ugh man had direct knowledge of the working forces of every living
being. He had at his disposal the vital and generative forces of the
animal and, more especially, of the vegetable kingdom. He was able, for
instance, to draw out of a plant the force which impels it to grow, and to
use that force, just as we now use the forces of inanimate nature; for
example, the power dormant in coal which is extricated and used for
propelling engines.(22)

The inner soul life of man was also transformed in many different ways by
the Lucifer influence. Many kinds of feelings and emotions due to it might
be instanced. Of these only one can be mentioned. Previous to this
influence, the human soul acted, in that which it had to shape and to do,
according to the purposes of higher spiritual beings. The plan of
everything that was to be carried out was determined from the beginning.
And in proportion to the degree to which human consciousness was evolved,
it was able to foresee how things must develop in the future in accordance
with that preconceived plan. That consciousness of the future was lost
when the veil of earthly perceptions was woven across the manifestations
of higher spiritual beings and in these the real forces of the Sun-spirits
were hidden. Henceforth the future became uncertain, and in consequence of
this the possibility of fear was implanted in the soul. Fear is a direct
result of error.

It is however evident that through the Luciferian influence, man became
independent of certain definite forces to which he had previously
submitted without the exercise of his will. Henceforth he was able to form
resolutions of his own. Freedom is the result of the Luciferian influence,
and fear and similar feelings are only the phenomena attendant on the
evolution of human freedom.

Spiritually seen, fear makes its appearance in this way. Within the
earth-forces, under whose influence man had come by means of the
Luciferian powers, other beings were operating, which had developed
irregularly much earlier in the course of evolution than the Luciferian
powers. With the earth-forces man admitted into his nature the influence
of these other beings. They gave the quality of fear to feelings, which
without them would have operated quite differently. They may be called
Ahrimanic beings. They are the same that Goethe calls Mephistophelian.

Although the Luciferian influence manifested itself at first only in the
most advanced individuals, it