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attributes, as long ago as the time of ancient Moon.
Therefore these are weaker than the luciferic attrib-
utes of the ego, but they are present in the astral
body, too. If you want to turn your soul to a contem-
plation of the process by which this luciferic infec-
tion crept into the astral body, you will have to study
what I said in my book Occult Science; about the
separation of the moon from evolution as a whole.
This infection made its appearance during the time
of ancient Moon. Here you will discover another rea-
son for certain characteristics in the human being,
characteristics of a hypnotic nature - higher hyp-
notic characteristics which are bound, in the main,
to the organs of the chest and which bring in higher
experiences than do the organs of the abdomen. At
the same time you will see that if something is not in
order, so that the astral body cannot be bound as it
should be, something can again come about which is
a psychological illness, a psychological disorder. Just
as the ego can be released, causing signs of madness,
so also can the astral body be released, which again
leads to signs of madness.
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the astral body is released, this leads to volatility of
ideas and lack of cohesive thought, manic states on
the one hand or, on the other, to withdrawal, depres-
sion, hypochondria. Again, these conditions could be
brought about by hypnotic or mesmeric interven-
tion, but in this case the organs are not ill, but have
had their normal physical function suppressed by
the intervention of a hypnotist or mesmerist.
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agree that we owe a great debt of gratitude to the
cosmic order that here, between birth and death, we
possess our physical organism, for without it we
would have no prison for our higher components.
When these higher components are set free, after we
have laid aside our physical body, different condi-
tions come into operation, which we will discuss an-
other time. Suffice it to say that the higher compo-
nents still retain some fetters, even then.
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the prison warder releases the etheric body.
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The etheric body, when it is freed, has mainly ahri-
manic characteristics. Envy, jealousy, avarice and
similar states will be pathologically exaggerated, al-
ways in connection with a kind of spreading into the
environment, a kind of letting oneself go. Try to un-
derstand it like this: the only point of attraction for
the ego is, more or less, the system of ganglia and
whatever is connected with it; the astral body's point
of contact is with the spinal system, but together
with the system of ganglia; and the etheric body is
linked with the cerebral system, but jointly, with
both the spinal system and the system of ganglia. So,
from this point of view, the system of ganglia also
has to do with the brain, for instance, in so far as it
serves all subconscious organic processes. If the sys-
tem of ganglia brings about a process of illness
which runs its course in the brain, then it could be
the etheric body which is freed, even though the root
cause lies in the system of ganglia. You see how very
complicated things are.
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Such things lead us deep into the mystery of the hu-
man being's soul nature. We then also understand
that the ego, or the etheric or the astral body, after
endeavoring to work with the help of their physical
tools, if they then become free, yet are still strong
and imbued with the forms they had within their
physical tools, can more easily unfold certain forces
than was possible for them within the diseased or-
gans. That is why people with periodic illnesses -
for there are cyclic, periodic abnormalities of the
soul - when they once again leave their organism,
often feel that they have capacities which they do not
otherwise possess. This gives them great satisfaction,
and when they then return to their physical body a
certain awareness of what they have experienced re-
mains with them, they can sometimes be very clear
about themselves and what has happened.
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deavoured to induce the abnormal state. This cannot
actually be done, of course, but he was glad when it
came, for it brought him voluptuous enjoyment.
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This is where those ideas and feelings are wrought
which bring us into a mutual relationship with our
immortal, our super-personal, part.
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human being bears the fluid element within him he
is linked with his super-personal part. But this fluid
element also establishes his specific personality. If
we had only heads, we would all think the same, feel
the same. But because we also have hearts, the fluid
element, blood and other juices in us, we are specific
in some degree, for through this element the hierar-
chy of the angeloi can have a part in our being. The
hierarchy of the angeloi can intervene in us via the
fluid element.
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is the route by which the folk spirits work, for they
belong to the hierarchy of the archangeloi. The work
done by the folk spirits in the human being takes its
effect through the organs which are connected with
the system of ganglia. This is why nationality is
something so far removed from consciousness,
something that works in such a demonic way. And
for the reasons I have pointed out it is linked so
strongly with everything to do with locality. For the
locality, the local climate, is far more closely con-
nected with the working of the hierarchy of the
archangeloi than one might imagine. Climate is
nothing other than what works on the human being
via the air.
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tem of ganglia - as the sexual element. Quite exter-
nally you can understand this when you remember
that you belong to a nation by birth, that is, your
body develops inside that of a mother who belongs
to a particular nation. This of itself creates a link. So
you see what subterranean soul foundations connect
the problem of nationality with the problem of sexu-
ality. That is why these two impulses in life manifest
in such related ways. If your eyes are open to life you
will see a tremendous amount of similarity between
the way people behave in an erotic sense and the way
they show their connection to their nationality. I am
not speaking either for or against either of these
things, but the facts are as I have described them.
Arousal of a nationalistic kind, which works particu-
larly strongly in the unconscious if it is not brought
up into ego-consciousness by making it a question of
karma as I described the other day, is very similar to
sexual arousal. It is no good glossing over these
things by making out that the emotional illusions
and longings of national feeling are noble, while sex-
ual feelings are rather less so. For the facts are as I
have described them to you.
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