Streams of Abel and Cain

From Anthroposophy

The streams of Seth-Abel and Cain is terminology that comes from a legend in the Old Testament, following the Paradise legend in the Book of Genesis, and refers to two evolutionary types or currents in humanity with a different soul constitution, that stems from the differentiation in Spirits of Form during their development on the Old Moon evolutionary stage. Those Spirits of Form later gave Man the Human 'I'.

These two types of soul were always present and creative within all races of mankind and in all periods of history, and continued thus until the fourth cultural age of the Current Postatlantean epoch.

The two aspects can be put against eachother with key differentiator being the longing for wisdom with or without fire, personal desire, drive.

  • worldly aspect - originators of the arts and sciences, impulsive and initiative (the descendants of Cain) .. 'building the earthly temple'
  • divine aspect - piety and wisdom, religous type but detached lacking ethusiasm (the sons Abel/Seth)

The two streams were developing Mankind and the world until the currents were reunited in Christ-Jesus.

The underlying symbolic meaning is that of the three lower bodies (physical, etheric, astral) representing 'the world' that later would be spiritualized to the higher bodily principles (spirit self, life spirit, spirit man). In the legend storyline, this comes back in the symbol of the tree with three trunks.

The task of Man is to transform his three lower bodies into the three higher members. The Cain stream was and is building the earthly world that serves the lower members of Man and can later serve the spiritualization. In the future, the worldly has to be merged with the inner life force. Both properties have to come together.

Aspects

Illustrations

Schema FMC00.330 provides a schematic overview of the Temple legend and the building of Solomon's temple (click three times to enlarge)

FMC00.330.jpg


FMC00.480 pays tribute to the monumental and unique event in the history of mankind, with references to the quotes in what is probably the oldest knowledge in existence, the Book of Dzyan, and the Book of Genesis in the Bible. The text is rephrased from various lectures by Rudolf Steiner, see also Schema FMC00.457 and variants.

FMC00.480.jpg

Lecture coverage and references

Overview coverage

see: Temple legend#Coverage

Reference extracts

1904-11-04-GA093

quote A gives an introductory statement (SWCC)

We are dealing with two races of mankind:

  • those who, like Solomon, are in possession of divine wisdom
  • those of the Race of Cain, who are conversant with fire and know how to make use of it. This fire is the fire of wishes, desires and instincts which burns in the astral world.

Who, then, are the Sons of Cain?

  • In this legend, the Sons of Cain are the sons of those Elohim who, during the Old Moon stage, were a little retarded in their role of Spirits of Form (SoF). We are dealing with astrality during the Old Moon stage, and at that time this astrality or fire was penetrated with wisdom.
  • However there were two kinds of Elohim. The one kind of Elohim did not remain static with the union of wisdom and fire; they went further. And during the creation of Man they were no longer filled with desires, and so they were able to endow their creation with calm and clear wisdom. That is the essential Jehovah religion, the wisdom of which is quite without personal desire.
  • The other Elohim, those in whom wisdom was combined with the fire of the Old Moon stage, created the Sons of Cain.

Therefore,

  • in the case of the Sons of Seth, we find representatives of the religious type of human being with detached wisdom
  • in the case of the Sons of Cain, we find those who possess an impulsive nature, who are capable of flaring up and showing enthusiasm for wisdom.

These two types are creative within all races of mankind and in all periods of history.

  • Out of the desire life of the Sons of Cain, all arts and the sciences originate;
  • out of the Seth-Abel current, all detached piety and wisdom, lacking enthusiasm, has its origin.

These two types were always present and continued thus until the fourth Postatlantean cultural age.

quote B summarizes the temple legend (SWCC)

[the legend storyline]

  • There was a time when one of the Elohim (SoF) created a human being whom he called Eve, united himself with Eve and she gave birth to Cain.
  • After this, another Elohim named Jehovah, created Adam. Adam also united himself with Eve and from this union came Abel.

Thus we see that Cain is a direct descendant of the gods, but Abel is a descendant of Adam and Eve who are human. The sacrifices which Abel made to Jehovah were pleasing to him, but the sacrifices brought by Cain did not please him because the birth of Cain was not ordained by him. The result was that Cain committed fratricide. He killed Abel and for this he was excluded from communion with Jehovah. He went away into distant lands and founded his own race there.

Adam again united himself with Eve and from this union came Seth, also mentioned in the Bible, who took over the role of Abel. Thus we have two generations of mankind: the race of Cain, who was a descendant of Eve and one of the Elohim, and the other race which had human parentage and was brought into existence at the command of Yahveh. Among the descendants of Cain are all those who have been creators of art and science, as, for instance, Methuselah, the inventor of the Tau script, and Tubal-Cain, who taught the use and working of metal ores and iron. In this line of descent, stemming from the Elohim, were all those who trained themselves in the arts and sciences.

Hiram also descended from the race of Cain, and he was the inheritor of all that had been learned by the others of his line in technology and art. He was the most significant architect we can imagine.

Out of Seth’s line came Solomon, who excelled in everything which came from Yahveh. He was endowed with the wisdom of the world and all the attributes of calm, clear, objective wisdom. This wisdom can be expressed in words which go straight to the human heart and can uplift a person, but it is unable to produce anything tangible of a technical nature, in art or science. It is a wisdom which is a directly inspired gift of God and not attained from below through human passions welling up from the human will — that would be the wisdom pertaining to the sons of Cain, a legacy of the other Elohim, not Yahveh. They are the hardworking industrious ones who seek to accomplish everything through their own efforts.

Solomon now decides to build a temple and calls upon Hiram, the descendant of Cain, to be his master builder. It was at the time when Balkis, the Queen of Sheba, was visiting Jerusalem because she had heard of the wisdom of Solomon. And she was certainly impressed and charmed by the exalted and clear wisdom and beauty of the King when she first arrived, and when he made love to her she consented to be his bride. Now she heard about the temple which was being built and she desired to make the acquaintance of the master builder, Hiram. When she first met him she was captivated merely by his glance. As a result, a certain mood of jealousy arose between Hiram and Solomon and the latter wished to do something or other against Hiram, but he was dependent upon him for the completion of the temple.

Now came the following: The temple was almost complete. Only one thing was still lacking, which was to have been Hiram’s masterpiece; that was the Molten Sea, which was to represent the ocean cast in bronze and was to have adorned the temple. All the necessary mixtures of ores had been prepared by Hiram in a most wonderful manner, ready to be cast. Now, however, three apprentices got to work, whom Hiram had found so lacking in skill that he had been unable to promote them to become masters. They had therefore sworn to be revenged on him and desired to prevent the casting of the Molten Sea. A friend of Hiram, who got to know about these plans, confided them to Solomon, so that he should prevent their realization. But Solomon, through jealousy, did nothing to stop them, because he wished to destroy Hiram. The result was that Hiram had to look on while the whole casting disintegrated due to the addition of a wrong ingredient in the mixture by the three apprentices. He tried to quench the bursting flames by pouring water over them, but this only made matters worse.

Just as he was on the point of despairing about the work ever being completed, Tubal-Cain, his ancestor, appeared to him and told him that he should not hesitate to cast himself into the fire, as he was invulnerable to the flames. Hiram did as he was advised and came to the center of the earth. He was led by Tubal-Cain to Cain, who there resided in a condition of pristine divinity. Hiram was thus initiated into the Mystery of Fire and into the secret of bronze casting, receiving from Tubal-Cain a hammer and a Golden Triangle which he was able to carry with him as a pendant round his neck. Then he returned and was able to complete the casting of the Molten Sea and to put everything in order again.

Hereupon the Queen of Sheba consented to become Hiram’s bride.

He, however, was set upon by the three apprentices and murdered. But before he died, Hiram managed to throw the Golden Triangle into a well. As no one knew where he had disappeared, a search was made. Even Solomon was afraid and was anxious to find out what had happened. It was thought that the ancient Master Word could be betrayed by the apprentices, and therefore another one was devised. The first word to be spoken when Hiram was discovered should be the new Master Word. At last Hiram was found and was able to utter a few last words. He said:

‘Tubal-Cain had promised me that I shall have a son who will be the father of many descendants who will people the earth and bring my work — the building of the Temple — to completion.’

Then he pointed to the place where the Golden Triangle was to be found. This was then collected and brought to the Molten Sea and both were preserved together in the Holy of Holies.

They are only to be discovered by those who can understand the meaning of the legend of the Temple of Solomon and its Master Builder Hiram.

[Interpretation]

Now we shall proceed from the recounting of the legend itself to its interpretation. We are dealing, therefore, with two races of mankind: with

  • those who, like Solomon, are in possession of divine wisdom and with
  • those of the Race of Cain, who are conversant with fire and know how to make use of it. This fire is not physical fire, but the fire of wishes, desires and instincts which bums in the astral world.

[in terms of origin]

  • The Sons of Cain are the sons of those Elohim who, during the Moon stage, were a little retarded in their role of Elohim. We are dealing with Kama, astrality, during the Moon stage. This Kama, or fire, was penetrated with wisdom at that time. But there were two kinds of Elohim. The Elohim in whom wisdom was combined with the fire of the Moon stage, created the Sons of Cain.
  • The one kind of Elohim did not remain static with the union of wisdom and fire; they went further. And during the creation of man they were no longer filled with desires and so they were able to endow their creation with calm and clear wisdom. That is the essential Jahve — or Jehovah — religion, the wisdom of which is quite without personal desire

[characteristics]

These two types are creative within all races of mankind and in all periods of history.

  • In the case of the Sons of Seth, we find representatives of the religious type of human being with detached wisdom, and
  • in the case of the Sons of Cain, we find those who possess an impulsive nature, who are capable of flaring up and showing enthusiasm for wisdom.

[and]

  • Out of the desire life of the Sons of Cain, all arts and the sciences originate;
  • out of the Seth-Abel current, all detached piety and wisdom, lacking enthusiasm, has its origin.

A higher kind of piety is thereby being prepared among those who are of the pious type, the Sons of Wisdom. This new kind of piety can also develop enthusiasm. It is Christian piety, which was prepared during the fourth Post-Atlantean cultural age. This whole stream is not yet in a position to unite with the Sons of Cain, however; they remain adversaries. Were Christianity to take hold of human beings too quickly, they would certainly become filled with love, but the individual human heart would not become involved. It would not be a piety springing from freedom. Christ would not be born within man as his brother, but only as the ruler.

It is therefore necessary that the Sons of Cain are active throughout the whole of the fifth Post-Atlantean age. They are active in their initiates who build the temple of all mankind, constructed out of worldly art and worldly science.

1905-05-29-GA093

The joining of the two streams unified by Christ Jesus is discussed in 1905-05-29-GA093, where also the meaning of the cross symbol is explained.

For an explanation see discussion section below.

Extracts here SWCC:

Hence a distinction is made between the sons of men, the descendants of Cain, who were to prepare the worldly aspect, and the sons Abel/Seth, who cultivated the divine aspect, until the two streams could be united with each other, Christ Jesus united these two streams. .. There is another kingdom above that which man has immediately and physically around him.

Explanation than follows that Man is currently only in the fourth and mineral CoL after having gone the first three elementary kingdoms, the three higher CoF we still have to go through.

Today with our physical nature we are in a transitional stage between the Mineral and Plant CoF, with our etheric nature in transition from the Plant CoF to the Animal CoF, and with our astral nature in transition from the Animal CoF to the Human CoF. And finally, we extend beyond the three CoF into the Divine, with that part which we have in the Sphere of Wisdom, where we extend in our own nature beyond the astral.

Thus man is engaged in an ascent. But this is not brought about by any outer contrivance or construction, but by the living Self or 'I' which is awakened in us; which does not use mere outward building stones, but works in a creative and growing way. This force of life must enter into evolution and must first take hold of man's innermost being; his religious life must be gripped by living forces.

Therefore what the Sons of Cain did for the lower members of man's nature .. was a kind of preparation. .. Adam, the first man, was already endowed .. with these living forces of metamorphosis and transformation, the creatively working forces that re-shape Nature. But these forces were entrusted to those not engaged in the work of outward building, to the sons of Abel and Seth.

Through Christianity, these forces should now become common property; the two streams should unite together. And it is a Christian attitude today which holds that nothing external, no temple, no house, no social institution, ought to be created, that is not red hot with inner life, with the life-giving force rather than the mineral force that can only manipulate things.

1905-06-10-GA093

discusses the Rakshasas and descent into hell

You will now understand how it is that the episode of Cain and Abel falls into the period between Adam and Seth. A new principle entered into mankind, the principle of heredity, the original sin consisting of being dissimilar to the generation which had gone before.

But there still remain some Sons of God. Not all of those belonging to the Abel line were eradicated. And now we see what took place when to the question: ‘Where is Abel, thy brother?’ Cain answered: ‘Am I my brother's keeper?’ No man would have said that previously. That can only be said by an understanding which reacts as though acoustically [?] to the spiritual. Now the principle of struggle, of opposition, is added to the principle of love; now egoism is born: “Am I my brother's keeper?”

Those who still remained of the Abel line were Sons of God, they remained akin to the divine. But they now had to guard themselves against entering the earthly sphere. And from this resulted what was to become the principle of asceticism among those who dedicated their lives to the service of God. It became a sin for such a dedicated one to have anything to do with those who had committed themselves to the affairs of earth. It was a sin when ‘The Sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair’ and took them wives; they took them wives from the daughters of Cain.

From this union resulted a race of men [Genesis 6:4] which is hardly even mentioned in the published books of the Old Testament, but is only hinted at; it is a race that is not perceptible to physical eyes. It is called ‘Rakshasas’ in occult language and is similar to the ‘Asuras’ of the Indians. It consists of demonic beings who really did exist at one time and who acted seductively upon the human race and caused its downfall.

This flirtation of the Sons of God with the daughters of men produced a race which worked particularly seductively upon the Turanians, the members of the fourth sub-race of the Atlanteans, and led to the destruction of humanity.

Some things were preserved and carried over into the new world. The Deluge is the flood which destroyed Atlantis. Men who were seduced by the Rakshasas disappeared by degrees.

And now I have to tell you something which will in any case appear extraordinary to you, which is particularly important. It has been an occult mystery for the outside world for many centuries and will seem incredible to most people, but is nevertheless true. I can assure you that every occultist has often convinced himself of its truth through what is called the Akashic Record. But so it is.

These Rakshasas were real beings, they really existed — actively and effectively — as seducers of mankind. They continued to influence human desires until the time when Christ incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth and the Buddhi principle itself became present on the earth in a human body. Now you may believe it or not: this is something of cosmic significance, of significance which reaches beyond the earthly plane. It is not for nothing that the Bible expresses it thus: 10 ‘Christ descended into the forecourts of Hell.’ It was not human beings He met there, He was confronted by spiritual beings. The Rakshasa beings were brought thereby into a state of paralysis and lethargy! 11

They were at the same time kept in check so that they became unable to move. They could only be lamed in this manner because they were being opposed from two sides. That would not have been possible if there had not been two natures combined together in Jesus of Nazareth: on the one hand the old Chela nature, deeply connected with the physical plane, which could also work effectively on the physical plane and through its power could hold it in balance: on the other hand there was Christ Himself who was a purely spiritual being. That is the cosmic problem which is fundamental to Christianity. Something occurred at that time in occult spheres; it was the banishment of the enemies of mankind which has its echo in the Saga of the Antichrist, who was put in chains but will make his appearance again, if not opposed once more by the Christian principle in its primal force.

1908-03-15-GA265A

page 33

on three types of people in the evolution of mankind:

  • warmth people - relates to the Old Saturn warmth in the Polarian epoch, before the descent of the Elohim. They felt female and received the spiritual fertilizing power of the Elohim. When there was the separation of Sun, the male power remained with Jehovah, the SoF (Elohim) that remained with Earth development. They were the basis for
    • oxygen people - the Abel stream <-> red blood .. in the past, received revelation directly 'from above'
    • carbonic people - the Cain stream <-> blue blood .. 'chained to the Earth' .. the carbon-holding blood still lives in Cain people .. in the past, they had to attain wisdom through their own work (sciences, etc).

In the middle of the Atlantean epoch, the 'Sons of the Gods' - meaning the people in the Abel stream - wanted to unite with the 'Daughters of Men',the female etheric bodies in the Cain stream. Meaning: the divine wisdom united with human sciences. However this was too early in the development, times and humanity were not ripe .. and this caused black magic to originate from this: humans used the divine wisdom for their own lower mundane purposes.

1908-03-GA265

from instruction lesson Berlin, March 1908 (without date); on 'The Beginning of the Temple Legend'

When it is said that the Elohim united with Eve, we must not believe that by Eve is understood anything similar to the present woman. Eve was the humanity of the polar race, a humanity quite different from the humanity of today, namely, a much simpler one. If we think of the warmth of blood and deny everything else, if we think of this [warmth of blood] pulsating in every nook and corner of our body from head to foot, if we imagine [it] in every detail of our body, but imagine that all the rest has disappeared and nothing remains but this blood-warm human being, then we can form an idea of what the Eve looked like with whom the Elohim united. The Earth was then dark, but in the second or Hyperborean epoch the Sun Spirits penetrated this dark Eve with light, and these rays of the Sun not only contained light, they also contained food, and what was not consumed as food to nourish humanity or Eve was available for the purpose of procreation, and in this way Cain arose from the union of the Elohim with Eve.

In the Lemurian or Lunar epoch, the Elohim Yahweh, who was also one of the Sun Spirits and had been sent to direct the Lunar evolution, created Adam, that is: he divided humanity into sexes, and when it is said that Adam married Eve, it means that the two sexes united for the purpose of procreation, and from this union arose Abel.

The originally united solar forces and reproductive forces had separated and produced two classes of men. Cain and Abel fight each other day by day in our bodies, even hour by hour, for Abel is represented by the blood of the arteries coming from the lungs and from the heart, filled with the life-giving spirit of the air, the pure and strengthening oxygen. Cain, on the other hand, is represented by the blood of the veins, which is filled with the poisonous, deadly carbonic acid.

If that were all, humanity would have ceased to exist at that time. But Abel lives on in Seth, the rejuvenated Abel, who received the breath of life again, the oxygen in the lungs. Therefore, as often as Abel is killed, Seth takes his place. When the solar power divided, the Abel-Seth race became the bearers of divine wisdom and intuition, its members being priests and kings "by the grace of God". Physically they are negative or female (not necessarily physically female).

Cain's gender possesses the power of procreation (not necessarily sexual) rather than intuitive wisdom. They are positive, masculine (not necessarily physically male) and are the world workers, the scientific researchers and so on. This is perhaps more understandable from the following diagram

  • Sons of God ... physically female, ethereally male, possess intuition: Abel
  • Daughters of men ... physically male, ethereally female, possess the reproductive power: Cain.

Solar power contains nourishment, intuition and procreation.

In the Atlantean epoch an attempt was made to unite these two classes, but this led to black magic of the worst kind. This is indicated in the Bible passage: "The sons of God intermarried with the daughters of men."

The arrival of the Queen of Sheba signifies the attempt of the present. Science, represented by Hiram, can now unite with the wisdom of the soul, symbolised by the Queen of Sheba. The nurse is the prophet looking into the future, the bird Had-Had is a spirit of intelligence descending to the soul and turning it from revelation, as represented by Solomon, to self-acquired knowledge, which finds its expression in Hiram.

The temple represents the development of the Earth. Solomon is like a mirror that reflects cosmic wisdom without any effort of his own. Hiram, on the other hand, sees the image and works it out. He does not possess the ability to draw directly from the divine source; he is the material knowledge that can make objective what Solomon can only see.

That is why Balkis, the soul, becomes dissatisfied and breaks her bond with Solomon when she recognizes Hiram's beauty, and she recovers the ring from Solomon's hand when he is drunk.

That Hiram wields the Tau hammer to summon the workers at Balkis' wish symbolically represents the way in which all great, world-shaking events were brought about when they worked like ants for years to achieve a specific purpose: through the power of mass suggestion. This was used so that they came to work as if on their own impulse. It would be wrong to use such a power now, but in those days men were not so individualized [as now], and if temples were to be built to serve the progress of mankind, the priests then quite rightly needed such means to achieve their end. The Crusades and Joan of Arc's army are other examples of such mass suggestion. Sometimes fanatics, some of whom lack inner balance, are very strong in this direction.

When Hiram throws himself into the fire, he meets Tubal-Cain on the way. He leads Hiram to the center of the Earth (where the I-plant grows; Cain was a cultivator), and there they find Cain in his innocent state. Cain gives Hiram a new hammer and a new word

1910-01-25-GA118

Looking far back into human evolution, we see that there is a certain moment after which humanity may be said to be descending even further from its fellowship with the spiritual world and entering more and more into the material world. Although the following image has its material side, we may nevertheless use it here: man was at one time a companion of spiritual beings, his spirit dwelt within the spiritual world and, by reason of the fact that he dwelt in the spiritual world, he was a son of the gods. What constituted this constantly reincarnating soul, however, participated increasingly in the outer world.

The son of the gods was then within man, who took delight in the daughters of the earth, that is, in those souls who had sympathy for the physical world. This, in turn, means that the human spirit, who had previously been permeated by divine spirituality, sank down into the physical world of the senses. He became the mate of the intellect, which is bound to the brain and which entangled him in the sense world. Now this spirit must find the path by which he descended and, climbing upward again, become once more the son of the gods. The son of man, which he has become, would perish here below in the physical world if he were not to ascend once more as son of man to the divine beings, to the light of the spiritual world, if he were not in the future to find delight in the daughters of the gods.

It was necessary for the evolution of humanity that the sons of gods should unite with the daughters of men, with the souls that were fettered to the physical world, in order that, as son of man, the human being would learn to master the physical plane. It is necessary for the human being of the future, however, that, as the son of man, he shall find delight in the daughters of the gods, in the divine-spiritual light of wisdom with which he must unite himself in order to rise once again into the world of the gods.

1912-02-21-GA265

Personal note from Rudolf Steiner to a participant

Solomon possessed three secrets:

  • the two columns of Hercules,
  • the trinity of wisdom, beauty and strength, and
  • the secret of light and darkness.
1913-03-27-GA145

links the legend to the Guardian of the Threshold

190X-GA265

Text based on the original manuscript by Rudolf Steiner on “The part that interprets the evolution of humanity in symbolic terms”

Part A

[the storyline]

At the beginning of the evolution of the Earth,

  • one of the spirits of light or Elohim descended from the realm of the sun to the earthly realm and united with Eve, the primal mother of all that lives. From this union arose Cain, the first of the earth-dwellers.
  • Thereafter, another of the Elohim, Jahve or Jehovah, formed Adam; and from the union of Adam and Eve arose Abel, Cain's stepbrother.

The inequality of descent between Cain and Abel (sexual and asexual descent) caused discord between Cain and Abel. And Cain slew Abel. Abel had lost his connection to the spiritual world through sexual descent, Cain through the moral fall. Jehovah gave Seth, a substitute son, to Abel's parents as compensation.

Two types of people descended from Cain and Seth. The descendants of Seth were able to see into the spiritual world in special (dream-like) states of consciousness. The descendants of Cain had lost this ability completely. They had to work their way up through the generations by gradually developing the human powers of the earth in order to regain their spiritual abilities.

One of the descendants of Abel-Seth was the wise Solomon. He had inherited the gift of dream-like clairvoyance; indeed, he had inherited it to a particular degree as a disposition; so it was that his wisdom was so widely known that it is symbolically reported of him that he sat on a throne of gold and ivory (gold and ivory symbols of wisdom).

From the line of Cain came men who, in the course of time, were increasingly concerned with the upward development of human powers on earth. One of these men was Lamech, the keeper of the T-books, in which, as far as was possible for human powers, original wisdom was restored, so that these books are incomprehensible to uninitiated people. Another descendant of the Cain humanity is Tubalkain, who made great progress in the working of metals, and even knew how to form metals into musical instruments in an artistic way. And as a contemporary of Solomon, Hiram Abiff or Adoniram, a descendant of Cain, lived who had advanced so far in his art that it bordered directly on the vision of the higher worlds, and for him there was only a thin wall to break through to initiation.

The wise Solomon conceived the plan of a temple, the formal parts of which were to symbolize the development of mankind. Through his dream wisdom, he was able to conceive the thoughts of this temple in every detail; but he lacked the knowledge of the earth forces for the actual construction, which could only be gained through the training of the earth forces in the Cain race. Therefore, Solomon connected with Hiram-Abiff. He now built the temple that symbolized the development of humanity.

Solomon's fame had reached as far as the Queen of Sheba, Balkis. One day she went to the court of Solomon in order to marry him. She was shown all the glories of Solomon's court, including the mighty temple. From the mental images she had formed up to that point, she could not comprehend how a master builder who had only human powers at his disposal could have accomplished such a thing. She had only learned that the leaders of workers, through the possession of atavistic magical powers, were able to gather sufficient crowds of workers to erect the old, mighty buildings. She demanded to see the strange, remarkable master builder. When he met her, his eye immediately made a deeply significant impression on her. Then he was to show her how he led the workers by mere human agreement. He took his hammer, climbed a hill, and at a sign with the hammer, large crowds of workers rushed to the scene. The Queen of Sheba realized that human powers could develop to such significance.

Soon afterward, the queen and her nurse (the nurse is symbolic of a prophetic person) were walking outside the city gates. They encountered Hiram Abiff. At the moment the two women saw the master builder, the bird Had-Had flew out of the air onto the arm of the Queen of Sheba.

The prophetic nurse interpreted this to mean that the Queen of Sheba was not destined for Solomon, but for Hiram Abiff. From that moment on, the queen thought only of how she could break off her engagement to Solomon. It is further related that now, “in her intoxication,” the engagement ring was pulled from the king's finger, so that the queen could now consider herself the bride destined for Hiram Abiff. (The significance of this feature of the legend lies in the fact that in the Queen of Sheba we see the ancient wisdom of the stars, which was connected with the ancient atavistic soul powers symbolized in Solomon. Occult legends express this in the symbols of female persons, and wisdom is that which can unite with the male part of the soul. The time of Solomon marks the epoch in which this wisdom is to pass over from the atavistic old forces to the newly acquired powers of the I on earth. The “ring” is always the symbol of the “I”. Solomon is still conceived as having a not fully human ego, but one that is only the reflection of the “higher ego” of the angels in the atavistic dream-clairvoyant consciousness. The “intoxication” indicates that this ego is lost again within the semi-conscious soul forces through which it was acquired. Hiram is only in possession of a real-human “I”.)

From this point on, King Solomon is seized by a violent jealousy against his master builder. Therefore, three treacherous companions find it easy to gain the ear of the king for an act by which they want to destroy Hiram Abiff. They are his opponents because they had to be rejected by him when they demanded the master's degree and the master's word, for which they are not ready.

These three traitorous fellows now decide to spoil the work for Hiram Abiff, which he is to accomplish as the crowning achievement of his work at the court of Solomon. This is the casting of the “Brazen Sea”. This is an artificial casting made of the seven basic metals (lead, copper, tin, mercury, iron, silver, gold) in such proportions that it is completely transparent. The thing was finished, except for one very last impact, which was to be made before the assembled court - also before the Queen of Sheba - and by which the still cloudy substance was to be transformed to complete clarity. Now the three treacherous journeymen mixed something wrong into the casting, so that instead of it clearing, sparks of fire sprayed out of it. Hiram Abiff tried to calm the fire with water. This did not work, but the flames leapt in all directions. The assembled people scattered in all directions. But Hiram Abiff heard a voice from the flames and the glowing mass: “Plunge into the sea of flames; you are invulnerable.” He plunged into the flames and soon realized that his path was heading towards the center of the earth. Halfway there, he met his ancestor Tubalkain. The latter led him to the center of the earth, where the great ancestor Cain was, in the state he was in before the sin. Here Hiram Abiff received from Cain the explanation that the vigorous development of human powers on earth would ultimately lead to the height of initiation, and that the initiation attained in this way would replace the vision of the Abel-Seth sons in the course of the earth, which would disappear. Symbolically, the power to confer the Mother Gift, which Hiram Abiff receives from Cain, is expressed by the statement that Hiram received a new hammer from Cain, with which he returned to the earth's surface, touched the Sea of Bronze, and thereby brought about its complete transparency. (This symbolism is given by that which, in appropriate meditation, elevates to the imagination the inner essence of human development on earth. The Iron Sea can be seen as a symbol of what man would have become if the three treacherous forces in the soul had not taken hold: doubt, superstition, and the illusion of the personal self. Through these forces, the evolution of mankind on earth has come to a display of fire in the Lemurian period, which cannot be dampened by the watery evolution of the Atlantean period. Rather, such an evolution of human forces on earth must take place that the original state is restored in the soul, which was present in Cain before the fratricide. The dream-like soul powers of the children of Abel-Seth cannot prevail against the powers of the earth, but only the descendants of Cain, who have come to full, real development of the ego.)

190X-GA265 Part B another text according to original manuscript by Rudolf Steiner

[The first part is missing]

From this time on, Solomon became jealous of his master builder. Three treacherous journeymen, who in their vanity had demanded the master builder's word and degree from the master builder, whom he could not give them because they were still immature, supported him in this. They decided to take revenge in the following way.

Hiram Abiff was to perform the so-called Sea of Bronze as the crowning glory of his work at the court of Solomon. It was to be a wonderful metal casting in which all the metals of the earth were poured in such harmony that a magnificent, harmonious whole resulted. Everything about it was completed by Hiram Abiff, down to the last move. This was to be done at a special celebration. The entire court was assembled for the occasion, including the Queen of Sheba. At the decisive moment, the three treacherous journeymen added an unrighteous touch to the casting; and instead of the whole thing bringing itself to a harmonious conclusion, sparks flew out of the casting. Hiram Abiff tried to calm the flames by adding water. But then terrible masses of flames arose from the casting. Everything that had been gathered by people scattered. But Hiram Abiff heard a voice from the fire that told him: do not be afraid, plunge into the flames; you are invulnerable. He plunged into the sea of flames. He soon realized that his flight was to the center of the earth. Halfway there he met Tubalkain, who led him to his ancestor Cain in the center of the earth. Cain was in the form before the commission of sin. He gave Hiram Abiff a new T-sign and told him that with it he would restore the casting when he returned to the surface of the earth. And from him would come a race that would conquer Adam's children on earth and reintroduce the great service of fire, as well as lead mankind back to the divine word of creation.

There is also a deeper meaning in this part of the legend.

Before Man descended from the bosom of the deity into earthly embodiments, he was in a spiritual environment that he could perceive. He heard the divine creative word. He embodied himself in the metal masses, which were still liquid in the fire at that time. Before this happened, three companions could not harm him: doubt, superstition and the illusion of personal self. He could not have doubt about the spiritual world, because it was around him. He could not be overcome by superstition, because he saw the spiritual in its true form. But superstition consists in the mental image of the spiritual in the wrong form. The illusion of personal self could not affect him, because he knew himself in the general spirituality; he was not yet separated from this general spirituality by being enclosed in his body. If these three treacherous companions had not been on his heels, his body would have become a pure harmonious connection of substances. They mixed in the impact that made him forget the divine-spiritual creative word. The casting was destroyed by this. The descent of Hiram Abiff into the center of the earth then represents man's advance on the occult path. In this way mankind comes into possession of the T, the divine creative word, and gets to know human nature (Cain) as it was before the Fall and how it can create in purity.

Another imagination is the following:

[editor: see also Schema FMC00.629]

The eye is the divine eye of power behind all transient existence, even behind the seven-part nature of man. One can form a mental image of this if one recalls the words of St. Augustine:

"Man sees things as they are.

They are as God sees them.

Human vision is passive; things must be there for a person to see them. God's vision creates things in the act of looking. The triangle around the eye is

  • spirit itself (manas)
  • spirit of life (budhi)
  • spirit man (atma)

The rays are the “I” - the upper trinity shines through the I into the lower members of human nature.

These are symbolized:

  • 1. by the illuminated part of the clouds: the astral body
  • 2. by the unilluminated part of the clouds: the etheric body
  • 3. the surrounding darkness: the physical body.

The temple legend and this radiant eye should be a constant subject of meditation for the*. He should remember them again and again; see them as images (imaginations) in his mind. Then, if he devotes the necessary energy and patience to them, he will become aware that they awaken forces and abilities that were dormant in him, and by awakening them he can see into the higher worlds. For man does not attain to the supersensible organs of perception through tumultuous, external means, but through such intimate means as those mentioned, which are applied in inner, quiet soul work, inwardly restlessly and energetically.

...

19XX-GA265 - additional notes

Notes from various participant - without further details

[Note A]

When the preparation of the earth's development had progressed so far that the soul of man could be placed in it, the sun had emerged and shone with its rays on the earth, which was a ball of fire surrounded by a warm atmosphere or aura of warmth. In the globe, the physical and etheric bodies grew out of the earth like a plant, and as the sun radiated the warmth atmosphere, the warmth penetrated the human physical and etheric bodies and formed the astral body, the human soul. This irradiation from the sun beings onto the human forms brought the wisdom powers of these sun beings into man, and that became man's higher selfhood. This is an innate divine wisdom that makes him a spiritually cognizing being. All this must be thought of as the effects or deeds of divine beings. The solar beings, the Elohim, sent their rays to Earth through the archangels and they caused currents in the human forms, which brought light through the aura of warmth and became the human brain, in which intellect and spirituality can reveal themselves, and at the same time currents that became human blood; in this way the universal warmth becomes inner warmth. The first current represents the active power of the archangels, the second the passive power. The stream that formed the brain out of the light was Cain, the fire-earth man; the accompanying stream that brought the blood into man is Abel, who came into being through Adam. The watery substance was the blood. This is the water man.

In Cain, we have the being who possesses all the abilities to penetrate to world wisdom by means of the mind that works in the dark; in Abel, the being who has absorbed the watery element, the blood, with the light and thus has attained a different kind of contact with the spiritual beings, the passive side of the light.

In the Six Day Work cycle 2 is hinted at, as at a certain moment in the development of the earth, forces radiate out from the center of the fiery globe into space and from there radiate back again to the center point. The warm atmosphere arises from this; a kind of medium that offers resistance. As the inhalation and exhalation takes place, resistance arises in the warm atmosphere and the sun beings can no longer send their rays directly through the warm atmosphere down to the earth as they did in the beginning. While the beings that grew in the substance of the earth received the pure fire of wisdom, which became the first rudiment of the brain, the fire was later darkened by the resistance and came as air to the earth beings, resulting in a different formation of the brain. So we find Eve, the Earth Mother, now consisting of more atomized matter, after she has given birth to Cain, in union with Adam, the darkened stream of the solar beings, which makes the Earth Beings Abel with breathing of air. During the general condensation through the air, Cain also experiences resistance; the direct contact with breathing fire darkens, and that is the killing of Abel by Cain. Cain is now cut off from the fire gods, but has within him the ability to develop the fire of wisdom from within himself by means of the intellect, which he was able to transform into wisdom.

What is meant by the dust of the earth from which Adam was formed? All evolution in a particular epoch is condensation, working towards shaping. Thus, the preparation for the earthly state is also a working towards the form, the condensing and combining of spiritual forces.

When Eve, the earth mother, came into being through the activity of the Thrones and the Elohim, the first formative process took place in Cain. Then the active aspect of this formation has awakened the fiery element, and the passive aspect causes the condensation according to the material aspect, towards the air element. In other, simpler words: the material, which they will influence from now on, has condensed by having been worked on before; it has become more physical, but has been permeated by an effective spirit. From this more condensed interaction, Adam arises, and the product of Adam and Eve's interaction is Abel, the watery or airy being. The meeting of the fiery and airy elements causes dispute and resistance; the fiery element is darkened and absorbs the dark element into itself.

[Note B]

The characters of Cain and Abel already showed two distinct directions: Cain was a farmer, he wrestled with the earth to get its yield; Abel was a shepherd, he effortlessly took what the flock gave him. Subsequently, these two tendencies became clearly defined among the descendants of the two brothers, so that humanity split into two directions, the Cainite and the Abel-Sethite. The former were those who rose up by their own efforts, the artists in all fields of human endeavor. The others received their knowledge as a gift. The initiated priest-kings came from the latter, “by the grace of God”.

[Note C]

The fratricide also means: the blue blood killed the red blood. [Note D] Solomon, the wise King Solomon, who received his wisdom from the higher inspirations, is descended from the Seth-Abel current. He was able to conceive the plan for the construction of the temple, but he could not execute it, or bring it about through his own efforts. For this he had to have Hiram Abiff from the Cain family. Solomon wanted to build the temple in such a way that each part of it should express a piece of human development. An image of this temple is our temple. The two columns represent, for example, the Pillars of Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, through which humanity passed from the West to the East. Hiram Abiff is building this temple.

The natural Hiram is in all of us; we must resurrect it within ourselves.

Discussion

Note 1 - On Paradise Legend, Golden Legend, Temple Legend, and the Streams of Abel and Cain

Introduction

The Paradise Legend, Golden Legend, Temple Legend and the Streams of Abel and Cain are related and are connected within different esoteric and mystical traditions such as Freemasonry, Rosicrucianism, Masonic traditions and Christian mysticism.

Each of these traditions used these ancient stories as a pillar for their teachings over long periods of time, hence the same themes intertwine.

They are all narratives with a symbolic interpretation of the evolution of mankind, and because the themes are related and overlap, they 'flow into one another'.

Positioning

First draft (tentative and to be improved)

  • Paradise Legend
    • narrative about the Fall of Man and the lost Eden, deals with the loss of divine wisdom and the hope for its return
    • gives cosmic dimension for the Temple Legend (why wisdom was lost etc)
    • linked to the search for the Holy Grail, the New Jerusalem, and the idea of spiritual rebirth.
    • see: Paradise legend and Schema FMC00.330 - but also Fall and redemption - original sin and grace
    • Furthermore:
      • streams of Seth-Abel and Cain, see also the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament, refers to two evolutionary types or currents in humanity with a different soul constitution. These two types of soul were and are always present within all races of mankind and in all periods of history. The key differentiator between both is the longing for wisdom with or without fire (or warmth), personal desire, drive. Cain representing the worldly aspect, originators of the arts and sciences, 'building the earthly temple' and Abel the divine aspect, piety and wisdom, religious type.
  • Temple Legend
    • is about the quest for enlightenment and rebuilding divine knowledge symbolized by Solomon’s Temple ... focuses on the construction of Solomon’s Temple and the murder of Hiram Abiff, the master builder
    • associated with Freemasonry and esoteric Christianity
    • includes: divine wisdom being hidden or lost due to the fall of Man, to be rediscovered .. (tbc: also may be linked to sacred geometry and the earthly counterpart of the lost paradise .. sometimes linked to Cain and Abel)
    • see: Temple legend and Streams of Abel and Cain and Schema FMC00.330
    • Furthermore:
      • Molten Sea
        • in the Temple Legend, the Golden Triangle was supposedly hidden beneath Solomon’s Temple, symbolizing that the divine wisdom was lost but is recoverable or could be found again. The symbol of Golden Triangle maps to Man's higher triad and consists of the higher principles of wisdom, beauty and power (spirit-self or manas, life-spirit or budhi, spirit-man or atman) - see also Truth Beauty Good. Note: this can be or is linked with Golden Legend (three seeds of Seth to reconnect humanity with its divine origin)
        • see: Molten sea
  • Golden Legend
    • story involving Seth's quest for (lost) wisdom, the Trees of Knowledge and Life, and their connection to Freemasonry's Jachin and Boaz.
    • after Adam’s fall, he sent his son Seth back to the Gates of Eden to seek a remedy for humanity’s loss of divine wisdom and immortality. Seth was granted three seeds from the Tree of Life .. later placed in Adam’s mouth at his burial, and from them grew a mystical tree that would later be linked to Moses' burning bush, the wood of the Ark of the Covenant, and ultimately the Cross of Christ.
    • intertwines with the two pillars of Solomon's Temple Jachin (J) and Boaz (B), which are themselves symbolic of the Two Trees in Eden: Jachin (knowledge, wisdom) and Boaz (life, divine energy with strength and mercy)
    • strong link with Freemasonry (Solomon’s Temple as a spiritual recreation of Eden, and its two pillars symbolizing the balance of two required but opposing forces)
    • see: Golden legend and Schema FMC00.228

Commentary

As mentioned above the tradition of the different narratives above are related and overlap, they 'flow into one another'.

Though the story angle taken is different, the symbolic meaning related to the evolution of mankind is the same.

Therefore it is recommended to study them as different columns built on a foundational basis of spiritual science. That is: once one has the spiritual scientific understanding, one can relate the storyline of each legend and connect it through the symbolic meaning.

A start can be made with Schema FMC00.330 that provides a scaffold:

  • the upper part is the Fall <-> Paradise Legend
  • below is the building of the Solomon Temple <-> Temple Legend

.

Rudolf Steiner used these Legends in early cycles (eg. 1904/5-GA093) and also in esoteric classes (re GA265 and GA265A) to 'bridge' with traditions a.o. in freemasonry.

The small note with the remark/statement that Rudolf Steiner (would have) made to a participant - see Streams of Abel and Cain#1912-02-21-GA265 - is telling for how the thematic flows into one another:

"Solomon [editor: see: Temple Legend] possessed three secrets: the two columns of Hercules [editor: see J and B in Golden Legend], the trinity of wisdom, beauty and strength [editor: see Molten Sea], and the secret of light and darkness."

Note 2 - the Sons of God and the daughters of men

Introduction

The statement from the Book of Genesis is very well known world wide, and has had extensive coverage and commentaries.

The reason for this note is that Rudolf Steiner makes quite different statements whilst explaining this phrase and placing it in different contexts.

The saying about 'the Sons of God' having intercourse with 'the daughters of men' points to an early stage in the development of mankind on Earth in the previous epochs, after the initial descent of the monads in the Lemurian epoch, see Schema FMC00.480 (and ao Schema FMC00.457 and variants) on that page. This has to be put in context of the descent of souls to Earth, see Planets hosting beings at various stages of evolution.

Reference extracts

Note: the exact references for the Books of Genesis and Enoch, and the extracts below, still need to be checked

Genesis, 6:1-5

And it came to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair: and they took wives which they chose … when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1 Hen 7:1-2

In the Book of Enoch (Ethiopian Enoch, 1 Hen), the passage is found in the following way with reference to the verse in the Book of Moses:

And it came to pass, when the children of men had increased in those days, and there were born unto them daughters fair and lovely, that the angels the sons of heaven had beheld them, and desired them, saying one to another, Come, let us choose us wives for us out of the seed of men, and let us beget children.

Enoch 6.1-4

And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the Angels, the children of heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: “Come, let us choose ourselves wives from among the children of men and beget us children.” … And all the others together with them took unto themselves wives, and each chose for himself one, and they began to go in unto them and to defile themselves with them, and they taught them charms and enchantments … and they became pregnant.

Enoch 6. 15-16

Wherefore have ye left the high, holy and eternal Heaven, and lain with women, and defiled yourselves with the daughters of men and taken to yourselves wives, and done like the children of the Earth, and begotten giants as your sons. And though you were spiritual beings living the eternal life, you have defiled yourselves with the blood of women, and have begotten children with the blood of flesh and blood as those also who die and perish …

References in lectures by Rudolf Steiner
Commentary

.. on the statements by Rudolf Steiner above:

1/ the 1912-GA244 Q&A points out, as a clear but general introduction, that those souls who descended later in better conditions, still mixed with the lower-developed souls that had incarnated much earlier (rather than leaving them alone, to die out).

See also Schema FMC00.480: what Steiner may be describing here is that souls descending in the Atlantean epoch ('still'?) mixed with the second category on that schema, not the third.

2/ In 1904-GA093 this is linked to the Rakshasas or Asuras, and the seduction in the middle of the Atlantean epoch (Turanians).

From this union resulted a race of men which is hardly even mentioned in the published books of the Old Testament, but is only hinted at; it is a race that is not perceptible to physical eyes. It is called ‘Rakshasas’ in occult language and is similar to the ‘Asuras’ of the Indians. It consists of demonic beings who really did exist at one time and who acted seductively upon the human race and caused its downfall. This flirtation of the Sons of God with the daughters of men produced a race which worked particularly seductively upon the Turanians, the members of the fourth sub-race of the Atlanteans, and led to the destruction of humanity. Some things were preserved and carried over into the new world. And now I have to tell you something which will in any case appear extraordinary to you, which is particularly important. It has been an occult mystery for the outside world for many centuries and will seem incredible to most people, but is nevertheless true. These Rakshasas were real beings, they really existed — actively and effectively — as seducers of mankind. They continued to influence human desires until the time when Christ incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth and the Buddhi principle itself became present on the earth in a human body.

3/ Then, remarkably, in 1916-GA272, Steiner places this statement in the Atlantean epoch as the start of the Ahrimanic impulse.

we have to put the Ahrimanic secret into the Atlantean epoch. There the Bible has only a hint, not such a clear, widely shining picture as that of the paradise temptation. The Bible only says that the impulses that came into the earth's existence caused 'the sons of the gods to take a liking to the daughters of men'. This is only an indication of what comes in as an ahrimanic impulse.

4/ A way to potentially link to the 1916-GA272 above, is by interpretation of what is in 1910-GA118 as a description of the ahrimanic influence. Namely, that "those beings who had sympathy for the physical world .. with the souls that were fettered to the physical world, in order that, as son of man, the human being would learn to master the physical plane" and thereby Man "sank down into the physical world of the senses. He became the mate of the intellect, which is bound to the brain and which entangled him in the sense world."

Various notes (draft)

Quote from 1905-05-29-GA093.

Through its various sacrifices, Christ brough the macroscopic I to humanity, the spark of the consciousness soul and higher ethers whereby the latent higher principles is now enabled in Man. That means that the Christ Impulse is living 'under the waters', below contemporary human mundane waking consciousness, so subconsciously in Man's inner being.

This is the trigger for the ascent, and it can be formulated in its simple essence as 'bringing life into the mineral'. Whereas the Cain stream has been building the mineral, this now has to merge with the (once detached) life forces of the Abel stream. The Cain stream should no longer build 'only the mineral' temple per se, but now it should be infused with living read etheric life forces.

That is the last paragraph, and this can be linked to the soul work, infusion of feeling, in the study of spiritual science and in all our activities. See oa Christ Module 15 - Study of Spiritual Science and the Mystery of Golgotha

Related pages

References and further reading

  • Johannes Eyberg: 'Die Zwillinge : Kain und Abel in der Goethe-Zeit' (1947)
  • Sigismund von Gleich: 'Het nieuwe tijdperk van Christus : II. Kaïn en Abel en hun verzoening' (article in NL in ' Brieven over het geestelijk leven der mensheid, nr 5, 10)

Internal project notes and references

see Evo 12.10 and GA093 specifically joining of two streams of Cain and Abel - see spirhier 5.12 topic 15 - see 1905-05-29-GA093

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