Cosmic Memory
GA 11
v. The Lemurian Race
[ 1 ] A passage from the Akasha Chronicle referring to a very distant prehistoric period in the development of mankind, will be set forth in this chapter. This period precedes the one depicted in the descriptions given above. We are here concerned with the third human root race, of which it is said in theosophical books that it inhabited the Lemurian Continent. According to these books this continent was situated south of Asia, and extended approximately from Ceylon to Madagascar. What is today southern Asia and parts of Africa also belonged to it.
While all possible care has been taken in the deciphering of the Akasha Chronicle it must be emphasized that nowhere is a dogmatic character to be claimed for these communications. If, to begin with, the reading of things and events so remote from the present is not easy, the translation of what has been seen and deciphered into the language of today presents almost insuperable obstacles.
Dates will be given later. They will be better understood when the whole Lemurian period and also the period of our fifth root race up to the present, have been discussed.
The things which are communicated here are surprising even for the occultist who reads them for the first time—although the word “surprising” is not quite exact. Therefore he should only communicate them after the most careful examination.
[ 2 ] The fourth, the Atlantean root race, was preceded by the so-called Lemurian. During its development, events of the very greatest importance occurred with respect to the earth and to men. Here, however, something will first be said of the character of this root race after these events, and only then will the latter be discussed. By and large, memory was not yet developed among this race. While men could have ideas of things and events, these ideas did not remain in the memory. Therefore they did not yet have a language in the true sense. Rather what they could utter were natural sounds which expressed their sensations, pleasure, joy, pain and so forth, but which did not designate external objects.
But their ideas had a quite different strength from those of later men. Through this strength they acted upon their environment. Other men, animals, plants, and even lifeless objects could feel this action and could be influenced purely by ideas. Thus the Lemurian could communicate with his fellow-men without needing a language. This communication consisted in a kind of “thought reading.” The Lemurian derived the strength of his ideas directly from the objects which surrounded him. It flowed to him from the energy of growth of plants, from the life force of animals. In this manner he understood plants and animals in their inner action and life. He even understood the physical and chemical forces of lifeless objects in the same way. When he built something he did not first have to calculate the load-limit of a tree trunk, the weight of a stone; he could see how much the tree trunk could bear, where the stone in view of its weight and height would fit, where it would not. Thus the Lemurian built without engineering knowledge on the basis of his faculty of imagination which acted with the sureness of a kind of instinct. Moreover, to a great extent, he had power over his own body. When it was necessary, he could increase the strength of his arm by a simple effort of the will. For example, he could lift enormous loads merely by using his will. If later the Atlantean was helped by his control of the life force, the Lemurian was helped by his mastery of the will. He was—the expression should not be misinterpreted—a born magician in all fields of lower human activities.
[ 3 ] The goal of the Lemurians was the development of the will, of the faculty of imagination. The education of children was wholly directed toward this. The boys were hardened in the strongest manner. They had to learn to undergo dangers, to overcome pain, to accomplish daring deeds. Those who could not bear tortures, who could not undergo dangers, were not regarded as useful members of mankind. They were left to perish under these exertions. What the Akasha Chronicle shows with respect to this raising of children surpasses everything contemporary man can picture to himself in his boldest imaginings—The bearing of heat, even of a searing fire, the piercing of the body with pointed objects, were quite common procedures.
The raising of girls was different. While the female child was also hardened, everything else was directed toward her developing a strong imagination. For example, she was exposed to the storm in order calmly to feel its dreadful beauty; she had to witness the combats of the men fearlessly, filled only with a feeling of appreciation of the strength and power she saw before her. Thereby propensities for dreaming and for fantasy developed in the girl, and these were highly valued. Because no memory existed, these propensities could not degenerate. The dream or fantasy conceptions in question lasted only as long as there was a corresponding external cause. Thus they had a real basis in external things. They did not lose themselves in bottomless depths. It was, so to speak, nature's own fantasy and dreaming which were put into the female soul.
[ 4 ] The Lemurians did not have dwellings in our sense, except in their latest times. They lived where nature gave them the opportunity to do so. The caves which they used were only altered and extended insofar as necessary. Later they built such caves themselves and at that time they developed great skill for such constructions. One must not imagine, however, that they did not also execute more artful constructions. But these did not serve as dwellings. In the earliest times they originated in the desire to give to the things of nature a man-made form. Hills were remodeled in such a way that the form afforded man joy and pleasure. Stones were put together for the same purpose, or in order to be used for certain activities. The places where the children were hardened were surrounded with walls of this kind.
Toward the end of this period, the buildings which served for the cultivation of “divine wisdom and divine art” became more and more imposing and ornate. These institutions differed in every respect from what temples were later, for they were educational and scientific institutions at the same time. He who was found fit was here initiated into the science of the universal laws and into the handling of them. If the Lemurian was a born magician, this talent was here developed into art and insight. Only those could be admitted who, through all kinds of discipline, had acquired the ability to overcome themselves to the greatest extent. For all others what went on in these institutions was the deepest secret. Here one learned to know and to control the forces of nature through direct contemplation of them. But the learning was such that in man the forces of nature changed into forces of the will. He himself could thereby execute what nature accomplishes. What later mankind accomplished by reflection, by calculation, at that time had the character of an instinctive activity. But here one must not use the word “instinct” in the same sense in which one is accustomed to apply it to the animal world. For the activities of Lemurian humanity towered high above everything the animal world can produce through instinct. They even stood far above what mankind has since acquired in the way of arts and sciences through memory, reason and imagination. If one were to use an expression for these institutions which would facilitate an understanding of them, one could call them “colleges of will power and of the clairvoyant power of the imagination.”
From them emerged the men who, in every respect, became rulers of the others. Today it is difficult to give in words a true conception of all these conditions. For everything on earth has changed since that time. Nature itself and all human life were different, therefore human labor and the relationship of man to man differed greatly from what is customary today.
[ 5 ] The air was much thicker even than in later Atlantean times, the water much thinner. And what forms the firm crust of our earth today was not yet as hard as it later became. The world of plants and animals had developed only as far as the amphibians, the birds, and the lower mammals, and as far as vegetable growths which resemble our palms and similar trees. However, all forms were different from what they are today. What now exists only all in forms was then developed to gigantic sizes. At that time our small ferns were trees and formed mighty forests. The modern higher mammals did not exist. On the other hand a great part of humanity was on such a low stage of development that one cannot but designate it as animal. What has been described here was true only of a small part of mankind, The rest lived their life in animalism. In their external appearance and in their way of life these animal men were quite different from the small group. They were not especially different from the lower mammals, which resembled them in form in certain respects.
[ 6 ] A few more words must be said about the significance of the above-mentioned temple localities. What was cultivated there was not really religion. It was “divine wisdom and art.” Man felt that what was given to him there was a direct gift from the spiritual universal forces. When he received this gift he considered himself a “servant” of these universal forces. He felt himself “sanctified” from everything unspiritual. If one wishes to speak of religion at this stage of the development of mankind, one could call it “religion of the will.” The religious temper and dedication lay in the fact that man guarded the powers granted to him as a strict, divine “secret,” and that he led a life through which he sanctified his power. Persons who had such powers were regarded by others with great awe and veneration. And this awe and veneration were not called forth by laws or something similar, but by the immediate power which these persons exercised. The uninitiated of course stood under the magical influence of the initiated. It was also natural that the latter considered themselves to be sanctified personages. For in their temples they participated in direct contemplation of the active forces of nature. They looked into the creative workshop of nature. They experienced a communion with the beings which build the world itself. One can call this communication an association with the gods. What later developed as “initiation,” as “mystery,” emerged from this original manner of communication of men with the gods. In subsequent times this communication had to become different, since the human imagination, the human spirit, took other forms.
[ 7 ] Of special importance is something which occurred in the course of Lemurian development by virtue of the fact that the women lived in the manner described above. They thereby developed special human powers. Their faculty of imagination which was in alliance with nature, became the basis for a higher development of the life of ideas. They took the forces of nature into themselves, where they had an after-effect in the soul. Thus the germs of memory were formed. With memory was also born the capacity to form the first and simplest moral concepts.
The development of the will among the male element at first knew nothing of this. The man followed instinctively either the impulses of nature or the influences emanating from the initiated.
It was from the manner of life of the women that the first ideas of “good and evil” arose. There one began to love some of the things which had made a special impression on the imagination, and to abhor others. While the control which the male element exercised was directed more toward the external action of the powers of the will, toward the manipulation of the forces of nature, beside it in the female element there developed an action through the soul, through the inner, personal forces of man. The development of mankind can only be correctly understood by the one who takes into consideration that the first progress in the life of the imagination was made by women. The development connected with the life of the imagination, with the formation of memory, of customs which formed the seeds for a life of law, for a kind of morals, came from this side. If man had seen and exercised the forces of nature, woman became the first interpreter of them. It was a special new manner of living through reflection which developed here. This manner had something much more personal than that of the men. One must imagine this manner of the women to have been also a kind of clairvoyance, although it differed from the magic of the will of the men. In her soul woman was accessible to another kind of spiritual powers. The latter spoke more to the feeling element of the soul, less to the spiritual, to which man was subject. Thus there emanated from men an effect which was more natural-divine, from women one which was more soul-divine.
[ 8 ] The development which woman went through during the Lemurian period had the result that at the appearance of the next—the Atlantean—root race on earth, an important role devolved upon her. This appearance took place under the influence of highly developed entities, who were familiar with the laws of the formation of races and capable of guiding the existing forces of human nature into such paths that a new race could come into being. These beings will be specially mentioned further on. May it suffice for the moment to say that they possessed superhuman wisdom and power. They now isolated a small group out of Lemurian mankind and designated these to be the ancestors of the coming Atlantean race. The place where they did this was situated in the tropical zone. Under their direction the men of this group had been trained in the control of the natural forces. They were very strong, and knew how to win the most diverse treasures from the earth. They could cultivate the fields and use their fruits for their subsistence. They had become characters of strong will through the discipline to which they had been subjected. Their souls and hearts were developed only in small measure. On the other hand these had been developed among the women. Memory and fantasy and everything connected with them were to be found among the latter.
[ 9 ] The above-mentioned leaders caused the group to divide itself into smaller groups. They put the women in charge of ordering and establishing these groups. Through her memory, woman had acquired the capacity to make the experiences and adventures of the past useful for the future. What had proved helpful yesterday she used today and realized that it would also be useful tomorrow. The institutions for communal life therefore emanated from her. Under her influence the concepts of “good and evil” developed. Through her thoughtful life she had acquired an understanding for nature. Out of the observation of nature, those ideas developed in her according to which she directed the actions of men. The leaders had arranged things in such a way that through the soul of woman, the willful nature, the vigorous strength of man was ennobled and refined. Of course one must represent all this to oneself as childish beginnings. The words of our language all too easily call up ideas which are taken from the life of the present.
[ 10 ] By way of the awakened soul life of the women the leaders first developed the soul life of the men. In the colony we have described, the influence of the women was therefore very great. One had to go to them for advice when one wanted to interpret the signs of nature. The whole manner of their soul life however was still dominated by the “hidden” human soul forces. One does not describe the matter quite exactly, but fairly closely, if one speaks of a somnambulistic contemplating among these women. In certain higher dreams the secrets of nature were divulged to them and they received the impulses for their actions. Everything was animated for them and showed itself to them in soul powers and apparitions. They abandoned themselves to the mysterious weaving of their soul forces. That which impelled them to their actions were “inner voices,” or what plants, animals, stones, wind and clouds, the whispering of the trees, and so on, told them.
[ 11 ] From this state of soul originated that which one can call human religion. The spiritual in nature and in human life gradually came to be venerated and worshiped. Some women attained a special preeminence because out of special mysterious depths they could interpret what the world contained.
[ 12 ] Thus it could come to pass among such women that that which lived within them could transpose itself into a kind of natural language. For the beginning of language lies in something which is similar to song. The energy of thought was transformed into audible sound. The inner rhythm of nature sounded from the lips of “wise” women. One gathered around such women and in their songlike sentences felt the utterances of higher powers. Human worship of the gods began with such things.
For that period there can be no question of “sense” in that which was spoken. Sound, tone, and rhythm were perceived. One did not imagine anything along with these, but absorbed in the soul the power of what was heard. The whole process was under the direction of the higher leaders. They had inspired the “wise” priestesses with tones and rhythms in a manner which cannot now be further discussed. Thus they could have an ennobling effect on the souls of men. One can say that in this way the true life of the soul first awakened.
[ 13 ] In this realm, beautiful scenes are shown by the Akasha Chronicle. One of these will be described. We are in a forest, near a mighty tree. The sun has just risen in the east. The palmlike tree, from around which the other trees have been removed, casts mighty shadows. The priestess, her face turned to the east, ecstatic, sits on a seat made of rare natural objects and plants. Slowly in rhythmical sequence, a few strange, constantly repeated sounds stream from her lips. A number of men and women are sitting in circles around her, their faces lost in dreams, absorbing inner life from what they hear.
Other scenes too can be seen. At a similarly arranged place a priestess “sings” in a similar manner, but her tones have in them something mightier, more powerful. Those around her move in rhythmic dances. For this was the other way in which “soul” entered into mankind. The mysterious rhythms which one had heard from Nature were imitated by the movements of the limbs. One thereby felt at one with nature and with the powers acting in her.
[ 14 ] The place on earth in which this stock of a coming race of men was developed was especially suited for this purpose. It was one where the then still turbulent earth had become fairly calm. For Lemuria was turbulent. After all, the earth at that time did not yet have its later density. The thin ground was everywhere undermined by volcanic forces which broke forth in smaller or larger streams. Mighty volcanos existed almost everywhere and developed a continuous destructive activity. Men were accustomed to reckoning with this fiery activity in everything they did. They also used this fire in their labors and contrivances. Their occupations were often such that the fire of nature served as a basis for them in the same way as artificial fire does in human labor today.
[ 15 ] It was through the activity of this volcanic fire that the destruction of the Lemurian land came about. While the part of Lemuria from which the parent race of the Atlanteans was to develop had a hot climate, it was by and large free of volcanic activity.
Human nature could unfold more calmly and peacefully here than in the other regions of the earth. The more nomadic life of former times was abandoned, and fixed settlements became more and more numerous.
[ 16 ] One must represent to oneself that at that time the human body still had very malleable and pliant qualities. This body still changed form whenever the inner life changed. Not long before, men had still been quite diverse as regards their external form. At that time the external influence of region and climate were still decisive in respect to their form. Only in the colony described did the body of man increasingly become an expression of his inner soul life. Moreover, this colony had an advanced externally more nobly formed race of men. One must say that through the things which they had done, the leaders had really first created what is the true human form. This occurred quite slowly and gradually. It happened in such a way that the soul life of man was first developed and that the still soft and malleable body adapted itself to this. It is a law in the development of mankind that, as progress continues, man has less and less of a molding influence on his physical body. This physical human body in fact received a fairly unchanging form only with the development of the faculty of reason and with the hardening of the rock, mineral, and metal formations of earth connected with this development. For in the Lemurian and even in the Atlantean period, stones and metals were much softer than later.
This is not contradicted by the fact that there exist descendants of the last Lemurians and Atlanteans who today exhibit forms as fixed as the human races which were formed later. These remnants had to adapt themselves to the changed environmental conditions of earth and thus became more rigid. Just this is the reason for their decline. They did not transform themselves from within; instead, their less developed interior was forced into rigidity from the outside and thus compelled to stagnation. This stagnation is really a regression, for the inner life, too, has degenerated because it could not fulfill itself within the rigid external bodily structure.
[ 17 ] Animal life was subject to even greater changeability. We shall speak further about the animal species existing at the time of the development of man and about their origin, as well as about the development of new animal forms after man already existed. Here we shall say only that the existing animal species continually transformed themselves and that new ones were developing. This transformation was of course a gradual one. The reasons for the transformation lay in part in a change of habitat and of the manner of life. The animals had a capacity of extraordinarily rapid adaptation to new conditions. The malleable body changed its organs comparatively rapidly, so that after a more or less brief period the descendants of a particular animal species resembled their ancestors only slightly. The same was the case in even greater measure for the plants. The greatest influence on the transformation of men and animals was exercised by man himself. This was true whether he instinctively brought organisms into such an environment that they assumed certain forms, or whether he achieved this by experiments in breeding. The transforming influence of man on nature was immeasurably great at that time, compared with the conditions of today. This was especially the case in the colony we have described. For there the leaders directed this transformation in a way of which men were not conscious. This was the case to such a degree that when men left the colony in order to found the different Atlantean races, they could take with them a highly developed knowledge of the breeding of animals and plants. The labor of cultivation in Atlantis was then essentially a consequence of the knowledge thus brought along. But here again it must be emphasized that this knowledge had an instinctive character. In this state essentially it remained among the first Atlantean races.
[ 18 ] The preeminence of the feminine soul, which has been described, was especially strong in the last Lemurian period and continued into the Atlantean times, during which the fourth subrace was preparing itself. But one must not imagine that this was the case among all of mankind. It was true, however, for that part of the population of earth from which the truly advanced races later emerged. This influence exercised the strongest effect upon all that which in man is “unconscious.” The development of certain constant gestures, the refinements of sensory perception, the feeling for beauty, a good part of the general life of sensations and feelings which is common to all men—all this originally emanated from the spiritual influence of woman. It is not an over-statement if one interprets the reports in such a way as to affirm, “The civilized nations have a bodily form and expression, as well as certain bases of physical-soul life, which were imprinted upon them by woman.”
[ 19 ] In the next chapter we shall go back to earlier periods of the development of mankind, during which the population of earth still belonged to only one sex. The development of the two sexes will then be described.
IV. Die Lemurische Rasse
[ 1 ] Hier wird ein Stück aus der Akasha-Chronik mitgeteilt, das sich auf eine sehr ferne Urzeit in der Menschheitsentwickelung bezieht. Diese Zeit geht derjenigen voraus, welche in den vorhergehenden Darstellungen geschildert worden ist. Es handelt sich um die dritte menschliche Wurzelrasse, von welcher in theosophischen Büchern gesagt wird, daß sie den lemurischen Kontinent bewohnt hat. Dieser Kontinent lag — im Sinne dieser Bücher — im Süden von Asien, dehnte sich aber ungefähr von Ceylon bis Madagaskar aus. Auch das heutige südliche Asien und Teile von Afrika gehörten zu ihm. — Wenn auch beim Entziffern der ,,Akasha-Chronik" alle mögliche Sorgfalt angewendet worden ist, so muß doch betont werden, daß nirgends für diese Mitteilungen irgendwelcher dogmatischer Charakter in Anspruch genommen werden soll. Ist schon das Lesen von Dingen und Ereignissen, welche dem gegenwärtigen Zeitalter so fernliegen, nicht leicht, so bietet die Übersetzung des Geschauten und Entzifferten in die gegenwärtige Sprache fast unübersteigliche Hindernisse. — Zeitangaben werden später gemacht werden. Sie werden besser verstanden werden, wenn die ganze lemurische Zeit und auch noch diejenige unserer (fünften) Wurzelrasse bis zur Gegenwart durchgenommen sein werden. — die Dinge, die hier mitgeteilt werden, sind auch für den Okkultisten, der sie zum ersten Male liest, überraschend — obgleich das Wort nicht ganz zutreffend ist. Deshalb darf er sie nur nach der sorgfältigsten Prüfung mitteilen.
[ 2 ] Der vierten (atlantischen) Wurzelrasse ging die sogenannte lemurische voran. Innerhalb ihrer Entwickelung vollzogen sich mit Erde und Mensch Tatsachen von der allergrößten Bedeutung. Doch soll hier zuerst etwas über den Charakter dieser Wurzelrasse nach diesen Tatsachen gesagt und dann erst auf die letzteren eingegangen werden. Im großen und ganzen war bei dieser Rasse das Gedächtnis noch nicht ausgebildet. Die Menschen konnten sich zwar Vorstellungen machen von den Dingen und Ereignissen; aber diese Vorstellungen blieben nicht in der Erinnerung haften. Daher hatten sie auch noch keine Sprache im eigentlichen Sinne. Was sie in dieser Beziehung hervorbringen konnten, waren mehr Naturlaute, die ihre Empfindungen, Lust, Freude, Schmerz und so weiter ausdrückten, die aber nicht äußerliche Dinge bezeichneten. — Aber ihre Vorstellungen hatten eine ganz andere Kraft als die der späteren Menschen. Sie wirkten durch diese Kraft auf ihre Umgebung. Andere Menschen, Tiere, Pflanzen und selbst leblose Gegenstände konnten diese Wirkung empfinden und durch bloße Vorstellungen beeinflußt werden. So konnte der Lemurier seinen Nebenmenschen Mitteilungen machen, ohne daß er eine Sprache nötig gehabt hätte. Diese Mitteilung bestand in einer Art «Gedankenlesen». Die Kraft seiner Vorstellungen schöpfte der Lemurier unmittelbar aus den Dingen, die ihn umgaben. Sie floß ihm zu aus der Wachstumskraft der Pflanzen, aus der Lebenskraft der Tiere. So verstand er Pflanzen und Tiere in ihrem inneren Weben und Leben. Ja, er verstand so auch die physischen und chemischen Kräfte der leblosen Dinge. Wenn er etwas baute, brauchte er nicht erst die Tragkraft eines Holzstammes, die Schwere eines Bausteines zu berechnen, er sah dem Holzstamme an, wieviel er tragen kann, dem Baustein, wo er durch seine Schwere angebracht ist, wo nicht. So baute der Lemurier ohne Ingenieurkunst aus seiner mit der Sicherheit einer Art Instinktes wirkenden Vorstellungskraft heraus. Und er hatte dabei seinen Körper in hohem Maße in seiner Gewalt. Er konnte seinen Arm stählen, wenn es nötig war, durch bloße Anstrengung des Willens. Ungeheure Lasten konnte er zum Beispiel heben durch bloße Willensentwickelung. Diente später dem Atlantier die Herrschaft über die Lebenskraft, so diente dem Lemurier die Bemeisterung des Willens. Er war — der Ausdruck soll nicht mißverstanden werden — auf allen Gebieten niederer menschlicher Verrichtungen der geborene Magier.
[ 3 ] Auf die Ausbildung des Willens, der vorstellenden Kraft war es bei den Lemuriern abgesehen. Die Kindererziehung war ganz darauf angelegt. Die Knaben wurden in der kräftigsten Art abgehärtet. Sie mußten lernen, Gefahren bestehen, Schmerzen überwinden, kühne Handlungen vollziehen. Diejenigen, welche Martern nicht ertragen, Gefahren nicht bestehen konnten, wurden als keine nützlichen Mitglieder der Menschheit angesehen. Man ließ sie unter den Strapazen zugrunde gehen. Was die Akasha-Chronik in bezug auf diese Kinderzucht zeigt, übersteigt alles, was sich der gegenwärtige Mensch in der kühnsten Phantasie auszumalen vermag. Das Ertragen von Hitze bis zur versengenden Glut, das Durchstechen des Körpers mit spitzen Gegenständen waren ganz gewöhnliche Prozeduren. — anders war die Mädchenzucht. Zwar wurde auch das weibliche Kind abgehärtet; aber es war alles übrige darauf angelegt, daß es eine kräftige Phantasie entwickele. Es wurde zum Beispiel dem Sturm ausgesetzt, um seine grausige Schönheit ruhig zu empfinden; es mußte den Kämpfen der Männer zusehen, angstlos, nur durchdrungen von dem Gefühle für die Stärke und Kraft, die es vor sich sah. Die Anlagen zur Träumerei, zum Phantasieren entwickelten sich dadurch bei dem Mädchen; aber diese schätzte man besonders hoch. Und da ein Gedächtnis nicht vorhanden war, so konnten diese Anlagen auch nicht ausarten. Die betreffenden Traumoder Phantasievorstellungen hielten nur solange an, als die entsprechende äußere Veranlassung vorlag. Sie hatten also insofern ihren guten Grund in den äußeren Dingen. Sie verloren sich nicht ins Bodenlose. Es war sozusagen die Phantastik und Träumerei der Natur selbst, die in das weibliche Gemüt gesenkt wurde.
[ 4 ] Wohnungen in unserem Sinne hatten die Lemurier, ausgenommen in ihrer letzten Zeit, nicht. Sie hielten sich da auf, wo die Natur selbst dazu Gelegenheit gab. Erdhöhlen zum Beispiel, die sie benutzten, gestalteten sie nur so um, statteten sie mit solchen Zutaten aus, wie sie dies brauchten. Später bauten sie sich auch aus Erdreich solche Höhlen; und dann entwickelten sie bei solchen Bauten eine große Geschicklichkeit. Man darf sich aber nicht vorstellen, daß sie nicht auch künstliche Bauten aufführten. Nur dienten diese nicht zur Wohnung. Sie entsprangen in der ersten Zeit dem Bedürfnis, den Naturdingen eine durch den Menschen herbeigeführte Form zu geben. Hügel wurden so umgeformt, daß der Mensch seine Freude, sein Behagen an der Form hatte. Steine wurden aus demselben Grunde zusammengefügt, oder auch darum, bei gewissen Verrichtungen zu dienen. Die Orte, an denen man die Kinder abhärtete, wurden mit Mauern dieser Art umgeben. — immer gewaltiger und kunstvoller wurden aber gegen das Ende dieses Zeitalters die Bauten, welche der Pflege der «göttlichen Weisheit und göttlichen Kunst» dienten. Diese Anstalten waren in jeder Art verschieden von dem, was der späteren Menschheit die Tempel waren, denn sie waren zugleich Unterrichtsanstalten und Wissenschaftsstätten. Wer dazu geeignet befunden wurde, durfte hier eingeweiht werden in die Wissenschaft von den Weltgesetzen und in der Handhabung dieser Gesetze. War der Lemurier ein geborener Magier, so wurde hier diese Anlage zur Kunst und zur Einsicht ausgebildet. Nur diejenigen, welche im höchsten Maße durch jegliche Abhärtung die Fähigkeit erworben hatten, zu überwinden, konnten zugelassen werden. Für alle anderen war das, was in diesen Anstalten vorging, das tiefste Geheimnis. Man lernte hier die Naturkräfte in unmittelbarer Anschauung kennen und auch beherrschen. Aber das Lernen war so, daß die Naturkräfte beim Menschen sich in Willenskräfte umsetzten. Er konnte dadurch selbst ausführen, was die Natur vollbringt. Was die spätere Menschheit durch Überlegung, durch Kombination vollbrachte, das hatte damals den Charakter einer instinktiven Tätigkeit. Doch darf man das Wort «Instinkt» hier nicht in demselben Sinne gebrauchen, wie man gewohnt ist, es auf die Tierwelt anzuwenden. Denn die Verrichtungen der lemurischen Menschheit standen turmhoch über allem, was die Tierwelt durch den Instinkt hervorzubringen vermag. Sie standen sogar weit über dem, was sich seither die Menschheit durch Gedächtnis, Verstand und Phantasie an Künsten und Wissenschaften angeeignet hat. Wollte man einen Ausdruck für diese Anstalten gebrauchen, der das Verständnis erleichtert, so könnte man sie «Hochschulen der Willenskräfte und der hellsehenden Vorstellungsgewalt» nennen. — Aus ihnen gingen die Menschen hervor, welche zu Herrschern der andern in jeder Beziehung wurden. Eine richtige Vorstellung von all diesen Verhältnissen ist heute in Worten schwer zu geben. Denn alles hat sich seither auf der Erde geändert. Die Natur selbst und alles menschliche Leben waren anders; daher waren ganz verschieden von dem heute üblichen die menschliche Arbeit und das Verhältnis von Mensch zu Mensch.
[ 5 ] Noch viel dichter als später in atlantischen Zeiten war die Luft, noch viel dünner das Wasser. Und auch das, was heute unsere feste Erdkruste bildet, war noch nicht so verhärtet wie später. Die Pflanzen- und die Tierwelt waren erst vorgeschritten bis zur Amphibien-, Vogelwelt und den niederen Säugetieren, ferner bis zu Gewächsen, die Ähnlichkeit haben mit unseren Palmen und ähnlichen Bäumen. Doch waren alle Formen anders als heute. Was jetzt nur in kleinen Gestalten vorkommt, war damals riesig entwickelt. Unsere kleinen Farne waren damals Bäume und bildeten mächtige Wälder. Die gegenwärtigen höheren Säugetiere gab es nicht. Dagegen war ein großer Teil der Menschheit auf so niedriger Entwickelung, daß man ihn durchaus als tierisch bezeichnen muß. Überhaupt gilt nur von einem kleinen Teil der Menschen das, was hier von ihnen beschrieben ist. Der andere Teil lebte ein Leben in Tierheit. Ja, diese Tiermenschen waren in dem äußeren Bau und in der Lebensweise durchaus verschieden von jenem kleinen Teil. Sie unterschieden sich gar nicht besonders von den niederen Säugetieren, die ihnen in gewisser Beziehung auch in der Gestalt ähnlich waren.
[ 6 ] Es müssen noch einige Worte gesagt werden über die Bedeutung der erwähnten Tempelstätten. Es war nicht eigentlich Religion, was da gepflegt wurde. Es war «göttliche Weisheit und Kunst». Der Mensch empfand, was ihm da gegeben wurde, unmittelbar als ein Geschenk der geistigen Weltkräfte. Und wenn er dieses Geschenkes teilhaftig wurde, so sah er sich selbst als einen «Diener» dieser Weltkräfte an. Er fühlte sich «geheiligt» vor allem Ungeistigen. Will man von Religion auf dieser Stufe der Menschheitsentwickelung sprechen, so könnte man sie «Willensreligion» nennen. Die religiöse Stimmung und Weihe lag darinnen, daß der Mensch die ihm verliehenen Kräfte als strenges, göttliches ,,Geheimnis" hütete, daß er ein Leben führte, durch das er seine Macht heiligte. Die Scheu und Verehrung, mit der man Personen von seiten der andern begegnete, die solche Kräfte hatten, waren groß. Und sie waren nicht irgendwie durch Gesetze oder dergleichen bewirkt, sondern durch die unmittelbare Macht, die von ihnen ausgeübt wurde. Wer uneingeweiht war, stand ganz selbstverständlich unter dem magischen Einfluß der Eingeweihten. Und selbstverständlich war es ja auch, daß diese sich als geheiligte Personen betrachteten. Denn sie wurden ja in ihren Tempelstätten in voller Anschauung teilhaftig der wirkenden Naturkräfte. Sie blickten hinein in die schaffende Werkstatt der Natur. Was sie erlebten, war ein Verkehr mit den Wesenheiten, die an der Welt selbst bauen. Man darf diesen Verkehr einen Umgang mit den Göttern nennen. Und was sich später als «Einweihung», als «Mysterium» entwickelt hat, ist aus dieser ursprünglichen Art des Verkehrs der Menschen mit den Göttern hervorgegangen. In folgenden Zeiten mußte dieser Verkehr sich anders gestalten, weil das menschliche Vorstellen, der menschliche Geist andere Formen annahmen.
[ 7 ] Von besonderer Wichtigkeit ist etwas, was mit dem Fortschritte der lemurischen Entwickelung dadurch geschah, daß die Frauen in der geschilderten Art lebten. Sie bildeten dadurch besondere menschliche Kräfte aus. Ihre mit der Natur im Bunde befindliche Einbildungskraft wurde die Grundlage für eine höhere Entwickelung des Vorstellungslebens. Sie nahmen sinnig die Kräfte der Natur in sich auf und ließen sie in der Seele nachwirken. Damit bildeten sich die Keime des Gedächtnisses. Und mit dem Gedächtnis trat auch die Fähigkeit in die Welt, die ersten allereinfachsten moralischen Begriffe zu bilden. — die Willensausbildung des männlichen Elementes kannte derartiges zunächst nicht. Der Mann folgte instinktiv entweder den Antrieben der Natur oder den Einflüssen, die von den Eingeweihten ausgingen. — Aus der Frauenart heraus entstanden die ersten Vorstellungen von «gut und böse». Da fing man an, das eine, das auf das Vorstellungsleben einen besonderen Eindruck gemacht hat, zu lieben, anderes zu verabscheuen. War die Herrschaft, welche das männliche Element ausübte, mehr auf die äußere Wirkung der Willenskräfte, auf die Handhabung der Naturmächte gerichtet, so entstand daneben in dem weiblichen Element eine Wirkung durch das Gemüt, durch die inneren, persönlichen Kräfte des Menschen. Nur derjenige kann die Entwickelung der Menschheit richtig verstehen, der berücksichtigt, daß die ersten Fortschritte im Vorstellungsleben von den Frauen gemacht worden sind. Die mit dem sinnigen Vorstellungsleben, mit der Ausbildung des Gedächtnisses zusammenhängende Entwickelung von Gewohnheiten, welche die Keime zu einem Rechtsleben, zu einer Art von Sitte bildeten, kam von dieser Seite. Hatte der Mann die Naturkräfte geschaut und ausgeübt: die Frau wurde die erste Deuterin derselben. Es war eine besondere neue Art, durch das Nachdenken zu leben, die hier entstand. Diese Art hatte etwas viel Perönlicheres als diejenige der Männer. Nun muß man sich vorstellen, daß diese Art der Frauen doch auch eine Art von Hellsehen war, wenn sie sich auch von der Willensmagie der Männer unterschied. Die Frau war in ihrer Seele einer anderen Art von geistigen Mächten zugänglich. Solchen, die mehr zu dem Gefühlselement der Seele sprachen, weniger zu dem geistigen, dem der Mann unterworfen war. So ging von den Männern eine Wirkung aus, die mehr natürlich-göttlich, von den Frauen eine solche, die mehr seelisch-göttlich war.
[ 8 ] Die Entwickelung, welche die Frau während der lemurischen Zeit durchgemacht hatte, brachte es mit sich, daß ihr beim Auftreten der nächsten — der atlantischen — Wurzelrasse auf der Erde eine wichtige Rolle zufiel. Dieses Auftreten fand statt unter dem Einflusse hochentwickelter Wesenheiten, die bekannt waren mit den Gesetzen der Rassenbildung und die imstande waren, die vorhandenen Kräfte der Menschennatur in solche Bahnen zu leiten, daß eine neue Rasse entstehen konnte. Über diese Wesen soll noch besonders gesprochen werden. Vorläufig mag es genügen, zu sagen, daß ihnen übermenschliche Weisheit und Macht innewohnte. Sie sonderten nun eine kleine Schar aus der lemurischen Menschheit ab und bestimmten diese zu Stammeltern der kommenden atlantischen Rasse. Der Ort, an dem sie das taten, lag in der heißen Zone. Die Männer dieses Häufleins hatten unter ihrer Anleitung sich in der Beherrschung der Naturkräfte ausgebildet. Sie waren kraftvoll und verstanden es, der Erde die mannigfaltigsten Schätze abzugewinnen. Sie konnten den Acker bebauen und seine Früchte ihrem Leben nutzbar machen. Sie waren starke Willensnaturen geworden durch die Zucht, die man ihnen hatte angedeihen lassen. In geringem Maße war bei ihnen Seele und Gemüt ausgebildet. Diese waren dafür bei den Frauen zur Entfaltung gelangt. Gedächtnis und Phantasie und alles, was mit diesem verbunden ist, fanden sich bei ihnen.
[ 9 ] Die genannten Führer bewirkten, daß sich das Häuflein in kleine Gruppen ordnete. Und sie übertrugen den Frauen die Ordnung und Einrichtung dieser Gruppen. Durch ihr Gedächtnis hatte die Frau die Fähigkeit erworben, die Erfahrungen und Erlebnisse, die einmal gemacht worden waren, für die Zukunft nutzbar zu machen. Was gestern sich als zweckmäßig erwies, das verwertete sie heute und war sich klar darüber, daß es auch morgen nutzbringend sein werde. Die Einrichtungen für das Zusammenleben gingen dadurch von ihr aus. Unter ihrem Einflusse bildeten sich die Begriffe von «gut und böse» aus. Durch ihr sinnendes Leben hatte sie sich Verständnis für die Natur erworben. Aus der Beobachtung der Natur erwuchsen ihr die Vorstellungen, nach denen sie das Treiben der Menschen leitete. Die Führer hatten es so eingerichtet, daß durch die Seele der Frau die Willensnatur, das Kraftstrotzende der Männer veredelt und geläutert wurde. Natürlich muß man sich das alles in kindlichen Anfängen denken. Die Worte unserer Sprache rufen nur zu leicht sogleich Vorstellungen hervor, die dem Leben der Gegenwart entnommen sind.
[ 10 ] Auf dem Umwege durch das erwachte Seelenleben der Frauen entwickelten die Führer erst dasjenige der Männer. In der gekennzeichneten Kolonie war der Einfluß der Frauen daher ein sehr großer. Bei ihnen mußte man Rat holen, wenn man die Zeichen der Natur deuten wollte. Die ganze Art ihres Seelenlebens war aber noch eine solche, die beherrscht war von den «geheimen» Seelenkräften des Menschen. Man trifft die Sache nicht ganz, aber annähernd, wenn man von einem somnambulen Anschauen dieser Frauen spricht. In einem gewissen höheren Träumen enthüllten sich ihnen die Geheimnisse der Natur und erflossen ihnen die Antriebe zu ihrem Handeln. Alles war für sie beseelt und zeigte sich ihnen in seelischen Kräften und Erscheinungen. Sie überließen sich dem geheimnisvollen Weben ihrer seelischen Kräfte. Das, was sie zu ihren Handlungen trieb, waren «innere Stimmen» oder das, was Pflanzen, Tiere, Steine, Wind und Wolken, das Säuseln der Bäume und so weiter ihnen sagten.
[ 11 ] Aus solcher Seelenverfassung erstand das, was man menschliche Religion nennen kann. Das Seelenhafte in der Natur und im Menschenleben wurde allmählich verehrt und angebetet. Einzelne Frauen gelangten zu besonderer Vorherrschaft, weil sie aus besonderen geheimnisvollen Tiefen heraus zu deuten wußten, was in der Welt enthalten ist.
[ 12 ] So konnte es kommen, daß bei solchen Frauen das, was in ihrem Innern lebte, sich in eine Art Natursprache umsetzte. Denn der Anfang der Sprache liegt in etwas, was dem Gesange ähnlich ist. Die Kraft des Gedankens setzte sich in die hörbare des Lautes um. Der innere Rhythmus der Natur erklang von den Lippen «weiser» Frauen. Man versammelte sich um solche Frauen und empfand in ihren gesangartigen Sätzen die Äußerungen höherer Mächte. Der menschliche Gottesdienst hat mit solchen Dingen seinen Anfang genommen. — von einem «Sinn» in dem Gesprochenen kann für die damalige Zeit nicht die Rede sein. Man empfand Klang, Ton und Rhythmus. Man stellte sich dabei nichts weiter vor, sondern sog die Kraft des Gehörten in die Seele. Der ganze Vorgang stand unter der Leitung der höheren Führer. Sie hatten in einer Art, über welche jetzt nicht weiter gesprochen werden kann, Töne und Rhythmen den «weisen» Priesterinnen eingeflößt. So konnten sie veredelnd auf die Seelen der Menschen wirken. Man kann sagen, daß in dieser Art überhaupt erst das eigentliche Seelenleben erwachte.
[ 13 ] Die Akasha-Chronik zeigt auf diesem Gebiete schöne Szenen. Es soll eine solche beschrieben werden. Wir sind in einem Walde, bei einem mächtigen Baum. Die Sonne ist eben im Osten aufgegangen. Mächtige Schatten wirft der palmenartige Baum, um den ringsherum die anderen Bäume entfernt worden sind. Das Antlitz nach Osten gewendet, verzückt, sitzt auf einem aus seltenen Naturgegenständen und Pflanzen zurechtgemachten Sitz die Priesterin. Langsam, in rhythmischer Folge strömen von ihren Lippen wundersame, wenige Laute, die sich immer wiederholen. In Kreisen herum sitzt eine Anzahl Männer und Frauen mit traumverlorenen Gesichtern, inneres Leben aus dem Gehörten saugend. — noch andere Szenen können gesehen werden. An einem ähnlich eingerichteten Platze «singt» eine Priesterin ähnlich, aber ihre Töne haben etwas Mächtigeres, Kräftigeres. Und die Menschen um sie herum bewegen sich in rhythmischen Tänzen. Denn dies war die andere Art, wie «Seele» in die Menschheit kam. Die geheimnisvollen Rhythmen, die man der Natur abgelauscht hatte, wurden in den Bewegungen der eigenen Glieder nachgeahmt. Man fühlte sich dadurch eins mit der Natur und den in ihr waltenden Mächten.
[ 14 ] Der Platz der Erde, an dem dieser Stamm einer kommenden Menschenrasse herangebildet wurde, war dazu besonders geeignet. Er war ein solcher, in dem die damals noch sturmbewegte Erde einigermaßen zur Ruhe gekommen war. Denn Lemurien war sturmbewegt. Die Erde hatte ja damals noch nicht ihre spätere Dichte. Überall war der dünne Boden von vulkanischen Kräften unterwühlt, die in kleineren oder größeren Strömen hervorbrachen. Mächtige Vulkane waren fast allerorten vorhanden und entwickelten fortdauernd eine zerstörende Tätigkeit. Die Menschen waren gewöhnt, bei allen ihren Verrichtungen mit dieser Feuertätigkeit zu rechnen. Sie benutzten auch dieses Feuer bei ihren Arbeiten und Einrichtungen. Die Verrichtungen waren vielfach so, daß das Feuer der Natur so als Grundlage diente wie heute das künstliche Feuer bei der menschlichen Arbeit.
[ 15 ] Durch die Tätigkeit dieses vulkanischen Feuers ist auch der Untergang des lemurischen Landes herbeigeführt worden. Der Teil von Lemurien, aus dem sich die Stammrasse der Atlantier entwickeln sollte, hatte zwar heißes Klima, doch war er im großen und ganzen von der vulkanischen Tätigkeit ausgenommen. — Stiller und friedlicher als in den übrigen Erdgebieten konnte sich hier die Menschennatur entfalten. Das mehr herumschweifende Leben der früheren Zeiten wurde aufgegeben, und die festen Ansiedlungen wurden immer zahlreicher.
[ 16 ] Man muß sich vorstellen, daß der Menschenleib zu dieser Zeit noch etwas sehr Bildsames und Geschmeidiges hatte. Er bildete sich noch fortwährend um, wenn das innere Leben sich veränderte. Nicht lange vorher waren nämlich die Menschen in bezug auf den äußeren Bau noch recht verschieden. Der äußere Einfluß der Gegend, des Klimas waren da noch für den Bau entscheidend. Erst in der bezeichneten Kolonie wurde der Leib des Menschen immer mehr ein Ausdruck seines inneren seelischen Lebens. Diese Kolonie hatte zugleich eine vorgeschrittene äußerlich edler gebildete Menschenart. Man muß sagen, durch das, was die Führer getan hatten, haben sie eigentlich erst das geschaffen, was die richtige menschliche Gestalt ist. Das ging allerdings ganz langsam und allmählich. Aber es ist so vor sich gegangen, daß zuerst das Seelenleben in dem Menschen entfaltet wurde, und diesem paßte sich der noch weiche und schmiegsame Leib an. Es ist ein Gesetz in der Menschheitsentwickelung, daß der Mensch mit dem Fortschritte immer weniger und weniger umgestaltenden Einfluß auf seinen physischen Leib hat. Eine ziemlich feste Form hat dieser physische Menschenleib eigentlich erst mit der Entwickelung der Verstandeskraft erhalten und mit der damit zusammenhängenden Verfestigung der Gesteins-, Mineral- und Metallbildungen der Erde. Denn in der lemurischen und noch in der atlantischen Zeit waren Steine und Metalle viel weicher als später. — (Dem widerspricht nicht, daß noch Nachkommen der letzten Lemurier und Atlantier vorhanden sind, die heute ebenso feste Formen aufweisen wie die später gebildeten Menschenrassen. Diese Überbleibsel mußten sich den geänderten Umgebungsverhältnissen der Erde anpassen und wurden so auch starrer. Gerade darin liegt der Grund, warum sie im Niedergang begriffen sind. Sie bildeten sich nicht von innen heraus um, sondern es wurde ihr weniger entwickeltes Innere von außen in die Starrheit gezwängt und dadurch zum Stillstande gezwungen. Und dieser Stillstand ist wirklich Rückgang, denn auch das Innenleben ist verkommen, weil es sich in der verfestigten äußeren Leiblichkeit nicht ausleben konnte.)
[ 17 ] Einer noch größeren Verwandlungsfähigkeit war das Tierleben unterworfen. Über die zur Zeit der Menschen-Entstehung vorhandenen Tierarten und ihr Herkommen, sowie über die Entstehung neuer Tierformen, nachdem der Mensch schon da war, wird noch zu sprechen sein. Hier soll nur gesagt werden, daß die vorhandenen Tierarten sich fortwährend umbildeten und neue entstanden. Diese Umwandlung war natürlich eine allmähliche. Die Gründe zur Umwandlung lagen zum Teil in der Veränderung des Aufenthaltes, der Lebensweise. Die Tiere hatten eine außerordentlich schnelle Anpassungsfähigkeit an neue Verhältnisse. Der bildsame Körper änderte verhältnismäßig schnell die Organe, so daß nach mehr oder weniger kurzer Zeit die Nachkommen einer gewissen Tierart ihren Vorfahren nur mehr wenig ähnlich sahen. Dasselbe, ja in einem noch größeren Maße, war für die Pflanzen der Fall. Den größten Einfluß auf die Umgestaltung von Menschen und Tieren hatte der Mensch selbst. Sei es, daß er instinktiv die Lebewesen in eine solche Umgebung brachte, daß sie bestimmte Formen annahmen, sei es, daß er durch Züchtungsversuche solches bewirkte. Der umgestaltende Einfluß des Menschen auf die Natur war, verglichen mit heutigen Verhältnissen, damals unermeßlich groß. Insbesondere war das in der beschriebenen Kolonie der Fall. Denn da leiteten die Führer in einer den Menschen unbewußten Art diese Umgestaltung. Es war das in einem Maße der Fall, daß die Menschen dann, als sie auszogen, die verschiedenen atlantischen Rassen zu begründen, sich hochentwickelte Kenntnisse über Züchtung von Tieren und Pflanzen mitnehmen konnten. Die Kulturarbeit in Atlantis war dann im wesentlichen eine Folge dieser mitgebrachten Kenntnisse. Doch muß auch hier betont werden, daß diese Kenntnisse einen instinktiven Charakter hatten. So blieb es auch im wesentlichen bei den ersten atlantischen Rassen.
[ 18 ] Die gekennzeichnete Vorherrschaft der Frauenseele ist besonders stark in der letzten lemurischen Zeit und dauert bis in die atlantischen Zeiten, in denen sich die vierte Unterrasse vorbereitete. Aber man darf sich nicht vorstellen, daß dies etwa bei der ganzen Menschheit der Fall war. Wohl aber gilt es für denjenigen Teil der Erdenbevölkerung, aus welchem später die eigentlichen fortgeschrittenen Rassen hervorgegangen sind. Und dieser Einfluß war auf alles das im Menschen am stärksten, was «unbewußt» in und an ihm ist. Die Bildung gewisser ständiger Gebärden, die Feinheiten der sinnlichen Anschauung, die Schönheitsempfindungen, ein guter Teil des den Menschen gemeinsamen Empfindungs- und Gefühlslebens überhaupt ging ursprünglich aus von dem seelischen Einfluß der Frau. Es ist nicht zuviel gesagt, wenn man die Berichte der Akasha-Chronik so auslegt, daß man behauptet: «Die Kulturnationen haben eine Leibesbildung und einen Leibesausdruck, sowie gewisse Grundlagen des leiblich-seelischen Lebens, die ihnen von der Frau aufgeprägt worden sind.»
[ 19 ] Im weiteren Verlaufe wird auf ältere Zeiten der Menschheitsbildung zurückgegriffen werden, in denen die Erdbevölkerung noch eingeschlechtlich war. Es wird dann das Hervortreten des doppelten Geschlechtes dargestellt werden.
IV. The Lemurian race
[ 1 ] Here is a piece from the Akashic Chronicle that refers to a very distant primeval time in the development of mankind. This time precedes that which has been described in the previous accounts. It concerns the third human root race, which is said in theosophical books to have inhabited the Lemurian continent. This continent was - in the sense of these books - in the south of Asia, but extended roughly from Ceylon to Madagascar. Today's southern Asia and parts of Africa also belonged to it. - Even if all possible care has been taken in deciphering the "Akashic Chronicle", it must be emphasized that nowhere should any dogmatic character be claimed for these messages. If the reading of things and events which are so remote from the present age is not easy, the translation of what is seen and deciphered into the present language presents almost insurmountable obstacles. - Time references will be made later. They will be better understood when the whole Lemurian period and also that of our (fifth) root race up to the present will have been gone through. - The things that are communicated here are surprising even to the occultist who reads them for the first time - although the word is not entirely accurate. Therefore, he may communicate them only after the most careful examination.
[ 2 ] The fourth (Atlantean) root race was preceded by the so-called lemurian. Within their development facts of the greatest significance took place with earth and man. But here we shall first say something about the character of this root race after these facts and only then deal with the latter. On the whole, memory was not yet developed in this race. Humans were able to form images of things and events, but these ideas did not remain in their memories. That is why they did not yet have a language in the true sense of the word. What they could produce in this respect were more natural sounds that expressed their feelings, pleasure, joy, pain and so on, but which did not describe external things. - But their ideas had a completely different power to those of later humans. They influenced their surroundings through this power. Other people, animals, plants and even inanimate objects could feel this effect and be influenced by mere imagination. The Lemurian was thus able to communicate with others without the need for language. This communication consisted of a kind of "mind reading". The Lemurian drew the power of his imagination directly from the things that surrounded him. It flowed to him from the growth power of plants, from the life force of animals. Thus he understood plants and animals in their inner weaving and life. Indeed, he also understood the physical and chemical forces of inanimate things. When he built something, he did not first need to calculate the load-bearing capacity of a log, the weight of a building block, he looked at the log to see how much it could carry, at the building block to see where its weight was appropriate and where it was not. In this way, the Lemurian built without the art of engineering, using his imagination with the certainty of a kind of instinct. And he had a great deal of control over his body. He could steel his arm when necessary by sheer effort of will. He could lift immense loads, for example, simply by developing his will. If the Atlantean was later served by the mastery of the life force, the Lemurian was served by the mastery of the will. He was - the expression should not be misunderstood - a born magician in all areas of lower human activities.
[ 3 ] The Lemurians were concerned with training the will, the imaginative power. The upbringing of children was entirely geared towards this. The boys were hardened in the strongest possible way. They had to learn to endure dangers, overcome pain and perform bold deeds. Those who could not endure hardships and overcome dangers were not considered useful members of humanity. They were left to perish under the hardships. What the Akashic Chronicle shows with regard to this cultivation of children is beyond the wildest imagination of contemporary man. The endurance of heat to the point of searing embers, the piercing of the body with sharp objects were quite ordinary procedures. - The breeding of girls was different. Although the female child was also hardened, everything else was designed to develop a powerful imagination. For example, she was exposed to the storm in order to calmly experience its terrible beauty; she had to watch the battles of the men, fearless, imbued only with the feeling for the strength and power she saw before her. The girl's tendency to dream, to fantasize, developed as a result; but these were particularly highly valued. And since there was no memory, these tendencies could not degenerate. The dreams or fantasies in question only lasted as long as the corresponding external cause was present. They therefore had their good reason in external things. They did not lose themselves in a bottomless pit. It was, so to speak, the fantasy and reverie of nature itself that sank into the female mind.
[ 4 ] The Lemurians did not have dwellings in our sense, except in their last period. They lived where nature itself gave them the opportunity. The burrows they used, for example, were only modified and equipped with the ingredients they needed. Later they also built such caves from the earth, and then they developed great skill in such constructions. But one must not imagine that they did not also build artificial structures. But these did not serve as dwellings. In the early days they arose from the need to give natural things a man-made form. Hills were reshaped in such a way that man took pleasure and pleasure in the form. Stones were joined together for the same reason, or to serve certain purposes. The places where children were hardened were surrounded by walls of this kind. - Towards the end of this age, however, the buildings that served the cultivation of "divine wisdom and divine art" became ever more massive and elaborate. These institutions were different in every way from the temples of later mankind, for they were both educational institutions and places of science. Those who were found suitable were allowed to be initiated into the science of the laws of the world and the handling of these laws. If the Lemurian was a born magician, this talent for art and insight was trained here. Only those who had acquired the ability to overcome to the highest degree through all kinds of hardening could be admitted. For everyone else, what went on in these institutions was the deepest secret. Here one learned to know and master the forces of nature in direct observation. But the learning was such that the forces of nature were transformed in man into forces of will. He was thus able to accomplish himself what nature accomplishes. What later mankind accomplished by reasoning, by combination, had at that time the character of an instinctive activity. However, the word "instinct" should not be used here in the same sense as we are used to applying it to the animal world. For the activities of Lemurian mankind were towering above everything that the animal world is capable of producing through instinct. They were even far above the arts and sciences that mankind has since acquired through memory, intellect and imagination. If one wanted to use an expression for these institutions that facilitates understanding, one could call them "colleges of the powers of will and clairvoyant imagination". - From them emerged the people who became rulers of others in every respect. It is difficult to give a correct idea of all these relationships in words today. For everything on earth has changed since then. Nature itself and all human life were different; therefore, human work and the relationship of man to man were quite different from what is usual today.
[ 5 ] The air was much denser than later in Atlantean times, the water much thinner. And what forms our solid earth crust today was not yet as hardened as it was later. The plant and animal world had only progressed as far as amphibians, birds and lower mammals, as well as plants that resemble our palms and similar trees. But all forms were different from today. What now occurs only in small forms was then hugely developed. Our small ferns were then trees and formed mighty forests. The higher mammals of today did not exist. On the other hand, a large part of mankind was at such a low stage of development that it must be described as animalistic. In fact, only a small part of mankind can be described as such. The other part lived a life of animalism. Indeed, these animal people were quite different from that small part in their external structure and way of life. They were not particularly different from the lower mammals, who were also similar to them in shape in certain respects.
[ 6 ] A few words must be said about the significance of the temple sites mentioned. It was not actually religion that was practiced there. It was "divine wisdom and art". Man immediately perceived what was given to him there as a gift from the spiritual forces of the world. And when he received this gift, he saw himself as a "servant" of these world forces. He felt "sanctified" before everything unspiritual. If one wants to speak of religion at this stage of human development, one could call it "religion of the will". The religious mood and consecration lay in the fact that man guarded the powers bestowed upon him as a strict, divine "secret", that he led a life through which he sanctified his power. The awe and reverence with which others treated people who had such powers was great. And they were not somehow brought about by laws or the like, but by the direct power they exercised. Those who were uninitiated were quite naturally under the magical influence of the initiates. And it was also a matter of course that they regarded themselves as sacred persons. After all, in their temples they were fully aware of the forces of nature at work. They looked into the creative workshop of nature. What they experienced was an intercourse with the entities that build the world itself. This contact can be called contact with the gods. And what later developed as "initiation", as "mystery", emerged from this original form of human contact with the gods. In subsequent times, this communication had to take a different form because the human imagination, the human spirit, took on other forms.
[ 7 ] Of particular importance is something that happened with the progress of Lemurian development in that women lived in the manner described. They thus developed special human powers. Their imagination, which was in union with nature, became the basis for a higher development of the imaginative life. They sensibly absorbed the forces of nature and allowed them to have an effect on the soul. Thus the germs of memory were formed. And with memory also entered the world the ability to form the first very simple moral concepts. - The development of the will of the male element did not know such things at first. Man instinctively followed either the impulses of nature or the influences emanating from the initiates. - The first ideas of "good and evil" emerged from the female species. People began to love the one thing that made a particular impression on their imaginations and to detest the other. While the dominion exercised by the masculine element was directed more towards the external effect of the forces of will, towards the manipulation of the forces of nature, the feminine element also had an effect through the mind, through the inner, personal powers of man. Only those can correctly understand the development of mankind who take into account that the first advances in the life of imagination were made by women. The development of habits connected with the sensible life of imagination, with the formation of memory, which formed the germs of a legal life, of a kind of custom, came from this side. Once man had seen and exercised the forces of nature, woman became the first interpreter of them. It was a special new way of living through reflection that arose here. This way had something much more personal than that of men. Now one must imagine that this way of women was also a kind of clairvoyance, even if it differed from the will magic of men. The woman was accessible in her soul to a different kind of spiritual powers. These spoke more to the emotional element of the soul and less to the spiritual element to which the man was subject. Thus, men had an effect that was more natural and divine, while women had an effect that was more spiritual and divine.
[ 8 ] The development that woman had undergone during the Lemurian period meant that she played an important role in the appearance of the next - the Atlantean - root race on earth. This emergence took place under the influence of highly developed beings who were familiar with the laws of race formation and who were able to direct the existing forces of human nature in such a way that a new race could come into being. These beings will be discussed in more detail. For the time being it may suffice to say that they possessed superhuman wisdom and power. They now separated a small group from Lemurian mankind and designated them as the progenitors of the coming Atlantean race. The place where they did this was in the hot zone. Under their guidance, the men of this cluster had trained themselves in the control of the forces of nature. They were powerful and knew how to extract the most diverse treasures from the earth. They were able to cultivate the land and make its fruits useful to their lives. They had become strong-willed natures through the training they had received. Their souls and minds were developed to a lesser extent. Instead, these had developed in the women. Memory and imagination and everything associated with them were found in them.
[ 9 ] The above-mentioned leaders had the effect of organizing the little group into small groups. And they entrusted the order and organization of these groups to the women. Through her memory, the woman had acquired the ability to make the experiences and adventures that had once been made useful for the future. What proved useful yesterday, she utilized today and was aware that it would also be useful tomorrow. The institutions for living together thus emanated from her. The concepts of "good and evil" were formed under her influence. Through her sensual life she had acquired an understanding of nature. From her observation of nature grew the ideas according to which she guided people's actions. The leaders had arranged it so that through the soul of the woman the will nature, the strength of the men was refined and purified. Of course, one must think of all this in childish beginnings. The words of our language all too easily evoke ideas taken from the life of the present.
[ 10 ] On the detour through the awakened soul life of the women, the leaders first developed that of the men. In the marked colony, the influence of women was therefore very great. One had to seek advice from them if one wanted to interpret the signs of nature. But the whole nature of their soul life was still one that was dominated by the "secret" soul forces of man. One does not quite hit the nail on the head, but approximately, when one speaks of a somnambulistic view of these women. In a certain higher dreaming, the secrets of nature were revealed to them and the impulses for their actions flowed forth. Everything was animated for them and showed itself to them in spiritual powers and phenomena. They surrendered to the mysterious weaving of their spiritual powers. What drove them to their actions were "inner voices" or what plants, animals, stones, wind and clouds, the whispering of trees and so on told them.
[ 11 ] This state of mind gave rise to what we can call human religion. The soulfulness in nature and in human life was gradually revered and worshipped. Individual women achieved particular supremacy because they knew how to interpret what was contained in the world from special mysterious depths.
[ 12 ] So it could happen that with such women, what lived within them was transformed into a kind of natural language. For the beginning of language lies in something that is similar to song. The power of thought was transformed into the audible power of sound. The inner rhythm of nature sounded from the lips of "wise" women. People gathered around such women and perceived the expressions of higher powers in their chant-like sentences. Human worship began with such things. - There can be no question of "meaning" in the spoken word at that time. Sound, tone and rhythm were perceived. Nothing else was imagined, but the power of what was heard was absorbed into the soul. The whole process was under the direction of the higher leaders. They had instilled sounds and rhythms into the "wise" priestesses in a way that cannot be discussed further now. In this way they were able to have an ennobling effect on the souls of the people. It can be said that it was in this way that the real life of the soul first awoke.
[ 13 ] The Akashic Chronicle shows beautiful scenes in this area. One such scene will be described. We are in a forest, by a mighty tree. The sun has just risen in the east. The palm-like tree, around which the other trees have been removed, casts mighty shadows. Turning her face to the east, enraptured, the priestess sits on a seat made from rare natural objects and plants. Slowly, in rhythmic succession, a few wondrous sounds flow from her lips, always repeating themselves. A number of men and women sit in circles, their faces lost in dreams, sucking inner life from what they hear. - Other scenes can also be seen. In a similarly arranged place, a priestess "sings" in a similar way, but her tones have something more powerful, more forceful. And the people around her move in rhythmic dances. For this was the other way in which "soul" came into humanity. The mysterious rhythms that had been eavesdropped on from nature were imitated in the movements of one's own limbs. This made people feel at one with nature and the forces at work within it.
[ 14 ] The place on earth where this tribe of a coming human race was formed was particularly suitable for this. It was a place where the earth, which was still stormy at the time, had come to a certain degree of calm. For Lemuria was turbulent. The earth did not yet have its later density. Everywhere the thin soil was undermined by volcanic forces that erupted in smaller or larger streams. Mighty volcanoes were present almost everywhere and were constantly developing destructive activity. People were used to reckoning with this fire activity in all their activities. They also used this fire in their work and facilities. In many cases, these activities were based on the fire of nature in the same way that artificial fire is used in human work today.
[ 15 ] The destruction of the Lemurian land was also brought about by the activity of this volcanic fire. The part of Lemuria from which the Atlantean tribal race was to develop had a hot climate, but it was by and large exempt from volcanic activity. - Human nature was able to develop more quietly and peacefully here than in the other regions of the earth. The more roving life of earlier times was abandoned and permanent settlements became more numerous.
[ 16 ] It must be imagined that the human body at this time still had something very figurative and supple about it. It was still constantly changing when the inner life changed. Not long before, people were still quite different in terms of their external structure. The external influence of the region and the climate were still decisive for the structure. It was only in the designated colony that man's body became more and more an expression of his inner spiritual life. This colony had at the same time an advanced, outwardly more nobly formed human species. It must be said that through what the leaders had done, they had actually first created what the true human form is. This happened very slowly and gradually. But it happened in such a way that first the soul life unfolded in the human being, and the still soft and pliant body adapted to it. It is a law in the development of mankind that man has less and less transforming influence on his physical body as he progresses. This physical human body actually only acquired a fairly solid form with the development of intellectual power and the associated solidification of the earth's rock, mineral and metal formations. For in the Lemurian and even in the Atlantean times, stones and metals were much softer than later. - (This is not contradicted by the fact that there are still descendants of the last Lemurians and Atlanteans, who today have just as solid forms as the later formed human races. These remnants had to adapt to the changed environmental conditions on earth and thus also became more rigid. This is precisely the reason why they are in decline. They did not transform themselves from within, but their less developed inner being was forced into rigidity from outside and thus forced to stand still. And this stagnation really is a decline, because the inner life has also degenerated because it was unable to live out its life in the solidified outer physicality)
.[ 17 ] Animal life was subject to an even greater capacity for transformation. The animal species existing at the time of man's emergence and their origins, as well as the emergence of new animal forms after man had already arrived, will be discussed later. It should only be said here that the existing animal species were constantly transforming and new ones were emerging. This transformation was, of course, gradual. The reasons for the transformation lay partly in the change of habitat and way of life. The animals had an extraordinarily rapid ability to adapt to new conditions. The malleable body changed its organs relatively quickly, so that after a more or less short time the descendants of a certain animal species looked little like their ancestors. The same, indeed to an even greater extent, was the case for plants. Man himself had the greatest influence on the transformation of humans and animals. Be it that he instinctively brought living beings into such an environment that they took on certain forms, be it that he brought about this through breeding experiments. The transforming influence of man on nature was, compared to today's conditions, immeasurably great at that time. This was particularly the case in the colony described. For there the leaders directed this transformation in a manner unconscious to man. This was the case to such an extent that when the people set out to establish the various Atlantean races, they were able to take with them highly developed knowledge about the breeding of animals and plants. The cultural work in Atlantis was then essentially a consequence of this knowledge. However, it must also be emphasized here that this knowledge had an instinctive character. And so it essentially remained with the first Atlantean races.
[ 18 ] The marked predominance of the female soul is particularly strong in the last Lemurian period and lasts until the Atlantean times, in which the fourth sub-race prepared itself. But one must not imagine that this was the case with the whole of humanity. It is true, however, of that part of the earth's population from which the actual advanced races later emerged. And this influence was strongest on everything in man that was "unconscious" in and about him. The formation of certain constant gestures, the subtleties of sensual perception, the sensations of beauty, a good part of the sensory and emotional life common to mankind in general, originally emanated from the spiritual influence of woman. It is not saying too much to interpret the reports of the Akashic Chronicle in such a way that one claims: "The cultural nations have a bodily formation and a bodily expression, as well as certain foundations of bodily-spiritual life, which have been imprinted on them by the woman."
[ 19 ] Further on, we will return to earlier times of human formation, when the earth's population was still unisexual. The emergence of the dual sex will then be presented.