Spirits of rotation of time

The Spirits of Rotation of Time (in short SoRT) is the term used by Rudolf Steiner to denote the spiritual beings responsible for the illusion of time in our physical reality experience with mundane waking consciousness (see more on Cosmic fractal).

The Spirits of Rotation of Time group the collection of astral beings distributed over the whole Earth that regulate the rhythms of Earth, daily as well as yearly, and are responsible for the Earth's rotation around its axis.

The SoRT are at the level of the Spirits of Wisdom (SoW) (1908-03-24-GA102), more specifically luciferic SoW (1918-10-04-GA184).

Aspects

• laws of nature relate to the effects from the Spirits of the Rotation of Time (1912-04-04-GA136, see Cosmic fractal#1912-04-04-GA136)
• whereas regular Spirits of Wisdom (SoW) are working their influences in 'duration', backwards luciferic SoW create the time 'illusion'; see Lemniscatory time and space#1918-10-04-GA184 and Schema FMC00.472B
• as a result, 'downstream' hierarchies below these luciferic SoW (operating at the SoF level) can be characterized in their influences by a certain time-effect too, as described on Spiritual hierarchies and their eigenperiods
• the SoRT are an offspring of the First Hierarchy (1912-04-07-GA136)

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.069 positions the Spirits of Rotation of Time (SoRT) as underlying the natural rhythms and laws of nature.

For the offsprings, see also Schema FMC00.142

Schema FMC00.472B positions the backward luciferic Spirits of Wisdom (SoW) which operate at the level of the Spirits of Form and create the illusion of time in physical timespace. See more on see Lemniscatory time and space#1918-10-04-GA184.

The schema is another variant of the FMC00.472 Schema used to help imagine the various spiritual hierarchies and their relation to Man's bodily principles and experience of physical timespace with mundane waking consciousness as part of the cosmic fractal.

Lecture coverage and references

Main lectures are 1908-03-24-GA102 followed by 1912-04-07-GA136 and 1912-04-13-GA136.

1908-03-24-GA102

their origin as SoW is described:

Had the Spirits of Wisdom remained in evolution, Man would rapidly have developed to spirituality, burning himself up bodily through-out evolution. But the Spirits of Wisdom refrained from bringing Man to such a violent development. They went away from the Earth in order to circle round it — in order to regulate and modify the time-periods which would other-wise have rushed past so vehemently. One therefore says in occultism that these Spirits of Wisdom became the 'Spirits of the Rotation of Times'. The successive incarnations of Man were regulated in the successive revolutions of time which were again regulated through the course of the stars. The Spirits of Wisdom became Spirits of the Rotation of Times.

1912-04-04-GA136

The SoRT are introduced:

.. not only the seasons of the year, and the growing and the fading of the plants, but also the regular alternation which, in relation to the earth-planet, expresses itself in day and night, is brought about by these spirits, which are to be classed as belonging to the astral body of the earth. In other words, everything connected with rhythmic return, with rhythmic alternation, with the repetitions of happenings in time, is organized by spiritual beings which collectively belong to the astral body of the Earth and to which the name 'Spirits of the Rotation of Time', of our planet, is applicable. What the astronomer ascertains through calculation about the rotation of the earth on its axis, is perceptible to occult vision, because the occultist knows that these spirits are distributed over the whole Earth, and are actually the bearers of the forces which rotate the earth on its axis. It is extremely important that one should be aware that in the astral body of the earth is to be found everything connected with the ordinary alternations between the blossoming and withering of plants and also all that is connected with the alternations between day and night, — between the various seasons of the year, and the various times of the day, etc. Everything that happens in this way calls up in the observer who has progressed so far that he can, with his astral body, go out of his physical and etheric bodies and still remain conscious — an impression of the spiritual beings belonging to the Spirits of the Rotation of Time.

1912-04-07-GA136

and described as an offspring of H1

The beings of the First Hierarchy have likewise offspring split off from them, and as a matter of fact I have already described from a different aspect these beings which are the offspring of the First Hierarchy. I described them at the beginning of this course, when we ascended to the so-called Spirits of the Rotation of Time, the spirits governing and directing what goes on in the kingdoms of nature in rhythmic succession and repetition. The beings of the First Hierarchy detach from themselves the beings governing the alternation of summer and winter, so that the plants spring up and fade away again; that rhythmical succession through which, for instance, the animals belonging to a certain species have a definite period of life in which they develop from birth to death. Everything which takes place in the kingdom of nature rhythmically and in recapitulation, such as day and night, alternations of the year, the four seasons of the year, everything which thus depends upon repeated happenings, is regulated by the Spirits of the Rotation of Time, the offspring of the beings of the First Hierarchy.

Related pages

• Rhythm of a year
• Christ Module 17 - The experience of the year
• Cosmic breathing
• Spiritual hierarchies and their eigenperiods
• Lemniscatory time and space
• Cosmic fractal