Glossary

RS describes the other adversary as Ahriman: He is the god of darkness and is described in the Bible as Satan, in Goethe's Faust as Mephistopheles, from the Hebrew "mephiz" (destroyer) and "tophel" (liar). Through Ahriman's work, man's insight into the supersensible world is obscured, he only perceives the material in his surroundings. Matter is the realm of Ahriman. Ahriman's power causes man to lose himself in the material world and the spiritual world to be shrouded in a mist or veil. "Imagine looking into nature, seeing plants, animals, your fellow human beings - and only acknowledging the physical."

"Blessed are those who do not see and yet believe," said the risen Christ to Doubting Thomas. Ahriman causes people to be ignorant of the spiritual world. Its power increased with the advent of the exact sciences in the 15th century. Ahriman tempts people to lie and error - you know how unconsciously. The consequence of Ahrimanic transgressions is bad karma in the form of blows of fate. However, his work cannot be described as evil in the absolute sense. Ahriman's work can also be understood as a sacrificial act that makes a valuable contribution to the overall development of the world. We can transform Ahriman when we see human beings in living unity with nature and the cosmos. Karma is healed by the Holy Spirit of insight into spiritual truths and spiritual knowledge. Furthermore, RS refers to Christ as the "Lord of Karma".

Angels are beings that are directly above us humans in the hierarchy. They don't have a physical body, but an etheric body (invisible vital body) as the lowest member of their being. Even if they are not visible, their presence can be felt very strongly: every child has a guardian angel, a genius at their side. The genius is rightly referred to as the higher self and means that part of the soul that is not incarnated and resides in the spiritual world. The angels bring about a moral conscience in us: by feeding our conscience with positive or negative feelings, our individual values and moral concepts arise. With children the guardian angel is always present, with adults this connection is often disturbed, for example through alcohol or drug abuse, egoism, unscrupulous actions.

If a person acts immorally against their knowledge and conscience, then they resist the impulses of his angel. According to RS, the angel will then give its impulses to the sleeping person. This has fatal consequences: Since the astral body and I leave the body during sleep, only the life-sustaining etheric body is found in the sleeping body (which is why the Greek culture called sleep the little brother of death).

So the angel meets the etheric body and does his work on it. This creation now produces a completely different result. The angel acts like this when a person makes a conscious decision not to let anything get in the way of his conscience. One can say that because the human being decides in this way, his angel will also behave in this way. And what happens through the angel's impulse on the human etheric body? A healthy, orderly conscience cannot develop, but its opposite. Insights of an instinctive, unconscious kind come about. And what do unconscious insights lead to? RS describes three consequences:

1. Charity
   Rejecting charity and brotherhood increases selfishness. Degenerate sexual forces have a harmful influence on human blood, and unscrupulous people, according to Steiner, become "half devils". Phenomena of social disintegration are reflected in the dramatic increase in violence, crime, prostitution, alcohol and drug abuse in recent decades.

2. Spiritual knowledge,
   ie that they challenge us to develop spiritually. When man rejects conscious spiritual knowledge, uncontrolled technical progress occurs: Enormous machine power is released for selfish purposes (think of nuclear power, genetic engineering, armaments industries). Technology seems to have gotten out of hand as the 20th century progressed. Social and ecological catastrophes are the direct consequences.

3. Freedom of religion,
   ie that everyone loves their fellow human beings, no matter which religion they belong to. Denying the healing power of Christ leads to materialistic atheism, e.g. in science, research, medicine. The human being, that spiritual and highly complex being, is then regarded as a kind of computer. An unhealthy way of life means that spiritual growth is no longer possible.

"You, my heavenly friend, who lead me to earth and will accompany me through the gate of death into the spiritual home of the human soul.

You, who have known the way for thousands of years, do not cease to enlighten me, to strengthen me, to advise me, That I emerge from the weaving fire of fate as a stronger vessel of fate and let myself be fulfilled more and more With the meaning of the divine world goals."

~ Ernst Karl Plachner 1896-1982

(Anthropos-Sophia: the wisdom of the human being) is the modern form of esoteric knowledge suited to the present state of cosmic evolution where the intellect is the dominant power of human beings. Anthroposophy gives explanations about the spiritual background of the human being, the nature, and the universe which can be understood by anybody who has mastered clear, unprejudiced, logical thinking. Anthroposophy reveals multifarious and multilayered relationships between the spiritual and the physical world, thus creating a bridge between these two worlds. This is one of the reasons why is also called spiritual science.

(Or Soul Body) The second supersensible body (after the etheric body). It is the carrier of sensations, feelings, drives, urges, cravings, instincts, etc. The main polarity at work in the astral body is the polarity between sympathy and antipathy. For that reasons it can be also called 'sentient body' and identified as the 'soul'.

The astral body (=sentient body) is the human element that penetrates the physical body from the age of 14 to 21. The astral body is non-material and generates those feelings that are not based on direct perception: sympathy, imagination, joy, but also displeasure, dissatisfaction, envy, mockery or antipathy. From the age of 21, the ego gradually sinks into the astral body, which should reach maturity with the formation of the consciousness soul (35 - 42 years of age).

Refers to clairvoyance which has been the normal state of human consciousness in the primeval stages of human evolution. This type of clairvoyance did not enable an understanding of what has been perceived and it has been gradually lost through the millennia when humanity has been developing the capacity of intellectual thinking.

Refers to the ability of people to see the spiritual realities active behind physical existence. In ancient times people had an innate ability of clairvoyance which has been slowly vanishing through the millennia of human evolution until the present, when human power of perception is firmly rooted in the physical realm. There might be still some people with atavistic clairvoyance, but there are already those who have developed a new form of clairvoyance which is connected with an understanding of the spiritual realities.

Clairvoyant, spiritual perception takes place in four specific stages, which are here characterized briefly:

1. Increase of concentration, elevation of consciousness, gradual encounter with one's own unrefined, earth-bound parts of the soul, and, through this, attention and acceptance of the "lower I" leading to its connection with the "higher Self".
2. Imaginative cognition: I receive or create images, ideas, thoughts, or gestures independent of the sensory world, and I pay attention to whether these are filled with forces or beings and are imbued with life. An Imagination is always imbued with Inspiration and Intuition. Thereby the meaning content reveals itself at the same time.
3. Inspiration: I take away the created Imaginations and keep only the inward feelings, impulses and activities that were supporting it. Through this inward jolt, a "conversation" with the entities can begin. It is a personal conversation, a "you-relationship".
4. Intuitive knowledge: I also extinguish this inner activity but keep myself awake. I enter within a respective other spiritual being and experience its life, organization, and connection with the spiritual world. I do not exist anymore for this moment; only the being I commune is there; it exists as my own I. The intuitive cognition is always an I-relation.

It takes years of practice, meditation, work with one's own inner shadows, and study of anthroposophy and other sciences of the soul and spiritual world. It is important that the research rests on a broad background of experience.

(or spiritual soul) One of the three parts of the human soul, beside sentient soul and intellectual soul. The age of the consciousness soul began in fifteen century with the emergence of Renaissance. The main task of human beings in this epoch is to emancipate themselves from belief in authorities, rigid moral codes of behavior, and blood bonds, and thus becoming an independent personality. This is the age of free development of the universal-human qualities and of ethical individualism.

"The impulses of the consciousness soul have an isolating and lonely effect if they are not practiced in an anthroposophical form. One can perceive this as a human tragedy. But it is precisely the strongest inner loneliness of contemporary man that awakens the great longing for community." ( Carl Unger : From the language of the consciousness soul, p. 27). However, if it is not to fall back into outdated states of consciousness, a true community can only be cultivated in community with spiritually conscious people - anthroposophists - in accordance with the age. For people who have not been trained in anthroposophy, the quality of the consciousness soul often produces feelings of emptiness, searching and loneliness. This can only be counteracted if the respective person takes up his own spirit education and exchanges information about his advances and regressions with other, like-minded people in detail.

In the Apocalypse of John , in the epistle to the church of Sardis, reference is made to our present time:

"And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,

1 These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

6 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."

Similar in their balancing effect to the human forces of healing, although they work on a much grander scale. The task of the cosmic forces of healing is to maintain the dynamic balance between the main polarity of world existence – that is, between spirit and matter (spiritual and physical forces and substances), or (in the language of myths) between heaven and earth. Among mythological images of these forces is Hermes (Roman Mercury), the only god among Greek gods who can travel and carry messages between the upper gods living on the mount Olympus (Zeus, Appolo, Hera, etc.) and the lower gods living in the underworld (Hades, Persephone, etc.).

(Not the same as the human forces of thinking, although they are related) The cosmic thinking is creative, living wisdom which is the origin of every form of being and phenomenon in the kingdoms of nature. The human thinking is 'dead' thinking which can only mirror the great world outside us and which can only create a 'dead' world of machines and technology. In comparison to this the cosmic forces of thinking contain power to create living beings.

The spiritual forces working behind the existence of all physical matter. We can get an impression of their nature when we look at the Nordic god Thor with his iron hammer – a mythological image of the macrocosmic power of Will. We all have inside our bodies a microcosmic counterpart of this power – the sum of the millions of red blood cells with iron – which enables us to exercise our own Will in the physical world.

The spiritual member of the human being which enables him/her to understand the world he/she lives in – which is one of the essential differences between human beings and animals. By means of ego people become aware of their own existence as separate individuals. This includes also the ability to reflect on their own deeds, feelings, and way of thinking which enables development of ethical individualism.

The ego is the lower "I", hardened in egoism, which appears as a distorted echo of the authentic "I"

A state of being where the well-being of one's own self, or soul, is placed higher than the normally accepted human virtues; selfishness or self-centeredness.

They are inhabitants of the etheric and astral worlds. They implement locally the impulses of the higher angelic hierarchies. Everything is infused (ensouled) by them, including the body.

Refers to the hidden knowledge which was in the past accessible only to those who were initiated in the mystery schools. In modern times this knowledge is no longer hidden, but is freely available in the form of spiritual science or anthroposophy to all those who wish to study it.

(Or Life Body) The first supersensible body which is in the human being, almost identical with the size of the physical body. The etheric body is the carrier of life functions – growth, regeneration, and propagation – in all living organisms. In human beings one part of the etheric body is the seat of more lasting attributes of their character, such as memory, temperament and habits.

Refers to the stage of the development of human being when his actions have their source in those ideas which are rooted in the moral intuitions of the single individual. This is the stage of true freedom from the constraints of natural laws and the constraints of all conventional moral norms. The development of ethical individualism is the main task of the people in the age of the consciousness soul.

There are beings in the spiritual realms for whom anxiety and fear emanating from human beings offer welcome food. When humans have no anxiety and fear, then these creatures starve. People not yet sufficiently convinced of this statement could understand it to be meant comparatively only. But for those who are familiar with this phenomenon, it is a reality. If fear and anxiety radiates from people and they break out in panic, then these creatures find welcome nutrition and they become more and more powerful. These beings are hostile towards humanity.

Everything that feeds on negative feelings, on anxiety, fear and superstition, despair or doubt, are in reality hostile forces in supersensible worlds, launching cruel attacks on human beings, while they are being fed. Therefore, it is above all necessary to begin with that the person who enters the spiritual world overcomes fear, feelings of helplessness, despair and anxiety. But these are exactly the feelings that belong to contemporary culture and materialism; because it estranges people from the spiritual world, it is especially suited to evoke hopelessness and fear of the unknown in people, thereby calling up the above mentioned hostile forces against them.

~ Rudolf Steiner

The Germanic-Anglo-Saxon culture (1413 - 3573 AD) is the fifth post-Atlantean cultural epoch ; We are currently living in this cultural epoch , which in the historical context is generally referred to as modern times . It serves to train the consciousness soul and can therefore also be referred to as consciousness soul culture. It is under the sign of Pisces, so it is the Pisces Age .

An essential task of the consciousness -soul age is to develop, on the one hand, pure perception of the world of the senses and, on the other hand, free imagination in the way that Goethe was already striving for.

"So, what skills should the people of the fifth post-Atlantean period, our period, particularly develop? We know that we are dealing with the development of the consciousness soul, but this in turn must be made up of a series of forces, soul forces, physical forces. The first thing that has to be developed if man is to remain properly on earth is a really pure perception of the world of the senses. Such a pure contemplation of the world of the senses did not exist in earlier times, because the visionary , the imaginative , always played a part in the life of the human soul, and in the case of the Greeks it was still the imagination. But after imagination had taken hold of mankind to the extent that it had taken hold of them in Greek life, it became necessary for people to develop the ability to look at the external reality of nature unhindered by an underlying vision. We do not need to imagine that the materialistic world view is meant by this; this materialistic picture of the world is already an ahrimanic, distorted view of sensory reality. But, as I said, to properly observe sense reality was one task of the fifth post-Atlantean epoch.

The other task of the human soul is this: alongside the pure perception of reality, to develop free imagination, in a way a kind of repetition of the Egyptian-Chaldean period. In this respect, the fifth post-Atlantean period is not very far off. Free imaginations must be developed, as they are sought by spiritual science, i.e. not bound imaginations, as they had in the third post-Atlantean period, not imaginations distilled into phantasy, but free imaginations in which one moves as freely as people usually move moved freely only in his mind. The right development of the consciousness soul of the fifth post-Atlantean period will result from the fact that these two abilities are developed.

Goethe found the pure perception very beautiful, which he described as his archetypal phenomenon in contrast to materialism. You can find much said about this primal phenomenon in Goethe's writings and in my explanations. It is the pure perception of reality, this primal phenomenon. But Goethe not only gave the first impetus to a vision-free sensuous observation of the primal phenomenon, he also gave the first impetus to free imagination; for precisely what we found in his Faust, even if it is not very far in relation to spiritual science, even if it is still in a certain way instinctive only in relation to spiritual science, is nevertheless the first impetus for free imaginative life , because it's not just a fantasy world. We have seen how deep this fantasy world really is which is developed in free imaginations in this wonderful Faust drama.intellectual viewing ." ( Lit. : GA 171 )

Manifested in the relationship between Lucifer and Ahriman

Man finds matter in the outside world - inside him the conscience and the knowledge of good and evil. Lucifer is the spirit of insubstantial visions and illusions, which wants to lift man off earth into his fleeting realm. Ahriman, on the other hand, wants to pull us down into the purely material world. Only in the balance between these earth-fleeting Luciferic and earth-craving Ahrimanic forces can man find his true freedom.

The rational part of the individual human soul and the principle of the cosmic mind or soul responsible for the rational order of the cosmos. It is a term from classical philosophy for the faculty of the human mind necessary for understanding what is true or real.

Rudolf Steiner (RS) describes the dialectic of good and evil as follows: Evil is a time-shifted good - an originally good that, instead of developing further in the unchanged earlier form, has an after-effect in a later age of human development. However, evil can also arise when something that is only to take effect in a later age occurs too early in an immature form. The battle between good and evil is the confrontation of the earlier with the later, the old with the new. Evolution needs evil as a necessary counterweight to good; for man to be free, there must also be the possibility of evil. The task of the human being on earth is to learn love, ie to decide freely for the good. Only by balancing both can the world goal be achieved. The primal secret of evil depends, according to Dr. Steiner with the "conflict in heaven", a kind of war in the spiritual world.

These are inhabitants of the spiritual world. They can be thought of as great, exalted consciousness spaces. In practical work, it is helpful to divide the angelic world into nine hierarchies, according to the Christian terminology given by Dionysius Areopagite. The angelic world is aligned with the Trinity standing above it: Father-Son-Holy Spirit.

Hierarchies according to Rudolf Steiner (from: Occult Science an Outline)

The names of the hierarchies are not proper names, but names for certain levels of consciousness of the great universe, and the beings move from one level to the other.

Trinity: World Spirit (Father God) - World Soul (Son, Word, Macrocosm) - Human Spirit (Sophia, Microcosm)

I. Hierarchy

1. Seraphim: fixed star sphere, cosmos: spirits of all-love
2. Cherubim: zodiac - spirits of harmony - transform the development goals of a planetary system handed over by the trinity into suprapersonal wisdom, the then is exuded
3. Throne: Planetary System - Spirits of Will sacrifice their Will Substance as the mineral base of the Planetary System and as warmth. The mineral group selves are their descendants. Saturn sphere

II. Hierarchy

4. Kyriotetes: Etheric body of the people - spirits of wisdom, they sacrifice themselves so that the human being gets an etheric body. Group souls of plants are their offspring. Sphere of Jupiter
5. Dynamis: Astral bodies of people - spirits of movement, they appear in the laws of numbers, among other things; the group souls of the animals are their offspring. Mars sphere
6. Elohim: I of the people - spirits of form, Christ is the supreme Elohim, but also belongs to the Trinity (world soul). Jahve sends the mature wisdom from the moon, which is the basis for love. The remaining 6 Elohim work through the sun. Region of soul life, world of senses

III. Hierarchy

7. Archai: bring about time - spirits of personality, consist of Spiritman as the highest state of consciousness. The spirits of darkness (evil Asuras, Lucifer) also belong to this level, eg Satan. Sphere of Venus, region of soul power, world of thoughts
8. Archangeloi: Lightning, fire - they bring about language and folk souls, fire spirits: life spirits arise momentarily through them. Mercury sphere, region of soul light, language world, emotional imagery
9. Angeloi: Messengers, sons of life, are currently training the spirit selves, guardian angels (genius). Moon sphere, Kamaloka, fantasy/dreams, volitional feeling

IV. Hierarchy

10. Man: spirit of freedom and love, consisting of physical body, etheric body, astral body and I as the highest state of consciousness. Earth sphere, volitional action
11. Animal: consisting of physical body, etheric body, astral body
12. Plant: consisting of physical body, etheric body
13. Mineral, physical bodies

Humans are evolving beyond the animal, plant and mineral kingdoms. What they have in common with the animal kingdom is that they also have an astral body (sensation body) in order to feel feelings. Plants, animals and humans all have an etheric body. It is the bearer of the living world thoughts that produce the forms of life in nature. It acts as a vital force that maintains the processes of the organism and brings the metabolic products and water to the right place in the body.

Besides the world of the senses, the human being lives also in all areas of the supersensible world and consists of many higher members (bodies), which together form the human aura in its complexity. In former times, these members - often under different names - were part of a cognitive inquiry and spiritual traditions. Today the best-known entity among these members is the material body.

The following outlines the members of the Human Being *. Some of those described below also have further descriptions elsewhere in this glossary. One should read each description to get the greater understanding.

Material Body: We perceive it with our senses, see it and touch it, since it consists of matter. Today, many people identify very strongly with the material body, and it is this body that is the subject of the inquiries of the medical sciences. In reality, however, this material body is only a very small part of the whole human being. If someone looks only at the cut fingernails of a person, then we would say that, with such a narrow point of view, we cannot understand this person at all. It is the same when we look only at the material body. The material body is permeated by other members of the human being, but they usually remain undifferentiated. For example, we experience the material body as alive, but this life is already a perception of the etheric-life body.

Physical Body, also called Phantom Body or Form body: It is the spiritual, working archetype, the construction plan of the material body. It is created before an incarnation out of the cosmic Spirit Man (see further below) and holds the form of the material body. Since the term "physical body" is easily associated with "material body", in the following I will mainly use the word "phantom body" when describing this member of the human being. It can be perceived supersensibly some inches around the material body; usually, however, this ability must be practiced for a long time. It is easier to observe the etheric body.

Etheric body, also called Life Body or Body of Formative Forces: The etheric body elevates dead matter into life and creates a whole living organism from many individual elements (e.g., the organs or cells). The etheric body forms the basis of all life. The term "Ether" is comparable to "Prana" in India, "Qi" in ancient China and "Ki" in Japan. All living beings - animals and plants as well as humans - have their own etheric body. If one meditatively pursues the question, what is the difference between minerals and plants, one can get an understanding and experience of the etheric body. The etheric body forms the organs of the body according to the archetype of the phantom body. It is the vehicle of memories, temperaments, and habits. Thoughts usually become conscious to us when they receive a form in the etheric body; representations usually become visible in the etheric body in front of the head. The etheric body always mixes with the environment, and thus several etheric bodies can be permanently united. A family or a community of life usually forms a common etheric body. The etheric body is the densest part of the human aura.

Astral Body: The astral body is the body that constitutes our experiences and our emotions. It could also be called the "body of experience". If we meditatively pursue the question of what the difference between plants and animals is, we can come into an understanding and experience of the astral body. It is the basic vehicle of the consciousness, but not of self-consciousness, which arises only through the "I". Feelings such as desire and dislike, sympathy and antipathy, are experienced through the astral body. It enables the independent movement of the body and all sensual perceptions. Likewise, all thought content and the conscious part of our will-intentions are experienced in the astral body. Still, the different members of the human being are not separated but connected. When experiences of the astral body are imprinted into the etheric body, the sentient body is formed.

The "I": Rudolf Steiner describes it very beautifully as the "veiled sanctuary of the soul." The "I" belongs to the eternal spiritual core of man and is at the same time individual and universal. In its depth, the "I" is not easy to understand. The "I" penetrates the other members of the being and reshapes them, therefore it can also be called the "I-organization". The "I" is the captain on the ship of the other members. Through the work of the "I" in the astral body, the sentient soul and the intellectual soul and mind soul come into being.

Sentient Soul: The sentient soul is part of the human soul and not only mediates all perceptions and sense impressions, but is also the seat of all drives, desires, passions, and impulses with which the "I" has connected itself. In the sentient soul, however, the "I" broods only dully; the self-consciousness of the "I" is not yet awakened. Instead, the "I" identifies itself with feelings, thoughts, and perceptual contents, whereby ego-entanglements can arise. The ego is the lower "I", hardened in egoism, which appears as a distorted echo of the authentic "I".

Intellectual - and Mind Soul: lives in the interplay of intellect and mind. The mere intellect makes the soul life sober, cold, and lacking interest. The intellectual soul is filled with what it thinks or perceives and gets lost in it. The term "mental body" is largely adequate as a name for the intellectual soul. On the other hand, the mind gives warmth and direction to the soul. In the mind, emotions and willimpulses are connected in a healthy unity, in such a way that they do not rob the "I" of its dominion over the soul, unlike the overflowing, blind emotions of the sentient soul. The intellectual- and mind soul is the prevailing consciousness of mankind today. In it, the "I" is clearly working, yet without becoming clearly conscious of itself. This happens only in the consciousness soul.

Consciousness Soul: Here the soul grasps itself in its own being, in its "I". Rudolf Steiner says very beautifully: "Therefore, this "I" cannot be perceived by the consciousness soul other than through a certain inner activity". (34) This means that the consciousness soul does not live in thought and world contents, but in an amplification of the active soul forces. All contemporary meditation should as a goal have the development the consciousness soul. It is the most autonomous part of the soul, which, in the widest sense, is independent from the rest of the world. The sovereignty of the individual, as well as the sobriety and objectivity of the contemplation of nature, are fruits of the consciousness soul. It can open itself to the world of senses and to the spiritual world in the same way. It is the element that can influence man's actions from the spiritual world by impulses of the beautiful, the good and the true. The consciousness soul is equivalent of the "integrated consciousness" described by Jean Gebser and Ken Wilber.

Spirit-Self: Every supersensory experience takes place in the Spirit-Self. It is the sense perception free consciousness - the Higher Self. It is also the level of consciousness of the angels.

Life-Spirit: The spiritual world and its beings are a weaving, active life, with which we connect with our Life-Spirit. This can also be understood as an "I"-permeated etheric body.

Spirit-Man: This is above all the highest self of man, the Cosmic Human Being, who can become infinitely large, a "star-body". From the eternal Spirit-Man, the individual phantom body is formed before each incarnation, which then forms the material body

Among the members of the human being there are also many individual spiritbeings, which constantly work on and with "their" human being. In the following I present three important categories of such beings.

Angel: The angel accompanies the human being with an angelic patience over the incarnations. Our angels carry the overall panorama of our karmic connections and necessities. They are more developed than we human beings, and act on us from the sphere of the Spirit-Self. Every supersensible experience is mediated by the angel. Every night we sleep into the angel. After death, the angel guides us through the higher spiritual realms of the angelic hierarchies, also called planetary spheres. Through the angel, the spiritual Christ-Light reaches us. The feeling of being with oneself, of being at one with oneself, of loving oneself and others, means being permeated by the angel. When the connection with the angel is disturbed, a person feels distant from himself or herself. In terms of aura, the angel is usually visible directly behind the person.

Body-Elemental-Being: The body-elemental-being is the co-worker of the angel on the level of the etheric body. It is the consciousness of our body and takes care of all organs and life processes, through incarnations. Aurically, the body elemental being is usually before or in the human being.

Double: The double is an unredeemed total amount of our human soul shadows - unredeemed feelings and traumas of all members of our being, antisocial and egoistic behavior patterns, and all old, not yet integrated karma. Aurically, the double usually walks beside the human being, however, in unrestrained situations the double takes the lead and represses the I. The person then behaves surprisingly aggressive or destructive. Everybody knows such situations, and often one does not know "what possessed one". In problematic human relationships the doubles like to activate each other. The double is in relation to the subterranean spheres of the Earth and the adversarial spirit beings.

Adversary spirits

Dark Subterranean Layers of the Earth: These are spiritual spheres of the earth where the collective, unresolved, old karma of mankind gathers. Traditionally, nine layers are distinguished. The Nine Beatitudes also refer to these inner layers of the Earth. Dante Alighieri describes nine layers in his "Divine Comedy". Through our double, we human beings are in a relationship with these inner layers of the Earth. These should be illuminated in the long run, but frequently they darken the soul life at first. The dark Earth inner layers are inhabited by adversary spirits.

Bright Subterranean Layers of the Earth: These are spiritual spheres of the earth where light spirits and beings dwell. The "love of Mother Earth" flows through them. The bright subterranean layers of the Earth are not connected with the dark subterranean layers of the Earth.

The adversarial Spirits Lucifer, Ahriman, Asuras: Besides the angelic hierarchies, which are oriented towards the divine love, there are also "fallen angels". Without their resistance, the world could not develop. They are also active within our constitution. Among them are the luciferic, ahrimanic and asuric "dark" angelic beings, described in detail in Anthroposophy. The ahrimanic beings are the spirits of materialism, coldness, and darkness; the luciferic beings are the spiritless ones of arrogance, egomania and blinding light, the asuric beings are the spirits of fragmentation and dissolution of the "I". In Sanskrit, the term "asuras" is used as an "evil spirit" or opponent of the gods, as a generic term. Rudolf Steiner, on the other hand uses it to refer to a special kind of fallen angelic being. All these adversary spirits belong to our spiritual planetary system and have - if they are redeemed and transformed with divine love and the "I"-power - very positive effects.

I would like to emphasize that this is not a theory or a belief system. In supersensible perception one constantly encounters these beings. It is a condition of a healthy spiritual path of knowledge that one learns to deal with these dark entities as well.

Soratic spirits: These are the fourth group of the adversary spirits, which originate from spirit realms in distant cosmic times and expanses outside of our planetary system. They have no business in the spiritual space of the earth, but they are pushing their way in, nevertheless. They seduce people because they promise great power. People addicted to power easily fall for soratic beings, who are the inspirers of all evil. They are described in the Bible - in the Revelation of John, the Apocalypse, - as the two-horned beast. In the Gnosis, the term Archons refers to them.

Soratic Transhumanism spirits: A special group of soratic beings are called here transhumanism spirits, because they seem to inspire transhumanism. These are central to the understanding of Covid19 and the vaccines. Since these beings are associated with the very highest adversarial powers, it can be assumed that all processes emanating from them are extremely harmful to humans.

Vaccine-Beings: Every vaccine has a being in the spiritual world, a kind of living original idea (one could also say "group soul" and "group spirit"). This is not an abstract idea, but a multiform spirit-space filled with consciousness - a being-structure. With vaccination these enter the human aura and work within it. In such cases, there is the "great" vaccine being in the lower layers of the spiritual world and at the same time "smaller" replicas - one could also say "descendants" - working in the human aura. The vaccine-being is connected with other spirit beings, which give it a special character. For example, if it is connected with certain ahrimanic beings, they work through the vaccine being in the vaccinated person. If it is connected with soratic spirits, then soratic spirits gain access into the members of the human being.

Disease-Beings (Beings of Illness): Every disease also has a being in the spiritual world, which connects with the human being when needed.

* These descriptions were derived from the book Corona Vaccines from the Spiritual Perspective by Thomas Mayer.

(from Latin imaginari, meaning 'picture to oneself') in common use refers to creative act or power of forming new ideas or images of external objects not present to the senses. In spiritual science Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition are three stages/methods of the development of the knowledge of the higher worlds. This knowledge enables us to know the whole human being in relation to supersensible worlds. Although our ordinary consciousness knows nothing of them, they nevertheless form part of us. For that reason we can find some resemblance between the ordinary imagination and the first level of higher knowledge, which has a kind of artistic nature. Cognition through imagination is attained by lifting into consciousness what is active subconsciously and involuntarily behind our dreaming. However, if we wish to raise ourselves to the level of Imagination an artistic element must become part of our efforts. If we want to overcome abstract naturalistic thinking, we have to develop a more creative way of thinking which resembles that of a creative artist. Only then we can attain to the reality of spiritual processes by virtue of Imagination. In this first stage of cognition of the higher worlds, we attain the capacity of seeing of the spiritual realities.

Those people who have attained the knowledge of the spiritual worlds by means of various methods of initiation after years of rigorous training procedures used in the old mystery centres. In modern times this is possible if one performs specific exercises of mediation or contemplation or serious study of descriptions of the spiritual realities given by initiates. In the book How to Know Higher Worlds Rudolf Steiner describes the path of self-training which enabled him to access the spiritual world.

(from Latin inspirare, meaning 'to breathe into') in common use refers to an unconscious burst of creativity in artistic, scientific and other kinds of endeavour, whenever a person is very intensively involved in a search for a solution of a problem or a challenge in the development of something new. In spiritual science Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition are three stages/methods of the development of the knowledge of the higher worlds. This knowledge enables us to know the whole human being in relation to supersensible worlds. Although our ordinary consciousness knows nothing of them, they nevertheless form part of us. For that reason we can find some resemblance between the ordinary inspiration and the second level of higher knowledge, which is, in essence, a moral one. In ordinary life we become inspired by something that does not normally enter consciousness but permeates our being as does the oxygen we breathe in. We can say that we breathe with our soul and spiritual being when we rise to the stage of Inspiration. If we want to attain this stage we must practice swift and decisive action, learning to quickly grasp the moment, because whatever comes through Inspiration passes in a flash. Though qualitatively similar to moral ideas and impulses, Inspiration manifests as a reality – as a powerful force that works and 'speaks' to us in a similar manner as they do the elemental forces in nature. In this second stage of cognition of the higher worlds, we attain the capacity of perceiving what the spiritual realities are speaking to us.

(or Mind Soul) is one of the three parts of the astral body (beside sentient soul and consciousness soul), the part which enable the activity of our thinking. The age of intellectual soul lasted from 747 BC to 1413 AD; this was the period of the dominance of old Greek and Roman civilizations (therefore it is also called the GraecoRoman cultural epoch).

(from Latin intueri, meaning 'to look inside' or 'to contemplate') is usually regarded as the ability to acquire knowledge without the use of rational thinking. This means that processes by which it happens remain mostly unknown to the thinker. In spiritual science Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition are three stages/methods of the development of the knowledge of the higher worlds. This knowledge enables us to know the whole human being in relation to supersensible worlds. Although our ordinary consciousness knows nothing of them, they nevertheless form part of us. For that reason we can find some resemblance between the ordinary intuition and the third level of higher knowledge, which can be attained when we pour ourselves out into reality of soul and spirit with loving devotion. Shadow forms of Intuition can be found in ordinary life in religious feelings and moods. However, a religious feeling remains a purely inner experience that does not lift us into outer spirituality, while Intuition is an experience of objective spiritual reality. In this third stage of cognition of the higher worlds, we attain the cognition of the inner essence of the spiritual realities.

The totality of a person's actions and conduct during successive incarnations, regarded as causally influencing his or her destiny.

The name for the part of the etheric body which has been gradually transformed by the power of human ego. Although in the present phase of cosmic evolution only initiates can work consciously on this transformation, we all possess the germ of life-spirit.

A surplus of human beings who are already appearing in our time who have no egos, who are not really human. This is a terrible truth. They walk around and are not incarnations of an ego; they enter into the physical line of heredity and receive an etheric body and an astral body. In a certain way they are equipped with an Ahrimanic consciousness, and they look human if one doesn't look too closely, but they are not human beings in the full sense of the word.

Lucifer, the "bearer of light", brings man freedom and the knowledge of good and evil. This also gives rise to the possibility that man can become entangled in moral transgressions. Freedom is necessary so that man can become a morally self-responsible being. For the immature soul, Lucifer is an adversary who opposes the divine creative powers, but at the same time he promotes our development through his resistance. It must therefore by no means be regarded as a one-sidedly evil spiritual power. The healing power of Christ relates in particular to the astral body, which is the source of our self-healing power. According to RS, suffering and sickness are brought about by good powers so that freedom and knowledge are no longer abused. "Our subconscious knows: My pain is the result of my mistakes. My pain is an educator who wants to bring me liberation from my vices".

Lucifer works in the sense of good when people perceive the light of wisdom and the sense of the beauty of the sensual world through Lucifer. Science and art are a gift from Lucifer, as is moral insight based on knowledge. Without him, human culture would not exist. Lucifer wanted to lead man into the physical world, but it was not his intention to tie him so tightly to the material world as is now the case.

In the Bible, Lucifer is symbolized by the serpent that sneaks into paradise and tempts man to eat from the "tree of knowledge". This opens people's senses to the outside world and awakens their sensual desires. As a result, man was involved earlier and more deeply in the sensual world than originally intended. As a result of the Luciferic influence, man is deprived of the direct view of the supernatural world: he is expelled from paradise. The purely spiritual being that man once was descends into the sensory world and assumes physical form there. Because man now becomes a material-corporeal being, he loses his original immortality and absorbs death into his corporeal nature.

The gender segregation is a direct consequence of the Luciferian impact. Man, who was no longer the pure, unadulterated image of the divine being, became the split male and female image of the spiritual creative powers. The cycle of birth and death began, humanity developed into races, tribes and peoples. On the other hand, this creates the prerequisite for the individualization of people. Man becomes more independent; Lucifer brings individual freedom and with it, unfortunately, also the possibility of egoism.

Sanskrit word with multiple meanings. The most common translation is illusion, deception. In Indian spirituality it is used to describe the illusionary nature of the physical world in comparison with the reality of the spiritual world.

The totality of qualities and traits, as of character or behavior, that are peculiar to a specific person.

"We have entered the Age of Pisces. It is essentially expressed in the fact that man receives the power for abstract concepts from the macrocosm. Today man receives this power from the macrocosm. But for the time being abstract concepts are what man does not yet know how to reconnect with reality. It must in turn be linked to reality." ( Lit. : GA 180 )

"We have been under the sign of Pisces for centuries, and it is precisely in the sign of Pisces that the transition to human intellectualism takes place. But if you go back to where Aries was still justified, i.e. where one could speak of the zodiac in the old sense, then you don't have much more than Sagittarius, Goat, Aquarius and Pisces, or the professions: hunter, animal breeder, farmer and trader. Everything that has come about in terms of industry and so on belongs in the Pisces; that's a repetition. Just think: We live in the age of Pisces; everything that is today our machine culture and so on developed there. If we go back to the time of Aries, we still have the honest four professions, albeit somewhat more complicated and modified that place man in nature. And then we can go further back - to the Taurus Age, the third, second, first post-Atlantean period, the last Atlantean, the penultimate Atlantean and so on: so we would come back and would if we go further back to the Age of Pisces again, still have man as a fully ethereal being who has not yet descended into the physical world. And because we have him there in Pisces, where he once was as an ethereal being, he basically repeats what he went through when he actually became human. He's been repeating it since the mid-15th century, but he's repeating it in an abstract way. At that time he grew concretely into his humanity. Since then he has grown into his abstractions, because a machine is also an abstraction. Since then, since the Age of Pisces came again, man has actually been placed in what dissolves him. And if the human being returns to Aquarius, then this dissolution will progress significantly, then above all he will not be able to have the slightest connection with the world if he does not stick to the spiritual world. Precisely because of this repetition man must enter the spiritual world." And if the human being returns to Aquarius, then this dissolution will progress significantly, then above all he will not be able to have the slightest connection with the world if he does not stick to the spiritual world. Precisely because of this repetition man must enter the spiritual world." And if the human being returns to Aquarius, then this dissolution will progress significantly, then above all he will not be able to have the slightest connection with the world if he does not stick to the spiritual world. Precisely because of this repetition man must enter the spiritual world." (Lit.:GA 208 )

Rebirth of a Human Being in a new body that retains the "seed" of prior lives i.e. the same soul.

One of the three parts of the astral body (beside intellectual soul and consciousness soul), the part which is active in the perception of the outside world through our physical sense organs. The age of sentient soul lasted from 2907 BC to 747 BC, the period of the dominance of old Egyptian and surrounding civilizations (therefore it is also called the Egyptian-Chaldean-Babylonian cultural epoch).

The name for the part of the physical body which has been gradually transformed by the power of human ego. Although in the present phase of cosmic evolution only initiates can work consciously on this transformation, we all possess the germ of spirit-man.

The name for the part of the astral body which has been gradually transformed by the power of human ego. In the present phase of cosmic evolution we can all work on the conscious transformation of our life of emotions, desires, passions, etc, into spirit-self.

There are three distinct levels of the Spiritual World. From lowest to highest, they are characterized as:

• Etheric world (life- and formative forces)
• Astral world (soul world)
• Spiritual world (creative sources for everything created)

Arhats

Adepts, initiates, occult teachers, Mahatmas or Masters.

Arupa

Without form.

Arupa plane

The higher regions of Devachan. Higher Spiritual World (R.S.)

Atma

The breath of life-spirit. The seventh and highest principle in man. Spirit Man. (R.S.)

Avidja

Non-knowledge.

Avitchi

Hell.

Bhava

Individual existence.

Bodhisattva

One whose being (sattva) is illumination (bodhi) pre-stage to Buddha-hood.

Buddhi

Theosophical: World-soul or World-mind and as 6th principle of the human being: Spiritual soul. Called by Rudolf Steiner Life Spirit.

Buddhi-Manas

Higher Manas in contradistinction to Lower Manas (Kama Manas). Higher Ego.

Chela

Occult pupil.

Causal body

According to Rudolf Steiner, the extract of the etheric and astral bodies which man bears from Earth-life to Earth-life and continually enriches.

Devachan

Spiritual World. See under Planes.

Devas

Spiritual Beings functioning on planes higher than the physical.

Dhyan-Chohans

Planetary Spirits, perfected human beings of earlier Rounds. — Oriental name for the Archai or Archangels.

Jara-marana

The Fall.

Jati

What before birth presses towards birth.

Kali Yuga

Yuga: age; Kali: dark.

Kama

General Astrality, i.e. substance of wishes and desires.

Kama-Manas

Earthly consciousness or Lower Manas, in contradistinction to Higher Manas (Buddhi-Manas). Also called by Rudolf Steiner, Intellectual Soul.

Kama-prana consciousness

General consciousness of life.

Kama-rupa

Astral Body, Body of Desires.

Kriya-shakti

The power of self-procreation.

Kundalini fire, kundalini light

Serpent-fire, Serpent force. Described by Rudolf Steiner in 'How to Attain Knowledge of the Higher Worlds' as 'force active in Spiritual Perception', and as 'An Element of Higher Matter'.

Linga Sharira

Etheric body.

Lipikas

Also called Maharajas: Exalted spiritual beings connected with human destiny (Karma): Lords of Karma, who guide incarnation.

Maha-para-nirvana

Highest of the Seven Planes.

Manas

Literally, spirit. As human principle called by Rudolf Steiner, Spirit-Self.

Manvantara

Cosmic Day; seven rounds, a period of manifestation in contradistinction to period of dissolution or rest — Pralaya.

Mental World, Mental Plane

Devachan.

Nama-rupa

Distinction between name and form (subject and object).

Nidamas

The twelve Nidanas are the twelve Karma-forces which bring about incarnation. See Lecture 15.

Nirmanakaya

According to Rudolf Steiner an astral body so highly developed that at death no traces are left behind: Body of a Buddha-Being who has achieved perfection.

Para-nirvana plane

Lying still higher than the Nirvana Plane (See under Planes).

Pitris

Fathers or Fore-runners of Earth-men on Old Moon and Old Sun.

Planes

The Theosophical-Indian terminology for the seven planes, levels or worlds was already replaced by Rudolf Steiner as far as possible by German expressions in his Theosophy (1904) and in later lectures.

This world above the World of Fore-seeing is of such a nature 'that in accordance with truth and uprightness its name may not be given in European languages, for it would not do to choose just any name for what in Oriental languages is called Nirvana and which is higher than the World of Fore-seeing.' Rudolf Steiner, Lecture, Berlin, 25 October 1909 in The Christ Impulse and the Development of the Ego-Consciousness. See also The Theosophy of the Rosicrucian. The East in the Light of the West. Macrocosm and Microcosm. Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy.

Praja-patis

The Creative forces (from the point of view of embodiment).

Pralaya

Sleep condition; Existence during a Rest-period between two Manvantaras, also called a closed orbit.

Prana

General Life-principle; when poured into the physical body, spoken of as etheric body. Sometimes Life Ether.

Root Races

The seven main epochs or ages of the Fourth Globe or Condition of Form in Earth evolution: 1. Polarian, 2. Hyperborean, 3. Lemurian, 4. Atlantean, 5. Aryan or Post-Atlantean Root-Race; the following two epochs are always called the 6th and 7th Root-Races.

Rupa

Body, form.

Rupa Plane

Lower Devachan, Lower Spirit World. (R.S.)

Sanja

Perfection.

Sanskara

The organising tendency, desire.

Shad-ayatana

What the understanding makes out of a thing.

Shushupti plane

Buddhi plane. See under Planes.

Skandhas

According to Buddhistic reaching the five fundamental principles in every human being: body, sensation, thinking, will, consciousness. According to Rudolf Steiner virtually identical with Karma. See Lecture 17 of the Course.

Sparsha

Contact with existence.

Tat twam asi

'That art thou': Famous formula of the Vedas.

Trishna

Thirst for existence.

Upadana

Feeling of comfort in existence.

Vedana

Karmic results of feelings and sensations.

Vijnana

Consciousness. Understanding, intellectual knowledge.