Spiritual Economy & the Sheaths

Glossary Collection · 12 Terms

The principle of spiritual economy (GA 109): the preservation and re-use of the etheric and astral sheaths of the great initiates in the service of human evolution. Part of Thalira's Anthroposophical Glossary of 515 terms, and companion to the in-depth guide Anthroposophy.

Augustine and Spiritual Economy

Steiner relates in GA 109 that Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, received a woven copy of the etheric body of Jesus, the hidden spring of his Christian mysticism.

Buddha and Spiritual Economy

Steiner relates that the Buddha, an Atlantean bodhisattva, completed his final earthly incarnation and now works on within human evolution in freedom, never under compulsion.

Copies of the Astral Body of Jesus

Multiplied copies of the astral sheath of Jesus of Nazareth, woven into the most important pillars of Christianity from the twelfth to the fifteenth century, in Steiner's GA 109.

Copies of the Etheric Body of Jesus

Multiplied imprints of the life body of Jesus of Nazareth, preserved after Golgotha and woven into Christians of the fourth to twelfth centuries, giving direct certainty of Christ.

Elizabeth of Thuringia

The medieval saint of charity who, Steiner relates in GA 109, carried a copy of the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth woven into her sentient soul.

Francis of Assisi

Steiner taught that Francis of Assisi carried a woven copy of the astral body of Jesus of Nazareth, the hidden source of his humility, devotion, and Christian love.

Hermes and the Zarathustra Stream

Steiner relates that Hermes, the great teacher of the Egyptian Mysteries, was a disciple of Zarathustra reborn bearing his master's astral body, carrying Persian Sun wisdom into Egypt.

Moses and the Zarathustra Stream

Steiner's account in GA 109 of how the preserved etheric body of Zarathustra was woven into the child Moses, awakening the memory that wrote Genesis.

The Astral Body of Zarathustra

The preserved soul-sheath of the Persian initiate Zarathustra, sacrificed by vow and woven into his reborn disciple, who as Hermes wore it like a garment while founding Egyptian wisdom.

The Etheric Body of Zarathustra

The preserved life-body of the ancient Persian initiate, woven after his death into a reborn disciple who became Moses, as Steiner relates in GA 109.

The Preservation of the Sheaths

The teaching from GA 109 that the etheric and astral bodies of great individualities do not dissolve at death but are kept in the spiritual world for later use.

The Principle of Spiritual Economy

Steiner's teaching that the perfected etheric and astral sheaths of great initiates never dissolve at death but are preserved and re-used for the future of human evolution.