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PREFACE

(by R.R.)

The Post-Atlantean Epoch consists of seven Cultural Epochs. As with all other sequences of evolutionary stages, we can picture the seven Cultural Epochs as forming a sort of "V": We descend from the first Cultural Epoch to the fourth, then we ascend from the fourth Cultural Epoch to the seventh Cultural Epoch. But bear in mind, this is only an approximation. Each evolutionary stage builds on the one before it; each is thus more advanced, in a sense. But sometimes a move "upward" leads to something terrible. The seventh Cultural Epoch of the Lemurian Great Epoch led to the eruptions of firestorms that destroyed Lemuria. The seventh Cultural Epoch of the Atlantean Great Epoch led to the inundating floods that destroyed Atlantis. Likewise, the seventh Cultural Epoch of the Post-Atlantean Great Epoch will produce the horrific War of All Against All, in which most earthly life will be wiped out. The seventh Cultural Epoch our of Great Epoch surely seems like a descent. Yet the War of All Against All will lead to a new, higher, more wondrous future. So all may be well after all.

Here is the general outline of the Cultural Epochs of the Post-Atlantean Great Epoch:

Below are descriptions of these seven Cultural Epochs given by 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 Seddon books.)

"[Indian Age]  First came the original pre-Vedic culture of India (late eighth to sixth millennium BC) [1]. Consciousness was then dominated by the loss of the full Atlantean clairvoyance [2] ... But neither did people yet see the outer world with senses as we do [3]; they regarded sense impressions as maya, illusion, and hated them [4]...." — Richard Seddon. THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY AND THE EARTH AS FORESEEN BY RUDOLF STEINER (Temple Lodge Publishing, 2002), p. 13.

[1] This refers to the oldest Indian beliefs — those presumably derived from ancient clairvoyance — before they had been codified in the Hindu scriptures known as the Veda or Vedas.

[2] Steiner taught that clairvoyance was widespread in Atlantean times, and some of it was preserved in the early period following the destruction of Atlantis — but much of it was lost.

[3] I.e., the ancient Indians did not perceive the world through physical senses; to the best of their ability, they explored reality through spiritual consciousness.

[4] The ancient Indians understood that ordinary physical consciousness is illusory: It is maya, a trick of demons to befuddle humanity.

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"[Persian Age]  The second cultural age was that of ancient Persia or Iran (fifth and fourth millennia BC). The eternal sun forces were now experienced...as a realm of light filled with the working of Christ [1], named by Zarathustra [2]...as Ahura Mazda [3]; whilst earthly reality, called the kingdom of Ahriman [4], was a realm of comparative darkness...." — Ibid, pp. 13-14.

[1] According to Steiner, Christ is the Sun God. [See "Sun God".]

[2] The prophet Zarathustra is generally recognized as the founder of the Zoroastrian religion.

[3] Ahura Mazda is the Zoroastrian god of light; Steiner said he is actually Christ as perceived by the ancient Persians.

[4] Ahriman is the Zoroastrian god of darkness, and hence the enemy of Ahura Mazda. Steiner taught that Ahriman really exists. [See "Ahriman".] Significantly, physical reality (what is often called the "real world") was said to be under the control of Ahriman; hence, it was deemed wicked, corrupted, or dark.

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"[Egypto-Chaldean Age]  The third age [was] the Egypto-Chaldean (2900-747 BC) ... Under the influence of the Bull [1] this age...penetrated fully into this external world [2] ... Their mystery wisdom [3] expressed the experiences of the Lemurian epoch [4] ... An actual incarnation of Lucifer [5]...occurred in China...." — Ibid, pp. 14-15.

[1] This is the zodiacal constellation Taurus. (Anthroposophy is full of astrological lore.)

[2] I.e., humanity became deeply involved in physical reality.

[3] I.e., wisdom about spiritual mysteries.

[4] I.e., this period partially recapitulated the Lemurian Epoch; the mystery wisdom of this period harkened back to Lemuria.

[5] According to Steiner, Lucifer is the partner/rival of Ahriman. Lucifer and Ahriman are two major demons whose works comprise a major theme in Anthroposophical discourse.

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"[Graeco-Roman Age]  The fourth, the Graeco-Roman age (747 BC-1413 AD)...echoes the Atlantean epoch [1] ...The forces of Aries, the Ram [2], prepared the age to take in the universe [3] ... Into this cam the descent of Christ [4] ... Although mankind was unable to understand the significance of this [5]...." — Ibid, pp. 15-16.

[1] I.e., this period partially recapitulated the Atlantean Age.

[2] I.e., the zodiacal constellation during which the Sun enters the vernal equinox.

[3] I.e., humanity extended their investigations from the physical Earth to the physical universe (having previously been wrapped up in physical reality on our planet, we began to "take in" the wider universe).

[4] According to Steiner, this was the descent of the Sun God to earthly existence in the body of Jesus.

[5] True understanding of this supremely important event, Steiner taught, depends on the revelations of Anthroposophy.

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"[Anglo-Germanic Age, or the Present]  The fifth, the Anglo-Germanic Age began in 1413 and will extend until 3573 [1] ... Samael, the Archangel of Mars, was nearing the end of his quarrelsome rule as Time Archangel [2] when the age began ... Around 1471 spiritual rulership passed to Gabriel, the Archangel of the Moon ... This already made possible at the beginning of the nineteenth century the flowering of German philosophy [3] ... Meanwhile Michael, the Sun Archangel [began] his rulership of 350 as Time Archangel [in] 1879. Before that, he was further elevated in 1841 to take over the role of Spirit of the Age [4] for the whole period until 3573 ... [J]ust as Lucifer once incarnated in the East...so before only a part of the third millennium AD has elapsed Ahriman will incarnate as a human being in the West [5] ... Michael still fights the Spirits of Darkness [6] until AD 2300. If Ahriman has succeeded in his aims, he will have established an occult school [7] ... This must inevitably result in confusion and strife, through which all culture is overthrown [8] ... This is a very real battle to replace Christ by Ahriman [9] for the remaining 6000 years of the Post-Atlantean epoch ... From the early twenty-third to the late twenty-sixth century the ruling Archangel is Oriphiel, the Archangel of the Saturn sphere ... The materialistic outlook continues to advance until AD 2300/2400 ... Giant machines...create demons that come alive and rage against the individual [10] ... These terrible times are far worse than today, They produce no seed and no harvest, but may be regarded as a premature expression of divine wrath ... Those alive today can expect their next incarnation after 700/800 years ... The ruling Archangel then is Anael, the Venus Archangel ... This is therefore a much better time, which sees a renewal of cosmic life on earth [11] and inspires inner spiritual strength ... Zachariel, the Archangel of Jupiter, is due to hold the rulership from the early thirtieth to the late thirty-third century ... More and more people develop naturally the clairvoyant power to...perceive the relationship in the etheric world [12]  between all profounder events [13] ... This does not reach completion until AD 4500 ... The end of our fifth Post-Atlantean Age ruled by Michael is reached in 3573 [AD], towards the end of Raphael's rulership [14] ... Raphael, the Mercury Archangel, is the great cosmic physician ... Love based on physical relationships, the basis of tribalism and racialism, now comes to an end, and present differences [15] between civilized and primitive people also cease ... [M]ore and more people experience the phenomena surrounding the appearance of Christ in the etheric world [16] ... [Nonetheless] the transformation...to the sixth age, when Michael is no longer Spirit of the Age, can only occur through great tumultuous catastrophes, great physical upheavals [17]...." — Ibid, pp. 16-40.

[1] Here Seddon's account begins to cross the threshold from the past to the future. (He will teeter on this threshold for a while.)

[2] According to Steiner, Archangels (gods two levels higher than humanity) oversee human affairs on a rotating basis. An Archangel who assumes the role of "Time Archangel" takes this responsibility for three and a half centuries (350 years).

[3] According to Anthroposophy, the German nation plays a pivotal role in human affairs. One reflection of this can be found in the great importance of German philosophy. (According to Anthroposophists, Rudolf Steiner emerged as the greatest of German philosophers, although he then proceeded to a transcendent role as founder of Anthroposophy, essentially a spiritual rather than an intellectual undertaking.)

[4] A Spirit of an Age is an Archangel who assumes responsibility for humanity for period of 2,300 years, Steiner taught. Thus, a Spirit of an Age has a greater mandate than a Time Archangel. (But note that an Archangel may sometimes serve in both offices at the same time.)

[5] I.e., Ahriman will incarnate in human form sometime before the year 3000 AD.

[6] Michael has been battling demons called "Spirits of Darkness" for a long time. E.g., he won one battle against them in the year 1879, Steiner taught. Here we learn that Michael's struggle against them will continues until the year 2300 AD. (This struggle may be understood as Michael's contest with Ahriman.)

[7] I.e., if Ahriman succeeds in his aims, he will establish a false occult school that will spread misinformation about the spirit realm.

[8] If he can, Ahriman will overthrow all of human culture and civilization.

[9] I.e., this is the battle to elevate the Antichrist in place of Christ. (Ahriman is sometimes said to be the Antichrist, but sometimes he is said to be the Antichrist's assistant.)

[10] I.e., these demons will attack true humans, who possess spiritual egos ("I's").

[11] I.e., connections between the spirit realm and the physical realm on Earth will be repaired.

[12] The etheric world, according to Steiner, is a higher level of existence encompassing and enriching the physical world.

[13] I.e., more people will understand that significant events on Earth reflect the influences of higher beings and powers (gods).

[14] I.e., Michael's term as Spirit of an Age will end at about the same time Raphael will cease his work as Time Archangel.

[15] I.e., differences present at that time (perhaps extending from our own time).

[16] Many Anthroposophists say the Second Coming of Christ occurred in about 1930 AD: Christ returned to the etheric region around the Earth, not to the physical Earth, they say. (Seddon takes a somewhat different view, as we will see.)

[17] Steiner taught that major periods of transition are often violent. Thus, for instance, the Lemurian Epoch ended in firestorms and the Atlantean Epoch ended in a stupendous flood. Our own Post-Atlantean epoch, Steiner said, will end in the War of All Against All. [See the entry for this term in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

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"[Russian Age]  The sixth Post-Atlantean cultural age, the so-called Russian age, extends form 3573 to 5733 [AD]. It is also known as the Aquarian age, because it it prepared and guided by the forces from the Waterman [1] ... This age is represented in the Apocalypse [2] as Philadelphia [3] ... [During this age] the Double [4] must be recognized and overcome. This age is centred in Russia because Russian soil reflects back special forces in the cosmic light which awaken the capacity to do this ... The intellect [5], increasingly used for bodily or warlike needs, is now experienced as an entity spread outside the soul (a world-wide web) [6] ... [M]aterialistic science and belief [7] come to be regarded as an antiquated superstition, and only knowledge based on the spirit is accepted [8] ... [T]he body becomes softer and more malleable [9] ... Living thinking [10] becomes a real force, and great masses of people are deeply moved and seized by truths that are today revealed only to a few [11]. The truths of anthroposophy will of course, after 2000-3000 years [12], be experienced and expressed in completely different forms, namely, Imaginations [13] ... [G]enuine Christianity [14] recognizes the external world as condensed spirit [15]. It brings genius, clairvoyance and the creative spirit to development ... It is the task of this age to bring the Spirit Self [16]...into the spiritual soul [17] ... Spirit Self does not enter without deep inner tragedy, suffering and soul drama ... [T]he spiritual soul feels the intellectual soul [18] as the direct killer of its thoughts, the inner thought-murderer ... [People] who have rejected the Christ impulse [19], the source of true individuality, necessarily fall back into group souls [20] ... Now occurs the majestic event when Christ is seen to walk the earth ... Human beings are thus increasingly permeated by the Being of Christ ... It is the second step towards the 'second coming' [21] ... This age in fact recapitulates the Persian (Gemini) age, especially its experience of the polarities between light and dark, good and evil, which is now an actual division between good races and evil races [22]...." — Ibid, pp. 41-53.

[1] Aquarius is the zodiacal constellation also known as the Water Carrier.

[2] I.e., the Book of Revelation, the last book in the Christian Bible.

[3] See Rev. 3:7-13.

[4] I.e., one's evil inner twin, the doppelgänger. [See "Double Trouble".]

[5] Steiner generally disparaged intellect, attributing many woes to it.

[6] I.e., the evil intellect becomes externally manifested, taking the form of hideous spider beings running back and forth in a world-girdling web. “[T]he earth...will be covered as if by a network or web of ghastly spiders possessing tremendous wisdom ... [T]hey will imitate everything human beings have thought up with their shadowy intellect, which did not allow itself to be stimulated by what is to come through new Imagination and through spiritual science in general"  — Rudolf Steiner, MATERIALISM AND THE TASK OF ANTHROPOSOPHY (Rudolf Steiner Press, 1987), lecture 14, GA 204. "Spiritual science," as Steiner uses the term here, is mainly Anthroposophy.

[7] "Materialism", in this sense, is use of the physical brain and senses, especially to deal with physical reality as if it is the only reality.

[8] "Knowledge based on the spirit" is spiritual science or, specifically, Anthroposophy.

[9] Having evolved from incorporeal spirit beings into solidly dense physical beings, we begin to reverse the process (having come down from the spirit realm to the physical realm, we begin our return journey).

[10] I.e., spirit-based thinking (as opposed to intellectual thinking). [See "Thinking".]

[11] According to Steiner, evolution is almost always led by a small band of superior beings. In this instance, the reference is mainly to Anthroposophists.

[12] Seddon is forecasting the triumph of Anthroposophy. Two or three millennia after Steiner created Anthroposophy, it will be almost universally accepted.

[13] The form of Anthroposophy, but not its essential truths, will change. The future form will consist of spiritually empowering images: Imaginations.

[14] I.e., Christianity as reinterpreted by Rudolf Steiner.

[15] I.e., the physical realm is a manifestation of the spiritual intentions of the gods (spirit made materially manifest).

[16] See "spirit self" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

[17] See "spiritual soul" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

[18] See "intellectual soul" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia. Here, Seddon is mainly directing attention to the dire effects of intellect, according to Steiner. “The intellect destroys or hinders.” — Rudolf Steiner, WALDORF EDUCATION AND ANTHROPOSOPHY, Vol. 1 (Anthroposophic Press, 1996), p. 233.

[19] See "Christ Impulse" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia. Here, Seddon is effectively discussing people who reject Christ.

[20] I.e., they cease to be truly human; instead of possessing individual souls (spiritual egos of "I"s), they have group souls, like animals. [See "group soul" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.]

[21] Seddon places the Second Coming of Christ in the distant future, unlike some Anthroposophists who say it has already occurred.

[22] Throughout evolution, Steiner taught, it has been necessary to winnow out evil, backward, or abnormal beings, so that the good, advanced, normal beings may evolve even higher. Here, Seddon speaks of a separation of good and evil humans into two literal races. (All evil people would belong to one race, all good people who belong to a higher race.)

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"[American Age]  The Seventh Age...extends from 5733 to about 7900 [AD] ... It is not an advance on the sixth age, but rather a regression like over-ripe fruit, of very little importance in general since it contains no principle of progress ... If evolution were to take its rightful course, women would be barren from the beginning — people would no longer incarnate in bodies derived from physical parents [1]. But due to impulses from America through which the Spirits of Darkness cast down in the 1840s [2] become regents of propagation, this may be deferred to the seventh millennium or a little later [3] ... But the larynx becomes the organ for asexual reproduction, chaste and pure, which turns to the spiritual ray of wisdom for fructification [4] ... Those who grasp the best possibilities are for a further 2500 years [5] astir as beings of soul and spirit in the clouds, in rain, in lightning and thunder, in the affairs of the earth; they pulse through the manifestations of nature [6] ... Progressive souls thus relate to the spiritual world through the will [7] ... Moral strength is of a magnitude inconceivable today ... Moral and cognitional forces now combine, so that cleverness without morality no longer exists [8] ... The age as a whole is dominated by Anglo-American culture, led by an abnormal Spirit of Personality [9] who does not work for the progress of evolution. America's endeavor is to mechanize everything, and gradually to extinguish the culture of Europe [10] ... [W]orld egoism [11] also proceeds from the English-American people; through their inventions they cover the earth with a network of egoism fraught with evil [12] ... Because by this time sufficient souls have the power to use moon forces for the benefit of evolution [13], the moon again unites with the earth in the eight millennium ... [But] there springs forth a terrible brood of beings, automata lying between the mineral and plant kingdoms [14], possessed of an overwhelming power of intellect. This swarm spreads over the earth in a ghastly network of spiderlike creatures [15] ... The whole Post-Atlantean epoch then ends with the War of All Against All  [16] ... In this critical time...a tiny handful who have developed selflessness and have taken in the power of Life Spirit [17] ensure the survival of humanity on earth [18]...." — Ibid, pp. 54-63. [Italics by Seddon]

[1] If evolution had gone as it should, women would no longer have sexual natures; human procreation would not result in physical "bodies derived from physical parents."

[2] These are demons cast out of the spirit realm. (According to most Anthroposophical texts dealing with such matters, Michael defeated such demons in 1879.)

[3] The Spirits of Darkness became champions of sexual procreation, thus retarding human progress.

[4] Despite the wiles of the Spirits of Darkness, a higher form of procreation was developed by advanced humans: They could create progeny by speaking their intentions (much as gods create by speaking their will). These advanced individuals relied on the "spiritual ray of wisdom" (such as we find in Anthroposophy) to enable them to be fruitful and multiply.

Seddon traces two lines of development in the Seventh Age: the actions of evil actors (the vast majority) and the actions of virtuous actors (a small minority).

[5] A footnote on p. 55 suggests that the correct number is 7,500 years.

[6] Advanced beings, no longer confined to physical bodies, rise up to become the spiritual forces manifested in nature. (These beings supplanted the lowly nature spirits who inhabited nature in the past. [See "nature spirits" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.])

[7] I.e., they express and fulfill their wills, as gods do, in the higher worlds as well as on the physical plane.

[8] Among the better souls, morality becomes the only possible mode of thought; wisdom and morality are one, and advanced beings enact them both simultaneously.

[9] Spirits of Personality, according to Steiner, are gods three levels above humanity. Most such gods are good, but a minority (abnormal, regressive) are not. Here, Seddon writes of an abnormal Spirit of Personality whom he refrains from naming. (The reference may be to Ahriman or to one of Ahriman's minions.)

[10] Steiner and Seddon have a low opinion of America (and, to a lesser degree, England); they have a high regard for Europe, especially Germany. [See, e.g., "America", "English (people), England", "Europe", and "Germans, Germany" in The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.] 

[11] I.e., an immense, imperialistic egotism.

[12] See the earlier reference to a "world-wide web".

[13] Seddon returns here to the actions of the good minority of humans in the Seventh Epoch. (The Moon had separated from the Earth during the Lemurian Epoch. Now it returns.)

[14] I.e., soul-less mechanisms, robots, standing at an intermediate stage between minerals and plants.

[15] See the previous reference to these monstrosities.

[16] See "All v. All".

[17] See "life spirit" in  The Brief Waldorf / Steiner Encyclopedia.

[18] Once again, we see that human salvation and further evolution depend on a tiny minority of the virtuous (epitomized by Anthroposophists).

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To return to previous parts of "Waldorf's Worlds",

use these links:

Waldorf's Worlds 1 (Planetary Stages)

Waldorf's Worlds 2 (Great Epochs) 

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