According to Rudolf Steiner, human evolution will pass through at least seven major stages, called Conditions of Consciousness or Planetary Conditions. The entire solar system accompanies us as we evolve through these large Conditions.

The first of Conditions of Consciousness was Old Saturn. The second was Old Sun. The third was Old Moon. We currently live in the fourth Condition of Consciousness, called Present Earth.

During each Condition of Consciousness, we cycle through various developmental stages called Conditions of Life and Conditions of Form. Within the Present Earth Condition of Consciousness, we currently occupy the Mineral Condition of Life (in a sense, we exist at the level of minerals). And here at the Mineral Condition of Life, we stand at the Physical Condition of Form (in a sense, we live on the physical plane of existence).

During Present Earth, in the Mineral Condition of Life, at the Physical Stage of Form, we will pass through seven smaller developmental stages called Great Epochs. The first Great Epoch was Polaris or the Polarian Age; the second was Hyperborea of the Hyperborean Age; the third was the Lemurian Age (when we lived on the continent of Lemuria); the fourth was the Atlantean Age (when we lived on the continent of Atlantis). We currently live in the fifth Great Epoch, the Post-Atlantean Age.

Describing the first two Great Epochs is extremely difficult, because conditions then were so different from anything we know now. But here are efforts at description, coming to us from within the Anthroposophical community. I will quote a brief account of Polaris followed by a much more detailed account. Then I will do the same with Hyperborea. 

Bear in mind that Steiner's statements about many of these matters are confusing and even contradictory. Anthroposophists have had difficulty making sense, and piecing together a consistent narrative, out of the resulting confusion. Hence, what you are about to read may be difficult if not impossible to reconcile with other accounts you may have seen. But here's the main point: I will be quoting from Anthroposophical sources online in the year 2023. These are not Steiner's views, necessarily. These are the sort of things Steiner's followers (such as those who run Waldorf schools) believe in the 21st century. Now.

— Roger Rawlings

I.

POLARIS

(or Polaria)

From a statement posted by Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain

[https://anthroposophy.org.uk/evolution-from-the-point-of-view-of-spiritual-science/  1/27/2023]

I have added a few clarifying footnotes. — R.R.

In the Polaris state [1] the solar system is [2] still a homogeneous unity. There are no planets as we know them, no Sun, Moon or Earth. There is still no physical matter as we understand it. Considering past developments we can say that there is transformed warmth from the Saturn-condition [3], providing the basis for the physical body of man, and a residue of Saturn warmth, which is a basis for the mineral world [4]. There is life force [5] and something akin to light from the Sun-condition [6], providing the basis of man’s etheric body [7] and the plant world [8]. Thirdly, there is astral substance [9], which, taken into the human being, gives him the ability to have external and internal experiences, and an astral residue that is the basis for the animal world [10]. Polaris is still wholly soul and spirit [11] and one still has to think of the physical existing only in prototype [12]. One might imagine the substance of Polaris as refined ether [13] surrounded by an astral atmosphere [14]. In this atmosphere are the souls of human beings. The atmosphere and the substance combine, thus taking a step towards physical manifestation [15]. If one takes the picture of a rain cloud which dissolves into drops, one could compare this with the dissolving of the spiritual atmosphere into the particularized human beings [16].

The spiritual Hierarchies [17] are, of course, still active. In the actual sphere of substance a contraction takes place, or to put it another way, a smaller sphere is formed within the larger, leaving an outer layer which we might think of as under pure Saturn influence. Our present planet Saturn comes into existence as the manifest representation [18].

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Footnotes by R.R.

[1] I.e., during the Polarian age. [See "Polarian Epoch" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[2] I.e., was. The age of Polaris happened long ago.

[3] I.e., Old Saturn, the first incarnation of the solar system. [See "Old Saturn" in the BWSE.]

[4] Man evolved from the transformed warmth of Old Saturn, while the mineral world evolved from the remainder of the (untransformed) warmth of Old Saturn.

[5] See "life force" in the BWSE.

[6] I.e., Old Sun, the second incarnation of the solar system. [See "Old Sun" in the BWSE.]

[7] Anthroposophists believe the etheric body is the first of three incorporeal bodies that human beings come to possess. [See "etheric body" in the BWSE.]

[8] I.e., plants evolved from the transformed light of Old Sun. (That light was different from the light the present-day Sun produces.)

[9] Astral substance is the material of the astral plane and/or astral world. Anthroposophists believe the astral body is the second of three incorporeal bodies that human beings come to possess. [See these various terms in the BWSE.]

[10] Astral substance in our present-day world may represent, in part, a transformed version of astral substance that was present during Old Moon, the third incarnation of the solar system. Anthroposophists believe most animals in our present-day world evolved from such astral substance. [See "Old Moon", etc., in the BWSE.]

[11] I.e., Polaris was still essentially spiritual, not physical. 

Anthroposophy distinguishes between soul and spirit. [See these terms in the BWSE.]

[12] I.e., physical reality was only beginning to emerge; physical objects existed only in a preliminary, prototype form.

[13] See "ether" in the BWSE.

[14] I.e., the sort of atmosphere found in or around, or emanating from, the astral plane and/or the astral world. [See these various terms in the BWSE.]

[15] I.e., the astral atmosphere and substance as found in Polaris merged, becoming more dense than they had been when separate. This relatively denser mixture would eventually become even more dense, thus leading to the very dense physical conditions we find in the present-day world.

[16] Human souls floated in the astral atmosphere of Polaris. Eventually these individualities would precipitate out of the combined astral atmosphere/substance, becoming distinguishable separate human beings.

[17] I.e., the gods. [See "hierarchies" in the BWSE.]

[18] I.e., within the large sphere which was Polaris (containing the entire solar system in an undifferentiated, homogeneous mixture), a smalled sphere eventually formed. This sphere would someday become the planet Saturn as we know it now. (Polaris generally remained under the pure influence of Old Saturn, while the new condensate — the smaller sphere that would become the planet Saturn — reflected the influence of Old Saturn altered by the new, semi-physical atmosphere/substance that developed during the Polarian epoch).

Excerpts from a presentation posted at AnthroWiki

[https://en.anthro.wiki/Polar_epoch   1/27/2023]

I have added a few clarifying footnotes. — R.R.

Polaris, the polar epoch [1]...is the first of the seven main ages [2] into which the actual physical earth evolution [3]...is divided. The name of this developmental epoch is derived from the fact that these original Earth conditions of the polar time were preserved for the longest time around the 'North Pole'. However, this [Polaris] was a huge nebulous gaseous structure that still encompassed the entire planetary system and also contained the Sun and the other nascent planets ... On the present geologic time scale, this [the Polar epoch] would correspond to the time from the beginning of the Hadean 4,600 million years ago until about the middle of the Archean ... The time of Polaris is [i.e., was] the time of the first "primitive mountains". The Sun had not yet reached its full luminosity at that time...

At the end of the third round of Earth's evolution [4], the whole Earth [5] had passed into a purely spiritual existence, into a so-called small Pralaya [6]. Now, at the beginning of the fourth round [7], it [the "Earth" or the solar system] first descended again to the astral condition of form [8]. Man had then brought with him from the earlier states of evolution the physical body, the etheric body and the astral body [9]. All this now first appeared in astral form [10]. Man was therefore a being with physical, etheric and astral laws [11], which, however, existed in purely spiritual form, and the whole globe [12], shining in the astral light [13]...consisted exclusively of these astral human formations [14]...

Then...a physical-etheric fire-form condensed [15] ... The Earth...gradually entered into the physical state of form [16]. This fire form was interwoven and differentiated by the effects of the most varied spiritual entities [17], whereby the human entities still remained almost entirely in the uncondensed astral environment of the Earth [18] ... At that time, the human being consisted of the sentient soul, the astral body, an etheric body woven from life ether and a physical body of fire [19].

Sun, Moon, Earth and all other planets still formed a common etheric celestial body that could not yet be sensually perceived [20]. The fire earth now condensed further into the state of air [21]. It resembled a mist of fine etheric germinal points, each of which carried the spiritual archetype of the human form, which appears to the seer as a splendid figure of light [22]...

Of the 9 layers of the earth's interior, only the three innermost layers...have now formed [23] ... These three innermost layers are the earth mirror, which transforms all qualities into their opposite; further, the splinterer, through which everything appears fragmented and multiplied to infinity; and finally, the earth core, which...Dante described in his "Divine Comedy" as an ice hell. The very strongest anti-moral forces are concentrated in these three layers [24] ... At present...these forces are pushing more and more to the surface. Strict moral self-education must therefore in future increasingly ensure that these forces do not penetrate to the outside and thereby become a terrible source of evil, even black magic [25].

At that time [26], the human body consisted of a fine gas body in the form of a kind of flower crown, through which light shone [27]. Spiritually, the human being was still completely rooted in the higher spiritual beings [28]; his own consciousness resembled that of a plant, it was still a pure sleep consciousness...

Not all human souls could bear this condensation into the air element [29]. That is why Saturn [the planet] was detached from the common structure as an independent celestial body, in order to create a suitable dwelling place for them [30].

Now, however, as a remnant of the old lunar development [31], there were also such astral beings who were further back than the lowest human souls [32]. They are the ancestors of the animal kingdom [33]. The animals thus created, however, had souls that could not dwell in the individual animal but had to work as a group soul [34].

Thus a physically visible ball of vapour, permeated with warmth, air and light [35], gradually emerged from the primeval mist and radiated its light into the cosmos like a sun [36]. In this light all hierarchies up to the Seraphim still lived together with the Earth and the light that permeated the Earth was the power of love. Love [37] ... This, however, was already a transition to the next epoch, the hyperborean time [38].

◊

Footnotes by R.R.

[1] "Polaris" is also called "Polaria". The "Polar epoch" is also called the "Polarian Epoch" and the "Polaric Age". [See "Polaria" and  "Polarian Epoch" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia (BWSE).]

[2] I.e., great epochs. [See "great epochs" in the BWSE.]

[3] The "actual physical earth evolution" (the evolution of the physical planet Earth) has occurred during the fourth incarnation of the solar system, a period called Present Earth. [See "Present Earth" in the BWSE.]

[4] See "Old Moon" in the BWSE.

[5] I.e., the solar system as it existed then. The solar system was a homogeneous mass, containing the Earth and all other planets. Hence, Anthroposophists sometimes call the solar system at that stage "Earth."

[6] A pralaya is a pause, a resting period, in the forward march of evolution. [See "pralaya" in the BWSE.]

[7] The fourth round is the fourth incarnation of the solar system: Present Earth. [Again, see "Present Earth" in the BWSE.]

[8] The astral condition of form is the third of seven stages of form; it precedes the physical condition or stage of form. [See "stages of form" in the BWSE.]

[9] See "bodies" in the BWSE.

[10] I.e., in the astral condition or stage of form. [See "Astral Stage of Form" in the BWSE.]

[11] That is, man had nascent physical, etheric, and astral bodies, and thus he was subject to the laws of the physical, etheric, and astral planes of existence. (Another way to say this is that man had the beginnings of a physical body, a soul, and a spirit.)

[12] I.e., the "Earth" or the solar system in its new form: Polaris. [The terms "round" and "globe" are used in various ways, not always consistently, by Theosophists and Anthroposophists. See "rounds" and "globes" in the BWSE.]

[13] Astral light may be conceived as the illumination found on the astral plane. It is also sometimes described as the universal either and/or akasha. [See "akasha" in the BWSE.]

[14] I.e., the whole of Polaris (which contained the entire solar system) consisted, as it were, of developing proto-human forms, which would evolve to become actual human beings. (Polaris was homogeneous, so the same Polar substance may be deemed to be the substance of the Sun, the substance of the various planets, and the substance of the human being. None of these things — Sun, planets, humans — had yet separated out to become discrete entities. But the developing human beings were central to everything; all of cosmic evolution, at least in our solar system, centers on us. The gods are focused on us.)

[15] This was the beginning of the process of condensation or manifestation that would lead to physical existence. Out of the warm homogeneous substance of Polaris, a difficult-to-describe form (ethereal, semi-physical) took shape. This was Polaris (the entire solar system) entering a new, more palpable stage of existence.

[16] Polaris was moving from the third stage of form (astral) to the fourth stage of form (physical). [See "Physical Stage of Form" in the BWSE.]

[17] I.e., multitudinous spirits — chiefly gods — worked on us, contributing to our evolution.

[18] We remained to a large degree merged within the homogeneous (but evolving) substance of Polaris — we had not yet separated out.

[19] In the BWSE, see the entries for "sentient soul," "astral body, and "etheric body." To the extent that we had a physical body at that stage of Polaris, it was a body that was primarily composed of the warmth or fire of Polaris (we had a "physical body of fire").

[20] I.e., all of the solar system was merged in a single "celestial body" what existed on the etheric plane — none of it was yet physical as we know things to be now, and for this reason none of it was visible. (If you had been there, in a physical body, using physical eyes, you would not have seen anything.)

[21] The "Earth" (i.e., the solar system, i.e., Polaris) existed as a state of warmth (or etheric "fire"). Now it shifted and became a state of "air" (or ether) — moving along the sequence fire, air, liquid, earth.

[22] The "air" or ether of the transfomed Polaria was filled by a "mist" that contained vast numbers of tiny "germinal points" each of which was the shining pattern ("a splendid figure of light"), representing the ideal human template ("the spiritual archetype of the human form").

[23] Although the planet Earth had not yet formed within the sphere of Polaris, the three innermost lays of the planet Earth began to form.

[24] Perhaps surprisingly, the innermost layers of the earth are evil or at least anti-moral.

[25] The narrative leaps ahead, momentarily, to the present day. The innermost layers of the earth are presently pushing upward toward the surface of the planet Earth, bringing with them their anti-moral tendencies. "Strict moral self-education" will be needed to prevent the anti-moral tendencies from producing "a terrible source of evil, even black magic."

[26] The narrative shifts back to extremely ancient times, when the solar system existed as Polaris.

[27]  The previous description of the developing human form is repeated here, with the added detail that this form was "a kind of flower crown."

[28] The developing human being was not autonomous, but was still "rooted" — like a plant — in the gods. (This can be seen as a prefigurment of humanity's transition from the mineral Condition of Life to the plant Condition of Life.)

[29] I.e., not all could bear the denser conditions that prevailed after Polaria transitioned from a fiery stage to an air stage. These souls would be the first of many who would leave "Earth" for other planets as the Earth became ever more dense. (Bear in mind that the planet Earth did not yet exist, but was in the process of formation.)

[30] The planet Saturn was formed within the mass of Polaris — it became the first planet to emerge as a distinct entity, separating from the homogeneous substance of Polaria. Saturn would become a refuge for the first group of human souls who could not bear the denser conditions developing as Polaria evolved.

[31] Certain spirits, dwellers on the astral plane, preserved within themselves conditions held over from Old Moon (the third incarnation of the solar system).

[32] These "astral beings" stood at a lower evolutionary level than the lowest of human souls (who had evolved upward from Old Moon to Present Earth).

[33] These astral beings had once been equivalent to the developing human souls, but because they could not keep pace with human evolution, they branched off and became animals.

[34] Whereas humans have individual souls, animals have group souls (shared souls of oversouls in which all members of a single species partake). Note that Steiner sometimes said that human beings have group souls in addition to individual souls; but animals only have group souls.

[35] Polaris had become a realm of warmth (decreasing), air (increasing), and light (begun in astral conditions and shining from all the human souls who constituted the substance of Polaris).

[36] At this stage, the light of Polaris shone from all parts of Polaris; the light did not shine exclusively from the portion of Polaris that would become the Sun.

[37] The "Earth" (or Polaria, or the human souls constituting Polaria) lived in immediate contact with gods, up to the highest of the hierarchies, the Seraphim. The light permeating Polaria was the divine power of Love.

[38] However, these conditions changed. (This is the rule of evolution: continual change.) Polaria would end, replaced by Hyperborea.

[R.R.]

II.

HYPERBOREA

From a statement posted by Anthroposophical Society in Great Britain

[https://anthroposophy.org.uk/evolution-from-the-point-of-view-of-spiritual-science/  1/27/2023]

[After Polaris] further contractions take place and a further condensation of substance [1], accompanied by a change in man. It must be remembered that the human being of this age had no rigid form but was pliable and adaptable to circumstances. [2] He lived much more in and from the environment. In the changing circumstances the Earth-warmth and the air-substance are drawn into his ‘body’ [3].

Also existing in this sphere are certain beings who have not wholly completed the past stages of their evolution. The environment no longer suits them and they therefore seek new ‘homes’ in the cosmos. The result is the formation of the planets which we know as Jupiter and Mars [4].

There are also other higher beings who find that they can no longer exert the desired influence in this denser matter and they leave. Their departure ultimately results in the formation of the present Sun. These beings now influence mankind and the Earth from outside. [5] In order that man shall not become too enmeshed in matter his experience is designed to alternate between the physical and the spiritual. That is to say that a rhythm is established for the soul to be in the body for a certain time and then outside [6]. This is the beginning of the day and night experience. It is one of the reasons why the spiritual beings bring about a movement of the Earth, i.e. it begins to revolve [7].

The outside planets Saturn, Jupiter and Mars have become independent and take up their own movements. What is left is a sphere that continues to contract and in so doing releases Venus and Mercury as habitations for beings at intermediate stages [8]. Remaining is an Earth-Moon planet [9] on which the forms of life become more and more differentiated. They are still unlike present forms. Man’s body has a substantiality almost like air [10].

◊

Footnotes by R.R.

[1] I.e., the solar system contracted, becoming smaller and denser than it had been during Polaris. The new, more compact solar system — which was more or less homogeneous, like Polaris — became the site for the second great epoch of Present Earth. This form of the solar system is called Hyperborea; the great epoch that occurred there is called the Hyperborean Epoch or Age. [See "Hyperborea" and "Hyperborean Epoch'" in the BWSE. For a refresher, you might also see "Present Earth".]

[2] Man evolved along with the solar system (which existed primarily for his benefit). Man now had a "body" that was pliant, altering its shape as it interacted with the surrounding environment. This essentially shapeless body was not yet physical as we understand physicality now.

[3] Hyperborea began with conditions much like those at Polaris: The entire homogeneous solar system (or "Earth") consisted of warmth with an atmosphere of "air substance" (air that was imbued with a mist consisting of proto-human "germs" or seeds). The warmth and air flowed in and out of the human body, almost as if they and it were indistinguishable. And as the warmth and air evolved, becoming more distinctly Hyperborean, so did the human body evolve.

[4] Just as the "humans" of that ancient time were not yet truly human, there were other similar beings in the homogeneous environment. The proto-humans would keep evolving within the central mass of Hyperborea, but these others beings were unable to adapt to the new conditions of the central Hyprborean environment. Therefore new homes were created for these others. Just as the planet Saturn had separated from the mass of Polaris, now the planets Jupiter and Mars separated from the central mass of Hyperborea, to provide refuges for the beings who needed to leave the central mass. (Bear in mind that the Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars of those times were extremely different from the more highly evolved versions of the planets that we see in our sky today.)

[5] The beings who sought refuge on Jupiter and Mars had stood more or less at the same evolutionary level as the proto-humans of Hyperborea. But there were also other beings in Hyperborea, who stood at a higher evolutionary level. These beings were gods. The gods who now found their powers diminished in the denser conditions prevailing in Hyperborea ("no longer exert the desired influence in this denser matter") departed from the central mass and took up residence in a new location that became the Sun. (Thus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and the Sun had now separated out from the rest of the homogeneous solar system, becoming distinct entities. The process of separation and individuation was now quickening.)

[6] The increasingly dense substance or environment of Hyperborea posed the danger that humans would become trapped within this density (humans would, in a sense, become too materialistic — although the "matter" of Hyperborea was still far less dense than we find in our solar system today). To prevent this, the gods arranged for humans to spend part of their time outside the evolving physical body, made of matter. (This arrangement eventually evolved to become the process of reincarnation, through which people spend some of their lives incarnated in physical bodies on Earth, and then they spend the rest of their time discarnated in the spirit realm, between Earthly lives). 

[7] For the first time, there was a difference between day and night. The Earth began to rotate, so people would have hours of darkness (when they could sleep) and hours of daylight (when they could be physically active). This made possible a small analogue of reincarnation: Humans evolved in such as way that at night, parts of themselves would ascend into the spirit realm, whereas during the day the humans would be almost wholly present in the physical realm.

[8] The process of separation and individuation continued, giving rise to the planets Venus and Mercury, which became refuges for other beings who needed to separate from the central mass of Hyperborea. The solar system thus assumed something like its present form: The Sun now existed, and outside it were numerous planets.

[9] The remaining central mass of Hyperborea now became something more recognizably like the Earth per se, although the Earth's substance was still goassamer by today's standards, and the Moon was still unified with the Earth (the Moon had not yet separated).

[10] Life forms upon the Earth became more and more distinctly different from one another (they would become different sorts of humans, animals, etc.), although they did not yet have the forms we recognize in the world today. The human body, for one, was still essentially made of "air" (a gaseous, mist-filled vapor unlike anything we know now).

Excerpts from a presentation posted at AnthroWiki

[https://en.anthro.wiki/Hyperborean_epoch   1/27/2023]

The Hyperborean epoch...is the second of the seven main ages [1] into which the Earth's own development [2] is divided ... [T]he Hyperborean period corresponds approximately to the Palaeozoic on the geologic time scale. In fact, the Hyperborean period may have already begun in the middle Archean more than 3 billion years ago [3]...

In this epoch of development the Sun separated from the Earth, which at that time still contained the Moon. The fact that the Earth, with the Moon still contained within it, condensed into an independent celestial body was brought about by the hardening forces of the solar demon Sorat [4], which was counteracted by Nachiel [5], the intelligence of the Sun [6] ... The descriptions of the biblical creation story begin at about this time [7] ... The outer light arose and worked from the Sun on the Earth and formed the organs of sight in the etheric human formations [8]. The human being, separated from the Sun and bound to the Earth, could no longer feel within himself the effect of the high Solar Beings who had gone out with the Sun [9]. Therefore, at certain times, the Sun Beings snatched the soul of the human being from the physical-etheric body. [10] At the same time, the Earth began to rotate and day and night came into being, but the days and nights were much longer then than they are today. From then on, with the rhythmic change of day, man alternately led a more earthly or a more spiritual existence [11].

After the Sun had come out [12], the Earth or the physical body of man condensed into a watery state [13]. At the same time the etheric body condensed [14]. The light ether [15] came forth, which man perceived as a fine body of light, and into the astral body [16] was incorporated the faculty of the consciousness soul [17]. And the Angels [18] worked in the water, in the light and in the consciousness soul...

Not all human souls endured this condensation into the water element. For them, Jupiter was created as a dwelling place [19]. 

◊

Footnotes by R.R.

[1] I.e., great epochs. [See "great epochs" in the BWSE.]

[2] I.e., Present Earth. [See "Present Earth" in the BWSE.]

[3] The dating suggested for Hyperborea and, previously, Polaris must be understood as approximate and speculative. The geologic periods mentioned occurred on the physical Earth and can be investigated using ordinary physical science. Polaris and Hyperborea, if they ever existed, occurred in previous versions of the solar system, places and times no longer accessible by any ordinary means of investigation. Hence, ordinary physical science provides absolutely no evidence for these hypothetical realities.

[4] The process of densification or hardening is here given a more troubling cast. Sorat is the Antichrist. [See "Sorat" in the BWSE.] In becoming less spiritual and more material, the solar system ("Earth", along with proto-humanty) moved in the direction of evil. According to Steiner, this was necessary for man's evolution, since man needed to learn to choose between good and evil — only then could man become free and potentially ascend to the highest spiritual rank, Steiner indicated.

[5] According to the Kabbalah, Nachiel is the angelic mind of the Sun when the Sun is in Leo. "Nachiel (Nakiel, Nakhiel) — in the cabala, the intelligence of the sun, when the sun enters the sign of Leo. Nachiel's cabalistic number is 111. His corresponding spirit is Sorath [i.e., Sorat]..." — Gustav Davidson, A DICTIONARY OF ANGELS (The Free Press, 1967), p. 203.

[6] Steiner identified Christ as the intelligence of the Sun, the affirmative solar spirit: Christ is the Sun God. [See "Sun God" in the BWSE.] 

"Christ is the good spirit, the intelligence of the sun; the adversary is the demon of the sun. Certain forces that are constantly working on the human astral body come forth from the demon of the sun. This demon of the sun is the opponent of the Christ spirit and is called Sorat." — Rudolf Steiner, READING THE PICTURES OF THE APOCALYPSE (Anthroposophic Press, 1993), part 2, lecture 10, GA 104a. 

The angel-god Nachiel may be understood to have been the original intelligence of the Sun, who was supplanted in a later evolutionary period by Christ.

[7] Much as Anthroposophists attempt to reconcile their beliefs with geological dating, they attempt a reconciliation with biblical texts. So, they say the creation story in Genesis describes (inaccurately) events that occurred during the Hyperborean Epoch.

[8] I.e., in the evolving the proto-humans, whose bodies in Hyperborea remained ethereal.

[9] The proto-humans lost direct contact with, and awareness of, the gods who left the "Earth" when the Sun separated from the central mass of Hyperborea. Humans thus increasinly faced the threat of immersing themselves in physical reality while losing contact with the spirit realm.

[10] The good gods of the Sun enabled humans to retain contact with the spirit realm by enabling humans to enter that realm "at certain times" (these times would become nighttime and periods of so-called death between Earthly incarnations).

[11] By our own time, Steiner taught, the human physical and etheric bodies would remain on Earth at night, while the astral and ego bodies (or "I") would rise into the spirit realm during those hours.

[12] I.e., after the Sun separated from the "Earth" (the central mass of Hyperborea).

[13] Having previously been fire and then air, Hyperborea ("Earth") and the evolving human form became predominantly liquid- or water-like (continuing along the sequence of fire, air, liquid, earth).

[14] I.e., the human etheric body separated out, becoming distinct from the evolving physical body. [See "etheric body" in the BWSE.]

[15] This, according to Steiner, is one of four types or subdivisions of ether. [See "light ether" in the BWSE.]

[16] The proto-human was evolving toward greater and greater differentiation of inner and outer organs and constituents. The astral body (a framework of soul forces) is the second of our incorporeal bodies, higher than the etheric body (a framework of life forces). In modern humans, the astral body incarnations around the age of 14, Steiner said. [See "astral body" in the BWSE.]

[17] According to Steiner, the consciousness soul is one of three soul members or soul types; it connects one's inner consciousness with the outer world. [See "consciousness soul" in the BWSE.]

[18] Anthroposophical doctrine teaches that Angels (Sons of Life; Sons of Twilight), are gods just one spiritual level higher than human beings. [See "Angels" in the BWSE.]

[19] This was part of the process of planetary separations described previously. Jupiter began its separate existence, providing a refuge for some of the spirits who needed to leave the central mass of Hyperborea.