Occult Science: An Outline - Session 13

Matt summarized the final ten pages of Chapter 4 and the beginning of Chapter 5, which focuses on the initiatory path to knowledge of higher worlds.

Steiner concludes Chapter 4 by discussing the increasing physicalization of human beings in the post-Atlantean period of earth's evolution. Ahriman, an antagonistic spiritual force, becomes more influential during this time, not only in life but also in the afterlife, increasingly veiling our connection to the spiritual world. As we progress through various ancient civilizations—Indian, Persian, Egyptian, and Greek—Ahriman's influence grows stronger, aligning with humanity's mission to master the physical world.

In the ancient Indian civilization, the connection to the spiritual world remained relatively intact. However, with the ancient Persians, this connection began to wane. Important initiates, such as Zarathustra (Zoroaster), played a crucial role in reminding people that the physical sense world was merely an outer appearance of a deeper spiritual reality. Despite this, Ahriman's efforts to convince humans that the physical world is the only reality persisted, leading to increased isolation and self-centeredness. Those who couldn't see through Ahriman's veil in the afterlife would reincarnate as egoists, further disconnecting from the spiritual world.

During the Egyptian period, Hermes helped prepare the Egyptians to meet the Light Spirit after death, although the connection to the spiritual world continued to diminish. This disconnection reached its peak with the Greeks, who focused intensely on the sensory world, creating beautiful forms in architecture and sculpture. Consequently, their afterlife experience was described as a mere realm of shades, with the dead lacking awareness of the transformative processes between death and new birth due to the pervasive Ahrimanic veiling.

Despite this, the mysteries still nurtured a connection to the spiritual world. Initiates cultivated special states of soul, allowing them to see through the veils placed by both Ahriman and Lucifer. Steiner describes two “ways of ascent” or forms of initiation: one that lifts the Ahrimanic veil, revealing the divine creative powers at work during the Saturn, Sun, and Moon phases of evolution, along with the spiritual work underlying the physical, etheric, and astral bodies, and the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms. The other form lifts the Luciferic veil, allowing initiates to behold the nature of the sentient, intellectual, and spiritual souls, and allows some to gain prophetic insights into the coming of Christ.

Steiner briefly discusses Moses as an initiate into both the Western Asiatic and African mysteries, possessing knowledge behind both Ahrimanic and Luciferic veils. He emphasizes that, after Christ’s incarnation, physical death can alter nothing in the life of a human’s I-being.

Steiner then discusses the shift in the nature of the mysteries after the Christ Event. The culmination of the physicalization process at the end of the fourth post-Atlantean epoch (the Greco-Latin period) led to a change in what initiates aimed to bring to humanity. Since the Christ Event, human beings who lift themselves to the mystery can carry into the spiritual world what they have gained in the sense world. This insight, revealed in the after-death state by the Christ impulse, then flows back into the world during reincarnation, continually re-seeding the earth with the Christ impulse. Steiner asserts that we are only at the beginning of Christian evolution, suggesting that the true significance of the Christ impulse is just beginning to unfold.

Matt highlights the distinction between the religion that forms around the Christ Event and the impulse itself. While the impulse continues to evolve, existing churches may not be the clearest representatives of this experience. Matt also suggests that Steiner's description of the reincarnation process resonates with Whitehead's idea of a reciprocal relationship between God and the world, where divine love transforms into a reality in heaven and floods back into the world.

Steiner further explains that as the Christ impulse ripens, the racial distinctions established in Lemurian times are overcome, restoring the universal human ideal. He describes European civilization, which took over in the fifth post-Atlantean period, as having preserved a dim clairvoyance from Atlantean times, manifest in fairy stories and sagas. This European soul combines a heart-centered capacity to resonate with the Christ impulse and an intellectual mastery of the sensory world, creating a dual nature that is reflected in today’s conflict between science and religion. Steiner suggests that the sixth post-Atlantean epoch, already taking root, will reconcile these two aspects.

Chapter 5 delves into the process of initiation and developing a state of soul unlike waking, dreaming, and sleeping, where the senses become inactive, allowing a freer orientation to pure spiritual perceptions. Steiner claims his knowledge of prior epochs comes from cultivating these states of soul. He warns against spiritual pride and emphasizes the importance of ethical stability and goodwill, as the insights gained from these special states of soul can lead one astray without a proper ethical foundation. These changes, Steiner notes, have nothing to do with human physiology.

The discussion begins with Max picking up on the beginning of Chapter 5, which concerns achieving a state of perception unmediated by sensory stimuli. He reflects on the idea, illustrated by the example of a blind man, that our sensory experience, including vision, is inherently constrained and that perception can occur through other sensory channels, or even without sensory input at all. He draws parallels with how blind individuals navigate their environment through auditory and tactile inputs, suggesting that similarly, clairvoyant perception might be constrained by different types of input, potentially from spiritual sources rather than physical senses.

The conversation continues with reflections on the importance of freeing oneself from not only sensory experiences but also the memory of them to develop genuine clairvoyant perception, which should draw solely from the spiritual world. Angus then expands on the post-Atlantean epoch, emphasizing that while gaining mastery over the physical world is a part of human evolution, the essential aim is developing individual spiritual consciousness. He proposes that this mastery is a side effect of the deeper goal of achieving awareness of spiritual activity within oneself through practices like meditation.

The discussion then delves into the process of initiation. Angus argues that true clairvoyance requires not only spiritual experiences but also a conceptual understanding of spiritual science to fully grasp and remember the insights gained in these higher states. This conceptual clarity helps in recognizing the truths embedded in spiritual experiences, preventing them from being fleeting or incomprehensible.

Max interjects with a phenomenological perspective, likening the process to dream states where impressions do not inscribe themselves as they do in waking life. Remembering spiritual experiences requires a different approach, such as Steiner's method of writing during these states to retain the insights gained. This practice highlights the active role of the initiate in generating and retaining spiritual knowledge.

Lorenzo adds a layer to the discussion by contemplating the relationship between freedom and destiny. He suggests that the presence of a "virtual future" influences individual freedom, acting as a necessary counterpart for the development of spiritual organs. This interplay between a predetermined destiny and individual action forms the basis for true freedom, where spiritual growth emerges from engaging with these opposing forces.

Karsten supports Lorenzo's ideas with references to Robert A. Monroe's experiences of out-of-body travel and interactions with future versions of himself, highlighting the fluidity of time and space in spiritual experiences. He recounts his own experience of shifting perspectives, linking it to Steiner's idea of developing higher faculties that allow navigation through different dimensions of reality.

The conversation then turns to the role of symbols in spiritual perception. Karsten notes that symbolic thought pictures, unlike those depicting external objects, are built by the soul's exertions and thus facilitate deeper spiritual understanding. This aligns with Goethe's phenomenological approach, where seeing the world as symbols reveals underlying spiritual truths.

Finally, Ashton discusses destiny and future influences, referencing Richard Tarnas's view of astrology as archetypal causation rather than rigid determinism. This perspective suggests that while there is an ordering principle at work, there remains room for novelty and individual freedom.

The session concludes with Matt’s reflection on the nature of divine evolution. Matt introduces Whitehead's concept of the primordial and consequent natures of God, suggesting that the historical process enriches the divine nature. This ongoing divine learning process implies that the unfolding of history, including human actions and spiritual development, genuinely matters and contributes to the evolution of the divine.