CW 170 The Riddle of Humanity: Lecture 3 (Dornach, 31 July 1916) by Rudolf Steiner
Oct 6, 2026 · 40 min · 12 segments
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Oct 6, 2026 · 40 min · 12 segments
When we cast a glance back over the discussions of the previous two meetings, allowing the main experience to stand before our souls, we become aware of the fundamentally dual nature of the human being.
We have seen how everything that comes to life in a human soul during waking consciousness can be traced back to the influence on man of the heavens and of the universe, to what these, taken in their cosmic significance, have imprinted on humanity.
The foundations of certain other deeper regions of human nature, regions which in a normal life only well up in dream consciousness, can be traced back to terrestrial influences and impressions that are earthly in a more narrow sense.
When the world is observed in the light of spiritual science, everything that is perceived by the senses must be seen as a real expression of the spirit.
The picture a human being presents to the senses reveals his dual nature.
That is most easily imagined if you consider the skeleton.
There it is most clear, for the skeleton is clearly divided into two distinct parts, the head, the skull, and the remaining parts of the body.
And in principle the only thing that holds these two together is a thin skeletal cord.
The head really has just been set on top of the rest.
One can knock it off.
This is an outer pictorial expression of the dual nature of a human being, for the head makes waking consciousness possible.
The remaining parts, the parts of the skeleton that hang down from the head, form the basis for the life that plays itself out more or less unconsciously.
The unconscious life only wells up in dreams or in the creative fantasy of poets and artists, penetrating normal consciousness with its fire and warmth and light.
In that, something of an unquestionably earthly nature is working into usual waking consciousness.
The noblest part of earthly nature, perhaps, but earthly all the same.
Yesterday in the awareness of time that was typical of the ancient Hebrew culture, we found direct evidence that mankind once possessed knowledge explicit and fundamental knowledge of the connections between super earthly occurrences and human waking consciousness.
We saw how that which can be called cosmic thought and which is expressed in the movements of the stars creates an image of itself in waking human consciousness.
Man has a waking consciousness because in the first place he is able to make use of the organs in his head and we have considered the wonderful way that mankind participates in the whole universe and includes both its heavenly and its earthly aspects.
When we cast a glance back over the discussions of the previous two meetings, allowing the main experience to stand before our souls, we become aware of the fundamentally dual nature of the human being.
We have seen how everything that comes to life in a human soul during waking consciousness can be traced back to the influence on man of the heavens and of the universe, to what these, taken in their cosmic significance, have imprinted on humanity.
The foundations of certain other deeper regions of human nature, regions which in a normal life only well up in dream consciousness, can be traced back to terrestrial influences and impressions that are earthly in a more narrow sense.
When the world is observed in the light of spiritual science, everything that is perceived by the senses must be seen as a real expression of the spirit.
The picture a human being presents to the senses reveals his dual nature.
That is most easily imagined if you consider the skeleton.
There it is most clear, for the skeleton is clearly divided into two distinct parts, the head, the skull, and the remaining parts of the body.
And in principle the only thing that holds these two together is a thin skeletal cord.
The head really has just been set on top of the rest.
One can knock it off.
This is an outer pictorial expression of the dual nature of a human being, for the head makes waking consciousness possible.
The remaining parts, the parts of the skeleton that hang down from the head, form the basis for the life that plays itself out more or less unconsciously.
The unconscious life only wells up in dreams or in the creative fantasy of poets and artists, penetrating normal consciousness with its fire and warmth and light.
In that, something of an unquestionably earthly nature is working into usual waking consciousness.
The noblest part of earthly nature, perhaps, but earthly all the same.
Yesterday in the awareness of time that was typical of the ancient Hebrew culture, we found direct evidence that mankind once possessed knowledge explicit and fundamental knowledge of the connections between super earthly occurrences and human waking consciousness.
We saw how that which can be called cosmic thought and which is expressed in the movements of the stars creates an image of itself in waking human consciousness.
Man has a waking consciousness because in the first place he is able to make use of the organs in his head and we have considered the wonderful way that mankind participates in the whole universe and includes both its heavenly and its earthly aspects.
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