Current Postatlantean epoch

We are currently living in the fifth Aryan or Postatlantean epoch that follows the Polarian, Hyperborean, Lemurian and Atlantean epochs. It consists of seven cultural ages (Schema FMC00.047 below), we are current in the fifth cultural age.

The fifth epoch is the lowest point of Man's physical descent, and represents a turning point in Man's consciousness:

• from an atavistic clairvoyance and guidance by the spirits of the third hierarchy
• to a free human being, set free from that guidance, and able and expected to consciously develop based on free will.

This is related to the development of the threefold 'I' consisting of sentient, intellectual and consciousness soul.

The main event of this epoch is the Mystery of Golgotha which is central to the evolution of mankind and Earth .

A major change took place with the Transition between the 4th and 14th century with the loss of Logos and handover of Spirits of Form (SoF) to Archai.

The main developmental goal for Mankind in this epoch is the development of the spirit-self (Schema FMC00.130), and within that tasks and challenges for the various cultural ages (1917-11-19-GA178)

• First ancient Indian cultural age
• second ancient Persian cultural age
• third Egypto-Chaldean cultural age (as in: 1908-09-14-GA106, 1922-09-23-GA216) - approx the period 2907 - 747 BC
  • is also called: Egyptian-Babylonian-Assyrian (1908-09-04-GA106), also includes the Assyrian and Jewish cultures, and the Mayan culture in Central America.
• fourth Greco-Latin cultural age: birth & death, realize that through the Christ something carries us across death
• Current fifth cultural age: come to grips with the problem of evil
• Sixth cultural age: continous contemplation of the spiritual
• Seventh cultural age

The 'seed material' from this epoch for the next great Sixth epoch will be taken from the Sixth 'russian' cultural age following the (anglo-german) Current fifth cultural age, just as the seed material for our current epoch was taken from the fifth Atlantean age or subrace. See also Schema FMC00.169A on Overlapping evolutionary periods.

Aspects

• the emergence of the intellectual soul and loss of ancient atavistic clairvoyance, see the Baldur myth
• In the current fifth epoch, the revelation from above, the guidance of the soul from above (as in the Lemurian and Atlantean epochs), is gradually being withdrawn, so that Man is left to go his own way and become his own leader. (1904-11-11-GA093)
  • Man is set totally free from direct angelic guidance since the 15th century onwards and the age of the consciousness soul, and the withdrawal of the logos. See Transition between the 4th and 14th century
• leadership of mankind
  • The first time a human manu, who will be a human 'master', will arise will be by the end of the fifth epoch. In the sixth epoch he will be a brother to the human race.(1904-11-02-GA089) The Manu of the Sixth epoch (leading bodhisattva, see White Lodge) will for the first time be a real brother to his fellow men, whereas all earlier Manus were superhuman, divine beings of a kind.
• evolutionary trends
  • as we evolve from the fifth into the sixth and then into the seventh epoch, the ancient connection of race and blood will be increasingly lost (1907-06-05-GA099)

End transition

• The Reunion of Moon with Earth will take place in the fifth epoch, around the seventh millenium.
• End of this epoch and destruction of its culture by the War of all against all
• probably already starting much before, Earthquakes and emergence continent sixth epoch

Christ aspects

Extensive coverage of all aspects of the Christ Impulse is in the 21 Study Modules. See especially Modules 2 (and 3).

• the appearance of Christ in the etheric, the appearance of natureal clairvoyance, in the period starting 1933 but growing stronger for 2500 years
  • Christ took form as an angel and lived invisibly in the sphere around the Earth, however suffered an extinction of consciousness (or 'second crucifixion') as an angelic being on the etheric plane due to the onset of materialistic thinking over some nineteen centuries. This however leads to the awakening of etheric clairvoyance in the consciousness of Man.
  • the faculties to be expected
  • paramount importance of gaining understanding of MoG through spiritual science
  • other aspects
    • link with Vidar
    • new elementals

• The relationship Man can have or develop with the Christ will evolve in future cultural ages. There is a connection between the impulses of the different cultural ages and the soul life of Man, and he forces that flow into man and become active within him will come from ever higher worlds or planes.
  • fourth <-> life of perception
  • Current fifth cultural age <-> thinking, intellectuality (eg hence abstract sciences), in second half:; Christ will be seen clairvoyantly in his etheric form
  • Sixth cultural age ('russian') <-> feeling life of the soul, Christ will appear 'to a number of human beings' as a form of light in lower spirit land
  • seventh ('american') <-> spirit world <-> age of morality .. a number of human beings will 'perceive the Christ revealing Himself from the higher spirit world in His true I that surpasses all human I's in inconceivable greatness, and with such splendour that It can bestow on man the highest possible moral impulses.

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.047 below gives a simple tabular overview of the cultural ages for the current Postatlantean epoch, with the center of cultural development. This geography is related to how the spiritual influences are working on Earth, hence this center moves across the globe in a specific way, see Schema FMC00.211 on Human races.

Schema FMC00.047A is an extended reference table that integrates various perspectives, and provides cross-references to more detailed Schemas for these aspects.

Schema FMC00.442 provides an overview of how the current epoch centers around the period of the third to the sixth cultural ages. The third cultural age of the sentient soul was preparatory with the Krishna impulse, then came the fourth age of the intellectual soul with the Wotan-Buddha impulse and the Mystery of Golgotha. And the Christ Impulse is to fructify humanity in the current fifth cultural age of the consciousness soul. The period of 1400 to 1900 was preparatory also, and since 1879-1900 we are in the age of light after the end of the dark age or kali yuga (see also Schema FMC00.013), and more specifically in a period under the archangelic rulership of Michael (see Schema FMC00.239).

Therefore towards the end of the fourth cultural age the Northwestern and Southeastern streams merged, see Christ Impulse - meeting of two streams, see also Schema FMC00.167 on that page showing the important transition over a period of two millenia. The schema depicts the importance of studying the Mystery School tradition and Ancient history of myths and legends for both Northwestern and Southeastern streams (see Schema FMC00.441). From this the follows what is depicted in Schema FMC00.438 - see below.

Schema FMC00.438 illustrates the essential agenda for humanity in the Current Postatlantean epoch to develop the first spiritual principle of Man's higher triad, the spirit-self (or manas) - see Schema FMC00.130. This will be achieved for a large part of humanity in the sixth cultural age (light yellow) as the fruits of the fructification of the consciousness soul by the Christ Impulse (see text in red, and the two mini infographics - see also Schema FMC00.428A).

This critical period of the fourth to the sixth cultural ages was prepared in the first four cultural ages (see Recapitulation - Schema FMC00.168), in parallel in a Southeastern and Northwestern stream (see Two streams of development). Both streams relate to the Atlantean migrations and the development of body and soul in the different populations (see also Human races). The Northwestern stream was in a preparatory waiting mode for four ages, see what is discussed on the topic pages available from both Germanic mythology and Mystery School tradition, a.o. but not limited to Ragnarok, Nibelungen, Druidic and Trotten Mysteries, Wotan Impulse, etc). The two streams met in the fourth cultural age, see Christ Impulse - meeting of two streams.

The spiral below (see also Schema FMC00.169) illustrates how evolution proceeds in discrete jumps, and the whole Schema is a concrete example of that in more detail. The central node of the spiral happens between the fourth to sixth cultural ages, of which the fifth is pivotal or central.

This positions the truly pivotal nature and importance of the current times, as the Christ Impulse is to fructify the consciousness soul so as to get the fruits required for this whole epoch in the next cultural age (Schema FMC00.169A). See also Schema FMC00.052: the next three millenia are crucial, and the current (and next) incarnation(s) is and are therefore pivotal.

Additional schemas that complement this schema: Schema FMC00.432, Schema FMC00.205B and Schema FMC00.441 below

Last, the Mystery of Golgatha in the center of the spiral is not just central to the current epoch, but to the whole Earth cycle and the evolution of the solar system cosmos: it is the start of a new creation, see Schema FMC00.400 on Cosmic breath of Brahma. For perspective, see also the PDF file The great journey of humanity.

Schema FMC00.607: provides an overview of how the law of evolution applies to the development and spiritual guidance of mankind, with a focus on the evolution between the previous Atlantean epoch towards the next Sixth epoch. As development is only possible through differentiation, different segments at various stages of karmic development or spiritual maturity must be separated in order to develop further. Examples of this separation were the different Mysteries and Oracles in the Atlantean epoch, and the castes in India and other areas incl. Egypt. In the future, moral castes will develop based on spiritual maturity as part of the separation of mankind into good and evil segments or sub-races (190X-XX-XX-GA097, 1908-06-21-GA104, 1910-GA013)

The Current Postatlantean epoch is a gradual training to independence for humanity. This is depicted below with a transfer of the guidance of mankind by leaders not part of humanity, that developed on other planets (see also Three Classes of Buddhas) .. to - in the Sixth epoch - the leadership of mankind by the most advanced humans who developed on Eart . The schema shows the gradual evolution of these trends across the cultural ages, and how the sixth cultural age will seed the sixth epoch with the appearance of these moral castes and the fact that the Masters of the White Lodge will become publicly known as leaders of humanity.

Notes for Schema commentary page:

• regarding boxes on the lower left:
  • examples of priests and priest-kings: Zarathustra in the Ancient Persian cultural age, the Egyptian Pharaohs
  • further coverage of these stages in 1919-10-27-GA193 (and 1919-10-19-GA191) - see Contemporary worldview war#1919-10-27-GA193
    • first: Egyptian Pharaohs, Babylonian rulers, Asiatic rulers .. were initiates
    • then : "the priest-type emerged as ruler and was really the ruler right up to the Reformation and the Renaissance"
    • since that time: the economist has been in command, rulers are merely the handymen,of the economists.
      • has become an impersonal ahrimanic force/entity as in the 19th century due to evolution of banking

• regarding castes in India
  • the castes in India should not be related to the first Ancient Indian cultural age .. they appeared later and lasted at least until the fourth cultural age
  • the lecture references given for the castes in India couples karma-based segmentation to the number of incarnations, hence the term 'spiritual maturity'
• the Southern stream of development consisted of the four most advanced segments or castes from the Atlantean epoch
• 1912-05-29-GA155 describes the Two streams of development as an excellent illustration of the two arms of the spiral of development, the need for two concurrent streams of development whereby a second one first stays behind, in order to be able to fructify and merge and grow further beyond the development of the first.
• for the development of moral castes, see also Moral idea'"`UNIQ--nowiki-0000029E-QINU`"'ls and Schema FMC00.188 and variants (on Christ Module 7 - Cosmic dimension) that depicts how 'a new center is created' through this.
• compare this Schema also with
  • Schema FMC00.594 and the process of Individuation as central to the development of mankind in the Earth planetary stage of evolution; see narrative Unification#Individuation and differentiation
  • Schema FMC00.591 showing a more high-level view on why the period between the third and sixth epochs is thé crucial phase for the development of mankind, whereby Schema FMC00.052 zooms in to state the fifth and sixth cultural ages are the decisive ones, and Schema FMC00.422A on how only one third reaches the goal at the end of the fifth epoch
• physiognomy will become more important again in the next cultural ages and Sixth epoch, as a reflection of the soul and spiritual maturity: the outer physiognomy will directly mirror one's karma (1904-11-11-GA093) .. the physical body will become a 'stamp' of one's morality (1915-10-31-GA254, 1915-11-07-GA254) and "in the sixth epoch men will show good and evil on their faces" (1908-06-25-GA104)

Schema FMC00.567 illustrates the parable of the five foolish virgins in the Bible, as related to the mission for humanity to develop the bodily principles in order to receive the Christ Impulse (see also Schema FMC00.438, and Schema FMC00.468 on Man's transformation and spiritualization). The artwork by poet William Blake (1757- 1827) dates from around 1799-1800, and the original has been mirrored here to show how the ones on the right proceed along a timeline to the right, and the others are left behind (see also Sixteen paths of perdition).

The same reasoning as explained goes for the the sixth cultural age in the Current Postatlantean epoch, but similary also for the next Sixth epoch (whereby the five can represent the previous five epochs). In the Book of Revelation the four horses represent the shedding of the worked lower bodily natures - see more on Schema FMC00.505.

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Schema FMC00.444 shows a sketch by Rudolf Steiner depicting the imaginative insight of Schema FMC00.438. This sketch by Rudolf Steiner was found afterwards, only after FMC00.438.

For context see Overlapping evolutionary periods. In the source letter to Marie Steiner of 1905-04-28-GA262, Rudolf Steiner describes patterns of old and new using illustrative examples of the work and influence of Marx and Fechner; Bismarck (+ Tolstoj influence to fertilize the form), Haeckel .. + (Goethe influence to fertilize the form), this way placing references to understand the old which is dying (using the term 'cultural afterbirth', and the new influences which are arising). See also 1905-11-04-GA093 where the same spiral idea and influences like Marx, Lassalle, Haeckel are discussed.

Note: regarding the 'semitic' elements, what is meant here are (not the Jewish people but) the characteristics that arose from the ancient primal semitic stock in the Atlantean epoch. It also played a special role in the Current Postatlantean epoch, see 1910-06-12B-GA121:

Everything that could be distilled from the unitary principle by the synthesizing activity of the ‘I’ has been distilled by the Semitic spirit in the course of thousands of years. This is the significance of the Semitic influence in the world and illustrates the polarity between pluralism and monism. Monism is not possible without pluralism. Pluralism is not possible without monism. We must recognize the necessity for both.

Schema FMC00.013 below stacks a number of views and original illustrations that have been calibrated to a single horizontal time line.

It depicts the fact that in the current epoch the old form of natural or atavistic clairvoyance ('guided by spiritual beings') slowly ebbed away, and a new form of consciousness is forming and will further develop in the remaining cultural ages into a new independant form of clairvoyance.

The table under the blackboard drawing illustrations shows:

• the grey cultural ages on top along the horizontal time dimension (the blue is the current, the yellow pointer showing our current century)
• with underneath the typical level of clairvoyance, into which plane or world of consciousness
• at the bottom, an illustration to show that 'like a curtain fell' over the old clairvoyance and connectness with the spiritual world (this is the only part of the picture not calibrated to the time scale, it should be more extended)
• the blackboard drawing from GA191 shows: the old mixture of wisdom and morality is impacted by the central MoG event (in orange) .. and after a period of impact comes true freedom as the spiritual influences in Man withdraw (see Transition between 4th and 14th century) and Man develops the consciousness soul in the 15th century (see the GA343 drawing dephased for this delay) .. a new future lies ahead with a different connectedness, clairvoyance and brotherly love that is developing.

Schema FMC00.432 shows a geographical view on the Current Postatlantean epoch, with the center of culture over millenia moving across the Southern most advanced stream described extensively by spiritual science. Meanwhile the Northern stream developed differently, as expressed in the Northern Scandinavian and Germanic mythology and ancient Mystery tradition, with initiation centers such as the Hibernian, Druidic and Trotten Mysteries (see Schema FMC00.437).

For more on the northern and southern streams, see Christ Impulse - meeting of two streams#Southern and Northern streams

It is important to realize that the development of humanity was not limited to the key cultures highlighted in the descriptive labels given to characterize each cultural age. For example the Mayan and Jewish cultures also belong to the third 'Egypto-Chaldean' cultural age. Also the Chinese culture is not a focus in the descriptions of the development of humanity.

Also shown are for reference are the Gobi desert and Tibet, see the migrations on Schemas FMC00.205 and variants on Atlantean epoch. For the geographical movement of the epicentrum of cultural height across the globe, see Schema FMC00.211 on Human races.

Schema FMC00.239 shows the archangelic rulers of approx 354 periods for the current cultural age (plus and minus a cultural age). See also Spiritual hierarchies and their eigenperiods for more info on the 354 period. Rudolf Steiner uses this period to describe the nature of current Michael age and the future Oriphiel age.

Schema FMC00.130 provides a simple tabular overview of evolution and the developmental goal per planetary stage (and Condition of Consciousness) - and epoch (taking into account Conditions of Life and Form). For the current fifth epoch on Earth that developmental target is spirit self (or manas), for the sixth it is life spirit (or budhi), and for the seventh it is spirit man (or atma). Only a limited cohort of the population will reach those targets in each epoch. The seed cohort for the next epoch is selected taking into account the developmental goal for the next epoch.

Schema FMC00.052 shows the dephased Christ solar impulse in red (dephased versus the cultural ages and timing of the regular hierarchies, called lunar/stellar astronomy). See Schema FMC00.052A for the original BBD (blackboard drawings). The timebar shows an interesting correlation between these impulses and two key periods for humanity: the first the next future Oriphiel age which will be a hardship test for humanity, and then the period in the next sixth cultural age where we have the Michael age and the impulse of the Maitreya Buddha .. a key period for the cohort of human beings that will provide the foundation for the next great Sixth epoch.

These two key periods are put in perspective to show - in yellow bars - the fact that "the fifth and sixth cultural ages are decisive" (1910-GA013), as "only a third of the population reaches the developmental goal at the end of the fifth epoch" (1904-10-24-GA090A).

To overlay schemas with a similar time-chart layout as below, see also:

• Schema FMC00.013 on this page, which uses the same layout
• Schema FMC00.167 on Transition between 4th and 14th century

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Relationship with Christ

Schema FMC00.082 shows (projecting into schema FMC00.047), the evolving relationship Man will have (or be able to develop) with the Christ

Schema FMC00.081 gives an overview of some of the expected faculties related to the appearance of 'Christ in the etheric' due to the arising new clairvoyance. As depicted in the GA191 BBD (see above) this clairvoyance will be a mixture of wisdom with moral consciousness, hence the elements related to karma in the table below. See also Christ Module 19 - experiencing the Christ

Lecture coverage and references

Overview coverage

• In 1921-05-GA321, Rudolf Steiner spends a few lectures to pass in revue the evolution of the different cultural ages from the perspective of the human soul and consciousness in relation to the outside world. 1921-05-22-GA325 is a good example, but the approach is introduced the day before, and he continues the day(s) afterwards. For a starter link, see Egypto-Chaldean cultural age#1921-05-22-GA325

Reference extracts

1904-11-02-GA089

see also longer extract: Human senses#1904-11-02-GA089

with reference to Schema FMC00.052 (above), and see also Apocalyptic seals

Note the underlined, which clearly points out this is just a segment, an advanced cohort, and definitely not the whole of humanity.

Talking is the opposite pole to hearing. It must continue to develop. It will gain significance and become a sense when mystic evolution will have refined the human being from inside to such effect that it will be able to take the spiritual element in directly. When the spiritual unites with the larynx, the human being will at last be able to speak in a higher sense (in the presence of the masters).

The first time a human manu, who will be a human 'master', will arise will be by the end of the fifth epoch.

In the sixth epoch he will be a brother to the human race. Those who will have taken their mystic evolution of the astral so far that they will be able to recognize the master, will have achieved this by developing this sense.

"Before the voice can speak in the presence of the masters it must have lost the power to wound".

1904-12-23-GA093

The fifth cultural epoch is a purely intellectual one, an epoch of egoism. We are now at the high point of egoism. The intellect is egoistical in the highest degree, and it is the hallmark of our time. And so we must make our way upwards through intellect to spirituality, which was once there ...[Gap]

The secret of secrets is this, therefore: the human being must learn how to keep silence about the paths along which his I unfolds, and to regard his deeds, not his ego, as the criterion. The real heart of the secret lies in his deeds and the overcoming of the ego through action. The ego must remain concealed within the deed. Elimination of the interests of the ego from the on-streaming flow of karma—this belongs to the first degree. Whatever karma the I incurs is thereby wiped out from karma. Nation, race, sex, position, religion—all these work upon human egoism. Only when mankind has overcome all these things will it be freed from egoism.

You can identify, in the astral body, a particular colour for every nation, every race, every epoch. You will always find a base-colour there, that the person has as a member of one of these classifications or categories. This [specific colour] must be eliminated. The Theosophical Society works to level out the colours of the astral bodies of its adherents. They must be of like colour, like in respect of the base-colour. This base colour gives rise to a certain substance ... [Gap] ... [called kundalini, which holds together, within the human being, the forces which lead eventually to the spirit.]7

Bringing this levelling-out about will actually entail bloody war, and through such things as economic strife among nations, wars of exploitation, financial and industrial enterprises, conquests, etc., and through the adoption of certain measures, it will be more and more possible to set masses of people in motion and simply to compel them. The individual will acquire more and more power over certain masses of people. For the drift of this development is not that we will become democratic, but that we will become brutally oligarchic, in that the individual will gain more and more power. If the ennobling of morals is not achieved, then the most brutal forces will lead. This will happen, just as catastrophe by water happened to the Atlanteans.

1905-10-31-GA093A

• Now in the fifth cultural age man does not perceive the changing stages of Manas, but this Race sees as the highest stage the psychic experience of concepts as such. Our cultural age has developed the psychic Manas, the usual scientific knowledge.
• The sixth cultural age will develop a Super-psychic Manas. What with human beings today is merely a kind of knowledge will become actual reality, a social force. The Sixth cultural age has the task of permeating society in a social way with everything which has been produced by the preceding stages of evolution. Then for the first time Christianity will come forth as shaper of the social order. The Sixth Sub-Race will be the one which is the germinal foundation for the Sixth epoch. The Fifth Root-Race is descended from the original Semites, from the Fifth Sub-Race of the Fourth Root-Race. This people developed the individual I which produces egoism. Man owes his independence to the original Semites. Man must first find himself, but then again must also surrender himself He must surrender himself to what makes thought a reality. The sixth cultural age is destined to replace blood relationship with manas relationship, relationship in the spirit. Thinking which is altruistic will develop the predisposition to the overcoming of egoism. In the sixth age the predisposition will be given for the overcoming of egoism, but in such a way that the balance is held between selfhood and selflessness. The man of the sixth cultural age, will neither lose himself in what is outside, nor shut himself up in what is within.
• The seventh cultural age will be a premature birth. It will make outwardly real too soon and too strongly what has come forth from Manas. With the seventh cultural age a kind of hypertrophy will come about. Man will then pour out what he now has within him: his egoism. On the other hand the members of the sixth cultural age will hold the balance. The seventh age will harden egoism. Later the English-American people will be projected as something rigidified into the Sixth Root-Race, just as today the Chinese are a rigidified residue of the Atlantean Age, the Fourth Root-Race.

World-egoism proceeds from the Anglo-American Race. From that direction the whole Earth will be overlaid with egoism. It is from England and America that all the discoveries come that will cover the Earth like a network of egoism. So it is from there that the whole Earth will be covered by a network of egotistic evil. But from a small colony in the East [The Slavonic people.] there will be developed, as though from a seed, new life for the future.

The English-American civilisation consumes European culture. The sects in England and America represent nothing other than the most incredible conservation of what is old. But such Societies as the Salvation Army, the Theosophical Society and so on, come into existence just there, in order to rescue souls from decadence, for race evolution does not run parallel with soul evolution. But the race itself is going towards its destruction. Within it is the seed of the evil race.

In the Fourth Sub-Race work was performed as tribute (Slave Labour).

In the Fifth Sub-Race work is performed as a commodity (sold).

In the Sixth Sub-Race work will be performed as an offering (free work).

The economic needs of existence will then be separated from work: there will be no more personal possession, everything will be owned in common. One will no longer work for one's personal existence, but will do everything as absolute offering for humanity.

1905-11-04-GA093

discusses the spiral idea, and see also the Schema FMC00.444 and commentary above

From the original Semites up to the fifth cultural age, the human ego was very gradually developed. In the sixth cultural age of the fifth epoch the ‘I’ will again reach a higher stage of development. This means that we stand before a new so-called spiral of existence. The previous spiral began in the time when the original Semites laid the foundation for the present epoch.

It is to the original Semite civilisation that we owe everything that has existed up till the present time. But now there begins a new impact with the Slavonic Peoples which will lead into the future. A kind of break with the past will be brought about by a people who will introduce a new impulse into the world. This is working as hidden spirituality out of the Russian peasantry. It will form the second part of the coming spiral.

At the present time a certain culture is in process of destruction and a new one is being prepared. It is being prepared in the West and will come to fruition in the East. But the old must activate the new. Wherever in our time we have new impulses these are germinal, awkward, unskillful. On the contrary the Old is clear-cut, but has a critical, destructive character. It was the Semitic Race which gave birth to the bearers of the Old Culture, who are the bearers of what spirals within the spiral.

All these have something Semitic about them. Examples: Lassalle, Marx. The spiral turns inwards. A continuation from here is not possible. Now a leap must be made as though from one shore to another, to the spirituality of the future culture of the East. This is a completely new impulse.

What belongs to the future is as yet unformed and naturally infiltrated by the old. Haeckel is a man who swims in midstream and is pulled by both spirals. The first part of Haeckel's ‘Weltritsel’ (Riddles of the World) is positive, elementary Theosophy: the second part is negative and altogether destructive. This is a double spiral (Wirbel).

We can also observe these contradictions in the Socialism of the East and the West. The Socialism of the West is a Socialism of production; that of the East is a Socialism of consumption. One who orders the social life in the direction of production reckons with possessiveness, with egoism. He who reckons with consumption turns his attention to what others require from him; he bears in mind his fellow men, reckons with brotherhood. The socialism of production — Marx, Lassalle — only bears the worker in mind, in so far as he is the producer. In the East the consumer is placed in the foreground, as for instance with Kropotkin, Bakunin, Herzen. You can see things building up to a climax if you follow Kropotkin. He had an immediate understanding of the principle of helpful interaction in the case of animals. The socialism of the West is entirely built up on strife. Thus do the currents of World evolution play into one another.

1910-GA013

The decisive fifth and sixth cultural ages - longer extract Current fifth cultural age#1910-GA013

contains this paragraph to keep above our beds not to waste the precious time of our life and use this incarnation to the full extent possible.

However, only human beings embodying souls that have become all that they could under the influence of the Greco-Latin cultural age and the subsequent fifth, sixth, and seventh ages of Postatlantean evolution will be able to cope with these reconfigured earthly circumstances. The inner nature of these souls will correspond to what the Earth has then become. Other souls will have to remain behind at this stage, although earlier they could still have chosen to create the prerequisites for participation in it.

The souls mature enough to face the conditions that will exist after the next great upheaval will be the ones who succeeded in imbuing supersensible knowledge with their own forces of intellect and feeling at the transition from the fifth to the sixth cultural ages in the post-Atlantean epoch. The fifth and sixth periods are the decisive ones, so to speak.

In the seventh cultural age, although the souls who have achieved the goal of the sixth will continue to develop accordingly, the changed circumstances in their surroundings will provide little opportunity for the others to make up for lost time. The next opportunity will present itself only in the distant future.

1910-03-06-GA118

The Abraham - Moses - Solomon ages are sketched in 1910-03-06-GA118 as a way to present the future mirrored versions with a renewal of a new kind of clairvoyance.

1911-11-GA130

Future cultural ages are covered in 1911-11-04-GA130 and 1911-11-18-GA130, see schema above.

1917-10-06-GA177

In the last three, or two cultural ages of Postatlantean civilization in the fifth epoch of Earth evolution, work now done by the gods will again become work to be done by humanity.

We are only in the early stages of the technological, industrial and commercial activities which proceed under the influence of the elemental spirits of birth and death. This influence and its effects will be increasingly more radical.

Until now, the elemental spirits of birth and death have been guided by the gods and their influence has been limited to the coming into being and passing away of humans at the physical level. But the civilization of our own and future ages has to be such that these spirits can be active in technology, industry, commerce, and so on.

There is also another, quite specific, aspect to this. As I have said, these elemental spirits are the enemies of human welfare and want to destroy it. We have to see things straight and not have any illusions concerning the radical nature of this.

Civilization must progress in the fields of technology, industry and commerce. But by its very nature such a civilization cannot serve the well-being of humanity in the physical world; it can only prove destructive to the human weal.

This will be an unpalatable truth for people who never tire of making great speeches on the tremendous advances made in modern civilization, for they see things in abstract terms and know nothing of the rise and fall which is part of human evolution. I have made brief reference to the causes of destruction in Atlantis.

The commercial, industrial and technological civilization which is now in its beginnings harbours elements which will lead to the decline and fall of the fifth earth period. And we only see things straight and face reality if we admit that we are here beginning to work on something which must lead to catastrophe.

...

There is, however, something else which can happen, something people generally do not want to know about today but which is exactly what modern humanity will have to discover. Insight — a clear picture of the necessity which exists — is what will have to come to all human minds. It will necessarily mean that much will have to change in the frame of mind in which we consider the world. Human beings will need to live with inner impulses which they still prefer to ignore today, for these go against the good life they want. There are many such impulses. Let me give you just one example.

...

The elemental spirits of birth and death are, of course, messengers of Ahriman. The iron necessity of world evolution forces the gods to use Ahriman's messengers to control birth and death. When they ask the elemental spirits to act on their behalf they do not allow the powers of these messengers to enter the physical world. But as civilization goes into its decline, from the fifth post-Atlantean period onwards, this element has to come in again, so that catastrophe may be brought about. Human beings must use these powers themselves. Ahriman's messengers are therefore an iron necessity; they have to bring about the destruction that will lead to the next step forward in civilization. This is a terrible truth, but it is so. And nothing will avail where this truth is concerned but to get to know it and to see it clearly.

...

It is the devil who will and must be the bearer of our future civilization. This is a harsh truth, but it is important. It is intimately bound up with the fact that destructive powers will have to enter into the future progress of civilization.

• Above all — and I will speak of this tomorrow — destructive powers will have to enter into the whole field of education, and especially the education of children, unless the matter is taken in hand with wisdom.
• Because of the general trend of civilization, and the customary practices and emotions of people, destructive powers will also enter more and more into the whole social sphere.
• They will above all bring more and more destruction into the actual relationships between people.

1917-10-28-GA177

In the sixth post-Atlantean cultural age, the human fertility which depends on the powers of light for its impulses will gradually come to an end. The powers of darkness will have to intervene so that the affair may continue for a time. We know the seeds for the sixth post-Atlantean cultural age lie in the East of Europe. The East of Europe will develop powerful tendencies which do not allow physical human reproduction to continue beyond the sixth cultural age but, instead, let the earth enter into a form of existence in soul and spirit.

The other impulses for the seventh post-Atlantean cultural age, in which procreation will be guided by impulses from the cast-down angels, will come from America.

Consider the complex nature of these things, which can only be discovered — I have to stress this again and again — by direct observation of the spiritual worlds. Mere theorizing will generally lead to error, for with this we tend to follow a single line of thought which will finally led to the statement that human procreative life will be extinguished in the sixth post-Atlantean period of civilization.

1919-12-15-GA194

see section 1.2 in Note [1] below

Discussion

Note 1 - About merging of various influence currents in current Postatlantean epoch

The general frame for this note is Schema FMC00.438 (Northern and Southern streams of development) and Schema FMC00.013 (with the impact of the Christ Impulse against a background of the yugas or great ages). 1.1/ Schema FMC00.444 above shows a sketch by Rudolf Steiner, see above for more comments.

In the source letter to Marie Steiner of 1905-04-28-GA262, Rudolf Steiner describes patterns of old and new

using illustrative examples of the work and influence of a.o.

• Marx and Fechner;
• Bismarck (+ Tolstoj influence to fertilize the form),
• Haeckel .. (+ Goethe influence to fertilize the form),

this way placing references to understand the old which is dying (using the term 'cultural afterbirth', and the new influences which are arising)

1.2/ Another perspective is offered in 1919-12-15-GA194. This shows how three influences of previous cultural ages and their Mysteries merge in the current Postatlantean epoch:

• Mysteries of the Spirit, of Light (Greek age and culture) <-> current of spiritual life
• Mysteries of Space (Egyptian age and culture) <-> current of rights or government
• Mysteries of the Earth (northern & central European culture, oa Druidic Mysteries) <-> current of economic life

1.3/ A third related perspective is in 1920-10-23-GA200 (see also the lectures of the days before in GA200), the merging of three subcurrents streaming out of romanism. The East-West polarity and influences on the Middle (Europe) are sketched:

• west - soul body: economy - new economy
• middle - state - ending jurisprudence
• east - spirit soul: spiritual life that has ended

Various notes (old draft)

1/ The 1911-11-04-GA130 and 1911-11-18-GA130 references are consistent with what is described in 1910-03-06-GA118 in a different way, and underlying are the schemas that provide the base foundation. Man's soul life evolves per cultural age, guided as it is by a different Archai (Spirit of the Age). Because we are now, in the fifth cultural age, in an age of intellectuality, it is rather logical to present spiritual science and free (non-sensory) thinking as a way to the Christ (as is explicitly done in 1911-11-04-GA130). It is important though to grow into a feeling connection and not a purely dry intellectual. This is a preparation for the etheric clairvoyance that will become ever more clearly in the next three thousand years (1911-11-18-GA130). 2/ Schema 47 - see extended version ao with update from unpublished lecture 1904-11-11

3/ Observe that the GA130 quotes explicitly mention 'a number of human beings', so definitely not the whole of humanity.

4/ The period for Christ's appearance in the etheric may seemingly vary with lecture references, as different phrasings put difference focus or nuances (eg 1910-01-15-GA117A (approx 500 years from 1899 to 2500).

Related pages

• Development of the I
• Evolution
• Christ Module 3 - Evolutionary framework
• Spiritual hierarchies and their eigenperiods
• Transition between 4th and 14th century
• Cosmic year of Zarathustra
• 25920