Theosophy
GA 9
III-3. The Spiritland
[ 1 ] Before the spirit can be observed on its further pilgrimage, the region it enters must first be examined. It is the “World of the Spirit.” This world is so unlike the physical that whatever is said about it will appear fantastic to one who is willing only to trust his physical senses. And what has already been said in regard to the world of the soul holds good here to a still higher degree; that is, to say, one has to use analogies in order to describe it. For our speech, which for the most part serves only for the realities of the senses, is not richly blessed with expressions directly applicable to the “Spiritland.” It is therefore especially necessary here to ask the reader to take much that is said as an indication only. For everything described here is so unlike the physical world that it can be depicted only in this way. The author is ever conscious of how inadequately his account describes the experiences of this region, owing to the imperfect means of expression in language that is adapted entirely to the physical world.
[ 2 ] It must above all be emphasised that this world is woven out of the substance of which human thought consists. (The word “substance,” too, is here used in a far from usual sense.) But thought, as it lives in earthly man, is only a shadow picture, a phantom of its true being. As the shadow of an object on the wall is related to the real object which throws this shadow, so is the thought that makes its appearance through a human brain related to the being in the Spiritland which corresponds to this thought. Now when the spiritual sense of man is awakened he actually perceives this thought-being, just as the eye of the senses perceives the table or the chair. He moves in a region of thought-beings. The corporeal eye perceives the lion, and the thinking that is directed to the material world thinks the thought “lion” as a shadow, a shadowy picture. In “Spiritland” the spiritual eye sees the thought “lion” as truly as the corporeal eye sees the physical lion. Here we may again refer to the analogy already used regarding the Soul-land. Just as the environment of a man born blind and then operated upon appear all at once with the new qualities of colour and light, so is the environment of the person who learns to use his spiritual eye seen to be filled with a new world, the world of living thoughts or spirit-beings. There are to be seen in this world, first the spiritual archetypes of all things and beings which are present in the physical and in the soul worlds. Imagine the picture of a painter existing in the mind before it is painted. This indicates what is meant by the expression “Archetype.” It does not concern us here that the painter has not, perhaps, had such an archetype in his mind before he paints; and that it only gradually develops and becomes complete during the practical work. In the real “World of the Spirit,” there are such archetypes for all things, and the physical things and beings are images of these archetypes. It is quite understandable when anyone who trusts only to his outer senses denies this archetypal world, and holds archetypes to be merely abstractions which the intellect arrives at by comparing the objects of the senses. Such a person simply cannot see in this higher world; he knows the thought-world only in its shadowy abstractness. He does not know that a man with spiritual vision is as familiar with the spirit-beings as he himself is with his dog or his cat, and that the archetypal world has a far more intense reality than the world of the physical senses.
[ 3 ] True, the first insight into “Spiritland” is still more bewildering than that into the soul-world. For the archetypes in their true form are very unlike their material images. They are, however, just as unlike their shadows, the abstract thoughts. In the spiritual world everything is in continuous, mobile activity, ceaselessly creating. A state of rest, a remaining in one place, as in the physical world, do not exist here. For the archetypes are creative beings. They are the master builders of all that comes into being in the physical world and the soul-world. Their forms change rapidly; and in each archetype lies the possibility of assuming myriads of specialised formations.2See also under Addenda. They let the different formations well out of them, and scarcely is one produced than the archetype sets about pouring forth the next one. The archetypes stand in more or less intimate relationships to each other. They do not work singly. The one requires the help of the other for its creations. Innumerable archetypes often work together in order that this or that being in the soul-world or the physical world may arise.
[ 4 ] Besides what is to be perceived by “spiritual sight” in this “Spiritland,” there is something else that is to be regarded as “spiritual hearing.” As soon as the clairvoyant rises out of the soul-world into the spirit-world, the archetypes that are perceived sound as well. This “sounding” is a purely spiritual process. It must be conceived of without any accompanying thought of physical sound. The observer feels as if he were in an ocean of tones. And in these tones, in this spiritual sounding, the beings of the spirit-world express themselves. The primordial laws of their existence are expressed in their mutual relationships and affinities, in the intermingling of their sounds, their harmonies, melodies and rhythms. What the intellect perceives in the physical world as law, as idea, reveals itself to the “spiritual ear” as a spiritual music. (Hence, the Pythagoreans called this perception of the spiritual world the “Music of the Spheres.” To one who possesses the “spiritual ear” this “Music of the Spheres” is not something merely figurative and allegorical, but a spiritual reality well known to him.) If one wishes to gain a conception of this “spiritual music” one must lay aside all ideas of the music of the senses as perceived by the “material ear.” For here one is concerned with “spiritual perception,” that is, with perception of such a kind as must remain silent for the “ear of the senses.” In the following descriptions of the “Spiritland,” reference to this “spiritual music” will be omitted for the sake of simplicity. One has only to form a mental picture in which everything described as “picture,” as “radiance,” is at the same time sounding. To each colour, each perception of light, there is a corresponding spiritual tone, and every combination of colours corresponds to a harmony, a melody, etc. For one must hold clearly in mind that even where the sounding prevails, perception by means of the “spiritual eye” by no means ceases. The sounding is merely added to the radiance. Therefore, where archetypes are spoken of in the following pages, the “Primal Tones” are to be thought of as also present. Other perceptions arise as well, which by way of comparison may be termed “spiritual tasting,” and so on. But it is not proposed to go into these processes here, since we are concerned with awakening a conception of the “Spiritland” through certain selected modes of perception.
[ 5 ] It is necessary, in the first place, to distinguish the different kinds of archetypes from one another. In the “Spiritland,” too, one has to distinguish between a number of grades or regions in order to find one's way among them. Here also, as in the soul-world, the different regions are not to be thought of as lying one above the other like strata, but as mutually interpenetrating and pervading each other. The first region contains the “archetypes” of the physical world in so far as it is not endowed with life. The archetypes of the minerals are to be found here—also those of the plants; but the latter only in so far as they are purely physical, that is, in so far as the life in them is not taken into account. In the same way one finds here the archetypes of the physical forms of the animals and of human beings. This does not exhaust all that is to be found in this region but merely illustrates it by the readiest examples. This region forms the basic scaffolding of the “Spiritland.” It can be likened to the solid land of the physical earth. It forms the “continental” mass of the “Spiritland.” Its relationship with the physical corporeal world can only be described by means of an illustration. One gains some idea of it in the following way. Picture a limited space filled with physical bodies of the most varied kinds. Then think these bodies away and conceive in their place cavities in space, having their forms. The intervening spaces, on the other hand, which were previously empty, must be thought of as filled with the most varied forms, having manifold relationships with the physical bodies spoken of above. This is somewhat like the appearance presented by the lowest region of the archetypal world. In it, the things and beings which become embodied in the physical world are present as “spatial cavities.” And in the intervening spaces the mobile activity of the archetypes (and of the “spiritual music”) plays out its course. At the time of physical embodiment the spatial cavities become as it were filled with physical matter. If anyone were to look into space with both physical and spiritual eyes, he would see the physical bodies, and in between, the mobile activity of the creative archetypes.
The second region of the “Spiritland” contains the archetypes of life. But here this life forms a perfect unity. It streams through the world of spirit like a fluid element, as it were like blood pulsating through everything. It may be likened to the sea and the water systems of the physical earth. Its distribution, however, is more like the distribution of the blood in the animal body than that of the seas and rivers. This second stage of the “Spiritland” could be described as Flowing Life, formed of thought-substances. In this element are the creative Primal Forces, producing everything that appears in physical reality as living being. Here it is evident that all life is a unity, that the fife in man is related to the life of all his fellow-creatures.
[ 6 ] The archetypes of whatever is of the nature of soul must be designated as the third region of the “Spiritland.” Here we find ourselves in a much finer and rarer element than in the first two regions. To use a comparison it can be called the air or atmosphere of the “Spiritland.” Everything that goes on in the souls of both the other worlds has here its spiritual counterpart. Here all feelings, sensations, instincts, passions, etc., are again present, but in a spiritual way. The atmospheric processes in this aerial region correspond with the sorrows and joys of the creatures in the other worlds. The longing of a human soul appears here as a gentle zephyr; an outbreak of passion is like a stormy blast. One who can form conceptions of what is here under consideration, pierces deep into the sighing of every creature when he directs his attention to it. One can for example speak here of storms with flashing lightning and rolling thunder; and if one investigates the matter one finds that the passions of a battle waged on earth are expressed in such “spirit tempests.”
[ 7 ] The archetypes of the fourth region are not immediately related to the other worlds. They are in certain respects Beings who govern the archetypes of the three lower regions and mediate their working together. They are accordingly occupied with the ordering and grouping of these subordinate archetypes. From this region therefore a more comprehensive activity proceeds than from the lower ones.
[ 8 ] The fifth, sixth and seventh regions differ essentially from the preceding ones. For the Beings in these regions supply the archetypes with the impulses for their activity. In them are to be found the creative forces of the archetypes themselves. He who is able to rise to these regions comes to know the purposes which underlie our world.3That such a term as “purposes” is also meant in the sense of a “simile” is obvious from what was said above about the difficulties of expression in language. It is not intended to revive the old “doctrine of purpose.” See Addenda p. 93. The archetypes lie here still like living germ-entities ready to assume the most manifold forms of thought-beings. If these germ-entities are projected into the lower region they well up, as it were, and manifest themselves in the most varied shapes. The ideas through which the human spirit manifests itself creatively in the physical world are the reflection, the shadow, of these germinal thought-beings of the higher spiritual world. The observer with the “ear of spirit” rises from the lower regions of the “Spiritland” to these higher ones, becomes aware that sounds and tones are changed into a “spiritual language.” He begins to perceive the “spiritual word” through which the things and beings do not now make known to him their nature in music alone, but express it in “words.” They utter to him what is called in spiritual science their “eternal names.”
[ 9 ] We must picture to ourselves that these thought-germinal-beings are of a composite nature. Out of the element of the thought-world only the germ-sheath, as it were, is taken. And this surrounds the true life kernel. With it we have reached the confines of the “three worlds,” for the “kernel” has its origin in still higher worlds. When man was described above according to his component parts this “life kernel” of the human being was specified, and its components were called “Life Spirit” and “Spirit Man.” There are similar “life kernels” for other beings in the Cosmos. They originate in higher worlds and are placed in the three which have been described, in order to accomplish their tasks in them.
The human spirit will now be followed on its further pilgrimage through the “Spiritland” between two embodiments or incarnations. In the course of the description the conditions and distinguishing characteristics of this “land” will once more come clearly into view.4See also under Addenda p. 94.
3. Das Geisterland
[ 1 ] Bevor nun der Geist auf seiner weiteren Wanderung betrachtet werden kann, muß das Gebiet selbst erst beobachtet werden, das er betritt. Es ist die «Welt des Geistes». Diese Welt ist der physischen so unähnlich, daß alles das, was über sie gesagt wird, demjenigen wie Phantastik vorkommen muß, der nur seinen physischen Sinnen vertrauen will. Und in noch höherem Maße gilt hier, was schon bei der Betrachtung der «Welt der Seele» gesagt worden ist: man muß sich der Gleichnisse bedienen, um zu schildern. Denn unsere Sprache, die zumeist nur der sinnlichen Wirklichkeit dient, ist mit Ausdrücken, die sich für das «Geisterland» unmittelbar anwenden lassen, nicht gerade reich gesegnet. Besonders hier muß daher gebeten werden, manches, was gesagt wird, nur als Andeutung zu verstehen. Es ist alles, was hier beschrieben wird, der physischen Welt so unähnlich, daß es nur in dieser Weise geschildert werden kann. Der Schreiber dieser Darstellung ist sich immer bewußt, wie wenig seine Angaben wegen der Unvollkommenheit unserer für die physische Welt berechneten sprachlichen Ausdrucksmittel wirklich der Erfahrung auf diesem Gebiete gleichen können.
[ 2 ] Vor allen Dingen muß betont werden, daß diese Welt aus dem Stoffe (auch das Wort «Stoff» ist natürlich hier in einem sehr uneigentlichen Sinne gebraucht) gewoben ist, aus dem der menschliche Gedanke besteht. Aber so wie der Gedanke im Menschen lebt, ist er nur ein Schattenbild, ein Schemen seiner wirklichen Wesenheit. Wie der Schatten eines Gegenstandes an einer Wand sich zum wirklichen Gegenstand verhält, der diesen Schatten wirft, so verhält sich der Gedanke, der durch den menschlichen Kopf erscheint, zu der Wesenheit im «Geisterland», die diesem Gedanken entspricht. Wenn nun der geistige Sinn des Menschen erweckt ist, dann nimmt er diese Gedankenwesenheit wirklich wahr, wie das sinnliche Auge einen Tisch oder einen Stuhl wahrnimmt. Er wandelt in einer Umgebung von Gedankenwesen. Das sinnliche Auge nimmt den Löwen wahr und das auf Sinnliches gerichtete Denken bloß den Gedanken des Löwen als ein Schemen, als ein schattenhaftes Bild. Das geistige Auge sieht im «Geisterland» den Gedanken des Löwen so wirklich wie das sinnliche den physischen Löwen. Wieder kann hier auf das schon bezüglich des «Seelenlandes» gebrauchte Gleichnis verwiesen werden. Wie dem operierten Blindgeborenen auf einmal seine Umgebung mit den neuen Eigenschaften der Farben und Lichter erscheint, so erscheint dem jenigen, der sein geistiges Auge gebrauchen lernt, die Umgebung mit einer neuen Welt erfüllt, mit der Welt lebendiger Gedanken oder Geistwesen. — In dieser Welt sind nun zunächst die geistigen Urbilder aller Dinge und Wesen zu sehen, die in der physischen und in der seelischen Welt vorhanden sind. Man denke sich das Bild eines Malers im Geiste vorhanden, bevor es gemalt ist. Dann hat man ein Gleichnis dessen, was mit dem Ausdruck Urbild gemeint ist. Es kommt hier nicht darauf an, daß der Maler ein solches Urbild vielleicht nicht im Kopfe hat, bevor er malt; daß es erst während der praktischen Arbeit nach und nach vollständig entsteht. In der wirklichen «Welt des Geistes» sind solche Urbilder für alle Dinge vorhanden, und die physischen Dinge und Wesenheiten sind Nachbilder dieser Urbilder. — Wenn derjenige, welcher nur seinen äußeren Sinnen vertraut, diese urbildliche Welt leugnet und behauptet, die Urbilder seien nur Abstraktionen, die der vergleichende Verstand von den sinnlichen Dingen gewinnt, so ist das begreiflich; denn ein solcher kann eben in dieser höheren Welt nicht wahrnehmen; er kennt die Gedankenwelt nur in ihrer schemenhaften Abstraktheit. Er weiß nicht, daß der geistig Schauende mit den Geisteswesen so vertraut ist wie er selbst mit seinem Hunde oder seiner Katze und daß die Urbilderwelt eine weitaus intensivere Wirklichkeit hat als die sinnlich-physische.
[ 3 ] Allerdings ist der erste Einblick in dieses «Geisterland» noch verwirrender als derjenige in die seelische Welt. Denn die Urbilder in ihrer wahren Gestalt sind ihren sinnlichen Nachbildem sehr unähnlich. Ebenso unähnlich sind sie aber auch ihren Schatten, den abstrakten Gedanken. — In der geistigen Welt ist alles in fortwährender beweglicher Tätigkeit, in unaufhörlichem Schaffen. Eine Ruhe, ein Verweilen an einem Orte, wie sie in der physischen Welt vorhanden sind, gibt es dort nicht. Denn die Urbilder sind schaf/ende Wesenheiten. Sie sind die Werkmeister alles dessen, was in der physischen und seelischen Welt entsteht. Ihre Formen sind rasch wechselnd; und in jedem Urbild liegt die Möglichkeit, unzählige besondere Gestalten anzunehmen. Sie lassen gleichsam die besonderen Gestalten aus sich hervorsprießen; und kaum ist die eine erzeugt, so schickt sich das Urbild an, eine nächste aus sich hervorquellen zu lassen. Und die Urbilder stehen miteinander in mehr oder weniger verwandtschaftlicher Beziehung. Sie wirken nicht vereinzelt. Das eine bedarf der Hilfe des andern zu seinem Schaffen. Unzählige Urbilder wirken oft zusammen, damit diese oder jene Wesenheit in der seelischen oder physischen Welt entstehe.
[ 4 ] Außer dem, was durch «geistiges Sehen» in diesem «Geisterlande» wahrzunehmen ist, gibt es hier noch etwas anderes, das als Erlebnis des «geistigen Hörens» zu betrachten ist. Sobald nämlich der «Hellsehende» aufsteigt aus dem Seelen- in das Geisterland, werden die wahrgenommenen Urbilder auch klingend. Dieses «Klingen» ist ein rein geistiger Vorgang. Es muß ohne alles Mitdenken eines physischen Tones vorgestellt werden. Der Beobachter fühlt sich wie in einem Meere von Tönen. Und in diesen Tönen, in diesem geistigen Klingen drücken sich die Wesenheiten der geistigen Welt aus. In ihrem Zusammenklingen, ihren Harmonien, Rhythmen und Melodien prägen sich die Urgesetze ihres Daseins, ihre gegenseitigen Verhältnisse und Verwandtschaften aus. Was in der physischen Welt der Verstand als Gesetz, als Idee wahrnimmt, das stellt sich für das «geistige Ohr» als ein Geistig-Musikalisches dar. (Die Pythagoreer nannten daher diese Wahrnehmung der geistigen Welt «Sphärenmusik». Dem Besitzer des «geistigen Ohres» ist diese «Sphärenmusik» nicht bloß etwas Bildliches, Allegorisches, sondern eine ihm wohlbekannte geistige Wirklichkeit.) Man muß nur, wenn man einen Begriff von dieser «geistigen Musik» erhalten will, alle Vorstellungen von sinnlicher Musik beseitigen, wie sie durch das «stoffliche Ohr» wahrgenommen wird. Es handelt sich hier eben um «geistige Wahrnehmung», also um eine solche, die stumm bleiben muß für das «sinnliche Ohr». In den folgenden Beschreibungen des «Geisterlandes» sollen der Einfachheit halber die Hinweise auf diese «geistige Musik» weggelassen werden. Man hat sich nur vorzustellen, daß alles, was als «Bild», als ein «Leuchtendes» beschrieben wird, zugleich ein Klingendes ist. Jeder Farbe, jeder Lichtwahrnehmung entspricht ein geistiger Ton, und jedem Zusammenwirken von Farben entspricht eine Harmonie, eine Melodie und so weiter. Man muß sich nämlich durchaus vergegenwärtigen, daß auch da, wo das Tönen herrscht, das Wahrnehmen des «geistigen Auges» nicht etwa aufhört. Es kommt eben das Tönen zu dem Leuchten nur hinzu. Wo von «Urbildern» in dem Folgenden gesprochen wird, sind also die «Urtöne» hinzuzudenken. Auch andere Wahrnehmungen kommen hinzu, die gleichnisartig als «geistiges Schmecken» und so weiter bezeichnet werden können. Doch soll hier auf diese Vorgänge nicht eingegangen werden, da es sich darum handelt, eine Vorstellung von dem «Geisterlande» durch einige aus dem Ganzen herausgegriffene Wahrnehmungsarten in demselben zu erwecken.
[ 5 ] Nun ist zunächst notwendig, die verschiedenen Arten der Urbilder voneinander zu unterscheiden. Auch im «Geisterland» hat man eine Anzahl von Stufen oder Regionen auseinanderzuhalten, um sich zu orientieren. Auch hier sind, wie in der «Seelenwelt», die einzelnen Regionen nicht etwa schichtenweise übereinandergelagert zu denken, sondern sich gegenseitig durchdringend und durchsetzend. Die erste Region enthält die Urbilder der physischen Welt, insofern diese nicht mit Leben begabt ist. Die Urbilder der Mineralien sind hier zu finden, ferner die der Pflanzen; diese aber nur insofern, als sie rein physisch sind; also insofern man auf das Leben in ihnen keine Rücksicht nimmt. Ebenso trifft man hier die physischen Tier- und Menschenformen an. Damit soll dasjenige nicht erschöpft sein, was sich in dieser Region befindet; es soll nur durch naheliegende Beispiele illustriert werden. — Diese Region bildet das Grundgerüst des «Geisterlandes». Es kann verglichen werden mit dem festen Land unserer physischen Erde. Es ist die Kontinentalmasse des «Geisterlandes». Seine Beziehung zur physisch-körperlichen Welt kann nur vergleichsweise beschrieben werden. Man bekommt eine Vorstellung davon etwa durch folgendes: Man denke sich irgendeinen begrenzten Raum mit physischen Körpern der mannigfaltigsten Art ausgefüllt. Und nun denke man sich diese physischen Körper weg und an ihrer Stelle Hohlräume in ihren Formen. Die früher leeren Zwischenräume denke man sich aber mit den mannigfaltigsten Formen erfüllt, die zu den früheren Körpern in mannigfachen Beziehungen stehen. –So etwa sieht es in der niedrigsten Region der Urbilderwelt aus. In ihr sind die Dinge und Wesen, die in der physischen Welt verkörpert werden, als «Hohlräume» vorhanden. Und in den Zwischenräumen spielt sich die bewegliche Tätigkeit der Urbilder (und der «geistigen Musik») ab. Bei der physischen Verkörperung werden nun die Hohlräume gewissermaßen mit physischem Stoffe erfüllt. Wer zugleich mit physischem und geistigem Auge in den Raum schaute, sähe die physischen Körper und dazwischen die bewegliche Tätigkeit der schaffenden Urbilder. Die Zweite Region des «Geisterlandes» enthält die Urbilder des Lebens. Aber dieses Leben bildet hier eine vollkommene Einheit. Als flüssiges Element durchströmt es die Welt des Geistes, gleichsam als Blut alles durchpulsend. Es läßt sich mit dem Meere und den Gewässern der physischen Erde vergleichen. Seine Verteilung ist allerdings ähnlicher der Verteilung des Blutes in dem tierischen Körper als derjenigen der Meere und Flüsse. Fließendes Leben, aus Gedankenstoff gebildet, so könnte man diese zweite Stufe des «Geisterlandes» bezeichnen. In diesem Element liegen die schaffenden Urkräfte für alles, was in der physischen Wirklichkeit als belebte Wesen auftritt. Hier zeigt es sich, daß alles Leben eine Einheit ist, daß das Leben in dem Menschen verwandt ist mit dem Leben aller seiner Mitgeschöpfe.
[ 6 ] Als dritte Region des «Geisterlandes» müssen die Urbilder alles Seelischen bezeichnet werden. Man befindet sich hier in einem viel dünneren und feineren Element als in den beiden ersten Regionen. Vergleichsweise kann es als der Luftkreis des «Geisterlandes» bezeichnet werden. Alles, was in den Seelen der beiden anderen Welten vorgeht, hat hier sein geistiges Gegenstück. Alle Empfindungen, Gefühle, Instinkte, Leidenschaften und so weiter sind hier auf geistige Art noch einmal vorhanden. Die atmosphärischen Vorgänge in diesem Luftkreise entsprechen den Leiden und Freuden der Geschöpfe in den andern Welten. Wie ein leises Wehen erscheint hier das Sehnen einer Menschenseele; wie ein stürmischer Luftzug ein leidenschaftlicher Ausbruch. Wer über das hier in Betracht Kommende sich Vorstellungen bilden kann, der dringt tief ein in das Seufzen einer jeglichen Kreatur, wenn er seine Aufmerksamkeit darauf richtet. Man kann hier zum Beispiel sprechen von stürmischen Gewittern mit zuckenden Blitzen und rollendem Donner; und geht man der Sache weiter nach, so findet man, daß sich in solchen «Geistergewittern» die Leidenschaften einer auf der Erde geschlagenen Schlacht ausdrücken.
[ 7 ] Die Urbilder der vierten Region beziehen sich nicht unmittelbar auf die andern Welten. Sie sind in gewisser Beziehung Wesenheiten, welche die Urbilder der drei unteren Regionen beherrschen und deren Zusammentritt vermitteln. Sie sind daher beschäftigt mit dem Ordnen und Gruppieren dieser untergeordneten Urbilder. Von dieser Region geht demnach eine umfassendere Tätigkeit aus als von den unteren.
[ 8 ] Die fünfte, sechste und siebente Region unterscheiden sich wesentlich von den vorhergehenden. Denn die in ihnen befindlichen Wesenheiten liefern den Urbildern der unteren Regionen die Antriebe zu ihrer Tätigkeit. In ihnen findet man die Schöpferkräfte der Urbilder selbst. Wer zu diesen Regionen aufzusteigen vermag, der macht Bekanntschaft mit den «Absichten»*, die unserer Welt zugrunde liegen. Wie lebendige Keimpunkte liegen hier noch die Urbilder bereit, um die mannigfaltigsten Formen von Gedankenwesen anzunehmen. Werden diese Keimpunkte in die unteren Regionen geführt, dann quellen sie gleichsam auf und zeigen sich in den mannigfaltigsten Gestalten. Die Ideen, durch die der menschliche Geist in der physischen Welt schöpferisch auftritt, sind der Abglanz, der Schatten dieser Keimgedankenwesen der höheren geistigen Welt. Der Beobachter mit dem «geistigen Ohr», welcher von den unteren Regionen des «Geisterlandes» zu diesen oberen aufsteigt, wird gewahr, wie sich das Klingen und Tönen in eine «geistige Sprache» umsetzt. Er beginnt das «geistige Wort» wahrzunehmen, durch das für ihn nun nicht allein die Dinge und Wesenheiten ihre Natur durch Musik kundgeben, sondern in «Worten» ausdrücken. Sie sagen ihm, wie man das in der Geisteswissenschaft nennen kann, ihre «ewigen Namen». Daß solche Bezeichnungen wie «Absichten» auch nur als «Gleichnisse» gemeint sind, ist aus dem oben über die Schwierigkeiten des sprachlichen Ausdrucks Gesagten selbstverständlich. An ein Aufwärmen der alten «Zweckmäßigkeitslehre» ist nicht gedacht.
[ 9 ] Man hat sich vorzustellen, daß diese Gedankenkeimwesen zusammengesetzter Natur sind. Aus dem Elemente der Gedankenwelt ist gleichsam nur die Keimhülle genommen. Und diese umschließt den eigentlichen Lebenskern. Damit sind wir an die Grenze der «drei Welten» gelangt, denn der Kern stammt aus noch höheren Welten. Als der Mensch, seinen Bestandteilen nach, in einem vorangehenden Abschnitt beschrieben worden ist, wurde für ihn dieser Lebenskern angegeben und der «Lebensgeist» und «Geistesmensch» als seine Bestandteile genannt. Auch für andere Weltwesenheiten sind ähnliche Lebenskerne vorhanden. Sie stammen aus höheren Welten und werden in die drei angegebenen versetzt, um ihre Aufgaben darin zu vollbringen. — Hier soll nun die weitere Pilgerfahrt des menschlichen Geistes durch das «Geisterland» zwischen zwei Verkörperungen oder Inkarnationen verfolgt werden. Dabei werden die Verhältnisse und Eigentümlichkeiten dieses «Landes» noch einmal klar hervortreten.
3. The Land of Spirits
[ 1 ] Before the spirit can be considered on its further wanderings, the area itself that it enters must first be observed. It is the "world of the spirit". This world is so dissimilar to the physical world that everything that is said about it must seem like fantasy to those who only want to trust their physical senses. And what has already been said in the consideration of the "world of the soul" applies here to an even greater extent: one must make use of parables in order to describe. For our language, which for the most part only serves sensual reality, is not exactly richly blessed with expressions that can be directly applied to the "spirit world". Here in particular, we must therefore ask that some of what is said be understood only as suggestions. Everything described here is so dissimilar to the physical world that it can only be described in this way. The writer of this account is always aware of how little his statements can really resemble experience in this field because of the imperfection of our linguistic means of expression calculated for the physical world.
[ 2 ] First of all, it must be emphasized that this world is woven from the material (the word "material" is of course used here in a very improper sense) of which human thought consists. But as thought lives in man, it is only a shadow image, a shadow of his real essence. Just as the shadow of an object on a wall relates to the real object that casts this shadow, so the thought that appears through the human head relates to the entity in the "spirit land" that corresponds to this thought. If the spiritual sense of man is awakened, then he really perceives this thought entity, just as the sensual eye perceives a table or a chair. He walks in an environment of thought beings. The sensual eye perceives the lion and the thought directed towards the sensual merely perceives the thought of the lion as a shadow, as a shadowy image. The spiritual eye sees the thought of the lion in "spirit land" as really as the sensual eye sees the physical lion. Again, reference can be made here to the simile already used with regard to the "land of the soul". Just as the environment suddenly appears with the new qualities of colors and lights to the person born blind after an operation, so the environment appears filled with a new world, with the world of living thoughts or spiritual beings, to the one who learns to use his spiritual eye. - In this world the spiritual archetypes of all things and beings that are present in the physical and spiritual world can first be seen. Imagine the picture of a painter existing in the spirit before it is painted. Then you have a parable of what is meant by the expression archetype. It is not important here that the painter may not have such an archetype in his mind before he paints; that it only gradually comes into being completely during the practical work. In the real "world of the spirit" such archetypes exist for all things, and the physical things and entities are after-images of these archetypes. - If he who trusts only his outer senses denies this archetypal world and maintains that the archetypes are only abstractions which the comparing intellect gains from sensory things, this is understandable; for such a one cannot perceive in this higher world; he knows the world of thought only in its shadowy abstractness. He does not know that the spiritual observer is as familiar with the spiritual beings as he himself is with his dog or his cat and that the primordial world of images has a far more intense reality than the sensual-physical one.
[ 3 ] However, the first insight into this "spirit land" is even more confusing than that into the spiritual world. For the archetypes in their true form are very dissimilar to their sensual afterimages. But they are just as dissimilar to their shadows, the abstract thoughts. - In the spiritual world, everything is in perpetual motion, in ceaseless creation. There is no rest, no lingering in one place, as there is in the physical world. For the archetypes are creating entities and are the masters of everything that is created in the physical and spiritual world. Their forms are rapidly changing; and in every archetype lies the possibility of taking on countless special forms. They allow the special forms to sprout from themselves, as it were; and as soon as one is created, the archetype prepares to allow another to spring forth from itself. And the archetypes are more or less related to each other. They do not work in isolation. One needs the help of the other to create it. Countless archetypes often work together so that this or that entity arises in the spiritual or physical world.
[ 4 ] In addition to what can be perceived through "spiritual seeing" in this "spirit land", there is something else here that is to be regarded as an experience of "spiritual hearing". As soon as the "clairvoyant" ascends from the land of the soul into the land of spirits, the perceived archetypes also become sounding. This "sounding" is a purely spiritual process. It must be imagined without any thought of a physical sound. The observer feels as if he is in a sea of tones. And in these tones, in this spiritual sounding, the entities of the spiritual world express themselves. Their harmonies, rhythms and melodies express the primal laws of their existence, their mutual relationships and affinities. What the mind perceives in the physical world as a law, as an idea, presents itself to the "spiritual ear" as something spiritual and musical. (The Pythagoreans therefore called this perception of the spiritual world "music of the spheres". To the owner of the "spiritual ear" this "music of the spheres" is not merely something figurative, allegorical, but a spiritual reality well known to him). If one wants to get a concept of this "spiritual music", one only has to eliminate all ideas of sensual music as it is perceived by the "material ear". We are dealing here with "spiritual perception", i.e. perception that must remain mute for the "sensual ear". In the following descriptions of the "spirit land", the references to this "spiritual music" will be omitted for the sake of simplicity. One only has to imagine that everything that is described as an "image", as a "luminous thing", is at the same time a sounding thing. Every color, every perception of light corresponds to a spiritual tone, and every interaction of colors corresponds to a harmony, a melody and so on. One must realize that even where sound prevails, the perception of the "spiritual eye" does not cease. The sound is merely added to the light. Where "primal images" are spoken of in the following, the "primal sounds" must therefore be added. Other perceptions are also added, which can be described similarly as "spiritual tasting" and so on. However, these processes will not be dealt with here, as it is a matter of awakening an idea of the "spirit land" through a few types of perception selected from the whole.
[ 5 ] Now it is first necessary to distinguish between the different types of archetypes. In "Ghostland", too, there are a number of levels or regions to be distinguished in order to orientate oneself. Here too, as in the "world of souls", the individual regions are not to be thought of as being layered on top of each other, but as interpenetrating and interspersing each other. The first region contains the archetypes of the physical world, insofar as it is not endowed with life. The archetypes of minerals are to be found here, and also those of plants; but these only in so far as they are purely physical; that is, in so far as no consideration is given to the life in them. The physical animal and human forms are also found here. This is not to exhaust what is found in this region; it is only to illustrate it with obvious examples. - This region forms the basic structure of the "spirit land". It can be compared to the solid land of our physical earth. It is the continental mass of the "spirit land". Its relationship to the physical world can only be described comparatively. You can get an idea of it by doing the following: Imagine any limited space filled with physical bodies of the most varied kinds. And now imagine these physical bodies gone and in their place hollow spaces in their forms. But think of the formerly empty interstices as being filled with the most varied forms, which stand in manifold relations to the former bodies. -This is the situation in the lowest region of the primordial image world. In it the things and beings that are embodied in the physical world are present as "hollow spaces". And the moving activity of the archetypes (and the "spiritual music") takes place in the interstices. During physical embodiment, the hollow spaces are filled with physical substance, so to speak. Anyone looking into space with both the physical and spiritual eye would see the physical bodies and between them the moving activity of the creating archetypes. The second region of the "spirit land" contains the archetypes of life. But this life forms a perfect unity here. As a fluid element, it flows through the world of the spirit, pulsating through everything as if it were blood. It can be compared to the sea and the waters of the physical earth. However, its distribution is more similar to the distribution of blood in the animal body than to that of the seas and rivers. Flowing life, formed from thought material, is how this second stage of the "spirit land" could be described. In this element lie the creative primal forces for everything that appears in physical reality as animate beings. Here it becomes apparent that all life is a unity, that the life in man is related to the life of all his fellow creatures.
[ 6 ] The third region of the "spirit land" must be described as the archetypes of all souls. Here we find ourselves in a much thinner and finer element than in the first two regions. Comparatively speaking, it can be described as the air circle of the "spirit land". Everything that goes on in the souls of the other two worlds has its spiritual counterpart here. All sensations, feelings, instincts, passions and so on are present here once again in a spiritual way. The atmospheric processes in this circle of air correspond to the sufferings and joys of the creatures in the other worlds. The longing of a human soul appears here like a gentle blowing; a passionate outburst like a stormy breeze. Whoever can form an idea of what comes into consideration here will penetrate deeply into the sighing of every creature if he directs his attention to it. One can speak here, for example, of stormy thunderstorms with flashing lightning and rolling thunder; and if one pursues the matter further, one finds that in such "spirit storms" the passions of a battle fought on earth are expressed.
[ 7 ] The archetypes of the fourth region do not refer directly to the other worlds. In a certain sense, they are entities that dominate the archetypes of the three lower regions and mediate their coming together. They are therefore concerned with organizing and grouping these subordinate archetypes. A more comprehensive activity therefore emanates from this region than from the lower ones.
[ 8 ] The fifth, sixth and seventh regions differ substantially from the previous ones. This is because the entities in them provide the archetypes of the lower regions with the impulses for their activity. In them one finds the creative powers of the archetypes themselves. Whoever is able to ascend to these regions becomes acquainted with the "intentions "* that underlie our world. Like living germinal points, the archetypes are still ready here to take on the most diverse forms of thought beings. If these germinal points are led into the lower regions, they swell up, as it were, and show themselves in the most varied forms. The ideas through which the human spirit appears creatively in the physical world are the reflection, the shadow of these germ thought beings of the higher spiritual world. The observer with the "spiritual ear", who ascends from the lower regions of the "spirit land" to these upper regions, becomes aware of how the sounding and tintinnabulation is transformed into a "spiritual language". He begins to perceive the "spiritual word", through which the things and beings not only express their nature through music, but also in "words". They tell him, as one might call it in spiritual science, their "eternal names". That such designations as "intentions" are also only meant as "parables" is self-evident from what has been said above about the difficulties of linguistic expression. It is not intended to rehash the old "doctrine of purpose".
[ 9 ] Imagine that these thought germs are of a composite nature. From the element of the world of thought only the germinal shell is taken, as it were. And this encloses the actual core of life. Thus we have reached the limit of the "three worlds", for the nucleus comes from still higher worlds. When man, according to his components, was described in a previous section, this core of life was indicated for him and the "life spirit" and "spirit man" were named as his components. Similar life cores are also present for other world beings. They come from higher worlds and are transferred to the three specified worlds in order to accomplish their tasks in them. - Here the further pilgrimage of the human spirit through the "spirit land" between two embodiments or incarnations is to be followed. The conditions and peculiarities of this "land" will once again emerge clearly.