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I-11 The loci of the four components of the four kingdoms
Spiritual Beings in the Heavenly Bodies and the Kingdoms of Nature (SB), Lect. 8 (p. 153); At the Gates of Spiritual Science (AGSS), Lect. 5 (p. 46)
Each of the four “kingdoms” observable by the human being’s physical senses is itself a fourfold being, the difference between them being the locus of their respective “bodies”:
| Human Being | Animal | Plant | Mineral | |
| Upper Devachan | — | — | — | Ego |
| Lower Devachan | — | — | Ego | Astral |
| Astral Plane | — | Ego | Astral | Etheric |
| Physical Plane | Ego | Astral | Etheric | Physical |
| Astral body | Etheric | Physical | ||
| Etheric body | Physical | |||
| Physical body |
The same is expressed another way in (UEM), Lect. 3, (Aug 6, 1908, pp. 37-43):
| Ego | Astral | Etheric | Physical | |
| Mineral | Where all astral rays unite in highest devachan | Ray-like forms into infinity of cosmos | Surrounds physical | Enclosed |
| Plant | Group Ego in center Earth—lowest devachan | Surrounds | Enclosed | Enclosed |
| Animal | Group Ego is in astral world surrounding | Enclosed | Enclosed | Enclosed |
| Human being | Enclosed | Enclosed | Enclosed | Enclosed |
According to Steiner, “For human existence to become possible it was necessary for the Earth, in its mineral nature, to suffer infinite pain—for infinite pain was bound up with this solidification of the Earth’s sub-stance. This is why Paul says [Rom 8,22], ‘. . . the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain... awaiting the adoption. ...’”
Schematic I-10