인간의 4구성체(영문) - Henk van Oort

Physical body – in a general sense referring to the earthly modification of spiritual concepts. These spiritual concepts become manifest in a condensed shape and form according to prevailing earthly circumstances and, in the case of humans, according to karma as well. All four realms of nature – minerals, plants, animals and human beings – become visible to the physical senses in a physical body. Minerals consist of a physical body only. Plants have a physical body and an ether body. Animals have a physical body, an ether body and an astral body. Human beings have a physical body, an ether body, an astral body and a spiritual entity, usually called the I.

 

Rudolf Steiner: Study of Man, GA 293; Harmony of the Creative Word, GA 230; Henk van Oort: Anthroposophy, a Concise Introduction.

 

 

Ether body – one of the four members or bodies of the human being, also called life body because it keeps plant, animal and human being alive. At death, the ether body is separated from the physical body. Due to this separation, the physical body falls into decay, since it cannot maintain its form by itself. Then the human ether body slowly dissolves into the general ether of the earth. Ethereal forces can do their work best where fluids are available. This applies not only to the human body but to nature as a whole. Plants need water because only then can the ether forces keep the plant alive. A small wound in the mouth heals rapidly due to the abundance of saliva through which the ether forces can do their work. And on the beach, where we are surrounded by plenty of water, we can take in more life-giving ether forces than in the streets of a big town.

 

Ether forces also play a role in food. In the metabolic system, the ether forces present in vegetables, fruit, bread, etc., by means of which they have grown, pass on into the human ether body and eventually reach all four human members, thus sustaining human life. Memory is another function of the ether body, since all habits and experiences are impressed into it. This function of the ether body therefore plays an important role in all learning processes.

 

See: Change of teeth, Waldorf education. Henk van Oort: Anthroposophy, A Concise Introduction.

 

 

Astral body — one of the four members or ‘bodies’ of the human being. Animals also have an astral body. Awareness and self-awareness including all feelings and intentions are located in the astral body.

The astral body also enables us to move. This aspect of the astral body can be compared with the strings of a puppet. The puppeteer can be compared with the ‘I’ that governs all movements. The astral body is born from closer involvement in the physical and etheric bodies to a state of relative independence at about the age of 14, at sexual maturity.

 

The astral body is related to the element of air. While breathing in, the astral body is drawn into the physical body. While breathing out, the link between the astral and the physical bodies is loosened again.

 

The astral body also expresses itself in colours, which may be regarded as a manifestation of the astral world in the physical world. The plant, not having an astral body, just touches into the astral world, so to speak, in the colourful flower. And the mood present in our astral body early in the morning, when we dress, may often determine what colours we wear that day.

 

The feelings and intentions in our astral body can be so strong that the ‘I’ cannot master them anymore. This dangerous situation may be compared to a zoo with cages but no bars. The astral body takes over and can be harmful and destructive in such a situation. When we sleep the ‘I’ and the astral body leave the ether body and the physical body, which stay in bed. The ‘I’ and the astral body remain in the spiritual world during sleep and re-enter the ether body and the physical body when waking up. After death the ether body, the astral body and the ‘I’ leave the physical body, which starts to disintegrate. After death the astral body stays with the ‘I’ for a period of about one third of the life that has just come to an end. This period is called kamaloka. After this the astral body dissolves in the general astral world of the cosmos.

 

Rudolf Steiner: Theosophy, GA 9; The Education of the Child, GA 34.

 

 

I – the immortal and inalienable core of a human being. Through reincarnation, the 'I' travels from one life on earth to another and can also be identified as an entelechy', a word from which 'intelligence' is derived. (Entelechy comes from the Greek and means: containing its aim within itself. For instance, an acorn is also an entelechy because only an oak will grow out of it.) The word 'individual', meaning 'indivisible', is another definition of the 'I'.

 

Anthroposophy makes an important and clear distinction between the higher 'l' and the lower 'I'. The higher 'l' remains in the spiritual world during an incarnation on earth. It is the author and coordinator of our biography and can be compared with the conductor of an immense orchestra. What we feel as our 'I' during our life on earth is the mirror image, or 'ego', of this higher 'I'. The ego is an accumulation of past experiences in life on earth. This link with planet earth also appears from the word 'ego‘. It is a combination of two Greek roots: 'e' (out of) and 'go’(earth). The more someone identifies with his ego or lower 'I', the more difficult it becomes to gain awareness of the purely spiritual entity of this higher 'l'. As soon as this dual nature of the ’l‘ is discovered, inspiration can be drawn from the higher 'I', realizing that humankind is of spiritual origin and that life on earth is one part of our existence in recurring incarnations, along with intervening sojourns in the world of spirit. In anthroposophy, the higher 'l' is seen to be related to Christ.

 

Rudolf Steiner: A Psychology of Body, Soul and Spirit, GA 115.