The Rudolf Steiner Archive

Awareness - Life - Form
GA 89

Part II: 3. Signs and Evolution of the Three Logoi in the Human Race

Written down for Edouard Schure May 1906
Notes from private instruction, Berlin-Schlachtensee

The constitution of the world bases on trinity. In the system of human evolution, from the first beginning of human genesis to full development of this potential, we have to distinguish three states of consciousness as the first trinity.

The first of these states of consciousness is a more or less dim (sleep-like) state, for the ‘I’ is not yet born. At this level the human being was still part of an ‘I’ of a higher kind; he was clairvoyant, but was not able to consider the contents of his visions to be his own.

The second state of consciousness was brought about by the birth of the ‘I’. This higher state arose because clairvoyance was lost. Vision of an outside world began.

The third state of consciousness arises due to clairvoyance re-emerging in the ‘I’, with the human being becoming a clairvoyant in self-awareness.

In occult script, the first state of conscious awareness is indicated by ☉, i.e. consciousness shines out from the absolute = • flooding the world ◯ circle).

We then have to distinguish three sub-levels for each of the three states of consciousness, like this:

First level of consciousness	1) sub-level I 2) sub-level II 3) sub-level III
Second level of consciousness	1) sub-level IV 2) sub-level V 3) sub-level VI
Third level of consciousness	1) sub-level VII 2) sub-level VIII 3) sub-level IX

The first level of consciousness is wholly subjective, i.e. the human being takes in nothing from outside but only the things the godhead implants in him. This level of consciousness progresses through the 3 sub-levels shown above in the first epoch, and the sign for this is

The third level of consciousness is wholly objective, i.e. the human being will perceive the whole world to be divine:

The middle level therefore has the sign

The first level changes progressively into the second, as does the second into the third; as a result, sub-levels III and IV, and VI and VII overlap, giving us the following picture:

First level	1st sub-level	Second level		1*
	2nd sub-level			2*
	3rd sub-level		1st sub-level	3*
			2nd sub-level	4*
Third level	1st sub-level		3rd sub-level	5*
	2nd sub-level			6*
	3rd sub-level			7*

Thus the nine becomes seven.

These seven levels of consciousness are gone through as follows:

1* on Saturn
2* on Sun
3* on Moon
4* on Earth
5* on Jupiter
6* on Venus
7* on Vulcan

Humanity is currently in 4*. We can see that this was preceded by 3*, made up of two sub-levels, and that it will be followed by 5*, again a merging of two sub-levels. If we designate the pure Moon level of conscious awareness as III, and the pure Earth level as V, something lies between them which we must call the Mars level of conscious awareness. This is because the Earth had an encounter with Mars before it separated from Moon and Sun. A similar encounter came with Mercury; VI is the Mercury level of conscious awareness.

Take the sum of the levels of conscious awareness which the human being has so far gone through. There are V of them up to the Earth level of consciousness. Hence the sign:

It is complete in itself because the human being would harden within himself if Mercury consciousness did not come as well. If he did not entrust himself to the divine guide (Mercury) at this level, his evolution would come to a dead end.

Each of the 7 states of consciousness has to go through seven states of life. This means the following:

Saturn	7	states of life	In theosophical literature these have so far been called 'rounds'.
Sun	7	states of life
Moon	7	states of life
Earth	7	states of life
Jupiter	7	states of life
Venus	7	states of life
Vulcan	7	states of life

This means 7 times 7 states of life within the whole of human evolution:

7 X 7 = 49

We now have to consider that in the early states of conscious awareness the principle which was the human seed, was not yet able to unfold a life of its own. The life remaining from earlier evolutions would still be there, slowly ebbing away to be replaced by purely human life. This may be shown as follows:

This is the point where pre-human life was wholly overcome and purely human life became the life of human evolution.

There is thus a point in human evolution where within the whole planetary system, this system’s^{82See the lectures given in Berlin on 17 June 1909 [in German] in Geisteswissenschaftliche Menschenkunde GA 107; Dornach on 24 September 1921 in Cosmosophy I, GA 207, tr. A. Wulsin, New York: Anthroposophic Press 1985; the essay on the reality of the earth in the macrocosm (January 1925) in Anthroposophical Leading Thoughts, GA 26, tr. G. & M. Adams, London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1973. Also Berlin, 18 December 1906 [in German] in Aus den Inhalten der esoterischen Stunden GA 266/1.} own life took the place of everything that had come from an earlier system. In history, this point is the coming of

the Christ.

It is in this respect the mid-point in human evolution.

The states of life go through states of form; each of the 49 states of life has to go through seven states of form, so that for the whole of evolution we have

49 x 7 = 343 levels = 7 x 7 x 7.

The states of form also are not humanity’s own to begin with. They have been taken over from an earlier system. Everything relating to form states which thus came from an earlier system is referred to as macrocosm.

The form states which the human being creates himself make up the microcosm. We can only speak of a microcosm when the human spirit actively creates form, where before the divine spirit (cosmic spirit) created form.

The transition is the world soul—the divine spirit which slowly individualizes itself.

In Christian esoteric terms the states of consciousness are called

the states of consciousness	Father	A
the states of life	Son or Word	B
the states of form	Holy Spirit	C

In theosophy one speaks of

A	first	Logos
B	second
C	third

The general overview of evolution is thus as follows, if we also consider that

the 1^st Logos manifests in the human being as atman,
the 2^nd Logos manifests in the human being as budhi,
the 3^rd Logos manifests in the human being as manas.

When 666 = 6 X 6 x 6 = 216 of these 343 = 7 x 7 X 7 will have passed, that is, after 5 planets (Saturn, Sun, Moon, Earth, Jupiter), in Venus, when 5 states of life will have passed in this, i.e. in the 6th state of life in Venus and in the 6th form state of this 6th state of life, then everything that came from Earth evolution that cannot come to perfection will have been cleared away; the number 666 = 216 is therefore the critical number of evolution (Revelation).^{83See the lectures The Apocalypse of St John (Revelation) GA 104, tr. J. Collis, London: Rudolf Steiner Press 1977; Reading the Pictures of the Apocalypse (Revelation) GA 104a, tr. J. H. Hindes, Hudson: Anthroposophic Press 1991; and [in German] Vortraege und Kurse ueber christlich-religioeses Wirken V: Apokalypse und Priesterwirken GA 346.}

A critical state (though of a lesser degree than at the point in time mentioned) will also occur on other occasions when the evolutional situation is 666, e.g. in the 6th root-race of the 6th planet, counting Mars and Mercury as well, so that the following cycle arises:

1) Saturn
2) Sun
3) Moon
4) Mars
5) Earth
6) Mercury—this influence will thus be a major one even in the next 6th sub-race.

Humanity will thus definitely reach a critical point in its evolution at that time.