The three worlds of the spirit (Translated): Anthroposophy - Psychosophy - Pneumatosophy

By Rudolf Steiner and David De Angelis

INDEX

PART ONE - ANTHROPOSOPHY - LECTURES IN BERLIN FROM OCTOBER 23 TO 27, 1909

LECTURE I - ANTHROPOSOPHY IN RELATION TO THEOSOPHY AND ANTHROPOLOGY - THE HUMAN SENSES

- II CONFERENCE - SUPERSENSITIVE ACTIVITIES IN HUMAN SENSORY PROCESSES

- III CONFERENCE - HIGHER SENSES, INNER ENERGY CURRENTS AND FORMATIVE LAWS IN THE HUMAN ORGANISM

- IV CONFERENCE - SUPERSENSIBLE CURRENTS IN HUMAN AND ANIMAL ORGANIZATION - COLLECTIVE SOUL AND EGO ACTIVITY

PART TWO - PSYCHOSOPHY

- I CONFERENCE - THE ELEMENTS OF THE LIFE OF THE SOUL

- II. CONFERENCE - ACTIONS AND REACTIONS OF THE FORCES OF HUMAN ANIMIC LIFE

- III CONFERENCE - AT THE DOORS OF THE SENSES - FEELINGS - AESTHETIC JUDGMENT

- IV CONFERENCE - CONSCIOUSNESS AND LIFE OF THE SOUL

PART THREE - PNEUMATOSOPHY

- CONFERENCE II - TRUTH AND ERROR IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

- III CONFERENCE - IMAGINATION - FANTASY - INSPIRATION - FULLNESS OF BEING - INTUITION - CONSCIOUSNESS.

- IV. CONFERENCE - LAWS OF NATURE, EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND REPEATED EARTHLY LIVES

• Language: English
• Publisher: Stargatebook
• Release date: Oct 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9791220854672

Rudolf Steiner

During the last two decades of the nineteenth century the Austrian-born Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) became a respected and well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, particularly known for his work on Goethe's scientific writings. After the turn of the century, he began to develop his earlier philosophical principles into an approach to methodical research of psychological and spiritual phenomena. His multi-faceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, science, education (Waldorf schools), special education, philosophy, religion, economics, agriculture, (Bio-Dynamic method), architecture, drama, the new art of eurythmy, and other fields. In 1924 he founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world.

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Rudolf Steiner

THE THREE WORLDS OF THE SPIRIT

ANTHROPOSOPHY - PSYCHOSOPHY - PNEUMATOSOPHY

Translation and 2021 edition by ©David De Angelis

All rights reserved

INDEX

PART ONE - ANTHROPOSOPHY - LECTURES IN BERLIN FROM OCTOBER 23 TO 27, 1909

LECTURE I - ANTHROPOSOPHY IN RELATION TO THEOSOPHY AND ANTHROPOLOGY - THE HUMAN SENSES

- II CONFERENCE - SUPERSENSITIVE ACTIVITIES IN HUMAN SENSORY PROCESSES

- III CONFERENCE - HIGHER SENSES, INNER ENERGY CURRENTS AND FORMATIVE LAWS IN THE HUMAN ORGANISM

- IV CONFERENCE - SUPERSENSIBLE CURRENTS IN HUMAN AND ANIMAL ORGANIZATION - COLLECTIVE SOUL AND EGO ACTIVITY

PART TWO - PSYCHOSOPHY

- I CONFERENCE - THE ELEMENTS OF THE LIFE OF THE SOUL

- II. CONFERENCE - ACTIONS AND REACTIONS OF THE FORCES OF HUMAN ANIMIC LIFE

- III CONFERENCE - AT THE DOORS OF THE SENSES - FEELINGS - AESTHETIC JUDGMENT

- IV CONFERENCE - CONSCIOUSNESS AND LIFE OF THE SOUL

PART THREE - PNEUMATOSOPHY

- CONFERENCE II - TRUTH AND ERROR IN THE LIGHT OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

- III CONFERENCE - IMAGINATION - FANTASY - INSPIRATION - FULLNESS OF BEING - INTUITION - CONSCIOUSNESS.

- IV. CONFERENCE - LAWS OF NATURE, EVOLUTION OF CONSCIOUSNESS AND REPEATED EARTHLY LIVES

PART ONE - ANTHROPOSOPHY - LECTURES IN BERLIN FROM OCTOBER 23 TO 27, 1909

LECTURE I - ANTHROPOSOPHY IN RELATION TO THEOSOPHY AND ANTHROPOLOGY - THE HUMAN SENSES

Here in Berlin, and also in other cities where the branches of our society have extended, we have already heard many communications from the field of theosophy, which, as it were, would have been drawn from the lofty regions of clairvoyant consciousness, so that the necessity of basing our spiritual current on a serious and worthy foundation had to arise at last.

The present General Assembly, which brings our members together here seven years after the formation of our German section, may provide us with an opportunity to contribute to a more solid foundation of our spiritual current. This is what I will try to do in these days with these four conferences on Soulosophy.

Cassel's lectures on the Gospel of John, those of Dusseldorf on the Hierarchies, of Basel on the Gospel of Luke and of Munich on the teachings of oriental theosophy, offered us the opportunity to ascend to high regions of spiritual research in order to draw from them spiritual truths that are difficult to access. What occupied us then was Theosophy, was, in part at least, an ascent of it to high spiritual heights of human knowledge.

It seems to us, therefore, that a deeper meaning can be rightly discerned in what is usually called the cyclic unfolding of cosmic events, if gradually a feeling for these things is developed. It was at the time of our first General Assembly that we had to found the German section; I then delivered before an audience, consisting only in part of theosophists, lectures which might be designated as the historical chapter of Anthroposophy. After seven years it seems that the time has now come when, having completed a cycle, we are permitted to speak, in a wider sense, of what Anthroposophy really is.

First of all I would like to try to clarify, by means of a comparison, what is to be understood by the word Anthroposophy. When you want to contemplate an expanse of land, with all that it contains in terms of fields, meadows, forests, villages and roads, you can do so by going from village to village, from road to road, through meadows and forests; in this way a small part of the whole region will appear before your eyes each time. But we can also climb to the top of a mountain and look down from that height upon the whole region; we will not be able to see its details clearly with ordinary sight, but we will get a general view of the whole.

In a way one might compare the relation of what, in ordinary life, is called human knowledge, human science, with what Theosophy means.

While ordinary human knowledge moves in the world of facts from one detail to another, theosophy, on the contrary, ascends to a high summit; thus the horizon is enlarged, because it embraces it from above - but this possibility of seeing further would disappear at the same time, if theosophy did not make use of very special means for this purpose. In my book How is the knowledge of the higher worlds attained? it is described how man can ascend to these lofty heights without losing the possibility of seeing further.

There is, however, also a third intermediate possibility; one may not climb to the top, but stop in the middle, in the middle of the mountain. If you stand at the bottom, you have no view of the whole, you see only the details and look at the height from below; if you stand at the top, you have everything below you, and above you only the divine sky. If you stand in the middle, you have something above you and something below you, and you can compare these two aspects with each other.

Of course, no comparison fits perfectly, but I only intend to explain to you in what, first of all, Theosophy differs from Anthroposophy. Anthroposophy represents stopping in the middle, theosophy represents finding oneself at the top; the point at which they find themselves is different. Up to this point the comparison might have been useful, but it no longer serves to indicate what follows; if one devotes oneself to theosophy, it is necessary that one ascends beyond human vision, beyond the middle of the mountain, that one ascends from the Self to the higher Self, and that one is able to look with the organs of this higher Self. The summit to which theosophy ascends is situated above man. That which is ordinary human knowledge is situated below man, and that which lies precisely in the middle is man himself - between nature and the world of the spirit. That which is above penetrates him; he is pervaded by the spirit. Inasmuch as man contemplates the world only humanly, he does not take the summit itself as his starting point, but he can see this summit, he can see the Spirit above him. At the same time he sees below him that which is mere nature, rising up and penetrating into him. With theosophy there is a danger that if theosophy does not employ those means mentioned above, which enable it to see with its higher self instead of with its lower self, the human field will be overflown, so that man will lose the possibility of knowing anything useful, of seeing reality again at his feet. This danger vanishes as soon as theosophy makes use of those means - but then we can say: Theosophy is what is investigated when God speaks in man: Let God speak in you, and what he says about the world is theosophy.

Place yourself halfway between God and nature and let man speak in you - about what is above you and what is below - then you have anthroposophy, that is: wisdom enunciated by man.

And this wisdom will serve us as an important point of support and key to the whole field of theosophy; if one has occupied oneself with theosophy for some time, the best one can do is to really seek that solid central point of anthroposophy.

What has been said so far can also be applied historically in various directions. We have, for example, a science, which is called anthropology; as it is now practiced, it embraces not only man, but also everything that belongs to man, everything that can be experienced in nature, what we need to understand man. This science, as a starting point, wanders among things, proceeds from one detail to another, examines man with the microscope. In short, this science, which is generally considered by men as the only one worthy of consideration, starts from below the faculties of man; it remains attached to the ground, it does not employ all that man possesses in the way of faculties. Therefore it cannot solve the enigmatic questions of existence. Compare it with what theosophy presents to you. Theosophy ascends to the highest regions in order to find therein the answer to the burning questions of existence. But men who are not in a position to accompany it step by step, and who adhere to the point of view of anthropology, feel that theosophy is an edifice in the air, lacking all foundations. They are unable to see how the soul can gradually ascend to that summit from which it can embrace everything with its gaze. They cannot ascend to the steps of Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition; they cannot rise to that summit which is the final goal of all human becoming. Therefore on the lower step there is Anthropology, on the top the Theosophist.

What happens, however, when Theosophy wants to climb to the top but is not in a position to push forward by the right means - one can see this in the historical example of the German Theosophist SOLGER, who lived from 1770 to 1819. His views, as concepts, conform to theosophy. But by what means does he seek to ascend to the summit? With the concepts of philosophy, with the bled-out and exploited concepts of human thought, as if one were to climb a mountain to enjoy the view and forget about the telescope, so that one would see nothing, absolutely nothing. In our case the telescope would be spiritual: it is imagination, inspiration and intuition. In the course of the centuries man's ability to ascend to this summit has diminished more and more. This fact was already clearly felt in the Middle Ages - and it was recognized. Even today it is felt, but people do not want to admit it. In ancient times there existed that ability to ascend, although on a lower step; it was based upon a condition of twilight clairvoyance of men. There existed an ancient theosophy of this kind. But that which was thus manifested on the summit had, at a certain time, to come to an end, and it was necessary to prevent it from being received by the ordinary means of knowledge. This ancient theosophy, which regards revelation as terminated, became theology. Next to anthropology there is therefore theology - it really wants to ascend to the heights, but it rests for this on something, which was once manifested, was participated in, but which has become rigid, which cannot always again manifest itself to the soul that aspires upwards. Anthropology and theology often faced each other throughout the Middle Ages, without repelling each other; but in modern times they find themselves bitterly opposed. The modern era allows theology to exist alongside anthropology, as something scientific, but finds no way to reconcile them. If we do not stop at the particulars, but ascend to the middle, we can, on ascending, place anthroposophy alongside theosophy.

Modern spiritual life has also made an attempt to practice anthroposophy - but, as with theosophy, by false and inadequate means; by the means, that is, of exploited philosophy. The meaning of philosophy can be understood by theosophists alone - no longer by philosophers. This understanding can be arrived at only by means of an observation of history; one can understand philosophy only when one examines it in its becoming. The following example will demonstrate this fact: In ancient times there were the so-called Mysteries, the cultural centers of the higher spiritual life, in which the disciples were guided by special methods to spiritual vision. Such a Mystery was the Mystery of Ephesus, in which the disciples, by virtue of their evolution, could investigate the secrets of the Diana of Ephesus; there the disciples thrust their gaze into the spiritual worlds. That which could be communicated openly of these things was communicated publicly and received by those outside. Not all who heard these communications from outside were aware that they had heard higher secrets. One man, for example, into whom communications of this kind from the Mysteries of Ephesus had penetrated, was Heraclitus. He then proclaimed these communications through his partial initiation so that they could be understood by all. Whoever reads the teachings of Heraclitus, the Dark One, still sees here the direct experience, the knowledge of the higher worlds. Then came his followers - they no longer knew that these teachings were derived from immediate experience, they no longer understood them, and therefore began to develop them, to develop them further into concepts, they began to speculate upon them with the powers of their intellect; this method was passed down from generation to generation. And if we have anything of philosophy before us today, we have in it only the residue of a heritage of ancient teachings, from which life has been squeezed out, taken away, and of which only the conceptual skeleton remains. Philosophers, however, believe that that skeleton is real life, they believe it to be something conceived by human thought itself! But there are no philosophers capable themselves of conceiving something - for that access to the higher worlds is necessary. And the philosophers of the 19th century had only such a skeleton of philosophy at their disposal when they set out to consider what can be called anthroposophy. The term was indeed used: Robert Zimmermann wrote a so-called anthroposophy - but he drew it from dry concepts, exploited as, after all, everything that wanted to transcend anthropology (without the right means) remained a dry conceptual fabric that is no longer in touch with things. Anthroposophy must also be deepened by means of theosophy, because the latter provides the means for the recognition of reality in spiritual life. Anthroposophy is placed on the average human point of view, and not, like anthropology, on the subhuman one - at the meeting a theosophy, like the one practiced by SOLGER, is really placed on the spiritual point of view, but its ideas are mere bubbles - and when he reaches the top, he sees nothing; this is a weaving of concepts on the loom instead of a living spiritual vision! We, however, do not want to weave concepts. The reality of human life as a whole must be revealed to us in these considerations. The ancient objects of vision will appear to us again in them-but illuminated this time by another point of view-which embraces both the high and the low.

Man is the most important object of our observation. When we look at the physical body we can already see how complicated the human form is. In order to gain an understanding of what anthroposophy stands for, let us first consider the following: What presents itself to us today as a complicated physical body is the product of a very long evolution. The disposition of its first germ was born on the ancient Saturn; it then evolved further on the ancient Sun, the ancient Moon and the Earth. On the Sun there was added the etheric body and on the ancient Moon the astral body. Now these limbs of the human entity have been modified during the course of evolution. What we see today in the complicated human physical body, with its heart, kidneys, eyes and ears, etc., is the product of long evolution. All this was born of a form, which was born as a germ on Saturn with a very simple figure. It has been constantly modifying and transforming itself over millions and millions of years, so that it could rise to its present perfection. And if today we consider a limb, an organ of this physical body, e.g. the heart, or the lung, we can only understand it if based on that evolution. Of that which presents itself to us today in the form of the heart nothing yet existed on the ancient Saturn. These organs assumed their present form only gradually. One was formed earlier, another was added later. We can precisely indicate one organ as a solar organ, because it first appeared during solar evolution, and another as a lunar organ, and so on. If we wish to understand the present physical body of man, we must draw concepts from the entire Universe-this is the method of theosophical observation! How, on the other hand, does anthropology work? Theosophy ascends to the loftiest heights and, looking down from the spirit, contemplates individual phenomena. Anthropology keeps itself entirely at the bottom; it starts from the individual details and even now contemplates the individual cells in their adjacency. We take the individual organs and consider them in themselves in part - we mechanically place them side by side - we do not consider which is the youngest and which is the oldest; we study the individual cell in itself, in part; nevertheless it is not at all indifferent, indeed there is a great difference according to whether a complex of cells evolved in the solar or in the lunar epoch. And these complicated relationships extend far beyond this. Let us consider the human heart: as it is now, it undoubtedly did not evolve until very late-but as the arrangement of its first germ it belongs to the most ancient organs of man. At the time of the ancient sun the heart depended upon the forces which ruled over the ancient sun. The heart was further formed in the epoch of the ancient moon. Then the sun, which until then had been united with the moon, departed from the moon, and its forces then acted upon the heart from without. Thus the heart underwent a new evolution, so that in its disposition one could distinguish, from then on, a solar part and a lunar part. Then again the earth, the sun and the moon were united and elaborated the heart. After a Pralaya the earthly evolution took place, in which the sun again became detached. Then, after the detachment of the sun, the solar action intensified from the outer. Then the moon also came out and acted from without upon the heart. Since the heart is one of the most ancient organs of man, we find in the heart, in accordance with cosmic evolution, a solar part and a lunar part, then a second solar participation during earthly evolution, and a second lunar participation during earthly evolution, and finally after the separation of the Earth-an earthly participation. If these parts in the heart agree, as in the Cosmos, in its harmony-then the heart is healthy-but if one of these parts is preponderant, it is sick. Each disease of man depends upon the fact that the individual parts of his organs have fallen into disharmony-while the corresponding parts of the Cosmos are in harmony. Each healing is based upon the fact that the deficient part is being strengthened and the exuberant part cushioned, so that the parts become harmonized. But it is not enough to speak of this harmony, for in order to attain it one must penetrate into the wisdom of the world. This gives us a glimpse of the true physiology or occult anatomy, which from the entire Cosmos leads to the understanding of the whole man, and from the spirit explains the individual peculiarities.

It speaks of the solar and lunar parts of the heart, of the larynx, of the brain, etc., but as all these parts act in man himself, so we have before us today something in which all these parts are arrested. But as all these parts act in man himself, so we have before us today in man something, in which all these parts are arrested. If one looks within man and understands these parts, one then understands the etheric body, the astral body, etc., the sentient soul, the rational soul and the conscious soul, as man is today. This is anthroposophy. And with anthroposophy, too, we must begin with what is lowest in order to be able to ascend gradually to what is highest.

The lowest in man is the physical body, which he has in common with the physical sensible world; that which is given by means of the senses and the physical sensible intelligence. The theosophical way of considering man is that which, starting from the whole Universe considers him in his cosmic relations. Anthroposophy, with regard to the physical-sensible world, must start from man. It must start from man, inasmuch as he is a sensitive being. Then we must first consider the etheric body, then the astral body, the ego, etc., and what is found in them.

What, then, must first of all interest us in man, when we consider him anthroposophically in this sense? We must be interested in his senses. For it is these senses through which he acquires knowledge of the physical sensory world. Starting therefore from the physical plane, it is of the senses that anthroposophy must first speak. This will be our first chapter: The Observation of the Human Senses. We shall then proceed to a consideration of the individual spiritual fields of human nature.

Let us begin, therefore, with the examination of man's senses. Here anthroposophy immediately finds itself in contrast to external anthropology, because anthroposophy must always start from what is sensibly true; but it must clearly realize, that the spiritual acts, from above, within man. In this sense it is true anthropology. In ordinary anthropology everything that concerns the human senses has been mixed up in bulk. It deals only with what it investigates below, and goes groping from one single detail to another. It neglects important things, because men have no guiding thread, which can lead them into the light, through the labyrinth of facts. It cannot get out of this labyrinth, and must fall a victim to the Minotaur of error - for only the spiritual quest can weave that thread.

Anthroposophy also has something different to say about man's senses from what ordinary external examination says about them. But it is also interesting to see how nowadays external science is already compelled by external facts to proceed with greater depth, seriousness and care in its work. The enumeration of the five senses, for example, is the most superficial; the senses of touch, smell, taste, hearing, and sight. We may see how truly, in this list, everything is mixed up in bulk. To these senses, however, science has now added three others, of which, however, it is not able to make a distinction. To-day we shall enumerate the senses of man, in so far as they have real significance. We would like to try to lay the first foundations for an anthroposophical teaching of the senses in what follows.

The first sense we must consider is that, which in the science of the Spirit may be called the sense of life. This is a true sense - just as we speak of a visual sense, we must also speak of a vital sense. What is the vital sense? It is something in man, which ordinarily, when it