“At the time when the sun was still united both with the earth and the moon, neither plants nor animals nor human beings existed as we know them today. In fact, only a plant kingdom existed then but under totally different conditions from our own. This kingdom preserved a particular connection with the forces of the sun. …
“Just as the earth, the moon and the sun were united at the beginning of earth evolution and will again be united at the end. … The period which preceded the lunar one is referred to as solar. At this time of evolution everything was pure solar life. …
“After our earthly period of clear physical Consciousness, a fifth condition will dawn of conscious astral imagination. … Finally, a period … which corresponds to the highest state of consciousness which can be attained by an initiate.” ~Rudolf Steiner
United Solar Age
Fist, I apologize for jumping all over in making the quote above. I needed to extract the most important parts of what would have been a 700 word quote if I didn’t cut out a lot of it.
I think when Steiner says that the sun, moon and earth were united in this earlier age, he means it in a physical way. But whether he means physical, or not, what is important is the Spiritual side of it. Even if they were separated physically, they could have been united on a spiritual level. Like many other stories of this sort, we need to look at it’s allegorical meaning as well as the literal.
Allegorically, Steiner is indirectly saying that this period when the sun, moon, and earth were united was a much more spiritual age than our current one of dense matter. It this time, the celestial bodies would have been more like region of concentrated energy rather than lumps of matter. Only the sun still retains much of that ancient form.
Moon Age of Matter
I left out of the quote much of Steiner’s discussion of a moon age. Suffice it to say that this was an age of matte becoming increasingly dense and the physical forms of man and animals becoming much as they are today. We can probably consider the period we are living in now as the tail end of that moon/matter age.
Sun, Sun, Sun
It is interesting that with almost all spiritual writers, the sun always manages to work it’s way into the discussion, usually in a positive way. This is not accidental. Nearly all real spiritual teachers knew that the sun was important for real spiritual awakening and development. They didn’t usually say so for fear that the powers of government working with the traditional churches would ban their writings, or imprison them. That may not have been true for Steiner who wrote less than one hundred years ago, still it was a time when one had to be careful what he said or wrote.
A New Solar Age
Steiner says we will experience a new age when the sun, moon and earth will be united again. This is more on a spiritual level than physical. All indications are that we are at the dawn of that age now. The fact that many of us are becoming aware of the futility of the materialistic and capitalistic lifestyle that has been pushed on us for centuries.
As we progress in this new age, Steiner says we will reach increasingly higher states of consciousness. That too is beginning to happen, but only to a few. What Steiner doesn’t say in this section is how this is to come about. He does give a hint in relating uniting with the sun to increased levels of consciousness. It is, in fact, the Light of the Spiritual Sun that awakens the spirit and soul. In Awaken those spiritual faculties, we are able to develop higher states of consciousness. While mundane intellect is associated with the brain, these higher states of consciousness can be awakened only in the soul. The soul is like the mind of spirit. Spirit being higher than matter, it is only logical that higher levels of consciousness be spiritual rather than material.
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