onquered and transformed by the ego is called
the _Spirit-Self_. (This is the same as what is known as "_Manas_" in
theosophical literature, a term borrowed from the wisdom of the East.) In
the Spirit-Self a higher principle is added to human nature, one which is
present as though in the germ, and which in the course of the work of the
human being on itself comes forth more and more.

Man conquers his astral body by pushing through to the hidden forces lying
behind it; a similar thing happens, at a later stage of development, to
the etheric body: but the work on the latter is more arduous, for what is
hidden in the etheric body is enveloped in two veils, but what is hidden
in the astral body in only one.(4) Occult science gives an idea of the
difference in the work on the two bodies by pointing out certain changes
which may take place in man in the course of his development. Let us at
first think of the way in which certain soul-qualities of man develop when
the ego works upon the soul; how pleasures and desires, joys and sorrows,
may change. We have only to look back to our childhood. What gave us
pleasure then, what caused us pain? What have we learned in addition to
what we knew as children? All this is but an expression of the way in
which the ego has gained the mastery over the astral body, for it is this
principle which is the vehicle of pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow.
Compared with these things, how little in the course of time do certain
other human qualities change, for example, the temperament, the deeper
peculiarities of the character, and like qualities. A passionate child
will often retain certain tendencies to sudden anger during its
development in later life.

This is such a striking fact that there are thinkers who entirely deny the
possibility of changing the fundamental character. They assume that it is
something permanent throughout life, and that it is merely a question of
its being manifested in one way or another. But such an opinion is due to
defective observation. To one who is capable of seeing such things, it is
evident that even the character and temperament of a person may be
transformed under the influence of his ego. It is true that this change is
slow in comparison with the change in the qualities before mentioned. We
may compare the relation to each other of the rates of change in the two
bodies to the movements of the hour-hand and minute-hand of a clock. Now
the forces which bring ab