Cultic Studies Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, 2003, Page 130
The plant world receives its forms from the starry heavens, and the animal
world its form from the zodiac. Human beings receive their form from the
whole sphere of the heavens, not from the single constellations, just as we
also bear in our head an image of the entire stellar universe. Again we find
the human being as the synthesis, the perfect embodiment of the entire
cosmos. (Vreede, 2001, p. 287)
In other words, a tulip is created by a certain group of spiritual beings‘ forces, while the lily
is created by another group of beings, whereas, animals get their form from the gods of the
Zodiac. All beings in the cosmos make up man. Man is the world and the world is man.
Macro-microcosmic thinkers perceive the world from inside and outside of their bodies,
rather than objectively from within their skulls. Their world is animistic, teeming with
spiritual beings whose powers create and regulate the physical world. In March 1910,
Steiner gave a series of sermons on the topic of Macrocosm and Microcosm, addressing his
audience: ―I have tried to make it clear that in the microcosm, in the nervous system, in the
brain, men are mirror-images of the activities and beings of the macrocosm‖ (Steiner, 1968,
p. 147).
Steiner taught that the physical human being is comprised of an etheric body, astral body,
and an ―I‖ body. This belief gives Anthroposophic believers the ability to leave their physical
bodies during their day-to-day earthly existence in order to commune with spiritual beings
in the cosmos. In Waldorf education, Steiner‘s ―True Nature of Man‖ —more commonly
known by the uninformed as his ―child development model‖ —is based on his concept of
man as physical, etheric, astral, and ―I‖. It is extremely helpful to be familiar with Steiner‘s
conclusions about these soul and spirit bodies of man in order to understand his pedagogy.
For example, the emphasis on delaying first grade and reading until the etheric body enters
(signaled by growth of secondary teeth), and delaying intellectual thinking until after the
age of fourteen when the astral body supposedly incarnates. According to Steiner, these
spiritual bodies incarnate in seven-year increments, after birth, as the physical body grows.
They are believed to leave the physical body after death and reincarnate after a period of
cosmic existence spent with spiritual beings in the universe. The physical body is the
hereditary body of flesh and bones. Beings in the cosmos cause the physical body to grow
as well as hold it together. Beings that live in the chest move the blood as the heart is not a
pump. Plants, minerals, man and animals have physical bodies.
The etheric body incarnates around the age of seven. ―It is visible to the seer and has
approximately the same form as the physical body. It is a body of forces‖ (Steiner, 1981b,
p.22). ―A whole people‖ (ethnic and ―racial‖ groups) share the rudiments of a common
etheric body (Steiner, 1981b, p. 47). The etheric body in the male is female, and visa versa.
It appears as ―a form of light extending everywhere, but only slightly, beyond the form of
the physical body‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p. 23). The loosening of baby teeth and growth of
secondary teeth is a sign that the etheric body is incarnating. The etheric body never leaves
the physical body until death, ―except during certain states of Initiation‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p.
33). It loosens if a person gets a fright or sneezes. If a body part falls asleep and tingles it
is because the etheric body temporarily has left that part of the physical body. ―If a hand,
for instance, has gone to sleep, the seer can perceive the etheric part of the hand
protruding like a glove parts of the etheric brain also protrude when a man is in a state of
hypnosis‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p. 34). Man, plants and animals have etheric bodies.
Humans and animals have astral bodies that bear feelings such as sorrow or joy. The astral
body whirls about in space seeking the appropriate parents for the reincarnation process. To
a ―seer,‖ it resembles a bell-shape opening downwards (Steiner, 1981b, p. 46). ―A whole
people‖ share a common astral body that ―lives within a kind of astral cloud and is the body
of the Folk-Spirit‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p. 47). It is released into the physical body between
fourteen to twenty-one years of age. Steiner taught that all human astral bodies leave the
The plant world receives its forms from the starry heavens, and the animal
world its form from the zodiac. Human beings receive their form from the
whole sphere of the heavens, not from the single constellations, just as we
also bear in our head an image of the entire stellar universe. Again we find
the human being as the synthesis, the perfect embodiment of the entire
cosmos. (Vreede, 2001, p. 287)
In other words, a tulip is created by a certain group of spiritual beings‘ forces, while the lily
is created by another group of beings, whereas, animals get their form from the gods of the
Zodiac. All beings in the cosmos make up man. Man is the world and the world is man.
Macro-microcosmic thinkers perceive the world from inside and outside of their bodies,
rather than objectively from within their skulls. Their world is animistic, teeming with
spiritual beings whose powers create and regulate the physical world. In March 1910,
Steiner gave a series of sermons on the topic of Macrocosm and Microcosm, addressing his
audience: ―I have tried to make it clear that in the microcosm, in the nervous system, in the
brain, men are mirror-images of the activities and beings of the macrocosm‖ (Steiner, 1968,
p. 147).
Steiner taught that the physical human being is comprised of an etheric body, astral body,
and an ―I‖ body. This belief gives Anthroposophic believers the ability to leave their physical
bodies during their day-to-day earthly existence in order to commune with spiritual beings
in the cosmos. In Waldorf education, Steiner‘s ―True Nature of Man‖ —more commonly
known by the uninformed as his ―child development model‖ —is based on his concept of
man as physical, etheric, astral, and ―I‖. It is extremely helpful to be familiar with Steiner‘s
conclusions about these soul and spirit bodies of man in order to understand his pedagogy.
For example, the emphasis on delaying first grade and reading until the etheric body enters
(signaled by growth of secondary teeth), and delaying intellectual thinking until after the
age of fourteen when the astral body supposedly incarnates. According to Steiner, these
spiritual bodies incarnate in seven-year increments, after birth, as the physical body grows.
They are believed to leave the physical body after death and reincarnate after a period of
cosmic existence spent with spiritual beings in the universe. The physical body is the
hereditary body of flesh and bones. Beings in the cosmos cause the physical body to grow
as well as hold it together. Beings that live in the chest move the blood as the heart is not a
pump. Plants, minerals, man and animals have physical bodies.
The etheric body incarnates around the age of seven. ―It is visible to the seer and has
approximately the same form as the physical body. It is a body of forces‖ (Steiner, 1981b,
p.22). ―A whole people‖ (ethnic and ―racial‖ groups) share the rudiments of a common
etheric body (Steiner, 1981b, p. 47). The etheric body in the male is female, and visa versa.
It appears as ―a form of light extending everywhere, but only slightly, beyond the form of
the physical body‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p. 23). The loosening of baby teeth and growth of
secondary teeth is a sign that the etheric body is incarnating. The etheric body never leaves
the physical body until death, ―except during certain states of Initiation‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p.
33). It loosens if a person gets a fright or sneezes. If a body part falls asleep and tingles it
is because the etheric body temporarily has left that part of the physical body. ―If a hand,
for instance, has gone to sleep, the seer can perceive the etheric part of the hand
protruding like a glove parts of the etheric brain also protrude when a man is in a state of
hypnosis‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p. 34). Man, plants and animals have etheric bodies.
Humans and animals have astral bodies that bear feelings such as sorrow or joy. The astral
body whirls about in space seeking the appropriate parents for the reincarnation process. To
a ―seer,‖ it resembles a bell-shape opening downwards (Steiner, 1981b, p. 46). ―A whole
people‖ share a common astral body that ―lives within a kind of astral cloud and is the body
of the Folk-Spirit‖ (Steiner, 1981b, p. 47). It is released into the physical body between
fourteen to twenty-one years of age. Steiner taught that all human astral bodies leave the
