The Rudolf Steiner Archive

18. About Beings that Influence Humans

[ 1 ] There are many beings whose influence extends from afar to our physical Earth, as if they had infinitely long tentacles.

[ 2 ] On the astral plane, clairvoyants encounter a large number of beings that are group souls whose effects circle the Earth like trade winds.

[ 3 ] A glimmer of light runs along the spinal cord of animals, whose current is connected to the group soul. Spiritual beings permeate each other.

[ 4 ] For spiritual perception, it is not surprising that the group souls of plants are located at the center of the Earth. Through its etheric body, the human being is also connected to the center of the Earth.

[ 5 ] Although plants have only an etheric body, the glimmering light of the astral body plays around the bud and the flower. The etheric body has the principle of repetition; it would only produce leaves forever. This influence is interrupted by the astral body, which brings about change. The etheric body prevails wherever we have hair.

[ 6 ] The group souls of animals are such that one can communicate with them, and the highest possess qualities that are in part higher than those of low-grade human individualities.

[ 7 ] Other entities influence human blood in a different way than they influence lymph, which is a fluid similar to white blood cells. Some influence the digestive fluid, the chyle, while others influence the sense organs.

[ 8 ] The chyle forces, for example, transfer the fatty substances from the chyme to the blood and the protein-containing substances to the lymph. Mental and physical health depend on the activity of the spiritual beings that regulate these forces.

[ 9 ] The lunar beings have a fine physical body and resemble six- to seven-year-old children in appearance. Their actions are mostly harmful to us, but these pygmies act unconsciously. They are known as howlers, their sounds can be heard far beyond the moon; their activity is strongest at full moon. They are particularly attracted to the vicinity of insane asylums and spiritualist mediums.

[ 10 ] If humans were masters of their blood, as they should be and as they are called to be, the moon beings would not be able to harm them.

[ 11 ] Venus is home to beings whose thoughtful language indicates a high level of logic, and whose faces reflect high morals; but there are also those with predatory instincts and all possible stages in between, from gentle to wild. When the inhabitants of Earth have accepted Christianity and a united brotherhood spans the Earth in ever-widening circles, they will approach the beings of Venus. These beings influence our digestive juices. Eating is not merely a chemical process; it also draws spiritual energy through the throat. It reflects the workings of these mysterious beings and forces as they influence plants; each plant thrives only under specific conditions, so that particular human types, communities, and peoples can form according to the soil.

[ 12 ] With our sensory impressions, we constantly receive spiritual impressions, spiritual currents through sound, and through images. Through smell, the deeds of spiritual beings flow through our senses in the most intense way. They reside in the upper Devachan.

[ 13 ] History proves the important role played by smell and the intrigues that have been spun through it. Musk and patchouli, for example, are smells that are harmful to humans. These beings have their physical bodies on Saturn. They lack thinking in our sense through the brain, but they are born inventors. They love progress and are constantly turning everything upside down in their place of residence. Our conservatives would be terrified of them. People who possess quick wit and presence of mind have something of their nature.

[ 14 ] It is by no means irrelevant what odors we surround ourselves with and which ones we love. What is instigated by harmful odors belongs to the realm of black magic. It is important to cultivate good odors.

[ 15 ] Human beings are exposed to the influences of many forces and are as blind to them as a mole. They are only ever aware of part of reality, but this reality concerns us, and we must have strong impulses to escape from the realm of harmful demons.

[ 16 ] Human beings are like rainbows with their seven colors. Actually, the physical body is an optical illusion. It is a combination of spiritual activities that intersect thousands of times within it and produce the most varied effects.

[ 17 ] 12. Intersections are the physical body

[ 18 ] When the sun disappears, the rainbow is gone; when the spiritual forces withdraw, man is dead.

[ 19 ] Reality is to be sought in spiritual facts, which have true reality. What we see is the manifestation of spiritual activity.

[ 20 ] The whole weight of the facts should cause us to let the good beings work and drive away the demonic ones.

[ 21 ] We are dealing with four entities that influence the ego through the blood, the lymph, the chyle through the digestive juices, and through the sensory currents.

[ 22 ] In order to protect ourselves against the forces of the moon that harm us, we must above all strive for independence of mind. Free inner soul forces have a purifying effect on the blood, so that the lunar beings cannot harm us.

[ 23 ] We counteract the forces of Mars acting on the lymph in a positive way through clear thoughts.

[ 24 ] Illnesses can be an outflow of uncontrolled, hateful thinking. Through such thoughts, people harm their fellow human beings; through clear thoughts, people promote general health. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we always collect ourselves and practice good, clear thinking.

[ 25 ] Noble feelings should inspire us toward the Venus beings, which have an effect on the chyle, and pure intentions determine the sensory-nerve currents, which are influenced by the Saturn inhabitants. Honesty in thinking and listening with an open mind ward off evil influences.

[ 26 ] The lunar beings act instinctively. The Martian beings act gradually consciously. The Venusian beings are eminently highly spiritual, while the evil ones are unconscious.

[ 27 ] Human beings consciously and unconsciously influence all other beings. We must strive to become more and more conscious, so that we can make stars shine. Thus the star shone in Bethlehem when the powerful individuality of Jesus consciously incarnated itself. It is a cosmic event when such high-minded people are born. Initiates know that worlds can collapse when the word “Yahweh” is composed in a certain way. — Man would not become so strong if he did not have to overcome evil.