The Being of Man and His Future Evolution
GA 107
21 December 1908, Berlin
IV. Rhythm in the Bodies of Man
The fact that we have the possibility of progressing to more and more advanced studies in this group is solely due to the arrangements we have made concerning the courses running parallel with the group lectures. Therefore I would like to ask you to give these courses all your support. It is necessary to have somewhere where we can progress with the lectures. Otherwise we would have to start from the beginning every year.
We will concern ourselves today with something that will again appear to be far removed from the previous lectures but which will nevertheless fit into our present train of thought. We want to take as our starting-point an observation made in one of the last public lectures; the one on ‘Superstition from the Spiritual Scientific Point of View’. An observation was made there that cannot be carried further in a public lecture because, for a deeper understanding of it, certain preliminary concepts would have to be presupposed that are less related to an intellectual understanding than to an understanding that lies in our whole soul constitution, and that we can only acquire after years of group work. Patient work of this kind brings us ultimately to the point where things that would have seemed absurd appear possible and probable, and we can see that life bears them out. The observation we want to start from is that it is an ordinary fact and no superstition that in the case of certain illnesses like, for instance, pneumonia, there is a crisis on the seventh day when the patient can easily die, and the doctor has to do everything in his power to bring the patient through this crisis which occurs without fail on the seventh day. This is recognised today by every sensible doctor, though doctors cannot investigate the causes because they have no idea of the spiritual foundation of things. First of all I will simply present you with the fact that pneumonia shows something quite remarkable that is connected with the mysterious number seven.
We must look at the human being in a way that makes it possible to understand this fact and many others besides. You know from the innumerable times we have referred to it that man can only be understood when we know that he has a fourfold structure of physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego. These four members of man's being are connected with and dependent on one another in the most manifold ways. Each member influences the other, and therefore they are in constant connection one with another. But this cooperation is very complicated. It takes a very long time for man to get to know these connections as well as the relationship of these members to certain forces, processes and beings in the cosmos as a whole. For man has a connection with the cosmos through each of his members; a connection which is continuous—and this again is very important—but which is also variable. What we know as the physical body, etheric body and so on are connected with one another but also with the cosmos, the whole world about us. For what we have within us is also to a certain extent outside us, and so we could say that we can best get to know these inner and outer connections if we observe man both in a waking and sleeping state.
When a man lies asleep, the physical and etheric bodies lie in bed and the astral body and the ego are to a certain extent outside these. But this is only roughly speaking. A rough idea is sufficient for a number of things, but we want to understand this situation a little more accurately today. The astral body and the ego are not active in the physical body now. But the physical body with its nerves and blood system and the etheric body cannot exist unless they are interpenetrated by an astral body and something resembling an ego. Nor could the etheric body exist without being interpenetrated by higher entities. When the human being's own astral body and ego depart, the activities of these two members have to be replaced. The human body cannot remain without there being an ego and an astral body active within it, so there also has to be an ego and an astral body active when the human being is asleep. To be exact, we would have to say that the ego and the astral body that are active in the human being's sleeping physical body are also within the human being during the day, but their activity is completely overpowered by the activity of the human being's own astral body and ego. If we want to imagine the ego as it is nowadays, in the waking state, we have to tell ourselves that this human ego is within the human body when man is awake, and because of its activity during this time it deprives a larger ego of its sphere of influence. What does our own limited ego actually do during sleep? We can in truth say fairly accurately that this ego that has freed itself in the daytime from the large cosmic ego and that has a free hand in the human body, descends into the cosmic ego during the night and foregoes its own activity. And because the day ego descends into the cosmic ego, the cosmic ego can work unhindered and get rid of all the exhaustion that has accumulated during the day. Because the day ego sinks down into the cosmic ego it is possible for the night ego to be active in an all-embracing way. If you want to imagine it pictorially, you can visualise the relationship of the day ego to the night ego as though the day ego described a circle, passing through the greater part of this circle outside the realm of the great ego and descending into the great ego at night. For sixteen hours on average it is outside the night ego and for eight hours it is within it.
You will only understand this correctly if you take what I have said quite literally, namely that your ego never stays the same for the whole sixteen hours—assuming that to be the normal time for being awake—and that the ego is changing all this while. It describes part of a circle and then sinks down, passing through more changes during the night, about which the ordinary human being knows nothing. These changes become more and more unconscious until a climax is reached, and then the ego becomes slowly more conscious again. We must say, then, that in the course of twenty-four hours the human being is continuously undergoing certain changes, the outer symbol of which we can imagine as a circle, as a hand of a clock describing a circle and disappearing from time to time into the large cosmic ego.
The human astral body goes through changes in a very similar way. This changes too in such a way that we can imagine it symbolically as describing a circle. With the astral body too the changes are such that we really have to speak of a kind of sinking down into a cosmic astral body. Only present-day man does not notice this descent into the cosmic astral body any more, whilst in earlier times man was very aware of it. Then man felt his own innate astral feelings that he had at one particular time alternating as it were with quite different feelings at another time. At one time he felt more alive in the world around him and at another time he was more aware of his own inner feelings. You could perceive quite different shades of feeling in the astral body because it underwent rhythmic changes in the course of seven days, that is seven times twenty-four hours, that can again be compared to a circle. The ego undergoes rhythmic changes over a period of twenty-four hours, still expressed today in the alternation between waking and sleeping, and the astral body in seven times twenty-four hours. In primeval man these rhythmic changes occurred very vividly. Thus in the astral body rhythmic changes run their course for seven days, and on the eighth day the rhythm begins again. The astral body actually does sink down into a universal cosmic astral body for part of the time that man undergoes this rhythm. For the remainder of the time it is more outside this cosmic astral body. This can give you a picture of how significant for man's life the universal astral body and ego are that are present in man when he is asleep. This I into which he plunges when he falls asleep and which keeps his blood flowing at night, is the same ego that works in his body during sleep. If he sleeps in the daytime he also goes into this universal ego, and this brings a certain irregularity into his rhythm which would have worked destructively in earlier times but which is not so destructive these days because in our times human life has changed considerably in this respect. During the course of the seven days, man's astral body actually goes into the same part of the universal cosmic astral body which interpenetrates the physical and etheric bodies during sleep. This brings about changes in man's inner feelings. This is hardly noticed today, though in earlier times it could not be ignored.
It is not only the ego and astral body that go through certain particular rhythmic changes but the etheric body does so too. These take place in such a way that in four times seven days the human etheric body, symbolically speaking, revolves on its own axis, and after four times seven days it comes back to the beginning again. A quite definite rhythm takes place in the course of the four times seven days. But now we are approaching a sphere about which we would have to speak in great detail if you are to understand it all. You will remember my saying that a man's etheric body is female and a woman's male. The two have a different rhythm, but we do not want to go into that today. We just want to emphasise that this rhythm occurs and, because of the difference in man and woman, we will just say it is approximately four times seven days.
This, however, does not bring us to the end of the matter. Quite definite processes are rhythmically repeated in the physical body too, however improbable this sounds to people today. Nowadays they have almost become obliterated, because man has had to become independent of certain processes, but they are still noticeable to occult observation. If the physical body were entirely left to itself this rhythm would take place over a period of ten times seven times four days in the woman and twelve times seven times four days in the man. That is how it would be if the human being were entirely left to the laws inherent in the rhythms. At one time it was really like this, but man has become more free of the cosmic influences around him. Thus we have a flow of rhythmic processes in the four members of man's being. If you like, you can imagine each of the four rhythms as a circling. The rhythms man would carry out in his physical body, for instance, if he were left entirely to himself, only approximate, of course, with the external physical, purely spatial processes that correspond to these rhythms. This is because man has been driven back upon himself in the cause of freedom, and his relationship to the cosmos has changed accordingly.
You will have noticed from the number ten times seven times four or twelve times seven times four that the rhythm of the physical body corresponds roughly to the course of the year. You can imagine an external symbol for these changes in the physical body if you think that in the course of a year the human being turns around as it were; at one time he is on one side of the sun and at another on the other. If we imagine that he always turns his face to the sun, then in the course of a year he has to revolve once on his own axis and once round the sun. Anyone who only looks at it superficially will think that it is of no consequence, but it happens to be very important. These rhythms occurring in the four bodies were implanted into man over long periods of time, and the hierarchies—entities we have often spoken about—have brought it about that the various bodies influence one another. We know that we are embedded in higher beings. It is due to the action of these spiritual beings, who fill both physical and spiritual space with their deeds, that these particular connections come about. If you consider what I have just said, however, you will find a new way of looking at a thought I often mentioned here last winter. The establishing of the rhythm of the physical body already began on ancient Saturn. The incorporating of the etheric body into the physical body, in such a way that the rhythm of the two bodies harmonise, is the work of other spirits, the spirits of the Sun. Through the working together of the various rhythms a relationship is brought about in the same way as the relationship of the two hands of a clock is determined by their rhythm. On ancient Moon another rhythm was incorporated, that of the astral body.
Now those spirits that regulated our whole cosmos—for everything of a physical nature is an expression of those beings—had to create the outer physical movement in accordance with their own inner relationships. That the sun is encircled by the earth in a year arises out of the rhythm that was implanted into the physical body long ages before the physical constellation existed. Thus the spatial relationships between these heavenly bodies were regulated from out of the spirit. The moon had to go round the earth because its rotation had to correspond to the rotation of the human etheric body in four times seven days because this rhythm was to find its expression in the movement of the moon. The changing illumination of the moon by the sun—the moon's four quarters—correspond to the different rhythms of the astral body, and the revolution of the earth in the course of a day corresponds to the ego rhythm. In connection with this ego rhythm in particular we can point out something that occultism has always taught, but which will appear to people nowadays as mere fantasy, although it is nevertheless true. In very ancient times the earth did not revolve around its axis; this axial rotation arose in the course of time. Whilst earth man was still in a different condition, this movement did not as yet exist. The first stimulus to movement did not occur in the earth but in man. The human ego was given this stimulus to turn by the spirits to whom it is subject, and the human ego actually took the earth with it and made it revolve round it. The revolution of the earth is the result of the ego rhythm. And this is true, however astonishing it sounds. The spiritual members of man that were developing their ego-hood had to receive the stimulus to turn first, and then they took the earth with them. Later on this was different. Man became free on the earth; conditions changed so that man was freed from the surrounding cosmic powers. But this is really what it was like originally. Thus you can see how everything that is physical around us is actually an outcome of the spiritual. Spirit is always there first. And it is the spirit that sets everything going.
And now think of the astral body that accomplishes its round in the course of seven days. Imagine how illnesses are connected with certain irregularities of the astral body because these irregularities are passed on through the etheric body to the physical body. Now we will suppose that the astral body has a certain defect. Through this defect it affects the etheric body and the defect is then passed on to the physical body. This also becomes defective. Then the organism starts revolting against the defect and applies protective measures. This revolt is usually in the form of a temperature, which summons man's forces of recovery. A temperature is not an illness; it is the human being calling together all the forces in his organism to put this defect right again. This revolt of the whole organism against the defect expresses itself as a rule in a feverish temperature. A temperature is the most beneficial, restorative part of an illness. The particular area that is defective cannot heal by itself, and it has to receive the forces from other places, and this is expressed in the temperature.
Now imagine this temperature occurring with pneumonia. The lungs have become defective through one or other cause. When it is the human lungs in particular that have suffered some damage, the astral body becomes defective first and then it passes through the etheric body to the physical body. With pneumonia the cause is always in the astral body; pneumonia can occur in no other way. Now think of the astral body's rhythm. The day pneumonia appears the astral body affects the physical body. Now the body begins to revolt with a temperature. Seven days later the astral and etheric bodies are in the same mutual relationship; parts of them meet again. But it is not the same part of the etheric body, because the etheric body has been going through its own rhythm. It meets the next part. This is also affected by the astral body, but this time in the opposite way. The fever is now suppressed. Through the fact that the particular part of the astral body that coincided with the previous quarter of the etheric body seven days earlier coincides with its next quarter, the opposite process from a week ago is produced, namely a reaction to the fever. The opposing rhythm of the body now suppresses the temperature. For the human body is meant to be healthy, and that is the purpose of the rhythm. Certain influences increase in the first seven days, and in the next seven days they have to decline. In a healthy person this increasing and decreasing alternates. When a person is ill, however, his life is endangered when the fever is suppressed. Whilst in a healthy person an ascending process is reversed on the seventh day, in an ill person the ascending process ought to continue. But a rapid ascent causes a rapid fall. This is the reason for the pneumonia crisis on the seventh day.
We can understand this if we consider that the lungs were developed at a time when the moon had already split off and was preparing to develop its own rhythm, and the rhythm of the days was also beginning to develop. This is why even today the lungs are still connected with the astral body and the rhythm of the etheric body.
You can see, then, that spiritual science helps us to form a judgment of just these abnormal conditions in human life, and that the whole nature of man can be understood only when we see these conditions. It will only become possible again for the sciences to achieve fruitful results when man is permeated with the great truths of spiritual science. In earlier times, up to about the middle of the earth evolution, all the rhythms in man were much more in harmony with the rhythms of outer nature. Since that time, that is, since the middle of Atlantean times, however, things have shifted. Man's inner life has emancipated itself from outer rhythm, but he has kept his inner rhythm. It is just because the rhythms do not harmonise that man has acquired his independence and freedom, otherwise the evolution of freedom in the history of mankind would not have been possible. Man's rhythm compared with the sun, or the earth's compared with the sun has shot ahead. A similar thing has happened with the other rhythms, for instance that of the astral body. In earlier times man experienced quite different shades of mood in the course of seven days. At one time everything outside him made a great impression on him, and at another time he lived more in his inner life. It is because the rhythms are no longer in harmony that the condition of inner experience remains, even when man has more joy from the outer world, and vice versa. They combine and balance one another and this makes the astral body even-tempered, as it were. By means of careful observation you can still notice these alternations of mood in people who live more in their astral body. The variations in the condition of the astral body can be established in the case of people who are psychologically or mentally ill.
The ego rhythm was the last to arise, but there too, things have already become displaced. Man can also sleep in the daytime, and stay awake at night. In earlier times this rhythm always coincided with the outer one. In Atlantis something very serious would have happened if man had wished to sleep in the daytime and stay awake at night. He would have brought his whole life into disorder. The rhythm is still there today to a certain extent, but it has become independent of outer circumstances. This is the same thing as setting a reliable clock exactly in time with the sun. You can then tell the exact solar time. But you could also turn the clock to midnight when it is seven o'clock in the evening. Then the rhythm of the clock will still remain correct but it would be displaced compared with that of the sun. This is what it is like with man. Man has kept the old rhythm that he used to share with the whole cosmos, but it has become displaced. If the clock were a living being it would be justified in dissociating its rhythm from the surrounding rhythms. In the far distant future man is to reach the point of projecting his rhythms out into the world again out of the strength of his own inner development. Just as there were once beings who, out of their own rhythms, made the sun, moon and earth move, man will at some future time transfer his rhythms to the world, when he has reached the stage of divinity. This is the meaning behind rhythm becoming independent. We can glimpse from this the deeper foundations of astrology. But we will not go into that just now. Today we only wanted to show that spiritual science is not a collection of abstract ideas for those egoistic people who take an interest in it, but something that can bring light into the most everyday things of life. One must have the will, however, to pass from external phenomena to the causes behind them. Rhythm has been implanted into matter by the spirit, and man, today, has these rhythms within him as a heritage of this spiritual origin. Nevertheless we can only understand what this rhythm signifies for man's being and also for the rest of natural creation if we go back to the original relationships. In the case of animals the various bodies—physical body, etheric body, astral body and group ego—have a quite different relationship to one another. There is a different rhythm for each animal species. It is roughly the same for the physical body, but the different animals have quite different rhythms in their etheric and astral bodies. In the same way as the animal world is classified nowadays according to external form, it can be classified in species according to the rhythms of the astral and etheric bodies.
Do not imagine that these rhythms have never been clearly recognised. We will be able to show that it is not so very long since people were at least dimly conscious of these rhythms. Whoever goes through the world with a consciousness for these things, will find in some calendars in use in country districts certain rules referring to definite relationships between the animals and the land. Farmers used to manage all their agriculture by observing the rules in such calendars. In the farmer's lore a consciousness of these rhythms lay hidden. These are things that can show us that since the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries an age of abstraction, of external science, has arisen, a science that is no longer in a position to go back to the causes. This is particularly the case in medicine. People only grope today, and the solid basis of pathology and of therapy goes back to ancient times. It was a torture for my intellect and my feelings when phenacetin was tested. This kind of testing, without any kind of guide, shows that at the same time as it lost the spirit science also lost its depth. Through spiritual knowledge this depth will be acquired again. It is absolutely necessary to distinguish between caricatures of science and real knowledge based on the spirit. If you take this to heart you will see how necessary it is to have spiritual scientific knowledge, and that it has to find its way into every realm of knowledge and life.
Elfter Vortrag
Die Anordnung, die wir getroffen haben in bezug auf die Kurse, die diesen Zweigvorträgen parallel laufen, macht es ja allein möglich, daß wir hier in unserem Zweig zu immer höheren Gebieten aufsteigen können. Ich möchte deshalb bitten, diese Kurse möglichst zu berücksichtigen. Es ist notwendig, daß man eine Stätte hat, wo man weiter fortschreiten kann mit den Vorträgen. Sonst müßte man eigentlich jedes Jahr von vorne anfangen.
Heute soll uns etwas beschäftigen, was wieder scheinbar weit absteht von den letzten Vorträgen, was sich aber doch in unseren diesjährigen Gedankengang einfügen wird. Anknüpfen wollen wir an eine Bemerkung in einem der letzten öffentlichen Vorträge, in dem Vortrage über den «Aberglauben vom geisteswissenschaftlichen Standpunkte». Es wurde dort eine Bemerkung gemacht, die in einem öffentlichen Vortrag nicht weiter ausgeführt werden kann, weil man für ein tieferes Eingehen Vorkenntnisse voraussetzen muß, die sich weniger auf den Verstand, auf intellektuelles Erkenntnisvermögen beziehen als auf ein Erkenntnisvermögen, das in unserer ganzen Seelenkonstitution liegt und das wir nur durch jahrelanges Mitarbeiten mit dem Zweigleben erwerben können. Nur durch eine solche geduldige Arbeit können wir dahin gelangen, daß uns manches, was wir früher für absurd gehalten hätten, möglich und wahrscheinlich vorkommt, so daß wir es mit ins Leben nehmen und sehen, wie weit es sich bewahrheitet. Die Bemerkung, von der wir ausgehen wollen, war, daß es eine gewöhnliche Tatsache und nicht Aberglaube ist, wenn bei gewissen Krankheiten, wie die Lungenentzündung zum Beispiel eine ist, der siebente Tag eine Krisis darstellt, daß da bei dieser Krisis, die unweigerlich am siebenten Tag eintritt, wo der Kranke leicht sterben kann, der Arzt darauf bedacht sein muß, den Kranken darüber hinwegzubringen. Das ist heute von jedem vernünftigen Arzt anerkannt, aber nach den Ursachen können die Ärzte nicht forschen, weil sie keine Ahnung haben von den im Geistigen zu findenden Urgründen der Dinge. Zuerst wollen wir einmal die Tatsache hinstellen, daß sich hier etwas ganz Merkwürdiges, mit der geheimnisvollen Sieben-Zahl Zusammenhängendes in der Lungenentzündung zeigt.
Wir müssen nun den Menschen so betrachten, daß sich uns eine Möglichkeit bietet zum Verständnis dieser und noch mancher anderen Tatsache. Sie alle wissen - es ist das ja unzählige Male hier erwähnt worden -, daß man den Menschen nur erkennen kann, wenn man ihn versteht aus dem Aufbau seiner vier Glieder, dem physischen Leib, dem Ätherleib, dem Astralleib und dem Ich. Diese vier Glieder der Menschennatur stehen in den mannigfaltigsten Beziehungen und gegenseitigen Abhängigkeiten. Jedes Glied wirkt auf das andere und somit wirken sie durchaus im Zusammenhang miteinander. Aber dieses Zusammenwirken ist ein sehr kompliziertes. Der Mensch kann diese Zusammenhänge nur sehr langsam und allmählich kennenlernen, ebenso die Beziehungen dieser Glieder zu gewissen Kräften, Vorgängen und Wesenheiten im ganzen Kosmos. Denn der Mensch steht durch alle seine Glieder in einer fortdauernden - und das ist auch wieder sehr wichtig —, und zwar wechselnden Verbindung mit dem Kosmos. Was wir erkennen als physischen Leib, Ätherleib und so weiter hängt miteinander zusammen, aber ebenso auch mit dem Kosmos, mit der ganzen um uns sich ausbreitenden Welt. Denn das, was wir in uns haben, ist in einer gewissen Weise auch draußen, außer uns, und so dürfen wir sagen, daß wir diese Beziehungen nach innen und außen wohl am besten erkennen, wenn wir einmal den Menschen im wachenden und im schlafenden Zustande betrachten.
Wenn der Mensch schlafend vor uns liegt, so haben wir im Bette liegen den physischen Leib und den Ätherleib, und in gewisser Beziehung außerhalb dieser beiden sind der astralische Leib und das Ich. Das ist aber nur ungenau gesagt. Das Ungenauere genügt ja allerdings für viele Dinge, aber heute wollen wir etwas genauer diese Verhältnisse kennenlernen. Der astralische Leib und das Ich also sind zunächst nicht im physischen Leib tätig. Der physische Leib mit seinem Nerven- und Blutsystem und der Ätherleib sind aber gar nicht möglich, ohne daß sie durchzogen sind von einem astralischen Leib und einem irgendwie gestalteten Ich. Auch der Ätherleib könnte nicht bestehen, ohne daß er durchzogen wäre von höheren Wesenheiten. In dem Augenblicke, wo der Mensch mit seinem eigenen astralischen Leibe und Ich hinausrückt, müssen die Tätigkeiten dieser beiden Glieder der Menschennatur ersetzt werden. Es kann der Menschenleib nicht liegen bleiben, ohne daß ein Ich und ein astralischer Leib in ihm tätig sind, so daß wir also auch im schlafenden Menschen ein Ich und einen astralischen Leib tätig haben müssen. Genau gesprochen, müßten wir aber sagen: Das Ich und der astralische Leib, die da im schlafenden physischen Leib des Menschen tätig sind, sind auch während des Tages im Menschen, nur ist ihre Tätigkeit durchaus untergraben durch des Menschen astralischen Leib und Ich, die durch ihre Tätigkeit die der anderen höheren Wesenheiten zunichte machen. Wenn wir das Ich, wie es heute im Menschen ist, uns vorstellen wollen beim wachenden Menschen, so müssen wir uns sagen: Dieses menschliche Ich ist beim wachenden Menschen innerhalb des menschlichen Leibes, und es entzieht während dieser Zeit durch seine Tätigkeit einem umfassenden Ich seine Wirkungssphäre. Was tut denn dieses unser eingeschränktes Ich eigentlich im Schlafe? In Wahrheit können wir, ziemlich genau gesprochen, sagen: Dieses Ich, das sich während des Tages befreit hat von dem großen Welten-Ich und das auf eigene Faust lebt im menschlichen Leibe, das taucht unter während der Nacht in das Welten-Ich, begibt sich seiner eigenen Tätigkeit. Und gerade durch dieses Eintauchen, dieses Untergehen des Tages-Ichs in das Welten-Ich kann das Welten-Ich ungehindert wirken und kann alles fortschaffen, was das Tages-Ich an Ermüdungsstoffen aufgehäuft hat. Dadurch, daß das Tages-Ich versinkt, untertaucht ins Welten-Ich, ist in umfassender Weise das Nacht-Ich möglich. Wenn Sie es sich bildlich vorstellen wollen, können Sie sich dieses Verhältnis des Tages-Ichs zum Nacht-Ich so vorstellen, daß das Tages-Ich gleichsam einen Kreis beschreibt und daß es den größten Teil dieses Kreises außerhalb des großen Ichs zubringt, während es nachts ins große Ich untertaucht. Sechzehn Stunden zum Beispiel ist es außerhalb und acht Stunden taucht es unter ins Nacht-Ich.
Sie verstehen das nur richtig, wenn Sie das, was ich eben gesagt habe, ganz ernst nehmen, daß nämlich Ihr Ich niemals dasselbe ist während der sechzehn Stunden - wenn wir das als die normale Zeit des Wachens annehmen -, daß das Ich während dieser Zeit fortwährend Veränderungen durchmacht, daß es einen Teil eines Kreises beschreibt und dann untersinkt und auch während der Nacht wieder Veränderungen durchmacht, von denen der gewöhnliche Mensch nichts weiß. Diese Veränderungen gehen immer mehr ins Unbewußte bis zu einem Höhepunkt, und dann wird das Ich wieder langsam bewußter. Wir müssen also sagen, daß im Verlaufe von vierundzwanzig Stunden das menschliche Ich fortwährend gewisse Veränderungen durchmacht, deren äußeres Symbolum wir uns als Kreislauf vorstellen, als einen Zeiger, der einen Kreis beschreibt und von Zeit zu Zeit untertaucht in das große Welten-Ich.
In ganz ähnlicher Weise macht des Menschen astralischer Leib Veränderungen durch. Der Astralleib ändert sich auch in der Weise, daß wir, symbolisch vorgestellt, uns einen Kreislauf denken müssen. Auch beim astralischen Leib sind die Veränderungen so, daß wir in der Tat in gewisser Beziehung von einem Untertauchen in einem Welten-Astralleib sprechen müssen. Nur bemerkt der heutige Mensch dieses Untertauchen in dem Welten-Astralleib nicht mehr, während er es früher sehr wohl bemerkt hat. Damals fühlte der Mensch sozusagen abwechselnd ureigene astralische Gefühle zu einer Zeit und ganz andere Gefühle zu einer anderen Zeit. So fühlte er in einer gewissen Zeit lebendiger in der ihn umgebenden Außenwelt, in einer anderen Zeit dagegen mehr sein eigenes Innere. So konnte man ganz verschiedene Nuancierungen in der Empfindungsweise des astralischen Leibes wahrnehmen, weil der astralische Leib im Verlaufe von sieben Tagen, also sieben mal vierundzwanzig Stunden, rhythmisch Veränderungen durchmacht, die sich wieder vergleichen lassen mit einem Umkreis. Wie das Ich in einer Zeit von vierundzwanzig Stunden rhythmische Veränderungen durchmacht, die sich heute noch ausdrücken im Wechsel von Wachen und Schlafen, so der Astralleib in sieben mal vierundzwanzig Stunden. Solche rhythmische Veränderungen sind beim Urmenschen in großer Lebendigkeit aufgetreten. Es gehen also im astralischen Leibe rhythmische Veränderungen vor sich, die in sieben Tagen ablaufen, und vom achten Tage an wiederholt sich der Rhythmus. Tatsächlich taucht einen Teil der Zeit, in welcher der Mensch diesen Rhythmus durchmacht, der astralische Leib in einen allgemeinen Welten-Astralleib ein. Sonst ist er mehr außerhalb dieses Welten-Astralleibes. Daraus können Sie sich eine Vorstellung bilden, daß das, was als allgemeiner Astralleib und allgemeines Ich im schlafenden Menschen auftritt, eine große Bedeutung für das Leben des Menschen hat. Jenes Ich, in das er untertaucht im Schlafe, das in der Nacht das Blut pulsieren macht, ist dasselbe, das in seinem Körper wirkt während des Schlafes. Auch wenn er bei Tage schläft, taucht er in dieses allgemeine Ich unter, und dadurch bringt er eine gewisse Unregelmäßigkeit in seinen Rhythmus hinein, die in früheren Zeiten zerstörend gewirkt haben würde, die heute aber nicht mehr so zerstörend ist, weil sich in unserer Zeit das menschliche Leben in dieser Beziehung bedeutend geändert hat. In denselben Teil des allgemeinen Welten-Astralleibes, der den physischen Leib und den Ätherleib während des Schlafes durchdringt, taucht während der sieben Tage der menschliche Astralleib wirklich unter. Dadurch ändern sich die inneren Gefühle und Empfindungen. Heute erregt das kaum die Aufmerksamkeit, früher konnte das gar nicht außer acht gelassen werden.
Aber nicht nur das Ich und der Astralleib, sondern auch der Ätherleib macht ganz bestimmte rhythmische Veränderungen durch. Diese spielen sich so ab, daß in vier mal sieben Tagen sozusagen sich der menschliche Ätherleib, symbolisch gesprochen, um seine eigene Achse dreht, und er kehrt nach vier mal sieben Tagen zu denselben Vorgängen zurück, bei denen er am ersten Tage war. Ein ganz bestimmter Rhythmus spielt sich hier in den vier mal sieben Tagen ab. Hier kommen wir aber schon in ein Gebiet, von dem man ausführlicher sprechen müßte, wenn alles verstanden werden sollte. Sie erinnern sich, daß ich gesagt habe, der Ätherleib des Mannes ist weiblich, der des Weibes männlich. Der Rhythmus ist schon nicht gleich für männlichen und weiblichen Ätherleib, aber wir wollen uns heute nicht näher darauf einlassen. Es sei nur hervorgehoben, daß sich ein solcher Rhythmus abspielt, und zwar, sagen wir, wegen der Verschiedenheit bei Mann und Weib in annähernd vier mal sieben Tagen.
Damit sind wir aber noch nicht zu Ende. Auch im physischen Leib wiederholen sich rhythmisch ganz bestimmte Vorgänge, so unwahrscheinlich das auch dem heutigen Menschen erscheint. Sie sind heute fast ganz verwischt, weil der Mensch unabhängig werden sollte von gewissen Vorgängen, aber für den okkulten Beobachter sind sie doch bemerkbar. Wenn der physische Leib ganz sich selbst überlassen wäre, so würde dieser Rhythmus in zehn mal sieben mal vier Tagen beim Weibe und in zwölf mal sieben mal vier Tagen beim Manne sich abspielen. So würde er sich abspielen, wenn der Mensch heute noch ganz allein den ihm eigenen Gesetzen seiner Rhythmen überlassen wäre. Einmal war es in der Tat so, aber der Mensch ist freier geworden von den ihn umgebenden kosmischen Einflüssen. So also haben wir ein rhythmisches Ablaufen der Vorgänge in den vier Gliedern der menschlichen Wesenheit. Sie können sich, wenn Sie wollen, jeden der vier Rhythmen vorstellen wie einen Kreislauf. Es fällt heute freilich dasjenige, was der Mensch zum Beispiel als Rhythmus in seinem physischen Leib ausführen würde, wenn er ganz sich selbst überlassen wäre, nur annähernd zusammen mit den äußeren physischen, rein räumlichen Vorgängen, die diesem Rhythmus entsprechen, weil durch die Zusammenschiebung der menschlichen Verhältnisse zugunsten der menschlichen Freiheit sich diese Beziehungen zum Kosmos verändert haben.
Sie haben schon aus der Zahl zehn mal sieben mal vier oder zwölf mal sieben mal vier sehen können, daß es sich hier bei dem Rhythmus des physischen Leibes um den ungefähren Jahreslauf handelt. Sie können sich äußerlich symbolisch diese Veränderungen im äußeren physischen Leib vorstellen, wenn Sie daran denken, daß der Mensch sich im Laufe eines Jahres gewissermaßen umdreht; er ist einmal auf dieser Seite der Sonne, einmal auf der anderen. Wenn wir uns nun denken, daß er immer der Sonne das Gesicht zukehrt, so muß er sich im Laufe eines Jahres einmal um sich und einmal um die Sonne drehen. Das wird einer, der nur äußerlich die Sache betrachtet, als etwas ganz Gleichgültiges ansehen, aber das ist eben sehr wichtig.
Das, was sich hier als Rhythmus in den vier Leibern abspielt, ist dem Menschen eingepflanzt worden in langen, langen Zeiten, und daß die verschiedenen Leiber aufeinander einwirken können, ist angeordnet von den Hierarchien, von Wesenheiten, die wir schon öfter erwähnt haben. Wir wissen, daß wir in höhere Wesen eingebettet sind. Das Wirken dieser geistigen Wesenheiten, die den physischen und geistigen Raum mit ihren Taten durchsetzen, ist es, was diese bestimmten Beziehungen hervorgebracht hat. Aber wenn Sie das, was jetzt gesagt worden ist, betrachten, dann kommen Sie von einer anderen Seite auf einen Gedanken, der im vorigen Winter hier öfter berührt worden ist. Die Feststellung des Rhythmus des physischen Leibes hat schon auf dem alten Saturn begonnen. Die Zugliederung des Ätherleibes, so daß Ätherleib und physischer Leib in ihrem Rhythmus zusammenpassen, kommt daher, daß dieser Rhythmus von anderen Geistern, den Sonnengeistern, hergestellt worden ist. Durch das Zusammenwirken der verschiedenen Rhythmen wird eine Beziehung hergestellt, wie das Verhältnis der beiden Zeiger an einer Uhr bestimmt ist durch ihren Rhythmus. Auf dem alten Mond wurde wieder ein anderer Rhythmus, der des Astralleibes, eingegliedert.
Nun mußten diejenigen Geister, die unseren ganzen Kosmos anordneten - denn alles Physische ist ein Ausdruck dieser Wesenheiten -, die äußere physische Bewegung entsprechend den inneren Verhältnissen der Wesenheiten gestalten. Daß die Sonne heute von der Erde umkreist wird in einem Jahre, das kommt her von dem Rhythmus, der dem physischen Leib eingepflanzt wurde, lange ehe die physische Konstellation vorhanden war. Aus dem Geistigen heraus ist also in diesen Himmelssphären das Räumliche angeordnet worden. Der Mond wird herumgeführt um die Erde, weil sein Kreislauf entsprechen sollte dem Kreislauf des menschlichen Ätherleibes, in vier mal sieben Tagen, weil dieser Rhythmus seinen Ausdruck finden sollte in der Mondbewegung. Der verschiedenen Beleuchtung des Mondes durch die Sonne, den vier Mondesvierteln, entsprechen die verschiedenen Rhythmen des astralischen Leibes, und dem Tageslauf der Umdrehung der Erde entspricht der Rhythmus des Ichs. Gerade an dem Rhythmus des Ichs kann man etwas klarmachen, was zwar in aller Geheimwissenschaft immer gelehrt worden ist, was aber heute den Menschen als phantastische Träumerei erscheinen wird, was aber doch wahr ist. Die Erde hat sich in uralten Zeiten nicht um ihre Achse gedreht; diese Achsendrehung ist erst im Laufe der Zeiten entstanden. Als der Mensch auf Erden noch in einem anderen Zustande war, bestand diese Bewegung noch nicht. Das, was zuerst zur Umdrehung angeregt worden ist, das war nicht die Erde, sondern das war der Mensch. Das menschliche Ich war von den Geistern, denen es untertan ist, angeregt worden, sich zu drehen, und das menschliche Ich nahm dann tatsächlich diese Erde mit und drehte sie um sich herum. Die Erdenumdrehung ist die Folge des Ich-Rhythmus. So erstaunlich das klingt, wahr ist es doch. Erst mußten die geistigen Glieder des Menschen, die sich zum Ich heranbildeten, den Antrieb bekommen, sich zu drehen, und dann nahmen sie die Erde mit. Das wurde ja später anders. Der Mensch wurde frei auf der Erde; die Verhältnisse änderten sich, so daß der Mensch von den umliegenden kosmischen Mächten frei wurde. Aber so war es ursprünglich. So sehen Sie, wie alles Physische um uns herum eigentlich ein Ausfluß des Geistigen ist. Das Geistige ist überall das erste. Aus ihm fließen auch alle Lageverhältnisse in der Welt.
Und nun denken Sie sich einmal den astralischen Leib, der im Verlaufe von sieben Tagen sozusagen einen Kreislauf vollendet. Denken Sie, wie mit gewissen Unregelmäßigkeiten des Astralleibes Krankheiten zusammenhängen, und zwar dadurch, daß diese Unregelmäßigkeiten sich durch den Ätherleib bis zum physischen Leib fortsetzen. Nun nehmen wir an, der astralische Leib habe einen gewissen Schaden in sich selber. Durch diesen Schaden wirkt er auf den Ätherleib, und so setzt sich der Schaden bis zum physischen Leibe fort. Dieser wird auch schadhaft. Dann fängt der Organismus an, gegen den Schaden zu revoltieren, Schutzkräfte in Anwendung zu bringen. Diese Revolte ist gewöhnlich das Fieber; das ist der Aufruf der Heilungskräfte im Menschen. Das Fieber ist nicht Krankheit, sondern der Mensch ruft aus seinem ganzen Organismus die Summe seiner Kräfte zusammen, um diesen Schaden wieder gutzumachen. Diese Revolte des ganzen Organismus gegen den Schaden drückt sich in der Regel im Fieber aus. Das Fieber ist das Wohltätigste, das Heilendste bei der Krankheit. Der einzelne schadhaft gewordene Teil kann sich nicht heilen, er muß von anderen Seiten her die Kräfte zugeführt bekommen, und das hat seinen Ausdruck im Fieber.
Nun denken Sie einmal, dieses Fieber tritt bei Lungenentzündung auf. Die Lunge ist schadhaft geworden durch irgendeine Ursache. Gerade wenn die menschliche Lunge irgendeinen Schaden zugeführt bekommen hat, dann war es zuerst der Astralleib, der den Schaden erlitten hatte, und dann erst ist er durch den Ätherleib hindurch auf den physischen Leib übergegangen. Bei der Lungenentzündung liegt immer der Urgrund im astralischen Leib; anders kann Lungenentzündung nicht auftreten. Nun denken Sie an den Rhythmus des Astralleibes. An dem Tage, an dem die Lungenentzündung auftritt, wirkt der Astralleib auf den physischen Leib. Jetzt fängt durch das Fieber der Körper an zu revoltieren. Nach sieben Tagen sind Astralleib und Ätherleib wieder in derselben gegenseitigen Stellung; Stücke derselben treffen sich wieder. Aber er trifft nicht auf dasselbe Stück im Ätherleibe auf, denn auch der Ätherleib hat inzwischen seinen Rhythmus durchgemacht. Er trifft jetzt auf ein nächstes Stück. Das wird jetzt ebenfalls vom astralischen Leib affiziert, beeinflußt, und zwar wird dieser andere Teil des Ätherleibes in entgegengesetzter Weise beeinflußt. Jetzt wird das Fieber unterdrückt. Dadurch, daß mit dem nächsten Viertel des Ätherleibes jetzt dasjenige Glied des astralischen Leibes zusammenfällt, das vor sieben Tagen mit dem vorhergehenden Viertel des Ätherleibes zusammengefallen ist, dadurch wird der entgegengesetzte Vorgang hervorgerufen wie vor sieben Tagen, nämlich die Reaktion gegen das Fieber. Der entgegengesetzte Rhythmus des Körpers unterdrückt das Fieber wieder. Denn der menschliche Körper ist da, um gesund zu sein, und das ist der Zweck des Rhythmus. Es steigen gewisse Wirkungen in den ersten sieben Tagen hinan, in den nächsten sieben Tagen müssen sie fallen. Das ist für den gesunden Menschen so der Fall, daß dieses Auf- und Absteigen abwechselt. Wenn aber nun der Mensch krank ist, dann ist es so, daß Lebensgefahr vorhanden ist, wenn das Fieber unterdrückt wird. Während beim gesunden Menschen ein aufsteigender Prozeß am siebenten Tag umkehrt, sollte beim kranken Menschen der aufsteigende Prozeß bleiben. Aber der vehemente Aufstieg veranlaßt einen vehementen Abfall. Das ist der Grund der Krisis am siebenten Tage bei der Lungenentzündung.
Das kann man einsehen, wenn man bedenkt, daß die Lunge sich herausgebildet hat in einer Zeit, als der Mond sich schon abgespalten hatte und sich vorbereitete, seinen Rhythmus auszubilden, und als auch der Rhythmus der Tage schon anfing, sich auszubilden. Deshalb hängt mit dem Astralleib und dem Rhythmus des Ätherleibes heute noch die Lunge zusammen.
Sie sehen, wie gerade das menschliche Leben in seinen abnormen Verhältnissen aus der Geisteswissenschaft heraus beurteilt werden kann, wie der Mensch seiner ganzen Natur nach nur erkannt werden kann, wenn diese Zusammenhänge durchschaut werden. Deshalb wird Fruchtbarkeit in den Wissenschaften erst dann wieder möglich sein, wenn der Mensch durchsetzt sein wird von den großen Erkenntnissen der Geisteswissenschaft. Früher, etwa bis in die Mitte unserer Erdentwicklung hinein, stimmte der Mensch in allen seinen Rhythmen viel mehr überein mit den äußeren Naturrhythmen. Seit jener Zeit, also seit der Mitte der atlantischen Zeit aber haben sich die Dinge übereinandergeschoben. Das Innere des Menschen hat sich unabhängig gemacht von dem äußeren Rhythmus. Innen hat er seinen alten Rhythmus beibehalten. Gerade durch das Nicht-Zusammenstimmen der Rhythmen hat sich der Mensch Unabhängigkeit und Freiheit erworben, sonst wäre die freiheitliche Entwicklung in der Geschichte der Menschheit nicht möglich geworden. Der Rhythmus des Menschen ist gegen den der Sonng, beziehungsweise der der Erde gegen den der Sonne, vorangeeilt. Ähnlich ist es mit den anderen Rhythmen, zum Beispiel mit dem des Astralleibes. Früher erlebte der Mensch in den sieben Tagen ganz verschiedene Stimmungsnuancen. Eine Zeitlang machte alles Äußere einen großen Eindruck auf ihn, eine andere Zeit lebte er mehr in seinem Innern. Weil die Rhythmen heute nicht mehr zusammenstimmen, deshalb bleiben die Zustände des inneren Erlebens auch in der Zeit, wo der Mensch an der Außenwelt mehr Freude hat, und umgekehrt. Sie mischen sich ineinander und gleichen sich aus, und der astralische Leib wird dadurch sozusagen gleichtemperiert. Bei den Menschen, die mehr in ihrem astralischen Leibe leben, kann man bei feiner Beobachtung solches Schwanken in den Stimmungen noch wahrnehmen. Bei Seelen- oder Geisteskranken kann man die Verschiedenheiten in den Zuständen des astralischen Leibes nachweisen.
Für das Ich ist der Rhythmus am spätesten entstanden, aber auch da schieben sich die Dinge schon durcheinander. Der Mensch kann ja auch bei Tage schlafen und in der Nacht wachen. Aber früher stimmte dieser Rhythmus immer mit dem äußeren überein. In der Atlantis hätte sich etwas sehr Schlimmes ergeben, wenn der Mensch hätte tagsüber schlafen und nachts wachen wollen. Da hätte er sein ganzes Leben in Unordnung gebracht. Der Rhythmus ist heute in gewisser Weise geblieben, nur ist er unabhängig von dem Äußeren geworden. Es ist das gerade so, wie wenn Sie eine richtiggehende Uhr genau nach der Stunde der Sonne, nach der Sonnenzeit richten. Sie können dann ganz genau die Stunden der Sonne ablesen. Jetzt könnten Sie aber einmal die Uhr um sieben Uhr nachmittags auf zwölf stellen. Dann wird der Rhythmus der Uhr noch richtig beibehalten, er ist nur verschoben gegen denjenigen der Sonne. So es auch beim Menschen. Der alte Rhythmus, in dem der Mensch früher mit dem ganzen Kosmos gestanden, ist beibehalten geblieben. Er hat sich nur verschoben. Wenn die Uhr ein lebendes Wesen wäre, so hätte sie recht, ihren Rhythmus herauszuschieben aus den umgebenden Rhythmen. Der Mensch soll in einer urfernen Zukunft dazu kommen, aus seiner inneren Entwicklung heraus seinen Rhythmus wieder in die Welt hinauslaufen zu lassen. Wie es einst Wesen gegeben hat, die aus ihren Rhythmen heraus Sonne, Mond und Erde sich haben bewegen lassen, so wird auch der Mensch einmal seinen Rhythmus in die Welt hinausversetzen, wenn er die göttliche Stufe erreicht hat. Das ist der Sinn des Unabhängigwerdens im Rhythmus. Hieraus können wir die tieferen Grundlagen der Astrologie ahnen. Aber das soll uns heute nicht beschäftigen. Wir wollten heute nur zeigen, wie die Geisteswissenschaft nicht eine Summe von abstrakten Ideen ist für den egoistischen Menschen, der sich dafür interessiert, sondern daß sie bis in die alleralltäglichsten Verhältnisse des Lebens hineinleuchten wird. Aber dann muß man den Willen haben, von den äußeren Erscheinungen zu den Urgründen zu gehen, die dahinter stehen. Der Rhythmus ist der Materie eingepflanzt durch den Geist; der Mensch trägt heute den Rhythmus als Erbschaft seiner geistigen Abstammung in sich. Allerdings kann man diesen Rhythmus für das Menschenwesen und auch für die anderen Naturwesen nur einsehen, wenn man auf die ursprünglichen Verhältnisse zurückgeht. Schon bei den Tieren stehen die einzelnen Leiber - physischer Leib, Ätherleib, Astralleib und Gruppen-Ich - in ganz anderen Verhältnissen zueinander. Für jede Tierart gibt es einen anderen Rhythmus. Für den physischen Leib ist es einigermaßen derselbe, aber ganz andere Rhythmen laufen ab für Äther- und Astralleib der verschiedenen Tiere. Man kann die Tierwelt einteilen, wie man sie heute äußerlich nach den äußeren Gestalten einteilt, in Gattungen nach den Rhythmen, je nachdem der Rhythmus der Astralleiber zu dem der Ätherleiber abläuft.
Glauben Sie nicht, daß diese Rhythmen nie klar erkannt worden sind. Wir werden noch zeigen können, daß es gar nicht so lange her ist, daß man wenigstens ein dunkles Bewußtsein von diesen Rhythmen hatte. Wer mit einem entsprechenden Bewußtsein durch die Welt geht, kann finden, daß in manchen Kalendern, die auf dem Lande gebraucht werden, in bezug auf bestimmte Verhältnisse zwischen Tier und Land gewisse Regeln angegeben werden. Durch die Beobachtung dieser Regeln in solchen Bauernkalendern ordnete früher der Landmann seine ganze Landwirtschaft. In das bäuerliche Wissen war das Bewußtsein solcher Rhythmen hineingeheimnißt. Das sind Dinge, die uns zeigen können, daß seit dem 15., 16. Jahrhundert ein Zeitalter der Abstraktion, der äußeren Wissenschaft eingetreten ist, einer Wissenschaft, die gar nicht mehr imstande ist, auf die Gründe einzugehen. Das ist besonders in der Medizin der Fall. Hier haben wir heute nur noch ein Tasten, und der solide Grundstock der Pathologie und Therapie geht auf uralte Zeiten zurück. Ich habe das Martyrium des Intellektes und der Empfindungen durchgemacht, als das Phenazetin ausprobiert wurde. Diese Art des Ausprobierens, ohne auch nur einen Leitfaden zu haben, zeigt, daß der Wissenschaft mit dem Geist auch der Ernst verlorengegangen ist. Dieser Ernst wird wieder erworben werden durch geistige Erkenntnis. Man muß durchaus unterscheiden, wo die Zerrbilder einer Wissenschaft liegen und wo wirklich auf den Geist gegründete Erkenntnis ist. Wenn man sich das in die Seele schreibt, wird man sehen, wie notwendig geisteswissenschaftliche Erkenntnis ist, wie sie eindringen muß in alle Gebiete des Wissens und des Lebens.
Eleventh Lecture
The arrangement we have made with regard to the courses running parallel to these branch lectures makes it possible for us to advance to ever higher levels in our branch. I would therefore ask you to take these courses into account as far as possible. It is necessary to have a place where one can continue with the lectures. Otherwise, one would actually have to start from scratch every year.
Today we will deal with something that again seems far removed from the last lectures, but which will nevertheless fit into our train of thought this year. We would like to follow up on a remark made in one of the last public lectures, the lecture on “Superstition from the standpoint of spiritual science.” A remark was made there that cannot be elaborated upon in a public lecture because a deeper understanding requires prior knowledge that has less to do with the intellect and intellectual faculty than with a faculty of knowledge that lies in our entire soul constitution and that we can only acquire through years of working with the branch life. Only through such patient work can we reach a point where many things that we previously considered absurd seem possible and probable, so that we can take them into our lives and see how far they prove true. The observation from which we wish to start was that it is a common fact, and not superstition, that in certain diseases, such as pneumonia, for example, the seventh day represents a crisis, that during this crisis, which inevitably occurs on the seventh day, when the patient can easily die, the doctor must be careful to get the patient through it. This is recognized today by every reasonable physician, but physicians cannot investigate the causes because they have no idea of the spiritual origins of things. Let us first establish the fact that something very strange, connected with the mysterious number seven, is evident in pneumonia.
We must now look at human beings in such a way that we can understand this and many other facts. You all know — it has been mentioned countless times here — that we can only understand human beings if we understand the structure of their four members: the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the I. These four members of human nature stand in the most manifold relationships and mutual dependencies. Each member influences the others, and thus they all work together in a complex way. But this interaction is very complicated. Human beings can only learn about these connections very slowly and gradually, as well as the relationships of these members to certain forces, processes, and beings throughout the cosmos. For human beings, through all their members, are in a continuous—and this is also very important—and changing connection with the cosmos. What we recognize as the physical body, the etheric body, and so on, are connected with each other, but also with the cosmos, with the entire world that surrounds us. For what we have within us is in a certain sense also outside us, and so we may say that we can best recognize these relationships between the inner and outer worlds when we observe human beings in the waking and sleeping states.
When a human being lies sleeping before us, we have the physical body and the etheric body lying in bed, and in a certain relationship outside these two are the astral body and the I. But that is only an imprecise way of putting it. The imprecision is sufficient for many things, but today we want to get to know these relationships a little more precisely. The astral body and the I are therefore not initially active in the physical body. However, the physical body with its nervous and blood systems and the etheric body are not possible without being permeated by an astral body and an I of some kind. Nor could the etheric body exist without being permeated by higher beings. The moment a person leaves with their own astral body and ego, the activities of these two members of human nature must be replaced. The human body cannot remain lying there without an ego and an astral body active within it, so that we must also have an ego and an astral body active in the sleeping human being. Strictly speaking, however, we should say: The ego and the astral body, which are active in the sleeping physical body of the human being, are also present in the human being during the day, but their activity is completely undermined by the human astral body and ego, which through their activity destroy that of the other higher beings. If we want to imagine the ego as it is in humans today in waking humans, we must say to ourselves: this human ego is within the human body in waking humans, and during this time its activity deprives a comprehensive ego of its sphere of influence. What does this limited ego of ours actually do in sleep? In truth, we can say quite accurately: this ego, which has freed itself during the day from the great world ego and lives on its own in the human body, submerges during the night into the world ego and engages in its own activity. And it is precisely through this immersion, this sinking of the daytime ego into the world ego, that the world ego can work unhindered and remove everything that the daytime ego has accumulated in the way of fatigue. The fact that the daytime ego sinks, submerges into the world ego, makes the nighttime ego possible in a comprehensive way. If you want to visualize this, you can imagine the relationship between the daytime ego and the nighttime ego as the daytime ego describing a circle, so to speak, and spending most of its time outside the large ego, while at night it submerges into the large ego. For example, it spends sixteen hours outside and eight hours submerged in the nighttime ego.
You can only understand this correctly if you take what I have just said very seriously, namely that your ego is never the same during those sixteen hours—if we assume that this is the normal waking time—that the ego undergoes constant changes during this time, that it describes part of a circle and then sinks below it and undergoes further changes during the night, of which the ordinary person is unaware. These changes go deeper and deeper into the unconscious until they reach a climax, and then the ego slowly becomes more conscious again. We must therefore say that in the course of twenty-four hours, the human ego undergoes certain changes, the outer symbol of which we imagine as a cycle, as a pointer that describes a circle and from time to time sinks into the great world ego.
In a very similar way, the human astral body undergoes changes. The astral body also changes in such a way that, symbolically speaking, we must imagine a cycle. In the astral body, too, the changes are such that we must indeed speak of a submerging into a world astral body in a certain sense. Only modern human beings no longer notice this immersion in the world astral body, whereas they used to notice it very clearly. At that time, human beings felt, so to speak, their own astral feelings at one time and completely different feelings at another time. Thus, at one time they felt more alive in the external world surrounding them, and at another time they felt more of their own inner being. In this way, one could perceive very different nuances in the way the astral body was felt, because the astral body undergoes rhythmic changes over the course of seven days, i.e., seven times twenty-four hours, which can be compared to an orbit. Just as the ego undergoes rhythmic changes in a period of twenty-four hours, which are still expressed today in the alternation of waking and sleeping, so does the astral body in seven times twenty-four hours. Such rhythmic changes occurred with great vitality in primitive humans. So there are rhythmic changes taking place in the astral body that run their course in seven days, and from the eighth day onwards the rhythm repeats itself. In fact, during part of the time in which the human being undergoes this rhythm, the astral body is immersed in a general world astral body. Otherwise it is more outside this world astral body. From this you can form an idea that what appears as the general astral body and the general I in the sleeping human being has great significance for human life. That I into which he sinks during sleep, which causes the blood to pulsate at night, is the same that works in his body during sleep. Even when he sleeps during the day, he submerges into this general I, and thereby introduces a certain irregularity into his rhythm, which in earlier times would have had a destructive effect, but which is no longer so destructive today because human life has changed significantly in this respect in our time. During the seven days, the human astral body truly submerges into the same part of the general astral body of the world that permeates the physical body and the etheric body during sleep. This causes the inner feelings and sensations to change. Today, this hardly attracts attention, but in earlier times it could not be ignored.
But it is not only the ego and the astral body that undergo very specific rhythmic changes, but also the etheric body. These changes take place in such a way that, symbolically speaking, the human etheric body rotates around its own axis four times in seven days, and after four times seven days it returns to the same processes it underwent on the first day. A very specific rhythm takes place here in the four times seven days. But here we are already entering a realm that would require more detailed discussion if everything were to be understood. You will recall that I said that the etheric body of the man is female and that of the woman is male. The rhythm is not the same for the male and female etheric bodies, but we will not go into that in detail today. Let us just emphasize that such a rhythm takes place, let us say, because of the difference between man and woman, in approximately four times seven days.
But we are not finished yet. In the physical body, too, very specific processes repeat themselves rhythmically, however improbable this may seem to people today. They are almost completely blurred today because humans were supposed to become independent of certain processes, but they are still noticeable to the occult observer. If the physical body were left entirely to itself, this rhythm would occur in ten times seven times four days in women and in twelve times seven times four days in men. This is how it would play out if humans today were still completely left to the laws of their own rhythms. This was indeed once the case, but humans have become freer from the cosmic influences surrounding them. So we have a rhythmic sequence of processes in the four members of the human being. If you like, you can imagine each of the four rhythms as a cycle. Today, of course, what humans would perform as rhythm in their physical bodies if they were completely left to themselves only approximately corresponds to the external physical, purely spatial processes that correspond to this rhythm, because the compression of human relationships in favor of human freedom has changed these relationships to the cosmos.
You have already seen from the numbers ten times seven times four or twelve times seven times four that the rhythm of the physical body corresponds approximately to the course of the year. You can symbolically imagine these changes in the outer physical body when you think of how human beings turn around, as it were, in the course of a year; they are once on this side of the sun and once on the other. If we now imagine that he always faces the sun, then in the course of a year he must turn once around himself and once around the sun. Someone who only looks at the matter externally will regard this as something quite insignificant, but it is actually very important.
What takes place here as a rhythm in the four bodies has been implanted in human beings over long, long periods of time, and the fact that the different bodies can interact with each other is arranged by the hierarchies, by beings that we have already mentioned several times. We know that we are embedded in higher beings. It is the activity of these spiritual beings, who fill the physical and spiritual space with their deeds, that has brought about these specific relationships. But if you consider what has just been said, you will arrive at a thought from a different angle, one that was touched upon frequently here last winter. The establishment of the rhythm of the physical body began on ancient Saturn. The addition of the etheric body, so that the etheric body and the physical body fit together in their rhythm, comes from the fact that this rhythm was created by other spirits, the sun spirits. Through the interaction of the different rhythms, a relationship is established, just as the relationship between the two hands of a clock is determined by their rhythm. On the old Moon, yet another rhythm was incorporated, that of the astral body.
Now the spirits who organized our entire cosmos—for everything physical is an expression of these beings—had to shape the outer physical movement in accordance with the inner relationships of the beings. The fact that the sun is orbited by the earth in one year comes from the rhythm that was implanted in the physical body long before the physical constellation existed. The spatial has therefore been arranged in these heavenly spheres out of the spiritual. The moon is led around the earth because its cycle should correspond to the cycle of the human etheric body, in four times seven days, because this rhythm should find its expression in the movement of the moon. The different illumination of the moon by the sun, the four quarters of the moon, correspond to the different rhythms of the astral body, and the daily course of the earth's rotation corresponds to the rhythm of the I. It is precisely in the rhythm of the ego that we can clarify something that has always been taught in all occult science, but which today will seem like fantastic reverie to people, even though it is true. In ancient times, the Earth did not rotate on its axis; this rotation only developed over time. When human beings were still in a different state on Earth, this movement did not yet exist. What was first stimulated to rotate was not the earth, but human beings. The human ego was stimulated by the spirits to which it is subject to rotate, and the human ego then actually took the earth with it and rotated it around itself. The rotation of the earth is the result of the rhythm of the ego. As astonishing as this sounds, it is true. First, the spiritual members of the human being, which developed into the I, had to receive the impulse to turn, and then they took the Earth with them. This changed later. Human beings became free on Earth; conditions changed so that human beings became free from the surrounding cosmic forces. But that is how it was originally. So you see how everything physical around us is actually an outflow of the spiritual. The spiritual is everywhere first. All the conditions in the world flow from it.
And now think of the astral body, which completes a cycle, so to speak, in the course of seven days. Think how certain irregularities in the astral body are connected with illnesses, namely through the fact that these irregularities continue through the etheric body to the physical body. Now let us assume that the astral body has a certain damage within itself. Through this damage, it affects the etheric body, and thus the damage continues to the physical body. This also becomes damaged. Then the organism begins to revolt against the damage and to bring protective forces into play. This revolt is usually fever; it is the call of the healing forces in the human being. Fever is not an illness, but rather the human being calling upon all the forces of his entire organism to repair the damage. This revolt of the entire organism against the damage is usually expressed in fever. Fever is the most beneficial and healing aspect of illness. The individual damaged part cannot heal itself; it must receive energy from other sources, and this is expressed in fever.
Now consider that this fever occurs in pneumonia. The lungs have been damaged by some cause. When the human lungs have suffered some damage, it is first the astral body that has suffered the damage, and only then has it passed through the etheric body to the physical body. The root cause of pneumonia always lies in the astral body; pneumonia cannot occur in any other way. Now think of the rhythm of the astral body. On the day when pneumonia occurs, the astral body acts upon the physical body. Now, through the fever, the body begins to revolt. After seven days, the astral body and the etheric body are again in the same mutual position; parts of them meet again. But it does not encounter the same part of the etheric body, because the etheric body has also undergone its rhythm in the meantime. It now encounters the next part. This is now also affected and influenced by the astral body, and this other part of the etheric body is influenced in the opposite way. Now the fever is suppressed. Because the next quarter of the etheric body now coincides with that part of the astral body which coincided with the previous quarter of the etheric body seven days ago, the opposite process is brought about as seven days ago, namely the reaction against the fever. The opposite rhythm of the body suppresses the fever again. For the human body is there to be healthy, and that is the purpose of rhythm. Certain effects rise during the first seven days and must fall during the next seven days. In healthy people, this rise and fall alternate. But when a person is ill, suppressing the fever puts their life in danger. While in healthy people an ascending process reverses on the seventh day, in sick people the ascending process should continue. But the vehement rise causes a vehement fall. This is the reason for the crisis on the seventh day in pneumonia.
This can be understood when one considers that the lungs developed at a time when the moon had already separated and was preparing to develop its rhythm, and when the rhythm of the days was also beginning to develop. That is why the lungs are still connected to the astral body and the rhythm of the etheric body today.
You can see how human life in its abnormal conditions can be judged from the perspective of spiritual science, how human beings can only be understood in their entirety when these connections are understood. That is why fertility in the sciences will only be possible again when human beings are thoroughly imbued with the great insights of spiritual science. In the past, until about the middle of our earth's development, human beings were much more in tune with the external rhythms of nature in all their rhythms. Since that time, however, since the middle of the Atlantean epoch, things have shifted. The inner life of human beings has become independent of the external rhythm. Internally, they have retained their old rhythm. It is precisely through the lack of harmony between these rhythms that human beings have gained independence and freedom; otherwise, the development of freedom in human history would not have been possible. The rhythm of human beings has raced ahead of that of the sun, or rather, the rhythm of the earth has raced ahead of that of the sun. The same is true of other rhythms, such as that of the astral body. In the past, humans experienced very different moods during the seven days of the week. At one time, everything external made a great impression on them, at another time they lived more in their inner world. Because the rhythms are no longer in harmony today, the states of inner experience remain even at times when humans enjoy the outside world more, and vice versa. They mix together and balance each other out, and the astral body becomes, so to speak, equally tempered. In people who live more in their astral body, such fluctuations in mood can still be perceived upon close observation. In people with mental illness or disorders, the differences in the states of the astral body can be demonstrated.
For the ego, rhythm developed last, but even there things are already getting mixed up. After all, people can sleep during the day and be awake at night. But in the past, this rhythm always corresponded to the external world. In Atlantis, something very bad would have happened if people had wanted to sleep during the day and be awake at night. They would have thrown their whole lives into disorder. Today, the rhythm has remained in a certain sense, but it has become independent of the external world. It is just as when you set a clock precisely according to the hour of the sun, according to solar time. You can then read the hours of the sun very accurately. But now you could set the clock to twelve o'clock at seven in the afternoon. The rhythm of the clock would still be correct, it would just be shifted in relation to the sun. The same is true of human beings. The old rhythm in which human beings used to exist in harmony with the entire cosmos has been preserved. It has only shifted. If the clock were a living being, it would be right to shift its rhythm out of the surrounding rhythms. In the distant future, humans will come to let their rhythm flow out into the world again from their inner development. Just as there were once beings who let the sun, moon, and earth move from their rhythms, so too will humans one day transfer their rhythm out into the world when they have reached the divine level. This is the meaning of becoming independent in rhythm. From this we can sense the deeper foundations of astrology. But that is not our concern today. Today we only wanted to show how spiritual science is not a sum of abstract ideas for the egoistic human being who is interested in it, but that it will shine into the most everyday circumstances of life. But then one must have the will to go from the outer appearances to the underlying principles. Rhythm is implanted in matter by the spirit; human beings today carry rhythm within themselves as a legacy of their spiritual ancestry. However, one can only understand this rhythm for human beings and also for other natural beings if one goes back to the original conditions. Even in animals, the individual bodies—the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the group ego—exist in completely different relationships to one another. There is a different rhythm for each species of animal. For the physical body, it is more or less the same, but completely different rhythms operate for the etheric and astral bodies of different animals. The animal world can be classified, as it is today, according to external forms, into genera according to rhythms, depending on the relationship between the rhythm of the astral bodies and that of the etheric bodies.
Do not believe that these rhythms have never been clearly recognized. We will be able to show that it is not so long ago that people had at least a vague awareness of these rhythms. Anyone who goes through the world with the appropriate awareness can find that in some calendars used in the countryside, certain rules are given regarding specific relationships between animals and the land. By observing these rules in such farmers' almanacs, the farmer used to organize his entire agriculture. The awareness of such rhythms was hidden in the knowledge of the farmers. These are things that can show us that since the 15th and 16th centuries, an age of abstraction, of external science, has dawned, a science that is no longer capable of going into the reasons. This is particularly true in medicine. Today, we are left with nothing but guesswork, and the solid foundation of pathology and therapy dates back to ancient times. I went through the martyrdom of intellect and sensation when phenacetin was being tested. This kind of trial and error, without even a guideline, shows that science has lost its seriousness along with its spirit. This seriousness will be regained through spiritual insight. It is essential to distinguish between the distorted images of a science and knowledge that is truly based on the spirit. If we take this to heart, we will see how necessary spiritual scientific knowledge is, how it must penetrate all areas of knowledge and life.