The nature of man : approached through the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner

expression which we must call a soul element. This in itself is not in space at all, yet it can find physiognomical expression in these formative gestures of embryogenesis. We all know how emotions such as fear and shame bring about changes in the physical body such as blanching and blushing, and how emotions and feelings of pain and pleasure find utterance in sounds issuing forth from the inner depths of animate beings. The living body can then be spoken of as becoming ensouled. A soul quality incarnates into and forms the organism as its outer expression. This quality becomes visible in the physiognomical form and observable also in its behaviour and in those sounds and tones which are its so direct utterance. For this soul element, creative of animal form and behaviour and the bearer of desires and pleasure and pain, Steiner used the term Astral Body or Soul Body. The powers of cognition needed to apprehend this element of existence must be strengthened again beyond the powers of Imagination needed for perceiving the etheric body. To such strengthened power Steiner gave the name Inspiration. Just as we can regard Imagination as a higher metamorphosis of vision, so Inspiration can be approached as a higher metamorphosis of hearing.

The mammals of the animal kingdom can now be seen as the incarnation of different soul qualities or emotions, the courage of the lion, the ferocity of the tiger, the cunning of the fox, the fearfulness of the rabbit, the bestowing benevolence of the cow. The whole world of the emotions finds its physiognomic and behavioural manifestation in the realm of the mammals. They are emotions incarnate. And the birds for their part are thoughts. The eagle soars on the majestic wings of philosophic vision. The sparrows are crowds of chattering cockneys. The lark rises and falls on lyrical outpourings, and we find the whole world of our thoughts expressed in the flight and other behaviour of birds and especially in their feathers, their plumage.

How then do they stand in relation to Man? It belongs to the commonly accepted dogmas of our time that Man is, at least in respect of his bodily organisation, just another animal, the highest and most developed mammal, the summit of the Primates. If there are certain capacities especially developed in Man these can be regarded as evolving out of the more instinctive behaviour

vy