Second Coming, Page 5

In lecture 6, Steiner looks at the Sermon on the Mount, especially the beatitudes, in the light of human evolution, including the Second Coming.

Lecture 7, “The Return of Christ,” notes the “signs of our times” as they relate to the Second Coming. Steiner notes that we are now the same distance into the zodiacal “sign of Pisces, the Fish” as the Advent of Christ was into the “sign of Aries, the Ram.” The First Coming, in the physical world, was in Aries, hence “the Lamb of God” (Jn 1,29,36), and the Second Coming is now in the sign of the Fish, “the outer symbol for the appearance of Christ in the etheric body” (see I-19).

Lecture 8, “The Etheric Vision of the Future,” says that just “as Christ had to have a forerunner, so spiritual science had to appear in order to prepare for this clairvoyant age.”

Jumping ahead, lectures 10 through 13 deal with impediments and opposing forces. One can see in lecture 10 how etheric bodies of deceased persons have been inhabited by demonic spirits in a way that seemingly demonstrates “memories” to deceive relatives into thinking there is a communication. And one can see how the use of such bodies could explain memories certain individuals have that seem to indicate (though falsely) that they are a reincarnation of an earlier personality. (On this, consider Ian Stephenson, M.D., Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, 2nd Ed., Charlottesville, Univ. of Virginia, 1974.) Ironically, but ominously similar to the position of the spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day, Steiner says, “the greatest enemies to grasping the Christ impulse are the priests and clergy of the various religious faiths, no matter how strange this may sound. What keeps humanity furthest from the Christ impulse is the way in which the clergy and the theologians interpret this Christ impulse, because they are far from understanding what it is” (see “Shepherd[s]”). That was in 1917. I sense that there is a groping by a few clergy today for some new light—not that there is as yet much understanding, but there is perhaps a more humble openness and willingness to look at the possibilities that lie beyond, and may even conflict with, but more often elucidate, cherished tradition.

We return now to the vital ninth lecture, “The Etherization of the Blood.” Ideally one should read this lecture over and over meditatively. And then having done so, to enhance understanding of its immense significance one should consider the related portions of WW, Lects. 8 and 9, and An Occult Physiology (OP), Lect. 4. All of these were given between March 23 and October 1, 1911, “The Etherization of the Blood” being the last, the OP lecture the first and the WW lectures intervening in late August. Something of the significance of the OP lecture can be seen in I-86. However, we are presently concerned primarily with that aspect of the lecture that deals with the blood, heart and pineal gland. One should not unduly fret if comprehension of these matters comes but gradually. But it is probably essential, if one is to understand how the human being can come to perceive the Christ in the etheric world, that one comprehend what Steiner is saying in these lectures. I can only feebly touch upon it in what follows. When available it will help first to contemplate the spiritual significance of blood (see “Blood” in Vol. 2, “What Is Man?”). In OP, Lect. 4, Steiner calls it “the noblest instrument possessed by man,. . . the instrument of his ego” which stands, even physically, as an intermediary between the outer world (air) and the inner (nutriment). It works through the heart organ (which was formed by primeval etheric circulation much as the etheric eye was formed by spiritual light). The etherization of the blood centers around the interplay between the organs of the heart and the pineal gland located in the vicinity of the eyes.

It will help at this point to note what are called the “lotus flowers” or “wheels” or “chakras” in the Orient. Steiner speaks of them in KHW, Chap. 6, as being “the sense-organs of the soul,” just as the astral body through the nervous system is the sense organ of the physical body. A helpful discussion of the seven “lotus flowers” can be found in HA1, Chap. 5, from which I-21 is taken. (The etheric nature of the human being’s organs is also shown in I-14, and is further intimated in I-76 and I-77. I-86 shows the relationship of the seven traditional planets of our solar system to both the human metabolic and rhythmic systems working physically and then to the seven higher organs, glands or regions that relate to the “lotus flowers.” The pituitary may be the one Powell locates at the top of the head in I-21, then in descending order come the pineal, larynx, heart, solar plexus, kidneys and reproductive.) The heart is seen to be the twelve-petalled lotus flower while the pineal gland is the two-petalled (The Twelve Holy Nights and the Spiritual Hierarchies [THNS], Sec. 2, Chap. 3). In the light of anthroposophical knowledge, we can also see that Job 40,21-22 is speaking of these: “Under the lotus plants he lies, in the covert of the reeds and in the marsh. For his shade the lotus trees cover him; the willows of the brook surround him.”

In KHW, Chap. 7, Steiner says, “Only developed lotus flowers make it possible for manifestations not derived from the physical world to be imprinted [in our dream life the way sense impressions previously were]. And then the etheric body, when developed, brings full knowledge concerning these engraved impressions derived from other worlds.” It is thus the etheric body that brings us true messages from the spiritual world. If we look at I-19, we can see that humanity has progressed from the Cultural Age of the Bull (Taurus) through that of the Lamb (Aries) to the present Fish (Pisces) and that approximately half way through the 3,000-year period of the Second Coming (as identified by Steiner), or A.D. 3574, it comes to the Waterman (Aquarius). It will be noted from I-18 that Aquarius is associated with the etheric body. The etheric body is in a state of constant fluid motion, and its symbol is Water (cf. I-22, where the fourfold human being would be equated to the four elements as follows: Physical Body = Earth; Etheric Body = Water; Astral Body = Air; and Ego = Fire). Now consider Moses striking the rock and bringing forth water (Num 20,11); the Rock is identified by Paul as Christ (1 Cor 10,4) who brought forth Water and thus “showed himself holy among them” (Num 20,13; see also “Rock/Christ”). Moses was precluded from carrying the people on into their future “promised land” because his consciousness was the ancient clairvoyance (Num 20,12; see “Fading Splendor”) and what is required to recognize Christ in the etheric world at the time of his Second Coming is the new clairvoyance made possible by the development of the etheric organs of perception. Of this, Paul could not yet speak in his time (Heb 9,5; also Heb 5,11 because Melchizedek had the etheric body of Shem and could thus minister to Abraham as the father of the Hebrew Folk).