Cosmic Memory
GA 11
viii. The Hyperborean and the Polarean Epoch
[ 1 ] The following passages from the Akasha Chronicle go back to the periods which precede what was described in the last chapters. In view of the materialistic ideas of our time, the risk we undertake with these communications is perhaps even greater than that connected with what has been described in the preceding passages. Today such things are readily met with the accusation of fantasy and baseless speculation. When one knows how far from even taking these things seriously someone can be who has been trained scientifically in the contemporary sense, then only the consciousness that one is reporting faithfully in accordance with spiritual experience can lead one to write about them. Nothing is said here which has not been carefully examined with the means provided by the science of the spirit. The scientist need only be as tolerant toward the science of the spirit as the latter is toward the scientific way of thinking. [Compare my Welt-und Lebensanschauungen im neunzehnten Jahrhundert (Conceptions of the World and of Life in the Nineteenth Century), where I think I have shown that I am able to appreciate the materialistic-scientific view.1In 1914 a new edition of this work appeared, which was completed by a Vorgeschichte über abendländische Philosophie und bis zur Gegenwart fortgesetst (Previous History of Occidental Philosophy and its Continuation to the Present), the work appearing under the title, Die Rätsel der Philosophie inihrer Geschichte als Umriss dargestellt (The Riddles of Philosophy, etc.), two volumes, Stuttgart, 1955. ] For those however who incline toward these matters of the science of the spirit, I would like to make a special remark concerning the passages reproduced here. Especially important matters will be discussed in what follows. And all this belongs to periods which are long past. The deciphering of the Akasha Chronicle is not exactly easy in this area. The author of this present book in no way claims that he should be believed blindly. He merely wishes to report what his best efforts have enabled him to discover. He will welcome any correction based on competent knowledge. He feels obliged to communicate these events concerning the development of mankind because the signs of the times urge it. Moreover, a long period of time had to be described in outline here in order to afford a general view. Further details on much that is only indicated now will follow later.
Only with difficulty can the writings in the Akasha Chronicle be translated into our colloquial language. They are more easily communicated in the symbolical sign language used in mystery schools, but as yet the communication of this language is not permitted. Therefore the reader is requested to bear with much that is dark and difficult to comprehend, and to struggle toward an understanding, just as the writer has struggled toward a generally understandable manner of presentation. Many a difficulty in reading will be rewarded when one looks upon the deep mysteries, the important human enigmas which are indicated. A true self-knowledge of man is, after all, the result of these “Akasha Records,” which for the scientist of the spirit are realities as certain as are mountain ranges and rivers for the eye of sense. An error of perception is of course possible, here and there.
It should be noted that in the present section only the development of man is discussed. Parallel to it, of course, runs that of the other natural realms, of the mineral, the botanical, the animal. The next sections will deal with these. Then much will be spoken of which will make the discussion concerning man appear in a clearer light. On the other hand, one cannot speak of the development of the terrestrial realms in the sense of the science of the spirit, until the gradual progress of man has been described.
[ 2 ] If one traces the development of the earth even further back than was done in the preceding essays, one comes upon increasingly refined material conditions of our planet. The substances which later became solid were previously in a fluid, still earlier, in a vaporous and steam-like, and in an even more remote past, in the most refined (etheric) condition. The decreasing temperature caused the hardening of substances. Here we shall go back to the most refined etheric condition of the substances of our earthly dwelling place. Man first entered upon the earth in this epoch of its development. Before that, he belonged to other worlds, which will be discussed later. Only the one immediately preceding will be indicated here. This was a so-called astral or soul world. The beings of this world did not lead an external, (physical) bodily existence. Neither did man. He had already developed the image consciousness mentioned in the previous essay. He had feelings and desires. But all this was enclosed in a soul body. Only to the clairvoyant eye would such a man have been perceptible.
As a matter of fact, all the more highly developed human beings of that time possessed clairvoyance, although it was quite dull and dreamlike. It was not a self-conscious clairvoyance.
These astral beings are in a certain sense the ancestors of man. What is today called “man” carries the self-conscious spirit within him. This spirit united with the being which had developed from the astral ancestor in about the middle of the Lemurian period. This union has already been indicated in the previous essays. In the description of the course of development of the ancestors of man up to that period which is to follow here, the matter will be discussed again in greater detail.
The soul or astral ancestors of man were transported to the refined or etheric earth. So to speak, they sucked the refined substance into themselves like a sponge, to speak coarsely. By thus becoming penetrated with substance, they developed etheric bodies. These had an elongated elliptical form, in which the limbs and other organs which were to be formed later were already indicated by delicate shadings of the substance. All processes in this mass were purely physical-chemical, but they were regulated and dominated by the soul.
When such a mass of substance had attained a certain size it split into two masses, each of which was similar to the form from which it had sprung, and in it the same processes took place as in the original mass of substance.
Each new form was as much endowed with soul as the mother being. This was due to the fact that it was not a certain number of human souls which entered upon the earthly scene, but rather a kind of soul tree which could produce innumerable single souls from its common root. As a plant sprouts ever anew from innumerable seeds, so the soul life appeared in the countless shoots produced by the continual divisions. It is true that from the beginning there was a narrowly circumscribed number of kinds of souls, of which fact we shall speak later. But within these kinds the development proceeded in the manner which we have described. Each kind of soul put forth innumerable off-shoots.
[ 3 ] With their entry into terrestrial materiality, an important change had taken place within the souls themselves. As long as the souls were not connected with anything material, no external material process could act on them. Any action upon them was purely of the nature of soul, was a clairvoyant one. They thus shared in the life of everything pertaining to soul in their environment—All that existed at that time was experienced in this way. The actions of stones, plants, and animals, which then existed only as astral (soul-like) forms, were felt as inner soul experiences.
With the entering upon the earth, something totally new was added to this. External material processes exercised an effect on the soul, which now appeared in material garb. At first it was only the processes of motion in this material outside world which produced movements within the etheric body. As today we perceive the vibration of the air as sound, these etheric beings perceived the vibrations of the etheric matter which surrounded them. Such a being was basically a single organ of hearing. This sense developed first. But one can see from this that separate organs of hearing developed only later.
[ 4 ] With the increasing densification of terrestrial matter, the spiritual being gradually lost the ability to mold this matter. Only the bodies which had already been formed could produce their like out of themselves. A new manner of reproduction arose. The daughter being appeared as a considerably smaller form than the mother being and only gradually grew to the size of the latter. While before there had been no organs of reproduction, these now made their appearance.
At this time, however, it is no longer merely a physical-chemical process which takes place in these forms. Such a chemical-physical process could not effect reproduction now. Because of its densification, external matter is no longer such that the soul can give life to it without mediation. Therefore, a certain portion within the form is isolated. This portion is withdrawn from the immediate influences of external matter. Only the body outside of this isolated portion remains exposed to these influences. It is in the same condition in which the whole body was before. In the separated portion, the soul element continues to act. Here the soul becomes the carrier of the life principle, called Prana in theosophical literature. Thus the bodily ancestor of man now appears endowed with two organs. One is the physical body, the physical envelope. It is subject to the chemical and physical laws of the surrounding world. The other is the sum of the organs which are subject to the special life principle.
A portion of soul activity is freed in this manner. This activity no longer has any power over the physical part of the body. This part of the soul activity now turns inward and forms a portion of the body into special organs. With this an inner life of the body begins. The body no longer merely participates in the vibrations of the outside world, but begins to perceive them within itself as special experiences. Here is the starting point of perception. This perception at first appears as a kind of sense of touch. The organism feels the movements of the outside world; the pressure which substances exercise, and so forth. The beginnings of a perception of heat and cold also appear.
[ 5 ] With this an important stage in the development of mankind is reached. The immediate influence of the soul has been withdrawn from the physical body. The latter is totally given over to the physical and chemical world of matter. It disintegrates at the moment the soul can no longer dominate it with its activity. Thereupon occurs that which one calls “death.” In connection with the preceding conditions, there could be no question of death. When a division took place, the mother form survived wholly in the daughter forms. For in these the entire transformed soul energy acted as it did before in the mother form. In the division there was nothing left which did not contain soul. Now this becomes different. As soon as the soul no longer has any power over the physical body, the latter becomes subject to the chemical and physical laws of the outside world, that is, it dies away. As activity of the soul there remains only that which acts in reproduction and in the developed inner life. This means that descendants are produced by the force of reproduction, and at the same time these descendants are endowed with a surplus of organ-forming energy. In this surplus the soul being is constantly reviving. As previously at the time of division, the whole body was filled with soul activity, so the organs of reproduction and perception are now filled with it. We are thus dealing with a reincarnation of the soul life in the newly-developing daughter organism.
[ 6 ] In theosophical literature these two stages of the development of man are described as the first two root races of our earth. The first is called the Polarean, the second, the Hyperborean race.
[ 7 ] One must imagine the perceptual world of these ancestors of man to have been a quite general and indefinite one. Only two of the types of perception of today had already become separated: the sense of hearing and the sense of touch. Because of the changes that had taken place in the body as well as in the physical environment, the entire human form was no longer capable of being, in a manner of speaking, an “ear.” A special part of the body remained capable of reverberating to delicate vibrations. It furnished the material from which our organ of hearing gradually developed. However, approximately the whole remainder of the body continued to be the organ of touch.
[ 8 ] It can be seen that up to this point the entire process of the development of man is connected with a change in the temperature conditions of earth. It was the heat in man's environment which had brought him to the level we have described. But now the external temperature had reached a point where further progress of the human form would no longer have been possible. Within the organism a counter-action against the further cooling of the earth now begins. Man starts to produce his own source of heat. Up to this point he had shared the temperature of his environment. Now organs develop in him which make him able to create the degree of heat necessary for his life. Previously, the circulating substances which passed through him had been dependent on the environment in this respect. Now he himself could develop heat for these substances. The bodily fluids now became warm blood. With this he attained a much higher degree of independence as a physical being than he had possessed before. The whole inner life became more active. Perception still depended entirely on the influences of the outside world. Filled with its own heat, the body acquired an independent physical inner life. Now the soul had a basis inside the body upon which it could develop a life which was no longer merely a participation in the life of the outside world.
[ 9 ] Through this process, the life of the soul was drawn into the realm of the earthly-material. Previously, desires, wishes, passions, joy and grief of the soul could only be produced by something that was itself soul-like. That which proceeded from another soul-being awakened sympathy or aversion in the soul, excited the passions, and so forth. No external physical object could have had such an effect. Now only did it become possible for such external objects to have a significance for the soul. For the latter experienced the enhancement of the inner life, which had awakened when the body produced its own heat, as something pleasant, the disturbance of this inner life as something disagreeable. An external object suitable for contributing to physical well-being could be desired, could be wished for. What in theosophical literature is called Kama—the body of wishes—became connected with earthly man. The objects of the senses could now become objects of desire. Through his body of wishes man became tied to earthly existence.
[ 10 ] This fact coincides with a great event in the universe, with which it is causally connected. Up to this point there had been no material separation between sun, earth, and moon. In their effect on man these three were one body. Now the separation took place; the more delicate substantiality, which includes everything which had previously made it possible for the soul to act in an immediately vitalizing manner, separated itself as the sun; the coarsest part was extruded as the moon; and the earth, with respect to its substantiality, stood in the middle between the two others. This separation was of course not a sudden one; rather the whole process proceeded gradually while man was advancing from the stage of reproduction by division to the one described last. It was indeed by the universal processes just mentioned that this development of man was brought about. The sun first withdrew its substance from the common heavenly body. Thereby it became impossible for the soul element to vitalize the remaining earthly matter without mediation. Then the moon began to form itself. Thus the earth entered the condition which made possible the capacity for perception characterized above.
In association with this process, a new sense developed. The temperature conditions of earth became such that bodies gradually took on the fixed limits which separated the transparent from the opaque. The sun, which had been extruded from the terrestrial mass, received its task as light giver. In the human body the sense of seeing developed. At first this seeing was not as we know it today. Light and darkness acted upon man as vague sensations. For instance, under certain conditions he experienced light as pleasant, as promoting his physical life, and sought it, strove toward it. At the same time his soul life proper still continued in dreamlike pictures. In this life, colored images which had no immediate relation to external objects arose and vanished. Man still related these colored images to spiritual influences. Light images appeared to him when he was affected by pleasant soul influences, dark images when he was touched by unpleasant soul influences.
Up to now, what was caused by the development of bodily heat has been described as “inner life.” But it can be seen that it was not an inner life in the sense of the later development of mankind. Everything proceeds by stages, including the development of the inner life. As it was meant in the preceding essay, this true inner life begins only with the fertilization by the spirit, when man begins to think about that which acts upon him from the outside.
Everything which has been described here shows how man grew into the condition pictured in the preceding chapter. Essentially one is already moving in the period which was characterized there when one describes the following: The soul learns more and more to apply to external bodily existence that which it had previously experienced within itself and related only to the soul-like. This now happens with the colored images. As before, a pleasing impression of something soul-like had been connected with a luminous image in the soul, now a bright impression of light from the outside became connected with such an image. The soul began to see the objects around it in colors. This was connected with the development of new instruments of sight. At previous stages, for the perception of light and darkness, the body had had an eye which no longer exists today. (The legend of the Cyclops with one eye is a recollection of these conditions.) The two eyes developed when the soul began to connect the light impressions from the outside more intimately with its own life. With this, the capacity for the perception of the soul-like in the environment disappeared. More and more the soul became the mirror of the external world. The outside world is repeated within the soul as image.
Hand in hand with this went the division into sexes. On one side, the human body became receptive only to fertilization by another human being; on the other side there developed the physical “soul organs” (the nervous system) through which the sense impressions of the outside world were mirrored in the soul.
With this, the entry of the thinking spirit into the human body had been prepared.
VII. Die hyperboräische und die polarische Epoche
[ 1 ] Die folgenden Ausführungen aus der «Akasha-Chronik» führen in die Zeiten zurück, die dem vorausgehen, was in den letzten Kapiteln geschildert worden ist. Das Wagnis, das mit diesen Mitteilungen unternommen wird, ist vielleicht gegenüber der materialistischen Denkweise unserer Zeit ein noch größeres als das, welches mit dem bereits in den vorhergehenden Ausführungen Geschilderten verknüpft war. Der Vorwurf der Phantastik und grundlosen Spekulation liegt gegenüber solchen Dingen in der Gegenwart so nahe. Wenn man weiß, wie fern es dem naturwissenschaftlich im Sinne der heutigen Zeit Gebildeten liegen kann, diese Dinge auch nur ernst zu nehmen, so kann nur das Bewußtsein zu ihrer Mitteilung führen, daß man treu im Sinne der geistigen Erfahrung berichtet. Nichts ist hier gesagt, was nicht sorgfältig mit den Mitteln der geistigen Wissenschaft geprüft ist. Der Naturforscher möge nur so tolerant gegenüber der Geisteswissenschaft sein, wie diese es gegenüber der naturwissenschaftlichen Denkungsart ist. (Vergleiche meine «Welt- und Lebensanschauungen im neunzehnten Jahrhundert», wo ich glaube gezeigt zu haben, daß ich die materialistisch-naturwissenschaftliche Anschauung zu würdigen weiß.) 11914 erfolgte eine neue Ausgabe des Werkes, ergänzt durch eine «Vorgeschichte über abendländische Philosophie und bis zur Gegenwart fortgesetzt», unter dem Titel «Die Rätsel der Philosophie in ihrer Geschichte als Umriß dargestellt», Gesamtausgabe 1968. für diejenigen aber, welche diesen geisteswissenschaftlichen Dingen geneigt sind, möchte ich in bezug auf die diesmaligen Ausführungen noch etwas Besonderes bemerken. Es kommen im folgenden besonders wichtige Dinge zur Sprache. Und alles gehört längstverflossenen Zeiten an. Die Entzifferung der Akasha-Chronik auf diesem Gebiete ist nicht gerade leicht. Der das geschrieben hat, macht auch keineswegs den Anspruch auf irgendeinen Autoritätsglauben. Er will lediglich mitteilen, was nach besten Kräften erforscht worden ist. Jede Korrektur, die auf Sachkenntnis beruht, wäre ihm lieb. Er fühlt sich verpflichtet, diese Vorgänge in der Menschheitsentwickelung mitzuteilen, weil die Zeichen der Zeit dazu drängen. Zudem mußte diesmal ein großer Zeitraum in Umrissen geschildert werden, damit einmal eine Übersicht geschaffen werde. Genaueres über vieles jetzt bloß Angedeutete wird ja noch später folgen. — Die Einzeichnungen in der «Akasha-Chronik» sind nur schwer in unsere Umgangssprache zu übersetzen. Leichter ist die Mitteilung in der in Geheimschulen üblichen symbolischen Zeichensprache, deren Mitteilung aber gegenwärtig noch nicht erlaubt ist. Deshalb möge der Leser manches Dunkle und Schwerverständliche hinnehmen und sich zu einem Verständnisse durchwinden, wie sich der Schreiber zu einer allgemeinverständlichen Darstellungsart durchzuwinden suchte. Man wird manche Schwierigkeit des Lesens belohnt finden, wenn man auf die tiefen Geheimnisse, auf die bedeutungsvollen Menschenrätsel blickt, welche angedeutet sind. Eine wirkliche Selbsterkenntnis des Menschen ersprießt ja doch aus diesen «Akasha-Aufzeichnungen», die für den Geheimforscher so sichere Wirklichkeiten sind wie Gebirge und Flüsse für das sinnliche Auge. Ein Wahrnehmungsirrtum ist natürlich dort wie da möglich. — Hingewiesen soll nur darauf werden, daß in dem vorliegenden Abschnitt nur die Entwickelung des Menschen zunächst besprochen worden ist. Neben dieser läuft naturgemäß diejenige der anderen Naturreiche, des mineralischen, pflanzlichen, tierischen. Davon sollen die nächsten Abschnitte handeln. Es wird dann auch noch manches zur Sprache kommen, was die Auseinandersetzungen über den Menschen in einem verständlicheren Lichte erscheinen lassen wird. Umgekehrt aber kann im geisteswissenschaftlichen Sinne von der Entwickelung der anderen irdischen Reiche nicht gesprochen werden, bevor das allmähliche Fortschreiten des Menschen dargestellt worden ist.
[ 2 ] Wenn man in der Erdentwickelung noch weiter zurückgeht, als dies in den vorhergehenden Aufsätzen geschehen ist, so kommt man auf immer feinere stoffliche Zustände unseres Himmelskörpers. Die Stoffe, die später fest geworden sind, waren vorher in flüssigen, noch früher in dunst- und dampfförmigen, und in weiterer Vergangenheit in feinsten (ätherischen) Zuständen. Erst die abnehmende Wärme hat die Verfestigung der Stoffe bewirkt. Hier soll nun zurückgegangen werden bis zu dem feinsten ätherischen Zustande der Stoffe unseres irdischen Wohnplatzes. Als sich die Erde in einer solchen Entwickelungsepoche befand, betrat sie der Mensch. Früher gehörte er anderen Welten an, von denen später gesprochen werden soll. — Nur auf die unmittelbar vorhergehende soll noch gedeutet werden. Sie war eine sogenannte astrale oder seelische Welt. Die Wesen dieser Welt führten kein äußeres (physisches), leibliches Dasein. Auch der Mensch nicht. Er hatte bereits das im vorhergehenden Aufsatz erwähnte Bilderbewußtsein ausgebildet. Er hatte Gefühle, Begierden. Doch alles das war in einem Seeleneib beschlossen. Nur dem hellseherischen Blick wäre ein solcher Mensch wahrnehmbar gewesen. — Und allerdings hatten alle höher entwickelten damaligen Menschenwesen ein solches Hellsehen, obgleich es ganz dumpf und traumartig war. Es war nicht selbstbewußtes Hellsehen. — Diese Astralwesen sind die Vorfahren des Menschen in einem gewissen Sinne. Was man heute «Mensch» nennt, trägt ja bereits den selbstbewußten Geist in sich. Dieser vereinigte sich mit dem Wesen, das aus jenem Vorfahren in der Mitte der lemurischen Zeit entstanden war. (Auf diese Vereinigung ist in den früheren Aufsätzen bereits hingedeutet. Wenn hier der Entwickelungsgang der Menschenvorfahren bis in diese Zeit dargelegt sein wird, soll die Sache noch einmal genauer zur Sprache kommen.) — Die Seelenoder Astralvorfahren des Menschen wurden in die feine oder Äthererde hereinversetzt. Sie sogen den feinen Stoff gleichsam — wie ein Schwamm, um grob zu sprechen — in sich auf. Indem sie sich so mit Stoff durchdrangen, bildeten sie sich ätherische Leiber. Dieselben hatten eine länglich elliptische Form, doch waren durch zarte Schattierungen des Stoffes Gliedmaßen und andere später zu bildende Organe bereits veranlagt. Der ganze Vorgang in dieser Masse war aber ein rein physisch-chemischer; nur war er geregelt und beherrscht von der Seele. — Hatte eine solche Stoffmasse eine bestimmte Größe erreicht, so spaltete sie sich in zwei, von denen eine jede dem Gebilde ähnlich war, aus dem sie entstanden war, und in der auch dieselben Wirkungen sich vollzogen wie in jenem. — Es war ein jegliches solches neue Gebilde wieder so seelenbegabt wie das Mutterwesen. Das rührte davon her, daß nicht etwa nur eine bestimmte Anzahl von Menschenseelen den irdischen Schauplatz betrat, sondern gleichsam ein Seelenbaum, der ungezählte Einzelseelen aus seiner gemeinsamen Wurzel hervorgehen lassen konnte. Wie eine Pflanze aus unzähligen Samenkörnern immer aufs neue ersprießt, so das seelische Leben in den zahllosen Sprossen, die sich aus den fortdauernden Spaltungen ergaben. (Allerdings war vom Anfang an eine engbegrenzte Zahl von Seelenarten vorhanden, wovon später gesprochen werden soll. Doch innerhalb dieser Arten ging die Entwickelung in der beschriebenen Weise vor sich. Jede Seelenart trieb ungezählte Sprossen.)
[ 3 ] Mit dem Eintritt in die irdische Stofflichkeit war aber in den Seelen selbst eine bedeutungsvolle Veränderung vor sich gegangen. Solange die Seelen selbst nicht Stoffliches an sich hatten, konnte auch kein äußerer stofflicher Vorgang auf sie wirken. Alle Wirkung auf sie war eine reine seelische, hellseherische. Sie lebten so das Seelische in ihrer Umgebung mit. Alles, was damals vorhanden war, wurde in dieser Art miterlebt. Die Wirkungen der Steine, Pflanzen, Tiere, die ja in dieser Zeit auch nur als astrale (seelische) Gebilde existierten, wurden als innere Seelenerlebnisse empfunden. — Dazu kam nun beim Betreten der Erde etwas ganz Neues. Äußere stoffliche Vorgänge übten eine Wirkung auf die selbst in stofflichem Kleide auftretende Seele aus. Zunächst waren es nur die Bewegungsvorgänge dieser stofflichen Außenwelt, die im Innern des Ätherleibes selbst Bewegungen hervorriefen. Wie wir heute das Erzittern der Luft als Schall wahrnehmen, so diese Ätherwesen die Erschütterungen des sie umgebenden ätherischen Stoffes. Ein solches Wesen war im Grunde ein einziges Gehörorgan. Dieser Sinn entwickelte sich zuerst. Aber man sieht hieraus, daß das abgesonderte Gehörorgan sich erst später bildete.
[ 4 ] Mit der fortschreitenden Verdichtung des irdischen Stoffes verlor das Seelenwesen allmählich die Fähigkeit, diesen zu gestalten. Nur die schon gebildeten Leiber konnten noch ihresgleichen aus sich hervorbringen. Eine neue Art der Fortpflanzung tritt auf. Das Tochterwesen erscheint als ein beträchtlich kleineres Gebilde als das Mutterwesen und wächst erst allmählich zu dessen Größe heran. Während früher keine Fortpflanzungsorgane vorhanden waren, treten jetzt solche auf. — Aber nunmehr spielt sich auch nicht mehr bloß ein physisch-chemischer Vorgang in dem Gebilde ab. Ein solcher chemisch-physischer Vorgang könnte jetzt die Fortpflanzung nicht bewirken. Der äußere Stoff ist eben wegen seiner Verdichtung nicht mehr so, daß die Seele ihm unmittelbar Leben geben kann. Es wird daher im Innern des Gebildes eine besondere Partie abgesondert. Diese entzieht sich den unmittelbaren Einwirkungen des äußeren Stoffes. Nur der außer dieser abgesonderten Partie befindliche Leib bleibt diesen Einwirkungen ausgesetzt. Er ist noch in derselben Verfassung wie früher der ganze Leib. In der abgesonderten Partie wirkt nun das Seelische weiter. Hier wird die Seele der Träger des Lebensprinzipes (in der theosophischen Literatur Prana genannt). So erscheint jetzt der leibliche Menschenvorfahr mit zwei Gliedern ausgestattet. Das eine ist der physische Leib (die physische Hülle). Sie ist den chemischen und physischen Gesetzen der umgebenden Welt unterworfen. Das zweite ist die Summe von Organen, die dem besonderen Lebens-Prinzip unterworfen sind. — Nun ist aber dadurch ein Teil der Seelentätigkeit freigeworden. Diese hat keine Macht mehr über den physischen Teil des Leibes. Dieser Teil der Seelentätigkeit wendet sich nun nach innen und gestaltet einen Teil des Leibes zu besonderen Organen aus. Und dadurch beginnt ein Innenleben des Leibes. Dieser lebt nicht mehr bloß die Erschütterungen der Außenwelt mit, sondern er fängt an, sie im Innern als besondere Erlebnisse zu empfinden. Hier liegt der Ausgangspunkt der Empfindung. Zuerst tritt diese Empfindung als eine Art Tastsinn auf. Das Wesen fühlt die Bewegungen der Außenwelt, den Druck, den die Stoffe ausüben und so weiter. Auch die Anfänge einer Wärme- und Kälteempfindung treten auf.
[ 5 ] Damit ist eine wichtige Entwickelungsstufe der Menschheit erreicht. Dem physischen Körper ist die unmittelbare Einwirkung der Seele entzogen. Er ist ganz der physischen und chemischen Stoffwelt überantwortet. Er zerfällt in dem Augenblicke, in dem die Seele in ihrer Wirksamkeit, von den anderen Teilen aus, seiner nicht mehr Herr werden kann. Und damit tritt eigentlich erst das auf, was man «Tod» nennt. In bezug auf die Zustände vorher kann von einem Tode nicht die Rede sein. Bei der Teilung lebt das Muttergebilde restlos in den Tochtergebilden fort. Denn in diesen wirkt die ganze umgebildete Seelenkraft wie vorher in dem Muttergebilde. Es bleibt bei der Teilung nichts übrig, in dem nicht Seele wäre. Jetzt wird das anders. Sobald die Seele keine Macht mehr über den physischen Leib hat, unterliegt dieser den chemischen und physischen Gesetzen der Außenwelt, das heißt er stirbt ab. Als Seelenwirksamkeit bleibt nur, was in der Fortpflanzung und in dem entwickelten Innenleben tätig ist. Das heißt: es entstehen Nachkommen durch die Fortpflanzungskraft, und zugleich sind diese Nachkommen mit einem Überschuß an organbildender Kraft begabt. In diesem Überschuß lebt immer von neuem das Seelenwesen auf. Wie früher der ganze Leib von Seelentätigkeit erfüllt wurde bei der Teilung, so jetzt die Fortpflanzungs- und Empfindungsorgane. Man hat es also mit einer Wiederverkörperung des Seelenlebens in dem neu entstehenden Tochterorganismus zu tun.
[ 6 ] In der theosophischen Literatur werden diese beiden Entwickelungsstufen des Menschen als die beiden ersten Wurzelrassen unserer Erde beschrieben. Die erste heißt die polarische, die zweite die hyperboräische Rasse.
[ 7 ] Man muß sich vorstellen, daß die Empfindungswelt dieser Menschenvorfahren noch eine ganz allgemeine, unbestimmte war. Nur zweierlei von unseren heutigen Empfindungsarten waren doch schon geschieden: die Gehör- und die Tastempfindung. Durch die Veränderung sowohl des Leibes wie auch der physischen Umgebung war aber nicht mehr das ganze Menschengebilde geeignet, sozusagen «Ohr» zu sein. Ein besonderer Teil des Leibes blieb geeignet, die feinen Erschütterungen fortan mitzuerleben. Er lieferte das Material, aus dem sich dann allmählich unser Gehörorgan entwickelte. Doch Tastorgan blieb so ziemlich der ganze übrige Leib.
[ 8 ] Es ist ersichtlich, daß der ganze bisherige Entwickelungsvorgang des Menschen mit einer Veränderung des Wärmezustandes der Erde zusammenhängt. Die in seiner Umgebung befindliche Wärme war es in der Tat, welche den Menschen bis zu der geschilderten Stufe gebracht hat. Nun war aber die äußere Wärme auf einem Punkte angelangt, bei dem ein weiteres Fortschreiten des Menschengebildes nicht mehr möglich gewesen wäre. Es tritt nunmehr im Innengebilde eine Gegenwirkung gegen die weitere Abkühlung der Erde ein. Der Mensch wird zum Erzeuger einer eigenen Wärmequelle. Bisher hatte er den Wärmegrad seiner Umgebung. Jetzt treten Organe in ihm auf, die ihn fähig machen, sich den Wärmegrad selbst zu entwickeln, den er für sein Leben nötig hat. Bisher war sein Inneres von zirkulierenden Stoffen durchzogen, die in dieser Richtung von der Umgebung abhängig waren. Jetzt konnte er für diese Stoffe Eigenwärme entwickeln. Die Leibessäfte wurden zum warmen Blute. Damit war er als physisches Wesen zu einem weit höheren Grade von Selbständigkeit gelangt, als er ihn früher hatte. Das ganze Innenleben wurde gesteigert. Die Empfindung hing noch ganz von den Wirkungen der Außenwelt ab. Die Erfüllung mit Eigenwärme gab dem Körper ein selbständiges physisches Innenleben. Nun hatte die Seele einen Schauplatz im Innern des Leibes, auf dem sie ein Leben entwickeln konnte, das nicht mehr bloß ein Mitleben der Außenwelt war.
[ 9 ] Durch diesen Vorgang ist das Seelenleben in den Bereich des Irdisch-Stofflichen hineingezogen worden. Vorher konnten Begierden, Wünsche, Leidenschaften, konnten Lust und Leid der Seele nur wieder durch Seelisches entstehen. Was von einem anderen seelischen Wesen ausging, erweckte in einer bestimmten Seele Neigung, Abneigung, erregte die Leidenschaften und so weiter. Kein äußerer physischer Gegenstand hätte eine solche Wirkung tun können. Jetzt erst trat die Möglichkeit ein, daß solche äußere Gegenstände für die Seele etwas zu bedeuten hatten. Denn sie empfand die Förderung des mit der Eigenwärme erwachten Innenlebens als Wohlgefühl, die Störung dieses Innenlebens als Mißbehagen. Ein äußerer Gegenstand, der geeignet ist, zur Unterhaltung des leiblichen Wohlbehagens beizutragen, konnte begehrt, gewünscht werden. Das, was man in der theosophischen Literatur «Kama» — den Wunschleib — nennt, war mit dem irdischen Menschen verbunden. Die Gegenstände der Sinne wurden Gegenstände des Begehrungsvermögens. Der Mensch wurde durch seinen Wunschleib an das irdische Dasein gebunden.
[ 10 ] Nun fällt diese Tatsache mit einem großen Weltereignisse zusammen, mit dem es ursächlich verknüpft ist. Bisher war zwischen Sonne, Erde und Mond keine materielle Trennung. Diese drei waren in ihrer Wirkung auf den Menschen ein Körper. Jetzt trat die Trennung ein; die feinere Stofflichkeit, die alles in sich schließt, was vorher der Seele die Möglichkeit gegeben hatte, unmittelbar belebend zu wirken, sonderte sich als Sonne ab; der derbste Teil trat als Mond heraus; und die Erde hielt mit ihrer Stofflichkeit die Mitte zwischen beiden. Natürlich war diese Trennung keine plötzliche, sondern der ganze Prozeß vollzog sich allmählich, während der Mensch von dem Zustande der Fortpflanzung durch Teilung bis zu dem zuletzt geschilderten vorrückte. Ja, gerade durch die genannten Weltprozesse wurde diese Fortentwickelungsvorgang des Menschen bewirkt. Zuerst zog die Sonne ihre Stofflichkeit aus dem gemeinsamen Weltkörper heraus. Dadurch wurde dem Seelischen die Möglichkeit entzogen, die zurückbleibende Erdmaterie unmittelbar zu beleben. Dann fing der Mond an, sich herauszubilden. Dadurch kam die Erde in den Zustand, der das charakterisierte Empfindungsvermögen gestattete. — Und im Verein mit diesem Fortgang entwickelte sich auch ein neuer Sinn. Die Wärmeverhältnisse der Erde wurden solche, daß die Körper allmählich die feste Begrenzung annahmen, die Durchsichtiges von Undurchsichtigem trennte. Die aus der Erdmasse herausgetretene Sonne erhielt ihre Aufgabe als Lichtspenderin. Im Menschenleibe entstand der Sinn des Sehens. Zunächst war dieses Sehen nicht ein solches, wie wir es heute kennen. Licht und Dunkelheit wirkten als unbestimmte Gefühle auf den Menschen. Er empfand zum Beispiel das Licht unter gewissen Verhältnissen als behaglich, sein Leibesleben fördernd, und suchte es auf, strebte ihm zu. Dabei verlief das eigentliche Seelenleben noch immer in traumhaften Bildern. In diesem Leben stiegen Farbenbilder auf und ab, die sich nicht unmittelbar auf äußere Dinge bezogen. Diese Farbenbilder bezog der Mensch noch auf seelische Wirkungen. Helle Farbenbilder erschienen ihm, wenn ihn angenehme seelische Wirkungen trafen, finstere Bilder, wenn er von unangenehmen seelischen Einflüssen berührt wurde. — Es ist in dem bisherigen das, was durch das Auftreten der Eigenwärme bewirkt worden ist, als «Innenleben» bezeichnet worden. Man sieht aber, daß es ein Innenleben im Sinne der späteren Menschheitsentwickelung noch nicht ist. Alles geht stufenweise vor sich, auch die Entwickelung des Innenlebens. In dem Sinne, wie das im vorigen Aufsatz gemeint ist, tritt dieses wahre Innenleben erst auf, wenn die Befruchtung mit dem Geiste kommt, wenn der Mensch beginnt zu denken über das, was von außen auf ihn wirkt. — Aber alles, was hier geschildert wurde, zeigt, wie der Mensch hineinwächst in den Zustand, der im vorigen Abschnitt dargestellt worden ist. — Und man bewegt sich eigentlich schon in der Zeit, die dort charakterisiert worden ist, wenn man das folgende beschreibt: Immer mehr lernt die Seele das, was sie vorher in sich erlebt und nur auf Seelisches bezogen hat, auf das äußere körperliche Dasein anwenden. Das geschieht nun mit den Farbenbildern. Wie früher ein sympathischer Eindruck eines Seelischen mit einem Farbenbilde von heller Art in der eigenen Seele verknüpft wurde, so jetzt ein heller Lichteindruck von außen. Die Seele fing an, die Gegenstände um sich her farbig zu sehen. Das war verknüpft mit der Ausbildung neuer Sehwerkzeuge. Zu dem unbestimmten Fühlen des Lichtes und der Dunkelheit in früheren Zuständen hatte der Leib ein heute nicht mehr vorhandenes Auge. (Die Sage von den Zyklopen mit dem einen Auge ist eine Erinnerung an diese Zustände.) Die beiden Augen entwickelten sich, als die Seele anfing, die äußeren Lichteindrücke intimer mit ihrem Eigenleben zu verbinden. Es verlor sich damit das Wahrnehmungsvermögen für das Seelische in der Umgebung. Die Seele wurde immer mehr und mehr zum Spiegel der Außenwelt. Diese Außenwelt wird als Vorstellung im Innern der Seele wiederholt. — Hand in Hand damit ging die Trennung der Geschlechter. Auf der einen Seite wurde der Menschenleib nur empfänglich für die Befruchtung durch ein anderes Menschenwesen, auf der anderen entwickelten sich die körperlichen «Seelenorgane» (Nervensystem), durch welche die sinnlichen Eindrücke der Außenwelt in der Seele abgespiegelt wurden. — Und damit war der Einzug des denkenden Geistes in den Menschenleib vorbereitet.
VII The Hyperborean and Polar Epochs
[ 1 ] The following remarks from the "Akashic Chronicle" lead back to the times that precede what has been described in the last chapters. The venture undertaken with these messages is perhaps even greater in relation to the materialistic way of thinking of our time than that which was linked to what has already been described in the previous explanations. The accusation of fantasy and groundless speculation is so obvious in the face of such things in the present. If one knows how far it can be from the scientifically educated in the sense of the present time to take these things even seriously, then only the awareness that one reports faithfully in the sense of spiritual experience can lead to their communication. Nothing is said here that has not been carefully checked by the means of spiritual science. The natural scientist should only be as tolerant of spiritual science as it is of the scientific way of thinking. (Compare my "Welt- und Lebensanschauungen im neunzehnten Jahrhundert", where I believe I have shown that I appreciate the materialistic-scientific view). 1In 1914 a new edition of the work was published, supplemented by a "Prehistory of Western Philosophy and Continued to the Present", under the title "Die Rätsel der Philosophie in ihrer Geschichte als Umriß dargestellt", complete edition 1968. However, for those who are inclined towards these matters of the humanities, I would like to make a special remark with regard to this edition. Particularly important things are discussed below. And it all belongs to times long past. Deciphering the Akashic Chronicle in this area is not exactly easy. The person who has written this does not claim to be an authority of any kind. He merely wants to communicate what has been researched to the best of his ability. He would appreciate any corrections based on factual knowledge. He feels obliged to communicate these processes in the development of mankind because the signs of the times urge him to do so. Moreover, this time a large period had to be described in outline so that an overview could be created. More detailed information about much of what has now been merely hinted at will follow later. - It is very difficult to translate the drawings in the "Akashic Chronicle" into our everyday language. It is easier to communicate them in the symbolic sign language that is customary in secret schools, the communication of which is not yet permitted. Therefore, the reader may accept some of the obscure and difficult to understand things and struggle to understand them, just as the writer tried to find a generally understandable way of presenting them. You will find some of the difficulties of reading rewarded when you look at the deep secrets, the meaningful human riddles that are hinted at. A real self-knowledge of man sprouts from these "Akashic Records", which are as certain realities for the secret researcher as mountains and rivers are for the sensual eye. An error of perception is of course possible there as well as there. - It should only be pointed out that in the present section only the development of the human being has been discussed initially. Naturally, the development of the other kingdoms of nature, the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms, runs alongside this. The next sections will deal with these. Many things will then be discussed which will shed a more understandable light on the discussions about man. Conversely, however, the development of the other earthly kingdoms cannot be discussed in the spiritual scientific sense until the gradual progress of man has been described.
[ 2 ] If one goes back even further in the development of the earth than has been done in the previous essays, one arrives at ever finer material states of our celestial body. The substances that later became solid were previously in a liquid state, even earlier in a vaporous and steamy state, and further back in the finest (ethereal) states. Only the decreasing heat caused the substances to solidify. We shall now go back to the finest ethereal state of the substances of our earthly dwelling place. When the earth was in such an epoch of development, man entered it. Earlier he belonged to other worlds, of which we shall speak later. - Only the immediately preceding one will be mentioned. It was a so-called astral or soul world. The beings in this world did not have an external (physical), bodily existence. Not even the human being. He had already developed the consciousness of images mentioned in the previous essay. He had feelings, desires. But all this was decided in a soul body. Only the clairvoyant eye would have been able to perceive such a human being. - And indeed, all highly developed human beings at that time had such clairvoyance, although it was quite dull and dreamlike. It was not self-conscious clairvoyance. - These astral beings are the ancestors of man in a certain sense. What is called "man" today already carries the self-conscious spirit within it. This united with the being that emerged from that ancestor in the middle of the Lemurian period. (This union has already been alluded to in the earlier essays. When the course of development of the human ancestors up to this time has been explained here, the matter will be discussed in more detail). - The soul or astral ancestors of man were placed in the fine or etheric earth. They absorbed the fine substance - like a sponge, to put it crudely. By thus permeating themselves with matter, they formed etheric bodies. These had an elongated elliptical shape, but limbs and other organs to be formed later were already predisposed by delicate shades of the material. The whole process in this mass, however, was a purely physical-chemical one; only it was regulated and controlled by the soul. - When such a mass of matter had reached a certain size, it split into two, each of which was similar to the entity from which it had arisen, and in which the same effects took place as in the latter. - Each such new entity was again as endowed with soul as the mother being. This was due to the fact that not only a certain number of human souls entered the earthly scene, but a tree of souls, as it were, which could give rise to countless individual souls from its common root. Just as a plant always sprouts anew from countless seeds, so does the life of the soul in the countless shoots that result from the ongoing divisions. (However, from the beginning there was a limited number of soul types, which will be discussed later. But within these species the development proceeded in the manner described. Each type of soul sprouted innumerable shoots.
[ 3 ] With the entry into earthly materiality, however, a significant change took place in the souls themselves. As long as the souls themselves had nothing material about them, no external material process could have an effect on them. All effect on them was purely spiritual, clairvoyant. In this way, they lived with the spiritual in their surroundings. Everything that existed at that time was experienced in this way. The effects of stones, plants and animals, which at that time also existed only as astral (soul) entities, were felt as inner soul experiences. - In addition, something completely new occurred upon entering the earth. External material processes exerted an effect on the soul, which itself appeared in material clothing. At first it was only the movement processes of this material outer world that caused movements within the etheric body itself. Just as we today perceive the trembling of the air as sound, so these etheric beings perceived the vibrations of the etheric matter surrounding them. Such a being was basically a single organ of hearing. This sense developed first. But you can see from this that the separate organ of hearing only developed later.
[ 4 ] With the progressive condensation of earthly matter, the soul being gradually lost the ability to form it. Only the already formed bodies were still able to bring forth their own kind. A new kind of reproduction appears. The daughter being appears as a considerably smaller entity than the mother being and only gradually grows to its size. Whereas previously there were no reproductive organs, now there are. - But now it is no longer just a physical-chemical process that takes place in the entity. Such a chemical-physical process could not now bring about reproduction. The outer substance is no longer such that the soul can give it life directly, precisely because of its condensation. Therefore a special part is separated inside the structure. This part withdraws from the direct effects of the outer substance. Only the body outside this separate part remains exposed to these influences. It is still in the same condition as the whole body was before. The soul continues to work in the separate part. Here the soul becomes the carrier of the life principle (called prana in theosophical literature). Thus the bodily human ancestor now appears equipped with two limbs. One is the physical body (the physical shell). It is subject to the chemical and physical laws of the surrounding world. The second is the sum of organs that are subject to the special principle of life. - Now, however, a part of the soul's activity has become free. This no longer has any power over the physical part of the body. This part of the soul's activity now turns inwards and forms a part of the body into special organs. And thus an inner life of the body begins. It no longer merely lives with the shocks of the outside world, but begins to feel them within as special experiences. This is the starting point of sensation. At first, this sensation appears as a kind of sense of touch. The being feels the movements of the outside world, the pressure exerted by the substances and so on. The beginnings of a sensation of heat and cold also appear.
[ 5 ] This marks an important stage in the development of humanity. The physical body is deprived of the direct influence of the soul. It is completely handed over to the physical and chemical world of matter. It disintegrates at the moment when the soul, in its effectiveness, can no longer control it from the other parts. And this is when what is called "death" actually occurs. With regard to the previous states there can be no question of death. In the division, the parent entity lives on completely in the daughter entities. For in these the whole transformed soul-power works as before in the mother-form. Nothing remains after the division in which there is no soul. Now it is different. As soon as the soul no longer has power over the physical body, the latter is subject to the chemical and physical laws of the outer world, i.e. it dies. Only that which is active in reproduction and in the developed inner life remains as soul activity. This means that offspring arise through the power of reproduction, and at the same time these offspring are endowed with a surplus of organ-forming power. In this surplus the soul being always comes to life anew. Just as in former times the whole body was filled with soul-activity during division, so now the organs of reproduction and sensation. We are therefore dealing with a re-embodiment of the soul life in the newly developing daughter organism.
[ 6 ] In theosophical literature, these two stages of human development are described as the first two root races of our earth. The first is called the polar race, the second the hyperborean race.
[ 7 ] Imagine that the emotional world of these human ancestors was still a very general, indeterminate one. Only two things were already distinct from our present-day sensations: the sense of hearing and the sense of touch. Due to the change in both the body and the physical environment, however, the entire human body was no longer suitable for being an "ear", so to speak. A special part of the body remained capable of experiencing the subtle vibrations from then on. It provided the material from which our hearing organ gradually developed. However, pretty much the rest of the body remained an organ of touch.
[ 8 ] It is evident that the entire process of man's development to date is connected with a change in the Earth's thermal state. It was in fact the heat in his environment that brought man to the stage described. Now, however, the external heat had reached a point at which further progress of the human form would no longer have been possible. A counter-effect against the further cooling of the earth now occurs in the inner structure. Man becomes the producer of his own heat source. Until now, he had the degree of warmth of his surroundings. Now organs appear in him that enable him to develop the degree of warmth he needs for his life. Until now, its interior was permeated by circulating substances that were dependent on the environment in this direction. Now he was able to develop his own warmth for these substances. The bodily fluids became warm blood. He had thus attained a far higher degree of independence as a physical being than he had previously enjoyed. The whole inner life was heightened. Sensation still depended entirely on the effects of the outside world. The filling with its own warmth gave the body an independent physical inner life. Now the soul had an arena inside the body where it could develop a life that was no longer merely a co-living with the outside world.
[ 9 ] Through this process, the life of the soul was drawn into the realm of the earthly material. Previously, desires, wishes, passions, pleasure and suffering of the soul could only arise again through the soul. What emanated from another spiritual being aroused inclination, aversion, aroused passions and so on in a particular soul. No external physical object could have had such an effect. Only now did the possibility arise that such external objects could mean something to the soul. For it felt the stimulation of the inner life awakened by its own warmth as a feeling of well-being, the disturbance of this inner life as discomfort. An external object that is suitable for contributing to the maintenance of bodily well-being could be desired, wished for. What in theosophical literature is called "kama" - the body of desire - was connected with the earthly human being. The objects of the senses became objects of desire. Man was bound to earthly existence through his desire body.
[ 10 ] Now this fact coincides with a great world event with which it is causally connected. Until now, there was no material separation between the sun, earth and moon. These three were one body in their effect on man. Now the separation occurred; the finer materiality, which includes everything in itself that had previously given the soul the opportunity to have a direct vitalizing effect, separated itself as the sun; the coarsest part emerged as the moon; and the earth with its materiality held the middle between the two. Naturally this separation was not a sudden one, but the whole process took place gradually, while man advanced from the state of procreation by division to that last described. Indeed, this process of man's further development was brought about precisely by the world processes mentioned. First the sun drew its materiality out of the common world body. This deprived the soul of the possibility of directly animating the earth matter that remained behind. Then the moon began to form. This brought the earth into the state that permitted the characterized sentience. - And in connection with this progress a new sense also developed. The thermal conditions of the earth became such that the bodies gradually assumed the solid boundary that separated the transparent from the opaque. The sun, which had emerged from the earth's mass, was given its task as a giver of light. The sense of sight arose in the human body. At first, this vision was not as we know it today. Light and darkness had an effect on man as vague feelings. Under certain conditions, for example, he found the light pleasant, conducive to his physical life, and sought it out, strove towards it. At the same time, the actual life of the soul still took place in dreamlike images. In this life, color images rose and fell that were not directly related to external things. Man still related these color images to spiritual effects. Bright color images appeared to him when he was touched by pleasant mental effects, darker images when he was touched by unpleasant mental influences. - What has been called "inner life" so far is that which has been brought about by the appearance of intrinsic warmth. But we can see that it is not yet an inner life in the sense of the later development of mankind. Everything proceeds in stages, including the development of the inner life. In the sense meant in the previous essay, this true inner life only emerges when fertilization with the spirit occurs, when man begins to think about that which affects him from outside. - But everything that has been described here shows how the human being grows into the state described in the previous section. - And we are actually already moving in the time that was characterized there when we describe the following: The soul increasingly learns to apply to external physical existence what it previously experienced within itself and related only to the soul. This now happens with the color images. Just as previously a sympathetic impression of something spiritual was linked with a bright color image in the soul, so now a bright impression of light from outside. The soul began to see the objects around it in color. This was linked to the development of new visual tools. In addition to the vague sense of light and darkness in earlier states, the body had an eye that no longer exists today. (The legend of the Cyclops with one eye is a reminder of these states). The two eyes developed when the soul began to connect the external impressions of light more intimately with its own life. As a result, the ability to perceive the soul in its surroundings was lost. The soul became more and more a mirror of the outside world. This outside world is repeated as imagination within the soul. - The separation of the sexes went hand in hand with this. On the one hand, the human body only became receptive to fertilization by another human being; on the other hand, the physical "soul organs" (nervous system) developed, through which the sensual impressions of the outside world were reflected in the soul. - And thus the entry of the thinking spirit into the human body was prepared.
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