I-35 The hierarchical sacrifices and the approach and entry of the human being’s Ego

The Influence of Spiritual Beings Upon Man, Lects. 3 and 4

We have already seen, in I-27, the order in which the “planets” of our solar system separated from the original “pap-like mass.” When the Sun separated (along with what later became Mars, Venus and Mercury) from the Earth-Moon mass, the exalted spiritual beings who led the Sun (Sun-beings) were the Exusiai (Gk) or Elohim (Heb) or Spirits of Form (Steiner). They were 7 in number (or groups), of whom Yahweh was the most exalted. When needed by humanity later, spiritual forces caused the Moon to separate from the Earth, at which time Yahweh left the domain of the Sun and took abode on the Moon. The Moon-forces, under Yah-weh’s leadership, as a Spirit of Form, give the human being form; forces that give form proceed from the Moon, while those that continually alter the form proceed from the Sun; thus, the development of the Ego-human being had to proceed from the Moon (Yahweh) because it involves consciousness of self which can only come from separation, which in turn can only come from the development of form. Hence, one begins to come to an understanding of how compelling is the interpretation and meaning of Ex 3,14, “I AM the I AM.”

These Spirits of Form (Exusiai or Elohim) have played an important part from the beginning of the human being’s evolution. They stand 4 levels above the human being in the Hierarchies. This means that during Earth evolution the lowest element of their 7-fold being would be Spirit Self in the human being, the stage just higher than the Ego. We saw, in I-15 the evolutionary stage at which the 3 intervening Hierarchies (Angels, Archangels and Archai) attained their “human” or Ego status. Consistent with this pattern, we can thus see from an inspection of the I-18 chart that on Old Saturn the Spirits of Form (Elohim) had no physical body, their lowest being the etheric. On Saturn, they “rayed in fructifying life-saps” and the warmth substance rayed these back again, giving “mirror-pictures,” thus even then giving the human being a “likeness” (Gen 1,26) of its Godhead.

On Old Sun the Elohim no longer need the etheric body, which they relinquish to the human being, endowing its physical body with an etheric body, a portion of that given up by the Elohim. This advance from Saturn to Sun is portrayed by the ancient Greek myth of Gaea (Saturn) and atmosphere Chronos. The lowest member of the Elohim on Old Sun is now the astral body, which manifests through the raying of instincts, desires and passions (of a higher nature). The myth of the Titans relates to this astral event.

On Old Moon, the Elohim lay aside their astral body, relinquishing it to the human being, so that their Ego is their lowest member. On Old Moon these Elohim have only pure Egos. On Old Moon, all that we call “human being” has gradually flowed down out of its environment, from the outside, not from within it.

In Earth evolution, the Elohim sacrifice the lowest body they had on Old Moon, their Ego, to the human being, and thus the human being is able for the first time to take within itself something for further development, its own Ego. The lowest member the Elohim, namely Yahweh at this point, have is Spirit Self, or manas (which in the Bible is called Manna). From this we see the significance not only of the bringing and giving of “the I Am” in Ex 3,14, but also of the coming of the scriptural Manna (Ex 16, Num 11, et al.) and of the statement by Christ that the kingdom is now to be found “within” the human being (Lk 17,21).

The approach and entry of this Ego into the human being during Earth evolution is shown in the following table (see diagram in “Naked”):

While Christ’s Deed on Golgotha made it possible for the human being to develop both its manas and buddhi, the wisdom that is all around us, e.g., in a piece of the thigh bone, manifests the manasic nature of the lowest member of the Yahweh being.