, pulsing through him. He felt as though intoxicated with the harmonies of the universe which he thus experienced.As such times his astral body was as though set free from the physical body; also part of the etheric body went with it out of the physical body. This organism, consisting of the astral and etheric bodies, was like a delicate, wonderful musical instrument, from the strings of which the mysteries of the universe reverberated. And the members of that part of the human being on which consciousness had but slight influence were shaped in accordance with the harmonies of the universe. For the Sun-beings worked in those harmonies. Thus this part of man was given its form by the spiritual sounds of the universe; and at the same time the alternation between[pg 175]the clearer state of consciousness during the Sun period, and the duller one, was not so abrupt as was that between the waking state and that of absolutely dreamless sleep in contemporary man. The picture-consciousness was not so clear as the present waking consciousness; but on the other hand, the other consciousness was not so dull as the dreamless sleep of the present day.Thus the human being had a conception, even though dim, of the play of the cosmic harmonies in his physical body and in that part of his etheric body which had remained united with the physical body. During the time when, so to speak, the Sun did not shine on humanity, the picture-concepts replaced these harmonies in man's consciousness. There was then a revival particularly of those parts of the physical and etheric bodies which were under the immediate power of consciousness. On the other hand, other parts of the human being, now not exposed to the formative forces streaming from the Sun, underwent a kind of hardening and drying up process. When the Sun period again drew near, the old bodies decayed; they fell away from the human being, and as though from the grave of his old bodily form, the rejuvenated human being appeared, who even in this new form, was still uncomely.A renewal of the life-process had taken place. By the operation of the Sun-beings and their harmonies, the new-born body shaped itself again in its perfection, and the process described above was repeated. Man felt that renewal as if it were the putting on of[pg 176]new garments. The kernel of his being had not passed through an actual birth or death; it had only passed from a spiritual tone-consciousness, in which it was given over to the outer world, to one of a more inner nature. It had sloughed off its skin. The old body had become useless; it was thrown off and renewed. This then more clearly describes what has been characterized above as a kind of reproduction, and which as has been said, is closely connected with perception. Man's being has brought forth his likeness with respect to certain parts of the physical and etheric bodies. However a being totally different from the parent being does not come into existence, but the kernel of the parent-being passes over into the offspring. No new being arises, but the same one in a new form.Thus the Moon human being experiences a change of consciousness. When the Sun period draws near, his pictured images become dimmer and dimmer, and blissful devotion takes possession of him; the harmonies of the universe resound in his peaceful inner being. Toward the end of this time the images of the astral body begin to be animated; he begins to be more conscious of himself and able to experience sensation. Man experiences something like an awakening from the bliss and tranquility in which he was wrapped during the sun period.At the same time another important experience begins. With this new clearing up of the picture-consciousness the human being sees himself as[pg 177]though enveloped in a cloud, which has descended upon him like a being from the cosmos.And he feels that being as something belonging to him, as a completion of his own nature; he feels it as that which gives him existence, as his“ego.”That being is one of the Sons of Life. Man feels toward him somewhat like this:“I have lived in this being, even when I was given up to the glory of the universe in the Sun period,—only then he was not visible to me; now he is.”And it is also this Son of Life from whom proceeds the force which, during the Sunless period, acts upon the body of man. Then when the Sun period again approaches, man feels as though he himself became one with the Son of Life. Even if man does not see him, he nevertheless feels closely united with him.Now the connection with the Sons of Life was such that not every individual human being had a Son of Life to himself, but an entire group of people felt such a being belonging to them. Thus people on the Moon lived segregated into groups, and each group felt in one of the Sons of Life its common“group-ego.”The etheric body of each particular group had a specific form, in this way these groups differed from each other. But as the physical bodies shaped themselves in conformity with the etheric bodies, the differences of the latter were also stamped upon the former; and the individual groups of human beings appeared as so many species of people. As the Sons of Life looked down on the human groups belonging to them, they saw themselves to a certain extent reproduced[pg 178]in manifold individual human beings. And therein they felt their own egohood. They, so to speak, mirrored themselves in man. This was indeed the mission of the human senses at that time. It has already been shown that the senses did not as yet transmit objective perceptions. But they reflected the nature of the Sons of Life. What those Sons of Life perceived through reflection, gave them their“ego-consciousness.”What was aroused in the human astral body by this reflection was the dull dim pictures of the Moon-consciousness. By thus acting conjointly and reciprocally with the Sons of Life, the human beings laid the foundations of the nervous system within their physical bodies. The nerves appear, one might say, as continuations of the senses, directed inwardly into the human body.It is evident, from this description, in what manner the three kinds of Spirits, those of Personality, of Fire, and of Life, act upon Moon-humanity. If we look back upon the most important, namely the middle period of the Moon evolution, we may say that the Sons of Personality are at that time implanting in the human astral body independence and the character of personality. It is owing to this fact that man can turn his attention inwards and work upon himself during those times when the Sun is not shining upon him.The Sons of Fire act upon the etheric body in so far as the independent formation of the human being becomes imprinted upon it. Through their means it comes to pass that human beings are again[pg 179]conscious of themselves, as such, every time the body is renewed. Thus a kind of memory is bestowed on the etheric body through the Sons of Fire.The Sons of Life act on the physical body in such a way that it is able to become the expression of the astral body which has now become independent. They thus make it possible for the physical body to become a physiognomic copy of its astral body. On the other hand, higher spiritual beings, in particular the Lords of Form and of Motion, reach down into the physical and etheric bodies, as far as these are developing during the Sun periods, regardless of the independent astral body. Their intervention comes from the Sun, in the manner described above.Under the influence of such facts, the human being gradually matures to a point where it can develop within itself the germ of the Spirit-Self just as during the second half of the Saturn evolution it developed the germ of the Spirit-Man and on the Sun that of the Life-Spirit. Thereby all the Moon conditions are changed. Human beings have not only become more noble and refined through successive transformations and renewals, but they have also gained in power. For this reason the picture-consciousness was more and more maintained during the Sun periods. It also gained influence in the formation of the physical and etheric bodies, which hitherto had been formed entirely by the action of the Sun-beings.What took place on the Moon through human beings and the Spirits connected with them became[pg 180]more and more like that which had formerly been effected by the Sun with its higher beings. The consequence was that those Sun-beings were able more and more to concentrate their forces on their own evolution. By this means the Moon became, after a time, mature enough to be again re-united with the Sun. To spiritual vision, these occurrences take place as follows: The“rebellious Moon-beings”had been gradually overcome by the Sun-beings and compelled to submit to them in such a manner, that their activities became a part of and subordinate to the activities of the Sun-beings. It is true that this happened only after the lapse of long ages during which the Moon periods had become shorter and shorter, and the Sun periods longer and longer. Now there again comes an evolution during which the Sun and Moon form one world-organism. By this time the physical human body has become quite etheric.When it is said that the physical body has become etheric, it must not be imagined that under such circumstances there is no existing physical body. What was formed as a physical body during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods, still exists. It is important to recognize the physical element even where it is not externally and physically manifested. It may also be present in such a way that it shows outwardly an etheric or even an astral form. We must distinguish between the outward appearance and the inner law. What is physical may become etheric and astral, at the same time retain in itself[pg 181]the physical law. That is the case when the physical body of man has attained a certain degree of perfection on the Moon. It becomes etheric in form.But when clairvoyant observation, which can perceive such things, is directed toward an etheric body of this kind, that body is seen to be ruled by physical, not etheric, laws. The physical element has in this case been taken into the etheric world, there to rest and to be nurtured as though in a mother's tender care. Later it again emerges in a physical form, but at a higher stage. If Moon-humanity had kept its physical body in its coarse physical form, the Moon would never have been able to unite itself with the Sun. By accepting the etheric form, the physical body becomes more closely related to the etheric body, and by this means can again be more closely interpenetrated with those parts of the etheric and astral bodies which had been forced to withdraw from it during the Sun periods of the Moon evolution. Man, who appeared as a being with a two-fold nature during the separation of Sun and Moon, again becomes an undivided being. The physical becomes more psychic. Therefore the psychic also becomes more closely connected with the physical.Now the Sun-Spirits, into whose immediate sphere this undivided human being has entered, are able to act upon it in quite a different manner from their previous influence from without on the Moon. Man is now in a more psycho-spiritual environment. Owing to this, the Lords of Wisdom are able to effect something momentous. They imbue and inspire him[pg 182]with wisdom. He thereby becomes in a certain sense an independent soul. And to the influence of these beings is added that of the Lords of Motion. They act principally on the astral body, so that under their influence it produces psychic activity, and an etheric body filled with wisdom. The latter is the foundation of that which has been described above as the rational or intellectual soul in contemporary man, whereas the astral body, inspired by the Lords of Motion, is the germ of the sentient soul. And because all this is effected in man's being in his progressed condition of independence, these germs of the rational and sentient soul appear as the expression of the Spirit-Self. In this connection the mistake must not be made of thinking that at this period of evolution the Spirit-Self was something separate from the intellectual and sentient souls. The latter are only the expression of the Spirit-Self, which signifies their higher unity and harmony.It is especially significant that the Lords of Wisdom intervene at this period in the manner described. For they do this not only with regard to humanity but also for the benefit of the other kingdoms which have been elaborated on the Moon. Upon the reunion of Sun and Moon these lower kingdoms are drawn into the Sun sphere. Everything in them which was physical becomes etheric. There are, therefore, minela-plants and plant-animals now in the Sun, just as there is humanity there. But those other creatures are still endowed with their own laws of being. They therefore feel like strangers in[pg 183]their environment. They came upon the scene with a nature but little in harmony with their surroundings. But as they have become etheric, the activity of the Lords of Wisdom may also extend to them. Everything which has come from the Moon into the Sun now becomes pervaded with the forces of the Lords of Wisdom. Hence what is developed out of the Sun-Moon organism during this period of evolution may be called in occult science the“Cosmos of Wisdom.”When, therefore, after an interval of rest, our Earth system appears as the successor of this Cosmos of Wisdom, all the beings newly emerging on the earth, developing out of their Moon-germs, prove to be filled with wisdom. And this is the reason why earthly man when contemplating the things around him, is able to discover the wisdom concealed in their inner nature. The wisdom in each leaf of a plant, in every bone in animal and man, in the marvelous structure of the brain and heart, fills us with admiration. If man requires wisdom to understand things, and therefore gathers wisdom from them, this shows that there is wisdom in the things themselves. For however much man might have striven to understand things by means of wise perceptions, he could not draw wisdom from them unless it had first been put into them. He who tries by means of wisdom to understand things, assuming at the same time that wisdom had not first been concealed within them, may just as reasonably believe that he can empty water out of a glass into[pg 184]which it has not first been poured. As will be shown later in this book, the Earth is the“old Moon”risen again. And it appears as an organism full of wisdom, because it was permeated by the Lords of Wisdom and their forces during the epoch that has been described.It will easily be understood that this description of the Moon condition could take account only of certain temporary forms of evolution. It was necessary to pause at certain things in the progress of events, and single them out for delineation. It is true that this kind of description gives only isolated pictures, and it may be deplored for this reason, that in the foregoing account the evolutionary scheme was not brought down to a system of precise and definite concepts. But in the face of such an objection it may be well to point out that the description was intentionally given in less clearly defined outlines. For it is not of so much consequence here to give speculative ideas and to construct theories as to represent what really passes before the spiritual eyes of clairvoyant consciousness, when looking back upon these events. With regard to the Moon evolution this cannot be done in such sharp and definite outlines as are characteristic of earthly perceptions. In the Moon period we are mainly concerned with variable, changing impressions, with shifting, moving pictures and their transitory stages. We have, moreover, to bear in mind that we are contemplating an evolution continuing through long, long periods of time, and that[pg 185]out of all that presents itself, it is possible to seize upon only momentary pictures and fix them for delineation.The Moon period actually reached its highest point at the time when the astral body, implanted in man, had brought him so far along the evolutionary path that his physical body afforded the Sons of Life the possibility of attaining their human stage. Man had then attained all that this epoch could give him for himself, for his inner nature on the upward path. The following, or second half of the Moon evolution may therefore be termed the“ebb-tide,”or wane. But even during this ebb-tide one sees a most important thing taking place with regard to man's environment, and even with regard to himself. It is now that wisdom is implanted in the Sun-Moon body. It has been shown that during the ebb-tide the germs of the intellectual and sentient souls are implanted. But the development of these, as well as of the consciousness-soul and with it the birth of the“Ego”—the free self consciousness—does not ensue until the Earth period.At the Moon stage the intellectual- and sentient-souls have as yet no appearance of being used by human beings as a means of expression; they appear rather as instruments of those Sons of Life who belong to humanity. Were we to describe the feeling of the human dweller on the Moon in this respect, we should have to say that he experiences the following:“The Son of Life lives in and through me; he surveys through me the[pg 186]environment of the Moon; in me he reflects upon the things and beings of that environment.”The Moon human being feels himself overshadowed by the Son of Life, and looks upon himself as the instrument of that higher being. During the time of the separation of Sun and Moon he felt a greater measure of independence when the Sun was turned away from him; but at the same time he also felt as though the ego belonging to him, which had disappeared from the picture-consciousness during the Sun period, now became visible. It was, for Moon-humanity, what may be described as a change in the states of consciousness, so that the Moon-being had this feeling:“In the Sun period my ego wafts me away into higher regions, into the presence of exalted beings, and when the Sun disappears it descends with me into lower worlds.”The actual Moon evolution was preceded by a preparatory stage. In a certain way the Saturn and Sun evolutions were recapitulated. Now, after the reunion of Sun and Moon, during what we have termed the ebb-tide, two epochs may be distinguished one from the other. In the course of these, even physical condensation occurs to a certain degree. Therefore psycho-spiritual conditions of the Sun-Moon organism alternate with others of a more physical nature. In such physical epochs human beings and those of the lower kingdoms appear as though they were preparing, in stiff not yet self-reliant forms, the type of what they were to become in a more independent manner during the[pg 187]Earth period. We may therefore speak of two preparatory epochs in the Moon evolution, and of two others during the ebb-tide. In occult science such epochs may be termed cycles.20In that period which follows the two preparatory epochs, and precedes those of the ebb-tide—that is to say, during the time of the separation of the Moon—three epochs can again be distinguished. The middle period is the time when the Sons of Life reached the human level. It is preceded by a period in which all conditions lead up to that crowning event; and it is followed by one which may be called a time of adaptation and of perfecting the new creations.

The second of the great periods of evolution that have been mentioned, the“Sun period,”effects the raising of man's being to a higher stage of consciousness than that which it had attained on Saturn. Compared with man's present state of consciousness, the Sun condition might certainly be[pg 141]termed“unconsciousness.”For it is approximately that condition which contemporary man experiences during absolutely dreamless sleep. Or it might be compared to the low degree of consciousness in which our vegetable world now slumbers. For occult science there is no such thing as unconsciousness, but only different degrees of consciousness. Everything in the world is conscious.

In the course of the Sun evolution, the human being attains a higher degree of consciousness through the incorporation within it of the etheric, or vital body. Before this can take place the Saturn conditions must be recapitulated in the manner described above. This recapitulation has quite a definite meaning. That is to say, when the period of rest which was spoken of in the foregoing statement has come to an end, that which was formerly Saturn issues forth, out of“cosmic sleep,”as a new celestial body, the Sun. But the conditions of evolution have meanwhile changed. The spiritual beings, whose activity on behalf of Saturn we have portrayed, have progressed onward into different conditions. Yet at first the human germ appears on the newly formed Sun in the form it possessed on Saturn. It has first of all so to transform the various stages of evolution through which it has passed on Saturn that they may suit the new conditions on the Sun. Consequently, the sun epoch begins with a recapitulation of the occurrences on Saturn, adjusted to the changed conditions of Sun life. Now when the human being has advanced so far that the stage of[pg 142]evolution it reached on Saturn has been adapted to the Sun conditions, the Lords of Wisdom already mentioned, begin to let the etheric, or vital body, pour into the physical body. The higher stage which man reaches on the Sun may therefore be characterized in this way: the physical body, already formed in the germ-state on Saturn, is raised to a second stage of perfection by becoming the vehicle of an etheric or vital body. This last-named etheric body attains its first degree of perfection on its own account during the Sun evolution. In order, however, that the second degree of perfection for the physical and the first for the etheric body may be reached, the intervention of still other spirit-beings is necessary during the further course of the Sun life, in a similar manner to that which has been described as taking place during the Saturn stage.

When the Lords of Wisdom begin to stream forth their etheric body, the Sun, previously dark, begins to shine. At the same time the first appearances of inner activity are seen in the human germ; life has begun. What had to be described as a semblance of life on Saturn now becomes actual life. The influx lasts for a certain time, at the end of which an important change for the human germ sets in—that is to say, it organizes itself into two parts. Whereas up to this point the physical and etheric bodies formed an intimately connected whole, the physical body now begins to detach itself as a separate part. Yet even that separated physical body is still pervaded by the etheric body. Therefore we[pg 143]have now to do with a human being composed of two principles. One portion is a physical body permeated by an etheric body; the other is an etheric body and nothing else. This separation comes to pass, however, during a period of rest in the Sun life. During this pause the shining, which had begun to appear, dies away. The separation takes place during a“cosmic night,”as it were. Yet this interval of rest is much shorter than the one between the Saturn and Sun evolutions mentioned above. At the expiration of the rest period the Lords of Wisdom work for a while on the two-fold being of man, just as they had previously done on the undivided being. Then the Lords of Motion begin their activity. They cause their own astral body to stream through the human etheric body. By this means man acquires the capacity for executing certain inner movements in the physical body. These movements may be compared with those of sap in a plant of our own time.

The Saturn body consisted exclusively of heat substance. During the Sun evolution that heat substance is condensed into a state which may be compared with that of our present-day gas or steam. In occult science“air”is the name ordinarily used for this condition. The first beginnings of such a state are seen after the Lords of Motion have begun their activity. The following spectacle is presented to clairvoyant consciousness. Within the heat substance there appears something like delicate formations which are set in rythmic motion by the forces[pg 144]of the etheric body. These formations represent the human physical body at the stage of evolution now attained by it. They are permeated through and through with heat, and are also wrapped, as it were, in a heat envelope. From a physical point of view, man's nature may now be said to be composed of heat structures with air forms embedded in them—the latter in regular motion. Hence, if we wish to retain the foregoing comparison with a plant of the present day, we must remember that it is not a solid plant organism which we have to consider, but an air or gas form,19the movements of which may be compared with the circulation of the sap in plants of to-day.

The evolution thus indicated continues. After a certain time another interval of rest sets in; after this the Lords of Motion go on working until their activity is supplemented by that of the Lords of Form. The effect of the latter is that the gas structures, which before were constantly changing, now assume lasting form. This, too, happens because the Lords of Form cause their forces to flow in and out of the human etheric body. When the Lords of Motion alone were acting on the gaseous organisms, these were in perpetual motion, not keeping their form for an instant. Now, however, they temporarily assume distinguishable shapes. Again, after a certain period, there occurs a time of rest; and then once more the Lords of Form continue[pg 145]their activity. But the conditions within the Sun evolution are now entirely changed. For the point has been reached when the Sun evolution has attained its zenith. This is the time at which the Lords of Personality, who attained their human stage on Saturn, ascend to a higher degree of perfection. They advance beyond the human stage; they attain a form of consciousness which contemporary man does not yet possess in his normal course of development on the earth. He will acquire it when the earth—the fourth of the planetary stages of evolution—has reached its goal and has entered upon the next planetary period. Then man will not only perceive around him what his present physical senses enable him to apprehend, but he will be able to see in images the inner psychic conditions of the beings surrounding him. He will have a (clairvoyant) picture-consciousness, although retaining complete self-consciousness. There will be nothing dream-like or vague in his clairvoyance, but he will perceive what is psychic, in pictures certainly, but in such a way that these images will be the expression of realities, as physical colours and sounds are now. Man, at present, can attain to this degree of clairvoyance only through occult training, which will be treated later in this book.

Now this clairvoyance is attained by the Sons of Personality, as a gift of their normal evolution, midway in the Sun period; and it is just on this account that they become capable of acting on the newly formed etheric body of man during the Sun[pg 146]evolution, in a way similar to that in which they acted on the physical body on Saturn. Just as there the heat reflected their own personality back to them, so do the gaseous organisms now reflect back to them, in gleams of light, the images of their clairvoyant consciousness. They clairvoyantly behold what is taking place on the Sun. And this vision is by no means mere observation; it is as though something of the force which mortals call love made itself felt in the images which stream forth from the Sun. If a clairvoyant looks more closely, he will find the cause of this phenomenon. Exalted beings have blended their activity with the light that is being radiated from the Sun. They are the Lords of Love (the Christian Seraphim) already mentioned. Henceforth they act, together with the Sons of Personality, on the human etheric, or vital body. By means of that activity the etheric body advances a step farther along its path of evolution. It acquires the capacity not only of transforming the gaseous forms within it, but of so elaborating them that the first indications of a propagation of living human beings appear. Emanations, so to speak, are driven out (as though exuded) from the gaseous organisms that take on shapes resembling their mother-forms.

In order to describe the further course of the Sun evolution, reference must be made to a fact in the formation of worlds which is of the greatest possible significance. It is this,—that by no means every being attains the goal of its evolution in the[pg 147]course of one epoch; there are some that fall short of that goal. Thus, during the Saturn evolution, not all of the Sons of Personality actually reached the human stage for which, as described above, they were destined; and just as little did all the physical human bodies, developed on Saturn, attain the degree of maturity which qualifies them to become vehicles of an independent etheric body on the Sun. The consequence is that beings and organisms are present on the Sun which are not in harmony with their environment. These must now make up, during the Sun evolution, for what they failed to attain on Saturn. The following may, therefore, be clairvoyantly observed during the Sun period. When the Lords of Wisdom begin their pouring in of the etheric body, the Sun body is to some extent darkened. Structures are mingled with it which, properly speaking, belong to Saturn. They are heat organisms which are not able to condense themselves into air in the proper manner. These are the human beings left behind in the Saturn stage. They are not able to become vehicles of a normally developed etheric body.

Now the heat substance of Saturn, which has thus been left behind, splits into two parts on the Sun. One part is absorbed, as it were, by human bodies, and henceforward forms a kind of lower nature within man's being. Thus something, which really corresponds to the Saturn stage, is incorporated in the bodily part of man on the Sun. Now just as the Saturn body of man made it possible for the Sons[pg 148]of Personality to raise themselves to the human stage, the Saturn part of man performs the same office on the Sun for the Sons of Fire. They raise themselves to the human stage by letting their forces flow in and out of the Saturn part of man, as did the Sons of Personality on Saturn.

This also happens during the middle period of the Sun evolution. The Saturn part of the human being is then so far matured that with its help the Sons of Fire (Archangeloi) are able to pass through their human stage. Another part of the Saturnian heat substance becomes detached and attains an independent existence alongside of and among the human beings on the Sun. This forms a second kingdom by the side of the human kingdom, a kingdom which develops on the Sun only a perfectly independent physical body, like a heat body. In consequence of this, the fully evolved Sons of Personality are not able to direct their activity toward any independent etheric body in the manner before described. But there were also certain Sons of Personality left behind at the Saturn stage who fell short of the human stage. A bond of attraction exists between them and the second Sun kingdom which has become independent. They must now act toward the backward kingdom on the Sun as their advanced brethren did on Saturn in regard to human beings. The latter had only their physical body perfected here. But there is no possibility on the Sun for such a work on the part of the backward Sons of Personality. They therefore separate themselves from the[pg 149]Sun body, and form an independent celestial body outside it. This body, accordingly, withdraws from the Sun, and from it the backward Sons of Personality act on the beings of the second Sun kingdom which have been described. In this way two world-organisms have been formed out of the one which was previously Saturn. The Sun has now in its environment a second celestial body, one which exhibits a kind of re-birth of Saturn, a new Saturn. From this Saturn the character of personality is conferred on the second Sun kingdom. Therefore within this kingdom we have to do with beings which have no personality on the Sun itself. Yet they reflect back to the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn the special personality of those spirits. Clairvoyant consciousness is able to observe among the human beings on the Sun, heat forces which act upon the regular course of Sun evolution, and in which the sway of the spirits described as belonging to the new Saturn is to be seen.

We notice the following facts about man's being during the middle period of the Sun evolution. It is divided into a physical body and an etheric body. Within these the activity of the advanced Sons of Personality plays, conjointly with that of the Lords of Love. Now part of the backward Saturn nature is mingled with the physical body. In this plays the activity of the Sons of Fire. We now see in everything which the Sons of Fire effect on the backward Saturn nature, the forerunners of the present human sense-organs. It has been shown how these Sons[pg 150]of Fire were already at work on the elaboration of the sense-germs in the heat substance on Saturn. The first outline of the present human glands is to be recognized in what is accomplished by the Sons of Personality conjointly with the Lords of Love (Seraphim).

But the above described is not the whole of the activity of the Sons of Personality dwelling on the new Saturn. They not only extend their activity to the second Sun kingdom mentioned above, but they also establish a kind of connection between that kingdom and the human senses. The heat substances of this kingdom flow in and out of the germs of the human sense-organs. By this means the human being on the Sun acquires a kind of perception of the lower kingdom situated outside him. That perception is naturally a dim one, closely corresponding to the dull Saturn-consciousness previously described. And it consists essentially of varied heat effects.

Everything here described as taking place in the middle of the Sun evolution continues for a certain definite period. Then a time of rest again occurs. After that, things continue for a while in the same manner up to a certain point of evolution, at which the human etheric body is so far matured that a united action of the Sons of Life (Angeloi) and the Lords of Harmony (Cherubim) can set in. To clairvoyant consciousness, certain manifestations now appear within man's being, which may be compared with perceptions of taste, and which are[pg 151]made known externally as sounds. A similar thing has already been stated about the Saturn evolution. But here on the Sun the processes relating to human beings are more from within and are full of more independent life.

The Sons of Life thereby acquire that dim picture-consciousness which the Sons of Fire had already attained on Saturn. In this the Lords of Harmony are their helpers. They really behold clairvoyantly what is now being enacted within the Sun evolution; only they give up all the results of that contemplation, and the enjoyment of those revelations of Wisdom that arise from it, and allow them to stream, like splendid visions of enchantment, into the dream-like consciousness of the Sons of Life. The latter again work these pictures of their visions into the etheric body of man, so that it attains higher and higher stages of development.

Again an interval of rest ensues, again everything is awakened from“cosmic sleep”; and after further lapse of time the human being is sufficiently advanced to use its own forces. These forces are the same that were poured forth into man's being by the“Thrones”during the latter part of the Saturn period. This human being now evolves an inner life, which, in its manifestation to clairvoyant consciousness, may be compared with an inner perception of smell. But outside, in the direction of celestial space, man's being is manifested as a personality, though not one directed by an inner ego. It appears more like a plant with the character of a personality.[pg 152]It has been stated that at the end of the Saturn evolution personality is manifested somewhat machine like. And just as then, the first germ was developed of that which still remains a germ in contemporary man,—the Spirit-Man (Atma),—so at this point there is formed a similar first germ of the Life-Spirit (Budhi).

When all this has continued for some time, an interval of rest again occurs. Following this, as in previous instances, the activity of the human being is resumed for a while. Then conditions commence, which mark a new intervention of the Lords of Wisdom. By its means human nature becomes capable of feeling the first traces of sympathy and antipathy for its environment. In all this there is still no real sensation but only a premonition of sensation. For the inner life-activity, which might be characterized in its manifestation as perception of smell, is revealed externally as a kind of primitive language. If the human being is inwardly conscious of a useful smell—or taste, or glitter,—it is manifested outwardly by a sound; and the same thing happens, in a corresponding way, with an inwardly uncongenial perception. Through all the events described, the real meaning of the Sun evolution for the human being is indicated. The human being has reached a higher stage of consciousness than that of the Saturn period. It is the consciousness of sleep.

After a time, the point of evolution is also reached at which the higher beings connected with the Sun stage must pass into other spheres in order[pg 153]to work out that with which they have endowed themselves by their work on the human being. A long period of rest sets in, one similar to that between the Saturn and Sun evolutions. Everything that has been perfected on the Sun passes into a condition which may be compared with that of a plant when its powers of growth are resting in the seed. But just as those powers of growth appear again in a new plant, so does everything that was living on the Sun come forth again, after the period of rest, from the cosmic depths, to begin a new planetary existence.

The meaning of such a term of rest, or“cosmic sleep,”will readily be understood if we will only direct our spiritual vision to one of the orders of beings already mentioned, for instance, to the Lords of Wisdom. They were not far enough evolved on Saturn to be able to ray forth an etheric body from themselves. They were only prepared for this after they had gone through their experiences on Saturn. During the rest (Pralaya) they transform into actual capacity what has been previously only prepared within them. Thus on the Sun they are evolved far enough to pour forth life from themselves, and to endow the human being with an etheric body of its own.

After the interval of rest, that which had previously been the Sun comes forth again out of the“cosmic sleep.”That is, it again becomes perceptible to the clairvoyant faculties which had been able[pg 154]to observe it before, but had lost sight of it during the resting period. There are now two points to be observed with regard to the newly appearing planetary organism, which may, in occult science, be denoted the“Moon”(and this must not be confused with that portion of it which is now the earth's moon). In the first place, that which had detached itself during the Sun period as a“new Saturn”is once more within the new planetary body. This Saturn has therefore been again united with the Sun during the term of rest. Everything which was in the original Saturn reappears at first as one world-organism. Secondly, the human etheric bodies which had been formed on the Sun have been absorbed, during the resting period, by that which constitutes the spiritual sheath of the planet. At this point of time, therefore, they do not make their appearance united with the corresponding physical human bodies, but these latter at first appear separately. They contain everything which had been gained for them on Saturn and the Sun, but they are without the etheric, or vital body. Indeed, they cannot incorporate that etheric body within themselves immediately, for it has also been passing, during the period of rest, through an evolution with which they are not yet harmonized.

What occurs at the beginning of the Moon evolution, in order to bring about this adjustment, is, first of all, another recapitulation of the Saturnian events. The physical part of man passes once more through the stages of the Saturn evolution, but[pg 155]under greatly altered circumstances. On Saturn there were only the forces of a heat body at work within him; now there are also those of the gas body that has been elaborated. These latter forces do not, however, appear quite at the beginning of the Moon evolution. Then everything appears as though man's being were composed only of heat substance, and as though the gas forces were lying dormant within that substance. Then comes a time when the first indications of these forces make their appearance; and lastly, in the latest period of the Saturn recapitulation, man's being has the same appearance as during the animated period of his Sun existence. Yet, all life still proves to be but a semblance of life.

Next occurs a period of rest similar to the short periods of rest of the Sun evolution. Then the pouring in of the etheric body, for which the physical body has now become ripe, begins anew. As in the case of the recapitulation of Saturn, this influx takes place in three distinct periods. During the second of these, man's being is so far adjusted to the new Moon conditions that the Lords of Motion are able to bring into play the faculty they have acquired. This faculty consists in pouring the astral body out of their own being into man's being. They prepared themselves for this work during the Sun evolution, and during the time of rest between the Sun and Moon they transformed what had been prepared into the faculty alluded to. This influx lasts for a while, then one of the shorter intervals of rest sets in.[pg 156]After that the influx continues until the Lords of Form begin their activity. In consequence of this pouring of the astral body into the human being by the Lords of Motion, man acquires his first psychic qualities. He begins to develop sensations in connection with the processes which take place within, through the possession of an etheric body, and which during the Sun evolution were still of a plant-like nature; these processes now give him sensations of pleasure and displeasure. But it is nothing more than a constant inner ebb and flow of such pleasure and displeasure, until the Lords of Form intervene. Then these changing feelings are so transformed that there appear in man's being what may be regarded as the first signs of wish or desire. The human being strives after a repetition of what has once caused pleasure, and tries to avoid what has been felt as antipathetic. However, since the Lords of Form do not give up their own nature to the human being, but merely let their forces stream in and out, desire is wanting in depth of feeling and independence. It is directed by the Lords of Form, and has an instinctive character.

The human physical body on Saturn was a heat body; on the Sun a condensation into the gaseous state, or into“air,”has taken place. Now, as during the Moon evolution, the astral element is rayed into the physical part, which at a definite moment attains a further degree of condensation and arrives at a state which may be compared with that of a liquid substance of today. In accordance with the usage[pg 157]of occult science this state may be called“water.”By water, is not meant only the water we now have, but this term applies to every liquid form in existence. The physical human body now gradually assumes a form composed of three kinds of material structures. The densest is a“water body”; through this flow air currents; and all of this again is permeated by manifestations of warmth.

Now all the organisms do not attain full, adequate maturity during the Sun stage. Therefore there are organisms to be found on the Moon which are only at the Saturn stage, and others which have only reached the Sun stage. In this way two other kingdoms arise by the side of the normally evolved human kingdom. One consists of beings which have stopped short at the Saturn stage, and therefore have only a physical body, which even on the Moon is not yet able to become the vehicle of an independent etheric body. This is the lowest of the Moon kingdoms. A second consists of beings which have been left behind at the Sun stage, and which therefore do not mature sufficiently on the Moon to take on an independent astral body. These form a kingdom between the one just mentioned and the regularly developed human kingdom.

But there is still something else taking place: The substances containing only heat forces and those containing only air forces, permeate these human beings. Thus it happens that the latter have within them on the Moon both a Saturnian and a solar nature. In this way a kind of cleavage has taken place[pg 158]in human nature; and by means of this cleavage, something very momentous is called forth within the Moon evolution after the activity of the Lords of Form has begun. The first evidences of a cleavage in the cosmic body of the Moon becomes then apparent. One part of its substances and beings separates from the other; two heavenly bodies are formed out of one. One of these becomes the abode of certain higher beings who were previously more closely connected with the undivided celestial body; while the other is occupied by human beings, the two lower kingdoms described above, and certain higher beings who did not pass over to the first celestial body.

The first heavenly body, with the higher beings, appears like a reborn but refined Sun; the other is really the new formation, the“old Moon.”The regenerated Sun, on going out, takes with it only“heat”and“air”from the substances which have been formed on the Moon; on what is left as the Moon there is the liquid condition as well as the other two substances. As a result of this separation the beings which have withdrawn with the newborn Sun are not, in the first place, hampered in their further evolution by the denser Moon beings. Thus they are able to continue their own progress without hindrance. But thus they attain just that much more power to act now upon the Moon beings from their Sun. And they in turn also acquire thereby new possibilities of evolution. Most important of all, the Lords of Form are still in union with them.[pg 159]These accentuate the passions and the desire-nature, and this expresses itself gradually also in a further condensation of the physical human body. What was previously nothing but liquid in that body assumes a densely viscous form; and the air-like and heat-like formations are correspondingly condensed. Similar processes take place in the two lower kingdoms.

The result of the separation of the Moon-body from the Sun-body is that the former bears the same relation to the latter as the Saturn-body once did to the whole cosmic evolution surrounding it. The Saturn-sphere was formed out of the body of the“Lords of Will”(the Thrones). From out its substance emanated back into cosmic space everything which the above-mentioned spiritual beings in the environment of Saturn experienced. And this radiation by degrees awakened independent life, by means of the subsequent processes. All evolution is due to the fact that independent beings differentiate themselves from their environment, then this environment like a reflection stamps itself upon those differentiated beings who then evolve further independently. The Moon-body, having likewise separated from the Sun-body, reflects at first the life of the latter. If nothing further had then happened, the following cosmic process would have taken place: There would have been a Sun-body in which spiritual beings adapted to that body would have lived through their experiences in the elements of heat and air.

Set over against this Sun-body would have been a Moon-body, in which other beings of like nature with the Sun-beings would have undergone their experiences in the conditions of heat, air, and water. The progress from the Sun-incarnation to that of the Moon would have consisted in the Sun-beings seeing their own life, as in a reflection of the events on the Moon. They would have thus been able to enjoy it, something which they were still incapable of doing during the Sun incarnation. But evolution did not remain at this stage. Something occurred which was of the deepest significance for all future evolution. Certain beings adapted to the Moon-body, take possession of the element of will (the heritage of the Thrones) which was at their disposal, and by its means develop a life of their own, which takes shape independently of the Sun-life. Alongside of those Moon experiences which are entirely under the influence of the Sun, there arise independent Moon experiences, and, at the same time, states of rebellion or mutiny against the Sun-beings. And the various kingdoms which had arisen on the Sun and Moon, first and foremost of which was the kingdom of man's ancestors, are drawn into these conditions. In this way the Moon-body contains within it, spiritually and materially, two kinds of life: one that is in inner union with the Sun-life, and another which has“fallen away”from it and goes its own way independently. This division into a twofold life appears in all subsequent events of the Moon incarnation.

What presents itself to clairvoyant consciousness in this period of evolution may be realized from the following pictures. The whole basic mass of the Moon is formed of a semi-animated substance which at one time moves sluggishly, at another quickly. This is not yet a mineral mass like the rocks and constituents of the earth upon which present day humanity walks. We might call it a kingdom of plant-minerals, only we have to imagine that the main body of the Moon consists wholly of this plant-mineral substance, as the earth today consists of rock, soil and other substances. Just as now we have towering masses of rock, so there were then harder portions embedded in the Moon's bulk; these may be compared with hard wooden structures or formations of horn; and as plants now arise out of mineral soil, so the surface of the Moon was covered and penetrated by the second kingdom, consisting of a kind of plant-animal. Their substance was softer than the general mass of the Moon, and more mobile. This kingdom extended over the other, like a viscous sea.

Man himself at that time may be called animal-man. He had in his nature the component parts of the other two kingdoms; but his being was thoroughly interpenetrated by an etheric and an astral body, upon which the forces of higher beings worked, issuing from the severed Sun. His form was thus brought to greater perfection. While the Lords of Form were giving him a form which adapted him to Moon life, the Sun-Spirits were giving him[pg 162]a nature which lifted him beyond that life. He had the power of ennobling his own nature with the faculties given him by these Spirits,—in fact, of raising what was akin to the lower kingdoms to a higher level.

Seen spiritually, the events now under consideration may be described in the following way. Man's ancestor had been brought to greater perfection by beings who had fallen away from the Sun kingdom. This improvement extended especially to everything that could be experienced in the element of water. Over that element the Sun-beings, who were rulers in the elements of heat and air, had less influence. The consequence of this was that in the organism of man's ancestor two kinds of beings manifested themselves. One part of the organism was wholly interpenetrated by the influences of the Sun-beings. In the other part, the rebellious Moon-beings were operative. Owing to this, the latter part was more independent than the former. In the former there could only arise states of consciousness in which the Sun-beings lived; in the latter there lived a kind of cosmic consciousness, such as was typical on Saturn, only now upon a higher level.

Man's ancestor consequently felt himself to be an“image of the universe,”whereas his“Sun-part”felt itself to be only an“image of the Sun.”The two beings now came to a kind of conflict in man's nature. A settlement of this conflict was brought about by the influence of the Sun-beings, through which the material organism which made the independent[pg 163]universal consciousness possible, was rendered frail and perishable. From time to time this part of the organism had to be thrown off. During and also some time after the separation, man's ancestor was a being wholly dependent on the Sun influence. His consciousness became less independent; he lived within it, entirely surrendered to Sun-life. Then the independent portion of the Moon was once more renewed. After some time this process was repeated. Thus man's ancestor lived on the Moon in alternating conditions of clearer and duller consciousness; and the alternation was accompanied by a change of his being in a material respect. From time to time he laid aside his Moon-body and resumed it later. Seen physically, great variety appears in the kingdoms of the Moon above mentioned. The mineral-plants, plant-animals and animal-men are differentiated into groups. This will be understood when it is borne in mind that as a result of certain organisms having been left behind at each of the earlier stages of evolution, forms possessing most varied qualities took physical shape. There are formations still retaining the qualities of the early Saturn period, others showing those of the middle period and again others of the closing period of Saturn. A similar statement is true of all the stages of the Sun evolution.

As organisms belonging to the evolving planet are left behind, so is it also with certain beings connected with that evolution. Through the progress of evolution up to the Moon period, different grades of[pg 164]such beings have already arisen. There are the Sons of Personality who not even on the Sun have attained their human stage; but there are also others who then caught up with evolving humanity. A number of the Sons of Fire, who should have attained humanity on the Sun, fell behind. Now, just as during the Sun evolution certain of the Sons of Personality withdrew from the Sun and caused the reappearance of Saturn as a separate body, so it also happens that in the course of the Moon evolution the beings described above separate and form individual celestial bodies. So far we have mentioned only the separation into Sun and Moon; but for the reasons already given, other world-organisms detached themselves from the Moon-body, which made its appearance after the great interval between the Sun and Moon.

After a certain time we have a system of cosmic bodies the most advanced of which, as can easily be seen, must be called the New Sun. And just such a bond of attraction as was described above for the evolution as existing between the backward Saturn kingdom and the Sons of Personality on the new Saturn, is formed between each of these bodies and the corresponding Moon-beings. It would take us much too far to follow up in detail all the celestial bodies that come into existence. It must suffice to have pointed out the reason why a succession of them arises by degrees from the undivided world-organism which appears as Saturn at the beginning of human evolution.

After the intervention of the Lords of Form, on the Moon, evolution proceeds for a while in the manner described. At the end of this time there is again a pause. While it lasts, the coarser portions of the three Moon kingdoms are in a sort of resting state, but the finer parts, in particular the human astral body, extricate themselves from those coarser organisms. They reach a condition in which the higher forces of exalted Sun-beings are able to act upon them very powerfully. After the interval of rest they again interpenetrate those parts of man's being which are composed of the coarser substances. Because they received such powerful forces during the pause—in a free state—they are able to make those coarser substances ripe for the influence, after a certain time, of the Sons of Personality and the Sons of Fire, who have progressed normally.

In the meantime these Sons of Personality have raised themselves to a level upon which they possess the“consciousness of inspiration.”Here they are not only able—as was the case with clairvoyant picture-consciousness—to observe the inner state of other beings in images, but to apprehend the inner nature itself of those beings, as though in a spiritual tone-language. But the Sons of Fire have risen to that height of consciousness possessed on the Sun by the Sons of Personality. Thus both kinds of spirits are able to influence the now more developed life of the human being. The Sons of Personality act on the astral body, the Sons of Fire on the etheric body of this human being. The astral body thereby[pg 166]acquires the character of personality. It now not only experiences pleasure and pain, but relates them to itself. It has not arrived at a complete ego-consciousness, that says to itself,“I am here”; but it feels itself upheld and protected by other beings in its environment. When looking, as it were, up to these, it is able to say,“This, my environment, keeps me alive.”

The Sons of Fire now work upon the etheric body. Under their influence the movement of forces in that body becomes more and more an inner function of life. What then results finds physical expression in a circulation of fluids and in phenomena of growth. The gaseous substances have become condensed into liquid substances; we may speak of a kind of nutritive process, in the sense that what is received from without becomes transformed and elaborated within. Perhaps if we think of something intermediate between nutrition and respiration in the present meaning of the terms, we may get an idea of what then happened in this respect. The nutritive matter was drawn from the animal-plant kingdom by the human being. We must think of those animal-plants as floating or swimming—or even lightly attached in an element surrounding them, as the lower animals of the present time live in water, or land animals in air. Yet the element is neither water nor air in the present sense, but something midway between the two, a kind of thick vapour in which most heterogeneous substances move hither and thither, as though dissolved in currents flowing in all directions.

The animal-plants appear only as condensed regular forms of this element, often differing little physically from their environment. The process of respiration exists alongside of the process of nutrition. It is not as it is upon the earth, but like a drawing in and a streaming out of heat. To clairvoyant observation it is as though during those processes, organs opened and closed, through which a warming current passed in and out, and through which airy and watery substances were also carried in and out. And since man's nature at this stage of evolution already possesses an astral body, respiration and nutrition are accompanied by feelings, so that a sort of pleasure ensues when materials which promote the upbuilding of man's nature are taken in from without. Aversion is caused if injurious substances flow in, or even if they merely approach.

Just as during the Moon evolution the respiratory and the nutritive processes were closely connected, as has been described, so was the process of perception in close connection with reproduction. No immediate effect was produced on any of the senses by the things and beings in the environment of Moon humanity. Perception was, on the contrary, of such a nature that the presence of things and beings called up pictures in the dull, dreamy consciousness. These pictures were much more closely connected with the real nature of the environment than the present sense-perceptions, which record[pg 168]in colour, sounds, smell etc., so to speak, only the outside of things and beings.

In order to get a clearer idea of the human consciousness on the Moon, let us imagine human beings immersed in the vaporous environment described above. Most varied processes take place in this vapour-element. Materials unite, substances break asunder one from the other; some parts become condensed, others rarified. All this happens in such a way that human beings do not see or hear anything of it directly, but it calls up pictures in their consciousness. These may be compared with the images of our present dream-consciousness, as for instance when an object falls to the ground, and a sleeping man does not discern what has really happened but perceives it in the form of a picture; let us say he thinks that a shot has been fired. However, the pictures in the Moon-consciousness are not arbitrary, as is the case with such dream-pictures; although they are symbols, not representations, yet they correspond with outer events. A definite outer event can call up only one definite picture. The Moon-being is therefore in a position to regulate his conduct by means of these pictures, as present-day man does by means of his perceptions. We must nevertheless be careful to notice that conduct, regulated by perception, is governed by choice whereas action, under the influence of the pictures we have described, takes place as if prompted by some dim instinct.

It is by no means as though only outer physical[pg 169]processes become perceptible through this picture-consciousness, but it is through the pictures that the spiritual beings, who rule behind the physical facts together with their activities, become likewise perceptible. Thus the Lords of Personality become visible, so to speak, in the phenomena of the animal-plant kingdom; the Sons of Fire appear behind and in the mineral-plant beings; and the Sons of Life appear as beings whom man is able to imagine unconnected with anything physical,—whom he sees, as it were, as etheric-psychic organisms.

Though these pictures of the Moon-consciousness were not representations, only symbols of outer things, they nevertheless had a much more important effect on the inner nature of man than the images now caused by perception. They were able to set the whole inner being into motion and activity. The inner processes were moulded in conformity with them. They were genuine formative forces. Man's being became what those formative forces made it; it became, to a certain extent, a representation of the events of its consciousness.

The further evolution progresses in this manner, the more it results in a deeply incisive change in man's being. The power issuing from the pictures in the consciousness gradually becomes unable to extend over the whole human bodily frame, which divides into two parts, or two natures. Members are formed subject to the shaping influence of the picture-consciousness, and they become to a great extent a copy of that life of imagination in the way[pg 170]just described. Other organs escape such an influence. They are, as it were, too dense, too much determined by other laws, to conform themselves to the picture-consciousness. These organs withdraw from the human influence; but they come under another, that of the exalted Sun-beings themselves. A period of rest, however, is first seen to precede this stage of evolution. During this pause, the Sun-Spirits are gathering force to influence the Moon-beings under quite new circumstances.

After this term of rest, man's being is distinctly divided into two natures. One of these is withdrawn from the independent action of the picture-consciousness; it assumes a more definite form, and comes under the influence of forces which, though issuing from the Moon body, are only called forth there through the influence of the Sun-beings. This part of the human being shares more and more in the life which is stimulated by the Sun: the other part rises, like a kind of head, out of the first one. It is flexible, can move itself, and takes shape in conformity with the life of dull human consciousness. Yet the two parts are closely connected with each other; they send one another their vital fluids, and members extend from one into the other.

An important harmony is now attained by the working out, during the time in which all this happened, of such a relation between the Sun and Moon as is in keeping with the aim of this evolution. It has already been intimated in a former passage how the advancing beings throughout their stages of evolution,[pg 171]shape their celestial bodies from out the general cosmic mass. They emanate, as it were, the forces which govern the aggregation of the substances. The Sun and Moon have thus separated from each other, as was necessary for the preparation of the right abodes for their respective beings. But this regulation of material and its forces by the spirit is carried very much farther. The beings themselves condition as well, certain movements of the heavenly bodies, and the definite revolutions of them around each other. In consequence, those bodies occupy changing positions with regard to each other. And if the position or situation of one body relative to another is altered, the effects of their respective inhabitants upon each other also change. So it is with the Sun and Moon. Through the movement of the Moon around the Sun, which by this time had come about, the human beings come alternately at one time more into the sphere of the Sun's influence, at another they are turned away from it and are then thrown back more on their own resources. The movement is a consequence of the“fall”of certain Moon-beings, as already described, and of the settlement of the conflict which was thereby brought about. It is the physical expression of the new relation of spiritual forces created by this falling away. As a consequence of the rotation of the one sphere round the other the beings inhabiting these heavenly bodies experience the alternating conditions of consciousness above described. We may put it thus, that the Moon alternately[pg 172]turns its life toward the Sun and away from it. There is a Sun time and a planetary time and during this latter, the Moon-beings develop on the side of the Moon which is turned away from the Sun.

It is true however, that so far as the Moon is concerned, in addition to the movement of the celestial bodies, still something else must be considered. That is to say, clairvoyant consciousness, on looking back, can plainly see the Moon-beings wandering around their own planet, at quite regular periods of time. Thus at certain times they seek localities where they can give themselves up to the Sun influence; at other periods they wander to places where they are not subject to that influence, and where they can, as it were, reflect upon their own being.

In order to complete the picture of these events, we must further notice that the Sons of Life attain their human stage during this period. Man's senses, the beginnings of which already existed on Saturn, cannot even yet, on the Moon, be used for his own perception of external objects. But at the Moon stage those senses become the instruments of the Sons of Life, who make use of them in order to perceive through them. These senses, belonging to the physical human body, enter thereby into reciprocal relations with the Sons of Life, by whom they are not only used but improved.

Through the changing relations of the Sun, there appears now in the human being himself, as has been already indicated, a change in the conditions of life. Things so shape themselves that when the human[pg 173]being is dominated by the Sun influence, he devotes himself more to the Sun life and its phenomena than to himself. At such times he feels the greatness and glory of the universe; he, so to speak, absorbs them. Those very exalted beings who dwell on the Sun then influence the Moon, which again influences human beings. This influence, however, does not extend to the whole of man, but chiefly to those parts which have thrown off the influence of their own picture-consciousness. It is then that especially the physical and the etheric bodies attain a definite size and form. On the other hand, the phenomena of consciousness retire into the background. But when the human being is turned away from the Sun, it is occupied with its own nature; an inner activity begins, especially in the astral body while the outer form, on the contrary, becomes more insignificant, and less perfect in form.

Thus during the Moon evolution there are two states of consciousness to be clearly distinguished, alternating with each other; duller during the Sun period and clearer during the time when life is left more to its own resources. The first state though duller, is on the other hand more unselfish; man then lives a life more devoted to the outer world, to the universe. It is an alternation of states of consciousness, which on one hand may be compared with the alternation of sleeping and waking in present day humanity, as well as with his life between birth and death, on the other hand with the more spiritual existence between death and a new birth. The[pg 174]awakening on the Moon, when the Sun period gradually ceases, might be described as something intermediate between the awakening of contemporary man each morning, and his being born. And in the same way the gradual dulling of consciousness at the approach of the Sun period resembles a condition midway between falling asleep and dying. For on the old Moon there was not yet such a consciousness of birth and death as man now possesses. Man gave himself up to the enjoyment of the universe in a kind of Sun life. During this period he was carried beyond his own life; he lived more spiritually. We can only attempt an approximate description, by way of comparison, of what man experienced during such times. He felt as though the forces of the universe were streaming into him, pulsing through him. He felt as though intoxicated with the harmonies of the universe which he thus experienced.

As such times his astral body was as though set free from the physical body; also part of the etheric body went with it out of the physical body. This organism, consisting of the astral and etheric bodies, was like a delicate, wonderful musical instrument, from the strings of which the mysteries of the universe reverberated. And the members of that part of the human being on which consciousness had but slight influence were shaped in accordance with the harmonies of the universe. For the Sun-beings worked in those harmonies. Thus this part of man was given its form by the spiritual sounds of the universe; and at the same time the alternation between[pg 175]the clearer state of consciousness during the Sun period, and the duller one, was not so abrupt as was that between the waking state and that of absolutely dreamless sleep in contemporary man. The picture-consciousness was not so clear as the present waking consciousness; but on the other hand, the other consciousness was not so dull as the dreamless sleep of the present day.

Thus the human being had a conception, even though dim, of the play of the cosmic harmonies in his physical body and in that part of his etheric body which had remained united with the physical body. During the time when, so to speak, the Sun did not shine on humanity, the picture-concepts replaced these harmonies in man's consciousness. There was then a revival particularly of those parts of the physical and etheric bodies which were under the immediate power of consciousness. On the other hand, other parts of the human being, now not exposed to the formative forces streaming from the Sun, underwent a kind of hardening and drying up process. When the Sun period again drew near, the old bodies decayed; they fell away from the human being, and as though from the grave of his old bodily form, the rejuvenated human being appeared, who even in this new form, was still uncomely.

A renewal of the life-process had taken place. By the operation of the Sun-beings and their harmonies, the new-born body shaped itself again in its perfection, and the process described above was repeated. Man felt that renewal as if it were the putting on of[pg 176]new garments. The kernel of his being had not passed through an actual birth or death; it had only passed from a spiritual tone-consciousness, in which it was given over to the outer world, to one of a more inner nature. It had sloughed off its skin. The old body had become useless; it was thrown off and renewed. This then more clearly describes what has been characterized above as a kind of reproduction, and which as has been said, is closely connected with perception. Man's being has brought forth his likeness with respect to certain parts of the physical and etheric bodies. However a being totally different from the parent being does not come into existence, but the kernel of the parent-being passes over into the offspring. No new being arises, but the same one in a new form.

Thus the Moon human being experiences a change of consciousness. When the Sun period draws near, his pictured images become dimmer and dimmer, and blissful devotion takes possession of him; the harmonies of the universe resound in his peaceful inner being. Toward the end of this time the images of the astral body begin to be animated; he begins to be more conscious of himself and able to experience sensation. Man experiences something like an awakening from the bliss and tranquility in which he was wrapped during the sun period.

At the same time another important experience begins. With this new clearing up of the picture-consciousness the human being sees himself as[pg 177]though enveloped in a cloud, which has descended upon him like a being from the cosmos.

And he feels that being as something belonging to him, as a completion of his own nature; he feels it as that which gives him existence, as his“ego.”That being is one of the Sons of Life. Man feels toward him somewhat like this:“I have lived in this being, even when I was given up to the glory of the universe in the Sun period,—only then he was not visible to me; now he is.”And it is also this Son of Life from whom proceeds the force which, during the Sunless period, acts upon the body of man. Then when the Sun period again approaches, man feels as though he himself became one with the Son of Life. Even if man does not see him, he nevertheless feels closely united with him.

Now the connection with the Sons of Life was such that not every individual human being had a Son of Life to himself, but an entire group of people felt such a being belonging to them. Thus people on the Moon lived segregated into groups, and each group felt in one of the Sons of Life its common“group-ego.”The etheric body of each particular group had a specific form, in this way these groups differed from each other. But as the physical bodies shaped themselves in conformity with the etheric bodies, the differences of the latter were also stamped upon the former; and the individual groups of human beings appeared as so many species of people. As the Sons of Life looked down on the human groups belonging to them, they saw themselves to a certain extent reproduced[pg 178]in manifold individual human beings. And therein they felt their own egohood. They, so to speak, mirrored themselves in man. This was indeed the mission of the human senses at that time. It has already been shown that the senses did not as yet transmit objective perceptions. But they reflected the nature of the Sons of Life. What those Sons of Life perceived through reflection, gave them their“ego-consciousness.”What was aroused in the human astral body by this reflection was the dull dim pictures of the Moon-consciousness. By thus acting conjointly and reciprocally with the Sons of Life, the human beings laid the foundations of the nervous system within their physical bodies. The nerves appear, one might say, as continuations of the senses, directed inwardly into the human body.

It is evident, from this description, in what manner the three kinds of Spirits, those of Personality, of Fire, and of Life, act upon Moon-humanity. If we look back upon the most important, namely the middle period of the Moon evolution, we may say that the Sons of Personality are at that time implanting in the human astral body independence and the character of personality. It is owing to this fact that man can turn his attention inwards and work upon himself during those times when the Sun is not shining upon him.

The Sons of Fire act upon the etheric body in so far as the independent formation of the human being becomes imprinted upon it. Through their means it comes to pass that human beings are again[pg 179]conscious of themselves, as such, every time the body is renewed. Thus a kind of memory is bestowed on the etheric body through the Sons of Fire.

The Sons of Life act on the physical body in such a way that it is able to become the expression of the astral body which has now become independent. They thus make it possible for the physical body to become a physiognomic copy of its astral body. On the other hand, higher spiritual beings, in particular the Lords of Form and of Motion, reach down into the physical and etheric bodies, as far as these are developing during the Sun periods, regardless of the independent astral body. Their intervention comes from the Sun, in the manner described above.

Under the influence of such facts, the human being gradually matures to a point where it can develop within itself the germ of the Spirit-Self just as during the second half of the Saturn evolution it developed the germ of the Spirit-Man and on the Sun that of the Life-Spirit. Thereby all the Moon conditions are changed. Human beings have not only become more noble and refined through successive transformations and renewals, but they have also gained in power. For this reason the picture-consciousness was more and more maintained during the Sun periods. It also gained influence in the formation of the physical and etheric bodies, which hitherto had been formed entirely by the action of the Sun-beings.

What took place on the Moon through human beings and the Spirits connected with them became[pg 180]more and more like that which had formerly been effected by the Sun with its higher beings. The consequence was that those Sun-beings were able more and more to concentrate their forces on their own evolution. By this means the Moon became, after a time, mature enough to be again re-united with the Sun. To spiritual vision, these occurrences take place as follows: The“rebellious Moon-beings”had been gradually overcome by the Sun-beings and compelled to submit to them in such a manner, that their activities became a part of and subordinate to the activities of the Sun-beings. It is true that this happened only after the lapse of long ages during which the Moon periods had become shorter and shorter, and the Sun periods longer and longer. Now there again comes an evolution during which the Sun and Moon form one world-organism. By this time the physical human body has become quite etheric.

When it is said that the physical body has become etheric, it must not be imagined that under such circumstances there is no existing physical body. What was formed as a physical body during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods, still exists. It is important to recognize the physical element even where it is not externally and physically manifested. It may also be present in such a way that it shows outwardly an etheric or even an astral form. We must distinguish between the outward appearance and the inner law. What is physical may become etheric and astral, at the same time retain in itself[pg 181]the physical law. That is the case when the physical body of man has attained a certain degree of perfection on the Moon. It becomes etheric in form.

But when clairvoyant observation, which can perceive such things, is directed toward an etheric body of this kind, that body is seen to be ruled by physical, not etheric, laws. The physical element has in this case been taken into the etheric world, there to rest and to be nurtured as though in a mother's tender care. Later it again emerges in a physical form, but at a higher stage. If Moon-humanity had kept its physical body in its coarse physical form, the Moon would never have been able to unite itself with the Sun. By accepting the etheric form, the physical body becomes more closely related to the etheric body, and by this means can again be more closely interpenetrated with those parts of the etheric and astral bodies which had been forced to withdraw from it during the Sun periods of the Moon evolution. Man, who appeared as a being with a two-fold nature during the separation of Sun and Moon, again becomes an undivided being. The physical becomes more psychic. Therefore the psychic also becomes more closely connected with the physical.

Now the Sun-Spirits, into whose immediate sphere this undivided human being has entered, are able to act upon it in quite a different manner from their previous influence from without on the Moon. Man is now in a more psycho-spiritual environment. Owing to this, the Lords of Wisdom are able to effect something momentous. They imbue and inspire him[pg 182]with wisdom. He thereby becomes in a certain sense an independent soul. And to the influence of these beings is added that of the Lords of Motion. They act principally on the astral body, so that under their influence it produces psychic activity, and an etheric body filled with wisdom. The latter is the foundation of that which has been described above as the rational or intellectual soul in contemporary man, whereas the astral body, inspired by the Lords of Motion, is the germ of the sentient soul. And because all this is effected in man's being in his progressed condition of independence, these germs of the rational and sentient soul appear as the expression of the Spirit-Self. In this connection the mistake must not be made of thinking that at this period of evolution the Spirit-Self was something separate from the intellectual and sentient souls. The latter are only the expression of the Spirit-Self, which signifies their higher unity and harmony.

It is especially significant that the Lords of Wisdom intervene at this period in the manner described. For they do this not only with regard to humanity but also for the benefit of the other kingdoms which have been elaborated on the Moon. Upon the reunion of Sun and Moon these lower kingdoms are drawn into the Sun sphere. Everything in them which was physical becomes etheric. There are, therefore, minela-plants and plant-animals now in the Sun, just as there is humanity there. But those other creatures are still endowed with their own laws of being. They therefore feel like strangers in[pg 183]their environment. They came upon the scene with a nature but little in harmony with their surroundings. But as they have become etheric, the activity of the Lords of Wisdom may also extend to them. Everything which has come from the Moon into the Sun now becomes pervaded with the forces of the Lords of Wisdom. Hence what is developed out of the Sun-Moon organism during this period of evolution may be called in occult science the“Cosmos of Wisdom.”

When, therefore, after an interval of rest, our Earth system appears as the successor of this Cosmos of Wisdom, all the beings newly emerging on the earth, developing out of their Moon-germs, prove to be filled with wisdom. And this is the reason why earthly man when contemplating the things around him, is able to discover the wisdom concealed in their inner nature. The wisdom in each leaf of a plant, in every bone in animal and man, in the marvelous structure of the brain and heart, fills us with admiration. If man requires wisdom to understand things, and therefore gathers wisdom from them, this shows that there is wisdom in the things themselves. For however much man might have striven to understand things by means of wise perceptions, he could not draw wisdom from them unless it had first been put into them. He who tries by means of wisdom to understand things, assuming at the same time that wisdom had not first been concealed within them, may just as reasonably believe that he can empty water out of a glass into[pg 184]which it has not first been poured. As will be shown later in this book, the Earth is the“old Moon”risen again. And it appears as an organism full of wisdom, because it was permeated by the Lords of Wisdom and their forces during the epoch that has been described.

It will easily be understood that this description of the Moon condition could take account only of certain temporary forms of evolution. It was necessary to pause at certain things in the progress of events, and single them out for delineation. It is true that this kind of description gives only isolated pictures, and it may be deplored for this reason, that in the foregoing account the evolutionary scheme was not brought down to a system of precise and definite concepts. But in the face of such an objection it may be well to point out that the description was intentionally given in less clearly defined outlines. For it is not of so much consequence here to give speculative ideas and to construct theories as to represent what really passes before the spiritual eyes of clairvoyant consciousness, when looking back upon these events. With regard to the Moon evolution this cannot be done in such sharp and definite outlines as are characteristic of earthly perceptions. In the Moon period we are mainly concerned with variable, changing impressions, with shifting, moving pictures and their transitory stages. We have, moreover, to bear in mind that we are contemplating an evolution continuing through long, long periods of time, and that[pg 185]out of all that presents itself, it is possible to seize upon only momentary pictures and fix them for delineation.

The Moon period actually reached its highest point at the time when the astral body, implanted in man, had brought him so far along the evolutionary path that his physical body afforded the Sons of Life the possibility of attaining their human stage. Man had then attained all that this epoch could give him for himself, for his inner nature on the upward path. The following, or second half of the Moon evolution may therefore be termed the“ebb-tide,”or wane. But even during this ebb-tide one sees a most important thing taking place with regard to man's environment, and even with regard to himself. It is now that wisdom is implanted in the Sun-Moon body. It has been shown that during the ebb-tide the germs of the intellectual and sentient souls are implanted. But the development of these, as well as of the consciousness-soul and with it the birth of the“Ego”—the free self consciousness—does not ensue until the Earth period.

At the Moon stage the intellectual- and sentient-souls have as yet no appearance of being used by human beings as a means of expression; they appear rather as instruments of those Sons of Life who belong to humanity. Were we to describe the feeling of the human dweller on the Moon in this respect, we should have to say that he experiences the following:“The Son of Life lives in and through me; he surveys through me the[pg 186]environment of the Moon; in me he reflects upon the things and beings of that environment.”The Moon human being feels himself overshadowed by the Son of Life, and looks upon himself as the instrument of that higher being. During the time of the separation of Sun and Moon he felt a greater measure of independence when the Sun was turned away from him; but at the same time he also felt as though the ego belonging to him, which had disappeared from the picture-consciousness during the Sun period, now became visible. It was, for Moon-humanity, what may be described as a change in the states of consciousness, so that the Moon-being had this feeling:“In the Sun period my ego wafts me away into higher regions, into the presence of exalted beings, and when the Sun disappears it descends with me into lower worlds.”

The actual Moon evolution was preceded by a preparatory stage. In a certain way the Saturn and Sun evolutions were recapitulated. Now, after the reunion of Sun and Moon, during what we have termed the ebb-tide, two epochs may be distinguished one from the other. In the course of these, even physical condensation occurs to a certain degree. Therefore psycho-spiritual conditions of the Sun-Moon organism alternate with others of a more physical nature. In such physical epochs human beings and those of the lower kingdoms appear as though they were preparing, in stiff not yet self-reliant forms, the type of what they were to become in a more independent manner during the[pg 187]Earth period. We may therefore speak of two preparatory epochs in the Moon evolution, and of two others during the ebb-tide. In occult science such epochs may be termed cycles.20In that period which follows the two preparatory epochs, and precedes those of the ebb-tide—that is to say, during the time of the separation of the Moon—three epochs can again be distinguished. The middle period is the time when the Sons of Life reached the human level. It is preceded by a period in which all conditions lead up to that crowning event; and it is followed by one which may be called a time of adaptation and of perfecting the new creations.

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