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 - I -

"I", ego (spiritual ego) - also see cosmic "I"; ego; ego consciousness; higher I; highest I; nonphysical bodies; universal I

According to Steiner, drawing from Theosophy, the "I" or "ego" is a formation of spirit forces conveying a spark of divinity, our divine human essence. It is, in a sense, one of our invisible bodies — the fourth component of our current human constitution, supplementing the physical body, the etheric body, and the astral body. [1] In another sense, the "I" is — or it contains — one's spirit. Possessing an "I" makes one human; when you have an "I", you have an individual spiritual identity.

The "I" conveys the power of human self-transformation. It incarnates (i.e., is born) at about age 21. After it develops adequately, it actuates the knowledge-acquiring faculty of intuition (the third stage toward clairvoyance). One's "I" can be truly perceived only by oneself. You can know that another person has an "I", but you cannot know that person’s "I" as you know your own "I".

The "I" can be considered one's purest self, the spiritual essence that we may not initially realize we possess. It comes to us from the cosmic "I", the universal "I" of the cosmos. [2] During previous evolutionary phases, divine selfhood transfused the entire created universe. Now, during our current phase of evolution, we work on realizing our individual "I's", receiving them, as it were, from the cosmic forces of divinity. [3] In an important sense, the "I" is given to each of us by Christ, as the god who has most directly brought divine truth and essence to us. [4] However, the god Thor has also been active in the bestowal of the human "I". [5]

Other beings than ourselves have evolved through a human stage, attaining their own "I's". [6] They then evolved higher to become superhuman — they became gods. As bearers of "I's", we too will evolve to superhuman status: We too will become gods. Animals and creatures lower than animals lack "I's"; they cannot evolve to godly status.

The "I" includes higher and lower components. The higher "I” can be understood as the transcendent spiritual identity of an individual or group; it is, in a sense, an inner god or developing divinity. The higher "I" of an individual is, in a sense, an extension of the higher "I" of the group to which the individual belongs. Different groups have different higher "I's". “Just as the leader of the Sun’s evolution [7] became the higher I that worked in the life body [8] of the descendants of human beings who had remained on Earth, [the] Jupiter leader became the higher I that spread like a common consciousness through the human beings who had their origins in the interbreeding of Earth offspring with humans who first appeared on Earth during the period of the air element and then moved to Jupiter. [9]” — R. Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 238.

Although one's higher "I" is inherent within oneself, in a truer sense the higher "I" is located in the spirit realm, where it remains during one's Earthly incarnations. In contrast, the lower "I" or "ego" is the identity we feel ourselves to possess when we live on the physical plane. "The higher 'I' remains in the spiritual world during an incarnation on earth ... What we feel as our 'I' during our life on earth is the mirror image, or 'ego', of this higher 'I' ... The more someone identifies with his ego or lower 'I', the more difficult it becomes to gain awareness of the purely spiritual entity of this higher 'I'. [10]" — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 58. Becoming too involved with one's lower "I" can lead to egoism, the self-destructive condition that will produce the War of All Against All. [11]

We enlarge our individual "I's" by moving outward from them, Steiner said. This is part of the process of spiritual elevation and evolution. We came from the universal spiritual powers, the gods [12], and we will return to reunite with them, but we will do this in altered, more evolved form. We make our own "I's", and we will remake the universe as we fulfill our "I's" by moving beyond them. The lower or ordinary "I" is reduced as the higher "I" is perfected. “Our ethical principles become the guides for [our] soul forces. Through moral judgment, the I becomes the soul’s guide ... If an individual then extracts a higher I from the ordinary one, the original I becomes independent in a certain respect [13], and it loses as much vital strength as is given to the higher I.” — R. Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE, p. 308.

Anthroposophists also sometimes speak of the highest "I". This is the godly being we can become when the higher "I" is united with the universal "I", which may be considered the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. [14] "The being to come was disclosed to Moses from two sources as the highest form of the 'I'." — R. Steiner in THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER, p. 107. According to Steiner, we move toward attainment of the highest "I" by following our Prototype, Christ [15] — thereby receiving the Spirit within the enveloping activities of the virtually innumerable gods. We realize our highest potential as we enable the world, indeed the universe — indeed the gods — to find their own ultimate fulfillment in us. "Soul of Man! ... [T]he surging/ Deeds of the World’s Becoming/ Do thine own I/ Unite/ Unto the I of the World ... Soul of Man! ... Practice spirit-vision/ In quietness of Thought,/ Where the eternal aims of Gods/ World-Being’s Light/ On thy own I/ Bestow/ For thy free Willing.” — R. Steiner, quoted by S. Prokofieff in THE FOUNDATION STONE MEDITATION (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2006), pp. 210-211.

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[1] See "fourfold nature of many" in this encyclopedia. (Other Anthroposophical accounts of human nature are not entirely consistent with the fourfold account.)

[2] See the entries for "cosmic 'I'" and "universal 'I'" in this encyclopedia.

[3] See, e.g., the discussion of this in R. McDermott's THE NEW ESSENTIAL STEINER (Lindisfarne Press, 2009), pp. 163-164.

[4] In Anthroposophy, Christ is the Sun God.

[5] Thor is a Norse god.

[6] See the entry for "human stage of evolution" in this encyclopedia. The gods we call Angels were human during Old Moon (the third incarnation of the solar system), and the gods we call Archangels were human during Old Sun (the second incarnation of the solar system), etc.

[7] I.e., the presiding spirit of the second incarnation of the solar system, called Old Sun.

[8] I.e., the etheric body. [See "Incarnation".]

[9] Steiner taught that some humans have moved to other planets when conditions on Earth became too difficult for them. Generally, they later returned. [See the entry for "planetary migrations" in this encyclopedia.] Here Steiner says that  the spirit of the leading Jupiter deity became the higher "I" for human beings who descended from the mating of humans who stayed on Earth and humans who migrated to Jupiter and then returned.

[10] The distinction drawn here between the "I" and the ego (equating the ego with the lower I) is not always maintained in Anthroposophical texts.

[11] See "War of All Against All" in this encyclopedia.

[12] Anthroposophy recognizes a vast panoply of gods. [See "Polytheism".]

[13] I.e., it separates from the human being and becomes an independent spiritual being, as it were. It declines as the human perfects her/his higher "I."

[14] See "God" and the entry for "Holy Ghost" in this encyclopedia.

[15] See "Prototype". 

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"I am" - see "I"; "I Am the I Am"

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"I Am the I Am" - also see "I"; ego

This statement, made much of in Anthroposophy, is a disputable translation of a self-definition offered by Jehovah in the Bible (see Exodus 3:14). Other translations are "I Am That I Am," "I Am Who I Am," "I Will Be Who I Will Be," etc. [1] Jehovah says that He is what He is, uniquely — He can be understood only in terms of Himself; He is, incomparably and eternally, what He is: God. [2] God is the ultimate reality; in a sense, only He truly exists. [3] In the King James version of the Bible, the passage is rendered as "And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you." [4]

In Anthroposophy, each awakened human being is said to share the divine comprehension of unique existence: "I am" is the central intuition of the human soul. While arguably puerile (the recognition of one's existence separate from others' usually dawns on children quite early), this recognition may offer solace to individuals afflicted with low self-esteem. In his primary text, Steiner expresses the affirmation of one's unique, invaluable existence thus: "I am an I only to myself; to every other being I am a you.” — R. Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1979), p. 49.

Steiner placed this "insight" near the core of Waldorf education: "The fourth member of a person’s being [5], the power that enables one to say 'I,' makes the human being the crown of creation. This name can only be applied to oneself; it expresses the fact that the soul’s primordial divine spark is what speaks. We share the designations of everything else with others...but not the name [i.e., 'I'] that refers to what is god-like in every individual human soul. That is why in Hebrew esoteric schools it was called the 'inexpressible name of God, Jahve [6],' and 'I Am the I Am.' Even the priest could utter it only with a shudder. The soul ascribes 'I am the I am' to itself." — R. Steiner, THE EDUCATION OF THE CHILD (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 53.

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[1] See, e.g.,  THE JEWISH STUDY BIBLE (Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 111.

[2] Steiner generally denied that there is a single, monotheistic God. [See "Polytheism".] He also generally denied that Jehovah is an exalted god. [See "Old Testament".] In the present context, however, Steiner effectively accepted that in the Bible Jehovah is represented as God Almighty.

[3] In the Ten Commandments, Jehovah asserts his primacy when he says, "I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:2-3). These words may be construed to suggest that other gods also exist, but the standard interpretation is that Jehoavh asserts that really only He is God; there are no other real gods. Thus, in saying "I Am That I Am" ("I Am What I Am,", "I Am The One"), Jehovah makes an assertion that no one else can truly make: I am God.

[4] See, e.g., https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus%203:14&version=KJV.

[5] I.e., the "I", which is possessed in addition to the physical, etheric, and astral bodies. [See "Incarnation".]

[6] I.e., Jehovah.

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"I"-being - see "I"; "I" organization

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idealism - also see philosophy; world conceptions

a) "Idealism, in philosophy, any view that stresses the central role of the ideal or the spiritual in the interpretation of experience." — "idealism". Encyclopedia Britannica, 16 Jul. 2024; accessed 1 August 2024.

b) According to Steiner: This is one of the twelve justified or defended world conceptions, which are philosophical standpoints that he located under the influence of the signs of the zodiac. [1] "[T]here may be...persons who speak as follows ... [The] world of material phenomena is in itself devoid of meaning. It has no real meaning unless there is within it a progressive tendency ... [T]here must be a realm of ideas and ideals within the world-process ... [T]heir view is that life has meaning only if ideas work through it and give it purpose ... The adherents of such a world-outlook as this, which takes everything as a vehicle for the ideas that permeate the world-process, may be called Idealists and their outlook: Idealism. [2]" — R. Steiner, HUMAN AND COSMIC THOUGHT (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1991), pp. 31-32. Steiner associated idealism with Aries. [3]

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[1]  See "Philosophy".

[2] Steiner taught that spirits, rather than ideas, permeate the world-process. (Some of these spirits are "archetypes"; see the entry for this term in this encyclopedia.)

[3] See "Aries" in this encyclopedia.

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ideal magic - also see Anthroposophy; magic; white magic; cf. black magic

According to Steiner: "Ideal magic" means entering the spiritual world through the use of Anthroposophy. "What I mean by ideal magic is the following: when someone looks back over life with ordinary consciousness, one will see how, from year to year and from decade to decade, one has changed in a certain sense. Such a person would see that habits have changed, however slowly. One gains certain capacities while others disappear. If one looks honestly at the capacities that exist during earthly life, one would have to say that, over time, one becomes someone else. Life causes that to happen. We are completely devoted to life and life educates us, trains us and forms the soul. [paragraph break] If, however, people want to enter the spiritual world — in other words, want to attain ideal magic — they must not only intensify inner thinking [1] so that they recognize a second level of existence, as I previously described, but they must also free their will from its connection to the physical body. [2] Ordinarily, we can activate the will only by using the physical body — the legs, arms, or the organs of speech. The physical body is the basis for our will. [3] However, we can do the following: as spiritual researchers [4] we must carry out exercises of the will in a very systematic way to achieve ideal magic along with exact clairvoyance. [5] Such a person must, for example, develop the will so strongly that, at a particular point in life, one recognizes that a specific habit must be broken and replaced with another in the soul." — R. Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 2 (Anthroposophic Press, 1995), pp. 18-19.

When you exercise ideal magic, you assist the forces of light, especially the Archangel Michael, Steiner said. Ideal magic is white magic. "[T]his is true 'ideal magic'. It is the true 'white magic' as it was called in olden times, and into it mankind is now about to enter." — R. Steiner, MAN'S LIFE ON EARTH AND IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLDS (Health Research, 1960), lecture 6, GA 218.

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[1] I.e., they must cultivate clairvoyant powers.

[2] See "Knowing the Worlds".

[3] See "Will".

[4] I.e., Anthroposophists.

[5] See "Exactly".

[6] See "Magic".

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illness - see disease; cf. health

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illusion - see maya

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imagination - also see clairvoyance; imaginations; initiation; inspiration; intuition; Jupiter consciousness; Third Hierarchy; cf. thinking

According to Steiner, this is the first level of non-rational spiritual insight [1]; higher stages are inspiration and intuition [2]. In Waldorf education, imagination is a precursor to, or proxy for, clairvoyance. The faculty of imagination, Anthroposophists believe, enables one to form true mental pictures containing, at least in incipient form, spiritual truth [3]. (Inspiration enables one to highlight and accentuate the spiritual content of such images, while stripping out irrelevant mundane elements. Intuition enables one to fully grasp spiritual content, as gods do.) In stressing imagination, Waldorf teachers may not — usually — think they are evoking clairvoyant powers in their students, but they typically believe they are leading the students in a direction that may end in heightened emotional/spiritual sensitivity [4]. In its heightened, disciplined form, Imagination as practiced by Anthroposophists is deemed the first stage of exact clairvoyance. [5] Heightened Inspiration and Intuition are the second and third stages of exact clairvoyance. (The lower, ordinary forms of imagination, inspiration, and intuition are often denoted by the lower-case "i"; the higher, clairvoyant forms are often denoted by the upper-case "I".) 

A basic Anthroposophical belief is that in past lives, virtually all human beings had natural forms of clairvoyance allowing them to directly perceive the spiritual beings that throng the universe [6]. Today we live in a period when almost no one has the old forms of clairvoyance, but by following Steiner's directions we can (Steiner said) develop new forms, and in the future we will rise to higher and higher forms of clairvoyance [7]. “Essentially, people today have no inkling of how people looked out into the universe in ancient times when human beings still possessed an instinctive clairvoyance.... If we want to be fully human, however, we must struggle to regain a view of the cosmos that moves toward Imagination again.” — R. Steiner, ART AS SPIRITUAL ACTIVITY (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 256. Note that the words “clairvoyance” and “imagination” are essentially synonymous in such usage. When genuine Waldorf schools (those that are faithful to Anthroposophy) proclaim their interest in imagination, this is what they mean — although they usually do not say so openly [8]. In Waldorf belief, humanity as a whole will attain heightened powers of Imagination when we evolve to the Jupiter stage of evolution: Future Jupiter. [9] Members of Waldorf faculties often believe that they are clairvoyant now, and Steiner said that they should attain clairvoyance whenever possible [10].

According to Waldorf belief, imagination — the making of pictures infused with feeling — is deemed the path to truth. "[I]n anthroposophy imagination is a capacity for true perception. Clairvoyant imaginative perception may occur without direct understanding. [But] after undergoing spiritual training, imaginations can reveal their significance." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 59. This is the purpose of the instruction Steiner gives in his book HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS — the development of trained, "exact" clairvoyance. It is the essence of "spiritual science" or Anthroposophy [11].

In Waldorf belief, children in the second seven-year-long period of life dwell mainly in their feelings, and they approach the world largely through imagination. "The child [between ages seven and 14] lives in feelings, and these now become the child’s primary way of knowing the world — through the feeling, pictorial, rich image-making capacities that the rhythmic, feeling life makes possible [12] ... Steiner explicitly identified these years when the imagination emerges as central between the child’s change of teeth and puberty [13] ... [The change of teeth] is, Steiner said, a signal that the child’s forces, previously involved in physical growth, now become available in a new way for imaginative thinking, and, therefore, need to be nourished and cultivated imaginatively." — D. Sloan, foreword to THE CHILD'S CHANGING CONSCIOUSNESS (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), pp. xiv-xv.

The development of clairvoyance is, according to Anthroposophical belief, basic to the process of occult initiation. The cultivation of Imagination can be considered the first stage of occult initiation [14], and it connects the initiate to the gods of the third or lowest grouping of gods, the Third Hierarchy [15]. "Imagination [is] the first stage of initiation ... The observer of an imagination [16] is in touch with the sphere of action of the third hierarchy." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z, p. 59. Cultivation of Inspiration is the second stage of occult initiation, and cultivation of Intuition is the third stage.

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[SteinerBooks, 2009.]

In Anthroposophical doctrine, "higher knowledge" is clairvoyance. Imagination, inspiration, and intuition are precursors to, or actual stages of, clairvoyance; imagination comes first, then inspiration, and finally intuition. According to Steiner, we will perfect Imagination during Future Jupiter, Inspiration during Future Venus, and Intuition during Future Vulcan [17]. Clairvoyant Imagination may be considered the psychic formation of true mental images, clairvoyant Inspiration as the comprehension of such images, and clairvoyant Intuition as the immediate, unmediated possession of transcendent truth.

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[1] Essentially, this is clairvoyance. [See "clairvoyance" in this encyclopedia.] Steiner taught that clairvoyance is not a function of the brain; it is seated, instead, in nonphysical "organs of clairvoyance". [See organs of clairvoyance" in this encyclopedia.] Clairvoyance is is a cognitive function, Steiner indicated, but it is not a process of reasoning per se.

[2] See "inspiration" and "intuition" in this encyclopedia.

[3] These pictures are often called "imaginations." [See the entry for this term, below.]

[4] Steiner indicated that feelings or emotions are better guides to spiritual knowledge than rational thinking. Feelings, like clairvoyance, are inward and heartfelt; logic or rational thought are coldly superficial, yielding knowledge of the physical realm only. "[T]hinking is oriented to the physical plane. Feeling really has a connection with all the spiritual beings who must be considered real." — R. Steiner, PSYCHOANALYSIS AND SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), p. 70. The development of clairvoyance, Steiner said, is bound up with the cultivation of emotional sensitivity. "A new world is opened to the student if he systematically and deliberately surrenders himself to [certain] feelings. The soul-world, the so-called astral plane, begins to dawn upon him." — R. Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Anthroposophic Press, 1947), p. 40.

[5] See "Exactly". Also see "The Waldorf Teacher’s Consciousness".

[6] See "natural clairvoyance" in this encyclopedia.

[7] See "Knowing the Worlds".

[8] See, e.g., "Thinking Cap".

[9] See "Future Stages".

[10] See "The Waldorf Teacher’s Consciousness".

[11] See "spiritual science" and "Anthroposophy" in this encyclopedia.

[12] See the entries for "rhythm" and "feelings" in this encyclopedia. Waldorf education is meant to be rhythmical and deeply felt, in large part because this approach is thought to lead to the development of imaginative powers generally.

[13] See the entry for "teeth" in this encyclopedia.

[14] See "occult initiation" in this encyclopedia.

[15] See "Third Hierarchy" in this encyclopedia.

[16] i.e., one who has a true imaginative vision.

[17] See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia. (Future Jupiter is the evolutionary stage good humans will reach after our present evolutionary stage. After Future Jupiter, good humans will proceed to Future Venus and then Future Vulcan.)

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imaginations - also see clairvoyance; imagination; pictorial activity

According to Steiner: These are true mental pictures created by imagination; pictorial thinking [1]. These products of imaginative thinking are far more reliable, Steiner said, than the products of rational thought or intellect [2]. On occasion, Steiner indicated that "imaginations" arising from the elemental world are experienced by the etheric body [3]: "[I]maginations are perpetually ebbing and flowing in us. Though we are unaware of it, we constantly receive impressions from the elemental world [4].  Just as when we open our eyes or lend our ears to the outer world [5] we have sensations of colour and light, perceptions of sound, so do we receive continual impressions from the elemental world, giving rise to imaginations — in this case, in our etheric body. Imaginations differ from ordinary thought in this respect. In ordinary, every-day human thoughts, only the head is concerned as an instrument of conscious assimilation and experience [6]. In our imaginations, on the other hand, we partake with almost the whole of our organism — albeit, it is our etheric organism [7]. In our etheric organism they are constantly taking place — we may refer to them as unconscious imaginations, since it is only for an occultly trained cognition [8] that they rise into consciousness. Moreover, though they do not enter our consciousness directly in every-day life, they are by no means without significance for us. No, for our life as a whole they are far more important than our sense-perceptions, for we are united far more intensely and intimately with our imaginations than with our sense-perceptions." — R. Steiner, "On the Connection of the Living and the Dead" (General Anthroposophical Society; lecture delivered in 1916), GA 168.

Steiner taught that we receive true imaginative pictures from the gods. Indeed, we may say that these pictures are in fact the thoughts of the gods, and they underlie the very structure of the universe. (The gods form pictures or imaginations of the reality they want to create, and the universe thereupon manifests these pictures.) "Imaginations form the basis of the whole physical world [9] and can be seen as the spiritual 'plan' behind the physical world ... Everything physical in this world is a solidified modification of spiritual imaginations. The observer of an imagination [10] is in touch with the sphere of action of the third hierarchy [11]. If someone perceives an imagination, he can be simultaneously aware of a physical object and the spiritual 'plan' behind the object." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 59. [12]

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[1] See the entry for "imagination," above.

[2] See, e.g., "Steiner's Specific".

[3] See "etheric body" in this encyclopedia.

[4] Steiner's use of the terms "elemental world" and "elementary world" shifted from statement to statement. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.] Here, in referring to the "elemental world," Steiner is evidently referring to the basic spiritual level of reality underlying the physical world. He says that our ordinary senses provide information about the physical world, while "imaginations" come to us from an elemental level of reality not reached by our ordinary senses.

[5] I.e., the reality accessible to our ordinary senses.

[6] Steiner generally denied that the head and brain produce thoughts; rather, they receive them from the gods. [See "Thinking".] Note that here he says the head is an instrument of "assimilation."

[7] I.e., the entire etheric body is involved, not just the etheric head.

[8] I.e., disciplined clairvoyance. [See "Exactly".]

[9] I.e., the physical universe, the created universe.

[10] I.e., a clairvoyant observer.

[11] This is a subdivision of the nine ranks of gods, according to Anthroposophical doctrine. [See "Third Hierarchy" in this encyclopedia.]

[12] Henk van Oort is a Waldorf teacher; in passages like this, he reveals beliefs held by faithful Anthroposophical Waldorf teachers.

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imitation - also see authority; childhood

According to Waldorf doctrine: Imitation is the behavior that is natural and proper for children during their first seven years (before the etheric body [1] incarnates). Young children want to imitate their elders; Waldorf teachers therefore endeavor to be unimpeachable models for their students to imitate. (Because these teachers are often Anthroposophists, children are thus trained to pattern themselves on Anthroposophy made manifest. [2]) "Imitation — essential activity during the first seven-year period of human life ... Educators are real examples in every way." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 59.

Some critics point to the emphasis on imitation as a significant flaw in Waldorf education education: They say Waldorf students of all ages copy from their teachers and others without developing true originality or independence of thought (although these are given lip service by Waldorf proponents). Some Waldorf insiders agree with this critique. The following statement was made by a Waldorf teacher who became head of a Waldorf school in New York City: “Copying is the curse of the Waldorf Schools. There is altogether too much of it, and it is not confined to the elementary school. In high school, where there is much less excuse for it, it still goes on." — K. Francis, THE EDUCATION OF A WALDORF TEACHER (iUniverse, 2004), p. 132.

Students often emerge from Waldorf schools thinking very differently from graduates of other types of schools. This generally does not indicate that the Waldorf graduates have learned to think for themselves, however — it more often indicates that they have been indoctrinated in the Anthroposophical perspective. [3]

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[1] See "etheric body" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See "Indoctrination".

[3] See "Thinking", especially this discussion of Waldorf alumni's "interesting minds".

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immorality - see evil; sin; cf. morality

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incarnating exercises - also see astral body; ego body; etheric body; eurythmy; I; incarnation; rhythm; soul; spirit; spirit-soul

In Anthroposophical belief, childhood is a time when four bodies — the physical, etheric, astral, and ego bodies — incarnate. [1] "Incarnating exercises" are meant to aid this process; they may particularly aim to bring a child's soul and spirit [2] into full incarnation in the physical body. A widely used Waldorf teachers' manual indicates that each day at a Waldorf school should begin with such exercises, which may be quite simple physical or mental activities. The immediate goal is to center the children, bringing them down to earth so that they are physically and mentally present — as fully incarnated as they can be. Hence, they are made ready to begin their schoolwork. "The incarnating exercise would be very short, a clapping sequence, rhythm — later on a short concentration exercise to help overcome the fatigue of a car journey to school and to help the children to be fully present." — K. Avison, A HANDBOOK FOR WALDORF CLASS TEACHERS (Steiner Waldorf Schools Fellowship, 2011), p. 38. Eurythmic exercises [3] may be given special emphasis. "Working with rhythm in eurythmy...helps the child fully and properly incarnate into his physical body. The ability to move gracefully and with a good sense of rhythm indicates that there is a resonance between the soul-spiritual being of the child and the physical body." — "Eurythmy: Expressive Art in Motion", Bayou Village School, Jan. 13, 2015.

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[1] See "Incarnation".

[2] See "soul" and "spirit" in this encyclopedia.

[3] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "eurythmy". 

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incarnation - also see astral body; birth; etheric body; "I"; incarnations of the solar system; reincarnation; seven-year stages

In Waldorf belief: This is the gradual process of being born in the physical world; it takes many years, since our various invisible bodies and other components develop at different periods. [1] Rudolf Steiner taught that we incarnate and excarnate (die) many times, through the process of reincarnation. [2] Other beings and even planets undergo a similar process. [3]

According to Steiner, humans began incarnating/reincarnating only after the Sun and Moon separated from the Earth [4]; this is when humans first became physical beings as we understand this term. "The different incarnations of the human individuality are a kind of swinging of the pendulum to and fro until the rhythm is brought to rest and the higher part of man [5] has found in the physical a fitting expression, a suitable instrument [6]. Approximately ever since human beings have reincarnated, the position of sun, moon and earth has existed as it is now ... Earlier than this, before there was reincarnation, sun, moon and earth were not yet separated as now [7] ... When out of the primal fire-vapour [8] sun, moon and earth came into existence as separate bodies, man also began to incarnate [9]. When human incarnations will have come to an end, the sun also will be re-united with the earth [10]. On the large scale as in the single details, one must bear in mind these relationships of man to the universe.” — R. Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 8, GA 93a. (Before we began reincarnating as individuals, we passed from one form of existence to another as, in effect, members of the reincarnating solar system.)

The Waldorf curriculum is keyed to the incarnation of the students' invisible bodies. The etheric body is thought to incarnate around age seven, the astral body at about age 14, and the "I" at about age 21. [11] These three incarnations, added to the birth of the physical body, mean that — in Waldorf belief — a child is born four times. [12] 

[For more on the significance accorded the incarnating, invisible bodies in Waldorf education, see, e.g., "Methods".] 

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[1] See "Incarnation".

[2] See "Reincarnation".

[3] "Just as man passes from one incarnation to another, one metamorphosis to another, so all the beings in the universe pass through reincarnations, from the smallest to the greatest, even such a being as our earth — a planetary being — passes through reincarnation." — R. Steiner, THE SPIRITUAL HIERARCHIES, lecture 3, GA 110.

[4] See "Lemuria" in this encyclopedia.

[5] I.e., the spiritual, nonphysical part.

[6] I.e., a suitable physical body.

[7] I.e., they were still united as a single cosmic body.

[8] I.e., the primordial cosmic substance.

[9] I.e., when Sun, Moon, and Earth became separate physical orbs, humans began the process of being born and reborn (reincarnated) on the physical plane.

[10] I.e., we will continue reincarnating until the Sun and Earth merge again as a single cosmic body. (Anthroposophists sometimes say the Sun and Earth will reunite 30,000 years from now.)

[11] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "etheric body", "astral body", and "I".

[12] "Life on earth starts with the birth of the physical body ... [A]fter approximately seven years...[comes] the birth of the ether body ... At about age 14...[t]he astral body is born ... [A]round the age of 20, the fourth birth takes place: the ego is born ... In this way the four births take place." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2008), pp. 20-23.

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incarnations of the solar system - also see conditions of consciousness; divine cosmic plan; evolution of consciousness; incarnation; planetary conditions

According to Anthroposophical teachings, our evolutionary progress toward supreme spirituality will pass through seven major stages. (Steiner sometimes said there will be additional stages beyond these, but he said they cannot be described.) Each of these stages is a new incarnation of the solar system. Thus, the solar system first came into existence in the form called Old Saturn. This stage of evolution eventually ended, and the solar system temporarily ceased the exist. Then the solar system reincarnated in a new form, called Old Sun, which eventually ended, to be replaced by Old Moon. The process of reincarnation has continued to the present day. The solar system now exists in the form called Present Earth. After this stage ends, there will be at least three more incarnations of the solar system, beginning with Future Jupiter.

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• CONDITIONS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

OR PLANETARY STAGES:

INCARNATIONS OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM •

These are the seven major evolutionary stages through which we will pass, Steiner said. During each of these stages, the entire solar system incarnates in a unique form, different from the others. To date, we have passed through the Old Saturn, Old Sun, and Old Moon stages. We now exist in the Present Earth stage. 

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Each stage is a new incarnation of the entire solar system, but the stages are also sometimes referred to a "conditions of consciousness" or "planetary stages". [1] The stages bear designations related to various celestial orbs in today's solar system. The first major stage, for instance, is usually referred to as Old Saturn or simply as Saturn, for short. [2] This terminology can give rise to various misconceptions. Old Saturn (or "Saturn") was not the planet Saturn that we see in the sky today; nor was it the planet Saturn in some earlier stage of its own evolution. Rather, Old Saturn was the first incarnation of the entire solar system. None of the planets as we know them today existed separately then; everything in that first incarnation of the solar system existed in a unique form, an intermingled mass, that differed markedly from the forms found in later incarnations of the solar system. (By some accounts, Old Saturn was a single body, more or less globular, having a diameter about the size of the orbit of the planet Saturn today.) Likewise, Old Sun (or "Sun") was not the star the Earth orbits now, nor was Old Sun our local star in some earlier stage of its own evolution. Old Sun was the second incarnation of the entire solar system, in a form very different from the solar system as it exists now. Old Moon was the third incarnation of the entire solar system, in a form very different from the solar system as it exists now.

The potential for confusion is compounded by some of the statements Steiner made about conditions in the various incarnations of the solar system. Thus, for instance, Steiner sometimes spoke of our lives "on" Saturn, "on" the Sun, and so forth. This may reinforce the false interpretation that Old Saturn, Old Sun, etc., were orbs that evolved within a more or less unchanging solar environment, and that we evolved by living first "on" the planet Saturn, then living "on" the star called the Sun, and so on. But in fact, Steiner taught that the entire solar system evolved, changing its form(s) thoroughly, and our own evolution has occurred during  (not on) the phases called Old Saturn, etc.

The most instructive descriptor for the major stages of evolution is, generally, "conditions of consciousness," since the purpose of the solar system's existence and evolution has been to bring us into existence and then to foster our evolving spiritual consciousness. The solar system as evolved with us, incarnating and reincarnating in various forms that have supported us as we evolved toward the fulfillment of the divine plan for our apotheosis. [3]

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[1] See the entries for "conditions of consciousness", "planetary conditions", and "historical narrative" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See "Old Saturn".

[3] For more on all this, see, e.g., "Stages", "Matters of Form," "Old Sun", "Old Moon, Etc.", "Present Earth", and "Future Stages". Also see the entries in this encyclopedia for "conditions of consciousness", "planetary conditions", "Old Saturn", "Old Sun", "Old Moon", "Present Earth, "Future Jupiter", "Future Venus", and "Future Vulcan".

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incorporation - also see demonic possession; double; incarnation; possession

In Anthroposophy, generally, this is incarnation. When you descend from the spirit realm to begin a new life on Earth [1], your incarnate in a physical body, or, in other words, you become incorporated in a physical body.

But also, in Anthroposophy, the term "incorporation" can be applied to possession by a spirit that takes over a person's body. "Incorporation — a spiritual being can invade a human being to such an extent that the 'I' of that human being [2] is pushed aside. This spiritual being uses the human body for its own ends." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 60. A spirit — either evil or beneficent — can incorporate only in a body that is suitable to the spirit's purposes, Steiner taught. The purposes of the incorporating spirit then take control, and the physical person whose body has been possessed ceases to be human. This is especially marked when the incorporating spirit is a demon. Steiner instructed Waldorf teachers not to reveal the Anthroposophical/Waldorf belief that some people, having been invaded by demons, are not real human beings: “Quite a number of people...are human forms filled with a sort of natural demon ... [T]hey are human beings only in regard to their form [3] ... I do not like to talk about such things since we have often been attacked even without them. Imagine what people would say if they heard that we say there are people who are not human beings ... [W]e do not want to shout that to the world.” — R. Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER  (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 649-650.

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[1] See "Reincarnation".

[2] The "I" is our divine individual identity, our humanity. [See "Ego".]

[3] See the entry for "possession" in this encyclopedia.

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Indian Age - also see ages; cultural epochs; Post-Atlantean Epoch

In Anthroposophical belief: This is the first cultural epoch during our current great epoch, the Post-Atlantean Epoch. [1] The Indian Age ran from about 7230 to about 5070 BC. [2] "Consciousness was then dominated by the loss of the full Atlantean clairvoyance [3] ... [People then were] enveloped in an etheric aura [4] which they beheld inwardly, and like young children beheld in ensouled pictures [5] the thoughts inspired within them by the gods [6] ... All this was prepared under the constellation of Cancer, the Crab [7] ... [W]hat the Polarean epoch lived through became for them knowledge. [8] Only the Holy Rishis [9]...were still able to speak of the Atlantean wisdom. [10]" — R. Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORETOLD BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2002), p. 13.

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According to Anthroposophical belief, we are evolving through a long, complex series of stages. Within our current great epoch (the Post-Atlantean Epoch, the period following the destruction of Atlantis), we are evolving through a series of seven ages or cultural epochs. The first was the Indian Age. We currently live in the Anglo-Germanic Age.

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[1] See the entries for these various terms in this encyclopedia.

[2] The Indians were the ancient inhabitants of India, not aboriginal Americans.

[3] I.e., people on Atlantis had a natural, instinctive clairvoyance. This was lost after Atlantis was destroyed. The loss of clairvoyance fundamentally determined the sort of consciousness people had during the Indian Age.

[4] See "Auras". (The ancient Indians felt their auras, their spiritual condition, inwardly.)

[5] I.e., "imaginations." [See the entry for "imaginations," above.] Here, Steiner is describing the childlike but perceptive consciousness of people during the Indian Age.

[6] These are "living thoughts." [See "Thinking".] The ancient Indians were not clairvoyant, but they had a pire, childlike consciousness that enabled them to receive the living thoughts sent to them by the gods.

[7] Belief in astrology is basic to Anthroposophy. [See "Astrology"]

[8] I.e., they recapitulated the Polarian period and received its wisdom. The Polarian Epoch was the first great epoch of Present Earth. [See "Early Earth".] The Post-Atlantean Epoch is the fifth great epoch of Present Earth.

[9] Occult initiates on the Indian Age: Hindu saints. 

[10] I.e., only the Holy Rishis preserved the wisdom of Atlantis.

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individuality - also see ego; "I"; monad; spirit

In Anthroposophy, an "individuality" is the distinct, self-directing essence of an individual; it is a human being (or a higher being) possessing an "I" [1], or it is the quality of having such possession. Because the gods above humanity have generally passed through their own human stages of evolution (they were "human" once [2]), they have come into possession of their own "I's" and they may be recognized as individualities [3]. Thus, Steiner could speak of various gods as individualities. For instance, "[I]f one fails to pay attention...one cannot worthily receive the revelations from the spiritual world which are given here in this school [4]. At the close of each lesson attention is expressly drawn to the fact that the individuality of Michael himself [5] is present while the revelations of the school are being given, and this is confirmed through the Sign and Seal of Michael." — R. Steiner, ESOTERIC INSTRUCTIONS, Seventh Recapitulation Lesson, GA 270. Nonetheless, in Anthroposophical discourse, the term "individuality" is chiefly applied to human beings. So, for instance, a Waldorf teacher has describe the role of a teacher in these words: The teacher is an intermediary and his task is to guide the incarnating individualities into the physical world and equip them for earthly existence.” — R. Wilkinson, THE SPIRITUAL BASIS OF STEINER EDUCATION - The Waldorf School Approach (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1996), p. 52. Here, the "individualities" are human children.

Individuality and personality are similar but significantly different attributes. "An individual (from Latin: individuum 'indivisible, single thing') in the broadest sense is anything exists as a distinct entity. In particular, it means a person [6]...who is different from other people and has his or her own needs or goals, rights and duties. The Latin word persona, derived from personare ('to sound through') was already used in antiquity to refer to the actor's mask through which the actor's voice sounds through and which characterises his specific role. In a broader sense, persona came to refer to the official position of a person or to his or her personality in general. [paragraph break] From a spiritual scientific point of view [7], individuality and personality must be clearly distinguished from each other. The spiritual individuality of man progresses through repeated earth lives in the course of its development [8]. In each of these individual earth lives it reveals itself as a very specific, unmistakable personality [9]. [Rudolf Steiner said:] 'What is individuality? Individuality is that which rises in the world full of content. If I have a content-filled future thought, if I form an image of what I am inserting into the world, my personality may be powerful or weak, but it is the carrier of these ideals, the shell of my individuality [10]. The sum of all these ideals is the individuality which shines forth from the personality.'" — "Individuality and Personality", AnthroWiki, accessed 9/14/2024.

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[1] See "I" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See "human stage of evolution" in this encyclopedia.

[3] Humans attain their individuality under the benevolent direction of the gods, Steiner indicated.

[4] Steiner was addressed Anthroposophists attending the School of Spiritual Science. [See "School of Spiritual Science" in this encyclopedia.]

[5] I.e., the Archangel Michael is present. [See "Michael" in this encyclopedia.] Steiner taught that Archangels are gods two levels above humanity. [See "Archangels" in this encyclopedia.]

[6] I.e., a human being.

[7] I.e., from the Anthroposophical perspective. [See "spiritual science" in this encyclopedia.]

[8] I.e., we reincarnate many times, passing through many consecutive lives. [See "reincarnation" in this encyclopedia.]

[9] I.e., a personality is the set of superficial distinguishing characteristics one assumes in one life. One's individuality is one's deeper identity, carried — and progressively developed — through the entire succession of one's lives. (In this sense, personality is akin to soul and individuality is akin to spirit. [See "soul" and "spirit" in this encyclopedia.])

[10] I.e., the personality is external, a shell, whereas individuality is the deep identity formed of one's highest values and aspirations. (One's individuality is expressed, during one life, by one's personality in that life.)

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indoctrination in Waldorf schools - also see brainwashing; spiritualistic agenda; Waldorf education: goals

Rudolf Steiner often said (largely for public consumption) that Waldorf schools do not teach Anthroposophy to the students, and Waldorf representatives today often say the same. On many other occasions, however, Steiner made clear that Waldorf schools exist to spread Anthroposophy, and he indicated that Anthroposophical beliefs and/or attitudes are conveyed to Waldorf students. Thus, for instance, addressing Waldorf teachers, Steiner said, "Anthroposophy will be in the school." — R. Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 495. On another occasion, correcting a Waldorf teacher, he said, "The problem you have is that you have not always followed the directive to bring what you know anthroposophically into a form you can present to little children. You have lectured the children about anthroposophy when you told them about your subject. You did not transform anthroposophy into a child's level." — R. Steiner, ibid., pp. 402-403. Note that Steiner did not say that the teacher had erred by presenting Anthroposophy in class; he said that the teacher had erred by not presenting Anthroposophy in a form the students could grasp. [1]

Often the Waldorf process of Anthroposophical indoctrination occurs covertly and indirectly. [2] It thus may be likened to brainwashing. [3] The process is generally most intense in schools where the faculty is broadly and deeply devoted to Anthroposophy, but it is likely to occur in any school that can correctly be called a Waldorf school, even if many of the faculty members there have only a slight acquaintance with Anthroposophical doctrine. The presence of only one or two committed Anthroposophists in a Waldorf school is often sufficient to determine the school's ultimate direction. [3]

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[1] See "Here's the Answer".

[2] See "We Don't Teach It" in "Waldorf's Spiritual Agenda".

[3] See "Beat" and "Indoctrination".

[4] See "Sneaking It In".

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initiate, initiation - also see gnosis; mystery knowledge; occult; secrecy

An initiate is one who has attained entry into an inner circle, especially a circle possessing privileged knowledge. Initiation is an important process in Anthroposophy; there, it might more properly be termed "occult initiation," since it promises access to secret or hidden ("occult") wisdom, especially secret or hidden wisdom pertaining to spiritual matters. Steiner taught that essentially all great spiritual teachers (i.e., the ones whose views he endorsed to some degree) have been initiates. [See, e.g., "Inside Scoop" and "Gnosis".] Great spiritual teachers are able to perceive the spirit realm and its treasures; they are, by definition, initiates. “The great mythological figures lead us back to the experiences of those who were Initiates in the ancient Mysteries. [1] It is not easy for our present consciousness to form a true conception of these ancient Mysteries and their Initiates ... Although modern scholarship knows little of the Mysteries [2], they are nevertheless still in existence to-day and are the means whereby man can be led consciously to the spiritual worlds. — And the whole content of Spiritual Science [3], everything that is communicated in Spiritual Science, is, in its essence, Mystery-wisdom. [4] The man who so trains his soul that he can perceive in higher worlds [5], is an Initiate.” — R. Steiner, “The European Mysteries and Their Initiates”, ANTHROPOSOPHY: A Quarterly Review of Spiritual Science, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Anthroposophical Publishing Co., 1929), GA 57.

Attaining initiation usually entails passing through three stages, Steiner said. They are "preparation...enlightenment [and] initiation. It is not altogether necessary that the first of these three stages [6] should be completed before the second can be begun, nor that the second, in turn, be completed before the third be started. In certain respects it is possible to partake of enlightenment [7], and even of initiation, and in other respects still be in the preparatory stage ... [Through certain exercises] the organs of clairvoyance are formed [8] ... The organs thus formed are spiritual eyes. The student gradually learns, by their means, to see something like soul and spirit colors. [9]” — R. Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Anthroposophic Press, 1947), chapter 2, GA 10.

The process of "doing" Anthroposophy — that is, performing the spiritual exercises specified by Steiner, and/or using clairvoyance in a disciplined manner — is aimed at initiation. [10] The book laying out many of Steiner's prescriptions, HOW TO KNOW HIGHER WORLDS, has the subtitle "A Modern Path of Initiation". [See "Knowing the Worlds".] During meetings of the "college of teachers," faculty members at devout Waldorf schools often discuss and study Steiner's directives for attaining initiation. [11]

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[1] I.e., initiates who possessed knowledge that unlocks spiritual mysteries.

[2] See "mystery" and "mystery knowledge" in this encyclopedia.

[3] "Spiritual science," as discussed by Steiner, is essentially the body of his own teachings: Anthroposophy.

[4] I.e., possession of the truth contained in spiritual mysteries.

[5] I.e., the man who can peer knowingly into the higher worlds. [See "Knowing the Worlds".]

[6] The preparatory stage is often called "probation." [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "probation".]

[7] The word "enlightenment" has multiple meanings. As Steiner uses it here, it refers to the acquisition of spiritual truths beyond the reach of most people but lower than that attained by occult initiates. (An "enlightened" spiritual seeker sees the light of spiritual phenomena, but s/he does not yet understand the import of this light.)

[8] According to Steiner, the initiate develops incorporeal organs that enable her/him to be clairvoyant. The physical eye sees in the normal way; the "spiritual eye" — an organ of clairvoyance — sees spiritually, via clairvoyance. [See "Inside Scoop" and "Knowing the Worlds".]

[9] I.e., having become clairvoyant, the initiate can see auras and other supersensible realities (which are beyond the reach or our ordinary senses). Steiner described the spirit realm as consisting of (spiritual) colors, tones, and essences, as opposed to distinct forms and lines.

[10] For more on "doing" Anthroposophy (i.e., practicing it, using it), see, e.g., "Serving the Gods" and "JvH".

[11] This is generally the guiding committee, central to the functioning of a Waldorf school. The members are usually the senior members of the faculty. [See "college of teachers" in this encyclopedia.]

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inner logic of Anthroposophy - see design

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inner men - also see composite beings; human constitution

Steiner gave varying accounts of the human constitution and its parts. Perhaps his most startling assertion in this regard was his claim that the outer human being consists of many tiny, inner human beings. We are, then, composite beings. "In our ears we actually carry with us a tiny human being, for the human being has feeling, will and understanding. We are made up of lots of tiny human beings." — R. Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 75. Steiner sometimes said we consist of three inner men: "[M]an consists of three members — the nerve-senses man, that is, all that sustains man in the activity of his mind and spirit; the rhythmic man, which contains the whole rhythm of breathing, the circulation of the blood and so on; and the metabolic-limb man, in which is to be found everything that is metamorphosed by means of the different substances." — R. Steiner, THE KINGDOM OF CHILDHOOD (Anthroposophic Press/Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 7, GA 311. On other occasions, however, Steiner referred to other inner men. [See "What We're Made Of".] In tackling such teachings, it is important to remember that Steiner sometimes spoke imagistically (creating verbal pictures of things that cannot really be pictured), but he almost never spoke metaphorically — he meant most of his statements to be taken literally. 

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inner organs - see planetary organs

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inoculation - also see medicine; vaccination

Steiner warned his followers to be cautious about accepting or administering inoculations. He said inoculations can interfere with karma — a person's karma may require her/him to suffer a particular disease. An inoculation that prevented one from contracting the needed disease would thus hinder one's karma. Steiner also said that black magicians and materialistic scientists will create vaccines that will attack human spirituality. "[T]hese inoculations will influence the human body in a way that will make it refuse to give a home to the spiritual inclinations of the soul.” — R. Steiner, SECRET BROTHERHOODS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), p. 91. [See “Steiner’s Quackery”.] Steiner's followers do not absolutely reject all forms on inoculation or vaccination, but they are generally averse to them. This aversion often prevails in Waldorf schools, where large percentages of the students and faculty may be unprotected against diseases that inoculation could help prevent. [See, e.g., "Chickenpox in Asheville".]

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inspiration - also see clairvoyance; Future Venus; imagination; imaginations; initiation; intuition; Second Hierarchy; Venus consciousness

According to Steiner, this is the second level of non-rational spiritual insight; a precursor or subcategory of clairvoyance. Anthroposophists believe that inspiration falls between imagination (the first level of non-rational spiritual insight) and intuition (the third level). The power of imagination, Anthroposophists believe, enables one to form true mental pictures containing, at least in incipient form, spiritual truth. Inspiration enables one to highlight and accentuate the spiritual content of such images, while stripping out irrelevant mundane elements. Intuition enables one to fully grasp spiritual content or meaning, under the tutelage of the gods. In its ordinary form, Steiner taught, inspiration moves the heart and directs the soul, leading us in the direction of clairvoyance. In its heightened form, as practiced by Anthroposophists, Inspiration is considered to be a functional form of clairvoyance, falling between heightened Imagination (the first level of clairvoyance) and heightened Intuition (the third level of clairvoyance). [1]

Steiner said all humans will possess heightened Inspiration — "Venus consciousness" — when we reach the Future Venus [2] stage of evolution. ◊ "When, after a period of rest (Pralaya), earth has changed into Jupiter [3]...then the four preceding conditions — Saturn, Sun, Moon, and earth condition — must again be repeated [4] ... [O]nly during the fifth cycle of Jupiter does man attain...the real Jupiter consciousness. [5] In a corresponding manner does the 'Venus consciousness' appear during the sixth cycle of Venus. [6]" — R. Steiner, COSMIC MEMORY (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1959), chapter 13, GA 11. ◊ "[Venus consciousness] will unite the present day-consciousness [7], the psychic-consciousness known only to the initiate [8], and in addition all that man sleeps away today. [9]” — R. Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 8, GA 99.

The development of clairvoyance is, according to Anthroposophical belief, basic to the process of occult initiation. The cultivation of Inspiration can be considered the second stage of occult initiation, and it connects the initiate to the gods of the second or middle grouping of gods, the Second Hierarchy. "Inspiration [is the] second stage of initiation ... The initiate at this stage can perceive the living flux from which imaginations [i.e., true imaginative/clairvoyant visions] come into being  ... At this level, the initiate is in touch with the sphere of the second hierarchy." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z  (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 61. Cultivation of Imagination is the first stage of occult initiation, and cultivation of Intuition is the third stage.

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Steiner taught that, generally, there are three levels of "higher knowledge": Imagination (the first level), Inspiration (the second), and Intuition (the third). Rising from one level to the next brings us closer to the goal of precise, "exact" clairvoyance. [10] In preliminary form (not yet deemed real clairvoyance), such types of thought are stressed in Waldorf schools. At a higher form, as practiced by initiated Anthroposophists, the three stages are deemed genuine levels of clairvoyance. In perfected form, the three stages will be attained by all human beings who evolve to the coming "conditions of consciousness" [11]: Future Jupiter, then Future Venus, and later still Future Vulcan.

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[1] Often in Anthroposophical texts, references to non-clairvoyant inspiration use a lower-case "i", while references to clairvoyant Inspiration use a capitalized "I".

[2] See the entries for "Future Venus" and "Venus consciousness" in this encyclopedia.

[3] I.e., when Present Earth, the fourth incarnation of the solar system, gives way to Future Jupiter, the fifth. [See "Future Stages".] Between the fourth and fifth incarnations, the solar system will drop out of existence and a pause or rest period ("pralaya") will occur. (Such pauses occur often during the overall evolution of the solar system.)

[4] I.e., during Future Jupiter, the four preceding incarnations of the solar system (Old Saturn, Old Sun, Old Moon, and Present Earth) will be recapitulated. (Such recapitulations are a basic, recurrent feature in Anthroposophical and Theosophical descriptions of evolution.)

[5] Each incarnation of the solar system consists of numerous phases or cycles. Here Steiner says that after the first four phases of Future Jupiter (that is, after the recapitulations of the former four incarnations of the solar system), we will attain "Jupiter consciousness" (Imagination) during the fifth phase of Future Jupiter. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "Jupiter Consciousness".]

[6] I.e., during the sixth phase of the sixth incarnation of the solar system, Future Venus, we will attain "Venus consciousness" (Inspiration).

[7] I.e., the consciousness we now have when awake.

[8] Essentially "Jupiter consciousness," exact clairvoyance.

[9] Essentially dream consciousness.

[10] See "Exactly" and "The Waldorf Teacher's Consciousness"; also see the entry for "exact clairvoyance" in this encyclopedia.

[11] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "conditions of consciousness". Essentially, these are the types of consciousness we attain during the successive major stages of evolution, the successive incarnations of the solar system, also called "plenary conditions": Old Saturn, Old Sun, Old Moon, Present Earth, Future Jupiter, Future Venus, Future Vulcan.

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instinct - also see animals; physical body; will

According to Waldorf belief, instinct is an aspect of will originating in the physical body. It arises from that portion of us closest to animals; animals are, in a sense, manifestations of different instincts. "We can only study instinct when we see it in relation to the form of the physical body. If we study the entire animal world and how it spreads itself before us, everywhere we will find a guide for the study of the various kinds of instinct in the physical forms of animals. If we wish to study the will [1], we must seek it first in the realm of instinct, and we must be conscious that we will find instinct in the various animal forms. [2] If we were to look at and sketch the major forms of individual animals, we would be able to sketch the different areas of instinct. The physical bodies of different animals form a picture of what exists as instinct in the will." — R. Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 83.

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[1] See "Will".

[2] Steiner taught that most animals branched off from the human evolutionary line. Each animal is, typically, a form of being that was unable to evolve beyond a particular stage. Each animal thus typically embodies the characteristics of its own final stage of evolution, including the form of will and instinct extant at that stage. Humans, able to keep evolving, rose to these various stages, ejected the beings that could not go higher, and then evolved to higher levels.

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intellect - also see brain; critical thought; freedom; intellectual soul; Intellectual Stage of Form; materialism; rationalism; science; spider beings; thinking; cf. clairvoyance; imagination; inspiration; intuition; living thoughts

Rudolf Steiner was an intellectual, and his work is intellectually charged. Yet he viewed intellect askance. He said that as we evolved, humans needed to develop the capacity to reason, to make choices — this creates the possibility of freedom. [1] Having evolved from lower forms of consciousness (more primitive but also closer to spiritual truth [2]), we now live in a materialistic age in which we have become intellectual, and we will carry our intellectual powers with us as we evolve to still higher forms of consciousness. Because we passed through an intellectual stage, we will be more fully conscious as we move higher. But intellect, in and of itself, does not yield truth, Steiner taught. He said intellect was originally a gift to humanity from Lucifer (the light bringer [3]), but the light of intellect carries terrible dangers. Under the sway of Ahriman [4], intellect is destructive — it produces only dead thoughts (the antithesis of living thoughts [5]). Intellect is the form of cogitation involved in materialism and natural science — it is the form of thinking that characterizes our benighted, materialistic age. [6] In the future, we will heed intellect less and less as we become more and more spiritual and clairvoyant. 

The degree to which Steiner repudiated intellect varied from occasion to occasion. In some instances, he dismissed it almost totally. “The intellect destroys or hinders.” — R. Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 233. This is a categorical condemnation of intellect. On other occasions, Steiner indicated that intellect can be useful. He claimed that heightened, "exact" clairvoyance such as he claimed to possess is developed — in part — through a sharpening of intellect. "[M]odern clairvoyance, according to Steiner, would allow individuals to access spiritual truths and insights through a combination of mystical experience and intellectual understanding." — P. K. Sinha, "Integrating Mysticism and Reason: Rudolf Steiner’s Evolutionary Perspective on Clairvoyance", Medium, 5/21/24.

However, Steiner's description of productive intellect was severely constrained. He chiefly advocated a form of intellect that is tempered so that it does not constitute true critical thought that would puncture the fallacies of his Anthroposophical teachings. His cautious, almost fearful attitude toward intellect is reflected in Waldorf schooling. [7] Waldorf schools seek to suppress the development of intellect in the early grades, and they aim to develop intellect in upper grades only as a mental capability that should remain subordinate to “higher” forms of thought (imagination, inspiration, intuition — clairvoyance). [8] According to Waldorf doctrine, children are incapable of intellectual thought until the third seven-year period of growth (i.e., after puberty). But even with the dawning of intellectual capacity, imagination remains a truer path to truth. [9] Just as mankind as a whole should be wary of intellect and aim to transcend it, so should Waldorf students. Feelings or emotions are truer guides, according to Waldorf belief. [10]

[For more on these matters, see "Thinking", "Steiner's Specific", and the entry for "Kali Yuga" in this encyclopedia.]

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[1] See "Freedom".

[2] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "atavistic clairvoyance" and "natural clairvoyance".

[3] See "Lucifer".

[4] See "Ahriman".

[5] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "living thoughts".

[6] In this age, our comprehension is largely confined to the physical realm. Intellect can help us comprehend the physical world, Steiner indicated, but it is largely limited to that world. Careful, intellectual analysis enables us to understand the physical plane of existence, and it sharpens our thinking which can benefit us as we develop heightened forms of consciousness appropriate to the spirit realm and our future evolution. But as we advance, intellect will have less and less to tell us.

[7] See "Thinking Cap".

[8] See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia; also see "Steiner's Specific.

[9] See the entry for "imagination," above.

[10] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "feelings"; also see "Thinking".

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intellectual soul - also see Greco-Roman Age; intellect; Intellectual Stage of Form; mind soul; soul nature; thinking

According to Steiner, this is the middle division of soul nature (b): it is the mind soul. [1] The human soul consists of three sub-souls, Steiner taught; the "intellectual soul" or "mind soul" is the second of these. “Let us try to form an idea of these three soul-members ... Our concepts are formed in the Sentient Soul [2] ... Instead of merely keeping his perceptions alive as images in the Sentient Soul, [man] reflects on them and devotes himself to them ... This continued cultivation of impressions received from the outer world is the work of what we call the Intellectual Soul or Mind-soul [3] ... [Above that is] the Consciousness Soul [4] ... Through the Consciousness Soul we explore the secrets of the outer world as human beings endowed with knowledge and cognition.”  — R. Steiner, METAMORPHOSES OF THE SOUL, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1983), lecture 2, GA 58. 

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These are the three souls or levels of our soul nature, according to Anthroposophical teachings. The intellectual soul is also called the mind soul or rational soul. The consciousness soul is also called the spiritual soul.

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Steiner was often harshly critical of intellect [5]; the positive powers of the intellectual soul, as posited by Steiner, reflect a specialized Anthroposophical conception of correct intellect. In Anthroposophical belief, the intellectual soul became the dominant soul type for humanity during the Greco-Roman cultural epoch, starting around the year 747 BC. Humans in those days first developed the ability to think rationally, but their thinking was not as coldly materialistic as intellectual thought often is today. People of that period "knew" less about the physical world than we do today, but because their thinking was still imbued with spiritual essence (feeling, imagination, intuition), they knew more than we do about spiritual matters. Thus, with the acquisition of the intellectual soul, people learned to think logically but they also retained some of the wisdom they possessed thanks to prior forms of consciousness. "It is a specially [sic] difficult task to try to describe the intellectual soul because it possesses several facets ... The word [sic] intellectual or mind soul emphasizes the fact that [having acquired it] for the first time man became capable of thinking for himself. One consequence of this possibility was the creation of philosophy ... ["Intellect" in the Anthroposophic sense may be seen as] (1) the mind warmed by a loving heart and stimulated by the soul's imaginative power, and (2) the soul in a state of unconscious intuition arising from the working together of heart and mind ... [Men of the intellectual soul epoch] though knowing incomparably less than we, yet may have understood more...." — S. C. Easton, MAN AND THE WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Anthroposophic Press, 1989), pp. 57-58.

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Detail from table on p. 37 of MAN AND THE WORLD IN THE LIGHT OF ANTHROPOSOPHY, by S. C. Easton.

The intellectual soul arose in the Greco-Roman period. Before that, people were unable to think in deep, rational — intellectual — ways.

For humans today, Steiner said, the intellectual or mind soul incarnates at about age 35. The gods called Authorities (or Spirits of Motion: gods five steps above man [6]) have special responsibility for the intellectual soul. This soul has particular connections to Mars.

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[1] See "Our Parts" and "What We Are Made Of"; also see the entry for "mind soul" in this encyclopedia. (Usually, for Steiner, “intellect” is a suspect term, associated with demonic powers. In speaking of the intellectual or mind soul, Steiner refers to "intellect" in a softened form, mediated by will and emotion). 

[2] This is the first of the three souls.

[3] I.e., after concepts are formed in the sentient soul, man "reflects on and devotes himself" to "cultivation" of impressions and concepts: This is the work of the intellectual soul, our second soul member.

[4] This is the third of our souls, also called the spiritual soul.

[5] See the entry for "intellect", above.

[6] See "Polytheism".

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Intellectual Stage of Form - also see Archetypal Stage of Form; intellect; intellectual soul; stages of form

During each condition of life [1], Steiner taught, we pass through seven subsidiary stages — in effect, stages of incarnation. Beginning in a highly spiritualized state, we descend in steps to a densely physical condition, then we gradually rise again — improved, strengthened — to an augmented spiritual form. At least in our present condition of life, which manifests the spiritual essences of the mineral kingdom [2], these subsidiary stages may be referred to as stages of form. The Intellectual Stage will be the sixth or penultimate stage of form in our condition of life — it lies ahead for us. Cognition will be sharpened; intellectual capacity will be heightened — although the evil implicit in intellect [3] will still need to be cleansed, in part through the purging of those people who were corrupted by their descent to the physical level. The good, progressive people will proceed upward, transforming the low into the high. The “intellect” that they carry with them will not be recognizable as what we call intellect here on the physical plane. (The following description is set in the present tense, but it outlines a period in our future.) "The Intellectual Stage[:] Thoughts of the mineral creation [4] are reabsorbed into the spirit...purified and transformed ... Intuition no longer sees the movements of the planets but hears clairaudiently the music of the spheres [5], and grasps the deeds of the different ranks of the Hierarchies. [6] [paragraph break] There are still the materialists who are slaves to their animal instincts [7] ... It is they who worship the beast that arises from the (subastral) sea [sic] with the form, power and authority of the dragon [8] ... Such people are actually possessed by Ahriman ... Satan, 'the unlawful prince of this world'...not only aims to throw human evolution off course, but even to throw the whole earth out of orbit. [9] He is, however, overcome by the Archangel Michael.... [10]" — R. Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2002), pp. 97-98. The defeat of Ahriman will remove his minions, and evolution will be able to proceed to the seventh or Archetypal Stage of Form. However, not all evil humans will yet have been purged. The Antichrist [11] and his servants, such as black magicians, will remain. To examine that issue, see the entry for "Archetypal Stage of Form" in this encyclopedia. 

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According to Anthroposophical belief: During each condition of life (a major subdivision of our evolutionary progress), we pass through seven stages of form. Evolving to develop our true forms, we descend from Higher Spiritland to the Physical Stage (where we exist now), before ascending again, in stages, in more perfected form. The Intellectual Stage is the perfected recapitulation of Lower Spiritland; the Archetypal Stage is the perfected recapitulation of Higher Spiritland. [12]

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[1] The largest stages of our evolution, according to Steiner, are conditions of consciousness, Each of these consists of seven divisions called stages of life. Each condition of life, in turn, consists of seven divisions called stages of form. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.] 

[2] Anthroposophists hold to the ancient belief that there are four kingdoms of nature: mineral, plant, animal, and human. The mineral kingdom is the lowest. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "mineral kingdom".]

[3] See the entry for "intellect", above.

[4] I.e., thinking of the sort possible on the physical or mineral level of life: lowly cognition.

[5] I.e., our cognitive powers will sharpen sufficiently so that instead of observing physical objects and actions in the cosmos, we will become aware of their underlying spiritual essences. [See the entry for "music of the spheres" in this encyclopedia.]

[6] I.e., the deeds of gods of various ranks.

[7] I.e., corrupted, animalistic individuals — who are deeply immersed in the material level of existed — still exist.

[8] I.e., Ahriman, otherwise known as Satan.

[9] Ahriman would not only derail human evolution, but he would shatter the structure of the solar system. (Whether the planets actually orbit the Sun is a moot point in Anthroposophy. [See "Deception".])

[10] See "Michael".

[11] I.e., Sorat. [See "Bad, Badder, Baddest".]

[12] Higher Spiritland is the higher region of the spirit world, Steiner taught; Lower Spiritland is the lower region of the spirit world. The Astral Stage is the astral world or the soul world. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.]

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intelligent design - see creationism

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intuition - also see clairvoyance; First Hierarchy; imagination; initiation; inspiration; reincarnation; Vulcan consciousness

According to Steiner, this is the third level of non-rational spiritual insight, rising above imagination and inspiration. The faculty of imagination, Anthroposophists believe, enables one to form true mental pictures containing, at least in incipient form, spiritual truth. Inspiration enables one to highlight and accentuate the spiritual content of such images, while stripping out irrelevant mundane elements. Intuition enables one to fully grasp spiritual content or meaning. In its ordinary form, Anthroposophists believe, intuition is a prompting of the heart or spirit containing deep, felt truth. In its heightened form, as sought by Anthroposophists, Intuition is the highest type of exact or reliable clairvoyance. As such, it is "Vulcan consciousness," the consciousness humankind will perfect during the Future Vulcan stage of evolution. [1] 

Rudolf Steiner taught that humanity evolves from one form of consciousness to another during periods called conditions of consciousness or planetary conditions. [2] We develop new “organs” of consciousness during the various evolutionary stages. [3] "That the human being can pass through seven such planetary conditions is the meaning of evolution. Each planetary stage is bound up with the development of one of the seven states of human consciousness, and through what takes place on each planet [4] the physical organs for such a state of consciousness are perfected. [5] You will have a more highly developed organ, a psychic organ, on Jupiter [6]; on Venus [7] there will be an organ through which man will be able to develop physically the consciousness possessed by the initiate today on the Devachanic plane [8]. And on Vulcan [9] the Spiritual consciousness will prevail, which the initiate possesses today when he is in Higher Devachan. [10]” — R. Steiner, THEOSOPHY OF THE ROSICRUCIAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1966), lecture 8, GA 99. [For more on intuition, see, e.g., "Vulcan" and "Steiner's 'Science'".]

The development of clairvoyance is, according to Anthroposophical doctrine, basic to the process of occult initiation. The cultivation of Intuition can be considered the third stage of occult initiation, and it connects the initiate to the gods of the first or highest grouping of gods, the First Hierarchy. "Intuition [is the] third stage of initiation ... At this stage the initiate is able to perceive not only the activity of spiritual beings but those beings themselves who initiate all creative processes [i.e, high beneficent gods]. At this level the initiate also experiences his own previous incarnations [11]. He is in touch with the sphere of the first hierarchy [12]." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z  (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 61. Cultivation of Imagination is the first stage of occult initiation, and cultivation of Inspiration is the second stage.

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Although the major stages of evolution as described by Steiner are often depicted as circles or spheres, and despite the shorthand designations often applied to them ("Jupiter," "Venus," etc.), they are not planets — they are period of time or duration, phases of evolution. The three stages shown here lie in our future; they are our fifth, sixth, and seventh conditions of consciousness, properly called Future Jupiter, Future Venus, and Future Vulcan. They trace an ascending arc as we become increasingly spiritualized, rising to higher and higher levels of spiritual consciousness. All humans who evolve to Future Jupiter will attain perfected Imagination; all who evolve to Future Venus will attain perfected Inspiration; and all who evolve to Future Vulcan will attain perfected Intuition. [Detail from a diagram in R. Steiner's THE OCCULT MOVEMENT IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), p. 81. Color added.]

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[1] See the entry for "Future Vulcan" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See the entries for "conditions of consciousness" and "planetary conditions" in this encyclopedia.

[3] Our evolution, according to Steiner, is a process of rising to increasingly advanced types of consciousness. Along the way, we develop bodies and organs that enable us to attain these form of consciousness. Steiner taught that we develop the powers of clairvoyance as we develop incorporeal "organs of clairvoyance".

[4] I.e., during each condition of consciousness or planetary condition. (Adapting to the language used by others before him, Steiner often spoke and wrote in terms that can mystify and beguile more than inform. When he described life "on" various "planets," he sometimes meant existence on actual planets, but often he meant existence during phases of evolution. His meaning must often be deduced from context. [See the entries for "planets" and "planetary conditions" in this encyclopedia.])

[5] These organs are "physical" only in an occult sense. During past planetary conditions, we were not yet physical as we understand this term today. In future planetary conditions, we will have evolved past physical existence as we understand it now.

[6] I.e., during Future Jupiter. The consciousness of Future Jupiter is perfected Imagination.

[7] I.e., during Future Venus. The consciousness of Future Venus is perfected Inspiration

[8] I.e., the spirit world.

[9] I.e., during Future Vulcan. The consciousness of Future Vulcan, "Spiritual consciousness," is perfected Intuition.

[10] I.e., the higher region of the spirit world. [See "Devachan" in this encyclopedia.]

[11] Belief in reincarnation is basic to Anthroposophy. [See "Reincarnation".]

[12] See "First Hierarchy" in this encyclopedia.

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"I" organization - also see ego; higher "I"; highest "I"; "I"

In Anthroposophical belief, "'I' organization" is human identity comprehensively understood, consisting of the "I", the higher "I", and the highest "I". [1] “Rudolf Steiner gave a very clear and differentiated description of the entity he would in later lectures refer to as the human ‘I’ organization in his book THE THRESHOLD OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. There, each chapter is in three parts, with a summary given after each. This means that there are three distinct stages, with one aspect of the human I organization considered at each: ‘The human being as an independent entity [2]’, ‘the “other self”' [3] which finds its own expression in repeated lives on earth, and the ‘true I’ [4], the actual core of the human spirit.” — S. Prokoffief, “The Destiny of the I in the Age of the Etheric Christ: Theme for the year 2010/11" (Dornach, Switzerland). In a somewhat different sense, the "'I' organization" can be understood as the structure of the "I" that enables one's true self (residing in the spirit realm) to connect with and inhabit a physical body during Earthly incarnations. "All the streams of forces in this invisible being [5] proceed from the I-organization and flow through the astral and etheric organizations [6] into the physical one [7], where they then spread out ... The nerve tract [8] is the visible sign of this direct stream that flows from the I into our physical organism ... The I-organization, then, runs alongside the nerve tracts." — R. Steiner, EATYHLY KNOWLEDGE AND HEAVENLY WISDOM, lecture 6, "The Invisible Human Being Within Us", GA 221.

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[1] See entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.

[2] I.e., the higher "I". (This is the essence of the "I" that remains in the spirit realm during one's earthly incarnations.)

[3] I.e., the "I". (This is the sense of self one possesses while incarnated on Earth.)

[4] I.e., the highest "I". (This is the divinity, the godly essence, that one attains when the self unites with the universal "I", the self of the cosmos. [See "universal "I" in this encyclopedia.]) 

[5] I.e., one's inner (and immaterial) self, what Steiner called the inner man.

[6] I.e., the structures of the astral and etheric bodies. [See "astral body" and "etheric body" in this encyclopedia.

[7] I.e., the structure of the physical body. (Steiner describes a process of influences flowing from high to low, from the "I" organization through the astral organization and then the etheric organization down into the physical organization.)

[8] I.e., a pathway for nerve impulses.

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irreclaimable moon, unredeemable moon - also see Future Venus; perdition; cf. Eighth Sphere

According to Steiner: This will be a separate realm for evil souls, who will be consigned there during Future Venus. [1] “From Venus [2]...a separate celestial body becomes [3] detached. This — as it were, an ‘irreclaimable Moon’ — includes all the beings who have persisted in withstanding the true course of evolution. [4] It enters now [5] upon a line of development such as no words can portray, so utterly unlike is it to anything within the range of man’s experience on Earth.” — R. Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969), pp. 309-310. [See "Everything".]

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[1] Steiner taught that the sixth incarnation of the solar system will be Future Venus. [See the entry for "Future Venus" in this encyclopedia.]

[2] I.e., during Future Venus.

[3] I.e., will become. (Steiner uses the present tense, here, although he is decribving events in the distant future.)

[4] According to Steiner, resisting or opposing the divine plan for evolution is the "great sin." The beings who "have persisted in withstanding the true course of evolution" are thus, in effect, sinners, and they are consigned to a form of perdition. [See "Great Sin" in this encyclopedia.]

[5] I.e., it will then enter.

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"I", sense of - also see ego sense; "I"; senses; cf. ego consciousness

This is one of the twelve human senses enumerated by Steiner: the sense that enables you to perceive the "I" in another. "I ask you to remember what has been said about this sense of the I. The sense of I does not refer to our capacity to be aware of our own I. This sense is not for perceiving our own I, that I which we first received on Earth; it is for perceiving the I of other men. What this sense perceives is everything that is contained in our encounters with another I in the physical world." — R. Steiner, THE RIDDLE OF HUMANITY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1990), lecture 14, GA 170. The sense of "I" falls under the influence of Aries. [1]

The sense of "I" should be distinguished from one's "ego feeling" [2], which is the awareness of your own separate identity, your own "I". However, Steiner sometimes seemed to blur the distinction. "Between death and a new birth you lose the Ego-feeling — the sense of 'I' which was yours when in the body on earth." — R. Steiner, KARMIC RELATIONSHIPS, Vol. 1 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1972), lecture 12, GA 235.

Note that you can see that another person has an "I", but you cannot actually probe or comprehend that "I". Each individual has exclusive knowledge of her/his own "I", Steiner taught. (Each person has a unique identity and inner knowledge of that identity. Each person is the one and only "I" in her/his own experience. Each person sees all other people as "you," not as "I". Thus, Steiner said, "I am an I only to myself; to every other being I am a you.” — R. Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1979), p. 49. [3])

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[1] See, e.g., A. Soesman, OUR TWELVE SENSES (Hawthorn Press, 1990), p.142.

[2] See "ego feeling" in this encyclopedia.

[3] Within Anthroposophy, this is considered a crucially important and deep insight. On the other hand, critics may consider it jejune. Children usually develop a clear understanding of the difference between "you" and "me" (or "I") at a very early age. Moreover, while we cannot share one another's subjective experiences, nonetheless as adults we can get to know one another well if we sincerely apply our minds and sympathies.

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Isis - also see Demeter; female; goddesses

a) The ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility.

b) According to Steiner, the divine feminine principle. Steiner gave this account of Isis, her brother/husband, and her son: “Osiris [1]...in primordial times ruled as if in a golden age among men [2], and married his sister, Isis, who brought happiness and blessing to mankind. [Osiris] stood before the eyes of ancient Egypt as a human King of divine power and divine virtue [3]; and he ruled until he was killed by Set, his evil brother [4] ... His sorrowing spouse Isis seeks everywhere for her husband, after long searching finally discovering him in Asia. She brings him back to Egypt where he is dismembered by his evil brother Set, his fragments being interred in many graves ... Osiris now becomes King of the Dead, as previously he was King of living men on earth. From that other world a ray pierces the head of Isis [5] and she gives birth to Horus [6] who becomes the ruler of this world. [7]” — R. Steiner, "Isis and Madonna", GA 57. [See "Goddess".]

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[1] I.e., the god of fertility and the afterlife.

[2] There are various references in Anthroposophy to golden ages. [See, e.g., "Krita Yuga" in this encyclopedia.]

[3] Osiris may have been an avatar. [See "avatars" in this encyclopedia.]

[4] If Set (or Seth) was Osiris's brother, then he was also Isis's brother. (Isis, as the divine female principle, is immersed in a male-dominated cosmos of betrayal, violence, and sexual aggression.)

[5] This image of impregnation-from-afar is open to multiple readings. In any event, Isis is depicted as having little or no agency. A male impulse strikes her like a bolt of lightning.

[6] Horus, who was often represented as a human figure with a falcon's head, was the divine protector of the monarchy. According to myth, he avenged the murder of Osiris, thereby consoling Isis.

[7] In some accounts, Horus becomes a reincarnation of Osiris, which means Isis in effect gives birth to her own husband. (Osiris is her brother, her husband, and eventually her child.)

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Islam - also see Ahriman; Koran; Lucifer; monotheism; polytheism

"Islam, major world religion promulgated by the Prophet Muhammad in Arabia in the 7th century CE. The Arabic term islām, literally 'surrender,' illuminates the fundamental religious idea of Islam — that the believer (called a Muslim, from the active particle of islām) accepts surrender to the will of Allah (in Arabic, Allāh: God). Allah is viewed as the sole God — creator, sustainer, and restorer of the world. The will of Allah, to which human beings must submit, is made known through the sacred scriptures, the Qurʾān (often spelled Koran in English), which Allah revealed to his messenger, Muhammad. In Islam Muhammad is considered the last of a series of prophets (including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Solomon, and Jesus), and his message simultaneously consummates and completes the 'revelations' attributed to earlier prophets." — Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, February 20, 2020.

Rudolf Steiner occasionally found something to praise in Islam, but his basic view of the Muslim religion was deeply negative. He associated Islam with the arch-demons Ahriman and Lucifer. “Mohammedism is the first manifestation of Ahriman, the first Ahrimanic revelation following the Mystery of Golgotha [1]. Mohammed's god, Allah, Eloha, is an Ahrimanic imitation or pale reflection of the Elohim [2], but comprehended monotheistically. Mohammed always refers to them as a unity. [3] The Mohammedan culture is Ahrimanic [4], but the Islamic attitude is Luciferic. [5]” — Rudolf Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 75-76. [See "Islam".]

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[1] Gologtha is Calvary, the site of Christ's crucifixion. [See "Mystery of Golgotha" in this encyclopedia.]

[2] i.e., gods four levels higher than humanity, according to Steiner. [See "Elohim" in this encyclopedia.]

[3] In the Hebrew Bible, "Elohim" is one of God's name. The form is plural but the meaning is understood to be singular. (Steiner took the plural form of this name as evidence for his polytheistic vision. [See "Polytheism".])

[4] I.e., pervaded by the influences of Ahriman. [See "Ahriman" in this encyclopedia.]

[5] I.e., pervaded by the influences of Lucifer. [See "Lucifer" in this encyclopedia.]`

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islands, floating - also see continents; geology; stars

According to Steiner, islands and continents float in the sea. [See "Steiner's Blunders".]

“[A]n island like Great Britain swims in the sea and is held fast by the forces of the stars.” 

[R. Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 607; R. R. sketch, 2010. 

Lines of astrological force stream down from the stars overhead, holding a floating island in place.] 

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Izeds - also see Amshaspands; Zervan Akarana; Zoroastrianism

As explained by Steiner, these are spiritual beings recognized in Zoroastrianism [1]; they serve under the Amshaspands. [2] ◊ "Amshaspands...rule over the Izeds, who rank below them and are 28–31 in number. The Izeds are spirits of a lower kind, servants of the high Time Beings [3]; they regulate the days of the month." — R. Steiner, CHRIST AND THE SPIRITUAL WORLD/THE SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1964), lecture 4, GA 149. ◊ "Buddha [4] pointed to the forces working within man. Zarathustra also pointed to forces and beings below the Amshaspands, calling them the ‘Izards’ or ‘Izeds’. They too penetrate into man from outside in order to work at the inner organization of his bodily nature." — R. Steiner, THE GOSPEL OF ST. LUKE, lecture 5, GA 114. ◊ "The old Zarathustranism [5] has arisen once again in our modern physiology. For in the same way as the twenty-eight to thirty-one Izeds are the servants of the Amschaspands, so are the twenty-eight spinal nerves subordinate to those of the brain. Again, the Izeds, who are present in the outer universe as a spirit flux, enter the human body, and their sphere of action is in those nerves which stimulate the lower soul-life of man." — R. Steiner, TURNING POINTS [OF] SPIRITUAL HISTORY, lecture 1, GA 60.

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[1] This is the religion founded by Zoroaster. [See the entries in this encyclopedia for "Zoroaster" and "Zoroastrianism".] 

[2] In Zoroastrianism, these are godly "Time Rulers" or "Time Spirits". [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "Amshaspands".]

[3] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "Time Spirits".

[4] See "Buddha" in this encyclopedia.

[5] I.e., the truths of Zoroastrianism.