I-58 The human components and characteristics of four ancient myths; the elevation of human perception; the relative strength of the three human bodies and Ego

Wonders of the World, Lect. 3

The anthroposophist sees deep meaning in the ancient myths, sees that the ancients understood more than humanity today of its own origin and descent from the spiritual world. The following chart reflects something of that ancient understanding:

It will be seen, from their respective characteristics, that the “astral/ etheric/physical bodies” are the seats of the Ego’s thinking/ feeling/ willing.

We have seen (I-20) how all of the human being’s 12 senses microcosmically reflect the spiritual world. Steiner elsewhere (e.g., KHW) shows how one may develop one’s soul to a point where each sense is elevated so that, for instance,

He describes how such a clairsipient experiences his or her own 3-fold being, as follows:

While Steiner does not here make any such identification, one can see that this understanding will be enlightening when we come to the Apocalypse of John, where we are told (Rev 10,9-10) that the scroll, when eaten, “will be bitter to your stomach, but sweet as honey in your mouth” (see ASJ, Lect. 8, p. 147; OSC , p. 5; and Bock’s Aps Jn, p. 85).

We have already seen (I-19) one way that the pentagram (5-pointed star) is significant in astrological understanding, and we shall see many biblical uses. Steiner uses that understanding to close this lecture. He draws the following diagram, ^{(click here to view) which he uses to express the relative strength of the forces of the human being’s “Three Bodies,” by showing that such forces are represented by the areas within their respective geometrical figures, as follows:}