The sequence of five circles of creation and kingdoms occurs as it does in the spiritual world, from top to bottom:<\/p>\n
– Mineral Realm (Elementary Realm)<\/p>\n
– Plant Realm<\/p>\n
– Animal Realm<\/p>\n
– Human Realm (The 7 God Races)<\/p>\n
– Astral Realm (Realm of Consciousness)<\/p>\n
Each of the circles of creation rests on and in the previous one and would not be possible without it. The circles of creation are contingent upon one another, complement one other, link together and ultimately form a unity.<\/p>\n
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The mineral kingdom (elementary kingdom) was created first from around 4,000 minerals and the solid land masses from combinations of these minerals. The earth kingdom served primarily as the foundation for life: the humus, a mixture of minerals and organic plant remains and external cycles, covering the ground. It provides the soil for the plant kingdom, which in turn is the basis for our nutrition and life. But all of these forms are ultimately combinations of basic minerals.<\/p>\n
There are 10 categories of minerals (according Hugo Strunz\u2019s systematology):<\/p>\n
– Elements<\/p>\n
– Sulfides and sulfosalts<\/p>\n
– Halides<\/p>\n
– Oxides<\/p>\n
– Carbonates\/nitrates<\/p>\n
– Borates<\/p>\n
– Sulfates<\/p>\n
– Phosphates, arsenates and vanadates<\/p>\n
– Silicates\/germanates<\/p>\n
– Organic compounds<\/p>\n
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The plant kingdom serves the living cyclical creation by providing food for the subsequent animal and human kingdoms and by carrying out photosynthesis (conversion of light into energy and matter). And how could the plants have grown if the soil, which is part of the mineral kingdom, had not been created first? Plants, too, have emotional bodies and react directly to their environment and external influences. That is why they sometimes give the impression of displaying joy in growing or melancholy when they lack water or their blooms fade and disintegrate. Science has shown that they react emotionally to vibrations such as the human voice. Thus they also have a body that reacts to vibrations, but no true organism or consciousness. The plant kingdom is subdivided into grasses, flowers, bushes and trees. Rudolf Steiner interprets these as hair, feelers and antennae (receptive organs) that allow the earth to enjoy spiritual, metaphysical contact with the sun and the entire cosmos.<\/p>\n
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Only after the plant kingdom existed could the animal kingdom arise as a circle of creation in its own right; otherwise, what would the creatures have eaten? Thus the earth was populated by an amazing variety of animals which in turn were categorized according to the four elements: water animals, underground animals, land animals and air animals. The natural sciences, in contrast, divide them into only two groups.<\/p>\n
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Almost all of the animal varieties with which we are familiar \u2013 the large, intelligent ones \u2013 are vertebrates, which means that their bodies are supported by backbones. This includes humans, hence, from a biological point of view, man is considered to be a type of animal. These vertebrates comprise the animal kingdom even though they are a small minority, making up only 3% of all animal varieties:<\/p>\n
– Mammals<\/p>\n
– Birds<\/p>\n
– Reptiles<\/p>\n
– Amphibians<\/p>\n
– Fishes<\/p>\n
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The other 97% are invertebrates, or animals with no backbone:<\/p>\n
– Arthropods, insects and parasitoids<\/p>\n
– Platyhelminthes, nematodes and annelids<\/p>\n
– Cnidarians<\/p>\n
– Mollusks<\/p>\n
– Chordates<\/p>\n
– Smaller phyla<\/p>\n
– Echinoderms<\/p>\n
– Sponges<\/p>\n
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Only then did the human kingdom enter the spiritual world with the creation of beings in the image (matrix) of the deity. It was not until much later \u2013 after the creation of the material worlds \u2013 that humans became matter, incarnated in earthly bodies in space and on this planet.<\/p>\n
And only because the previous three circles of creation already existed on earth was the manifested human being able to survive here as well. That is why we should appreciate the earth, the plants and the animals and show them proper respect and conserve their living space: it is crucial for the balance of divine nature and for the survival of all.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, we have trouble showing respect even to people of other races; even within our own species, there is an amazing variety of body sizes; skin colors; head, eye, nose and ear shapes; hair types and so on. We should not categorize people according to \u201crace\u201d, but according to type; all people together form the human race.<\/p>\n
The scientific categorization of mankind into seven \u201csub-races\u201d is listed below:<\/p>\n
– Malayan (pygmies)<\/p>\n
– Aborigines<\/p>\n
– Asians (Chinese)<\/p>\n
– Europeans<\/p>\n
– Africans<\/p>\n
– Indians<\/p>\n
– Eskimos (Inuit)<\/p>\n
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The astral, spirit or consciousness kingdom forms the completion of the circles of creation, the space of senses and perception that in a certain sense surrounds, links and permeates the previous four circles of creation. The astral kingdom also connects us to the spiritual world and is built in turn on five subtle levels:<\/p>\n
– The metha level
\nhalf in the physical level, but constituting the first subtle level<\/p>\n
– The emotional level
\nno longer a level of physical feeling<\/p>\n
– The astral level
\nspiritually thoughtful subtle level of insight and reflection<\/p>\n
– The ether level
\nspiritual level of self-development, of creative free will<\/p>\n
– The cosmos level
\nthe cosmic level connects everything that is in us with everything that exists.<\/p>\n
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Rudolf Steiner explains the interaction:<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018In essence the astral world consists of the same spiritual energies existing in our feelings, emotions and perceptions. However, in our terrestrial life we do not perceive these astral energies directly but only as a dull reflection. Therefore, we often experience the astral world in our imagination as a reflection of experiences in the physical world.\u2019 […]<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n