Four Human Group Souls
(Lion, Bull, Eagle, Man)
GA 107
29 October 1908, Berlin
Today we will consider some things already known to you from a certain side. But in all theosophical questions, we only fully penetrate them when they are illuminated from different aspects. And within the theosophical stream here in our central European regions, things are discussed which are drawn from the most advanced occult investigations, and which can thus be easily misunderstood. On the other hand, however, we should not advance if we did not venture for once to speak about such things quite plainly. Just call to mind that if we go back in human evolution, through the various epochs of the post-Atlantean age, as far back as Atlantis, and then back to the older periods even in Atlantis—that then, if we turn our spiritual gaze on the events of that time, we find quite different forms of humanity.
In the last third of the Atlantean epoch the etheric body was still, to a certain extent, outside the physical body. The head of the etheric body was not yet united with the forces of the physical body, which are the forces of the ego, of self-consciousness. If we observe the process lying behind this we can say: progressive evolution consists in the widely extending etheric head withdrawing into the physical head. If we see a horse today, then the etheric head of the horse extends beyond the physical head. I have also told you what a gigantic organization the etheric parts of the elephant form, which stretch far, far beyond the physical body—quite a house, so to say. So, with man, too, in the Atlantean age, the etheric body was still outside, and gradually entered in more and more. Such an entry of a more rarefied member into a denser one brings about, at the same time, a densification of what is physical. The physical head of man before the last third of the Atlantean age thus appeared quite different from what it did later. And if we went still further back into the last Lemurian times, then one would see spiritually very little of the physical head. It existed first in a quite soft, transparent matter. Only through the gradual entry of the etheric head, through the gradual assimilation of substances, parts of the head become densified, and thus separated from their environment. Even in the later Atlantis man was still endowed, to an extraordinary degree, with what has been retained—but as a pathological state—as water on the brain, as a watery brain. In addition to this we have to think of a softening of the bones, a complete softening of the upper members of man. That sounds terrible for modern man. That which today forms the human head, and surrounds it, hardened out of this watery substance. The comparison I sometimes give is not altogether inept: the crystallizing of salt from a salt solution, in a glass. It gives a fairly correct idea, this crystallizing from a watery salt solution. What thus took place as regards the head at a later time, occurred with the rest of man at a much earlier time.
All the other members gradually developed out of a soft mass, so that we can say: Where was the human ego then, in reality? Where was the present ego? It was not really within man at that time but still in his environment. We can say: the upper members of man harden through the entry of the egos. Because the ego was outside man, it was still endowed with a quality which later became different. Through entering the physical body, the ego was enabled to become an individual I, whereas before it was still a kind of group soul.
I will here give a picture of the facts of the case. Imagine a circle of twelve men are sitting somewhere. These twelve men are sitting in a circle. Through evolution as it is today, each of these men has his ego within himself. Thus twelve egos are sitting in this circle. Let us consider such a circle of men in the Atlantean age; then the physical bodies sat thus around, but the ego is only in the etheric body which is still outside. The ego is thus to be found in front of each one. This ego, however, has another characteristic. It is not so centralized. It develops, as it were, its forces and unites with the egos of the other men so that they form a ring which again sends its forces towards its centre. Thus we have here an etheric circular body which forms a unity in itself, and within it, the egos. Thus there is a circle of physical bodies, and within an etheric circular surface, which forms a unity because the egos are caught up in it, and the single ego is enclosed. Through this image we come to a pictorial idea of the group souls.
If we go further back, then we can keep this image, but we must not imagine such a regular circle of men; these human beings can be scattered in the world in the most manifold way. Let us imagine one in west France, another in the east of America, etc.—that is to say, not sitting together. Where the laws of the spiritual world are in question the egos can still be connected, although the human beings are scattered over the world. These human beings form, then, this “round.” That which is formed through the flowing together of their egos is not indeed such a beautifully formed etheric body, but still it is a Unity. Thus a group of people existed at that time, who were united because their egos formed a unity—and indeed, there were actually four such group egos. You must imagine these human beings in accordance with the laws of the spiritual world. The group souls of the four groups passed into each other. They were not inwardly united, but passed into each other. One calls these four group souls by the names of the apocalyptic beasts: Bull, Eagle, Lion, Man. The Man, however, was at another stage of evolution than the man of today. The names are taken from the organization of the group souls. Why could one call them thus? I should like to make that clear today from another aspect.
Let us place ourselves as vividly as possible in the early ages of Lemurian life. The souls which today are incarnated in human bodies had not yet descended as far as the physical bodies. They had not yet the tendency to unite themselves with physical matter. Even the bodies which later were to become human bodies were very, very animal-like. The most grotesque physical beings were on earth, which would even seem grotesque compared with what we should call today the most grotesque creatures. Everything was still in a soft, slippery form—seething, watery, or fiery—human beings, as well as the environment. Among these grotesque forms were already, of course, the ancestors of the human physical bodies, but these were not yet taken possession of by the egos. The four group souls, whom we have already characterized as four group souls before the entry of the spirit into the physical organization, actually represented four egos who waited to incarnate—such egos as were adapted to quite special forms, which were down there below. One category was adapted to enter the organizations already existing physically, in quite definite shapes, another category to enter another. The forms which were below must correspond in their formation, in a certain way, to the kinds of egos which waited. There were forms existing which were especially adapted to receive the Lion egos, others the Bull egos, etc. That was in a very early age of earth evolution. Now consider that the group soul we have called the Bull soul enters quite definite forms which are there below. These have a quite definite appearance. Similarly, the Lion soul was drawn to other special forms.
Thus what is physical on earth shows us a fourfold picture. The one group especially develops the organs whose functions coincide more with those of the heart. They were organized one-sidedly in the heart nature; an especially aggressive, courageous, attacking element was in them. They were courageous, self-assertive, sought to overcome the others—were, as it were, already conquerors, born as conquering natures even in their form. They were those in whom the heart, the seat of the ego, had been made strong. In others, the organs of digestion, of nourishment, of procreation, were especially developed. In the third group, it was especially the organs of movement. In the fourth group, these tendencies were equally shared—both the courageous, aggressive, and the tranquil—which comes through the development of the digestive organs. Both were developed. The group in which the aggressive quality belonging to the organization of the heart was specially developed, formed the human beings whose group soul belonged to the Lion. The second group was that of the Bull. The third group, with the mobile element that does not wish to know much of the earth, belongs to the group soul of the Eagle. They are the ones who can raise themselves above what is earthly. And those in whom these things were held in equilibrium belonged to the group soul “Man.” Thus we have, in due form, the projection of the four group souls into the physical. At that time, a quite peculiar sight would have offered itself to the observer. One would have found one kind of race, of which someone with a prophetic gift could have said: Those are physical beings who remind one somewhat of the lion, who reproduce the character of the lion, even though they looked different from the lion of today. They were lion-hearted people, aggressive human germs. Then again there was a group of bull like people, everything adapted to the physical plane. You can easily complete for yourselves the third and fourth races. The third race was already strongly visionary. While the first were combative, while the second cultivated everything connected with the physical plane and working it over, you would have found the third class of people, who were very visionary. As a rule, they had something which, in relation to the other bodies, was misshaped. They would have reminded you of people who have much psychism and believe in visions, and because they do not bother much about the physical, have something dried up, something stunted compared with the abundant force of the other two groups. They would have reminded you of the bird nature. “I will hold back my Spirit,” that was the tendency of the eagle men. The others had something which, as it were, was mixed out of all the parts. Something else must be added to this.
If we go so far back as to meet with these conditions on the earth, then we must also bear in mind that everything that happened in the course of earth evolution, occurred in such a way that the affairs of the earth were regulated from out of the spiritual world. Everything was a detour in order to arrive at the man of today. One who could have seen more deeply into these things, could have made the experience that these lion natures (who reminded one of what we see today in quite another way in the lion body) developed a special attractive force for the male forms of the etheric bodies. These felt themselves especially drawn to the lion men, so that these were beings who had outwardly a lion body—inwardly, however, a male etheric body. There was a powerful etheric being with a male character, and a small part of this etheric being densified itself to the physical lion body. The bull race, however, had a special attractive force for the female etheric body. Thus the bull body had the special force to attract the female etheric body and unite with it. And now think further—the etheric bodies go on continually working, penetrating and transforming. The relation of the lion-like men to the bull-like was especially important in older times. The others come less into consideration. The male etheric bodies which crystallized a physical lion body out of themselves, had the power of fructifying the physical lion body itself, so that the procreation of humanity was especially cared for by the lion-like race. It was a kind of fructification from out of the spiritual, a non-sexual procreation. The bull race, however, could also bring about the same thing. That which had become physical worked back here on the female etheric body. In the course of evolution, the process fashioned itself differently. Whereas the lion nature retained this mode of procreation, since the fructifying force came from above, out of the spiritual, whereas here this process intensified, the other process was drive more and more back. The bull humanity became more and more unfruitful. The result was that on the one side there was a humanity which was maintained by fructification, on the other side, another half which became more and more unfruitful. The one side became the female sex, the other the male. The modern female physical nature has in fact a male etheric body, whereas the etheric body of the man is female. The physical body of the woman has proceeded from the lion nature, whereas the physical bull-body is the ancestor of the male body.
The spiritual in man has a common origin, is neutral, and first entered the physical body when the sexes had already differentiated. Only then was the spirit taken hold of, and only then the head hardened. The etheric body of the head united for the first time with the physical body; it was all the same to it whether it joined on to a male or female body, since both sexes were the same for it.
We must say that woman, so long as we look away from what in general transcends this differentiation, has, through her evolution, something lion-like in her nature. One will certainly find this hidden courage. The woman can develop inner courage; e.g. in war, in the care of the sick, in order to work in the service of humanity. The male physical body has that which in the true sense we can call the bull nature. That is connected with the fact that the man, as he is usually organized, has more of the activity based on physical creation. Occultly regarded, these things reveal themselves precisely thus, even if it sounds extraordinary. You thus see how these group souls have worked together. They so work that the lion and bull group souls cooperate in their work. These divine beings cooperate and, in the man of today, the labours of the different divine group souls are concealed.
These pictures which I have here put before you, in outline, will certainly have their effect. If you follow humanity ever further back, to the time when no procreation was yet possible, then we must say: The external physical female body changes into something which was lion like, whereas the male body was bull-like. Such things, however, must be taken in a holy, earnest sense, if we will understand them aright. It would be easy for those who have studied human anatomy, to deduce the anatomical differences between the physical bodies of man and woman from these lion- and bull-natures. Physical science will be utterly fruitless and only describe external facts as long as it does not penetrate into the spirit of these facts. Now it will no longer appear so strange to you that once a race of people existed who had a lion-like body. These took up the ego nature, and through this the lion nature was changed more and more into the female body. Those who received nothing of this spiritual element changed in quite another way; i.e., into the modern lion, and what is related with it. We will deal another time with the reason why these animals too are bisexual. Those who shared nothing of spirituality formed the modern lion, whereas those who did so developed the modern female body. In the course of time many, many other aspects of these things can be shown. Theosophical learning is not like the mathematical. First it was shown, for instance, that there exist four group souls of which only the names are at first given. Then some or other aspect is chosen, and the matter is illuminated from outside. And so we approach continually from another side. We go around what is first presented, and illuminate it from the most diverse aspects. Whoever grasps this will never be able to say that theosophical matters contradict each other. This is also the case, even in the greatest things we consider. The differences come from the various standpoints from which one observes the matter. Let us take with us from this gathering what one might call inner tolerance. May we succeed in our special theosophical stream in bringing this inner spirit of tolerance into the theosophical movement. Let us take that with us as a content of feeling and try and work externally in such a way that this spirit of the most inner understanding may become effective.
Sechster Vortrag
Wir werden heute eine Betrachtung anstellen über Dinge, die von einer gewissen Seite her Ihnen bekannt sind. Aber es geht ja bei allen geisteswissenschaftlichen Dingen so, daß wir sie erst dann vollständig durchdringen, wenn sie von verschiedenen Seiten beleuchtet werden; und es sind innerhalb der anthroposophischen Strömung hier in unseren mitteleuropäischen Gegenden Dinge zur Besprechung zu bringen, die aus den weit vorgeschrittenen Forschungen des Okkultismus geholt sind, die also leicht mißverständlich aufgefaßt werden können. Auf der anderen Seite aber würden wir nicht weiterkommen, wenn wir nicht wagen würden, über solche Dinge einmal ganz ungeschminkt zu sprechen.
Denken Sie daran, daß, wenn wir zurückgehen in der Menschheitsentwicklung durch die verschiedenen Kulturepochen der nachatlantischen Zeit bis hinein in die Atlantis, und in immer ältere Zeiten hinaufsteigen auch innerhalb der Atlantis, daß wir da, wenn wir den geistigen Blick richten auf die Vorgänge, immer andere Gestalten des Menschen finden. Im letzten Drittel der atlantischen Epoche ist der Ätherleib, bis zu einem gewissen Grade noch außerhalb des physischen Leibes, der Kopf des Ätherleibes ist noch nicht mit den Kräften des physischen Leibes verbunden, die die Kräfte des Ichs, des Selbstbewußtseins sind. Wenn wir den Vorgang, der da zugrunde liegt, beobachten, so können wir sagen: Die Fortentwicklung besteht darin, daß der Ätherkopf sich hineinschiebt in den physischen Kopf. Betrachten wir heute ein Pferd, dann ragt über den physischen Kopf der Ätherkopf des Pferdes heraus. Er hat noch eine mächtige Größe über den physischen Kopf hinaus. Ich habe Ihnen auch gesagt, welche mächtige Organisation die Ätherteile des Elefanten bilden, die weit, weit über den physischen Leib hinausragen. So war auch beim Menschen in der atlantischen Zeit noch der Ätherleib heraußen und schob sich allmählich immer mehr hinein. Ein solches Hineinschieben von einem dünneren Gliede in ein dichteres bedeutet zugleich eine Verdichtung desjenigen, was physisch ist. Der physische Kopf des Menschen hat also damals noch ganz anders ausgesehen als später. Würden wir noch weiter zurückgehen, bis in die letzten lemurischen Zeiten, so würde man geistig erst schr wenig vom physischen Kopf sehen; erst in ganz weicher, durchsichtiger Materie war er vorhanden. Erst durch das allmähliche Hineinschieben des Ätherkopfes wurden Teile des Kopfes verdichtet, erst losgelöst von den Teilen der Umgebung. Auch in der späteren Atlantis war der Mensch noch in ungeheurer Weise begabt mit dem, was sich in krankhafter Weise erhalten hat im Wasserkopf, in einem wässerigen Gehirn. Außerdem haben wir uns noch dazu zu denken eine Knochenerweichung, eine völlige Erweichung der oberen Glieder des Menschen. Das klingt schrecklich für den heutigen Menschen. Aus dieser wässerigen Substanz hat sich verhärtet, was heute den menschlichen Kopf bildet und umschließt. Es ist das nicht einmal ein sehr ungeeignetes Bild, das ich manchmal brauche, das Verhärten, Auskristallisieren aus den Wassermassen, aus einer Salzlösung in einem Glase; es gibt die Dinge ziemlich genau wieder, dies Herauskristallisieren des Salzes aus der wässerigen Salzlösung. Was mit dem Kopf in so später Zeit vor sich ging, ist mit dem übrigen Menschen viel früher geschehen. Auch die übrigen Glieder haben sich allmählich aus einer weichen Masse herausgebildet.
So daß wir sagen können: Wo ist denn damals eigentlich das menschliche Ich, das heutige Ich? Im Menschen eigentlich nicht; es ist noch in der Umgebung. Durch das Einziehen des Ichs können wir auch sagen, verhärten sich die oberen Glieder des Menschen. Dadurch, daß das Ich außerhalb des Menschen war, war es in einer anderen Beziehung noch mit einer Eigenart behaftet, die später anders wurde. Durch Einziehen in den physischen Leib wurde das Ich veranlaßt, ein individuelles Ich zu werden, während es vorher noch eine Art Gruppenseele war. Ich will Ihnen hier ein Bild geben für den Tatbestand. Denken Sie sich, es säße ein Kreis von zwölf Menschen; irgendwo in einem Kreis angeordnet säßen diese zwölf Menschen. Durch die Entwicklung, wie sie heute ist, hat jeder Mensch sein Ich in sich. Es sitzen also zwölf Ichs im Kreis herum. Betrachten wir aber in der atlantischen Zeit einen solchen Kreis von Menschen, so säßen die physischen Körper auch herum, aber das Ich ist erst im Ätherleibe, der noch draußen ist. Vor einem jeden also befindet sich sein Ich. Das Ich hat aber eine andere Eigenschaft, es ist nicht so Zentralisiert, es entfaltet gleich seine Kräfte und verbindet sich mit den Ichs der anderen Menschen, so daß sie einen Ring bilden, der wiederum seine Kräfte nach seinem Mittelpunkt schickt. Also haben wir hier einen ätherischen Kreiskörper, der eine Einheit in sich bildet, und in ihm die Ichs, also ein Kreis von physischen Körpern und innerhalb eine ätherische Kreisfläche, die eine Einheit bildet, dadurch, daß die Ichs eingefangen werden, wird eingeschlossen das Einzel-Ich und durch dieses Bild kommen wir zu einer anschaulichen Vorstellung der Gruppenseelen.
Gehen wir immer weiter zurück, so können wir dieses Bild festhalten, aber wir müssen uns nicht mehr einen solchen regelmäßigen Kreis von Menschen vorstellen, sondern diese Menschen können in der mannigfaltigsten Weise in der Welt zerstreut sein. Denken wir uns einen Menschen im westlichen Frankreich, einen andern im Osten von Amerika und so weiter, also nicht zusammensitzend, aber da, wo es sich um die Gesetze der geistigen Welt handelt, können die Iche doch zusammenhängen, wenn die Menschen auch über der Erde zerstreut sind. Diese Menschen bilden dann diesen Reigen. Das, was durch das Zusammenfließen ihrer Ichs gebildet wird, ist dann zwar nicht ein so geometrisch schöner Ätherkörper, aber es ist doch ein Einheitliches. Es hat also eine Gruppe von Menschen damals gegeben, die dadurch verbunden waren, daß ihre Ichs eine Einheit bildeten; und zwar gab es im wesentlichen vier solche Gruppen-Ichs. Sie müssen sich diese Menschen wieder entsprechend den Gesetzen der geistigen Welt vorstellen. Die Gruppenseelen der vier Gruppen gingen ineinander; sie waren nicht innerlich verbunden, gingen aber ineinander. Man nennt diese vier Gruppenseelen mit den Namen der vier apokalyptischen Tieren: Adler, Löwe, Stier, Mensch. Der Mensch war aber auf einer anderen Stufe der damaligen Entwicklung wie der heutige Mensch. Die Namen sind aus der Organisation der Gruppenseelen genommen. Warum konnte man sie so nennen? Das möchte ich Ihnen heute von einer anderen Seite begreiflich machen.
Wir versetzen uns einmal so recht anschaulich in frühe Zeiten des lemurischen Lebens zurück. Die Seelen, die heute in menschlichen Leibern verkörpert sind, waren da noch nicht bis zu den physischen Körpern heruntergestiegen; sie hatten noch gar nicht die Tendenz dazu, sich mit physischer Materie zu verbinden. Auch die Körper, die später Menschenkörper werden sollten, sind noch sehr, sehr tierähnlich. Auf Erden sind die groteskesten physischen Wesenheiten, die sich selbst noch grotesk ausnehmen würden gegenüber dem, was wir heute die groteskesten Tiere nennen. Alles war noch in einer weichen, schlüpfrigen Materie, wässerig oder feurig siedend, sowohl die Menschen wie auch die Umgebung. Es waren natürlich schon unter diesen grotesken Gestalten die Vorfahren des physischen Menschenkörpers, aber diese waren nicht in Besitz genommen von den Ichs. Tatsächlich lebten die vier Gruppenseelen, die wir charakterisiert haben, schon als vier Gruppenseelen vor dem Einzug des Geistigen in die physische Organisation, so daß vier Ichs warteten auf ihre Verkörperung, solche Ichs, die veranlagt waren zu ganz besonderen Gestalten, die sich da unten befanden. Die einen waren veranlagt, zu den Organisationen sich hinzuziehen, die schon in physischer Form in ganz bestimmten Gestalten vorhanden waren, die anderen wieder zu anderen; die Gestalten, die unten waren, mußten in ihren Formen in gewisser Weise entsprechen den Arten der Ichs, die da warteten. Es waren Formen vorhanden, die besonders geeignet waren, die Löwen-Ichs zu empfangen, andere die Stier-Ichs und so weiter. Das war in einer sehr frühen Zeit der Erdentwicklung. Nun denken Sie sich, die Gruppenseele, die wir Stierseele genannt haben, zieht sich zu ganz bestimmten Formen, die da unten sind. Diese schauen in einer bestimmten Weise aus; ebenso wurde die Löwenseele zu besonderen Formen hingezogen. Also zeigt uns auch das Physische auf Erden ein vierfaches Bild. Die eine Gruppe entwickelt besonders stark die Organe, deren Funktionen mehr mit den Funktionen des Herzens übereinkamen; sie waren einseitig auf das Herz hin organisiert; ein besonders aggressives, mutvolles, angreifendes Element war in ihnen. Sie sind mutvoll, wollen sich Geltung verschaffen, wollen die anderen überwinden, sind sozusagen schon Eroberer, geborene Eroberernaturen, schon in der Gestalt. Das sind solche, bei denen das Herz, der Sitz des Ichs, stark gemacht worden ist. Bei anderen sind die Organe der Verdauung, der Ernährung, der Fortpflanzung besonders entwickelt; bei der dritten Gruppe besonders die Bewegungsorgang; bei der vierten Gruppe aber sind gleichmäßig die Sachen verteilt, sowohl das Mutvolle, Aggressive wie das Ruhige, das durch die Ausbildung der Verdauungsorgane hineinkommt; beides wurde ausgebildet. Die Gruppe, bei der das Aggressive, das zu der Organisation des Herzens gehört, ausgebildet wurde, das waren die Menschen, deren Gruppenseelen zu den Löwen gehörten; die zweite Gruppe war die des Stieres, die dritte Gruppe, die mit dem beweglichen Element, das nicht viel vom Irdischen wissen will, gehört zur Gruppenseele des Adlers. Es sind die, die sich erheben können über das Irdische. Und die, bei denen die Dinge sich im Gleichgewicht hielten, gehörten zur Gruppenseele des «Menschen». So haben wir förmlich im Physischen die Projektion der vier Gruppenseelen.
Damals würde sich ein ganz eigenartiger Anblick für den Beschauer geboten haben. Man hätte eine Art Rasse gefunden, von der man sich mit prophetischer Gabe hätte sagen können: Das sind physische Wesen, die etwas an Löwen erinnern, die den Charakter des Löwen wiedergeben, wenn sie auch anders aussahen als heute die Löwen. Es waren löwenmutige Menschen, aggressive Menschenkeime. Dann wieder gab es eine Gruppe von stierähnlichen Menschen, alles auf dem physischen Plan angesehen. Die dritte und vierte Rasse können Sie sich leicht ergänzen. Die dritte Rasse war schon stark visionär. Während die erste kampfmutig war, während die zweite alles pflegte, was mit dem physischen Plan, mit der Verarbeitung des physischen Planes zusammenhängt, hätten Sie eine dritte Klasse von Menschen gefunden, die sehr visionär waren. In der Regel hatten sie etwas, was im Verhältnis zu den anderen Leibern mißgestaltet war. Sie würden Sie erinnert haben an solche Menschen, die viel Psychisches haben und an Visionen glauben, die aber, weil sie sich um das Physische nicht viel kümmern, etwas Vertrocknetes haben, etwas Verkümmertes gegenüber dem Kraftstrotzenden der beiden anderen Gruppen. Sie würden Sie erinnert haben an die Vogelnatur. «Ich will zurückbehalten meinen Geist», das war die Tendenz der Adlermenschen. Die anderen hatten etwas, was sozusagen aus allen Teilen gemischt war.
Dazu kommt noch etwas: Wenn wir so weit zurückgehen, daß wir solche Verhältnisse auf Erden antreffen, dann müssen wir auch den anderen Gedanken uns etwas nahelegen, daß ja alles, was geschehen war im Verlaufe der Erdenevolution, geschehen war, um zu regeln die Angelegenheiten der Erde aus dem Geistigen heraus. Es war alles nur ein Umweg, um zu dem heutigen Menschen zu kommen. Wer noch mehr in die Dinge hinein hätte schauen können, der hätte die Erfahrung machen können, daß diese Löwennaturen, die erinnerten an das, was wir heute in ganz anderer Weise an dem Löwenleib sehen, eine besondere Anziehungskraft bildeten für die männlichen Gestalten der Ätherleiber. Diese fühlten sich besonders hingezogen zu diesen Löwenmenschen, so daß dies Wesen waren, die äußerlich einen Löwenleib hatten, innerlich aber einen männlichen Ätherleib. Es war ein mächtiges Ätherwesen mit männlichem Charakter, und ein kleiner Teil dieses Ätherwesens verdichtete sich zu dem physischen Löwenleib. Der physische Leib war förmlich der Kometenkern, während der Ätherleib den Kometenschweif bildete, der der eigentliche Schöpfer des Kernes war. Die Stierrasse aber hatte eine besondere Anziehungskraft für den weiblichen Ätherleib. Also der Stierkörper hatte gerade die Kraft, den weiblichen Ätherleib anzuziehen und sich mit ihm zu verbinden. Und nun denken Sie sich noch, daß das fortwährend arbeitet, die Ätherleiber fortwährend eindringend, umgestaltend.
Das Verhältnis der löwenartigen Menschen zu den stierartigen ist besonders wichtig in den älteren Zeiten. Die anderen kommen weniger in Betracht. Die männlichen Ätherleiber, die einen physischen Löwenleib aus sich herauskristallisierten, hatten die Fähigkeit, den physischen Löwenleib selbst zu befruchten, so daß also geradezu die Fortpflanzung der Menschheit besorgt wurde durch die löwenartige Rasse. Es war eine Art Befruchtung aus dem Geistigen heraus, eine ungeschlechtliche Fortpflanzung. Dasselbe konnte aber auch die stierartige Rasse bewirken. Das, was physisch geworden war, wirkte hier zurück auf den weiblichen Ätherleib. Im Laufe der Entwicklung gestalten sich die Sachen anders. Während die Löwennatur die Art der Fortpflanzung behält, weil die befruchtende Kraft aus dem Geistigen heraus von oben kam, während hier der Prozeß sich steigerte, wurde der andere Prozeß immer mehr und mehr zurückgedrängt. Unfruchtbarer und unfruchtbarer wurde die Stiermenschheit. Die Folge war, daß wir auf der einen Seite eine Menschheit hatten, die durch Befruchtung erhalten wurde, auf der anderen Seite eine andere Hälfte, die immer unfruchtbarer wurde. Die eine Seite wurde zum weiblichen, die andere zum männlichen Geschlecht. Die heutige weibliche physische Natur hat ja einen männlichen Ätherleib, während der Ätherleib des Mannes weiblich ist. Der physische Leib der Frau ist hervorgegangen aus der Löwennatur, während der physische Stierleib der Vorfahre des männlichen Leibes ist.
Das Geistige im Menschen hat einen gemeinsamen Ursprung, ist neutral, ging erst in den physischen Leib hinein, als sich die Geschlechter schon differenziert hatten; da wurde erst das Geistige in Angriff genommen, da erst der Kopf verhärtet. Da erst verband sich der Ätherleib des Kopfes mit dem physischen Leib, dem war es ganz einerlei, ob er auf einem Männer- oder Frauenleib sich aufsetzte, da sind beide Geschlechter gleich. Wir müssen sagen, es hat die Frau durch ihre Entwicklung, solange wir absehen von dem, was überhaupt über die Differenzierung hinausgeht, in ihrer Natur etwas Löwenartiges. Dieses verborgene Mutvolle wird man schon finden. Die Frau kann den Mut der Innerlichkeit zum Beispiel im Kriege, in der Krankenpflege, für gewisse Dienste der Menschheit entwikkeln. Der männliche physische Leib hat dasjenige, was wir im echten Sinne die Stiernatur nennen können. Das hängt damit zusammen, daß der Mann, wie er sonst organisiert ist, mehr die im physischen Schaffen begründete Tätigkeit hat. Okkult betrachtet stellen sich die Dinge durchaus so dar, wenn es auch sehr merkwürdig klingt. Sie sehen also, wie diese Gruppenseelen zusammengewirkt haben. Sie arbeiten so, daß sie ihre Arbeit zusammenlegen, die Löwen- und die Stier-Gruppenseele. Diese göttlichen Wesenheiten wirken zusammen und im heutigen Menschen stecken die Arbeiten der verschiedenen göttlichen Gruppenseelen.
Diese Bilder, die ich hier skizzenhaft vor Sie hingestellt habe, werden schon ihre Wirkung haben. Verfolgen Sie die Menschen immer weiter zurück, bis zu der Zeit, als noch keine Fortpflanzung möglich war, so müssen wir also sagen: Es verwandelt sich der äußere physische Frauenleib in etwas, was löwenartig war, während der Männerleib stierartig war. Solche Dinge müssen nur in heiligem, ernstem Sinne genommen werden, wenn wir sie im richtigen Sinne verstehen wollen. Es würde denjenigen, die die Anatomie des Menschen studiert haben, leicht werden, die anatomischen Verschiedenheiten des physischen Leibes von Mann und Weib abzuleiten von diesen Naturen des Löwen und des Stieres. So lange wird die physische Wissenschaft ganz unfruchtbar sein, nur äußere Tatsachen berichten, solange sie nicht eindringt in diesen Geist der Tatsachen.
Nun wird es Ihnen nicht mehr so sonderbar erscheinen, wie es einmal eine Rasse von Menschen gegeben hat, die einen Löwenkörper hatten. Diese nahmen die Ich-Natur auf und dadurch wandelte sich die Löwennatur immer mehr zum Frauenleib. Die, die nichts von diesem Geistigen abbekommen haben, wandelten sich in ganz anderer Weise um, nämlich zu den heutigen Löwen und was mit ihnen verwandt ist. Warum auch diese Tiere zweigeschlechtlich sind, davon ein anderes Mal. Die, die nichts abbekommen hatten von der Geistigkeit, bildeten die heutigen Löwen heraus, während die, die etwas abbekommen hatten, den heutigen Frauenleib herausbildeten.
Im Verlaufe der Zeit können noch viele, viele andere Seiten dieser Dinge gezeigt werden. Das anthroposophische Lernen ist nicht so wie das mathematische. Zuerst wird aufmerksam darauf gemacht, daß es zum Beispiel die vier Gruppenseelen gibt; damit sind zunächst nur die Namen gegeben. Dann wird irgendein Gesichtspunkt gewählt, und es wird die Sache von außen her beleuchtet. Und so kommen wir immer wieder von einer anderen Seite heran. Wir gehen um das, was zuerst hingestellt wurde, herum und beleuchten es von den verschiedensten Seiten her. Wer sich das gesagt sein läßt, wird niemals dazu kommen können, zu sagen, daß sich irgendwelche anthroposophischen Dinge widersprechen. So ist es selbst bei den größten Dingen, die wir betrachten. Die Verschiedenheit rührt her von den verschiedenen Standpunkten, von denen aus man die Dinge betrachtet.
Lassen Sie uns von dieser Versammlung das mitnehmen, was man innere Toleranz nennen könnte. Möge es uns gerade innerhalb unserer anthroposophischen Spezialströmung gelingen, diesen inneren Geist der Toleranz in die anthroposophische Bewegung hineinzubringen. Das nehmen wir noch als einen Gefühlsinhalt mit und versuchen nun wieder draußen zu wirken, so daß dieser Geist allerinnerlichster Verständigung Platz greifen kann. Auch von verschiedenen Orten aus können wir unsere Seele, unser Herz hinneigen lassen zu dem, was uns alle verbindet, zu den großen anthroposophischen Idealen. Und wir können dann das herausbringen, was ein geistiger Organismus sein soll, was wächst und gedeiht: das Leben unserer anthroposophischen Sache, zu der wir unsere Kraft von den verschiedensten Seiten sollen hinstrahlen lassen.
Sixth Lecture
Today we will consider things that are familiar to you from a certain point of view. But it is always the case with spiritual scientific matters that we only fully understand them when they are illuminated from different angles; and within the anthroposophical movement here in our Central European region, there are things to be discussed that have been drawn from the advanced research of occultism and can therefore easily be misunderstood. On the other hand, however, we would not make any progress if we did not dare to speak about such things in a completely unvarnished way.
Remember that when we go back in human development through the various cultural epochs of the post-Atlantean period, back to Atlantis, and climb up into ever older times even within Atlantis, we find, when we turn our spiritual gaze to the processes, ever different forms of the human being. In the last third of the Atlantean epoch, the etheric body is still to a certain extent outside the physical body; the head of the etheric body is not yet connected with the forces of the physical body, which are the forces of the I, of self-consciousness. If we observe the process underlying this, we can say that the further development consists in the etheric head pushing itself into the physical head. If we look at a horse today, the etheric head of the horse protrudes above the physical head. It still has a powerful size beyond the physical head. I have also told you what a powerful organization the etheric parts of the elephant form, which extend far, far beyond the physical body. In the same way, in the Atlantean epoch, the etheric body was still protruding in the human being and gradually pushed itself in more and more. Such a pushing in from a thinner member into a denser one means at the same time a condensation of what is physical. The physical head of the human being therefore looked very different then than it did later. If we were to go back even further, to the last Lemurian times, we would see very little of the physical head spiritually; it existed only in very soft, transparent matter. It was only through the gradual pushing in of the etheric head that parts of the head became denser, first detached from the parts of the environment. Even in later Atlantis, humans were still immensely gifted with what has been preserved in a pathological way in the watery head, in a watery brain. In addition, we must also consider a softening of the bones, a complete softening of the upper limbs of humans. This sounds terrible to modern humans. From this watery substance, what today forms and encloses the human head has hardened. It is not even a very inappropriate image that I sometimes use, the hardening, crystallization from the masses of water, from a salt solution in a glass; it reproduces things quite accurately, this crystallization of salt from the watery salt solution. What happened to the head at such a late stage happened to the rest of the human being much earlier. The other limbs also gradually formed out of a soft mass.
So we can say: Where was the human I, the I of today, at that time? Not actually in the human being; it was still in the environment. With the withdrawal of the I, we can also say that the upper limbs of the human being hardened. Because the I was outside the human being, it was still endowed with a peculiarity in another respect, which later changed. By drawing into the physical body, the I was caused to become an individual I, whereas before it was still a kind of group soul. I will give you an image to illustrate this fact. Imagine a circle of twelve people; these twelve people are sitting somewhere in a circle. Through the development that has taken place, every human being has its I within itself. So there are twelve I's sitting around in a circle. But if we consider such a circle of people in the Atlantean epoch, the physical bodies would also be sitting around, but the I would only be in the etheric body, which is still outside. So each person has their ego in front of them. But the ego has a different quality; it is not so centralized, it immediately unfolds its powers and connects with the egos of the other people, so that they form a ring, which in turn sends its powers to its center. So here we have an etheric circular body that forms a unity within itself, and within it the I's, that is, a circle of physical bodies and within it an etheric circular surface that forms a unity by capturing the I's. The individual I is enclosed, and through this image we arrive at a vivid conception of group souls.
If we go further back, we can hold on to this image, but we no longer have to imagine such a regular circle of people; instead, these people can be scattered throughout the world in the most diverse ways. Let us imagine one person in western France, another in eastern America, and so on, not sitting together, but where the laws of the spiritual world apply, the I's can still be connected, even if the people are scattered across the earth. These people then form this circle. What is formed by the merging of their egos is not a geometrically beautiful etheric body, but it is nevertheless a unified whole. So there was a group of people at that time who were connected by the fact that their egos formed a unity; and there were essentially four such group egos. You must imagine these people again in accordance with the laws of the spiritual world. The group souls of the four groups merged with one another; they were not connected internally, but they merged with one another. These four group souls are named after the four apocalyptic animals: eagle, lion, bull, and human. However, human beings were at a different stage of development than they are today. The names are taken from the organization of the group souls. Why could they be named this way? I would like to explain this to you today from a different perspective.
Let us imagine ourselves back in the early days of Lemurian life. The souls that are embodied in human bodies today had not yet descended to the physical bodies; they did not yet have any tendency to connect with physical matter. Even the bodies that would later become human bodies were still very, very animal-like. On Earth, the most grotesque physical beings existed, which would have seemed grotesque even compared to what we today call the most grotesque animals. Everything was still in a soft, slippery matter, watery or fiery boiling, both the humans and their surroundings. Of course, the ancestors of the physical human body were already present among these grotesque figures, but they had not yet been taken possession of by the I's. In fact, the four group souls we have characterized already existed as four group souls before the spirit entered into the physical organization, so that four egos were waiting for their embodiment, egos that were predisposed to very special forms that existed down there. Some were predisposed to be drawn to organizations that already existed in physical form in very specific shapes, others to other organizations; the shapes that were below had to correspond in their forms in a certain way to the types of egos that were waiting there. There were forms that were particularly suited to receiving the lion egos, others to the bull egos, and so on. This was in a very early stage of Earth's development. Now imagine that the group soul we have called the Taurus soul is drawn to very specific forms that are down there. These forms look a certain way; likewise, the Leo soul was drawn to specific forms. So the physical world on Earth also shows us a fourfold picture. One group developed particularly strongly the organs whose functions corresponded more to the functions of the heart; they were organized one-sidedly toward the heart; there was a particularly aggressive, courageous, attacking element in them. They are courageous, want to assert themselves, want to overcome others, are, so to speak, already conquerors, born conquerors, already in their form. These are people in whom the heart, the seat of the ego, has been made strong. In others, the organs of digestion, nutrition, and reproduction are particularly developed; in the third group, it is particularly the organs of movement; in the fourth group, however, things are evenly distributed, both the courageous, aggressive, and the calm, which comes in through the development of the digestive organs; both were developed. The group in which the aggressive, which belongs to the organization of the heart, was developed were those people whose group souls belonged to the lion; the second group was that of the bull, the third group, with the mobile element that does not want to know much about the earthly, belongs to the group soul of the eagle. These are the ones who can rise above the earthly. And those in whom things remained in balance belonged to the group soul of “human beings.” Thus, we have a formal projection of the four group souls in the physical realm.
At that time, a very peculiar sight would have presented itself to the observer. One would have found a kind of race of which one could have said with prophetic insight: These are physical beings that resemble lions, that reflect the character of the lion, even if they looked different from today's lions. They were lion-hearted people, aggressive human germs. Then there was a group of bull-like people, all viewed on the physical plane. You can easily imagine the third and fourth races. The third race was already highly visionary. While the first was combative, and the second cultivated everything related to the physical plane and the processing of the physical plane, you would have found a third class of people who were very visionary. As a rule, they had something that was malformed in relation to the other bodies. They would have reminded you of people who are very psychic and believe in visions, but who, because they do not care much about the physical, have something withered about them, something stunted compared to the vigor of the other two groups. They would have reminded you of the nature of birds. “I want to hold back my spirit” was the tendency of the eagle people. The others had something that was, so to speak, mixed from all parts.
There is something else: if we go back so far that we encounter such conditions on earth, then we must also suggest to ourselves that everything that happened in the course of earth's evolution happened in order to regulate the affairs of the earth from the spiritual realm. It was all just a detour to get to the human being of today. Anyone who could have looked deeper into things would have experienced that these lion natures, which reminded us of what we see today in a completely different way in the lion's body, formed a special attraction for the male figures of the etheric bodies. They felt particularly drawn to these lion-men, so that these beings had the outward appearance of a lion's body, but inwardly had a male etheric body. It was a powerful etheric being with a male character, and a small part of this etheric being condensed into the physical lion's body. The physical body was literally the core of the comet, while the etheric body formed the comet's tail, which was the actual creator of the core. The bull race, however, had a special attraction for the female etheric body. So the bull's body had the power to attract the female etheric body and connect with it. And now think about how this works continuously, with the etheric bodies constantly penetrating and transforming each other.
The relationship between lion-like people and bull-like people is particularly important in earlier times. The others are less important. The male etheric bodies, which crystallized a physical lion's body out of themselves, had the ability to fertilize the physical lion's body itself, so that the propagation of the human race was literally ensured by the lion-like race. It was a kind of fertilization from the spiritual realm, an asexual reproduction. However, the bull-like race could also achieve the same thing. What had become physical had an effect back on the female etheric body. In the course of development, things took a different turn. While the lion nature retained its mode of reproduction because the fertilizing power came from above, from the spiritual realm, and this process intensified, the other process was increasingly suppressed. The bull-like humanity became more and more infertile. The result was that on the one hand we had a humanity that was preserved through fertilization, and on the other hand another half that became increasingly infertile. One side became the female sex, the other the male. Today's female physical nature has a male etheric body, while the etheric body of the man is female. The physical body of the woman emerged from the lion nature, while the physical bull body is the ancestor of the male body.
The spiritual in human beings has a common origin, is neutral, and only entered the physical body once the sexes had already differentiated; only then was the spiritual aspect addressed, only then did the head harden. Only then did the etheric body of the head connect with the physical body; it was completely irrelevant whether it was attached to a male or female body, as both sexes are equal. We must say that, apart from what goes beyond differentiation, women have something lion-like in their nature as a result of their development. This hidden courage can already be found. Women can develop the courage of inner strength, for example, in war, in nursing, and in certain services to humanity. The male physical body has what we can truly call the nature of the bull. This is connected with the fact that men, as they are otherwise organized, are more engaged in activities based on physical creation. From an occult point of view, this is how things appear, even if it sounds very strange. So you see how these group souls have worked together. They work in such a way that they combine their work, the lion and the bull group souls. These divine beings work together, and the work of the various divine group souls is present in human beings today.
These images that I have sketched out for you here will already have their effect. If you trace human beings back to the time when reproduction was not yet possible, we must say that the outer physical body of women was transformed into something lion-like, while the male body was bull-like. Such things must only be taken in a sacred, serious sense if we want to understand them correctly. Those who have studied human anatomy would find it easy to deduce the anatomical differences between the physical bodies of men and women from the natures of lions and bulls. Physical science will remain completely sterile, merely reporting external facts, as long as it does not penetrate into this spirit of facts.
Now it will no longer seem so strange to you that there was once a race of people who had the body of a lion. They took on the nature of the I, and through this the nature of the lion was increasingly transformed into the female body. Those who received nothing of this spiritual element were transformed in a completely different way, namely into the lions of today and their relatives. Why these animals are also hermaphroditic is a topic for another time. Those who received nothing of the spiritual nature developed into today's lions, while those who did receive something developed into today's female bodies.
Over time, many, many other aspects of these things can be revealed. Anthroposophical learning is not like mathematical learning. First, attention is drawn to the fact that there are, for example, four group souls; initially, only the names are given. Then a particular point of view is chosen, and the matter is examined from the outside. And so we approach it again and again from a different angle. We circle around what was initially presented and examine it from various angles. Anyone who accepts this will never be able to say that any anthroposophical ideas contradict each other. This is true even for the greatest things we consider. The differences arise from the different perspectives from which things are viewed.
Let us take away from this gathering what might be called inner tolerance. May we succeed, especially within our special anthroposophical stream, in bringing this inner spirit of tolerance into the anthroposophical movement. Let us take this with us as a feeling and try to work on it again outside, so that this spirit of innermost understanding can take root. Even from different places, we can let our souls and hearts turn toward what connects us all, toward the great anthroposophical ideals. And we can then bring forth what a spiritual organism should be, something that grows and flourishes: the life of our anthroposophical cause, to which we should radiate our strength from many different sides.