Incarnation in a Lifetime is a Process
To give a foundation for understanding the significance of the 7 year phases in the human life, we will take a brief anthroposophical point of view of the human being, in relation to the other kingdoms of nature, here on earth. Today, I will give broad strokes to create this picture. The appearance of life-threatening diseases is another karmic result and destiny that would lead us away into finer points regarding karma. The human being shares and incorporates all that lives in the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms, yet incorporates another unique aspect of consciousness.
We have a physical body, as do the members of the other kingdoms, but what we share with the minerals, is just that—the mineral content of our bodies. If the body is cremated after death, only a few handfuls of the mineral content of our bodies is left. That is really all that is truly physical of our bodily existence.
The plant has a physical bodily aspect, and has the added reality of being alive. It grows, synthesizes, metamorphoses, propagates its own kind, and its life force responds positively, or negatively to light & dark, heat & cold, water & dryness, and to the presence or lack of elements of the mineral realm. We will call this the life body, the body of formative forces, or the etheric body.
The animal shares characteristics of the mineral and plant; it has a body, it grows and reproduces, yet has the added ability for mobility, and can experience itself and members of the other kingdoms, in an instinctual emotional way. Animals have shared behaviors that are typical of its own species and family. Some animals can also connect certain experiences, and direct their will towards things to their advantage. We will call this the emotional body, or astral body.
The human being shares the characteristics of the three other kingdoms of nature: physicality, life, ability to procreate, instinctual behavior, will, and emotions; yet is able to consciously manipulate and change the other members of its being, by directing the will by thought. This element of individual self-aware consciousness capable of intention is noted as the “I”, or ego consciousness.
There are a lot of negative perceptions and ideas about the nature of “ego”. We are not to banish it, suppress it, or overcome it. There is a big difference between being self-centered, braggadocios, or narcissistic, and what is healthy self definition, expression, and consciously directed thinking, feeling, and willing. The former is really self identification with, and anchored by the justifications and defenses of ones likes and dislikes. The latter is about determining what ones actions, feelings, and thoughts are to be in a given situation, according to one’s conscience, intuition, and deliberation. When our thinking, feeling, and actions are free from being determined by something outside of us, and from any motivation that is not rooted in truth, beauty, and goodness, then we have a glimpse of what is truly “I” activity.
Unlike the animals we can have control over our instincts, and determine to change our feelings, if they do not serve us. To the degree we consciously exercise equanimity in our feeling life, keeping an open mind, seeing the positive, and having reverence and devotion, is the degree that we transform our feelings, our astral body into what spiritual science calls, Spirit Self, or Manas. As we develop new life-giving habits, in our thinking, feeling, and willing, and let go of those that do not serve us, we transform our etheric body, and build up our Spirit Life, or Buddhi. As we consciously direct our will impulses from its unconscious source, into wakeful decisions, activity, and love, we build up the seed for the transformation of the physical forces into Spirit Man, or Atman. It will then be when the presence of the higher “I” is fully manifest in the harmony of the higher soul expressions, Manas, Buddhi, Atman.
Rudolf Steiner has elucidated through spiritual science, the role of the ego in the evolution of humanity, and the evolution of the individual .
When we look at the human life in 7 year phases we can observe the processes of the incarnation of the human being. In the first 7 years, starting from the physical birth, there is the incredible activity of the etheric body, as shown by the building up and growth of the physical organism. The etheric, or formative force body of the mother provides a template, as it were, for the child’s etheric body to model after, as it builds its own body. The bodily changes during the first 7 years are manifestations of the formative forces of the moon, working from without, and what are internalized within the human being.
By roughly the 7th year, the physical body has taken on different proportions, and the first dentition occurs. The child gradually begins to look more individualized. The activities of the etheric body is freed up enough from organic development, and is born to be available for systematic learning and thinking. It is also freed from the mother’s etheric formative force body. The next seven year phase is all about the activities of Mercury, in the discovery and learning about the world, and the developing of abilities, and friendships.
Around age 14, the astral body is born. The astral body carries the karma of the individual, who begins to be aware of, and responsible for it. This 7 year period is imbued with the intentions and activity of Venus. Relationships of all sorts become a focus. The Venusian dual aspects of self worth, and the worth of others are of extreme importance during this time. The direction which one takes towards establishing values can vacillate between ideals and sensuality. The questions, who am I? What is important to me? Who is important to me, and why? Why am I important to someone? Am I important, in any way?
These last three periods are necessary for the birth of the individual “I”. The individual establishes itself, and finds purpose during this Sun period, lasting for the next three 7 year periods, to age 42. The first 7 year period of this epoch is a time of deep feeling, sensuality, and romance. This is a time for travel and adventure of some sort. In the fifth 7 year period, life plans, career steps, confidence in one’s abilities, and the functionality of relationships come to the fore. The balance between family and work is an issue for many. The sixth 7 year period raises the awareness of one’s limitations of mind and current abilities, and whether one can break through to a new level of awareness. This is a time for many to recognize the need to master themselves.
By the end of this phase, confrontations from without, and intense self questioning arise, about all that we have built up in life, even our identities. This is the time of the mid-life crisis. New paradigms and imaginations of how life can be come into view. What is authenticity for myself? In what ways have I not developed since I was 28?
During the seventh 7 year phase we again ask ourselves, who am I? But with a more honest drive to get to the nitty-gritty of our soul life. We are more capable of accepting our imperfections, and begin to lose the fear of what others think of us. We develop a new sense of maturity, and start to feel what is the source of our power, or seriously wonder what it is. Mars leads us to want to put all that we have developed out into the world, to make our mark, even from the proverbial director’s chair.
In our 50’s, we experience a calm self-assurance. Some start worrying about getting old, while others focus on how their lives are becoming increasingly richer. Expansiveness gives way to a sense of mastery. Aging and menopause can bring on a new self-awareness. What I will become? What is my next step? Am I flexible or fixed in my attitudes and expectations? Do I feel resignation towards life? What has given us meaning, in this life and what we bring from previous lives, our gifts and positive attributes, expand inwardly, filling, and urging us to generously share with the world. It is a time to set new goals.
The ninth seven year phase gives us the opportunity to consider how we are to spend our time meaningfully, without the responsibilities of raising a family. Do we focus on the bitterness, regrets, and frustrations from the past, torturing ourselves and others, or do we start to glow with a new-found joy and enthusiasm for life?
By 70, most people have reached the end of their careers, or working life. A feeling of freedom awakes, and the Uranian feeling that we can go beyond conventions, and obligations, even politeness. Many let loose of guilt they have carried for decades, and will dare to do things they denied themselves all their lives. In our early 70s, we can truly begin to bless others, as the fruit of our experiences, and to the degree we have felt Neptunian reverence and compassion in our lives. Others, as a karmic result, will experience the Neptunian loss of memory, or even identity.
It is possible in our twelfth 7 year phase, all that is inessential, dies away, in a Plutonian fire, and all that we have transformed and spiritualized in ourselves becomes like a bright lamp of love, hope, and charity for everyone that we encounter. Otherwise, we have increasingly experienced being trapped, overwhelmed, and lost to the breaking down of our bodily state.
October 29, 2019
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