Rudolf Steiner's followers hold some amazing beliefs. Sometimes they bring these beliefs into Waldorf classrooms, passing them to Waldorf students. This does not always occur; but sometimes it does. Below are indications, drawn from the published works of 1) Alan Whitehead, a Steiner-believing Waldorf teacher, and 2) Richard Seddon, a Steiner-believing Anthroposophist who is not known to have taught in any Waldorf school but whose published works are studied by at least some Steiner-believing Waldorf teachers.

The subject of the following indications is the history of the solar system as conceived in Anthroposophy. Note that the indications given by Alan Whitehead are drawn specifically from the Waldorf syllabus he developed for his own use and for use of other Waldorf teachers. Besides being a Waldorf teacher, Whitehead was a trainer of Waldorf teachers. 

Only a minority — probably a small minority — of Waldorf teachers lay out these bizarre Anthroposophical beliefs for their students. But any Waldorf teacher who has studied key Steiner texts, such as AN OUTLINE OF OCCULT SCIENCE [see "Everything"], will know about these beliefs and may well embrace them. For this reason, it is well for the rest of us to know about these beliefs. 

After each quoted indication below, I offer clarifying footnotes of my own. 

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PREFACE

(by R.R.)

Here is the general outline of incarnations of the solar system as propounded by Rudolf Steiner and elaborated by Anthroposophists such as Alan Whitehead and Richard Seddon. We, along with our solar system, first came into existence in a form known as Old Saturn (or, in some tellings, Ancient Saturn). Old Saturn was not the planet Saturn as we know it today, nor did it resemble the solar system as we know it today. Think of Old Saturn not as an object in space but as a period of time or duration, a stage of evolution. For us, nothing existed before Old Saturn, and then we came into being and we started to evolve. Old Saturn was the first major stage of our evolution. Old Saturn was followed by Old Sun, then Old Moon. Today we live in a stage of evolution called Present Earth. In the future, we will evolve to a stage called Future Jupiter, then to a stage called Future Venus, then to a stage called Future Vulcan.

Here is the general outline of this evolutionary scheme, past, present, and future. These are the seven incarnations of the solar system (often called, in Anthroposophy, "Planetary Conditions" or "Conditions of Consciousness"):

The pattern is a descent followed by a re-ascent. We start as incorporeal beings during Old Saturn, we descend into corporeal or material incarnation during Present Earth, then we reascend toward incorporeal or spiritual existence (of a very high order) during Future Venus. (Steiner sometimes said there will be five additional upward stages beyond Future Vulcan, but he didn't describe them. In any case, he and his followers generally speak of the seven stages shown here.)

Below are descriptions of these major stages of evolution as given by Alan Whitehead and Richard Seddon. I will trim their descriptions down to the bare basics, omitting a great many ancillary details. (I fill in some of these details in my footnotes.) If you want more information about these stages of evolution, you might consult The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia, or, of course, you could read Whitehead's and Seddon's books.

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1. 

OLD SATURN (aka ANCIENT SATURN)

"[T]he beginning of the world [1] takes us far back ... The first stage, where it all really began, was a great globe of heat [2] ... [I]t extended out to the orbit of the planet Saturn today [3], that's why it's called Ancient Saturn in most occult literature [4]. Of course there was no solar system then, that condensed much later [5]. Apart from orbital dimension, Ancient Saturn had nothing to do with today's Saturn [6] ... Anyway, before heat, there was nothing." — Waldorf teacher Alan Whitehead, ANCIENT SATURN TO ATLANTIS (Golden Beetle Books, 1991), p. 19.

[1] The beginning of "our world" was, in Anthroposophical belief, actually the beginning of our solar system.

[2] I.e., to the extent that the evolutionary period called Old Saturn became manifest as a semi-physical structure, it was a ball of heat.

[3] The radius of the ball of heat was the distance between the planet Earth and the planet Saturn today. (We can call this the distance from Earth "to the orbit of the planet Saturn", but we must remember that Steiner often said the planets do not actually orbit the Sun. [See "Deception".]) It would be more accurate to say that according to Anthroposophical belief, the radius of Ancient Saturn was roughly equal to the radius of the orbit of the planet Saturn today. (But again we must remember that Steiner often said the planets do not orbit the Sun, which certainly complicates things.)

[4] The main texts that discuss Ancient Saturn (or Old Saturn) are Theosophical and Anthroposophical — they are the texts Steiner either drew from or produced himself. But indeed there are some references to this concept, or something like it, in some other occult or mystical texts.

[5] I.e., the ball of heat was uniform and homogenous. There were no separate planets within it. Only later would parts of the ball (in a later condition) condense and then separate out as the planets, Sun, and Moon.

[6] Indeed, Old Saturn was very different from the planet Saturn today. But Steiner said there is a connection: The planet Saturn today retains some characteristics of Old Saturn; the planet today recapitulates the ancient condition, to some extent.

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OLD SUN (ANCIENT SUN)

"Just as the sun we see this morning was born out of the darkness of night [1], the second incarnation of our planet [2] was born out of the infinite darkness of its spiritual Pralaya [3] — and like the sun, was a globe of life and light [4]. It was much bigger of course, extending to the orbit of the present day Jupiter [5]." — Waldorf teacher Alan Whitehead, ANCIENT SATURN TO ATLANTIS, p. 25.

[1] This is imagistically suggestive, but it is not literally true. The Sun glows continuously, it is not reborn each morning.

[2] I.e., the second incarnation of the solar system.

[3] In Theosophy and Anthroposophy, a "pralaya" is a rest period between incarnations. In the current instance, Anthroposophy teaches that the solar system came into existence as Old Saturn (Ancient Saturn), then it blinked out of existence — it melted away — then it reincarnated as Old Sun (Ancient Sun).

[4] I.e., Old Saturn, a ball of heat, was followed by Old Sun, a ball of light. (Old Sun was not the Sun, our star, per se. Like Old Saturn before it, Old Sun was a generally uniform and homogenous sphere containing all the substance that would eventually condense and then separate out as the planets, Sun, and Moon.) 

[5] I.e., whereas Old Saturn was a ball of heat having a radius about equal to the radius of Saturn's orbit today, Old Sun had a radius roughly equal to the radius of the orbit of Jupiter today. (This means Old Sun was smaller than Old Saturn, since Saturn is farther from the Sun than Jupiter is. When Whitehead says Old Sun "was much bigger of course," he means it was much bigger than today's Sun.)

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OLD MOON (ANCIENT MOON)

"[T]he third incarnation of our planet [1]...was called Ancient Moon ... [Y]ou know we talked about the second planetary incarnation, the Ancient Sun well after its Pralaya [2], a new planet was born [3] — of course there was, as on the Sun, the obligatory recapitulation of the former conditions [4] ... The planet split in two, and a new cosmic body — later to become the planet Mars — was born [5]. Old Moon substance, a supersensible liquid [6], began to travel round this at about the orbit of Mars today. [7]" — Waldorf teacher Alan Whitehead, ANCIENT SATURN TO ATLANTIS, pp. 33-34.

[1] I.e., the third incarnation of the solar system, including the Earth (which was present within this new incarnation — Earth did not yet exist as a separate planet). 

[2] I.e., after Ancient Sun (Old Sun), there was a rest period between incarnations. Ancient Sun disappeared, no trace of the solar system existed for a while, and then the solar system reincarnated as Ancient Moon (Old Moon).

[3] Like Ancient Saturn and Ancient Sun before it, his "planet" (Ancient Moon) was originally a uniform and homogenous sphere containing all the substance that would eventually condense and then separate out as the planets, Sun, and Moon.

[4] During each stage of evolution, Steiner taught, it has been necessary to recapitulate all previous stages before evolving to a higher level. 

[5] According to Whitehead (not all Anthroposophists agree) this was the first time a smaller globe separated out of the overall globe of the solar system. This separate globe would evolve to become the planet Mars.

[6] Ancient Saturn had consisted of heat, and — according to Whitehouse — Ancient Sun had consisted of light. Now Whitehouse says Ancient Moon consisted of liquid. (The heat, light, and liquid in these instances were "supersensible" — they could not be perceived with ordinary senses. Thus, they were different from the kinds of heat, light, and liquid that we know now on the physical Earth.)

[7] I.e., some of the liquid that constituted Ancient Moon congealed at about the distance between Earth and Mars today. (According to Anthroposophical belief generally, Ancient Moon was a globe having a radius equal to the radius of the orbit of Mars today.)

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EARTH (PRESENT EARTH)

"Four is the number of the Earth Incarnation [1] ... Earth, number 4, is a mineral planet [2] ... [T]his mineral earth has already experienced four 'rounds' [3], as they're called ... The first, a heat recapitulation of Ancient Saturn [4] is called Polaria [5] ... At that time Vulcan is supposed to have broken away [6] ... [As for] Venus, that tiny planet was separated from the earth in the second recapitulation [7]...as was the sun. [8] Venus, like the other planets, is like a holiday home, a retreat, for human souls who need to develop some aspect [9] separate from the earth [10]." — Waldorf teacher Alan Whitehead, ANCIENT SATURN TO ATLANTIS, pp. 40-43.

[1] I.e., the third incarnation of the solar system. (Generally, in Anthroposophy, this incarnation is called Present Earth, to distinguish this period of evolution from the planet Earth, which exists within this period of evolution.)

[2] I.e., the planet Earth (existing within the Present Earth periods of evolution) is a mineral real — hard, material substances (minerals) make up the substance of this planet now. (Ancient Saturn was characterized by heat, Ancient Sun was characterized by light, Ancient Moon was characterized by liquid, and Present Earth is characterized by minerals.)

[3] I.e., the evolutionary stage called Present Earth has already undergone four sub-stages, sometimes called "rounds." (The sub-stages are called the Polarian Age, the Hyperborean Age, the Lemuria Age, and the Atlantean Age.)

[4] During each stage of evolution, Steiner taught, it has been necessary to recapitulate all previous stages. The first sub-stage of Present Earth, the Polarian Age, recapitulated Ancient Saturn.

[5] I.e., the Polarian Age. (We will get to Whitehouse's description of the Polarian Age presently.)

[6] Just as Mars broke away to become a separate planet during Ancient Moon, Vulcan broke away to become a separate planet during the Polarian Age. (Anthroposophy generally teaches that the planet Vulcan really exists. [See "Vulcan".])

[7] Venus also broke away during the period following the Polarian Age. (During Presen Earth, the Polarian Age was the first recapitulation of a prior period (Old Saturn). The next age, the Hyperborean Age, was the second recapitulation of a prior period (Old Sun). We will investigate the Polarian and Hyperborean Ages presently.)

[8] The Sun (!) also broke away during the Hyperborean Age.

[9] I.e., some part of their character or constitution. 

[10] Steiner taught that many human beings have left the Earth and traveled to other planets, spending time there before (usually) returning to Earth. [See "planetary migrations" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

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 Our lives during Present Earth pass through a succession 

of smaller evolutionary stages called Great Epochs.

To read about these, you can use this link:

Waldorf's Worlds 2 (Great Epochs)

Otherwise, you can continue down this page

to survey further incarnations of the solar system.

This is the future of the solar system 

(and the Earth, and ourselves)

as conceived in Anthroposophy.

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5. 

FUTURE JUPITER

"During future embodiments of the earth [1] it will be our task to perfect the higher states of consciousness known as Imagination, Inspiration and Intuition [2] ... Between each planetary evolution [3], such as between Earth and Jupiter [4], there is a pralaya [5] ... The first four Conditions of Life [6] on Jupiter recapitulate Saturn, Sun, Moon and Earth [7] ... Only what on Earth lives enclosed by the human skin lives over into Jupiter [8] ... Human beings on Jupiter are no longer a mixture of good and evil, but are divided into one or another [9] ... Such people express their karma in their form and physiognomy [10] ... Good and evil are thus outwardly visible; a great separation takes place. On Jupiter the good are surrounded by evil beings much more hostile and terrible, and in much greater numbers, than today [11] ... Those who on earth [12] remained backward [13] breathe air filled with stifling heat and repulsive smells, for they infect the atmosphere ... [T]hey are slimy, far more repulsive than snails ... The hideous forms of retarded beings [14]...appear then as mighty devastating powers [15] ... [But at] the end of Jupiter...we can speak only of the evolution of the good. [16]" — Anthroposophical scholar Richard Seddon. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER, pp. 113-123.

[1] I.e., each new incarnation of the solar system, with Earth as the most important members.

[2] These are high forms of clairvoyance, according to Steiner. [See "Imagination", "Inspiration", and "Intuition" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] Imagination will be perfected during Future Jupiter, Inspiration during Future Venus, and Intuition during Future Vulcan. 

[3] I.e., each new incarnation of the solar system, including its planets (Earth foremost).

[4] I.e., Present Earth and Future Jupiter.

[5] A pralaya is a rest period between incarnations.

[6] These are smaller evolutionary stages occurring within large stages such as Future Jupiter (future embodiments of the earth, future planetary evolutions).

[7] I.e., the first four Conditions of Life during Future Jupiter will recapitulate life during Old Saturn, Old Sun, Old Moon, and Present Earth. (The latter will effectively be Old Earth by then.)

[8] I.e., only beings who had the rank of human being during Present Earth will be able to evolve to Future Jupiter.

[9] I.e., there will be a group or race of purely good people and a group or race of purely evil people.

[10] I.e., people's bodies and faces will show whether they are good or evil. (This will be a great step forward, eliminating false appearances.)

[11] A winnowing process occurs at all stages of evolution, Steiner indicated. A small group of good individuals, capable of further evolution, exists within a much larger group of bad individuals, who are incapable of further evolution. The good are strengthened by their confrontation with the bad.

[12] I.e., during Present Earth.

[13] I.e., those who failed to evolve properly.

[14] I.e., beings who have become abnormal and disfigured, because they failed to evolve properly.

[15] The dark or evil beings represent a terrible threat to the good beings and their world.

[16] The good prevail. The separation of good from evil during Future Jupiter means that only the good will evolve further. In prior evolutionary stages, evil was winnowed out to a great degree, but not as thoroughly as will occur during Future Jupiter. (By some accounts, however, an even more complete winnowing will occur during Future Venus.)

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FUTURE VENUS

"The first five Conditions of Life [1] on Venus recapitulate the previous planetary evolutions [2] ... The realities of life then cannot be grasped by the limited reason of today [3]. The planet remains permanently united with the sun for all time, so that all beings are actually sun-beings [4] ... [H]uman beings dispense with what corresponds to the head...and grow another out of the limb forces [5] ... The knee-cap of today gives rise to a complete skull-like enclosure that contains the organs of consciousness [6] ... And today's lower legs and feet...become organs leading to the spiritual worlds [7] ... Our desires and wishes reappear as fully conscious Inspirations [8] ... Through the spoken word, creative feelings give rise to actual forms in the surrounding air [9] ... Venus may thus be called the planet of the Word or Logos [10] ... Social life on Venus resembles the beehive, which...has a consciousness at the Imaginative level [11] ... Consciousness develops in the transformed etheric body [12]. Lower Spiritland lies fully open to it [13] ... The Father Principle, the Hidden God, who was already an adept on Saturn, can now incarnate [14] ... [F]or those who have persistently rejected the forces of Christ...comes the last, unalterable separation [15]. A separate celestial body is detached, an 'irreclaimable moon', which includes all beings who have persisted in withstanding the true course of evolution. This no words can portray [16]." — Anthroposophical scholar Richard Seddon. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER, pp. 123-125.

[1] I.e., the first five sub-stages of evolution during Future Venus. [See "conditions of life" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

[2] I.e., the previous incarnations of the solar system (Old Saturn, Old Sun, etc.).

[3] The realities of life during Future Venus are beyond our comprehension today (they are especially beyond our pedantic, brain-based logic).

[4] Future Venus (the sixth incarnation of the solar system) has permanently reunited with the Sun, the home of Christ, the Sun God. Thus, all (good) humans are now residents of the Sun, forever united with Christ.

[5] The faulty head of past human existence, with its faulty brain, is replaced by a new head born out of the forces of will manifested in the limbs.

[6] The new head is enclosed by a skull evolved from the kneecap. The new head has an organ of consciousness superior to today's brain. (It is an organ of clairvoyance, specifically Inspiration.)

[7] The power of locomotion becomes, for the transformed human, the literal capacity to travel to the higher worlds of the spirit realm. [See "higher worlds" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] 

[8] Perfected Inspiration, according to Steiner, is the second level of precise, transcendent clairvoyance. Inspiration will be perfected during Future Venus, Steiner taught. ◊ "[T]he ‘Venus consciousness’ [will] appear during the sixth cycle of Venus.” — Rudolf Steiner, COSMIC MEMORY (SteinerBooks, 1981), pp. 162-163. ◊ "Man will look deep, deep into the nature of beings, when he lives in this consciousness, the consciousness of Inspiration ... This will be the consciousness of man when our planet will have passed into the 'Venus' condition.” — Rudolf Steiner, UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993), p. 30.

[9] This is the perfection of the transformation of the larynx into the human organ of procreation. "The larynx is the future organ of birth, the future organ of procreation. Now man brings forth the word by means of the larynx, but the larynx is the seed that will in future times develop to bring forth the whole human being — that is, when man is spiritualised." — Rudolf Steiner, THE WORLD OF THE SENSES AND THE WORLD OF THE SPIRIT (Rudolf Steiner Publishing Co., 1947), lecture 2, GA 134. 

[10] See "Logos".

[11] Steiner taught that Imagination is the first level of precise, transcendent clairvoyance. It is perfected during Future Jupiter. ◊ “In the Jupiter-evolution [3] man will himself have the consciousness which is possessed today by the beings whom we call Angels ... Men are growing in their present development into the Jupiter consciousness, which will be similar to what the Angels possess today.” — Rudolf Steiner, THE INFLUENCE OF SPIRITUAL BEINGS ON MAN (Anthroposophic Press, 1961), lecture 7, GA 102. ◊ "On the planet which will replace our Earth [Jupiter], the whole of humanity will have this psychic-consciousness or Imagination, the 'Jupiter' consciousness." — Rudolf Steiner, UNDERSTANDING THE HUMAN BEING (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1993), p. 30.

For Steiner's affirmation of bees and life in beehives, see "Bees". “The group soul of a beehive is a very high level being ... It is of such a high development that you might almost say it is cosmically precocious. It has attained a level of evolutionary development that human beings will later reach in the Venus cycle, which follows the completion of the present Earth cycle.” — Rudolf Steiner, BEES (Anthroposophic Press, 1998), p. 176.

[12] All parts of ourselves evolved and change as we proceed to the other "planets," Steiner taught. This includes the nonphysical parts of ourselves, such as the etheric body.

[13] See "Lower Spiritland" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

[14] "[A spiritual] impulse will be represented by an Adept who was already an Adept on Saturn. Such a one cannot as yet incarnate on the Earth. When man is not only able to develop his higher nature upwards, but working creatively is able to renounce completely his lower nature, then will this highest Adept, the Saturn Adept, the Father Principle, the Hidden God, be able to incarnate." — Rudolf Steiner, THE FOUNDATINS OF ESOTERICISM, lecture 23, GA 93a.

[15] This would be the last separation of the good and the bad, the saved and the lost.

[16]  “From Venus...a separate celestial body becomes detached. This — as it were, an ‘irreclaimable Moon’ — includes all the beings who have persisted in withstanding the true course of evolution. It enters now upon a line of development such as no words can portray, so utterly unlike is it to anything within the range of man’s experience on Earth.” — Rudolf Steiner, OCCULT SCIENCE - AN OUTLINE (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1969), pp. 309-310. Steiner's account may seem to hold out a sliver of hope for the souls consigned to this moon, but the world "irreclaimable" evidently belies this. 

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FUTURE VULCAN

"The first six Conditions of Life [1] recapitulate previous evolutions [2] ... Mankind now exists in Higher Spiritland [3], clearly beyond the reach of present thought [4]. The human being does not incarnate [5], but by means of word builds out of his own being a body of warmth substance like a soft diamond [6] ... Esoteric knowledge of today [7] becomes physical as blood [8]. All beings who evolved from the small beginnings of Saturn [9] are now spiritualized to the highest degree [10] ... The capacity of Intuition [11]...is called upon to become cosmic and powerful [12] ... Human beings thus belong to the whole cosmos, their individual impulses are applied to cosmic deeds [13] ... At the end of Vulcan [14], mankind has the form of an archetype [15] in Higher Spiritland. This is a fully purified condition of godliness or divine bliss, the highest stage accessible to humanity, into which the fruit of all planetary evolutions are gathered [16] ... Subsequently...[m]ankind ascends to yet higher stages — the inner eye of the initiate sees five beyond Vulcan, making twelve in all...but they cannot be described in human language." — Anthroposophical scholar Richard Seddon. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER, pp. 126-128. 

[1] I.e., the first six sub-stages of evolution during Future Vulcan. [See "conditions of life" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

[2] They repeat, at a higher level, the first six planetary stages (Old Saturn through Present Earth).

[3] See "Higher Spiritland" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

[4] I.e., this extremely elevated state of blessedness is utterly beyond our comprehension today.

[5] Just a humanity earlier became free if karma, so humanity is free of reincarnation. We are immortal.

[6] Having godly powers, we create ourselves out of our own spoken intention. (The soft substance of our new form is a heightened reflection of Old Saturn's warmth, raised to perfection: diamond-like.)

[7] I.e., the secret wisdom embodied in Anthroposophy.

[8] I.e., the essence of Anthroposophy flows through us like blood; we are Anthroposophy and it is us.

[9] I.e., all good humans who survived the winnowing of previous planetary stages, thus arriving at Vulcan.

[10] They shall have become superhuman, deities, spiritual and cosmic rather than physical and mundane.

[11] This is Vulcan consciousness, as perfected Imagination was Saturn consciousness and Inspiration was Venus consciousness.

[12] Our comprehension with its associated powers extends throughout the cosmos.

[13] We now function as gods, encompassing all of creation and performing our own creative acts for the benefit of all the cosmos.

[14] I.e., at the end of the Future Vulcan stage of evolution. (Future Vulcan should not be confused with the planet Vulcan.)

[15] I.e., an ideal model for lifeforms. [See "archetypes" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

[16] I.e., for humanity, this is the ultimate fulfillment, the realization of all has been best in all the prior stages of evolution: the realization of the divine cosmic plan.

[17] Although Seddon has said Future Vulcan is "the highest stage accessible to humanity," here he alludes to yet higher stages that are ineffable (and which we may attain only after we may no longer be termed human). Steiner himself wrote of such stages. “After the Vulcan stage, man will develop yet further, and will ascend to still higher levels of consciousness. As the external eye looks into misty gray distances, so the inner eye of the seer looks upon five more forms of consciousness, as far off as distant spirits, of which a description, however, is quite impossible. In all, one can speak of twelve stages of consciousness.” —  Rudolf Steiner, COSMIC MEMORY (SteinerBooks, 1987), p. 166.

The "inner eye of the initiate" (Seddon) or the "inner eye of the seer" (Steiner) uses clairvoyance, such as the Intuition that will be perfected during Future Vulcan. Imperfect forms of clairvoyance have long existed, Steiner taught; and Anthroposophists today can attain high levels of clairvoyance by following Steiner's directions, Steiner said. [See, e.g., "Knowing the Worlds".]

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The following links will take you to

the other two parts of "Waldorf's Worlds""

Waldorf's Worlds 2 (Great Epochs)

..Waldorf's Worlds 3 (Cultural Epochs)

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[R.R.]