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the fifth post-Atlantean epoch must learn to recognize is the fully conscious struggle against the evil rising up in the evolution of humanity.' Rudolf Steiner 18 November 1917
In our present age, we are to experience the negative counterforces in order to move through to greater development.
Steiner stated that the
'forces of evil' exist in the world so that humanity might, at the
appropriate time, break through into a 'life of the spirit.' 1
By having some understanding of the intention of opposing forces, a person is better prepared for continuing their own journey.
That is, we each can learn from our encounters with negating forces; we can take these encounters as an opportunity to connect more strongly with our own force of will.
In the words of philosopher Sergei O. Prokofieff:
In advocating the coming together of spiritually minded people, it is not our responsibility to be concerned with those who Steiner called the 'soulless' ones.
Rather than being pulled into the influence of such people (with their lower vibrational energies), it is more beneficial for a person to transform their immediate environment into a more harmonious energy.
This is akin to an
alchemical procedure...
Later, when this catharsis or 'cleansing' has been achieved, we may collectively move into a stage of transmutation where the negative is transmuted into constructive forces.
The spirit of our times, therefore, is one of,
And until counterforces are transmuted, there is no real or lasting transformation.
This 'transmutation of the negative/shadow' is the leitmotif of our epoch, and it cannot be done without passing through 'the valley of the shadow of death;' 3 experiencing and, above all, understanding both the forces of negation and those of development.
As author Terry Broadman writes:
By casting light upon those forces that oppose human freedom, we may also see that, somewhat paradoxically, it is these same forces that make freedom possible.
And yet, we need to gain
this realization so we can know what we are up against.
Such arid forces seek to constrain and contain human thinking by limiting it to the physical domain.
That is, by negation and denial of the metaphysical background to life:
It can be said that such counter-evolutionary forces wish to ensure that humanity remains at the level of the 'lower ego,' that is,
We have already seen how modern life is rife with the self-centered materialist concerned only for their physical pleasures and gains.
Cacophonous music, jarring rhythms, and discordant lyrics appeal to the basest impulses within the tranced modern listener.
It is little wonder then that there is resistance to those people who wish to develop their inner senses and modes of perception. The everyday environment is not conducive to the development of spirit-consciousness.
And yet,
Entropic forces can be regarded as forces of hindrance.
For various reasons, they have not fulfilled their developmental potentials:
And as wayside creatures, they hinder and disrupt all other wanderers and walkers upon the path. It can be said that they belong to our realm but are no longer upon our developmental path.
Such counterforces are not creative, that is,
Such forces operate by
distorting, and demonizing, other processes and/or vessels in order
to function.
These may be collective, and/or concealed forces, aiming to divert humanity's path of growth.
The materialistic route is a caricature of what now needs to be the human being's present state. Total materialization, including the digital-virtual domains (such as the Metaverse) represent a paralysis of growth in spirit-consciousness.
A total materialization
of human consciousness is taking place across the world and is
especially dominant within the technologically advanced nations.
The outer life, on its own, exists as a tarnished kingdom.
The only thing to do is
to extract oneself from this polluting sphere and to re-wire one's
alignments, attachments, and allegiances. In previous epochs, the
human being's inner authority was undermined by subjugating it to
exterior bodies of authority - such as
institutionalized religions.
Secular institutions came to regulate social norms, thinking patterns, and modes of accepted behavior.
In present times, as conscious awareness and perceptive understanding expands rapidly, the exterior bodies of authority are attempting to gain leverage by gaining interior access to our bodies and minds - what I have referred to as the new forms of biopower.
These interventions into the physical integrity of the human being have serious consequences for the natural expression of spirit-consciousness.
This intervention can be taken to the extreme through advancements in the biological-genetic sciences.
The process of human cloning is a further step in this domain. If a physical body is cloned, then it is basically manufactured:
In a metaphysical sense, it can be said that the physical body is not capable of receiving spirit-consciousness for it is not vibrationally aligned.
From this, it may be inferred that other entities or forces could inhabit such a physical vessel.
In this, there is a shift toward splintering the human being from its metaphysical origins and from the domain of spirit.
If anything, this is the definition of evil:
The counter-developmental forces are acting against,
These three aspects can be related to imagination, inspiration, and intuition. And these three aspects have been targets for manipulation for quite some time.
In our current age,
How much more difficult
it is for spirit-consciousness to come into a life experience, only
to find that everything is subordinated to a material perspective -
a world that is almost oblivious to the reality of the spirit.
As Christ famously stated: 'My Kingdom is not of this world.' Although not of this world, it must work in this world. Our point of interaction - participation and action - are within this world, yet our foundation does not originate from within this world.
And this combination,
this merger, is what creates a strength to be in this world and not
to be worn down by it.
A fully exteriorized person is too much attached with events and influences of the material world, and this can become a hindrance.
There needs to be enough capacity within each person to exercise internal creative imaginations so that received inspirations have a vessel, a protected space, in which to gestate before outward expression.
A 'new world' can come into being, yet it must come through the human being and not to be forced upon it. This is why it is said that a new world is birthed rather than built.
The outer actions may be
that of building, yet the initial impulses are birthed from within.
It is in this way that metaphysical influences can enter into the
domain of the physical - through receptive individuals.
In this, it can be said that the transformative process is one of the unconscious becoming conscious...
References
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