.

There were beings who, although they had left the earth at the separation
of the sun, did not stand on such a high level that they were able to
continue taking part in the Sun evolution. They formed an abode for
themselves away from the sun, after its separation from the earth: this
was Venus. Their leader was the being who now became a "higher ego" to
these Initiates and their adherents. A similar thing happened with the
leading spirit of Mercury for another group of people. In this way the
Venus and Mercury oracles arose. One kind of human beings, who had most
completely absorbed the Luciferian influence, could reach only one of the
higher beings who, with his associates, had been the first to be expelled
from the Sun evolution. This being has no particular planet in cosmic
space, but still lives within the periphery of the earth, with which he
was once more united after the return from the sun. The group of people,
to whom this being was revealed as its "higher ego" may be called the
followers of the Vulcan oracle. Their attention was more directed to
earthly phenomena than that of the other Initiates. They laid the first
foundations of what afterwards became the human arts and sciences. On the
other hand, the Mercury Initiates established the study of the more
super-sensible things; and the Venus Initiates did this to a still greater
extent.

The Vulcan, Mercury, and Venus Initiates differed from those of Saturn,
Jupiter, and Mars in the manner of receiving their Mysteries; the latter
received them more as a revelation from above, and in a more finished
state; whereas the former gained their knowledge more in the form of their
own thoughts--in the form of ideas. The Christ Initiates occupied a middle
position. While having a direct revelation, they acquired the capacity for
clothing their Mysteries in a human form of conception. The Saturn,
Jupiter, and Mars Initiates were obliged to express themselves more in
symbols; the Christ, Venus, Mercury, and Vulcan Initiates were able to
impart their knowledge more through ideas or concepts.

Whatever knowledge of this kind reached Atlantean humanity came indirectly
through the Initiates. But the rest of mankind also received special
faculties through the Lucifer principle; for, through the intervention of
lofty cosmic beings, what otherwise might have wrought ruin was
transformed into good. One of these faculties was that of speech. This was
brought about by the conde