CW 170 The Riddle of Humanity: Lecture 7 (Dornach, 12 August 1916) by Rudolf Steiner
Oct 6, 2026 · 42 min · 11 segments
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Oct 6, 2026 · 42 min · 11 segments
When we speak of the great world and the small world, of the macrocosm and the microcosm, we are referring to the whole universe and to the human being.
He called the whole cosmos the great world and the human being the small world.
We have already had many occasions to observe how manifold and complicated are the relationships between man and the cosmos.
Today, I would like to remind you of some of the things we have spoken about at various times, connecting these with a consideration of humanity's relationship to the cosmos.
You will remember that when we spoke of the senses and of what man as the possessor of his senses is, we said that the senses lead us back to the ancient Saturn phase of evolution.
That is where we find the first impulses for the development of the senses, the first seeds of the senses.
You will find these things described again and again in previous lecture cycles.
Now, obviously, the early seed-like phases of the senses during the Saturn period are not to be imagined as if they already resembled the senses as we know them today.
That would be foolish.
As a matter of fact, it is extremely difficult to imagine what the senses were like during ancient Saturn development.
It is already difficult enough to picture the senses as they were during the ancient Moon period.
Even that far back in time, they were thoroughly different from the senses we know now.
Today, I would like to throw some light on what the senses were like during the ancient Moon phase of evolution.
By that time, they were already in their third phase of development, Saturn, Sun, Moon.
As regards their form, the senses of today are much more dead than were the senses of Old Moon.
At that period, the sense organs were much livelier, much more full of life.
Because of this, they were not suited to provide the foundations for fully conscious human life, but were only suited to the dreamy clairvoyance of Moon man.
Such clairvoyance excluded the possibility of freedom.
There was no freedom to act or to follow impulses and desires.
Thus, the senses during Old Moon were not the basis for the kind of consciousness we now have, but rather for a consciousness that was both more dull and more imaginative than ours.
As I have often explained, it was much more like today's dream consciousness.
When we speak of the great world and the small world, of the macrocosm and the microcosm, we are referring to the whole universe and to the human being.
He called the whole cosmos the great world and the human being the small world.
We have already had many occasions to observe how manifold and complicated are the relationships between man and the cosmos.
Today, I would like to remind you of some of the things we have spoken about at various times, connecting these with a consideration of humanity's relationship to the cosmos.
You will remember that when we spoke of the senses and of what man as the possessor of his senses is, we said that the senses lead us back to the ancient Saturn phase of evolution.
That is where we find the first impulses for the development of the senses, the first seeds of the senses.
You will find these things described again and again in previous lecture cycles.
Now, obviously, the early seed-like phases of the senses during the Saturn period are not to be imagined as if they already resembled the senses as we know them today.
That would be foolish.
As a matter of fact, it is extremely difficult to imagine what the senses were like during ancient Saturn development.
It is already difficult enough to picture the senses as they were during the ancient Moon period.
Even that far back in time, they were thoroughly different from the senses we know now.
Today, I would like to throw some light on what the senses were like during the ancient Moon phase of evolution.
By that time, they were already in their third phase of development, Saturn, Sun, Moon.
As regards their form, the senses of today are much more dead than were the senses of Old Moon.
At that period, the sense organs were much livelier, much more full of life.
Because of this, they were not suited to provide the foundations for fully conscious human life, but were only suited to the dreamy clairvoyance of Moon man.
Such clairvoyance excluded the possibility of freedom.
There was no freedom to act or to follow impulses and desires.
Thus, the senses during Old Moon were not the basis for the kind of consciousness we now have, but rather for a consciousness that was both more dull and more imaginative than ours.
As I have often explained, it was much more like today's dream consciousness.
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