This is just one of limitless examples of how our sensate phenomena here on Earth reflect heavenly patterns. See "As Above, So Below." They are part of the fractal nature of creation. In the example, we see that the architect performs on the building what the Elohim as a group performed in the seven "days." The contractor hired to bring the building structure into existence is the Eloha Yahweh, working from his home on the Moon (the Moon sphere). Yahweh (the contractor) is the "one god" of the on-site artisans, but what he is doing reflects what was done by the group of Elohim (the architect), and what they did reflected the desires of the owner to be (Christ, or the "I AM"). With this picture, let us return to where we left off in Gen 2,7, where the human being had just received the "breath of life."

That human was still in a most primitive condition, gross in form, without bones, androgynous (male and female, undifferentiated sexually, and reproducing innocently from itself³⁶). As yet, no descending Ego had penetrated the human body on Earth. And while the account in the Garden has this human being created first, as indeed was the case in the spiritual world, the descent into the mineral-physical was prefigured by the earlier "days" of creation so that in fact, as our geology confirms, the lower kingdoms all hardened into the mineral state before the human being. It would be a long time before any human skeleton would be hard enough to leave traces in the rocks of time.

The higher human being, in perceiving the group souls of the various animal species which were thus created "out of their kind," recognized the nature of each one and was thus able to give it its proper "name" according to the character of its group soul.³⁷ And being of higher origin, the human being was given dominion over these on Earth. But with this passage (Gen 2,19), we jump ahead of ourselves.

The human being, the crown of creation, actually came into spiritual being first, but descended last. Thus is a long, complex and heretofore mystifying process clarified and epitomized (see "Evolution").

What then was happening in the spiritual worlds in regard to the development of the human being during the six days? Steiner shows us in Lect. 8. To picture this, it is well to have at hand charts I-9 and I-22. Observing the former, we see that the human being comprises six components from the physical up through the soul (lower Ego), leaving the spirit (higher Ego) of the threefold human being aside as something to be developed through the Christ-element. According to Steiner, development during the six days proceeded as follows:

1st day (Gen 1,3-5): The Sentient Soul is developed out of the light ether ("Let there be light").

2nd day (Gen 1,6-8): The Intellectual or Mind Soul is developed out of the sound or chemical ether (the waters are separated).

3rd day (Gen 1,9-13): The Consciousness or Spiritual Soul is developed out of the life ether (the living plants are brought into etheric being).

4th day (Gen 1,14-19): The astral body is prepared along with the "astral" world's Sun, Moon and star (planet) physical (but not yet mineralized) form(s).

5th day (Gen 1,20-25): The etheric body is prepared along with the as yet unmineralized form(s), first of the animals that were to dwell in the fluid air or water, and then of those that were to dwell on land ("earth").

6th day (Gen 1,26-27): The as yet unmineralized form (phantom) of the human physical body was prepared by the Spirits of Form, the Elohim.

Then on the 7th day the Elohim rested, which is to say that there was a timeless "time" of cosmic rest when all such activity ceased before being brought back into its enhanced state of existence in accordance with what had taken place during the first six days. Thus came first the necessary mineral-physical condition of the Sun, Moon and stars over a vast period of time. To visualize this it might be helpful to review I-27. Then think something like this: In order to bring the astral and etheric conditions and their physical form(s) into a mineralized state, a vast globe occupying what is now all that would fall within the orbit of Saturn consisted first of the finest mineral elements in a high state of activity generating heat, thus bringing back in its advanced state what came spiritually into being on Old Saturn. Gradually this condenses into a smaller sphere within the orbit of Jupiter, comprising heat and denser air, the Earth's reprise of Ancient Sun. Still further condensation brings it within the orbit of Mars so that we have what may be described as a sphere of warm "mist" (Gen 2,6; cf. also the "Nephilim" of Gen 6,4).³⁸ As this condenses further the conditions begin to appear in which crystallization (Rev 4,6) can begin, from which eventually the primitive plants, sea life and land beasts (Rev 4,7) descend into primeval mineral-physical being.

Only then could the life be "breathed" into the human being on Earth (Gen 2,7), and as yet in a most primitive, gross and malleable form. But the human soul (Ego) still dwells in the "Garden" where grow the "tree of knowledge" and the "tree of life."³⁹ In other words, it still dwells in the bosom of the gods that (as agents of the Christ) created it, as detailed in Outline of Esoteric Science (OES).

Let us therefore postulate that the descent of the full fourfold human being can be portrayed by the progressive infusion into it of the four elements (see "The Four Elements") in the following scriptural descriptions:

Thus, the "image" of the Elohim is the Ego "likeness," the "I AM" which Yahweh-Eloha introduced to Moses in Ex 3,14.⁴¹ The astral body is the "air" that was breathed into the human being, the "air" still containing also the "dust" yet to be formed by further condensation of the elements. The etheric body is the rivers of water that go out of Eden, "watering the trees" there (cf. Ezek 47,1-12). Finally, the solidity is represented by the "hardness" indicated by the word "Adam" in Gen 3,17.⁴² Of course, these boundaries cannot, in reality, be so precise. For instance, we must know that sensate awareness, the Sentient Soul, commenced with the "taste" of the fruit and the opening of the "eyes" in Gen 3,6-7.⁴³ And the condensation of all elements was indiscriminately gradual. But this is the portrayal in three short chapters of a vast panorama of evolutionary development of earthly existence out of the spiritual world.

Much more has been said about the so-called "first creation account" than will be said at this time about the "second," the account of the Fall of humanity. The second is spread so profusely throughout Steiner's work that it will be often encountered, whereas the lecture cycle Genesis (GEN) and the book Outline of Esoteric Science (OES) stand as primary beacons for the first.

To conclude the creation discussion, I will speak generally about the Fall account (Gen 3). While the human being still dwelled as an innocent and androgynous being in the Garden, spiritually fed by the gods, the Yahweh-Eloha commenced to bring into physical earthly existence the other living creatures (Gen 2,19), according to their group soul kind in the spiritual world, as recognized there ("named") by the human.⁴⁴ For the human to progress to the next level, that of dwelling on Earth in accordance with the will of the gods, the division into sexes had to occur, but for this, a period of cosmic rest was necessary. Presumably this occurred between Lemuria and Atlantis, a "deep sleep" (Gen 2,21), from which the separate male and female arose in the next awakening of activity—but the Ego remained only in the etheric state, not yet embodied in the still quite gelatinous three bodies on Earth. The Ego had not yet descended and did not yet experience reproduction, which, though physical, thus remained innocent. The Ego was not to penetrate the outer astral body until approximately the last third of Lemuria and the first third of Atlantis (see I-35 and the essay "Naked" in The Burning Bush). Adam and Eve were "Naked" in the sense that the Ego was not yet clothed with any of the three bodies, but they "were not ashamed" because, being unconnected with these bodies, they had not experienced the sexual act even though it may have taken place animalistically by what had descended. In other words, what occurred in Genesis 3 must be seen as involving the three bodies, which were on Earth, and the Ego, which was still undescended though in the process of doing so.

Meanwhile, in heaven (i.e., the astral world⁴⁵) the germinal Ego-seed was encountering a fallen Archangel (see I-32) called "Lucifer," literally "light-bringer," who desired to bring experiential knowledge to humanity prematurely, before it was ready (i.e., capable of responsible judgment) and before this was desired by the higher spiritual powers.⁴⁶ The decision by the human being to follow Lucifer was an animalistic one (made by its astral body, over which it has as yet no control) and thus innocent, without experience or knowledge, but it resulted in the gaining of experience. However, it brought about an infection of the astral body, which progressively over time infected first the etheric and then the physical bodies also so that they began to experience pain, toil and death, the divine cures for the astral, etheric and physical bodies, respectively (Gen 3,16-19).⁴⁷ The process of karma and reincarnation commenced with that of death and is to continue until earthly death is no more (see I-2). Excellent highly relevant short cycles of one or two lectures are The Concepts of Original Sin and Grace (OSG) and The Origin of Suffering; The Origin of Evil, Illness and Death (OSOE).