The Eighth Sphere

"The destiny of Ahriman and Lucifer is that they work with their forces in earth evolution and repeatedly make the greatest efforts to hold back the wider progress of evolution; they try to establish a realm for themselves, and have again and again to suffer disillusionment." [1]

The preceding is one of the most general statements I've ever read by Steiner about the goals of Lucifer and Ahriman. In previous essays, I have concentrated on a few of the approaches they use to sidetrack our evolution, but I didn't go into much detail on their intended destination. That is the subject of this essay.

The "destination" to which I refer is known as the Eighth Sphere. It's a quasi-spiritual world which surrounds us. It was produced by Lucifer and Ahriman just as our solar system's previous "incarnation," a.k.a. the Old Moon "manvantara," was ending. As Steiner puts it, "Thus as Sphere Three [Old Moon manvantara was] advancing to a further stage, something is wrested from the Spirits of Form by Lucifer and Ahriman; into this part that is wrested away, Lucifer and Ahriman penetrate, instead of the Sprits of Form. The activities of Lucifer and Ahriman are added to the Spirits of Movement [among others which created the Old Moon] and, as a result Eight arises out of Three." [2]

In An Outline of Occult Science [3], Steiner describes this "substantiality": "[Mankind was] embedded in the above-described vaporous environment. The most manifold processes occur within this mistlike element. Substances now unite, now separate. Certain parts condense, others become rarefied. All this occurs in such a way that the human beings neither see nor hear it directly, but images [Imaginations] are called forth by it in their consciousness.... Although they are symbols, not copies, they correspond, nevertheless, to the outer events.... A Moon humanity is thus in the position to direct its actions in accordance with these pictures [although driven by dull urges instead of having free will]." [4]

Another angle on this Old Moon form of consciousness is provided by the following excerpt:

in days when the semi-fluid, semi-vaporous Earth was still united with the Moon. Man moved through the semi-fluid, semi-gaseous element like a fish, guiding his way by means of this organ. His perceptions were of a visionary, allegoric nature. Currents of warmth evoked in him the impression of dazzling red and of powerful sound. Currents of cold evoked the impression of shades of green and blue, silvery, rippling sounds. [4a]

Then, as the Earth manvantara (the first one with "solid" matter) began to materialize, Lucifer and Ahriman took the opportunity to grab some of it for their world and infused it into the "substance" which they had stolen from the Old Moon: "Thus when the mineral comes into existence out of the Imaginative substantiality, it is snatched by Lucifer and Ahriman and made into Imagination [i.e. given the form of Imagination instead of that which it was supposed to take]." [5]

Steiner reinforces this statement in a passage which includes a tantalizing potential clue to the nature of the Ghost Society:

"Mark this well: Instead of pure Imagination [Old moon "substantiality"] being there, the Imaginations ARE DENSIFIED BY THE INFUSION OF A MINERAL ELEMENT THAT HAS BEEN WRESTED FROM THE EARTH. Densified Imaginations are thus created.... They are ghosts, spectres - that is to say, behind our world there is a world of spectres created by Lucifer and Ahriman." [5]

But that wasn't the end of it; Lucifer and Ahriman continue to take whatever they can from Earth, and convert it into Old Moon substance to add to their world:

Lucifer and Ahriman strive unceasingly to draw from the Earth's substances whatever they can snatch, in order to form their Eighth Sphere which then, when it is sufficiently advanced, will be detached from the Earth and go its own way in the Cosmos together with Lucifer and Ahriman. [7]

This impolite pair find their greatest success in seizing physical matter in human beings, specifically, in the brain. From what I gather, this is because, as Steiner puts it, "physical substance there is more spiritualized that anywhere else." He also states that "everything that is similar to the head ... is equally exposed to the danger of being dispatched to the Eighth Sphere." [8]

"New Age" gang spreads confusion about the 8th Sphere

In the Occult Movement in the 19th Century, Steiner devotes considerable time to the spin put on the 8th Sphere by A.P. Sinnett's book Esoteric Buddhism. Sinnett essentially states that the present Moon is the 8th Sphere, when in fact the physical aspect of the Moon was created by Jahve to prevent a certain amount of matter from being seized by Lucifer and Ahriman. Steiner claims that Sinnett's distortion was intended to convey a materialistic version of reincarnation, which he does not describe. I'll take his word for it, but I think it's safe to say that it also tends to conceal a major aspect of what Lucifer and Ahriman are doing.

Steiner also mentions that H.P. Blavatsky, upon realizing that she was being used by so-called left-hand initiates (who pursue selfish interests) to give the impression that their propaganda was coming from benevolent higher beings, tried to correct Sinnett's error. But she wasn't a very good writer, and Sinnett's teachings became the generally accepted view among theosophists.

Seducing and driving us to the 8th Sphere

"If Rome had developed in such a way that a great all-embracing mechanized empire had arisen, it would only have been habitable for egoless human beings who would have remained on earth after Lucifer had drawn out their souls on the path of Greek culture and art. YOU SEE HOW AHRIMAN AND LUCIFER WORK TOGETHER. LUCIFER WANTS TOTAKE MEN'S SOULS AWAY AND FOUND A PLANET WITH THEM OF HIS OWN.AHRIMAN HAS TO HELP HIM. WHILE LUCIFER SUCKS THE JUICE OUT OF THE
LEMON, AS IT WERE, AHRIMAN PRESSES IT OUT, THEREBY HARDENING WHATREMAINS. This is what he tried to do to the civilization of Rome. Here we have an important cosmic process going on all due to the intention and resolve of luciferic and ahrimanic powers. As I have said, they were disappointed. They have continued their efforts, however, and our fifth post-Atlantean age has yet [as of 1916] to learn how strong these attacks are. They are now only beginning but they will become stronger and stronger. This age must learn, too, that THE NECESSITY TO UNDERSTAND THESE ATTACKS WILL BECOME EVER GREATER." [emphasis added] [9]

"But the endeavor of Lucifer and Ahriman is TO DRAG THE FREE WILL OF MAN, AND WHATEVER STEMS FROM IT, into the Eighth Sphere. This means that man is perpetually exposed to the danger of having his free will wrested from him and dragged by Lucifer and Ahriman into the Eighth Sphere.

"This happens if the element of free will is transformed, FOR EXAMPLE, into visionary clairvoyance. When this is the case, a man is already in the Eighth Sphere. This is a matter of which occultists are reluctant to speak, because it is an awful, terrible truth.
...
Lucifer and Ahriman are engaged perpetually in shackling man's free will and in conjuring all sorts of things before him in order TO TEAR AWAY WHAT HE MAKES OUT OF THESE THINGS and let it disappear into the Eighth Sphere."

I presume that what Steiner means by "conjuring all sorts of things before him" means that they directly or indirectly arrange stimuli which are calculated to produce certain states of mind which facilitate the theft of will.

Free will is our ability to convert our decisions into objects and events in the physical world, and developing it is one of our main tasks at this stage in our evolution. Therefore, taking it from us is a means of interfering with our evolution.

Satan and Lucifers' basic strategy for leading our higher souls or egos to the 8th Sphere is to cause humans to become disenchanted with Earth and unwittingly enchanted with the Eighth Sphere. Earth-mankind would then become a race of homunculi, or talking animals, much like Beavis and Butthead.

In preventing their success, mankind has had a great deal of assistance from the progressive side of the spiritual hierarchy, in ways which few would expect. In Inner Impulses of Evolution, Steiner describes the tactics they used during ancient Greek and Roman times. But that was then, and this is now, and what happens is much more up to us.

References and Notes

[1]Rudolf Steiner, Inner Impulses of Evolution, Lecture 5
[2] Rudolf Steiner, The Occult Movement in the 19th Century, p 83
[3] Rudolf Steiner, An Outline of Occult Science
[4] An Outline of Occult Science, Book IV
The Evolution of The Cosmos and Man (Part 5)
http://wn.elib.com/Steiner/Books/GA013/English/AP1972/GA013_c04-05.html
[4a] An Esoteric Cosmology IV, Involution and Evolution
[5] Rudolf Steiner, The Occult Movement in the 19th Century, p 84
[6] ibid., p 84
[7] ibid., p 85
[8] ibid., p 86
[9] Rudolf Steiner, Inner Impulses of Evolution, Lecture 2
[10] Rudolf Steiner, The Occult Movement in the 19th Century, p 90