Appendix to "Blood"

I believe that one with anthroposophical understanding will look upon such a phenomenon, if it in fact exists, as it seems to in this and probably other cases too, as being based upon the use of the donor's etheric body by discarnate spiritual beings who target and manage to invade the consciousness of the recipient. The motivations behind the invasion seem entirely unwholesome in that they tend, as in this case, to emphasize the materialized heart or its cells as carrying a personality's earthly memory. Steiner had much to say about memory, some of it touched upon in this essay (see, for instance, OP, Lect. 4, "Man's Inner Cosmic System"). Perceptions taken in through the astral body are processed with the help of the blood so as to be impressed upon the memory storehouse, the etheric body. It is from that body only that memory can be called up by the Ego.

In the essay "Second Coming," in The Burning Bush, p. 223, I point out that one can see in RCE, Lect.10, "how etheric bodies of deceased persons have been inhabited by demonic spirits in such a way as to seemingly demonstrate 'memories' to deceive relatives into thinking there is a communication. And one can see how the use of such bodies could explain memories which certain individuals have which seem to indicate (though falsely) that they are a reincarnation of an earlier personality."

Things aren't what they seem! The "veil of the temple" that Christ rent (Mt 27,51; Mk 15,38; Lk 23,45; Heb 9,8-9; Heb 10,20) is still not open for most of humanity (even within Christendom), which still sees the material illusion (maya) of, rather than the spiritual reality behind, our mineral-physical existence. The "outer tent" is "still standing" (Heb 9,8-9) insofar as humanity fails to come to the insights that are now available through anthroposophical knowledge.

According to those insights, the cells of a transplanted heart can hardly carry the memory embodied in a donor's etheric body over into the consciousness of the recipient. What carries it over would appear to be an unwholesome spirit that utilizes a decedent's etheric body (not yet dispersed into the general Earth ether) by invading the recipient's consciousness in order to deceive humanity. Both nocturnal dreams and waking "cravings" (i.e., habits or addictions) come from what is engraved in the etheric body. Novak's book, allegedly based upon the experiences of his coauthor, Claire Sylvia, fascinating as it is to the imagination of countless thousands, and doubtless very meaningful to her, understandably sells quite well in our time. However, deeper insights into what is behind the phenomenon are urgently needed.

Finally, a word is also needed regarding psychics and psychic revelation. As I write this in the summer of 2000, a psychic has just this week appeared on a prominent evening television talk show, answering questions from the host as well as others who call in with questions about deceased loved ones. The psychic appears to be very sincere and devout and to have spurned offers to utilize the psychic ability for monetary gain. This person purported to tell callers about the status of their loved ones in the afterlife, as well as certain matters pertaining to what happens to suicides, and that sort of thing. The answers seemed uniformly to speak of these deceased souls as though they were in a state that could be explained from our normal earthly standpoint; they all seemed to be about thirty years of age (regardless of age at death) and there was talk about whether they were "happy" or not. Deceased souls were even said to have tried to make communication with living relatives, as evidenced by the fact that telephones had rung without anyone being on the calling end of the line when answered. And as usually happens in these psychic revelations, the persons calling in were convinced that the psychic had communicated with the deceased soul of their loved one because of peculiar facts related by the psychic that clearly pertained to the life of the deceased.⁴²

From an anthroposophical standpoint, these revelations are generally considered to be unreliable, at least in the absence of criteria indicating that the psychic, in this life or another, has trod the path necessary to properly develop the spiritual organs essential for genuine investigation in the spiritual world (Mt 7,13-14). That path is nowhere more clearly laid out, to my knowledge, than in Steiner's How to Know Higher Worlds (HKHW). The psychic who has not trod that path can hardly be meaningfully distinguished from the mediums and the like who were condemned in the Old Testament.⁴³ Obviously, however, one soul cannot intuit the spiritual capabilities of another in these matters unless that one has himself or herself trod that higher path. Few have (again, Mt 7,14).

One who studies the life of Rudolf Steiner will see that he was born with immense psychic abilities. Even as a child, he could see spiritual beings above the altar whenever he attended mass (which he did as a youthful companion of certain monks, but never as a member of the confession). In the course of his life path, he became aware of the absolute necessity of extinguishing that natural clairvoyance (which in some, at least, can be called atavistic, though in his case considerable spiritual development had occurred in previous incarnations⁴⁴ ). This he did and then, to judge both from his biographical material and his works, followed the steps to higher knowledge set out to some extent in HKHW. To the extent that any human, during earthly incarnation, can attain to these spiritual levels, they are summarized by the three loaves in Mt 13,33 and relate to what Steiner, in reference to earthly existence, calls the development (or attainment) of Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition.

One who considers Steiner's revelations to be true disclosures of the spiritual world and its relation to earthly existence, insofar as earthly language can disclose such matters, must compare the revelations from psychics with what anthroposophy shows. Often, if not usually, there is considerable variance.

That psychics get real messages from the spiritual world is readily accepted by anthroposophy. The same is true for mediums and the others proscribed in the Old Testament. What is real and what is true must, however, be distinguished, for they are not always the same. We ourselves may have real opinions, but they may not be true to the governing facts.

What is clear from anthroposophical insight is that there are many spirits and forces in the supersensible world that are working to mislead and obscure the real nature of the spiritual world, especially in generating within human beings ideas of the spiritual that are in fact materialistic (or overly spiritual so as to play into materialistic hands). To some extent these are discussed in RCE, Lects. 10-13, but they pervade Steiner's works. These are the legions related to as the Luciferic and Ahrimanic forces (see I-32). These beings are in full possession of all knowledge needed to convince, through psychic revelation, survivors that they are the soul of a departed loved one. Edgar Cayce, a leading psychic or medium, prayed earnestly that only the good spirits would speak through him. Implicit was his knowledge that malevolent spirits were only too ready to deceive (Rev 12,9).

In my experience, the lives of most psychics are rather exemplary. For that reason, I do not condemn, but merely alert the reader to the dangers involved in relying upon psychic revelation instead of searching for answers to spiritual questions through the powers of one's own being.