Earth's inner layers

The Earth as we know it consists of nine different layers or strata, of which the mineral physical Earth is only the outermost skin or crust.

These various layers are connected by means of rays which unite the center of the Earth with its surface.

The interior structure of the Earth is related to the evolution of the Earth in its various stages, and the 'moulding' of its bodily structure by the Earth's 'I' or Planetary spirit.

Aspects

inner layer one: Mineral Earth

• inner layer oner is called 'Form Earth' and is the Earth's mineral crust or skin
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • contains all minerals, metals found in physical bodies of everything living at the surface
  • extremely thin delicate layer, crust of only few kilometers thick, formed like a skin or eggshell around the living being of the Earth

inner layer two: Fluidic Earth

• inner layer four is called 'Fluidic Earth' and corresponds to negative life, destruction of life - sphere of death; it is soft, also called half-liquid or water Earth
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • soft Earth, no hardening yet like crust - consists of a substance to which there is nothing comparable on Earth
  • envisage a substance which is the very opposite of what we know: negative life, the opposite of life: if it is brought into contact with something living, it strives to expel and destroy this life. all life is extinguished and totally dissolved there
  • endowed with inner life, has kind of sentience and symptoms of sentient responses like dim consciousness of plant when touched
  • only because the solid mineral stratum is spread over it are the inner forces of this second stratum held together. If they were released they would instantaneously disperse into cosmic space. This stratum therefore lies under tremendous pressure.

inner layer three: Vapor Earth

• inner layer four is called 'Vapor Earth' and is the circle of inverted consciousness, transformation of feelings; also called steam or air Earth
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • the substance itself is imbued with inner forces, comparable with the passions, inner urges and impulses of Man. Whereas on the Earth only animals and men can unfold passions, this stratum (just as substances on earth are permeated by forces of magnetism and warmth) is permeated with forces similar to those we know as human and animal passions and impulses.
  • all sorrow appears there as joy, all joy is experienced as sorrow - pain is converted into pleasure, and vice versa.
  • Its substance, composed of vapors, is related to our feelings in the same negative manner as the second layer is in regard to life (extinguishes the original form of a feeling)
  • comes to form of will-like expression capable of enormous expansion

inner layer four: Form Earth or Soul Earth

• inner layer four is called 'Form Earth' and is the circle of forms, water or form-stratum, also called 'soul Earth'
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • produces in the material realm the effects that occur spiritually in the spirit world. There, we have the negative pictures of physical things: it has negative of every form in mineral layer (like plaster cast)
  • In the “Form-Earth” a cube of salt, for example, would be destroyed, but its negative would arise. The form is as it were changed into its opposite; all its qualities pass out into its surroundings. The actual space occupied by the object is left empty, while its substance, its substantial form, would now be spread around it; hence the term ‘earth of form.’ Here this whirlwind of forms, instead of being a negative emptiness, becomes a positive substance. (or also: contains the material and forces of what are encountered in the mineral part of the earth as entities cast into form)

inner layer five: Fertility Earth or Fruit Earth

• inner layer five is called 'Fertility Earth' and is the circle of growth and archetypal source of all terrestrial life, also called 'fruit Earth'
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • its substance consists of burgeoning, teeming energies: it is full of exuberant energy; every little part of it grows out at once like sponge; it gets larger and larger and is held in place only by the upper layers. It is the underlying life which serves the forms of the layers above it
  • rampant fertility is the intrinsic quality of this layer: if you were to get hold of part of this stratum it would perpetually be sending forth new impulses, new sproutings
  • has capacities of a soul struggling to gain shape and form - if it would get out in the atmosphere, we would see form upon form arising and disappearing

inner layer six: Fire Earth

• inner layer six is called 'Fire Earth' and is the circle of fire and elemental vital will forces
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • Its substance is essentially feeling and pure will, of elemental vital forces - of constant movement - shot through by impulses and passions, truly a reservoir of will forces consisting, as it were, entirely of passions
  • contains as 'substance', forces that can bring about terrible havoc and destruction. It is into these forces that the primordial Fire has been banished.
  • if one were to exert pressure on this substance it would resist: this layer is able to feel pleasure and plain - it would cry out if it were trodden on. Human passions have tremendous effect on it: it gets more restless as human passions grow -> state of upheaval at times when people develop great passions, exerting great pressure on fruit layer above and channels branch out from this layer to all the above layers -> earthquakes & volcanoes (re destruction of Lemuria)

inner layer seven: Earth mirror

• inner layer seven is called 'Earth mirror', it is the circle of decomposition, prism - mirror of the Earth or Earth reflector
  • contains the form forces of a physical body after death, afterwards it is fragmented in layer eight the shatterer'.
  • this layer has great significance for the physical human body. The physical matter of the human body as we know it in the usual sense perishes when we die. It dissolves in the uppermost layers of the Earth, but the sum total of energies maintaining the form of the physical body does not. After death "the physical corpse perishes, but the spiritual form of the human physical body can be found as something that remains in the seventh layer, the Earth mirror ... It is actually a kind of reservoir for the forms that remain: the matter perishes but the form is preserved. Such a preserved human form remains in this seventh layer for a time, after that it is indeed split apart in the eighth layer." (1906-04-16-GA096)
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • reflects everything on outermost layer: everything passive here is active there and vice versa
  • its substance, if one concentrates on it, changes all the characteristics of the Earth into their opposites.  A polaric reflection arises, a reversal of the original: every colour appears as its complementary opposite, sorrow would be changed by this substance into joy.
  • similar to a prism which decomposes everything that is reflected in it and brings to expression its complementary aspect

inner layer eight: the fragmenter

• inner layer eight is called 'the fragmenter' or 'number generator'
  • as a result of this 'multiplication' .. "This form body of a human being will appear to you to be divided many times over. It will appear again later when other human beings are configured." ... "(1906-04-16-GA096)
  • Hence Man also is build up based on archetypes of human form bodies: "the human being .. has not only his Individuality, his innermost; he also carries other human beings according to form in himself, in his center in the body". This then again influences indirectly the people who have absorbed an archetype with certain fragmented form elements. This explains the link between the physical body as a carrier of certain karma: "in a certain respect also the exterior, the constitution of our bodies, is karmically dependent on such preceding events".
  • See also: Model for hereditary physical body and Fall and redemption - original sin and grace.
• extensive coverage in the following Discussion Note: Holy Supper symbolism - apostles#Note 2 - The Apostles and the Christ - Schema FMC00.430. This coverage includes the examples below:
  • the Roman writer Pliny the Elder who died when Mount Vesuvius erupted in Pompeii in 79 AD: the fragmented bodily form of Pliny influenced the thinking of materialistic scientists who took this fragmented form into themselves through the configuration of many brains in later times (1906-04-16-GA096)
  • the Greek philosopher Empedocles is said to have thrown himself into the volcano Mount Etna in Sicily (see ao 1912-09-15-GA139 on Greco-Latin cultural age#1912-09-15-GA139)
  • Schema FMC00.430 in context of Individuality of the Apostle Paul (as well as the Apostles)
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • everything appears fragmented and reproduced to infinity; eg take a plant or crystal and concentrate on this layer, the plant or the crystal would appear multiplied indefinitely. It multiplies natural life forms and things created with artistic feeling (eg flower, not a stone)
  • this layer disrupts the moral qualities, it is the seat of all that lacks harmony, morals, peace - opposite of love. Its power radiates to the Earth's surface: it is responsible for the fact that strife and disharmony exist. In order to overcome this disruptive force, men must work together in harmony. Moral attitude of human beings has enormous influence on this level
  • substance of this layer is responsible for evil having come into the world: substance of everything evil is prepared and organized there.
  • quarrelsome people are so constituted that this layer has a particular influence on them. Dante in his Divine Comedy calls this layer the Cain-layer. It was here that the strife between the brothers Cain and Abel had its source.

inner layer nine: Earth core

• inner layer nine is called the 'Earth core', it is the sphere of hate/discord/separation, egocentric, hell, black magic founded on egoism
• from Schema FMC00.004
  • dwelling place of the Planetary Spirit, subject to changes which are closely connected to the development of men
  • two peculiar characteristics: it has an organ which is similar to a brain, another organ is like a heart
  • composed of a substance endowed with moral action, the opposite of the one that is to be elaborated on the Earth.
    • Its essence and inherent force is one of separation, discord, and hate. It is here in the hell of Dante that we find Cain the fratricide.
    • power of spiritual evil comes from this source: the substantial origin of what appears on earth as black magic (magic founded on egoism)
    • consists of substance opposite of everything which among human beings is good and worthy. The activity of humanity in order to establish brotherhood on the Earth diminishes the power of this sphere. It is the power of Love which will transform it inasmuch as it will spiritualize the very body of the Earth.

various

• golden inner kernel in the center of the Earth
  • "The kernel of the Earth consists of golden fire, around which the dark girdle of the smoke of the mineral realm is cast. ... The interior of the Earth made out of that gold which comes from the hollow cavity in the sun and which is destined to return there? ... "this golden kernel was named by Ptolemy the primeval sun." (statements by Johanna von Keyselinck, confirmed by Rudolf Steiner; see The two etheric streams#Note 3 - Gold as a symbol)

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.004A: gives a simple reference overview table of the nine layers or strata of the Earth.

Schema FMC00.004: provides a synthetic study table, summarizing how Rudolf Steiner described the nine inner layers or strata of the Earth, and linking this to the explanatory evolutionary framework by Iwer Thor Lorenzen.

Lorenzen (1969, 1976) explains how the different strata arise as a polarity of contrary forces is working (outwards, inwards) in the solar system macrocosmos, and how the freeing of the different layers in the spirit and astral world corresponds to the formation of these strata alongside the development of the outer etheric spheres of the planets of our solar system (and the physical planets as a result of the opposing spiritual hierarchy). This is linked to the evolutionary pathway of the Earth and its bodily principles, and the 'incarnation' or development of the Earth's 'I' in stages that correspond to the development of humanity's 'I'.

It is recommended to read Lorenzen's two book references listed below to gain an understanding of what is shown in this table.

Also consider Schema FMC00.006 as related to the lectures on the Earth's evolution (eg Book of Genesis).

Lecture coverage and references

Coverage

Rudolf Steiner only covered the interior of the earth in some 3 to 4 lectures in 1906. After that the next contribution came by Adolph Arenson.

Iwer Thor Lorenzen integrated all available info in a cohesive explanatory framework in his book of 1969 (as well in his last book of 1976) - see references below, and Schema FMC00.004 above.

Excerpts

1906-04-16-GA096

see also Human physical body#1906-04-16-GA096, and in context Pliny the Younger: KRI - Karmic Relationships Individualities#1906-04-16-GA096

An occultist should not be afraid of saying things even if they sound incredible and I would therefore in conclusion wish to tell you something incredible which nevertheless is based on sound research. Something remarkable happened during the well-known eruption of Vesuvius that caused Herculaneum and Pompeii to be buried. As you know, the famous Roman writer Pliny the Elder died on that occasion. It is extraordinarily significant to do an occult study of his destiny. Today I do not want to consider his personal destiny but something else.

[inner layers of the Earth - see Earth's inner layers]

You all know what is meant by the ‘akashic record’. You know that with the help of this record it is possible to go back to certain points in time, for instance the time of that eruption of Vesuvius. Something strange emerges here. I spoke of the peculiar nature of the eighth layer in this lecture, the fragmenter or number generator. This layer also has great significance for the physical human body. The physical matter of the human body as we know it in the usual sense perishes when we die. It dissolves in the uppermost layers of the Earth, but the sum total of energies maintaining the form of the physical body does not.

[note: this spiritual form of the human physical body is also called the 'phantom', see also Cleansed phantom]

You can find this in the seventh layer, the Earth mirror, as it is called. So if you pick the moment when someone has just died in the akashic record and follow the fate of the different bodies, you will see that the physical corpse perishes, but the physical form can be found as something that remains in the seventh layer, the Earth mirror. That is where the things are kept that can be studied in the akashic record. It is actually a kind of reservoir for the forms that remain. The matter perishes, but the form is preserved.

If you follow such a preserved human form you see that it remains in this seventh layer for a time. After that it is indeed split apart in the eighth layer, the number generator or fragmenter.

What happens is exactly the same as I told you earlier when speaking of a flower. This form body of a human being will appear to you to be divided many times over. It will appear again later when other human beings are configured. Note this well, therefore. Man, as he lives amongst us today, has not only his individual nature, his inmost nature; he also has other human beings in him where his form is concerned, in the middle of his body. And it is in fact possible to show the influence which the fragmented bodily form of Pliny has had on the thinking of materialistic scientists who took this fragmented form into themselves.

Such mysterious things are discovered when we penetrate the Earth's constitution. You will now be able to understand that in some respect the outer aspect, the configuration of our body, also depends karmically on such earlier events. An occasion like the death of Pliny has an effect on the configuration of many brains in later times, not on the souls but on the physical forms. These are especially subtle processes and they are truly important if one wishes to understand the connection between Man and Earth.

1914-01-12-AA - lecture by Adolph Arenson

Johanna Keyserlingk (p 84-85 in 'Birth of a new agriculture' - see Threefold Sun#Johanna von Keyserlingk)

I: And is the interior of the earth made out of that gold which comes from the hollow cavity in the sun and which is destined to return here?

Rudolf Steiner: Yes, the interior of the earth is of gold.

Also:

The kernel of the earth consists of golden fire, around which a dark girdle is cast, the smoke of the mineral realm.

1921-03-13-GA203

(SWCC)

.. in everything which surrounds us in the various spheres in which we live, the realm of the solid Earth, of flowing water, of air and warmth, (for a moment we will look away from the higher spheres) in all these are working Divine Spiritual Beings. These spheres do not only consist in what we call material world-forces and entities, but all these spheres are permeated by various Spiritual beings. I will therefore make a diagram to represent an important fact in our connection with the Cosmos.

[drawing]

Suppose I draw the sphere of the mineral worldas white; I must then characterise the sphere of the water as red, the sphere of the air as blue, and then finally the warmth-ether above as reddish.

Now this is the remarkable characteristic: all spiritual beings which the pre-Christian age and especially the pre-Christian Judaism imagined as standing under the guidance of Jehovah, and who were regarded by the Hebrew initiates as belonging to the realm of Jehovah, extended their dominions over the three first realms — warmth, air, water.

And so if I am to draw that sphere in the cosmos which was under the rulership of Jehovah, it is this sphere: the three upper layers.

It was really the case that the Jehovah rulership embraced the spheres of nature as we have them, with the exception of the physical-mineral sphere.

It must be quite clear to you that when in the ancient Jewish writings, reference is made to the divine, this always refers to the Jehovah sphere of warmth, air, and water. That was a deep initiation-truth of the pre-Christian age, and is even spiritually indicated in the story of creation. It is clearly expressed there, and one has merely to understand the meaning of the Bible words aright to see how this is brought to expression. Jehovah devoted Himself, so to speak, to the Earth, and formed man out of the dust of the Earth. He took that which was not his own sphere, for the forming of external man. The Bible expresses that fact quite clearly.

In the pre-Christian Jewish Initiation knowledge, it was known as an initiation-truth, that Jehovah did not form external man out of His own sphere of power, but turned to the Earth, and from out of the earthly dust which was foreign to Him, He formed that human vessel which could not come from His own kingdom. Then He breathed that which comes from Him, the animal soul, the breath. That it is which He gave forth from Himself, and it came from the three spheres over which He ruled. It is the case that the superficial Bible investigator really does not for the most part, understand what stands in the Bible at all. If one understands the Bible, one sees that it speaks with extraordinary exactitude, one only has to take those sentences quite exactly: “Jehovah formed man out of the dust of the Earth.” — That means out of the mineral sphere foreign to Him, and then He gave to that form from out of His own sphere, the breath of the soul. And so, that which lives in man as the Jehovah Outflow, is what is indicated when it is said that Jehovah breathed the living breath into man.

Related pages

• Earth
• Worldview spiritual science

References and further reading

• Iwer Thor Lorenzen:
  • 'Evolution durch Inkarnation und Metamorphose' (1969) - Part 3: Edenentwicklung und Erdinneres
  • The 'I'-principle in Man, Earth and Cosmos (1976) - Ch. 5: The Earth as a planetary being and the stages of incarnation of its 'I'
• The Interior of the Earth: An Esoteric Study of the Subterranean Spheres (Rudolf Steiner and Paul V. O'Leary editor) (2007)
• The Inner Life of the Earth: Exploring the Mysteries of Nature, Subnature, and Supranature (Paul V. O'Leary, Dennis Klocek, Robert Powell, Marko Pogacnik, Rachel C. Ross) (2008)
  • Notes by Stephen Clarke : 'Some Notes Toward a Resolution of the Dilemma- in reference to Paul V. O’Leary’s 'The Inner Life of the Earth'
• Judith Van Halle: 'Descent into the Depths of the Earth on the Anthroposophic Path of Schooling: On the Anthroposophic Path of Schooling' (2011)