Alternate Perceptions Magazine, November 2023
The Incarnation of Evil? Steiner’s Predictions and the Ahrimanic Incarnation
by: Robert Filocco
Today mankind has only begun to make natural forces subservient to itself. This will become very different in the near future and in centuries to come. Humans will extract and render service to the forces of flowing water, they will capture and learn to use the mighty forces that lie in the suns’ rays in immense mirrors; they will control the forces within the Earth, now unleashed by volcanic eruptions and created by a mighty spirit being in the earth’s interior; the most miraculous machines will be invented by men, to put all these generated forces at the service of humanity, yes they will control the magnetic force of the whole earth… when in very ancient times the changes of the earth were necessary, the forces of the gods tilted the axis of the earth; in times to come, mankind will be able to rotate the earth’s axis” – Rudolf Steiner- GA- 264 p.210-211-November 1905.
In recent years there has been an increase in interest in the work and writings of Rudolf Steiner. Two major reasons for this relate to his prophecies regarding the dangers of electricity and electronics, as well as man-machine mergers and artificial intelligence. Another connects to the controversies surrounding vaccines, his predictions of increased neurological disorders and a vaccine to attack spiritual impulses. Interest in bio-dynamic agriculture, anthroposophical medicine and other aspects of his work have increasingly attracted attention outside of anthroposophical circles.
My own interest in Steiner began around 2012 as I explored his elegant writings on nature, the elemental realms and species such as bees. Soon after I dived into his more cosmological material, along with related speculations and predictions regarding the time period we are living in. One of these predictions concerns the incarnation of Ahriman, one of the central beings involved in human evolution. A being that Steiner characterized as one of hindrance and evil action, an opposing force to those other beings he characterized as benefactors of human evolution. This current work will explore speculations by Steiner and others regarding this anticipated incarnation and related developments. I will attempt to give Ahriman a “human face”, as Steiner insisted that Ahriman would incarnate in a human body.
First, I will explore a variety of predictions and assertions made by Steiner across a swath of areas, many of which seem to have come true, or have a notable accuracy. As an early caveat, I do not see Steiner as infallible, in fact a future paper will address some of the inaccuracies and problematic aspects of his thought and work. Despite these often-contentious areas, I do believe his work is well worth taking seriously and deserving of attention and study. Steiner’s prescience about the modern world lends to my mind credibility to a possible Ahrimanic incarnation.
In this regard, I will start by examining some of his predictions concerning the role of vaccinations and health, an area with obvious implications for today. In a lecture from October 1917, Steiner spoke of a vaccine that will limit our access to spiritual connection, “people are now vaccinated against consumption, and in the same way they will be vaccinated against any inclination towards spirituality”, (The Fall Of The Spirits of Darkness, P. 200). This is a theme he would return to repeatedly, the prediction that through materialistic medicine, as well genetic manipulation, humans from a young age will have their soul connections severed. He describes this process in a Nov 1917 lecture, “inoculations will be tested that already in childhood will make people lose any urge for a spiritual life” (Secret Brotherhoods, p. 90).
He asserted that eugenics would be used to create super-adapted individuals, but without a spiritual connection “Esoteric truths must be revealed…and if they are added to Darwinian views, an incredible power will be gained over human beings through the selection of the fittest. In addition, there will be efforts toward an esoteric invention to adapt the fit to be even more fit, which will lead to a tremendous exploitation of power that will oppose the good tendencies” (The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric, P.188).
The Irish mystic, Lorna Bryne, wrote of a vision of a future human, provided by Archangel Micheal, that seems to echo Steiner’s prediction,” There seemed to be implants in his head, like clamps separating parts of his brain. His skull was not wholly made of bone, and was no longer flesh and blood…it was as if there was something invisible inside his arms and legs that made him unbreakable”. Micheal explained to Lorna that it will be because of family strengths and characteristics that his family could be chosen in the future. She quotes him as saying “In his exploration of science and technology man can make life better, but he can also use science in the wrong way. Humankind must learn to do things for the right reason, and not for the sake of power or control of others…if the future human leaders choose to go down that path, they will select families to become less free. More like slaves”. Of this Bryne writes “The shock of what I saw took my breath away. It was as if that tiny spark of light was his conscious mind, but the shocking thing was that it was surrounded by a total void-darkness. As if part of him had been locked away in a room where he could never access it…he seemed to be screaming in his mind as he searched the emptiness that filled it” (Stairways to Heaven p-228-230).
Not surprisingly the Anthroposophical community has engaged in lively internal debate about the Covid vaccine, mirroring the rest of the world. Many view vaccination as part of a broader effort to restrict consciousness to the material realm through both education and the altering of the physical body as a receptor for spiritual thoughts and influxes.
Anthroposophical medicine, initiated by Steiner and his close associates, has made several explorations into treatments that seemed absurd at first. One concerns the anti-cancer potential of mistletoe. Steiner first wrote of this potential based on his own insight into natural processes. The work of Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp, who is a pioneer in research on biophotons, found that mistletoe seemed to have the most unusual and active biophoton emissions. Treating cancer, and other ills, with biophotons is now a promising area of research. The use of Mistletoe extracts is also now being researched as well, with promising results( see for instance, the John Hopkins study Intraveneous Mistletoe Extract Shows Promise as Cancer Therapy in Small Study, Mone and Mehl, Feb 23, 2023).
Steiner viewed the control of the economic system, the emergence of “economic man” as a major part of this effort. He predicted that we would see an increasing emphasis on economic numbers and abstractions superseding the living human element in the realm of economics. Human labor would become increasingly viewed from a quantitative versus a qualitative perspective. In the context of a spiritual war, he describes what he foresaw happening to economic investment and exchange, “If they had won, we would live in a world of indescribable acumen which would apply to all kinds of different spheres in life. Speculations on the Stock Exchange which are sometimes quite dimwitted nowadays, would have have been made with incredible acumen.” (The Fall of The Spirits of Darkness, P.197, 1917). No doubt if he were alive today, he would see the vast and complex trading systems of today as evidence of the Ahrimanic mechanization of economic exchange. Not a positive development in Steiner’s view, and part of a more sinister agenda.
There are a number of areas of Steiner’s work that lend credibility to his darker predictions. His assertions and predictions, many of which seemed absurd at the time, have proven at least partly true, if not accurate. One of these concerns the role of what we now call the enteric brain. Steiner asserted that the heart and related organs were an important seat of thought, that the heart was “not a pump”, or more precisely, not just a pump. This has been proven to be true via the works of others on the information processing abilities of the heart (see for instance the work of the Heart Math Institute). The idea of “the heart having thoughts” is central to Steiner’s view of man and his future development. He contrasts this inspired and emotionally infused thought with the abstract, desiccated thought processes of Ahriman, and Ahrimanic beings, lacking in Gemut, or human feeling.
In terms of the brain, today’s MRI technology has supported his theory that the brain does not send signals through the nerves to make muscles move. Instead, the nerves are purposed to tell the brain the exact disposition of the muscles. What are termed sensory nerves tell the brain what is occurring outside the body. The motor nerves what is happening inside the body. He emphasized that an autonomous “will” system acts instantaneously through the body, that not only is consciousness not involved with many sensory processes, but that man at his current level of development has been “walled” off from our will in order to develop thinking of a higher order. This evolution is being subverted by our reliance on electronic instruments and the mechanization of thought.
Steiner also expressed an understanding of what we now call “morphic fields”. He speaks of this in different contexts, one related to reproduction, “When a new life arises within this living creature, the biologist focuses his observations on how the egg is growing out of the hen. He investigates the forces that he supposes are making the egg grow out of the hen itself. This is nonsense. The egg does not grow out of the hen for she is merely the foundation. Forces ray from the cosmos and generate the egg on the ground prepared for it within the hen…the truth of the matter will only be discovered when the cosmic forces are discovered, namely, that it is the cosmos that conjures the egg into the hen” (p.184- Secret Brotherhoods). A fascinating passage describes how in the past humans, in this case Atlanteans, solved problems using what Rupert Sheldrake calls “the presence of the past”, “If we go back to the early times of Atantean humanity we find there a mental capacity altogether different from our own. Logical reasoning, the calculatory combinations upon which all that is produced at the present day is based, were entirely wanting, but in place of these they possessed a highly developed memory. This memory was one of their most prominent mental faculties. For example, they did not count as we do by the application of certain acquired rules. A multiplication table was unknown. No one impressed upon his understanding the fact that three times four were twelve. A person’s ability to make such a calculation rested on the fact that he could remember cases of the same or similar kind. He remembered how this was done on former occasions” ( from Atlantis and Lemuria, GA 11. Our Atlantean Forefathers).
Steiner spoke of what we now call the GAIA hypothesis, the theory that the Earth is a living being. He criticizes traditional geology and its view of Earth as just an inert body of minerals, “Our entire earth is not a dead finished product, as mineralogy and geology believe it to be, but a living being…the Earth, which is only known as a skeletal system, is a living organism”. (The Electronic Doppleganger P.40). He also emphasized the important role of mankind and its actions in influencing its environment, the interaction of human intent with geological and weather changes. He viewed the Earth as living and part of a complex ecological system, with humans playing a central role. This he contrasted with the abstract idea of human history operating separately from geological history. It is the human being who has the awesome responsibility to be a custodian and evolving center of the Earth. He wrote of this in Dec 1919 lecture, from the perspective of an alien visitor observing the Earth “…he would find that he must look upon the human interior if he wished to find the cause of what takes place externally in nature. This insight into the connection of the human will with all natural phenomena must become an integral part of the science of the future. Such a science with show human beings their responsibility in quite a different way from today” (The Incarnation of Ahriman, p.105-106).
Another area of interest concerns the nature of the sun. Steiner viewed the sun as a kind of plasmid portal, best described as what he called “counter space”. He predicted that the sun would prove to be cooler than anticipated. Recent works on plasma physics endorse his view of the sun as plasmid in nature. Robert Temple in his recent work, A New Science of Heaven, devotes an entire chapter to the “cold sun”. He writes “The conventional idea of the sun began to fall apart for me, as I discovered some strange facts in recent years. The ultimate discovery I made, which convinced me that nearly everybody is wrong about the sun, was the revelation that the sun is cold”. (The New Science of Heaven, p.121.) Temple’s work will returned to later in a different context.
Steiner made some interesting observations regarding the quantum world, at a time when quantum mechanics was in its early stages. He rejected the materialist idea that atoms exist in a concrete sense, emphasizing the role of consciousness in creating reality. An observation supported today by critics of reductionist physics. He writes of atoms In The Occult Movements of the Nineteenth Century, “He projects them into space, fills space with them-and they are then the atoms. That, in truth, is the origin of atomism. If there is a mirror in front of you, you will certainly believe that there, outside, is another collection of people. In the same way man conceives that the whole of space is filled with what he projects into it…the whole atomic picture is like a reflecting-screen… what does a natural scientist say? He says: analyze the phenomena of nature and you find the atomic world! We, know that the atomic world is simply not there”. It is important to note that Steiner is not saying that the world outside our consciousness does not exist, he is stating his belief that we project our concepts onto the physical world, they are us, not the true ontology of the other.
The idea that the moon only exists when we notice it he would reject as ungrounded solipsism, the moon has its own being and consciousness, and projects its own view of reality. Space and time for Steiner were only part of the universe, there exists an “enduring realm” that precedes and creates what we call space-time.
In this regard the older esoteric concept of “maya” is crucial to our understanding. Steiner, and others in diverse spiritual paths, discuss this concept in terms of our limited and circumscribed realities, worlds created for us by the spiritual hierarchies at work. Other beings have their own “mayas”, different from ours in content, breadth and quality. This constitutes what I term an “organic singularity”. A natural world created specifically for the species on earth. This contrasts with the naïve idea of a computer simulation, a dangerous idea I will return to in the context of modern AI and occult concepts of the eighth sphere.
Another area of interest involves Steiner’ emphasis on nutrition in the mental processes, what we now call the “gut-brain connection”. He was once again ahead of his time in making this assertion, one connected to both his models of medicine and bio-dynamic gardening he helped pioneer. In his work, Harmony of the Creative World, he advocates for what we today call holistic medicine, “here you see why a system of medicine today mist be born out of a knowledge of man as a whole. Nothing can be achieved until such a system is actually developed. It is one of the prime essentials today. If you look at modern textbooks of medicine, you will see that with rarest exceptions, they do not take their start from the metabolic system. But this must be the point of departure, otherwise one does not learn the true nature of illness”(p.175).
In this same work he makes some specific mentions of the healing power of copper, now well known in holistic circles, and promotes honey as a key nutrient for the nervous system, “ We have honey inside the bee hive and when we eat and enjoy honey it gives the form-giving forces that must now be provided more from the outside, with the same strength and power milk gives our head during the years of childhood”(p.197). Recent research supports this connection between honey and neural health, see for instance the April 2014 article Neurological Effects Of Honey: Current and Future Prospects, from Evidence Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine by Rahman, Siew, Gan and Khalil. Honey has been researched as a basis for making neuromorphic computer chips, see, Honey Holds Potential for Making Brain Like Computer Chips, from WSU News by Sara Zaske and primary research piece by Sueoka and Zhao in March 2022 Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, Vol 55, Number 22.
Regarding honey and bees, Steiner predicted, in 1922, that bee population will be severely diminished. The term “colony collapse” was created in 2006, some 84 years later. He attributed this future collapse to both meddling with bee reproduction and the negative effects of electrical/ELM fields. The recent work of authors Arthur Firstenberg and Robert Becker leads an increasing chorus of scientists and doctors challenging the safety of modern electronics.
In this same volume Steiner makes some intriguing statements about the importance of carbon within a spiritual eco-system. Here the importance of the etheric body is emphasized, “carbon becomes the benefactor of the human organization: for before it leaves the human organization, it lets ether stream out everywhere in the organism. Physiologists merely state that carbon is exhaled with carbon dioxide. This is only one side of the process…this ether penetrates into man’s etheric body, and it is this ether, continually produced by carbon, which makes the human organization capable of opening itself up to spiritual influences of absorbing astral and etheric impulses from the cosmos” (p.167-168). This processing of carbon has a much deeper significance than organic chemistry. It connects man with higher cosmic metabolic processes. The same can be said for direct contact with sun/solar energies and information. Recent suggestions to block the sun and reduce carbon dioxide can perhaps be understood in a different light based on esoteric ecologies.
Steiner also predicted that as the 20th and 21st centuries unfold, an increasing number of individuals will be born with super-sensory abilities, as well as abilities to see into the elemental realms and higher spiritual worlds. Paradoxically, according to Steiner, this is due to the victory of spiritual forces that “cast down” Ahrimanic and allied beings into the Earth sphere, “It is only because of their fall that instead of merely critical, physical intelligence and the mediumistic approach, it has been and will increasingly be possible to gain direct experiences in the spiritual world…the spiritual worlds reveal themselves in more places than one would think. Spiritual influences can be felt everywhere, although at present time they are not always good ones”. (The Fall Of The Spirits Of Darkness p.198). Steiner foresaw both an increasing awareness and experience of other worlds and a related increase in negative influences. The explosion of NDEs, OBEs, awareness of past lives, increased psychic abilities as well as increased elemental and demonic manifestations are aligned with this evolution in consciousness. As I have written elsewhere the varied UFO phenomenon is part of this process. (See Steiner, UFOs and Ahriman, Outer Limits Magazine, August 2020, and Alternate Perceptions, June 2023). Lorna Bryne echoes Steiner again in a passage from Stairway To Heaven “We will become more telepathic. We won’t necessarily be telepathic in relation to everyone but, a mother will be telepathic with her child in school and will know when that child is upset or there is a problem…many people are becoming more telepathic, more intuitive” (p.287).
One of the stranger predictions made by Steiner is regarding what he calls the Ahrimanic double. According to his esoteric ecology, a being attaches itself to humans at birth, operating through the electromagnetic forces in man. Ahriman, whose predicted incarnation we will discuss shortly, originates as a fallen god, or archai of form, an actual being who serves a purpose in human and cosmic evolution. He however has “overstepped” his role and is attempting, along with other forces in the dark pantheon, to push evolution in a different direction than originally intended. Ahriman and Ahrimanic beings, most resemble the Djinn of Islamic lore, the beings of “smokeless fire” who operate through electricity and electromagnetics, forces that according to Steiner, are degraded forms of light, forces of death in organic life. Steiner predicted that these doppelgangers would increasingly appear, we, and others, will see our doubles. Author Joshua Cutchin mentions a variety of examples of this appearance, including those of some well-known experiencers and investigators. He provides several pages of abductee stories seeing doubles and mentions the cases of investigators John Keel and Brad Steiger, both of whom were told of doubles appearing on multiple occasions. In Steiger’s case they included some rather nasty doubles who berated audiences and seemed to be alter egos. He speculates “It seems mere proximity to flying saucers draws out the soul” (Ecology of Souls Vol 2, p.277-282). I suspect that this is a broader phenomenon, one connected to other soul experiences as well.
Steiner’s prescience about the world of today makes his predictions of an Ahrimanic incarnation, in the flesh, an intriguing possibility. Steiner mentioned that this incarnation, like those of Lucifer and Christ, is an “iron necessity”, a term he used to describe immutable laws of the cosmos and inevitable events. In sifting through the writings and lectures of Steiner, as well as the later writing of anthroposophist’s, patterns emerge that predict when the time is ripe for Ahriman’s emergence. These “pillars” include nine specific tendencies and forces in modern culture:
1) The materialistic and mechanistic view of thought and nature. This aspect requires little explanation. Despite some recent challenges to the materialistic paradigm, it remains at the core of modern science. Analog to this is the human emphasis on consumerism and accumulating material gains in lieu of other more spiritual pursuits. The ultimate goal of Ahrimanic forces is to eliminate a free spiritual life, substituting routine and empty ritual alongside materialism. Substituting mechanisms for miracles.
2) Related to materialism is the emphasis on number and quantity in lieu of quality. Here we have the “economic man”, following statistical measures of “happiness”, and productivity, creating vast bureaucracies that are disconnected from direct human experience. Alongside are the abstract “programs”, such as “five-year plans”, and empty slogans that treat as secondary human experience and needs of the heart. Art forms become routinized and disconnected from human feeling. Witness the often-bland architecture of “modernity” in contrast to the individuality and beauty of the past, such as the Chartres Cathedral. Bernard Nesfield -Cookson sums up this aspect of Ahriman “Ahriman is totally against spiritual activity. His plan is to reduce everything to a formula, to a rigid form which allows of no change, no metamorphosis, no life to manifest itself. Ahriman can see no reason for architects to create beautiful buildings, of varying artistic beauty, when it is much simpler to manufacture a standard size and shape.” (Micheal and The Two Horned Beast, p 59). The same can be said of all the arts and handicrafts. The aesthetic element is missing or repressed in an Ahrimanic world.
3) Nationalism and tribalism, now making a significant comeback, is a retrograde force aided by, and helping to prepare the Ahrimanic incarnation. Tribalism that had its function in the past, is now delaying or preventing the creation of a true human community, limiting identities and fueling internecine warfare. This aspect will lead ultimately to what Steiner called “the war of all against all”, a total fragmentation of societies. Of this Steiner writes “You need only look at all the conflicting groups and interests that exist today, and if you are unprejudiced, you will recognize that the explanation for this is not to be found in human nature alone…it is precisely here that “supersensible” powers, Ahrimanic powers have been at work” (The Incarnation of Ahriman p.23).
4) Steiner over one hundred years ago, predicted the rise of fundamentalist perspectives on the Gospels and Christ. Leading to literal interpretations of text and modern views of Christ as either an ordinary human, or as a “warrior” king, returning in the flesh to seek justice through violent means. In Steiner’s cosmology (echoed by Cayce, Gurdjieff and Lorna Bryne among others), Christ is a universal being, not merely an advanced human. He will not appear again in the flesh, but in the etheric body of Earth, a development that other forces, such as Ahriman, are attempting to hinder. The Christ being is responsible in Steiner’s cosmology for balancing the opposing forces of Luciferic and Ahrimanic beings.
5) Ahriman, the biblical Satan, is the king of deceit. Following a more traditional view, Steiner saw this as a part of his role, to test and confuse humanity, requiring us to use discernment and careful thought. Ahriman creates a disharmony between ideas and facts, and enjoys the related disharmony created amongst different groups. Today, perhaps more than ever, we see competing narratives, accusations of “fake news” and lies, a muddying of the waters of communication made worse by social media. The solution, according to Steiner, is to avoid extremes of fanaticism and detachment, to move toward mediation and community.
6) Another aspect of modern thought and belief that favors Ahriman emerges out of the shallow spirituality of what is labeled the “New Age” movement. Steiner saw the flight into fantasy and avoidance of encountering the materiality of the modern world, as playing into the hands of Ahrimanic forces. The struggles of our time against the evils of our time will not be won by avoidance or magical thinking, nor deluded talk of ascension, but by individual spiritual development and engagement requiring both intense effort and sacrifice. Much like abstract economic programs, the superficial slogans and short cuts featured in many spiritual systems of today, such as “the Secret”, disarm our ability to discern reality. Steiner believed that the time for social isolation, retreats from the social sphere was past. Escaping into wholly private worlds, disconnected from the flow of human activity was a way of surrendering to Ahrimanic technology versus confronting it. This was for Steiner Luciferic in nature. Lucifer desires to restrain us from social action and create a world of dreamers and ungrounded mysticism. In contrast Ahriman seeks to trap us in a mechanized world of automatic thinking, a hive mind, bereft of any creative work and spiritual contact within a broader cosmology.
7) The dimming of consciousness is something Steiner was concerned about, including the increase in distractions and mindless activities he saw as an increasing threat. Drug use, agitation, rage, as well as loss of consciousness via trance states all play into the hands of Ahrimanic beings. Today’s world of endless distractions worsened by social media and smart phones, as well as the complications of modern living, continue to limit our free time for any kind of reflection and consciousness building. The loss of self in drug and behavioral addictions is rampant.
8) In my opinion, one of the most concerning trends in modern thought has to do with what I call neo-materialism. I define this as the co-opting of ideas that challenge traditional materialism and deploying them to create a new materialism, a more sophisticated but ultimately reductionist cosmology. Ideas of the universe as a computer simulation is one prominent example. Plasma physics is another very valid scientific area of study that can be used to support a “deeper” layer of reductionism. The work of Robert Temple mentioned earlier is one prominent example of this.
Temple makes a well-documented and appealing case for plasma physics to be taken seriously. He also makes the case for the existence of conscious, super intelligent, plasmid beings. However, he connects this narrative with the primacy of inorganic intelligence. One conclusion he comes to is that “The organic life forms of our planet are a footnote, not the main text, of the message of the universe” (A New Science of Heaven p. 315.) Elsewhere he writes “We will see that intelligence of complex plasmas such as the Kordylewski Clouds may not be exactly like ours and speculate that it may be more like the artificial intelligence and quantum computers now in development” (p.64).
He ties in plasma theories of cosmic intelligence with the implicit idea of a control system, while extolling the superiority of “their” capacities, “Intelligent calculations by such conscious plasmas would be so rapid and so massive that a Kordylewski Cloud would easily have the capacity to monitor every living creature on Earth in real time and model future events for all of them. Such a cloud could thus foresee with a high degree of probability what would happen in almost any Earth situation and have models of every conceivable variable’s effect on events. From the point of view of the limited human brain, a Kordylewski Cloud therefore has the capacity of what to us would be indistinguishable from omniscience” (p.227). To me these are dangerous conclusions based first on underestimating the capabilities of humans, and secondly creating a cosmology of computer like plasmid beings as “gods.” Lastly, he writes and speaks of plasmid “angels” regulating the universe, what I have termed above a neo-materialistic conception, one that contradicts thousands of years of spiritual wisdom borne of interaction with external beings of great wisdom. According to Steiner and all major spiritual traditions, there exists what he termed an “enduring realm”, one completely without space, time and matter.
My contention would be that superior beings may work via plasmid systems, (or even assume plasmid “bodies”), and that these are of great utility, much as they work through the human brain and now artificial intelligence, but that they are not constituted of plasma. Older spiritual conceptions of karma, akashic records, and human history may well be “recorded” in plasmid clouds, but this confuses ontology and information, giving primacy to inorganic versus organic being. Such a cosmology Steiner would certainly see as Ahrimanic in nature, and connected to what he called the Ahrimanic deception. Plasma physics certainly is crucial to our understanding of the universe, but presented in this way creates a new materialistic paradigm to replace the now discredited “naïve realism” of Newtonian physics. It also connects with worshiping the burgeoning superpower of artificial intelligence, and the reductionist idea of a world created by inorganic intelligences. A world where, as he suggests, humans and all organic life, are merely a footnote.
In fairness to Temple, he does mention the existence of accounts of interaction with plasmid beings in various spiritual traditions. Validating their authenticity, he writes “Humanity has been inundated with accounts of what we would call, using the terminology of science, divine plasma entities…but most people have tended to disregard them as either fantasies, or the enthusiastic reveries of people who were not entirely sane. They constitute massive evidence of phenomena experienced by sensitive and meditative persons in all cultures…at last science has caught up with mysticism, and modern physicists are seriously suggesting that intelligent plasma beings can exist after all” (p.74). His treatment of these interactions is similar, however, to the “flesh and blood alien” paradigm, reducing all interaction to the material level, albeit with plasma in place of organic beings.
Temple also writes convincingly of the role plasma plays not only in the external universe, but also in the human body. His description of the bio-plasmic body corresponds to the etheric body of theosophy, anthroposophy and Reich’s orgone energy work. He suggests that they survive bodily death, again echoing the idea of an etheric body. He reviews the work of scientist Freeman Cope who borrowed heavily from Reich’s officially discredited work, concluding that Reich was correct in many of his assertions. However, he seems to misunderstand, or ignore, the nature of his work on ethers. In the ether physics of Reich, as well as Steiner, primacy is given to etheric forces that create plasma, plasma existing as the first form of matter, one that can later manifest in the traditional physics of the four basic states of matter. This may seem like a minor issue but speaks again of a new kind of reductionism.
Other modern theories such as morphic fields and field theories in general, quantum physics and advanced technologies that can mimic human psychic abilities all will, I fear, be utilized to “explain away” any spiritual world or special human abilities. A new form of materialism is emerging that will be gilded by vague spiritual doctrines wedded to technologies that reproduce spiritual experiences such as synchronicities, OBEs, telepathy and clairvoyant visions. Such will be the Ahrimanic school of magic.
In any interesting passage, Ray Kurzweil a prominent proponent of AI, compares the magic of Harry Potter to future developments “The tales may be imaginary, but they are not unreasonable visions of our world as it will exist only a few decades from now. Essentially all of the Potter “magic” will be realized through…technology” (The Singularity is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology, P. 4-5).
Steiner seems to have seen this danger “You see, there are forms of materialism under which materialism itself can be denied. People claim that materialism has disappeared, and that we are already talking about spirit. But they are all talking about spirit in a vague manner. It is entirely possible to be a materialist by turning all of nature into spirit, so that one ends up with psychism. What matters is the ability to see into the concrete spiritual world” (The Electronic Doppleganger, P.72).
9) A final pillar in the Ahrimanic incarnation is that of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology and transhumanism. Anthroposophists were among the first to articulate concerns about these related developments. Several works on this topic go far to explain both the dangers of misusing technology and the connection to left-handed spiritual traditions promoting an Ahrimanic world. These include the massive two volume book by Paul Emberson From Gondishapur to Silicon Valley, and recent articles, such as The Eighth Sphere by David O’Hagan, Ahriman by Douglas Gabriel. Elana Freeland’s work, including her most recent book Geo-Engineered Transhumanism describes in detail the interlocking technologies of mind-control, surveillance, synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, and mind-computer merging.
What kind of world is in the process of creation and what are the main dangers? One of the most prominent is the devaluing of the human being in favor of AI networks, an interview quote from Zultan Istvan, a prime advocate of transhumanism, illustrates this goal “The world will be run by AI networks of quantum intelligence. Nations will have ceased to exist as independent physical entities because they will be online and have merged as one. Humans may exist, but they will be off the AI grid, contributing very little to progress and what is happening to the world” (Quartz.com interview).
A second great danger is the hijacking of human evolution. Steiner describes the dangers of human evolution going in a sinister direction. This involves the turning over of intelligence from the spiritual hierarchies to Ahrimanic and Luciferic beings via electronic networks, the creation of a web-like hive mind of great automatic intelligence, but with no moral character. In this scenario humans will be entrapped by this web, or matrix. Steiner spoke of this over a hundred years ago “It will be quite possible for the men of the Earth to develop a more and more automatic form of intellect… full and complete humanity cannot come to expression in such a form of intellect, and people will have no relationship to the Beings who would fain come towards them on the Earth” ( Evolution and Extraterrestrials, lecture at Dornach, p 10, May 13, 1921).
Who are these beings that Steiner observed? In this same lecture he describes them “And from the Earth there will spring forth a terrible brood of beings, a brood of automata of an order of existence lying between the mineral and plant kingdoms, possessed of an overwhelming power of intellect. This swarm will seize the Earth, will spread over the earth like a network of ghastly, spider-like creatures, of an order lower than that of plant -existence, but possessed of overpowering wisdom. These spidery creatures will be interlocked with one another, and in their outward movements they will imitate the thoughts that men have spun out of the shadowy intellect that has not allowed itself to be quickened by the new form of imaginative knowledge by spiritual science. All the thoughts that lack substance and reality will be endowed with being… he will have to live together with these spider-like creatures and to continue his cosmic existence within the order of evolution into which this brood will then enter” (ibid p. 11).
Steiner seems to be describing a kind of mineralized virtual reality, a physical manifestation of human thoughts, a blending of artificial intelligence with human experience trapped in an electronic web, acted out by malevolent beings. This sounds very much like the imitative abilities of artificial intelligence in development at this time, merged with genetic manipulation to create a hellish world bereft of better human qualities. A world where humans, as Istvan and others suggest, are subservient. This scenario, however, goes one step further than Istvan, suggesting that humans will not be marginalized refugees in this new world, but entrapped and used as part of a matrix network.
The risks of exploring the quantum realms are perhaps best articulated by some of the modern-day proponents and explorers of AI. Elon Musk has spoken about the dangers of encountering demonic forces in the process of breaking into quantum spaces. The inventor of the D-Wave quantum computer, Geordie Rose instead compares these beings to the creatures in the works of H. P. Lovecraft “these things that we are summoning into the world now are not demons. They’re not evil, but more like the Lovecraftian great old ones. There are entities that are not necessarily going to be aligned with what we want.” (From a You Tube interview, https://youtu.be/m2g-Xzf6bD4). The hubris in this statement is I feel very evident. Steiner instead advocated for the need of individual spiritual development, one pursued along traditional lines of initiation, or what he called spiritual science. As the name of his movement suggests, he placed humans at the center point of evolution. This is in sharp contrast to the current efforts of those seeking to marginalize humans, that again ignore the higher capacities mostly dormant within human beings and the divine human body. Efforts that naively, or perhaps consciously, introduce and extoll alien entities that have agendas inimical to human evolution.
Steiner viewed these machine-man interfaces as inevitable; the question will be how they are integrated. This era is one of momentous decisions on how to deploy technologies. Steiner spoke of this in a number of lectures “I have called your attention to the fact that the fifth post-Atlantean period will have to solve the problem of how human states of mind, movements within the human soul, can be transferred in oscillating waves to machines, and how the human being must be brought into connection with what must become more and more mechanical…the issues will be whether those who introduce these things do so for the salvation of humanity, or whether they are brought onto the scene by groups of human beings who only want to exploit these things for egotistical or group-egotistical purposes. It is not what is coming that matters in this case, as what is coming is coming for certain: it is how these things are dealt with that matters. What is coming is simply in accordance with the Earth’s evolution, The forging together of human nature with the nature of the machine will be a significant problem for the rest of Earth’s evolution” (The Electronic Doppleganger, p 108-109).
The exploration of quantum realms and electromagnetic forces, the domains of Ahriman and Lucifer, will also unleash unknown forces of great power that will need to be harnessed “These forces, these death forces, will become ever more powerful. And the connection will be made between the death forces in the human being, related to electromagnetic forces, and outer machine forces. In a sense, the human being will be able to let his thoughts flow into the machine forces. As yet undiscovered forces within the human being will be understood, forces that have an effect on outer electrical and magnetic forces” (ibid p109). Steiner is alluding to unseen and unknown forces that can be used for ill or good, exactly what the human community is today just beginning to grapple with
In its search for the place of AI and man-machine interfaces in our future.
One of these forces will operate machines via human thought, along the lines of the Keely machines discussed by Steiner, Blavatsky and others. Steiner ties this in with the knowledge of cosmic forces that will develop in the near future “The cosmic forces that will be drawn upon will generate strange machines, which will only be of the sort that will take over the work of human beings because they contain within them a certain force of intelligence. Large temptations will emanate from these machine-animals produced by people themselves, and it will be the task of a spiritual science that explores the cosmos to ensure all these temptations do not exert any damaging influence on human beings” (ibid p. 122).
Steiner is here alluding to the battle between the forces of hindrance and egotistical aims, the left-handed path of the mystery schools, with the right-handed path that can lead to spiritualization of medicine and the enhancement of human development. Steiner foresaw two diverging paths for humanity one leading to the “Jupiter” and later “Venus” and “Vulcan” stages of growth, the other entrapment in the mineralized virtual reality of the occult Eighth Sphere. Jupiter and later stages allow for free will and the expression of enhanced human abilities for empathy and genuine community. Benign cosmic beings are involved in aiding and directing these developments, if we allow them, “ The issue at stake is whether human beings will resolve in the present epoch to make themselves worthy to receive what the good Spirits who want to unite with men are bringing down from the cosmos, or whether people intend to seek their future cosmic existence within the tangled spider-brood of their own shadowy thoughts”(Evolution and Extraterrestrials p.12).
Entrapment in the Eighth Sphere will lead to the hindrance of evolution for certain souls, lost in a sphere akin to the Ghost realms of Buddhist cosmology. Steiner expressed great concern regarding the destiny of the dead who pass into the astral realms without spiritual beliefs to guide them “ They thereby entrap themselves more than ever in the physical sense realm, in the naturalistic world, and block their own ascendence after they have gone through the portal of death…those people who are unable to furnish themselves with any conceptions of life after death find themselves in a deplorable condition” (Ibid p. 33). Gurdjieff made a similar ominous warning regarding the dangers of the afterlife for those who are spiritually undeveloped, what he called the “terror of the situation”. A choice will be made both individually and collectively as to how to proceed.
Human reproduction itself will also be a field of contest between left - and right-handed forces on Earth, each aided by corresponding forces of guidance or hindrance. Gender fusion he predicted would be part of this process. Steiner again appears prescient in this regard, “The third problem concerns the introduction of human thoughts into the coming-into-being, into the birth and conception, of human beings themselves. I have pointed out that there have been congresses held on this matter, and that there are even attempts to justify the development of a materialistic science of procreation and the union of male and female” (ibid p.108).
These neo-eugenics movements alluded to earlier, are the third part of a three-pronged approach to controlling humanity, the others materialistic medicine and artificial intelligence. In their study on transhumanism, Joseph Farrel and Dr. Scott D.de Hart, explore this ancient occult emphasis on androgyny concluding “If that term-Singularity- sounds apocalyptic, that’s because it is, for the transhumanists intend, consciously and deliberately, to transform man, and to do so specifically by creating, the “techno-androgynous fusion” of man and mineral, of man and machine, and to do that by the application of every technical artiface available or conceivable. They speak openly of an apocalyptic future transcending evolution and human nature itself, and of a future, much of it already dawning in which technologies allow mankind to engineer human evolution itself” (Transhumanism p.135).
It is important to note that in Steiner’s cosmology, derived from older traditions, androgyny existed in earlier epochs of man, and will occur again based on the natural evolution of our species. The difference is that this development is premature in our times and driven by need for control and the hubris of assuming God like powers. This drive to exploit technology and introduce it prematurely is a cardinal feature of Ahrimanic powers according to Steiner. Humanity must be morally ready to utilize these technologies. Sadly, this is far from the case. Steiner describes how these technologies will be directly related to Ahriman’s incarnation and packaged as benign and acting on a purely material level. Their purpose in reality will be to block or harm beneficial spiritual influences “Those in the west who will seek to introduce the AntiChrist as the Christ are attempting to exploit what is able to act within the most material of forces but which, in actual fact, acts through the most material of forces with a spiritual effect. This quarter is seeking to exploit electricity and in particular, the Earth’s magnetism in order to generate effects that will affect the whole of the world. I have explained to you how the Earth’s forces arise in what I have called the human doppleganger. This is a secret that will be discovered. It will be an American secret of how to use the double nature of the Earth’s magnetism, with its north and south magnetic poles, in order to send controlling forces throughout the world that will have a spiritual effect” (The Electronic Doppleganger p119). Steiner is alluding here to a world-wide control system we recently have come to call “the matrix”.
In this final section, I turn now to attempt to make some predictions regarding how the flesh and blood Ahrimanic incarnation will appear. There have been a number of efforts to predict the time of his appearance. Some have concluded that his birth is in the more distant future, others speculate that he is alive today. A tendency has been to view this incarnation abstractly. I will attempt instead to outline, or profile, what the outward human appearance of this incarnation may look like.
What did Steiner say about this incarnation? He made some general comments in a number of lectures, emphasizing that his future incarnation has been prepared over a long period of time prior to his bodily appearance. The nine pillars I discussed above are an attempt to understand these efforts. He also stressed the need to “not sleep through” his arrival and fail to perceive it “What would be the result if people were to follow the strong inclination they have today to let things drift on as they are, without understanding and guiding into right channels those streams which lead to an Ahrimanic culture? As soon as Ahriman incarnates at the destined time in the West, the whole of culture would be impregnated with his forces” (The Influences Of Lucifer and Ahriman, p.64).
He specifically mentions that Ahriman will incarnate in the West and seems to allude that he will have a “ordinary” name such as John William Smith, his birth will be merely registered as any other birth, with no outward acclaim. His identity will be of little account, the key thing is that he will be a used vessel for the incarnation.
He will found a school of magic providing materialistic explanations of supersensory, clairvoyant and other psychic experiences. Of this Steiner wrote “Through certain stupendous acts he would bring to humanity all the clairvoyant knowledge which until then can be acquired only by dint of intense labor and effort. People could live on as materialists, they could eat and drink- as much as may be left after the war! – and there would be no need for any spiritual efforts. The Ahrimanic streams would continue their unimpeded course. When Ahriman incarnates in the West at the appointed time, he would establish a great occult school for the practice of magic arts of the greatest grandeur, and what otherwise can only be acquired by strenuous effort would be poured over humankind” (ibid p.64-64).
Steiner elsewhere discusses this “gifting” of psychic abilities without spiritual training or related moral development. One result will be a “confusion of tongues” with everyone seeing a different view of supersensory realities, in turn creating further conflicts “Confusion would prevail and in spite of being made receptive to clairvoyant wisdom, people would inevitably fall into strife on account of the sheer diversity of their visions. Ultimately, however, they would all be satisfied with their own particular vision…” (ibid p.65). To a degree we are already seeing an increase in super-sensory abilities, along with debates over what visions are “accurate”. A new Tower Of Babel. As indicated, Steiner also asserted that his emergence would correspond with a world war. During this time consumer goods and food would be in short supply.
Lorna Bryne discusses this birth as well, and again echoes Steiner’s accounts. She relates what has been told to her by Archangel Michael and other members of the angelic hierarchy. According to her, she was told that Satan had succeeded in human birth but had died as an infant. “Angels told me that he would be born and born again until he succeeds in growing up as an adult…I have been shown this child, who grows to maturity, being born somewhere in the world other than America, but moving to America at some stage…”. She has not been told as to whether he is alive today, but that she will be alive to witness his emergence.
She also states that the Antichrist will try to stop the positive evolution of man “God wants us to be happy, He has shown me some very positive futures. Man’s intended evolution is for the body and soul to become one and for humans to become perfect spiritual beings who will no longer suffer physical illness or die. The Antichrist will try to stop this evolution. He will try and fool us into thinking that he is making the world a better place. But he will not! We humans are very gullible and, if we let Satan get more control of us, he will blind us to the fact that we are much, much more than our bodies and minds. He will wipe out our consciousness that we also have a soul”. (Stairways to Heaven, P. 284).
Steiner offered a number of alternatives and solutions to Ahrimanic deceptions. Most critical would be the development of a new initiation wisdom “…a counterweight must be created; and this counterweight can only be created if, like the old wisdom inherent in paganism, a new wisdom, acquired by the free resolve and will of human beings is infused into earthly culture” (The Influences of Lucifer and Ahriman p.64).
His anthroposophical movement has proved resilient, producing a number of related disciplines, including Waldorf and Camphill education, bio-dynamic agriculture, eurythmy, and recently new research into “mechanical occultism”, building upon the concept of Keely machines. The nurturing of super-sensory abilities, related moral development and discernment into the spiritual positive forces attempting to aid humanity, are goals and aspirations central to his purpose. None of these efforts are without their controversies, each individual can form their own opinions.
In the following profile, I make two assumptions. First, that Ahriman has already incarnated, and secondly that his outward appearance will conform to modern cultural influences. These are of course speculations and are not based on any clairvoyance on my part. They are based on my experience as psychotherapist and cultural observer. I do feel that we need to move beyond abstractions in ascertaining the nature of his entry into our world, providing a human profile. This may help us identify, and perhaps disarm, the effects of his incarnation.
The first characteristic of Ahriman is based on what I see as a bifurcation in modern society. In my view we are witnessing and participating in a split in thought, feeling and action. Certain human patterns are manifesting that support an increasingly narcissistic, desensitized, amoral, detached and often violent alienation. In contrast, or perhaps as a counterweight, we are also seeing the emergence of spiritual questing and exploration along with a greater need for spiritual meaning and connection. Works such as The Children of Now by Blackburn Losey, The Children of The Fifth World by P.M.H Atwater, Mary Rodwell’s The New Human, Autism and the God Connection by William Stillman, all describe a vanguard of individuals, often labeled as neurodiverse who are gifted with high emotional intelligence, creativity, psychic abilities, and advanced empathic abilities.
I suspect that Ahriman’s incarnation will present as having many of these abilities but wedded to a darker inner development consistent with Ahriman’s own alienation well described by Richard Leviton, “Ahriman’s basic problem is self-contraction: he suffers from a kind of ontological claustrophobia…Ahriman’s world has contracted into a frosty, darkened cavern of one being-his own: in this condition he affirms only himself and denies the rest of the world. For Ahriman, freedom means “the proud feeling of manifesting himself in the action, said Steiner, and that’s why he needs more space: space for more matter, for more egoistical self-being. Ahriman needs space in which to materialize the spiritual world, to capture intelligence within materiality, and to hold humans spellbound and fastened permanently to the Earth” (Lucifer and Ahriman p. 53).
Ahriman in the flesh will likely “hijack” or misdirect, the newer spiritual energies by appearing as a force of light with progressive ideas. He will use newer scientific ideas, what I have labelled neo-materialistic ideas, to reduce psychic abilities to material processes. Outwardly he may appear much like the Anti-Christ in the mystic philosopher Soloviev’s work (The Tale Of The Antichrist) an admirable pacifist, practicing vegetarian, defender of animal rights and other progressive causes. He will be an eloquent speaker and an excellent writer and communicator of ideas, appealing to younger people looking desperately for a new cosmology and progressive social change. This outward appearance will sway many. His ability to “manifest” material goods at time of scarcity will contribute to his reputation. Like many narcissistic dictators, and past “antichrists” such as Hitler, he will inspire others but only in the service of his own agenda.
He may resemble what has been termed in modern jargon as a “dark empath”. These are individuals with a blend of empathic abilities and exploitative motivations. A recent article describes their appeal “We are drawn to the combination of darkness alongside the charisma of warmth…a dark crusader for good, flawed yet gifted, burdened with power and responsibility, typically compassionate at least partly from overcoming personal trauma, however imperfectly…dark empaths have a greater ability to make sense of others motives and needs to help make decisions while retaining the ability to engage psychopathy when necessary” (Introducing The Dark Empath p.4).
He will offer a carefully crafted solution to mankind’s problems embracing a search for meaning and the rejection of all older systems of faith as well as the naïve realism of science. In its place he will substitute a combination of black magic enhanced by technology and neo-materialistic ideas to satisfy human cravings for a deeper understanding lacking in modern religions and soulless science. If allowed he will crowd out any notion of a separate spiritual world and other paths of development and aid. Substituting his own self-serving ideology and cosmology.
I suspect Ahriman will take advantage of both the growing quest for spiritual solutions and the drifting away of many from traditional spirituality. The modern tendency to believe in constructs such as a computer simulation as the source of our world, instead of concepts of maya, or the existence of actual spiritual beings, points to this vulnerability. Thousands of years of slow spiritual development may be cast aside for fast and easy miracles and new forms of reductionism.
As an actual human being growing to adulthood in modern society, he may have in some ways an “ordinary” life narrative, blended with some extraordinary features. The following are some additional intuitions as to his outward appearance and nature:
1) He will grow up with a deep sense of alienation, and a deep sense of special purpose. If Bryne is correct, he will also arrive in America from a foreign culture, contributing to a sense of being different.
2) This alienation will be in part increased by social isolation, others will sense a difference from the norm, he may be a victim of bullying and rejection, further deepening his alienation.
3) He will turn inward looking for direction, through drug experimentation and forms of meditation, he will open himself up to negative influences and begin to glimpse his purpose.
4) He may despair at times and hesitantly seek out help, perhaps psycho- therapy. He may have some contact with the mental health system but will find this unsatisfying and will retreat to his own inner world and greater sense of destiny.
5) Signs of oppression, or even possession, will be present from an early age, perhaps an especially deep voice or other early signatures. (If one doubts the reality of possession, some recent works such as Demonic Foes by Dr. Richard Gallagher are accessible and worthwhile reading.) As a young man he physically may appear stiff and rigid, robotic in movement, self-enclosed and defended.
6) As a dark empath he will identify with nature and the animal world, perhaps as Soloviev suggested, he will be a vegetarian. He will write about environmental themes and portray himself as a crusader for related causes. This may serve as his entrée into political and social discourse.
7) At some point he will develop enhanced psychic abilities and will experience synchronicities and guiding events that steer him toward his ultimate role as a black magician. He will later perform “miracles” but will explain them in mechanistic terms, denying any role for outside agencies or spiritual intelligences. These will be the basis of his own school of “magic”.
8) Although capable of a kind of empathy toward nature, he will express an increasingly cold and rational intellect, superficially clever, with a cynical attitude toward anything resembling true spirituality. He will embody a callous attitude toward humanity, reflecting his own alienation. His human connections will be increasingly limited, including from his family of origin.
9) In his early thirties he may become fully aware of his destiny and the external forces shaping him, creating a kind of internal crisis and ultimate surrender to Ahriman. Whatever little humanity is left in him will be overcome.
In his own speculations regarding the Anti-Christ, author Mark Booth summarizes the nature of Ahriman and his goals “As the spirit of materialism he wants to try to persuade people to accept a view of the world as an entirely mechanical place. Where angels stand by us trying to prompt us, trying to engage with us and inspire us, the Ant-Christ wants to distract us with bright precious things of the material world. He shows us what we can have. He encourages us to think cleverly, but not to be fully and deeply human. He doesn’t want us to be humanly concerned in what we think…he wants to sell us the benefits of a cleverness entirely set free from any higher or deeper concerns. He wants to turn us away from the spiritual roots of thought, away from conscience and from moral imagination that takes us into the hearts and minds of others” (The Secret History of the World p 568).
This is what we have at stake in confronting Ahriman. Steiner advocated for an awareness and understanding of his incarnation so as to disarm his efforts. He cannot be defeated in any conventional way by politics or armed conflict. The battle will occur in hearts and minds. He can teach us the limits of materialism and intellect, serving as a kind of example of what path not to take. In this way he will discharge his role as tempter and hinderer of our personal and species development.
