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pagan, paganism - also see Druids; King Arthur; magic; Maypole dances; Norse myths; Palm Sunday

Pagan beliefs are religious views that are significantly different from, or even oppose, the teachings of the major established faiths: heterodoxy. Because Anthroposophy does not conform to the teachings of any major faith, it must be classified as pagan. While Anthroposophists typically reject this label, there is a limited sense in which Steiner himself affirmed pagan beliefs and practices. He taught, for example, that King Arthur [1] was an occult initiate who headed a sort of pre-Christian Christianity, what Steiner sometimes called "pagan Christianity." For instance, "A sublime and wonderful phenomenon was unfolding here behind the scenes of world history. From the west, pagan Christianity, Arthur Christianity, which also appeared under other names and in different guises, was advancing." — R. Steiner, THE KARMA OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009), pp. 158. Steiner taught that all religions prior to true, non-pagan Christianity were steps along the road to true. We must understand, however, that by true Christianity Steiner generally meant Anthroposophy: the spiritual movement he himself inaugurated. Anthroposophy places great emphasis on Christ, but it identifies Christ as the Sun God [2], and it incorporates non-biblical doctrines such as karma [3], reincarnation [4], and recognition of such figures as Ahriman [5].

According to Steiner, ancient pagan rituals — like all other early religious rites — were essentially forms of pre-Christianity, and they often conveyed clairvoyant visions of the Christ who awaited in mankind’s future. [6] Steiner taught that after Christ came to earth and was crucified, the Christianity of the early church began to spread around the world, while pre-Christian or pagan Christianity also spread, closing the circle, as it were. Pagan Christianity came out of such things as the Norse myths, which describe a god, Baldur [7], who can be seen as a Christ figure (Baldur and Christ are both associated with the Sun; they are both supernally pure; they both died only to rise again; etc.). Baldur really existed, Steiner said, and his message was spread by King Arthur, who also really existed. According to Steiner, the search for the Grail, which Arthur and his knights undertook, is the search for occult wisdom, gnosis, true apprehension of spiritual mysteries (which Anthroposophy provides). [8] Seen from an Anthroposophical perspective, pagan Christianity and gnostic Christianity have often been truer than mainstream, major-denomination Christianity, Steiner said. [9]

Pagan and semi-pagan rituals are often enacted in Waldorf schools, such as during the seasonal festivals. [10] Activities such as Maypole dances and even fire jumping may be included; these derive from pagan ceremonies. [11] In such observances and activities, Christian iconography may be combined with astrological signs and other pagan symbols. [12] Occasionally, the pagan elements in various Waldorf activities and/or symbolic displays are explicitly acknowledged. [13]

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[1] See "Pagan" and the entry in this encyclopedia for "Arthur, King".

[2] See "Sun God" and "Was He Christian?"

[3] See "Karma".

[4] See "Reincarnation".

[5] See "Ahriman".

[6] Most of Steiner's teachings hinge on his claimed powers of clairvoyance. Purportedly using these fictitious powers, he roamed far from Christian orthodoxy, as for instance in his promulgation of his own "fifth gospel". [See "Steiner's Fifth Gospel".]

[7] See "The Gods" and the entry in this encyclopedia for "Baldur".

[8] See "Gnosis" and "Grail".

[9] See, e.g., "Altogether".

[10] See "Magical Arts".

[11] See, e.g., June, 2011 and November, 2011.

[12] See, e.g., "Signs".

[13] See, e.g., the entry for "Palm Sunday", below.

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painting - also see art; arts-intensive Waldorf curriculum; Hausaka therapeutic painting; lazure; veil painting; wet-on-wet painting

Waldorf schools often place special emphasis on "wet-on-wet" watercolor painting [1], producing images compatible with Steiner's description of the spirit realm, which he said is a place of colors, light, tone, and intensities, but not forms or spatial extensions. Other styles of painting are also undertaken in Waldorf schools, such as veil paintings [2], which are similarly meant to evoke the spirit realm. There is no single, required Anthroposophical painting style. In general, however, Waldorf art tends to be highly colorful, displaying colors prismatically, and Waldorf paintings often contrive to suggest levels of reality beyond the surface, as if maya (illusion) could be peeled back to reveal the spirit realm beyond. [See "Magical Arts" and the entry in this encyclopedia for "arts-intensive Waldorf curriculum".]

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[1] See the entry for "wet-on-wet painting" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See the entry for "veil painting" in this encyclopedia.

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Palm Sunday - also see Easter; festivals; spring festivals

"[T]he Sunday preceding Easter ... This event is often celebrated in the lower classes of Waldorf schools in a festival that interweaves pagan and Christian elements." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), pp. 89-90.

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panorama - also see bodies; death; life after death and before birth

Here are explanations given by two Waldorf teachers: ◊ "[T]he first experience after death is a detailed and vivid panorama of one's past life ... The phenomenon is caused by the fact that the ether body [1] loosens itself from the physical body." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 90. ◊ "The First Experience after Death: The Panorama of the Past Life ... The individuality involved [2] has no concept of time but during this period he has a wonderful experience. His whole past life is spread out before him as a vast panorama ... The vision fades as the etheric body dissolve but an aftereffect is preserved. His constitution is now twofold, soul and spirit." — R. Wilkinson, RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2001), pp. 173-174.

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[1] This is the first and lowest of the three invisible bodies that real human beings comes to possess, according to Steiner. [See "Incarnation".]

[2] I.e., the dead individual.

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Paradise Play - also see Christmas Play; Kings' Play; Shepherds' Play 

"The first of three plays from Oberufer, Austria, that are traditionally performed at Waldorf schools...between Advent and Twelfth Night [1] ... The play shows how Adam and Eve are expelled from the Garden of Eden, as described in Genesis. [2]"  — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 90. The play is often performed by Waldorf faculty, but sometimes students are assigned to stage it.

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[1] Advent is the first season of the traditional Christian church year, leading up to Christmas. Twelfth Night is the traditional final night of the Christmas festival.

[2] See Genesis 3:23-24.

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paradox - see contradiction; mystery

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Para-Nirvana Plane - also see Maha-Para-Nirvana Plane; Nirvana; Nirvana Plane

Rudolf Steiner used this term during his Theosophical phase [1] to denote a level of consciousness/blessedness above the Nirvana Plane [2] and below the Maha-Para-Nirvana Plane [3], as conceived in Theosophy [4]. The Para-Nirvana Plane is the realm of fluid beings. Steiner taught that virtually everything, including fluids, is alive. "The solid has its life...on the Maha-para-nirvana plane, the fluid [has its life] on the Para-nirvana plane, the gaseous [has its life] on the Nirvana plane." — R. Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 9, GA 93a. In later teachings, Steiner dispensed with differentiations between various Nirvana planes; he folded the Para-Nirvana Plane and the Maha-Para-Nirvana Plane into an enlarged conception of the Nirvana Plane. In Anthroposophy, the Nirvana Plane is the highest plane of spiritual existence. [5]

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These are the planes of existence or worlds as described in much Theosophical literature. Steiner essentially accepted this description of reality during his Theosophical phase, although he tended to simplify it, and he took the simplification further after breaking away to found Anthroposophy as a separate movement. 

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[1] See the chronology provided in "What a Guy".

[2] See "Nirvana Plane" in this encyclopedia.

[3] See "Maha-Para-Nirvana Plane" in this encyclopedia.

[4] For an overview of Theosophy, see "Basics".

[5] See "Higher Worlds".

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parents of students at Waldorf schools - also see children; Waldorf parents; Waldorf students; Waldorf teachers

Unless they are Anthroposophists, the parents of students are often considered outsiders at Waldorf schools, to be told little. Steiner said students' hereditary ties to their parents are insignificant compared to the students' karmic connection to their teachers. Moreover, Steiner said, parents make errors that Waldorf teachers should rectify. Here are some of the comments Steiner made about the parents of students in the first Waldorf school; he made these statements during faculty meetings. 

◊ “I have been back only a few hours, and I have heard so much gossip about who got a slap and so forth [1]. All of that gossip is going beyond all bounds, and I really found it very disturbing. We do not really need to concern ourselves when things seep out the cracks. We certainly have thick enough skins for that. But on the other hand, we clearly do not need to help it along. We should be quiet about how we handle things in the school, that is, we should maintain a kind of school confidentiality. We should not speak to people outside the school, except for the parents who come to us with questions, and in that case, only about their [own] children, so that gossip has no opportunity to arise.” — R. Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 10. [2]

◊ “Concerning the parent meeting, you could do that [3], but without me. They might say things I could not counter, if I hear something I cannot defend [4]. The things I say here [5], I could not say to the parents. We need to clear the air, and the teachers must take control of the school again [6].” — Ibid., p. 408.  

◊ [Concerning a request that teachers provide progress reports about their students:] “Progress reports? Giving in to someone like Mrs. X. (a mother who had written a letter to the faculty) is just nonsense [7] ... As far as I am concerned, the reports could be phrased so that what the children are like is apparent only from the comments about their deportment, but that would only make things worse [8].” — Ibid., p. 408.  

◊ "You will have to take over children for their education and instruction — children who will have received already (as you must remember) the education, or mis-education given them by their parents [9]. Indeed our intentions will only be fully accomplished when we, as humanity, will have reached the stage where parents, too, will understand that special tasks are set for mankind to-day, even for the first years of the child's education [10]. But when we receive the children into the school we shall still be able to make up for many things which have been done wrongly, or left undone, in the first years of the child's life." — R. Steiner, STUDY OF MAN (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2004), p. 16. 

According to Anthroposphical beliefs, before students are born they select certain individuals to become their teachers in their coming earthly lives, just as they may select certain individuals to become their parents. But from an Anthroposophical perspective, true-believing Anthroposophical Waldorf teachers (in many cases spiritual initiates, clairvoyants) have a much more important role to play in students' lives than uninitiated, unclairvoyant biological parents.

[For more, see the entry in this encyclopedia for "Waldorf Parents". Also see "Faculty Meetings" and "Teacher Training".]

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[1] I.e., which students had been slapped by their teachers. [See "Slaps".]

[2] Steiner said Waldorf teachers should be cautious even when speaking to parents about their own children: The parents may not understand the Waldorf/Anthroposophical perspective on childhood. (Steiner was quite concerned about the reputation of the first Waldorf school. He wanted to avoid negative publicity, which meant deflecting examination by outsiders such as students' parents and official inspectors. This sensitivity generally still prevails in Waldorf schools today. [See, e.g., "Visits".])

[3] I.e., have a meeting between teachers and parents.

[4] I.e., they (the parents) may refer to events in the school that Steiner could not explain or justify.

[5] I.e., in faculty meetings.

[6] I.e., the authority of teachers should be re-established. Steiner generally taught that Waldorf teachers should be free of all outside interference, including interference from students' parents.

[7] Waldorf schools are often criticized for having low academic standards. [See "Academic Standards at Waldorf".] The schools generally try to deflect such criticism, for instance by failing to give the students grades or failing to issue report cards ("progress reports"). Not all Waldorf schools adopt such strategies, but many do. In general, Waldorf schools are secretive. [See "Secrets".]

[8] I.e., the teachers might fudge things by issuing "progress reports" that focus on non-academic matters, but — as Steiner indicates — that might only cause more criticism. Better to issue no reports at all — that is, do not bend to parents' desire for progress reports.

[9] Here, the role of Waldorf teachers is framed as working effectively in opposition to parents, undoing the harm parents have caused.

[10] I.e., ideally parents will someday understand the Anthroposophical perspective and how this perspective shapes Waldorf education from the earlies grades onward. (Anthroposophists believe the gods have set certain goals for mankind at each stage of evolution. Waldorf teachers endeavor to implement the gods' intentions. [See, e.g., "Waldorf's Spiritual Agenda".) 

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Parzival (Parsifal, Perceval) - also see Arthur, King; Holy Grail

In Medieval legend: one of King Arthur's knights who searched for the Holy Grail [1]; he was distinguished by his piety and childlike innocence. In Anthroposophy, he is considered a great initiate, and his quest is the search for occult wisdom — in effect, it is the search for Anthroposophy itself. Parzival unites the occult or mystery traditions [2] of the East and the West. "Belonging to the Mystery stream [3] coming from the East, Parzival unites this stream with the Western stream ... Parzival can be regarded as a human representative of Michael [4], who seeks to realize Christ's impulse [5] on earth." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), pp. 90-91.

Within Anthroposophy, the tale of Parzival's quest is considered a virtually sacred myth, and it is often stressed in Waldorf schools. Parzival is taken to represent the dawning of modern human consciousness and its earnest desire for spiritual insight (such as that offered by Rudolf Steiner). Parzival's is "a story in which the secrets of the spirit are brought together with a modern mind, the kind of mind we have today ... [A] superhuman intelligence might have thought up this story of Parsifal." — C. Kovacs, PARSIFAL and the Search for the Grail (Floris Book, Waldorf Education Resources Series, 2003), p. 13. [For more on Parzival, see "Through His Eyes".]

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[1] See "Grail"; also see the entry in this encyclopedia for "Arthur, King".

[2] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "occult, occultism","mystery", and "mystery knowledge".

[3] A "mystery stream" is a tradition or culture of occult (hidden, mysterious) lore. [See the entry for "mystery streams" in this encyclopedia.]

[4] I.e., the Archangel of the Sun. [See "Michael".]

[5] I.e., the evolutionary impetus imparted by Christ, the Sun God. [See the entry for "Christ Impulse" in this encyclopedia.]

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past - see historical narrative

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path, the - see white path; cf. black path

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paths, spiritual - see spiritual paths

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path(s) of perdition - also see black path; hell; perdition; subhumans; cf. white path

In Anthroposophy, the path of perdition is the black path of spiritual falsehood and excessive immersion in material reality [1]. If one walks this path during sixteen separate incarnations, one is said to have walked the "sixteen paths of perdition." The errant soul then falls out of evolution, becoming subhuman. Steiner associated this with incarnating too deeply in a racial bodily form. "There are 16 possibilities of becoming merged with the race. [2] They are called the '16 paths of perdition'. On these paths man would merge with the material. [3] By striving forward, however, he is drawn up from race to race to ever higher stages [4] ... No one is obliged to take all the 16 paths and thereby fall out of evolution. We must only be aware of the possibility." — R. Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2000), p. 69. However, Steiner sometimes indicated that falling out of evolution may occur more easily. Indeed, his overall account of our development includes multiple instances of beings who stall out at specific evolutionary levels and failing to advance further. [5]

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[1] See "black path" in this encyclopedia.

[2] I.e., being trapped at a particular level of development, the level embodied by a particular race.

[3] I.e., the material realm.

[4] Steiner taught that races are arranged hierarchically, some higher than others. To evolve properly, one rises from lower races to higher races over the course of several incarnations. [See "Steiner's Racism".]

[5] See, e.g., "Waldorf's Worlds".

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pattern drawing - see form drawing

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patterns in Anthroposophy - see design

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peach-blossom - also see skin color; white; white race; cf. black

According to Steiner, this is the color of human health, the living image of the soul. It is also the color of Caucasian or "white" skin. "Why must [Waldorf] kindergarten room walls be painted 'peach blossom'?" — D. Snell, People for Legal and Nonsectarian Schools. Steiner gives this answer: “The color which comes closest to a healthy human flesh color is that of fresh peach blossoms in spring. [1] No other color in nature so resembles this skin color, this flush. The inner health of man comes to expression in this peach-blossom-like color; and in it we can learn to apprehend the vital health of man when properly endowed by soul. If the flesh color tends toward green, he is sickly; his soul cannot find right access to his physical body ... Between [pale] whitish and greenish tones lies the healthy vital peach-blossom flesh-tint. And just as we sense in green the dead image of life [2], so we can feel in the peach-blossom color of the healthy human being the living image of the soul ... You experience the world as color and light if you experience green as the dead image of life; peach-blossom color, human flesh-color [sic], as the living image of the soul; white as the soul-image of spirit; black as the spiritual image of death.” — R. Steiner, THE ARTS AND THEIR MISSION (Anthroposophic Press, 1964), pp. 93-94.

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This is Steiner's circle of colors, running from white to black. Pure white spirit leads to birth and spring (peach-blossom), leading to the flourishing of summer (green), and then decay and death (black), returning to spirit (white). [THE ARTS AND THEIR MISSION, p. 101; peach-blossom tint added.]

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[1] Racial bias, possibly unconscious, is built into Steiner's statement. Only Caucasians can have the skin color he calls healthy, the color that indeed he calls "flesh color." Steiner discounts the other skin colors found among humans — individuals with brown, red, or yellow skin cannot have "healthy human flesh color," as defined by Steiner; they cannot exemplify "the living image of the soul." Only whites can.

[2] Green is deemed "dead" because it is not living or spiritual in the same way, or to the same degree, as white and peach-blossom. Green is a color of physical manifestation, vegetation; it is vibrant but removed from the purity of the higher colors that precede it (colors of spirit and soul).

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pedagogical law - also see bodies; Waldorf education: goals; Waldorf teachers

"[A] law formulated by Rudolf Steiner, according to which one member or bodily sheath [1] of a teacher or parent affects the next lower member of a child. For example, if the educator wishes to work on the child's physical body, he should do so through his own ether body...." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 91. Why would a Waldorf teacher "work on a child's physical body"? Because the goals of Waldorf education have little to do with conveying knowledge to children. Instead, the goals include such things as helping children to incarnate and develop their four bodies. [2] And how can a Waldorf teacher work "through his own ether body"? It is impossible. The ether body does not exist; but belief in etheric bodies is one of the occult tenets promulgated by Rudolf Steiner and accepted by his followers. [3] Teachers who believe they have etheric bodies operate from questionable esoteric premises [4]; their qualifications to serve as educators may be called into question as a result. 

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[1] A "member or bodily sheath," in the sense used here, is a body. Anthroposophists believe that human beings have four bodies: the physical body (the lowest), the etheric body, the astral body, and the ego body. [See "Incarnation".]

[2] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "Waldorf education - goals".

[3] See, e.g., "Spiritual Agenda".

[4] See "Inside Scoop", "Why? Oh Why?", and "Fooling (Ourselves)".

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pentagram - also see black magic; bodies; geometry; hexagram; human beings

A five-pointed star. Often, it is used as a symbol for the human being. According to Steiner, the pentagram corresponds to the movements of five types of ether within the human frame. [1] When a pentagram is arranged with a single point at its top, Steiner indicated, it represents humanity. When it is arranged with a single point at the bottom, it is the symbol of black magic. "We're always surrounded by five ether streams [2] in the world around us on earth. They're called earth, water, fire, air and thought ethers. [3] These etheric streams are also active in man: earth ether from the head to the right foot, from there water ether to the left hand, from there fire ether to the right hand, from there air ether to the left foot, and then thought ether back to the head. This is the occultist's sacred pentagram, the symbol of man. Its point is directed upwards, which indicates that the spirit streams to man from the heights. The pentagram is present in many flowers and other things in nature. The sign of black magic is a pentagram with one point at the bottom, through which magicians [4] attract bad forces from the earth and send them out of the two top horns into the environment by means of their bad will in order to use soul and nature forces for their own egotistical, evil purposes." — R. Steiner, FROM THE CONTENTS OF ESOTERIC CLASSES (SteinerBooks, 2007), p. 148.

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This is the human being as microcosmic pentagram, embodying the cosmos, as depicted by Agrippa of Nettesheim (1486-1535). The astrological sign of Mars is above the head, Venus at the left hand, Mercury at the left foot, Saturn at the right foot, and Jupiter at the right hand. [Public domain image; color added.]

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[1] More commonly, Steiner spoke of four types of ether. [See the entry for "ether" in this encyclopedia.]

[2] I.e., the influences flowing from five kinds of ethers (gaslike substances permeating the cosmos). More often, Steiner identified four types of ether, while teaching that ether in general is the "fifth essence" in addition to the four "elements": earth, air, fire, and water. [See the entry for "ether" in this encyclopedia; also see the entry for "elements".]

[3] See the entries for these in this encyclopedia.

[4] While sometimes disavowing talk of magic, Steiner taught that both good and evil magic (white magic and black magic) are nonetheless real, as are their practitioners (white and black magicians). [See "Magic" and "Magicians".]

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Pentecost - see Whitsun

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Perceval - see Parzival 

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perdition - also see abyss; Eighth Sphere; hell; path(s) of perdition

Anthroposophy holds out the hope that virtually all beings may be redeemed; however, various forms of perdition are also threatened. Whether consignment to perdition is a permanent doom is not always clear. "Let us suppose a man were to deny that it was the spirit which has given him the human countenance [1] ... He would remain united with the body and go down into the abyss. [2] And because of not having used the power of the spirit, the external shape [3] would again come to resemble the previous form. The man who descends into the abyss would become animal-like." — R. Steiner, UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993), p. 103. On at least some occasions, Steiner indicated that such a person would lose the ability to incarnate further — s/he would be stuck in an unending doom, having left the upward trajectory of evolution. "Such souls lose the possibility of incarnation and find no other opportunity ... [T]here are no more bodies bad enough [to house them] ... Beings that stay behind at such stages appear in a later epoch as subordinate nature spirits. [4]" — R. Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 70. [See "Hell" and "Sphere 8".]

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[1] I.e., he denies that his essential nature is spiritual.

[2] I.e., he would separate himself from the spirit realm, sink so deeply into material existence that he would fall into the abyss (a place of perdition). [See the entry in the encyclopedia for "abyss".]

[3] I.e., the physical body.

[4] I.e., they become subhuman — they become lowly types of elemental beings. [See "Neutered Nature" and the entries in this encyclopedia for "elemental beings" and "nature spirits".]

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Perfected Astral Stage of Form - also see Astral Stage of Form; Physical Stage of Form; stages of form

According to Anthroposophical belief, this is the fifth stage of form, the fifth subdivision of our current condition of life. [1] After we pass through all of the remaining epochs of the Physical Stage of Form, the universe as we know it will end and we will evolve to the next stage of form, the Perfected Astral Stage. We will thus return to the Astral Stage, [2] but at a heightened, "perfected" level. Words can scarcely describe the Perfected Astral Stage, since so much of what we know now will be altered beyond recognition. Mysterious prophecies of the Book of Revelation will be fulfilled, but perhaps in ways no theologian has anticipated. "In the Perfected Astral stage of Form [sic], seven stages equivalent to epochs are depicted only negatively [3], as the outpouring of 'the last plagues of all' from the seven bowls of wrath of God (Rev. 15-16). Six broadly resemble those of the Trumpets [4], for they are still a revelation of divine love, but sullied here by human illusion. [5] Those cast down must experience the counterpart of that which carries the good beings upwards. [6] But when the seventh Angel pours his bowl on the air (astral world [7]), this culminates in a 'violent earthquake like none before it' (Rev. 16:18). [8]" — R. Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publications, 2002), pp. 95-96.

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According to Anthroposophical belief (derived largely from Theosophy), we are evolving through a succession of lengthy, forward-tending phases called conditions of consciousness. (They are also known as planetary conditions; they are progressive incarnations of the solar system.) [9] Each condition of consciousness consists of seven conditions of life (essentially, these entail passage through the kingdoms of nature and super nature), each of which consists of seven stages of form (essentially, these entail passage from incorporeal life to corporeal life and then back again to incorporeal life, in heightened form). [10] We currently exist in the fourth stage of form, the Physical Stage. When we complete our existence in this stage, we will advance to the Perfected Astral Stage. 

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[1] See the entries for "stages of form" and "conditions of life" in this encyclopedia. For the overall pattern of evolution as described in Anthroposophy, see the entries for "epochs" and "design".

[2] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "Astral Stage of Form".

[3] Each stage form consists of seven subdivisions, sometimes termed great epochs. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "great epochs".] The epochs of the Perfected Astral Stage of Form can only be described negatively : They will be ordeals.

[4] During the seventh epoch of our current stage of form (the Physical Stage), the trumpets of doom will sound (as described in the Book of Revelation). The first six epochs of the Perfected Astral Stage of Form will be similar.

[5] I.e., the tribulations to come reflect humanity's sullying of the benevolent intentions of the gods.

[6] I.e., evildoers must experience the antithesis of the virtuous impulses that enable good souls to ascend.

[7] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "astral world".

[8] The seven epochs of the Perfected Astral Stage are overseen by seven Angels (gods one level higher than humanity), who impart their substance to cosmic evolution. When the seventh Angel does so, the prophecy of a cataclysmic earthquake will be fulfilled.

[9] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "conditions of consciousness", "planetary conditions", and "incarnations of the solar system". 

[10] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "conditions of life" and "stages of form". 

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periods - see ages; cultural epochs

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Perra, Grégoire (b. 1970)

A former Waldorf student, Waldorf teacher, and Anthroposophist who has written extensively about Waldorf education and Anthroposophy, revealing much that is usually hidden from outsiders. [See, e.g., "My Life Among the Anthroposophists".] 

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Persian Age - also see cultural epochs; epochs; Hyperborean Epoch

In Anthroposophical belief, this was the second cultural epoch of our present great epoch [1]; it ran from approximately 5067 BC to 2970 BC. It was epitomized by the Zoroastrian religion [2], which had an imperfect but productive vision of Christ, picturing him as their chief god, Ahura Mazda. [3] Earthly reality at that time was dark; it was the "kingdom of Ahriman." [4] The Persian Age developed under the aegis of Gemini, and it recapitulated the Hyperborean great epoch. [5] "The polarity of light and dark was at the same time experienced as a polarity of good and evil [6] ... On the inner path, which no longer coincided with the outer, people perceived the astral body instead of the spirit [7], and met there the forces of Lucifer [8]...." — R. Seddon, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publications, 2002), pp. 13-14.

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According to Anthroposophical belief: Having evolved to live on the planet Earth in the Present Earth condition of consciousness, we have passed through four great epochs: the Polarian, Hyperborean, Lemurian, and Atlantean Epochs. [9] We now live in the Post-Atlantean Epoch (i.e., the period following the destruction of Atlantis). During the Post-Atlantean Epoch, we have passed through four ages, the second of which was the Persian Age, We currently live in the fifth age, the Anglo-Germanic Age.

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[1] See the entries for "epochs", "cultural epochs", and "great epochs" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See "Zoroastrianism".

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

[4] In Zoroastrianism, Ahriman is the devil. In Anthroposophy, he is an arch-demon, colleague and rival of Lucifer. [See "Ahriman".]

[5] Steiner taught that as we evolve, we continually recapitulate prior stages of evolution. The Hyperborean Epoch was the second stage of evolution (a great epoch) during Present Earth. [See "Early Earth".]

[6] This was the polarity of the god Ahura Mazda and the demon Ahriman.

[7] I.e., the esoteric (occult, inner) path of evolution and the exoteric (open, outer) path had diverged, and humanity became confused. Instead of continuing to directly perceive spiritual realities, people could only perceive the astral body (the second of our three invisible bodies, according to Steiner [see "Incarnation"]).

[8] I.e., humanity's confusion led us into the clutches of Lucifer, the ally/rival of Ahriman. [See "Lucifer".]

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

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phantoms - also see ghosts; nature spirits; specters

a) Ghosts.

b) According to Steiner, many phantoms are nature spirits [1] created by lying and slander. "[They are] beings which have been created in the physical body through the effect of lying and slander ... Such beings...now flit and whirr about in our world and belong to a class that we call ‘phantoms.’ They form a certain group of elemental beings [2] related to our physical body and invisible to physical sight.” — R. Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), pp. 83-84.

c) Also, according to Steiner, the physical human body is held together by a "form-shape" or "spiritual texture" that can be labeled a phantom: "[P]hysical, etheric and astral bodies [3] are laid aside [at death] ... [T]he physical body seems to drain away completely into materials and forces which, through decay or burning or some other form of dissolution, are returned to the elements. But the more clairvoyance is developed in our time [4], the clearer will it be that the physical forces and substances laid aside are not the whole physical body, for its complete configuration could never derive from them alone. To these substances and forces there belongs something else, best called the ‘Phantom’ of the man. This Phantom is the Form-shape which as a spiritual texture works up the physical substances and forces so that they fill out the Form which we encounter as the man on the physical plane." — R. Steiner, FROM JESUS TO CHRIST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), lecture 6, GA 131.

d) Similarly, Steiner taught that the body of Christ Jesus that rose from the grave (the "resurrection body") was not a revivified physical body but rather a phantom ("the Phantom"). And it is this phantom that we should seek to receive with our own physical bodies. "The essential thing is that through a process of mystical feeling we work right into our physical body; and when we do this we are doing nothing less than making ourselves ready in our physical body to receive the Phantom that went forth from the grave on Golgotha. Hence we work into our physical body in order to make it so living that it feels a relationship with, an attractive force towards, the Phantom that rose out of the grave on Golgotha.” — FROM JESUS TO CHRIST (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1973), lecture 10 (“The Esoteric Path to Christ”), GA 131.

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[1] I.e., subhuman entities that dwell in the natural world. [See "Neutered Nature" and "Beings".]

[2] "Elemental beings" is another term for "nature spirits." Steiner used both terms, but he said "elemental beings" is more accurate because the entities referred to by these terms lack real spirit.

[3] I.e., three of our four bodies. [See "Incarnation."]

[4] Steiner claimed to be clairvoyant (most of his teachings stem from his claimed use of clairvoyance) and he said he could teach his followers to become clairvoyant. [See "Clairvoyance" and "Knowing the Worlds".]

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phenomena - also see maya; natural science; physical plane; science

Generally speaking, phenomena are facts or situations that can be observed using our normal senses or analyzed with our material brains; the term is especially applied to observable facts or situations that require explanation. For Steiner, phenomena are trivial or even unreal — they belong to the physical universe, where maya (illusion) rules. [1] Truth is found in the spirit realm, he taught. This is why he often dismissed scientific information and scientifically observed phenomena, such as gravity. They are mere phenomena, he said; they are confined to the physical plane. Thus, he said to Waldorf teachers: “It would be wonderful if you could stop speaking about gravity. You can certainly achieve speaking of it only as a phenomenon. The best would be if you considered gravity only as a word.” — R. Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 29. [2]

Steiner's deprecating attitude toward phenomena infuses much of Waldorf education. Whereas most people would consider education seriously flawed if it does not convey to children factual information about the phenomena of the real world, Waldorf education tends to minimize the amount of factual information it provides to students. As one leading Waldorf faculty member has written, the Waldorf movement generally opposes "fact-based education." — J. Petrash, UNDERSTANDING WALDORF EDUCATION (Nova Institute, 2002), p. 26. Critics contend that Waldorf education, eschewing facts about phenomena, becomes a form of fantasy-based education. [3]

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

[2] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "gravity".

[3] See, e.g., "Weird Waldorf".

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phenomenalism - also see philosophy; senses; world conceptions

a) This is the philosophical tenet that human knowledge is limited to what we can perceive with our senses. 

b) According to Steiner, phenomenalism is one of the twelve justified or defended world conceptions, which are philosophical standpoints that he associated with the twelve signs of the zodiac. [1] "One can say...'I am clear that there is a world which appears to me; I cannot speak of anything more. I am not saying that this world of colours and sounds, which arises only because certain processes in my eyes present themselves to me as colours, while processes in my ears present themselves to me as sounds — I am not saying that this world is the true world. It is a world of phenomena.'[2]  This is the outlook called Phenomenalism." — R. Steiner, HUMAN AND COSMIC THOUGHT (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1991), p. 38. Steiner associated phenomenalism with Virgo. [3]

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[1] See "Philosophy".

[2] Steiner taught that the world of phenomena exists only because it manifests the world of spirit. Phenomena without spirit are illusory, he said.

[3] See "Virgo" in this encyclopedia.

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philosophy - also see logic; PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM; science; thinking; truth; wisdom

Steiner set out to be a philosopher, but when his efforts did not elicit the acclaim he apparently expected, he turned to occultism. [1] Thereafter, he explicitly referred to himself as an occulist. [2] Some of Steiner's early works, such as THE PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM [3], can be taken as philosophical treatises, but later he tended to revise these to make them more consistent with his later, occultist approach. [4] As an occultist, Steiner taught that philosophical truths can be found only through the study of occult or mystery knowledge. "We can understand the great philosophers only when we approach them with the feelings gained from observation of the Mysteries. [5] How reverently Plato speaks of the 'secret teachings' in the Phaedo [6]: 'And it appears that those men who established the Mysteries were not unenlightened, but in reality had a hidden meaning when they said long ago that whoever goes uninitiated [7] and unsanctified to the other world will lie in the mire, but he who arrives there initiated and purified will dwell with the gods. For as they say in the Mysteries, "the thyrsus-bearers [8] are many, but the mystics few;" and these mystics are, I believe, those who have been true philosophers. And I in my life have, so far as I could, left nothing undone, and have striven in every way to make myself one of them.' — Initiation can be discussed in this way only by someone who has placed his own striving for wisdom entirely at the service of the conviction engendered by initiation. And there is no doubt that a bright light is cast upon the words of the great Greek philosophers when they are illuminated by the Mysteries. [9]" — R. Steiner, CHRISTIANITY AS MYSTICAL FACT (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1961), chapter 3, GA 8.

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[1] See "occult, occultism" in this encyclopedia.

[2] See "Occultism".

[3] See "PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM, THE", below.

[4] See "Philosophy" and "What a Guy".

[5] I.e., hidden spiritual truths. [See the entries for "mystery" and "mystery knowledge" in this encyclopedia.]

[6] "Phaedo" is a philosophic dialogue written by Plato around 360 BCE.

[7] To be "initiated," in Steiner's teachings generally, means to gain access to hidden or secret knowledge. Here he is claiming a sort of confirmation from Plato.

[8] A thyrsus was a staff carried by Dionysus and his followers. In general, Dionysians were criticized by their opponents as sensuous aesthetes.

[9] Note that these concluding words (beginning with "Initiation can be discussed") are Steiner's, not Plato's.

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PHILOSOPHY OF FREEDOM, THE - also see freedom; philosophy

A philosophical treatise written by Steiner before he pronounced himself an occultist. He later revised the book, attempting to make it seem consistent with his occult teachings. [1] Writing of the revised text, editors at the Rudolf Steiner Press have summarized Steiner's thesis thus: "In order to [become free] we must reach a point of view that recognizes no limits to knowledge, sees through all illusions, and opens the door to an experience of the reality of the spiritual world. [2] Then we can achieve the highest level of evolution. [3]"

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[1] See "Freedom".

[2] In effect, attaining freedom requires us to become initiated Anthroposophists, possessing the sort of virtually omniscient clairvoyance that Steiner claimed to possess. Experiencing "the reality of the spiritual world" means, from an Anthroposophical perspective, experiencing it as Anthroposophy expounds.

[3] This is the goal of Anthroposophy: evolving to higher and higher stages of spiritual consciousness. [See, e.g., the entries in this encyclopedia for "evolution", "evolution of consciousness", and "conditions of consciousness".] Although, according to Steiner, our evolution hinges on our "freedom," nonetheless the pattern of evolution is already laid out and known; we will proceed, unless evil forces overwhelm us, along an essentially predetermined path.

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phlegmatic - also see choleric; humours; melancholic; sanguine; temperaments

This is one of the four temperaments described in ancient Greek medical theory. Phlegmatic individuals supposedly have high levels of phlegm [1] in their systems. Medical science long ago put aside the antiquated concept of the four classical temperaments, but Steiner revived it and it is still observed in Waldorf schools today. [2] "Someone with a phlegmatic temperament is liable to be comfortably self-contained ... Self-awareness and a sense of time are less well developed ... Phlegmatics [3] enjoy food, especially soft and sweet foods. In class a phlegmatic child can be a wonderful centre of calm ... Their favourite color is often blue. Too much of the phlegmatic temperament can lead to indolence. Phlegmatics are very hard to rouse to anger, but when they do become angry it can be profound and volcanic." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), pp. 75-76. 

In Waldorf belief, phlegmatic students walk ploddingly, holding their eyes half-shut; they tend toward apathy; they are impassive and reserved albeit friendly; they dress conservatively; their memories are good but only for the recent past; teachers should gain their attention by shocking them. [4] THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2005), pp. 42-43. Critics of Waldorf education allege that this system of classification amounts to stereotyping: placing false labels on children and making sweeping generalizations (e.g., phlegmatics like a certain color, they walk in a certain way, they have a certain type of body, they have a certain type of mind, and so on).

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Steiner taught that the four temperaments are manifested in four bodily types. “The melancholic children are as a rule tall and slender; the sanguine are the most normal; those with more protruding shoulders are the phlegmatic children; and those with a short stout build so that the head almost sinks down into the body are choleric.” — R. Steiner, DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 34.

[R.R. sketch, 2010.] 

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[1] This is a viscous secretion from the mucous membranes in the respiratory system. The secretions become excessive when one is ill, especially with a cold. 

[2] See "Humouresque" and "Temperaments".

[3] I.e., individuals having this temperament.

[4] See R. Wilkinson, THE TEMPERAMENTS IN EDUCATION (Rudolf Steiner College Press, 2005), pp. 42-43. 

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phrenology - also see head; large-headed children; small-headed children

This is the pseudoscientific belief that an individual's character and intelligence can be discerned from the size and shape of the skull. Rudolf Steiner dismissed what he called "charlatan phronology," he affirmed what "genuine phrenology." “Although there will always be a great deal to be said against the charlatan phrenology that is commonly practised, a genuine phrenology really should be studied [1] by anyone who wants to form his conclusions correctly about moral defects [in individuals]. For it is indeed most interesting to see how moral defects which are connected with karma are forces of such strength that they manifest themselves quite inevitably in deformations of the physical organism. [2]” — R. Steiner, EDUCATION FOR  SPECIAL NEEDS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999), p. 68. [3] In truth, however, all forms of phrenology are bogus. "Phrenology enjoyed great popular appeal well into the 20th century but has been wholly discredited by scientific research." — "Phrenology". Encyclopedia Britannica, 4 Jul. 2024; accessed 19 July 2024.

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[1] Steiner here differentiates between false ("charlatan") and true ("genuine") forms of phrenology. He affirms the latter.

[2] I.e., an individual's karma affects the shape, etc., of the physical body (including the skull). Belief in karma is basic to Anthroposophy and plays a significant role in Waldorf education. [See "Karma".]

[3] See "Humouresque".

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physical body - also see astral body; bodies; ego body; etheric body; incarnation; incorporation; physical nature

In Anthroposophical belief, physical phenomena manifest spiritual powers and intentions. Rudolf Steiner taught that the physical body is the condensation of a spiritual condition, reflecting an individual's level of evolutionary/spiritual development. Our physical bodies are the first and lowest of our four bodies (the others are the etheric, astral, and ego bodies or "I's"). [1] Physical bodies reflect, secondarily, the forces or kingdoms of nature [2]; they are the material forms in which we inhabit the physical plane of existence. [3] Everything that manifests in the natural world has a physical body; plants, animals, and humans also have higher, nonphysical bodies. [4] "All four realms of nature — minerals, plants, animals and human beings — become visible to the physical senses in a physical body [sic]. [5] Minerals consist of a physical body only. Plants have a physical body and an ether body. Animals have a physical body, and ether body and an astral body. Human beings have a physical body, an ether body, an astral body and...the 'I'." — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 93.

Steiner taught that good humans evolve upward through a succession of physical bodies, as we reincarnate over and over. We start in physical bodies of low races and evolve to the bodies of high races. [6] We climb upward toward a future condition when we will be freed from the physical body and life on the physical plane. "The evolution of man through the incarnations in ever higher national and racial forms is thus a process of liberation [leading to] an ideal future.” — R. Steiner, KNOWLEDGE OF THE HIGHER WORLDS AND ITS ATTAINMENT (Anthroposophic Press, 1944), p. 149. However, bad humans sink into lower and lower physical bodies and may become trapped in physical or even sub-physical existence. "Such souls lose the possibility of incarnation and find no other opportunity ... [T]here are no more bodies [7] bad enough [to house them] ... Beings that stay behind at such stages appear in a later epoch as subordinate nature spirits. [8]" — R. Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), p. 70.

In addition to one's level of evolutionary development, one's physical body also indicates one's "temperament." [9] Steiner subscribed to the ancient Greek belief that human beings can be sorted into four groups: melancholic, sanguine, phlegmatic, and choleric. [10] Each temperamental group has its own typical body type. “The melancholic children are as a rule tall and slender; the sanguine are the most normal; those with more protruding shoulders are the phlegmatic children; and those with a short stout build so that the head almost sinks down into the body are choleric.” — R. Steiner, DISCUSSIONS WITH TEACHERS (Anthroposophic Press, 1997), p. 34.

A physical body may be invaded by a demon or other spiritual entity that takes possession of it, Steiner taught. "[A] spiritual being can invade a human being to such an extent that the 'I' of that human being is pushed aside. [11] This spiritual being uses the human body [12] for its own ends."  — H. van Oort, ANTHROPOSOPHY A-Z (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2011), p. 60. Thus, some people are not really human beings; they are demons in disguise. "Such cases are increasing in which children are born with a human form [13], but are not really human beings ... [T]hey are not reincarnated, but are human forms filled with a sort of natural demon. There are quite a large number of older people going around who are actually not human beings. [14]" — R. Steiner, FACULTY MEETINGS WITH RUDOLF STEINER (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), pp. 649-650.

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[1] See "Incarnation".

[2] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "kingdoms of nature." (In Anthroposophical teachings, minerals — members of the lowest kingdom of nature — are alive, but they have only physical bodies; they do not have nonphysical bodies.)

[3] See the entry for "physical plane", below. We leave the physical body behind when we die. Steiner taught that some portions of ourselves also leave it behind during sleep. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "sleep".]

[4] See the entry for "nonphysical bodies" in this encyclopedia.

[5] I.e., our physical senses can perceive that physical bodies reflect the four realms or kingdoms of nature. [See the entry for "kingdoms of nature" in this encyclopedia.]

[6] See "Steiner's Racism".

[7] I.e., physical bodies. As low races die out, Steiner taught, their bodily forms cease to exist. Errant humans, who otherwise would incarnate in low racial forms, cannot do so because such forms have ceased to exist.

[8] That is, they become subhuman: Unable to incarnate in lowly human forms appropriate to their degraded condition, they drop below the human level of existence, becoming inferior types of nature spirits. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "subordinate nature spirits".]

[9] See "Temperaments".

[10] See "Humouresque & Not So Humouresque".

[11] The "I" is one's divine individual identity. A physical body from which the "I" has been expelled is human in form only; an invading entity or demon may then take possession of that body.

[12] I.e., the physical body.

[13] I.e., a human physical body.

[14] Physical bodies are thus potentially deceptive and dangerous: A person you meet may not be human at all but a demon. Distrust of physical bodies is of a piece with the general Anthroposophical attitude toward physical nature, the physical plane, nature, and the phenomena of the natural world. [See the entries for such terms in this encyclopedia.]

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physical-etheric organism, organization, state - also see etheric body; organization; physical body; cf. spirit-soul

Steiner taught that fully incarnated human beings have four bodies: the physical, etheric, astral, and ego bodies. [1] The two higher bodies (the astral and ego bodies) are intimately linked, housing the soul and spirit. [2] Steiner often spoke of the combination of these high components of the human constitution as the "spirit-soul" or, somewhat less often, as the "soul-spirit." [3] Likewise, Steiner taught that the two lower bodies (the physical and etheric bodies) are intimately linked. He spoke of the combination of these bodies or forces as the "physical-etheric organism" or "physical-etheric organization" of the human being. The physical and etheric bodies remain linked to one another even in conditions when the soul and spirit depart.  ◊ "During sleep the astral body and the ego are raised out of the physical-etheric organism of the human being." — R. Steiner, "Man and Woman in the Light of Spiritual Science", ANTHROPOSOPHICAL REVIEW, Winter 1980, Volume 2, No. 1, GA 56. ◊ "[A]t night the physical-etheric organization of every normal person refuses to absorb the soul-spiritual." — R. Steiner, THE INVISIBLE MAN WITHIN US (Mercury Press, 1979), GA 221. Specifically, Steiner taught that at night the astral body and ego body ascend to the spirit realm while the physical and etheric bodies remain bound to one another and to the Earth. Drawing a diagram to show this, Steiner said: “Here (left) we have the physical body and the ether body (yellow). [The ether body] fills the whole of the physical body. And here (right) we have the astral body, which is outside the human being [4] at night (red). At the top it is very small and hugely bulging down below. Then we have the I (violet). [5] This is how we are at night. We are two people in the night." — R. Steiner, BLACKBOARD DRAWINGS 1919-1924 (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2003), p. 102. [6]

[R.R. sketch, 2009, based on the image in the book. 

All four bodies reunite in the morning, as indicated by the arrows.]

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

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

[3] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "spirit-soul".

[4] I.e., it is outside of the physical body. (Steiner misspoke here; he did not equate humans with their lowly physical bodies. Here he meant that the astral body is outside of the physical body at night.)

[5] The "I" is the ego or ego body.

[6] I.e., one "person" — the physical-etheric organism — is earthbound while the other "person" — the combination of the astral and ego bodies — departs from the Earth. [See, e.g., "Holistic Education".]

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Physical Germination, Region of - see spirit world(s), spiritual world(s)

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physical nature - also see body nature; three-, four-, seven,- and ninefold natures of man

According to Steiner, this is the lowest division of body nature. [1] Steiner sometimes said the human constitution consists of nine major components [2]; on other occasions, he said seven [3]; on still others, he said four or three. [4] In each case, however, our physical nature (the physical body and all its parts and processes that can be observed with ordinary senses) is the lowest portion.

Body nature is one of three clusters of components, lower than soul nature (b) and spirit nature [5], as developed in the nine-part description of human nature. Within body nature, physical nature is below etheric nature and soul nature (a) - not to be confused with soul nature (b). [6]

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These are the nine chief components of the human constitution as Steiner sometimes described them. Physical nature is the lowest component of the lowest set of components, body nature. [See "What We're Made Of".]

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

[2] See "ninefold nature of man" in this encyclopedia.

[3] See "sevenfold nature of man" in this encyclopedia.

[4] See "fourfold nature of man" and "threefold nature of man" in this encyclopedia.

[5] See "soul nature" and "spirit nature" in this encyclopedia.

[6] See "What We're Made Of".

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physical plane - also see nature; physical body; Physical Stage of Form; physical world

According to Steiner, this is the realm of natural or material phenomena — it is crudely comprehensible through our ordinary senses and our powers of reasoning, but essentially it is a sphere of maya (illusion). [1] The physical plane is lower than the soul world or the astral plane, which in turn is lower than the spirit world or the Devachanic plane. [2] Nonetheless, if we incarnate fully, we possess all four of our bodies [3] while living on the physical plane; we are not confined to our physical bodies on this plane. "We stated that man has the four principles of his being active on the physical plane; his physical body, etheric body, astral body and ego. Further on we drew attention to the fact that in the animal, three principles are active on the physical plane; the physical, etheric, and astral bodies; while on the other hand, the [animal] group-ego [4] is on the astral plane. Further we saw that with regard to the plants, their physical and etheric bodies alone are active on the physical plane, their astral bodies on the astral plane, and the group-ego on the Devachanic plane. With regard to the mineral, we only found its physical body on the physical plane, its etheric body on the astral plane, its astral body on the Devachanic plane, while in the region we designate as the higher Devachanic plane [5], dwell the group-egos of the minerals." — R. Steiner, SPIRITUAL BEINGS IN THE HEAVENLY BODIES AND IN THE KINGDOMS OF NATURE (Steiner Book Centre, 1981), lecture 9, GA 136. (Note that more typically Steiner said plants do not have astral bodies and minerals do not have either etheric or astral bodies.)

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These are the planes of existence as often described by Steiner. However, he also gave other, more complex accounts. [See, e.g., the entries in this encyclopedia for "nirvana plane" and "para-nirvana plane".] The "Devachanic" plane is essentially equivalent to what Steiner often called the spirit world; the two levels of this plane are, thus, equivalent to the higher and lower spirit world. The astral plane is essentially equivalent to what Steiner often called the soul world. The physical plane is what materialists call the real world: the physical universe that we see around us with our physical eyes,

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[1] See "Science".

[2] Steiner distinguished between the soul and the spirit. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.] Likewise, Steiner indicated that the soul and spirit reflect higher worlds above the physical plane of existence. Steiner's descriptions of these matters was fluid, shifting a bit from time to time as Steiner's terminology shifted. But in general we can say that Steiner spoke of three worlds: the physical world, the soul world, and the spirit world. The soul is lower than the spirit, and thus the soul world (or the astral plane) is lower than the spirit world (Spiritland or Devachan). In turn, the spirit world can be deemed to contain two divisions, a lower and a higher division (the former is lower spiritland or the lower Devachanic plane; above this is higher spiritland or the higher Devachanic plane).

For more on all these matters, see "Higher Worlds". Also see entries in this encyclopedia for "astral plane", "soul world", "spirit world", "Devachan", "Lower Spiritland", and "Higher Spiritland".

[3] See "Incarnation".

[4] See the entries for "group ego" and "group soul" in this encyclopedia. Steiner often said that while human beings have four bodies (physical, etheric, astral, and ego bodies), animals have three (physical, etheric, and astral bodies), plants have two (physical and etheric bodies), and minerals only one (physical body). Here he offers a variant of this doctrine. He says humans have all four of their bodies while incarnated on Earth, but animals leave one of their bodies (or their "group-ego") in the higher realms when they descend for incarnation, plants leave two of their bodies in the higher realms, and minerals leave three of their bodies in the higher realms. Thus, all Earthly entities have four bodies, but only humans bring all four bodies into Earthly incarnation — i.e., life on the physical plane.

[5] I.e., the higher region of the spirit world. (Thus, Steiner says that plants leave their astral bodies in the lower region of the spirit world, and they leave their "group-egos" in the higher region of the spirit world.) 

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physical science - also see astronomy; chemistry; natural science; physics; science; cf. occult science; spiritual science

The physical sciences are sciences that deal with inanimate matter in the physical universe: astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology, oceanography, etc. They are distinct from the life sciences (biology, botany, zoology, ecology, etc.), and constitute a subdivision of the natural sciences. [1] Anthroposophists deem all natural sciences, and especially physical sciences, to be deeply deficient and misleading. They deem Anthroposophy to be "spiritual science" [2], which they believe gives a more accurate and rounded view of reality. Steiner's statements about the physical sciences were generally dismissive. Thus, for instance, "Physical science will be utterly fruitless and only describe external facts as long as it does not penetrate into the spirit of [the] facts [it studies]. [3]" — R. Steiner, “The Four Human Group Souls (Lion, Bull, Eagle, Man)”, a lecture, GA 107. Steiner sometimes said physical science would ultimately confirm the findings of his spiritual science, but he also said there is an unbridgeable chasm between the ordinary sciences and his own teachings. "Occult Science [4] is the antithesis of Natural Science.” — R. Steiner, AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1972), preface to editions 16-20, p.iv, GA 13. Speaking of natural or physical sciences generally, under the simplifying label of "science," Steiner made the startling assertion that "[S]cience speaks under the influence of the demonic Mars-forces." — R. Steiner, “The Spiritual Individualities of the Planets” (THE GOLDEN BLADE 1966). Disciplines that function under demonic influence are, of course, not to be trusted. [5]

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[1] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "biology", "botany", "natural sciences", etc.

[2] See the entries in this encyclopedia for "spiritual science" and "occult science."

[3] The needed penetration is achieved in his "spiritual science" through the use of clairvoyance, Steiner taught. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "clairvoyance".]

[4] "Occult science" and "spiritual science" are generally interchangeable terms within Anthroposophy, particularly when they refer to Steiner's teachings or to the substance and practice of Anthroposophy.

[5] See "Steiner's 'Science'" and "Science".

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Physical Stage of Form - also see physical plane; physical world; stages of form

We currently live in a physical condition, on the physical planet Earth in the physical solar system. Specifically, according to Anthroposophical belief, we live in the Physical Stage of Form, between the Astral Stage and the Perfected Astral Stage. Stages of form are subdivisions of conditions of life, which in turn are subdivisions of conditions of consciousness. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.] Steiner, drawing heavily from Theosophy, taught that each condition of consciousness comprises seven conditions of life, each of which in turn comprise seven stages of form. Thus, while we will evolve through seven conditions of consciousness, we will pass through 49 conditions of life (7 x 7) and 343 stages of form (7 x 7 x 7). During each seven-step sequence of stages of form, we move from essentially a formless condition downward to a densely formed condition and then upward toward an ideally incorporeal form. We currently exist at the bottom or turning point in this series: we are about as densely physical as possible while remaining within the divinely planned evolutionary pattern. [1]

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• STAGES OF FORM •

This is how Steiner outlined stages of form when he still generally employed Theosophical terminology (derived partly from Hinduism). During each condition of life, we evolve through seven stages of form, depicted here as globes. We evolve downward from formlessness ("arupa") to an initial form ("rupa") that is still far above physicality. In a sense, the Arupa Stage occurs in the higher precincts of the spirit world, and the Rupa Stage occurs in the lower precincts of that world. After a further step downward, we attain the form possible on the astral plane, otherwise called the soul world. [2] Proceeding downward as far as we may safely go, we attain our physical forms in the physical universe. Thereafter, we reascend, strengthened and improved. We carry some of our physicality, cleansed of its baseness, into the soul world (we assume an "astral" form that is more pliant or "plastic" than previously). Then we ascend to lower spirit precincts where our form is now "intellectual" (i.e., entirely mental, shaped largely by our own will and consciousness). [3] Finally, we arrive again in the upper spirit precincts where our form is "archetypal" (i.e., ideal, entirely spiritual). [4] [Diagram from Steiner's FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 26, GA 93a; color added]

The Physical Stage of Form consists of seven epochs or great epochs. We have already evolved through four of these: the Polarian, Hyperborean, Lemurian, and Atlantean epochs. [5] We are currently in the Post-Atlantean epoch [6], with the sixth and seventh epochs yet to come. According to Anthropsophical belief, the physical world and universe that we are accustomed to today, perceiving them with our ordinary senses, have really existed only during the Post-Atlantean epoch. The final portions of the Atlantean epoch were only approximately "physical" by today's standards, and the same will hold for the initial portions of the sixth epoch. The other periods of our evolution in the Physical Stage were and will be scarcely physical at all by today's standards, although all epochs of the Physical Stage should be deemed more earthly and material (in some sense) than any condition that we experienced before or will experience hereafter. The best source for such matters is R. Steiner's OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE, although many passages are sketchy and opaque. [7]

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[1] Anyone who falls even farther into physicality runs the grave risk of tumbling out of evolution and descending into the abyss. [See "Hell" and the entries for "abyss" and "Eighth Sphere" in this encyclopedia.]

[2] See "Higher Worlds".

[3] Steiner's use of the term "intellectual" can be confusing. Sometimes, accepting Theosophical usage, he seems to affirm intellect. But on other occasions, and especially after breaking from Theosophy, he professed severe distrust of intellect. [See the entry for "intellect" in this encyclopedia.]

[4] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "archetypes".

[5] See entries for these terms in this encyclopedia; also see "Early Earth", "Lemuria", and "Atlantis".

[6] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "Post-Atlantean Epoch".

[7] See "Everything".

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physical world - also see abyss; elemental beings; elements; maya; nature; nature spirits; physical plane; cf. spirit realm; spirit world(s)

Steiner generally taught that there are three worlds, the lowest of which is the physical world. Above this world are the soul world (also called the astral world or astral plane), and that is the spirit world (also called the devachanic world or devachanic plane). [1] “The three worlds are 1. The physical world, the scene of human life. 2. The astral world or the world of soul. 3. The devachanic world or world of spirit. The three worlds are not spatially separate. We are surrounded by the things of the physical world which we perceive with our ordinary sense, but the astral world is in the same space; we live in the other two worlds, the astral and devachanic worlds, at the same time as we live in the physical world." — R. Steiner, FOUNDING A SCIENCE OF THE SPIRIT (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1999), pp. 10-11.

The physical world is, in many ways, a place of illusion or maya. Steiner taught. “I must emphasize this again and again, that the saying ‘the [physical] world is Maya’ is so vitally important." — R. Steiner, THE MISSION OF THE FOLK SOULS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2005), p. 64. [2] Although the spirit realm (the soul world and the spirit world) are all around us, we may easily lose contact with them while living in the physical world, Steiner said. Here in the physical world, we must rely to a great extent on our physical senses and our physical mental equipment, which are insufficient for finding Truth. Here, we are caught — to a large extent — in a merely material existence. [3] This exposes us to great danger. If we descend too far into merely material existence, we may lose all contact with the spirit realm and tumble into the abyss. [4]

According to Steiner, the physical world is inhabited by invisible subhuman creatures, called nature spirits or elemental beings: principally gnomes, sylphs, undines, and fire spirits. [5] Some of these are, or seem to be, beneficent, but others are amoral at best. “There are beings that can be seen with clairvoyant vision at many spots in the depths of the earth ... Many names have been given to them, such as goblins, gnomes and so forth ... What one calls moral responsibility in man is entirely lacking in them ... Their nature prompts them to play all sorts of tricks on man....” — R. Steiner, NATURE SPIRITS (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1995), pp. 62-63. Accordingly, Waldorf students are generally taught to respect nature (which was created by the gods) but also to fear it (it is a place or illusion, amorality, and trickery); it is, in a sense, antithetical to the spirit realm.

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Steiner taught that during our current stage of evolution, we descend from the spiritual world to the physical world (symbolized here by the horizontal line). We must reascend, or we will fall too far and enter the abyss. "[B]elow in the abyss will sound forth names of blasphemy and of hatred of that which brings about the spiritual transformation ... [T]hose who remain in materiality [will] go down into the abyss ... They will afterwards form a world beneath the present world, so to speak, a world of the abyss, where man will again have assumed animal shape." — R. Steiner, THE APOCALYPSE OF ST. JOHN, lecture 7, GA 104. [Illustration from that lecture; color added.]

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

[2] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "maya."

[3] See, e.g., "Materialism U."

[4] See, e.g., "Hell".

[5] See "Neutered Nature".

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physics - also see Einstein; natural science; Newton; physical science; science

This is the science that, broadly speaking, studies energy and matter. Like the other natural sciences, physics is viewed askance in Waldorf schools. Steiner rejected much of modern physics, including the atomic theory, the theory of universal gravitation, the theory of relativity, etc. [See "Science".] He disputed the findings of Newton, Einstein, and physicists in general, rejecting their views as materialistic nonsense or, at best, descriptions of the lowly physical plane that omit the true spiritual essence and the spiritual causes of physical phenomena. So, for instance, he said "The physicist imagines that each body consists of an infinite number of immeasurable small parts, like atoms. They are not in contact with each other, but they are separated by small interstices. They, in the turn, unite to [create] larger forms, the molecules, which still cannot be discerned by the eye. Only when an infinite number of molecules unite, we get what our senses perceive as bodies [1] ... The physicist explains all sense-perceivable, all sense-perceptible qualities by motion. So, what moves cannot yet have qualities. But what has no qualities cannot move at all. Therefore, the atom assumed by physicists is a thing that dissolves into nothing if judged sharply. So, the whole way of explanation falls. [2] We must ascribe to color, warmth, sounds, etc., the same reality as to motion. With this, we have refuted the physicists, and have proved the objective reality of the world of phenomena and of ideas. [3]" — R. Steiner, ATOMISM AND ITS REFUTATION (Mercury Press, 1985), GA 38. Anthroposophists are generally convinced by Steiner's arguments on such points; virtually no one else is. In fact, Steiner often seems uninformed about scientific findings, and he thus often argues from false premises. [4]

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[1] I.e., physical objects. (Steiner taught that we also have other, nonphysical bodies. [See "Incarnation".])

[2] I.e., all of physics or the entire atomic theory — Steiner argues that they are false.

[3] I.e., Steiner claims to hereby disprove the physicsts' view and prove his own explanation of phenomena and the ideas (spirits) that inform them.

[4] Thus, nearly every statement he makes about the views of physicists — such as that "physicist explains all sense-perceivable...qualities by motion", or that each body contains "an infinite number" of component parts — is mistaken. Physics has a great deal to say about objects at rest (not in motion, yet possessing qualities), and physics often deals with extremely large numbers, but it rarely asserts infinitude (a calculation that results in an infinite conclusion is almost always understood to be wrong or meaningless). Steiner appears not to understand what physics teaches. 

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physiology - see human constitution; medicine; physical body

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pictorial activity, pictorial speech, pictorial thinking - also see clairvoyance; imagination; imaginations; living thoughts; thinking

According to Steiner, the formation of mental pictures — especially through imagination and/or clairvoyance — is central to cognition. Thinking with the brain is fraught with dangers [1], Steiner said, but using imagination [2] enables one to recapture knowledge learned in the spirit realm before coming to Earth. Steiner stated the matter this way when addressing Waldorf teachers: "When we teach, in a certain sense we take up again the activities we experienced before birth. We must see that thinking is a pictorial activity which is based on the activities we experienced before birth." — R. Steiner, THE FOUNDATIONS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 62. In reality, much thinking entails concepts and abstractions that cannot be pictured. Steiner generally deplored such thinking, but his own lectures and books are full non-pictorial thought. All serious speaking and writing is.

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[1] See "Thinking" and "Steiner's Specific".

[2] See the entry in this encyclopedia for "imagination". Steiner taught that true, clairvoyant imagination occurs not in the brain but in nonphysical "organs of clairvoyance." [See, e.g., "Knowing the Worlds".]

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piety - see Vulcan consciousness

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pineal gland - also see brain; Future Jupiter; head

The pineal gland is an endocrine gland, in the brain, that secretes melatonin. There had long been speculation about the function of this small, mysterious gland. Using his "clairvoyance," Steiner offered statements such as the following: ◊ "On Old Moon [1] the head of the human being was still open ... Today [the pineal gland] is stunted and withered but it was an important organ during the Old Moon embodiment. It was a kind of sense organ ... The pineal gland at that time was a kind of warmth organ, emitting powerful, luminous rays of warmth. When on Old Moon man [2] was moving about, the function of this organ was to show him the direction he must take. Man's perception on Old Moon consisted in something like a dream picture rising up within him ... Everything a man set out to do on Old Moon, how he searched for his food and so forth, was always activated by these pictures." — R. Steiner, ROSICRUCIAN ESOTERICISM (Anthroposophic Press, 1978), lecture 7, GA 109. ◊ "[T]he rock formation[s] of the Future Jupiter [3] [will] be the result of our words. The ocean of Jupiter, the warmth of Jupiter, will arise out of the feelings of present-day humanity. The beings of Jupiter will arise out of human will ... [T]hese beings will inhabit the forms which we develop by means of our pineal gland. [4]" — R. Steiner, FOUNDATIONS OF ESOTERICISM (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1982), lecture 9, GA 93a.

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[1] I.e., during the third incarnation of the solar system, the third condition of consciousness. The evolutionary stage called Old Moon came after Old Sun and before Preset Earth. [See the entries in this encyclopedia for "incarnations of the solar system" and "conditions of consciousness".]

[2] I.e., proto-humanity: ourselves as we existed during Old Moon. We were not yet human then. [See the entry in this encyclopedia for "human stage of evolution".] Steiner's language is potentially confusing, here. When he speaks of "man" walking "on" Old Moon, he means proto-humans moving around during the Old Moon phase of evolution.

[3] I.e., during the fifth incarnation of the solar system. Future Jupiter will come after Present Earth, Steiner taught. [See "Future Stages".]

[4] I.e., Future Jupiter and its beings will result from our actions and consciousness during Present Earth; they will arise largely from the functioning of the human pineal gland.

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Pisces - also see astrology; constellations; Jupiter; Neptune; zodiac

This is one of the zodiacal constellations, the Fishes. The  term "Pisces" also applies to the astrological sign for this constellation.◊ "Astrological sign (February 20-March 21); Element — Water ... [R]uling planets — Jupiter and Neptune. Qualities ... [T]hese people have lofty ideals, an attractive personality, psychic and occult gifts, and are artistic. But they can go in two directions at once, can be drifters, completely impractical, and famous worriers." — G. Riland, THE NEW STEINERBOOKS DICTIONARY OF THE PARANORMAL (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1980), p. 223. ◊ "Pisces represents 'The Great Deep' ... It stands for Chaos ... At present, Pisces is especially important for all mankind, for we are passing through the Piscean Age ... Through the formless Spirit's imprisonment in the flesh, there has now developed a phase of life so dense [1] that the divinity in man has been largely forgotten. This has produced a mode of consciousness stepped down to such an extent by the brain [2] as to make man unresponsive to, and unaware of, the spiritual realms and beings [3], and of his true nature of soul and spirit [4] ... Pisces being the loftiest note in the Zodiac...it is small wonder in an age so intensely intellectual and godless [5], that any people fail to express the spiritual and gravitate toward intellectualism and materialism. [6]" — J. Jocelyn, MEDITATIONS OF THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC (SteinerBooks, 2006), pp. 251-252.

Astrological lore of this sort receives serious attention from Anthroposophists. Astrology underlies much of Anthroposophy, including Waldorf education. [See "Astrology" and "Star Power".] Steiner himself designed new representations for the twelve signs of the zodiac, including Pisces. [See "Waldorf Astrology".] Here is a mystic verse Steiner wrote, expressing the "mood" of Pisces. (He wrote similar verses for all the other signs of the zodiac.) "In what is lost, may the loss find itself,/In what is gained, may the gain lose itself,/In what is comprehended, may comprehending seek itself/And sustain itself by sustaining./Through becoming, uplifted to existence,/Through existing, interwoven with the becoming./May the loss be gain in itself!" — R. Steiner, TWELVE MOODS (Mercury Press, 1984), GA 40.

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[1] Steiner taught that mankind's evolution from Old Saturn to Present Earth has been a descent from formlessness into dense, limiting, physical existence; we are now, in this sense, far removed from the spirit realm. [See the entries in this encyclopedia for "evolution", "incarnations of the solar system","Old Saturn", and "Present Earth".]

[2] Anthroposophy generally disparages the brain. [See "Thinking" and "Steiner's Specific".]

[3] See "Higher Worlds", "Polytheism", and "Beings".

[4] Steiner taught that we have both souls and spirits. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.]

[5] In Anthroposophical belief, intellect is a gift from Lucifer, and it has value in physical existence, but it is tainted by Ahriman and has no real value in the spirit realm. [See the entries for "intellect", "Lucifer", and "Ahriman" in this encyclopedia.]

[6] Godlessness, intellect, and materialism are closely linked, from an Anthroposphical perspective. [See, e.g., "Materialism U."]

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Pitris - also see gods; leaders; Lunar Pitris; Solar Pitris; spiritual guides

In Anthroposophical and Theosophical belief, these are spiritual beings, forefathers of humanity, associated with the Moon and Sun. [See, e.g., "Christ Events".] The word "pitris," meaning fathers, is taken from Sanskrit. The Pitris passed through the human level of development before us, Steiner said, and they have since risen to the ranks of the gods. They have been our leaders, showing us the way forward. Steiner taught that Christ — humanity's great leader, our prototype — is the highest of the Solar Pitris, i.e., gods of the Sun. [See "Sun God".] The "Lunar Pitris" were human during Old Moon and became gods during the Present Earth phase of evolution [1]; they are now the gods commonly called Angels. The "Solar Pitris" are more advanced, having been human during Old Sun [2] and becoming gods during Old Moon; they are now the gods known as Archangels. Here is Steiner speaking of Pitris: "These beings [3] are the 'Sons of Twilight,' the 'Spirits of Dusk' ... They attain[ed] the stage of humanity only on the Moon. [4] On earth [5] they, as well as their predecessors, the Sons of Fire [6], have already grown beyond the stage of humanity." — R. Steiner, COSMIC MEMORY (Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1959), chapter 14, GA 11. The gods of the lowest ranks — Sons of Twilight and Sons of Fire — have been our most direct spiritual fathers or guides, according to Steiner. However, in another sense, extremely high gods — the Radiating Flames — were the "fathers" who created us during Old Saturn. [See the entry for Radiating Flames, in this encyclopedia. For a summary of the various ranks of gods, see "Polytheism".]

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Steiner taught that there are nine ranks of gods subdivided into three groupings called hierarchies. The lowest three ranks of gods form the Third Hierarchy. Solar Pitris are gods of the eighth rank; Lunar Pitris stand at the ninth rank.

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[1] In Anthroposophical belief, Old Moon and Present Earth are stages of evolution, incarnations of the solar system. We have evolved to progressively higher levels of consciousness as we accompanied the solar system in this evolutionary progress. Steiner taught that beings become human by reaching a stage of evolutionary development just below deification. [See the entry for "human stage of evolution" in this encyclopedia.] We will become gods when we evolve beyond our human stage of development, Steiner said.

[2] According to Steiner, the first incarnation of the solar system was Old Saturn. It was followed by Old Sun, which preceded Old Moon. [See the entries for these terms in this encyclopedia.]

[3] I.e., Lunar Pitris.

[4] I.e., they became human during Old Moon.

[5] I.e., during Present Earth. (These gods rarely if ever appear on the physical planet Earth.)

[6] I.e., Solar Pitris, Archangels.