In order to get a clearer idea of the human consciousness on the Moon, let
us imagine human beings immersed in the vaporous environment described
above. Most varied processes take place in this vapour-element. Materials
unite, substances break asunder one from the other; some parts become
condensed, others rarified. All this happens in such a way that human
beings do not see or hear anything of it directly, but it calls up
pictures in their consciousness. These may be compared with the images of
our present dream-consciousness, as for instance when an object falls to
the ground, and a sleeping man does not discern what has really happened
but perceives it in the form of a picture; let us say he thinks that a
shot has been fired. However, the pictures in the Moon-consciousness are
not arbitrary, as is the case with such dream-pictures; although they are
symbols, not representations, yet they correspond with outer events. A
definite outer event can call up only one definite picture. The Moon-being
is therefore in a position to regulate his conduct by means of these
pictures, as present-day man does by means of his perceptions. We must
nevertheless be careful to notice that conduct, regulated by perception,
is governed by choice whereas action, under the influence of the pictures
we have described, takes place as if prompted by some dim instinct.
It is by no means as though only outer physical processes become
perceptible through this picture-consciousness, but it is through the
pictures that the spiritual beings, who rule behind the physical facts
together with their activities, become likewise perceptible. Thus the
Lords of Personality become visible, so to speak, in the phenomena of the
animal-plant kingdom; the Sons of Fire appear behind and in the
mineral-plant beings; and the Sons of Life appear as beings whom man is
able to imagine unconnected with anything physical,—whom he sees, as it
were, as etheric-psychic organisms.
Though these pictures of the Moon-consciousness were not representations,
only symbols of outer things, they nevertheless had a much more important
effect on the inner nature of man than the images now caused by
perception. They were able to set the whole inner being into motion and
activity. The inner processes were moulded in conformity with them. They
were genuine formative forces. Man’s being became what those formative
forces made it; it became, to a certain extent, a representation of the
events of its consciousness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account