ill find that the
Guardian of the Threshold will assume quite a different aspect, for it
will now reveal itself as a picture of all the _obstacles_ which oppose
the development of the higher ego, and he then becomes aware of what a
load he drags about with him in his ordinary ego. And should the student's
preparation not have rendered him strong enough to be able to say: "I will
not remain at this point, but will persistently work my way upward toward
the higher ego," he will grow weak and will shrink back dismayed before
the labor that lies before him. He has plunged into the psycho-spiritual
world, but gives up working his way farther, and becomes a captive to that
image which, as Guardian of the Threshold, now confronts the soul. And the
remarkable thing here is that the person so situated will have no feeling
of being a captive. He will, on the contrary, think he is going through
quite a different experience, for the image called forth by the Guardian
of the Threshold may be such as to awaken in the soul of the observer the
impression that in the pictures which appear at this stage of development
he has before him the whole universe in its entirety--the impression of
having attained to the summit of all knowledge, and of there being,
therefore, nothing left to strive after. Therefore, instead of feeling
himself a captive, the student would believe himself rich beyond all
measure, and in possession of all the secrets of the universe. Nor need
this experience fill one with surprise, though it be the reverse of the
facts, for we must remember that by the time these experiences are felt,
we are already standing within the psycho-spiritual world, and that the
special peculiarity of this world is that it reverses events--a fact which
has already been alluded to in our consideration of life after death.

The image seen by the occult student at this stage of development shows
him a different aspect from that in which the Guardian of the Threshold
first revealed itself. In the double first mentioned, were to be seen all
those qualities which, as the result of the influence of Lucifer, are
possessed by man's ordinary ego. But in the course of human development,
another power has, in consequence of Lucifer's influence, also been drawn
into the human soul; this is known as the force of Ahriman. It is this
force that, during his physical existence, prevents man from becoming
aware of those psycho-spiritual beings which lie behind