e beings
and forces gradually descend again into lower worlds. Before the physical
Earth evolution begins they have so far descended that their lowest
manifestations are to be seen in the astral or psychic world.

Everything human existing at that period is still in its astral form. In
order to understand this condition of humanity, attention should be paid
especially to the fact that though man has within him the physical,
etheric and astral bodies, yet the physical and etheric bodies are not
present in their own forms but in astral form. It is not physical form
that makes the physical body physical, but the fact that it embodies
physical laws, although possessing an astral form. It is a being in a
psychic form with a physical law of existence. The etheric body is in a
similar position.

To spiritual vision the Earth at this stage of evolution appears at first
as a heavenly body all soul and spirit, in which, therefore, even physical
and life forces appear in a psychic form. In this world-organism
everything which will subsequently be moulded into the creatures of the
physical earth is contained in a germinal state. The globe is luminous;
but its light is not yet such as could be seen by physical eyes, supposing
even that they had then existed. The globe shines only in psychic light to
the opened vision of the seer.

A process now takes place on this globe which may be designated
"condensation." The result of this is that after a time a fiery form
appears in the midst of the psychic globe; this condition was similar to
that of Saturn in its densest state. This fiery form is interpenetrated by
the action of the various beings who are taking part in the evolution. The
reciprocal action which is to be observed between those beings and the
planetary body is like a rising out of and a diving into the earth's fiery
globe. Hence the earth's globe is by no means a homogeneous substance, but
has somewhat the character of an ensouled and spiritualized organism. The
beings destined to become human on the earth in man's present form are as
yet in a condition which renders them the least capable of sharing in the
activity of plunging into the fiery globe. They remain almost entirely in
the uncondensed environment. They are still living in the bosom of the
higher spiritual beings. At this stage they come in contact with the fiery
earth at only one point of their psychic form, and this causes one part of
their astral form to be den