An Outline of Esoteric Science

448 Pages·1997·3.39 MB·English

by  Rudolf Steiner

Introduction i
AN OUTLINE OF
ESOTERIC SCIENCE
http://avaxho.me/blogs/ChrisRedfield
ii AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE
C L A S S I C S I N A N T H R O P O S O P H Y
The Spiritual Guidance of the Individual and Humanity
How to Know Higher Worlds
Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path
The Souls’ Awakening—A Mystery Drama
Anthroposophy—A Fragment
Theosophy
Christianity As Mystical Fact
Introduction iii
AN OUTLINE
ESOTERIC
OF
SCIENCE
RU D O L F S T E I N E R
Translated by CATHERINE E. CREEGER
ANTHROPOSOPHIC PRESS
iv AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE
The previous English edition of this work was published by Anthropo-
sophic Press with the title An Outline of Occult Science. It was translated
by Henry B. Monges and revised for later editions by Lisa D. Monges. This
edition was translated by Catherine E. Creeger from the German edition
Die Geheimwissenschaft Im Umriss, which is volume 13 in the Biblio-
graphic Survey, published by Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach, Switzerland.
This edition Copyright © 1997 by Anthroposophic Press
Introduction Copyright © 1997 by Clopper Almon
Published by Anthroposophic Press
3390 Route 9, Hudson, NY 12534
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Steiner, Rudolf, 1861–1925.
[Geheimwissenschaft im Umriss. English]
An outline of esoteric science / Rudolf Steiner ; translated by
Catherine E. Creeger.
p. cm. — (Classics in anthroposophy)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-88010-409-0 (paper)
1. Anthroposophy. I. Creeger, Catherine E. II. Title. III. Series.
BP595. S894G44613 1997
299’.935—dc21 97-37188
CIP

Cover design: Barbara Richey
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without the written permission of the publisher, except
for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles.
Printed in the United States of America
Introduction v
CONTENTS
Introduction by Clopper Almon vii
Preface by Rudolf Steiner 1
1. The Character of Esoteric Science 11

2. The Makeup of the Human Being 30
3. Sleep and Death 59
4. Cosmic Evolution and the Human Being 117
Introductory Thoughts 117
An Overview of Planetary Incarnations 125
Saturn 135
Sun 153
Moon 165
Earth 197
Atlantis 239
The End of Atlantis 247
Ancient Indian Civilization 252
Ancient Persian Civilization 258
Egypto-Chaldean Civilization 263
Greco-Latin Civilization 266
The Coming of the Christian Era 268
vi AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE
5. Knowledge of Higher Worlds—Initiation 281
6. Cosmic and Human Evolution
Now and in the Future 376
7. Details from the Field of Spiritual Science 399
The Human Ether Body 399
The Astral World 402
Human Life after Death 403
The Course of a Human Life 406
The Higher Domains of the Spiritual World 408
The Aspects of Our Human Makeup 409
The Dream State 410
Acquiring Supersensible Knowledge 411
Observing Specific Beings and Events
in the Spiritual World 412
Appendix
Rudolf Steiner’s Early Introductions to
An Outline of Esoteric Science 415
Further Reading 433
Introduction vii
INTRODUCTION
by CLOPPER ALMON
We and the world around us evolve. This evolution is no-
where more marked than in our own consciousness. When
we try to enter into the religious texts of the ancient Egyp-
tians, we have to admit that they are total enigmas to us.
Our science would almost certainly be equally incompre-
hensible to them. They were, for example, obvious masters
of what, in physics today, we call force; however, they used
it in a completely intuitive way, without any concept of it.
They may well have had visions of force, but no concept.
Concepts appear first with the Greeks, and even then they
seem to have reached only into things of the intellect, logic,
geometry, and philosophy only with the arrival of the scien-
tific revolution. A new power seemed to unfold in us. Sud-
denly we could comprehend that the same force that makes
the apple fall also holds the moon in orbit. The excitement
of discovering that new inner capacity swept all before it.
What could be understood with this new capacity was Sci-
ence with a capital S; what could not was considered faith,
religion, or superstition, according to one’s point of view.
Initially, Science consisted of physics and astronomy.
Gradually, new domains were conquered; chemistry, ge-
ology, biology, economics, and psychology led to a
whole new way of viewing the world. Darwin’s theory of
evolution opened even the question of human origins to
viii AN OUTLINE OF ESOTERIC SCIENCE
the march of Science. One field, however, remained be-
yond the scope of Science—the inner, nonmaterial, spiri-
tual being within each human individual, as well as all
spiritual beings not incarnated in human bodies.
Religion and myth had long spoken of such beings, but
to most students of Science they were invisible and hidden.
Some enthusiasts of Science felt that if they themselves
could not perceive such beings, then they simply do not ex-
ist. Talk of such beings in myths was considered merely
human behavior explained on the basis of material process-
es. Other, wiser heads recognized that their own inability to
perceive something did not prove its nonexistence; it did
mean, however, that they themselves were in no position to
develop a science concerning it. Thus, they lived in a divid-
ed world—one of Science and one of Religion.
Rudolf Steiner undertook the enormous work of extend-
ing Science into this ultimate domain. As the son of a rail-
way stationmaster, he had studied the natural sciences in
high school and what we now call the Technological Uni-
versity of Vienna—then, as now, the leading technological
institute in Austria. He was at home in the natural sciences
with their logical, conceptual structure. He admired their
care and objectivity. But for him, they left out the essen-
tial. To him, the spiritual beings of which myth and reli-
gion spoke are not imperceptible but present realities. He
had developed a remarkable, controlled clairvoyance,
which he used as an instrument of scientific investigation.
Although there had been clairvoyants before, what set
Steiner apart was his conceptual presentation of clairvoy-
antly perceived facts, which made them accessible to the
Introduction ix
understanding of those who do not have such direct per-
ception. As one studies his work, the gap between Science
and Religion fades. The inner capacity for comprehending
the material world begins to comprehend the world of spir-
it. Our divided world begins to knit together.
There remains, of course, the problem of the perception
of spiritual beings. Can we take an interest in a science of
things we cannot perceive? Now in the first place, most
modern research in the natural sciences rests on observa-
tions that I am in no position to verify for myself. I have to
take the word of a scientist’s report. I have to trust that, had
I spent the many years that a scientist has spent preparing,
and if I had built similar instruments, then I might have
been capable of having similar experiences. Mostly, how-
ever, the natural scientist asks that we follow along in
thought. Steiner makes very similar demands. He asks pri-
marily that we follow him in thought and ask ourselves if
such thinking makes sense. He is also at pains to explain a
path of development that leads slowly but safely to an abil-
ity to perceive the spiritual for oneself. This differs from the
natural sciences only in that the instruments we must build
are our own organs of perception. The process is longer,
probably stretching over a number of lifetimes. The first
step on that path, however, is a diligent, open-minded study
of the results of spiritual research expressed in conceptual
form. And this brings us directly to the present book.
An Outline of Esoteric Science is Steiner’s most com-
plete and orderly presentation of the results of his work.
Written in 1909 when he was 48, it represents his mature
thinking; nevertheless, it has the careful structure and