Spiritual hierarchies and their eigenperiods

The term 'eigenperiod' is used to denote the typical rhythm and time span for the influence characteristic for a being of a particular spiritual hierarchy. The term is inspired on mathematical terminology of eigenvector, or eigenfrequency (natural frequency).

When we quantify this, eg in years, the concept only makes sense as long as the conditions that define time are stable enough for the unit of time to be stable enough (as it is linked to the balance of Earth between the Sun and the Moon influences). For our current concept of time as we measure and use it today, we know this has only been the case since about the middle of the Atlantean epoch.

What matters is not the exact length of time, but rather that we have a 'technical' term that we can use generically, that is: for whatever spiritual hierarchy in whatever stage of evolution. Therefore, rather than the human earthly unit of 'year', the zodiac clock and the Platonic year are used for the different evolutionary periods such as epochs and cultural ages.

• The Archai underlie the cultural ages or periods of civilisation (prev. called subraces in the earlier epochs), they are also called Spirit of the Age (or zeitgeist) or Spirit of the Time (leading and guiding the whole of humanity). Steiner and Harrison map these periods of cultural ages of about 2160 years to the effect of the precession of the equinoxes and the Archai.
• One level below, Archangels - some are called Folk Souls - rule a period of three to four centuries, an average of 354 years is used.
• The hierarchy above the Archai, the Spirits of Form (SoF), are mapped to the epochs corresponding to a 'root race', and the transitions such as the ice ages. For our Current Postatlantean epoch that period is also referenced by the Platonic year of approx. 25.920 years.
• The Spirits of Rotation of Time (SoRT) regulate the rhythms of nature as related to the daily and yearly cycle on Earth.

Aspects

• the gnostic term 'aeon' (1910-08-20-GA122)
  • was used for a living entity, or spiritual being, not a period of time, it was only very much later that the purely abstract concept of time was associated with the word 'aeon'.
  • it maps to the Hebrew word yom, which is a spiritual being (as used in Genesis, and is usually translated as 'day'), seven such yamim following one another means seven consecutive beings or groups of beings
  • the word aeon or yom refers to the hierarchical beings one stage lower than the SoF (or Elohim), the Archai time spirits, that they used as servents or subordinate spirits. The spiritual beings we call Archai are the same as those called in Genesis, Time-Intervals, Days, Yami.
• in ancient times, when one spoke of weekdays, as we speak of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and so on, one did not mean simply periods of time, but the groups of spiritual beings working in Sun, Moon, Mars and so on (1910-08-20-GA122). See also Schema FMC00.558.
• this situation of the spirits of the nested hierarchies 'round robbin' is in continuous evolution and never static. Therefore there are gradient transitory effects and influences that are underlying what happens in the history of humanity.
  • For a high level contextual reference frame, see Schema FMC00.276 on Overview of solar system evolution.
  • For specific examples, eg
    • the handover between Spirits of Form and Archai in Transition between 4th and 14th century
    • the evolution of archangels to archai (or 'promotion') is described in 1910-06-12-GA121.
    • the evolution of the spiritual entity known as archangel Michael to the order of the Archai is described (GA152)
• dynamics
  • in any 'arc of seven' (eg CoL, CoF) .. there is a difference in speed from fast to slow on the 'descending' part of the arc, and from slow to fast again on the 'ascending' part of the arc. This is related to the cosmic breathing and the outbreathing and inbreathing pattern. Compare Schema FMC00.240A below with Schema FMC00.302
  • See also (related) on The two halves of an evolutionary cycle:
    • the influences of the spiritual hierarchies don't coincide with the begin and end of cycle (eg for CoFs within a CoL), but continues from the middle of one to the middle of the next: it increases from the middle of a cycle onwards, becomes strongest in the middle of a period of rest, and then ebbs in the next.
    • towards the end of a planetary stage the being of central importance (and on Earth this is Man) is left free, so that the qualities with which he was originally endowed may pass more freely into his own hands. This principle of AM and PM is illustrated in Schema FMC00.276 on Overview of solar system evolution
• Archai do not incarnate and die, their lifecycle is not interrupted by birth and death. Its body becomes weaker and meanwhile a second new one is building up. See also Overlapping evolutionary periods.
• see also: Prajapatis,
• note (from Three dimensions of evolution): 1904-07-08-GA090A maps the Second Hierarchy in esoteric christianity to the three dimensions of evolution for CoC, CoL and CoF, respectively SoW, SoM, SoF.

archangelic periods

• see Schema FMC00.239 for illustration of 'round robbin' and archangelic rulership in time periods of approx. 354 years
• specifics (1924-07-19-GA240)
  • Gabriel age:
    • preparatory to an age/period when the peoples become more widely separated from one another and more differentiated, the nationalistic tendency also becomes accentuated.
    • See also: Man's new organ
  • Michael age:
    • characterised by the growth of cosmopolitanism, the spread of a spiritual impulse among peoples who are ready to receive it, no matter what language they speak .. a longing begins to arise in mankind to overcome racial distinctions and to spread through all the peoples living on the Earth the highest and most spiritual form of culture produced by that particular age/period.
  • Oriphiel: age:
    • Oriphiel is called the archangel of wrath, who purifies mankind with a strong hand. But when dark powers rage most terribly, the brightest light also shines.
    • The story in the Bible where Christ swings a scourge to chase the money changers out of the temple has a deep meaning.
    • see also: Future Oriphiel age

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.555 provides a summary of statements and lecture references on the topic of the various spiritual hierarchies and their influence on the guidance of humanity within a certain time period.

On the left, an early lecture 1905-06-28-GA091 where the original German terminology has been retained next to the English translation, because Rudolf Steiner used various terms throughout his years of lecturing, see also last column. I

On the right, it is complemented with tentative mapping and statements from other lectures to show that one shouldn't imagine a simple one to one mapping. Rather, as depicted on the right, influences are cascaded down from a higher spiritual hierarchy to the one below.

Schema FMC00.459 shows the development of the various people and cultures through the guidance of archangelic folk-spirit and archai time spirits. It how the development of the Northwestern European (in short Northern) stream differed from the Southern stream: whereas the first cultural ages knew a 'regular' development, the situation was different for the European people who were more individualized through the longer continued working of the various archangelic folk spirits. It also shows how the Mystery of Golgotha was pivotal in the fourth cultural age and influenced the spreading of Christianity and the development of the current fifth cultural age.

• The archangel of ancient Greece, after becoming archai time spirit of the fourth cultural age, renounced the possibility to rise to the hierarchy of Spirits of Form, and became the guiding spirit of exoteric Christianity for future cultural ages.
• The archangel of the Celtic people, soon after the MoG renounced the possibility of becoming an archai and choose to remain at archangelic stage (and to subordinate  in future to the different time spirits who might arise in Europe) .. and became the guiding spirit of esoteric Christianity.

Related, for the transfer of the Spirits of Form (SoF) to the archai in this transition between the fourth and fifth cultural ages, see Transition between 4th and 14th century (eg Schema FMC00.167)

Schema FMC00.239 shows the archangelic rulers of approx 354 periods for the current cultural age (plus and minus a cultural age). Rudolf Steiner uses this period to describe the nature of current Michael age and the Future Oriphiel age.

Schema FMC00.169 illustrates the principle of Overlapping evolutionary periods. While an earlier (red) is morphing into the current (green), the future is already developing (blue). This is also related to the symbol of the spiral: evolution does not proceed in linear fashion but takes evolutionary 'jumps'.

Schema FMC00.240A illustrates the cosmic breathing pattern

Lecture coverage and references

More references: 1907-04-22-GA104A, 1908-01-27-GA102, 1918-01-08-GA180, 1921-07-09-GA205

Archangels (or Folk Spirits): 354 years

For more info, see cycle GA121 - The Mission of Folk Souls.

Pietro d'Abano

Though Trithemius is often referenced in this context, he was not the first to write about this cycle, as we find a similar description dating back already from three centuries earlier in the work of Pietro d'Abano (1257-1316).

For an introduction, see 'History of magic and experimental science' published in 1923 by Lynn Thorndike (1882-1965), eg where d'Abano's writings such as 'Conciliator' are discussed (pages 894 to 897):

p897: As he had divided Man's life into seven ages, so he distributed periods of history among the seven planets. Each presides in turn over human affairs for a period of 354 years and four lunar months, a term analogous to the number of days in the lunar year.

Johannes Trithemius

Seven 354 periods correspond to the sequence of alternative reigning archangels. Most sources reference this as describes by Johannes Trithemius in 1508 in his book: 'De Septem Secundeis' (Seven Secondary Intelligences/Causes).

Johannes Trithemius, born Johann Heidenberg (1462-1516) wrote the book 'De septem secunda Deis id est intelligentiis sive spiritibus orbes post deum moventibus' in 1508, it is translated as 'Concerning the Seven Secondaries, or Spiritual Intelligences, Who, After God, Actuate the Universe' or in short 'The Seven Secondary Intelligences' (translation 1647 by William Lilly). In this book he describes twenty cycles of 354 years and four months

1915-05-13-GA159

(SWCC)

If we consider the development of the earthly humankind in such a way that we go back to the foundation of the ancient Rome, about eight hundred years before the Mystery of Golgotha, we find that there a certain spirit of the ages started his development. Another spirit of the ages was leading and steering the destiny of the earth before. This spirit of the ages who took over the leadership of the spiritual earthly development in those days was leading up to the 16th century. A spirit of the ages leads the destiny of the earth for such a period.

The spirits of the ages regulate this whole course of the human destiny through their subordinates, the archangels. Such archangels govern in subordinated positions for a much shorter time than the spirits of the ages.

While the spirits of the ages rule for a cultural age, eg from the foundation of Rome up to the 16th century, the spirits of the hierarchy of the archangels rule only for three to four centuries. They alternate in such a way that about six or seven come one after the other, while a spirit of the ages is ruling. So that we have that archangel we call Oriphiel in the time of the Mystery of Golgotha. Then Anael, Zachariel, Raphael, Samael, Gabriel rule successively; and now since 1879 we have the government of that archangel we call Michael. So we have, if we look at the spiritual worlds, the higher government of the spirits of the ages and subordinate to them, the successive governments of archangels.

1918-11-21 to 30-GA194

called The Mission of the Archangel Michael. A PDF version can be found here, it includes the Trithemius text and (see last page), even some scribblings from Steiner's notebook.

1924-07-19-GA240

And here we can say: Each reign of Gabriel is preparatory to an age when the peoples become more widely separated from one another and more differentiated. In the age following his dominion the nationalistic tendency also becomes accentuated.

So, if you ask yourself why it is that such strong nationalistic feeling is asserting itself to-day under the rulership of Michael, which has now begun, the answer is that preparation took place spiritually a long time ago; the influence worked on and then began to decline, but the after-effects—often worse than the event itself—continue.

It is only by degrees that the impulse of Michael can make its way into what is, to a great extent, a legacy from the past reign of Gabriel.

But always when an age of Michael dawns, a longing begins to arise in mankind to overcome racial distinctions and to spread through all the peoples living on the Earth the highest and most spiritual form of culture produced by that particular age.

Michael's rulership is always characterised by the growth of cosmopolitanism, by the spread of a spiritual impulse among peoples who are ready to receive it, no matter what language they speak.

Of the seven Archangels who send their impulses into the evolution of humanity, Michael is always the one who gives the cosmopolitan impulse—and at the same time the impulse for the spreading of whatever is of most intrinsic value in a particular epoch.

1924-08-18-GA243

A number of personalities are described for the periods of Raphael (850-1190, Mercury) and Gabriel (1510-1879, Moon).

1928 - Walter Johannes Stein

Walter Johannes Stein in 'The Death of Merlin: Arthurian Myth and Alchemy' (1928, 2008), on historical periods and the fate of nations

Trithemius of Sponheim (1462 - 1516) has left a rare historical work in which he depicts world history as an ordered sequence of events into which the deeds of humanity are fitted. He maintains and proceeds to prove that similar configurations make their appearance in history every 2.480 years. He arrives at the number 2.480 as a total of seven long epochs, each of which lasts 354 (and one third years).

A different impulse holds sway in each of these shorter epochs, and in accordance with the conceptions of the Middle Ages he personifies these impulses. He speaks of seven leaders in history, endows them with the names of the seven planets and places them in the opposite order of our days of the week:

• Saturn: Saturday [ Archangel Michael ]
• Venus: ( French vendredi, Freya )
• Friday. [ Archangel Aneal ]
• Jupiter: ( jeudi from the Latin Jovis dies )
• Thursday [ Archangel Zachariel ]
• Mercury: ( Wotan's - day, mercredi, Mercuris dies ) [ Archangel Raphael ]
• Mars: ( Mardi, Tuesday ) [ Archangel Samael ]
• Moon: ( Monday) [ Archangel Gabriel ]
• Sun: ( Sunday ) [ Archangel Michael ]

Apart from this half - mythological phraseology, Trithemius teaches a totally unmythological historical theory, namely, he claims that world history runs in epochs of about three and a half centuries each, and that these impulses can be clearly described.

Putting this theory of the medieval thinker into modern terminology, may say the follow. Seven epochs are clearly discernible in the course taken by history since the time of Christ, and we have been in the seventh epoch since the year 1879. That 1879 is a year which modern writers also place at the beginning of an epoch is shown, for instance, by Marshall, the English economist, in his work, 'Economics for Industry', which was published in 1879, and in which he says:

'The time has now arrived at which the phrase "political economy' should be shelved, and the word 'economy' substituted on the ground that the adjective was misleading since political interests generally mean the interest of some part or parts of the nation'.

Since the year 1879 we have had such an ever - increasing mutual interweaving of interests of all states in the economic field that the phrase 'political economy' is indeed beginning to be inappropriate. From that time onwards we should speak of 'world economy'. Trithemius of Sponheim is not altogether wrong when he describes this epoch beginning with 1879 as one radiating forth like a sun and representing something universal.

From Michaelmas 1879, the concluding point of his prophetic history, he works backwards in epochs of 354 (and a third yea ) years and arrives at another sunlike, cosmopolitan period, 2.480 years earlier, at the time of Alexander the Great. Going back still another 2.480 years, he comes to a period which he is unable to describe in detail owing to many gaps existing in historical knowledge at that time.

We, however, may be certain that it was indeed a cosmopolitan epoch, for it was the time when the Babylonian King Gilgamesh travelled to the West. This event is depicted in detail by the reliefs in the British Museum. Three times we see the question of the relationship of East and West rising before humanity. The third time is clearly in our own epoch, when we may be sure that up to the end of the twentieth century no question of greater importance is likely to arise than that of how East and West can live in peace together. As the prophetic Trithemius of Sponheim has given us a conception of history which in his day was still indeterminate both as regards the far past and the distant future, but has become for us an open book proving that he was right, should we not venture, in line with him, to envisage what the end of this century may be?

In this sense, the twentieth century should present a repetition of events strongly reminiscent of those of the epoch 2.480 years previously. This coincides with the year 480 BC, the date of the battle of Salamis.

For this reason we shall speak in some detail of this battle, after a brief outline of the historical periods mentioned by Trithemius.

• The period of the coming of Christianity represents for Trithemius the time at which Light penetrated Darkness. Christ, the Light of the World, shone into the dark age of Saturn. [ age of Oriphiel 150 B.C. to 200 A.D.] Study of Gnosis clearly indicates that philosophy at this time consisted in portraying the fullness of Light newly shed over the ancient Mysteries that were now darkened.
• The next period is that of 'Hate and Love' [ Venus: Aneal : 150 AD. to 500 A,D. ], the era of the martyrs and persecutions of the Christians. The next is that of 'Order and Chaos' [ Jupiter: Zachariel: 500 AD. to 850 ], the epoch of the migration of the peoples and the ordered monastic life. The next period is that of "Illness and Healing' [ Mercury / Raphael: 850 AD. to 1190 ], the time of a St. Francis of Assisi, or of a "poor Henry' ( a novel of the Middle Ages depicting the miraculous healing of a knight ), or of the Holy Grail and the wounded Amfortas.
• The next epoch belongs to Mars [ Samael: 1190 A.D. to 1510 ]. It is the period of the Crusades and Orders of Knights with their warlike stand for Christianity, and lastly the courageous discovery of new regions of the earth. The next epoch belongs to the Moon [ Gabriel: 1510 AD. to 1879 ]. Its character comes to expression in the prominence assumed by the theory of heredity, and the idea of race, whose leading figure is Gabriel, the Christian representative of the Moon, who proclaims birth. Then comes the last epoch in which we are now living. It is the Sun - age of Michael [ Michael: 1879 AD. to 2230 ].

Mythological as the phraseology of Trithemius is, the divisions stand the test of scientific knowledge. It is the true classification of world history.

The author is fully aware that every doctrine concerning epochs is theoretical, appearing to be arbitrarily constructed and incapable of proof. He allows himself, however, to apply Trithemius's method to an example. He would like to contemplate the end of the present century in the light of the fact that this view of history embraces and then describes what happened 480 years before Christ, and that in our present time events will again take place, in a different form, of course, but yet have a certain similarity.

[480 BC - battle of Salamis, see also wikipedia page en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Salamis]

From this point of view let us picture the time of the battle of Salamis, 480 B.C., 2.480 years before the end of this century. It was Greece alone that was in the scales at this time. The continuance of the whole of European culture was in the balance. If the Persians had remained victors, the East would have overrun the West. Greece would have become a European - Greek satrapy of the Persian Empire, and all that is still today the basis of our culture, of classic learning, would not have come into being. If Athens had not been burnt, the Athens we know today as the great centre of art would never have existed: the philosophy Plato and Aristotle which dominated the Middle Ages, the whole of our classical culture -- none of this would have come into the world.

The whole of Asia was stirred by the armies of Darius and, later, after his death, Xerxes began to march. The royal messengers went forth from Susa in the direction of all the points of the compass to assemble these armies: to the Danube as well as to India, to Jaxartes as well as to the upper valley of the Nile, to the shores of the Archipelago, to Pontos, to the Arabian and Persian Gulfs, to the coasts of the Syrian and Libian Seas. The preparation lasted for two years, and in the third year a migration of the peoples began, emanating from the eastern boundaries of the world and gathering together peoples of many different languages and accoutrements - a gaily coloured throng. This onslaught was opposed by only ten Greek Tribes.

The Greeks were by no means united to the point of being a national power. To bring the fleet to its prime was left to the far - seeing mind of Themistocles, and inner conflicts were far from being overcome. The nobility and the people were not of one mind, and the foremost poets, for example, Pindar, as well as the Oracles and the centres of religious rites which were connected with the leading ranks of the community, were of the opinion that they must deny their support to this movement for national defence.

It was left to a few men by their courage in leadership and by their executive abilities, to accomplish that which preserved Greece, and with Greece the whole of European culture.

All previous undertakings on the part of the Persians had been of a local character, concerned with punishing towns in revolt or other smaller groups. Now, under Xerxes, the movement involves the whole of Greece and thereby influenced all European culture, for the first time beginning to bud.

Starting at the point and extending to the time of Alexander the Great, who by his Asiatic conquests hellenized practically the whole of Asia of that time, a complete inversion took place. It was not power from the East that swept Greece, but the Greeks wandered East of their own accord, delving gladly into all the cults and philosophies of the East, learning from and entering into each other with love, and precisely in this way forging the link with the Grecian world and conception of life.

Alexander the Great was a pupil of the world - embracing Aristotle, and he believed in the reality of the single, all - comprising truth in which all religions and philosophies share. For this reason Alexander could feel himself to be a son of Jupiter Ammon or a worshipper of Jehovah or a disciple of Serapis, without being untrue to his own convictions. For him, there was only one all - embracing truth, recognized in all the mysteries, pointed to by Aristotle as the highest goal, the manifold manifestations of which should not confound devout disciples. It was necessary for him to withdraw under military protection. But he was much less warrior and conqueror than a philosopher hungry for knowledge and a bringer of culture, a true pupil of Aristotle.

At Salamis the highest goal of Europe was at stake. Free - willed union with the whole Earth must take the place of subjugation by Eastern despotism. Human dignity must triumph over brute force; freedom and love must replace lust for domination. On this depended not only Greek but European culture.

The individual soul had not reached its full development in this epoch of Greek culture. Aristidies was still in banishment 'because he was just too just', and 'so just a man might easily become the object of too much worship and in ths way too dangerous to the common weal'.

Such were the arguments of the peasant who, being completely illiterate, was at a loss to know how to write the name Aristides on the slab in order that he might be banished. The peasant sought the help of his neighbour who, unknown to him, was Aristides himself, requesting him to inscribe the name Aristides on the slab. 'Why do you wish to be banished?' asked Aristides. And then came the peasant's reply: "He is too just and would attract too much admiration'.

This argument, which would puzzle our present - day consciousness, came naturally to this period. The common weal was of more value than the individual. The idea of individual leadership had not yet arisen. Half a century later, in the person of Alcibiades, we find consciousness of individuals being awakened for the first time. His peculiarities must be understood in the sense that they are experiments on the part of the individual becoming conscious of the "I am'. Whether he actually cuts off the noses of the Hermes statues or not, this and other similar stories narrated by him in his day prove that the "I' of the self - conscious personality was just awakening. In Herostratus this impulse was turned to some account. The same impulse was in Alexander, but ennobled in his case by the education he had received. The 'I' broke through and the Platonic Dialogues, the methods of Socrates, the philosophy of Aristotle are all expressions of this personal intelligence which was born for the first time in this epoch.

Themistocles was already a good leader. But he failed to convince the Athenians that now was the moment to finance the building of a huge fleet, as this was essential for the very existence of Greece. It was necessary for him to take small frictions with the inhabitant of the Aegean Islands into his pretext, in order to cloak his actions. He planned the far reaching idea, but he carried it out by means of trifling tactical means.

The fact that he was able to persuade the people, who up to now had shared the income derived from the miners, to allot this money to the building of the fleet, shows the influence and his wise perspicacity. Aristides, who opposed him, feared to see the populace by undertakings on too great a scale. Fate led to his banishment, whereby it was his lot to become the first eye - witness of the approaching Persians, and it was he who brought Themistocles the news that meant so much to him, namely, that the Greeks had already been surrounded in the Bay of Salamis by the enemy so that there was now no way of escape, the decisive battle being the only possibility left.

Fate could not possibly have allotted the roles more wisely in allowing the great men to act together, their ways having first separated -- for the good of the whole -- and then again uniting. Themistocles, knowing his people, had desired this very surrounding by the enemy and Aristides was his prime witness, used by him to convince the irresolute members of the war council that the decision must now be taken.

It is of inestimable value to study how the destiny of peoples, indeed the whole sphere of culture, is formed through individuals and the links between their destinies. That which made Aristides and Themistocles first into opponents, rivals, and finally into friends, affected the whole world, saving culture and civilisation.

The Battle of Salamis would never have been won without the Intervention of wind and waves, without the adroitness of the skilful Greeks which had been practiced for decades. Nature and human nature combined to mould destiny's work of art.

In this connection the conduct of life Lacedamonians is also very significant. They had always held back, had safeguarded themselves by the excuse that they were waiting for the full moon before attacking, and so forth. Owing to this attitude their cooperation had was always feeble. But now that the crucial point had arrived they were on the spot, actually under the royal command of Leonidas, and they died the death of heroes, gaining for the Greeks the necessary time to transfer their defence from the mainland to the ships. That in spite of treachery they died heroically, in loyalty to others, consciously sacrificing the lives of the few for the salvation of the life of the whole -- this is highly significant.

The day of the Battle of Salamis, September 20, was a holy day for Athens. For on this day, the 19th Boedromion, the image of Iacchos, the God of the Eleusinians, was carried on procession to Eleusis. Which Themistocles was prevailing upon his people to embark upon the decisive battle, the torches of the procession lit up the Bay, indicating as it were in a picture, that the God of the unfoldment of the 'I' should remain protected and the ship with the holy pictures of the Aekides approached from the Aegean. The sacrificial flames blazed as it passed by.

At that time the Greeks could not appreciate the full significance of what was taking place, but they had some inking of it in the panorama presented by the events.

The battle, which had to be fought out against an overwhelming majority, was won by the cooperation of all parties, the laying aside of all ancient feuds, the uniting of rivals, the message of the exile, the religious fervour of the Eleusinians, by storm and weather, and lastly by the moon goddess, who at the decisive finale shed that half - light which was needed by the Greeks who knew the locality. In gratitude, the Greeks united the festival in memory of the victory to the festival of Artemis the moon goddess.

In the meantime the storm had wrecked the bridges of Xerxes over the Hellespont and this accelerated the withdrawal of the mighty king, who now began to fear for his own safety. The incredible had happened, the future of Europe was saved.

What lessons for our time can we learn from these things?

The situation as it was at Salamis is practically at hand again. We are confronted not by the ships of Persia, but by the ever - increasing power of the East. The Greeks 'lack of unity' has not become less. While we are trying to deal with our rivalries and quarrels, the "mighty king"is arming once again. By the end of the century, will there again have sprung up that Aristotlean - Alexander culture which can make it possible for Europe to permeate the East with loving comprehension? The question must be asked. It is only when this tskes place that the "hellenizing' of the East, that is to say, the assimilation of the two poles of culture, the Eastern and the Western, can occur.

When the end of this century dawns the day of Salamis will be renewed. Men and gods will bear other names than of yore but the problems will have remained the same. May it be that a Themistocles and an Aristides, may it be that all opposing rivals will then stretch hands to each other in the torchlight of the new Eleusinian mysteries. May the God be borne in truth into the mystery. Then, and only then, will there arise once again the Aristotelian - Alexandrian culture which in Europe was the wisdom - culture, but which must meet the East with love: then, and only then, can there happen that to which Trithemius of Sponheim refers, when he says that humanity must know that after the lapse of the appointed time, epochs of cosmopolitanism come again to the world, prepared for by other periods which serve different ideals. We are living in this period of preparation.

Archai (or Spirits of the Age, or Spirits of cyclic periods): cultural ages

1905-08-14-GA091

describes how Archai - unlike human beings - do not incarnate and die. Their lifecycle is not interrupted by birth and death, but their body becomes weaker and meanwhile a second new one is building up. In this way they gradually morph from one into another. Their body consists of the individual people of a 'subrace' or cultural age.

1909-06-17-GA107

(SWCC)

The Archai represent something which from the point of view of our human world conception we call an abstraction: the spirit of the age. The Achai or spirits of the age move through the various cultural ages. When we look back into ancient times, the Indian, Persian, Chaldean-Babylonian, Greco-Latin times and right into our own time, we find that apart from the nations and apart from all the other differences among men, what we call the spirit of the age is always changing. People thought and felt quite differently five thousand years ago than they did three thousand years ago and from the way they do today. And it is the Archai or spirits of the age who change. These Archai are going through their evolution in the super-sensible world just as the human race is going through its evolution in the sense world. But all that the human race develops of a super-sensible nature is food and drink for these Archai, and they benefit from it. If there were an age in which men were to spend their lives without developing any treasures of thought, without pleasure or displeasure, nor any feeling for duty beyond the limits of karma — in such an age the Archai would have no nourishment and they would become emaciated. Such is our connection with the beings who are invisibly interwoven with our life

1910-06-07-GA121

(SWCC)

also gives a hint about the cyclic repetitions that happen in evolution (see Recapitulation and rememberance)

Nevertheless behind the word Zeitgeist, or ‘Spirit of the Age’, there is concealed a real being, and indeed none other than one three stages above the stage of humanity. The Beings concealed behind this word are those who went through their human stage on the old Saturn, at the earliest epoch of the earth's evolution, and who at the present day are working at the transformation of the earth from its spiritual atmosphere, and in so doing are going through the last stage of the transforming of their physical body into Spirit-man or Atma.

We are here dealing with exalted Beings, the contemplation of whose attributes could well make man dizzy. They are the Beings who may be described as the actual inspirers — or we should here say, if we wish to use the technical expressions of occultism — the ‘intuitors’ of the Spirit or Spirits of the Age.

They work in such a way that they relieve one another in turn and extend the hand to one another as it were. From epoch to epoch they pass on their task to the next one.

In each age we have one such Spirit of the Age; then at the end of the age he passes on his office to his successor, who again passes it on to the following one, and so on. The foregoing ones are in the meanwhile going through their own evolution, and then that one who has been longest absent, takes his turn again; so that, in a later age, while the others are then proceeding with their own evolution, the same one returns again as Spirit of the Age and gives to the progressed humanity, by means of intuition, that which he himself has in the meanwhile acquired for his higher mission. We look up to these Archai, to these Beings who may be called by the otherwise meaningless name of Spirit of the Age, and may say: ‘We human beings go from incarnation to incarnation, but we very well know, that while we are ourselves passing on from epoch to epoch, that when we look into the future, we see ever different Spirits of the Age, regulating the occurrences of our earth.’

But our present Spirit of the Age will return too, we shall meet him again. On account of this attribute of these Archai, of their describing cycles, as it were, and returning again to their starting-point, and of working in cycles, they are also called Spirits of Cyclic Periods.

These higher spiritual Beings who give their orders to the Folk-spirits, are also called Spirits of Cyclic Periods.

We refer to those cyclic periods which man himself has to go through, when age after age he returns to earlier conditions and repeats them in a higher form. Now you may be struck by this repetition of the characteristics of earlier forms. If you examine carefully into the stages of the evolution of man on the earth according to spiritual science, you will find these repetitions of occurrences in many different forms.

Thus there is a repetition in the fact that there are seven consecutive cultural ages following after the Atlantean Catastrophe; these we call the post-Atlantean cultural age.

The Græco-Latin cultural age forms the turning-point in our cycle and therefore it is not repeated. After this comes the repetition of the Egyptian-Chaldæan age, which is taking place in our own time. After this will follow another age, which will be a repetition of the Persian age, although in a somewhat different form; and then the seventh age will come, which will be a repetition of the primeval Indian civilization, the cultural ageh of the Holy Rishis; so that in that age certain things of which the foundations were laid in ancient India will re-appear in a different form. The guidance of these occurrences devolves upon the Spirits of the Age.

1910-08-20-GA122

extract from rsarchive

What then is the meaning of the word yom, which is usually translated as “day”? Only those can form a judgment about this who are able to transport themselves in feeling, in attitude of soul, into ancient methods of naming things. The process of nomenclature in ancient times needed quite a different kind of feeling from what we have today. To avoid too great a shock, let us take it step by step.

Let me first draw your attention to a doctrine held by the Gnostics. They spoke of spiritual powers who played a part in our existence, who entered successively into the development of our existence, and these powers, these beings, they called Aeons. By these Aeons they do not mean periods of time, but beings. They mean that a first Aeon acts, and, having executed the work of which he is capable, is succeeded by a second Aeon, and after the second has exhausted his capacities, a third takes over, and so on. When the Gnostics spoke of Aeons, they meant Beings guiding development in succession, one taking over from another. It was only very much later that the purely abstract concept of time was associated with the word “Aeon.” Aeon is a being, a living entity. And just as “Aeon” expresses “living entity,” so too does the Hebrew word yom. It has nothing to do with a merely abstract designation of time, but conveys the quality of being. Yom is a being. And when one is dealing with seven such yamim following one another, one is dealing with seven consecutive beings or groups of beings.

We find the same thing elsewhere concealed in a verbal resemblance. In the Aryan languages there is a connection between deus and dies — god and day. There is an essential inner relationship between this pair of words; in earlier times the connection between “day” and a Being was clearly felt, and when one spoke of weekdays, as we speak of Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and so on, one did not mean simply periods of time, but the groups of Beings working in Sun, Moon, Mars and so on.

Let us then understand the word yom, which is usually rendered “day,” to mean a spiritual being; then you have the hierarchical beings one stage lower than the Elohim, Beings whom the Elohim used as subordinate spirits. After the Elohim through their higher organising powers had brought light into existence, they then appointed to his post Yom, the first of the Time-Spirits, or the Archai.

Thus the spiritual Beings whom we call Spirits of Personality, or Principalities, are the same as those called in Genesis, Time-Intervals, Days, Yamin. They are the servants of the Elohim. They carry out what the Elohim direct from their higher standpoint. Those of you who heard the lectures which I gave recently in Christiania ³ will remember that there too I called the Archai Time-Spirits, and described how they still work as Time-Spirits today. They were the servants of the Elohim. They were appointed by the Elohim to carry out the plans for which they themselves had laid down the main lines. In this way everything fits together into one great system, even for our understanding. But of course it is only when you have followed up what I am saying for years that you will acquire a real grasp of how everything without exception falls into place.

DE quote about 'Die wesenhaften Äonen, von denen in der Gnosis oft gesprochen wird, entstammen der Hierarchie der Urengel.'

Da möchte ich Sie zuerst hinlenken auf eine alte Lehre, die im Sinne der Gnostiker vorhanden ist. Da hat man gesprochen von Mächten, welche sich an der Entwickelung unseres Daseins beteiligen, die nacheinander in diese Entwickelung unseres Daseins eingreifen, und man nannte diese Mächte, diese Wesenheiten Äonen. Man sprach von den Äonen im Sinne der Gnostiker. Mit diesen Äonen sind nicht Zeiträume gemeint, sondern Wesenheiten. Das ist gemeint, daß ein erster Äon wirkt und das, was er zu wirken vermag, auswirkt, dann von einem zweiten abgelöst wird und dieser, nachdem er mit seinen Kräften gewirkt hat, wiederum abgelöst wird von einem dritten und so weiter. Solche die Entwickelung leitenden, aufeinanderfolgenden, einander ablösenden Wesenheiten meinten die Gnostiker, wenn sie von Äonen sprachen, und nur sehr spät ist der rein abstrakte Zeitbegriff mit dem verbunden worden, was das Wort Äon ursprünglich bedeutet. Äon ist etwas Wesenhaftes, etwas lebendig Wesenhaftes. Und in demselben Sinne lebendig Wesenhaftes, wie es Äon ist, ist auch das, was mit dem hebräischen Worte jom bezeichnet wird. Da hat man es nicht zu tun mit einer bloßen abstrakten Zeitbestimmung, sondern mit etwas Wesenhaftem. Jom ist eine Wesenheit. Und wenn man es mit aufeinanderfolgenden sieben solcher jamim zu tun hat, dann hat man es mit sieben einander ablösenden Wesenheiten oder meinetwillen Wesensgruppen zu tun

internet translation

I would first like to draw your attention to an old teaching that exists in the spirit of the Gnostics. There one spoke of powers which participate in the development of our existence, which intervene successively in this development of our existence, and one called these powers, these entities aeons. One spoke of the eons in the sense of the Gnostics. These aeons do not refer to periods of time, but to entities.

What is meant is that a first aeon works and works out what it is able to work, is then replaced by a second and this, after it has worked with its powers, is again replaced by a third and so on. The Gnostics meant such successive, replacing entities that guide development when they spoke of aeons, and it was only very late that the purely abstract concept of time was connected with what the word aeon originally meant.

Aeon is something essential, something livingly essential. And in the same sense that the word aeon is a living being, so too is the Hebrew word yom. Here we are not dealing with a mere abstract determination of time, but with something essential. Yom is an entity. And if you are dealing with seven such yamim in succession, then you are dealing with seven successive entities or, in my opinion, groups of entities

1913-05-18-GA152

Beings are in an ascending evolution, and we live in the era when Michael, the chief of those of the nature of the archangels, passes over into the nature of the archai. He will gradually pass over into a guiding being, he will become the Spirit of the Time, the being who leads and guides the whole of humanity.

1913-05-20-GA152

(SWCC)

As formerly Man could speak of Jahve-Michael, the leader of the age, so now we can speak the Christ-Michael. Michael has been exalted to a higher stage: from Folk Spirit to Time Spirit, inasmuch as from being the Messenger of Jahve he has become the Messenger of Christ. If one wants to understand the evolution of mankind, one must understand that Michael too has evolved: one must understand that it is the same being who paved the way for the preparation of the Mystery of Golgotha, and who now in our day paves the way for the understanding of the Mystery of Golgotha. Then, however, he was a Folk Spirit, now he is a Time Spirit; then he was the Messenger of Jahve, now he is the Messenger of Christ.

Spirits of Form

1910-12-31-GA126

In 1910-12-31-GA126 the importance of the year 1250 is described, and there is described how the SoF can work externally on nature, changing the face of the earth, or internally on Man's inner constitution. After describing the changes related to the ice ages and atlantean catastrophe (see more in Vreede, reference below):

Thus when the Spirits of Form were working powerfully to revolutionise the physical, they had less time to work also upon the spirit of man, with the result that the physical vanished as it were from under man's feet. But an the other hand it was precisely during the time of the Atlantean catastrophe that men were transported most completely into spiritual realms and only gradually found their way again into the physical world in the Post-Atlantean epoch.

Now when you picture that at this time — six to eight thousand years before the Christian era — the least influence was exercised upon the human spirit and the strongest influence on the physical conditions of the earth, it will not be difficult for you to conceive that there may be another point of time when the opposite situation comes about: when those who are cognisant of such a matter experience the reverse of these conditions — namely, the least influence upon the physical and the greatest influence, precisely of the Spirits of Form, upon the human spirit. Hypothetically you can conceive that there may be a point in history where the reverse of the great Atlantean catastrophe applies.

Of course it will not be so easily noticeable, for the Atlantean catastrophe, when parts of the very earth were blotted out, is bound to be a very striking event for people of our Post-Atlantean epoch, with their strong leanings to the physical. When the Spirits of Form are exercising a powerful influence on the human personality and have only a little influence upon what is taking place in the external world, the impression will be less vivid. The point of time when this condition — in the nature of things, less perceptible to men — set in, was the year A.D. 1250

Spirits of Motion

1912-04-13-GA136

(SWCC)

Now in human evolution there is something which goes beyond the character of the mere Spirits of the Age; more important for collective humanity than the sphere of the individual Spirits of the Age. The Spirits of the Age (Archai) work upon the Earth for a definite period of time; but there are spiritual developments in the evolution of humanity as a whole which embrace wider spheres than that of the Spirits of the Age. These great epochs of humanity which extend beyond the influence of the Spirits of the Age, have as their Regent the normally-developed Spirits of Motion.

These so reveal themselves in their activity in the process of the growth of humanity that they stimulate the great impulses of civilisation. If we now survey the history of man, the history of human civilisation, we see that

• individual men are guided by the Angels,
• nations and peoples by the Archangels;
• certain periods of civilisation (or cultural ages) are guided by the Spirits of the Age or Archai, and also
• certain spheres (as we shall see) by the Spirits of Form.

Then, however, we have the collective course of the different civilizations in human evolution; so that for certain long periods of time, much longer than those ruled by a Spirit of the Age, the Spirits of Motion are inspiringly active in great spheres; one Spirit of Motion working down from one planet at one time, another working down at another time from another planet. Thus these normally developed Spirits of Motion so work down from the planets that they succeed one another in the process of human evolution, and reveal themselves in the great civilisation impulses in the evolution of the earth which reach out beyond the sphere of the Spirits of the Age.

and in the same lecture 1912-04-13-GA136 the difference between SoW versus SoM is pointed out with the example that the Seven Holy Rishis preserved and brought the ancient Atlantean knowledge.

.. the normal SoW we must seek upon the sun, in the same sense we have to seek for the normal SoM as working from the planets, though they too have their real habitation upon the sun. We have to seek the impulse of the normally-developed SoW as coming directly from the sun.

.. in the civilisation of ancient India, the Seven Holy Rishis spoke of that which each one of them had to give to humanity from their occult foundations. They were conscious of having preserved that which, through seven long periods of civilisation, had been directed by the Spirits of Motion. It was just as though seven successive periods of time were all at once to unite in the evolution of the earth, and were so to work that they represented a College of great Individualities.

.. these seven successive activities of the Spirits of the Planets came to light in that which the Seven Holy Rishis had to say to humanity; each one speaking what he himself knew. They did not assert that what they had to give was the direct outflow of a Spirit of Motion, but they said that it was like a recollection in the soul of each of what had been given earlier by the Spirits of Motion. For the exalted wisdom which the Holy Rishis gave to humanity was the great recollection of the ancient Atlantean civilizations, only in a new form.

At the same time, these seven Holy Rishis said: “above them which we have to give as the civilizations of the seven successive periods of time, lies something else which exists beyond our sphere.” That which lay above their sphere, the Holy Rishis called Vishvakarma. Thus they alluded to something which lay beyond their sphere, and which comprised a greater earth-sphere than that of the separate SoM. As it was with the spheres of the Archai (Spirits of the Age), so did the Holy Rishis point to epochs of civilisation which lie beyond the sphere of the individual SoM.

Change in velocity

1918-10-13-GA184

I have often mentioned, and you will find it brought out in the first of my Mystery Plays, The Portal of Initiation, that as at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha men stood facing the turning-point of the fourth post-Atlantean age, the year 333, so we today are facing a turning-point.

The time is rather shorter because the movements of the higher spirits change in velocity; we cannot reckon that today we have 333 years again before the turning-point. It changes somewhat in the course of time, this speed with which the various separate spirits of the higher hierarchies move on.

Thus today, in the first third of the twentieth century, we are facing the approach of an important event for mankind.

Discussion

Note 1 - Terminology

Rudolf Steiner does not always use the same terminology consistently, for example see the different terms below.

• In 1905-08-14-GA091 the term 'Rassengeist' is used for the Archai (could be confusion because it's really about a 'subrace' and not a root race).
• In GA121 the terms 'Volksseelen' is used for some Archangels, with the term Soul instead of Spirit (to make the link with how their influence lives in the soul of a People).

Related pages

• Cosmic breathing
• Spiritual Hierarchies
• The two halves of an evolutionary cycle
• Transition between 4th and 14th century discusses the handover from Spirits of Form to Archai
• History
• Future Oriphiel age

References and further reading

• Elisabeth Vreede: 'Astronomy and spiritual science'
• Lynn Thorndike (1882-1965): 'History of magic and experimental science' (1923)
• Emil Pales: 'Seven Archangels - Rhythms of inspiration in the history of culture and nature' (2009 in EN, 2010 in DE as 'Die sieben Erzengel: Rhythmen der Inspiration in der Natur- und Kulturgeschichte)

For further references see: Cosmic breathing#References and further reading