SPIRIT-GERMS

SPIRIT-GERMS!

I have often spoken about them already, explaining their development and course.

I have also said that earthmen are developed from spirit-germs.

Therefore it is your development, you human beings, that I am going to describe here!

Today I want to bring still closer to you the starting point of your development towards consciousness.

I have already spoken about a second and lower section in the Spiritual Part of Creation, in which the spiritual beings could not come into existence fully matured immediately, but must develop from children.

The developed ones of Subsequent Creation, to which you human beings also belong, still do not originate from this part.

They only come from a precipitation thereof, which does not possess the strength to develop itself without outside influence.

This precipitation consists of the spirit seed-grains, of the spirit-germs, from which the developed human spirits of the Material Worlds evolve.

The precipitation sinks down from the Spiritual Part of Creation and thus enters into an animistic ring surrounding the Worlds of Matter.

I shall not yet speak about the process of attraction, of being set aglow, and the consequent changes in radiation, the process that takes place according to the Laws of Creation.

Instead I only wish to talk about the helpers active therein, and of the individual happenings that can give a picture which will become understandable to you.

For as soon as I show you tangible forms in my descriptions you will then be able to envisage something very definite, something that nearly corresponds with the facts and helps your earthly understanding.

Thus I do not wish to explain how everything is fulfilled as it swings in the Law of Creation, but how it manifests in the process of forming itself.

In this animistic ring into which the spirit-germ sinks there exist entities of very different species, not intermingled with each other but again standing below one another on individual planes, according to the nature of the activity in which they swing.

Coming from the Spiritual, we find at the uppermost point of the ring wonderfully delicate female beings swinging in the rays of Love and Purity.

These receive the spirit-germs and cover them with an animistic cloak with motherly solicitude.

They then forward the thus-veiled spirit-germs, which still slumber in complete unconsciousness, into the hands of other female beings which stand nearer to the World of Ethereal Matter.

These in turn veil the germ with a second cloak, again of a different nature and corresponding with the particular surrounding in which these entities dwell.

They then accompany the germs, which have through this process again become a little heavier, downwards to the topmost layer of the Ethereal World.

All these delicate female beings support with their help the lawful, automatic happenings.

They are of perfect beauty and were in former times already known to many men, to whom they could occasionally show themselves here and there.

They were called kind fairies, concerned with furthering the developing souls of men.

At the border of the Ethereal World other female beings once more await the descending spirit-germs in order to tend them lovingly.

For protection there are also beings of a male nature at hand here, which do not work in this tending way but act more positively.

Thus the spirit-germ is guarded and cared for by animistic helpers while still unconsciously following its urge towards the possibility of becoming self-conscious, moving ever further onwards until it strikes a density in the Ethereal World which no longer permits it to travel further with the unconscious urge.

Thus its gliding down comes to a halt, and it must tarry awhile to awaken for development before it can continue its journey.

This is again quite a natural process, conditioned by the nature of the surroundings, but a great turning-point for the spirit-germs.

They are now in a plane of the Ethereal World, the density of which retains them, and as a result their unconscious wandering is brought to an end.

Thus they suddenly lie softly embedded in a layer which halts their progress.

Only an awakening volition, even if but weak yet nevertheless already conscious, can bring up the strength which will enable them to wander through and recognize their surroundings and travel further.

Just at this point I must proceed slowly and especially carefully with my explanations, so that men can form the right picture thereof and nothing is displaced.

For here, where the spirit-germs in their initial unconscious wandering are literally bound to become stuck, due to a very definite density of the ethereal substance that is permeated with animistic streams, much happens affecting the path of the human spirit as it descends into the Worlds of Matter for the purpose of development, and also concerning the path upwards again after maturity has set in through development.

Just this layer is an important boundary plane in the existence of the human spirit.

Therefore I want to dwell upon the subject a little, and speak more of it.

To the human spirit as it ascends this plane already appears immensely high and wondrous in its beauty.

It stretches before the eyes bathed in a mild light; in a light which appears mild and yet which is much brighter than our sunshine here on earth.

The rays have an awakening, furthering and strengthening effect.

This plane appears like a single endless series of gardens.

One flower garden follows another over vast distances, each filled with beautiful flowers of all sizes and many colors; flowers which are tended by delicate beings and preserved and guarded by earnest, manly figures, who stride through the rows keeping order, watching and sorting.

Floral arbors stand all around, an invitation to rest and recuperate and… for quiet and grateful self-communion!

The denser mass forming the ground is the ethereal substance which has held fast the spirit-germs, the mass in which they became stuck on their march.

And then the miraculous happens: While anchored in the ethereal ground and tended by the female animistic gardeners, the animistic cloak (in which the delicate female beings had veiled each of the spirit-germs after it had left the Spiritual Realm) develops under the radiation of this ethereal plane into a glorious flower in the cup of which the spirit-germ sleeps quietly and becomes ever stronger.

Due to the fact that it is roused through the effects which, in spite of the delicacy of this plane, are of a coarser nature than in the Spiritual Realm, and through the stronger sound of the activity, the spirit-germ can at a definite stage of ripeness, simultaneously with the bursting open of the bud, awaken to become gradually conscious.

This coming to consciousness, however, is not yet self-consciousness.

There is still a big step from the consciousness of the awakening spirit to the self-consciousness of the matured spirit.

The animal is also conscious, but it is never self-conscious!

But let us not dwell upon this subject now!

Thus the bursting open of each bud is caused by the ripeness of the spirit-germ and is a natural, automatic effect, and the crack of this bursting open simultaneously awakens the spirit-germ to consciousness of its existence.

These processes can be explained accurately later on in all their details in order to find the lawfulness also inherent therein, through which everything becomes simple and natural, as can be recognized ever again in the whole of Creation.

The flower in whose cup the spirit-germ ripened needed only part of the spirit-germ’s animistic cloak, whereas the other part remained round the spirit-germ and, during the awakening to consciousness, took on the human form of a child.

Thus when the bud bursts open a child in human form lies in the cup of the flower.

Here, too, I must insert a few explanations before I can proceed further: The spirit-germ had already passed through the care of two different female entities before it came into the hands of the female gardeners.

We may call the two species “fairies”.

The first one, which received the spirit-germ as it left the Spiritual Realm, veiled it with a delicate cloak of the finest substance of this plane or ring, the second adding a cloak of a different kind.

Therefore when the spirit-germ came to a halt in fine matter it had already received two different cloaks through the fairies, thus two gifts from the fairies!

These happenings gave rise later on to the stories of the fairies giving presents at the children’s cradle!

Now in the denser Ethereal World the outer cloak developed under the awakening radiations as the protecting flower-bud, and as it awakened the most delicate inner cloak immediately developed as a small body in human form.

I also wish to explain why the finer cloak was bound to form into a human body.

In my Message I have already stated that when the spirit becomes conscious the human form also comes into existence, because the special nature of the spirit stipulates the human form.

This statement is made in broad outline.

Now I must also enlarge upon this explanation and point out the fact that during this awakening to first consciousness the spirit-germ as such does not yet fashion itself into a human form, but only the delicate, animistic cloak which the spirit-germ received through the first fairy does so.

This cloak takes on human form because, in awakening, the spirit germ already unconsciously sets this cloak aglow.

Therefore, since it is “glowed through” spiritually even if unconsciously, the cloak, also adapting itself to the nature of being glowed through, consequently takes on human form as a matter of course.

As it becomes self-conscious on its wanderings through the Worlds of Matter, however, the spirit itself only gradually receives a more or less beautiful human form, depending on the nature and goal of its development.

In this process the spirit’s outer animistic and ethereal cloaks also change correspondingly.

As long as the spirit-germ remains in its merely conscious state, the animistic and ethereal cloaks are always beautiful, because only when the spirit becomes conscious of itself, thereby also receiving its free will, can the cloak be malformed!

Just think carefully over this one sentence!

You will find the solution to very many things contained therein!

You will also find the explanation as to why the beings consciously swinging in service to the Will of God are, without exception, of the most delicate beauty and perfect shape; for they all carry what is spiritual within themselves, but they cannot malformed their figures through a self-consciousness that goes astray.

With this explanation you will also find a difference in that which in the past we have described under the great collective term “substantiate (animistic) beings”.

For the first time I bring you today a very definite gradation in this matter which, however, can for the moment only be explained in very broad outlines so that we do not widen the subject too much.

There are substantiate (animistic) beings carrying within themselves what is spiritual, and swinging and serving consciously in the Will of God; and also substantiate (animistic) beings which have nothing within themselves but that which is animistic, which lack what is spiritual.

The animals, for instance, are part of the latter!

In order to prevent unnecessary questions in regard to this I want to mention at the same time that many divisions have yet to be made among the substantiate (animistic) helpers in Creation in order to give men a proper understanding.

However, I shall always and only deal with each case individually as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

In this way it will be easier to grasp.

Men can themselves make classifications in regard to this from the Message later on.

Now I only wish to say that various classifications can also be made among the substantiate (animistic) beings carrying what is spiritual within themselves.

That part which is by far the greater swings and serves only in the Will of God, and is completely independent of everything else.

A small part, however, which exists far from the Luminous Heights and works in close connection with the coarsest World of Matter, such as gnomes, etc., could like much else be temporarily influenced by the developed human spirits living in the World of Gross Matter.

But this possibility of the human spirit to influence has already been annulled, and even these little animistic (elemental) helpers stand at present only serving in the Will of God, during the Judgment and the time of the Millennium.

However, I must not yet go into these details; for I should divert you too much from the basic features, whereas now I wish above all to form a basic knowledge for you, which will give you the support you need for ascent and for perfecting your spirit, to mature it for the Luminous Heights.

All else must still be left aside until the great purification is over.

Until then, however, you have no more time for details leading you into distances that will make your head swim!

You must first be able to save yourselves from the maze of pseudo knowledge.

That is now the most necessary thing for you to do, as you will recognize for yourselves later on!

But you must not take all this in too earthly a way when forming a picture of these happenings for yourselves, for ponderous earthliness does not come into the matter.

And yet you will find similar happenings even in this coarse material world on earth.

Just take the butterfly developing under the protection of the cloak of the cocoon, which it bursts as soon as it has come to the necessary state of ripeness!

In the case of the spirit-germ the protective cloak receives the form of a flower, which through connection with the qualities of the soil in the Ethereal World must develop.

The why and the how can also be precisely explained according to law, so that you will recognize that it can only occur in such a manner and form, and not by any means otherwise!

But years of explaining are still necessary to get to the point when you human beings will recognize with amazement the great simplicity penetrating Creation with a thousand different effects, and yet it is ever again precisely the same in all things, developing according to one basic Law.

You will be dumbfounded to realize that the difficulties of recognition have only arisen through you.

You prepared them and made everything difficult for yourselves, you followed diversions and wrong courses which were bound to tire you, and which prevented you altogether from reaching the goal without help from the Light.

But if your intellectual conceit had not beguiled you so nastily, even if well-deservedly, and tricked you into so much artificial confusion, you would, with childlike confidence faithfully guided by the Light, have attained to full maturity easily and quickly on a path that held nothing but joy for you.

Now, however, it is very hard for you, for all the stones with which you blocked the path you must first remove again.

Nor can you get with one leap into the right road, but you must retrace your steps over all diversions and wrong courses to that place where you turned aside, so that you can then set out once more at the beginning of the right road.

For this reason I first had to follow you on all your diversions and wrong courses so as to catch up with and call out to you, and carefully lead back those who would follow my call, because you are unable of your own accord to find a way out of the maze.

Not from the Light directly, but on your own paths I had to come to you when I wanted to bring you help!

Soon you will understand all this through recognition – it will not be very long till then!

Then many things will become easier for you! —

Although everything in this Creation is of importance and has purpose, yet there is one straight line which offers you support as you become knowing, a support by means of which you can stride securely upwards.

And this support alone I want to give you first of all, because it is urgently necessary!

Today I offered you an entirely new picture of that plane which remains the actual starting-point for you earthmen, and which therefore plays a great part.

You now know how you awaken and where this awakening takes place.

And this plane which mediates and renders possible your coming into the world, thus granting you a foundation stone for your personal existence as a human being, this plane is also important for the mature spirit which has developed aright in the sense of the Will of God and becomes capable of ascent.

Just as here the first cloak blossoms forth in human form, so the mature spirit again lays aside the same cloak on this plane.

In ascending this first cloak becomes the last to be laid aside!

It remains behind on this plane in order to sever itself again, to disintegrate, to become submerged in the same species from which it first arose through the gift of the fairy.

However the cloak of a mature spirit brings along new powers refreshing and strengthening the same species, because it has been strongly penetrated by the glowing of the self-conscious spirit, which ascended in the right sense carrying this glowing within it.

As a result this species of cloak becomes all the more powerful in the animistic ring round the Worlds of Matter, and it can help even more strongly with the new development and awakening of many human spirit-germs.

After the last cloak of delicate animistic substance has been laid aside, the spirit as such, being conscious of itself, leaves this plane of gardens again for the Spiritual Realm which it once left as an unconscious spirit-germ, merely yielding to its undefined urge for development produced by the longing to become conscious.

Strive for the ability to enter the Spiritual Realm as fully matured spirits, you earthmen!

You will then be united with those who could develop in the Spiritual without having to plunge into the World of Matter first.

You will then be no less strong than these, for you have overcome many obstacles, and through the requisite exertion you became a flame!

There will then be joy over you, as is already indicated in the parable about the prodigal son!

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