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ensouled; he does not yet feel a soul in himself, but regards himself as a lump of wood.
Feeling himself soulless, he places himself on the same level as the soulless table that he
bangs. The fact is just the opposite of what we read in the learned books. Whether we
look at India, Persia, Egypt, Greece, or any other place, we find everywhere the same
images that were described above, and into these images was poured the culture that was
given out by the old initiates.
In ancient India the Rishis guided the culture. We must try to understand something of
what gave the impulse to a form that developed into one of the most important forms of
the Indian outlook. We know that in all ages there have been so-called mystery schools,
where those who could develop their spiritual faculties learned to see more deeply into
the world-all, awakening the slumbering faculties so as to see the spiritual connections of
things. From these mystery-places proceeded the spiritual impulses of the various
cultures. In order really to understand the initiates, we usually consider them as they were
in post-Atlantean times, since their nature at that time is most easily comprehensible. But
in Atlantis we could encounter something similar to initiate-schools. In order to
understand them thoroughly, let us examine the methods of such an ancient Atlantean
initiation-school.
If we go back to those times, we find that the above-described conditions of
consciousness prevailed and also that man did not then have his present shape. He had
quite a different form. Let us go back to the first half of the Atlantean period. Man
consisted already of physical, etheric, and astral bodies, plus the ego, but the physical
body still looked quite different. We might compare it with the bodies of certain sea-
animals, transparent, hardly to be seen, although laced with luminous threads in certain
directions. It was much softer than today, having as yet no bones. It is true that there was
already cartilage in some parts, but in these ancient times the physical body was
definitely not of its present form.
The etheric body was a much more important member. The physical body was then more
or less the same size as now, but the etheric body was extraordinarily large. This etheric
body varied among individuals, but one could perceive four different types. One part of
mankind would resemble one type, another part another. These four types may be
designated by the names of the apocalyptic beasts: bull, lion, eagle, man. It would not be
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correct to imagine that these beasts were exactly similar to the present animals, but the
impression that they made reminds us of these. The impressions that the etheric bodies
made can be understood through the picture of a lion, bull, eagle, or man. We can
compare with the bull the portion of mankind that gave the impression of having
powerful reproductive forces or an unusual appetite. Another portion lived more in the
spiritual; these were the eagle men, who felt less at home in the physical world. Then
there were men in whom the etheric body was already similar to the present-day physical
body; it was not quite identical, but it was like the human form. However, we must not
imagine that each man represented only one type; all four types would show some traces
in each person, but one or another would predominate.
Such were the etheric bodies of the Atlantean population. As to the astral body, it was
especially powerful but largely undeveloped, while the ego was still wholly outside of
man. People were entirely different at that time from today. Naturally, some men matured
earlier and assumed the ultimate form before the others, but in the main one can describe
the men of that time as we have just done. This was the normal condition of the average
man.
It was entirely different with the more advanced persons, with the pupils of the mystery-
places, who strove after the initiation of the ancient Atlantis. Let us enter in spirit such a
center of initiation and try to picture what the teacher had to give. First, what was this
teacher himself?
If one meets an initiate today, there is nothing in his general appearance by which he can
be recognized. Few persons would recognize him today. The initiate must live in a
physical body, and the physical body has developed a long way; hence it differs from
others only in certain inner refinements. At that time, however, the initiate was vastly
different from other men. The others still had a more animal-like form; the physical body [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]