Human life in a physical body provided a preliminary defence against Lucifer’s threat to our development and at the same time produced a precipitated autonomy which is not easy for man to administer vis à vis Luciferic influences. But unfortunately the process of incarnation and individualization brought man close to other even more powerful entities, freely inhabiting and working through the mineral kingdom. Steiner designates them as Ahriman [Satan] or the Ahrimanic powers, since they too are a host of demons. It is not easy to understand, but Ahriman is an alien force, who originally was not involved in the human evolution. He has fallen down from far higher angelic hierarchies than the Elohim, the Spirits of Form, and still ranges above them, belonging to the class of biblical Kyriotetes or Spirits of Wisdom. The major cosmic schism and evolutionary battle connected with the rebellion of Ahriman against God is surpassing the conflict with Lucifer by all measures, and that also extends to the magnitude of the threat he poses to humanity. Ahriman’s intention is to separate man from the creative forces we have belonged under from the beginning, and start a completely new evolution of man and earth, turning nature upside down. The primary Ahrimanic attributes mirrored in the human being are the cold, cynical and calculating intellect, with absolutely no moral restrictions and no other standards of truth than manipulative efficiency, and also the stunned materialism lacking even Luciferic sensualism and emotionality. Ahriman is completely mechanical and technical. His purpose is not to lure man away from earth and incarnation, but to bind and turn man into matter, making him a programmable cyber-robot and a mere device for his plans. The thinking and approach of the natural sciences are exceedingly Ahrimanic, and so is modern society with its control, regulation, administration, bureaucracy and the whole economic and industrial fabric, turning life into digits and units. The use of elementary nature forces as energy-sources for machinery is inspired by Ahriman, who outmatches the Luciferic excesses of sexuality in his favourite field of mechanized warfare. War and the senseless maiming and killing rationalized by calculated scheme and serving objectives of concrete power and annexation are inspired by this insensitive being, while Lucifer limits himself to ritual killing. He is still obsessed with procreation, whereas Ahriman prefers production!

Needless to say, the Ahrimanic factor in culture and society has been of growing importance. Only due to the mineralization of the human organization did Ahriman get access to our evolution, and this impact increased from the 15th century with the actualization of the Spirit Soul and the introduction of a materialistic world view as described above, though it was already present earlier in the Roman influence. Prior to that, the Luciferic tendency was the prevailing form of demonism, shaping culture and consciousness in many ways, some of them progressive, some destructive, but not as misanthropic and foreign to human nature and soul as Ahriman’s influence. Recent times have witnessed inventions and advanced techniques getting closer and closer to achieve what Ahriman strives for – the generation of a second nature, a hybrid world of man-machines, which is his primary goal. This is made possible by the ingenious combination of neurochemistry and medical-biological design, turning man completely artificial and programmable through selection and modification of genes, drugs, insemination, transplants, nanotechnology and inorganic replacement parts on the one hand, and on the other the creation of artificial intelligence, computerization and cyber-life, joining together man and machine still closer, separating man from actual and natural existence. Instead of being God-made, humanity is getting man-made and self-creative, but the problem of motive and value is as impending as the illusive freedom of decision, when in reality man is manipulated into Ahrimanic functioning. This dangerous development is further advanced by the devious use of Luciferic allurement, since the motivating forces of this synthesis are primarily pleasure and excitement, satisfaction and doping, sex and aggression. This new development is taking place within an environment transformed and polluted by man’s Ahrimanic enterprises in so many irreversible ways. We are constantly exposed to inorganic, synthesized chemicals, vitamins, medicines and materials everywhere and in danger of magnetic and electric fields and waves, all of which are continuously breaking down our etheric body and health, while there is an ever increasing pressure on our emotional and astral body from media and the urban jungle.

There is one more common factor to Luciferic and Ahrimanic evil, and that is illusion. Whereas Lucifer is flattering and making an appeal to human narcissism and conceit, making the best of our folly, tempting us within the dynamics of our own self-deception and vanity, Ahriman is the more advanced and unscrupulous manipulator, tampering with our motives and conceptions and creating false pictures of reality and options. In this context it is appropriate to mention and briefly discuss the topic of paranormal events, since there has evidently been a continual growth of reports on UFOs and encounters with beings of higher intelligence after the end of the Second World War. There is a vast and popular literature available on the subject, which has received much too little serious attention from the more established and well informed public opinion that seemingly holds this not to be a serious or genuine phenomenon. Nevertheless, there are many coinciding features between Ahrimanic demonism and the alien phenomenology, as there were also numerous parallels in the past between popular belief, folklore, primitive religion and mythology describing the meetings and human interactions with otherworldly beings from elves to gods and demons and the Luciferic reality. The rapid increase of apparitions signalling advanced technology and unearthly civilisation from the second half of the 19th century, and the virtual explosion of such sightings in the second half of the 20th century with occurrences and developments taking place primarily in the USA, by Steiner characterized as a geographic area of an extremely strong Ahrimanic influence, has to be interpreted in the light of esoteric knowledge of certain events in the spiritual dimension in this period of time.

But before going deeper into this connection, we shall here draw attention to the more general content of these strange visions and communications. It is possible and very likely that the complete alien phenomenology is a well prepared and smartly designed plot staged by Ahrimanic forces, who are absolutely capable of materializing electro-magnetic phenomena and even physical forms of a hybrid nature and combine these with manipulation of perception and image-building even on a collective scale, all of this being a result of the subtle energy-workings. Please remember that the Ahrimanic powers are deeply seated within matter and familiar with the mineral world and the forces of nature functioning here – gravity, magnetism, electricity, and so forth. It is only people, who have not themselves seen and experienced true paranormal phenomena, who reject this inexplicable other reality, but surely Adam, our principal witness, can testify to the fact of invisible and miraculous powers, contradicting in an apparent and blatant way the natural laws of physics, as we shall describe later on. It is therefore relevant to try to understand the intentions behind the alien phenomenology in the interpretive context of the Ahrimanic project, the purpose of which could be the promotion and advancement of technology, especially in the field of space-research and -travel, and the establishment of a collective and general idea of a merely materialistic cosmos inhabited by life-forms similar to our own, only possessing higher intelligence and technologies, instead of a spiritual realm populated with subtle beings of greater wisdom and ethical refinement. In this way even space is demythologized completely and astronomy is effectively combined with “biology” and “sociology”.

The problem of scientifically confirming and explaining the alien phenomenology as well as the lack of corroborating evidence from other scientific areas of investigation and theory point to the highly problematic nature of this picture, which has nevertheless infiltrated the human mind and its expectations on many levels. There is an evident gap of comprehensibility and plausibility between the many observations of aliens and their space-crafts, signalling: “They are already here”, and the complete absence of concrete scientific proof of extraterrestrial life, in any case on earth. This gap produces the many conspiracy-theories in circulation, but it is more easily explained on the assumption that the extraterrestrials are in fact other-dimensional “terrestrials” of some sort, toying with human conceptualization and directing our mind and culture, preparing and establishing the conditions for a future takeover. There is no one “out there”. They are “down here” as a fifth column in the interior chthonic dimension of the physical earth, eager to divert the evolution of humankind closer and closer to their own reality, fencing human culture and consciousness in with the help of inorganic structures as mentioned above, and shaping our perception and expectancy to accept what we shall soon see, when the veil between man and demons no longer exist and we have become like-minded and uniform with them.

Many similarities and indications are in favour of this understanding, and we shall discuss some of them shortly. For now it suffices to say that this manipulative procedure on a large scale is consistent with Ahrimanic nature, intentions and strategy, being a lying agency since time immemorial, and that it parallels other demonic influences on human society and culture through the ages, above all in the province of religion and philosophy. The demons have always affected human thinking and understanding, trying to introduce patterns of interaction and communication. That is nothing new under the sun. Furthermore, this internal and other-dimensional interpretation of the alien phenomenology is becoming more widely accepted nowadays. The overall interactive and deceptive character of alien apparition, the apparent misrepresentation and misinformation in actual contact, the change of forms and modes to fit and mould expectations, all of this has not been unnoticed by the more watchful observers. Comparisons with mythology and folklore are frequent, initially as proof of extraterrestrial contacts and UFO-sightings in early history and even used to explain human origin and the founding of culture from “outer space”, but the trend is now to interpret all the evidence mentioned on the same level of extrasensory reality, like the notion that aliens are in fact identical with the Jinn of the Moslem tradition, which is very close to the author’s present view.

Let us just report here some of Adam’s initial astral experiences on this matter and later give an account of his direct encounters with paranormal reality. In a highly energetic and lucid dream-vision Adam once saw a representation of the programme for astronaut-training in USA. The volunteers were jumping trampoline in order to experience weightlessness. Then there was an interview with one of the participants and he expressed his dissatisfaction with the approach of the programme. It was too technical and materialistic and did not revere the cosmic and spiritual dimension properly. Actually he did not see any point in going into space in a sophisticated “tin can”. At this point the dream was still symbolic, indicating the very same Ahrimanic structures as mentioned above, but with an ironic distance. The whole space-endeavour of the 20th century is a materialization of man’s spiritual quest and a by product of the rocket-technology of war, which is again closely connected to the development of nuclear-weapons. All of this fits Ahriman’s evolutionary scheme and is a spin-off from one of the most Ahrimanic episodes and regimes of modern time, Nazi-Germany, with the US military taking over scientists and know-how at the end of the war, transferring this idea and some of its notorious spokesmen to American soil, where the Ahrimanic powers are strong. Now suddenly the dream shifted dramatically. Adam’s “I” was floating freely in space with a clear view of the planet Earth and stars all around and above him. Thus the higher astral dimension was opened up and the experience was accompanied by intense reactions in his energy- and body-system. Out of this experience Adam then woke up from his “sleep” into this world, but the strange sensation of space-reality continued in and about his presence. Then suddenly a buzzing energy penetrated his aura from above his head [actually from the left cosmic point]. It came all the way down to the ground before him, and there Adam saw an objective phenomenon in the form of a golden scarab, very vivid and weirdly alive. Gradually the experience came to an end. We will later have opportunity to comment further on this last Luciferic apparition, so here it suffices to say that the vision as a whole clearly indicates the double reality of Ahrimanic and Luciferic enclosure on human spirituality – Ahriman working from below and in the scientific-material-intellectual approach, Lucifer working from “above” and from archaic tradition, manifesting sexual-magic and shamanic traditions in modern time [the scarab]. Lucifer stands to the left and in front of you, Ahriman to the right and behind you. They are there all the time as an intimate part of our make-up. Only the stars and the heaven are truly transcendent, the abode of our eternal soul.

In one of Adam’s later visions some of these aspects were repeated in another context. In a lucid dreaming-state Adam descended a deep tunnel which was also a time-regression. He came back to the middle of the 17th century, which in many respects saw the birth of modern science and physics. He walked in halls and corridors of a palace, but under ground. Then Adam came to a room, where a philosopher of that epoch had constructed a fantastic machine resounding of an intricate melody. It was a time-projecting device, constructed of several concentric spheres, representing different aspects of time-evolution and patterns of events. You could understand the machine as a three-dimensional astrological chart. But the point was, that with this machine the philosopher had actually predicted and anticipated our time, and he had accordingly made arrangements for his own rebirth and work now, since this time was very opportune. Only one image, projected from the machine, showed Adam why. High up in space the pope of the Catholic Church floated as a statue with his cape, mitre and crosier. This symbolic picture once again shows us how our moment of time is crucial and has been eagerly awaited by many powers, spirits and beings out of very different motives. The impulse of materialistic science is predominantly driven by Ahrimanic forces as is the Catholic Church in some of its authoritarian and power-ridden aspects. For many historic reasons this tendency of the Catholic Church propelled reactions and developments producing a secular society and culture. Religion in the West became rigid and hollow like the statue in the dream – a formalistic declaration of supreme contact with the spiritual and heavenly reality without inner soul or real understanding – and the resulting lack of adaptability, timeliness and power of protection have left large segments of humanity with only the Ahrimanic interpretation of the world, life and higher dimensions. Surely, this miserable situation for Christ’s servants on earth was foreseen and utilized by Ahriman as the time, when science could play a leading role over humanity and give the pope a virtual lift off into orbit and so loose the church from living earth and completely stiffen its spiritual influence. Religion has nowadays been levelled down with science and intellectualism and the religious approach to cosmos is not very different from the astronaut’s. A more direct and alive connection is open to man – as was shown to Adam when he himself floated in the starry sky – only the evil powers have done everything they could, to confine this possibility.

The significance of natural science, empiricism and materialism is also revealed in Steiner’s more historically detailed description of the third evil power of our time, the Asuras. These are retarded spirits of egoism on the Archai-level who at one point of evolution shaped man’s personality, but then broke away from God’s path. They are associated with the demonic inclinations of Eastern spirituality and their goal is to destroy the I of man completely, whereas Lucifer only wanted to distract consciousness to his own illusive world and make the I hollow, while Ahriman seeks to harden, stiffen and automate it. Thus the Asuras represent ultimate evilness from our point of view, and they are associated with the Ahrimanic powers rather than with the Luciferic. Imagined spatially this differentiation and segregation of evil becomes visible in a “subtle geography”. Again this can be difficult to accept as real for a sceptic reader and might appear to him quite fantastic and speculative, and surely Adam’s “illuminating” experiences only add to the acute impression of raving madness. What can we say? True enough, this is not common knowledge, but in reality nothing in this book is out of the ordinary and neither is it far from common sense. And so actually Lucifer dwells in the lower [evil] astral world, while Ahriman and the Asuras are seated in even “lower” dimensions, since they are fallen from “higher” destinations and much earlier in cosmic evolution. Above the higher astral region Steiner places the Devachan, which is the heavenly or spiritual dimension whereto our soul migrates after death. This region is divided into the lower and the higher Devachan. As mentioned before, both regions are filled with forms of being or entities inspiring man’s thoughts, feelings and the moral impulses behind his deeds. The most will-natured and unconscious expressions are the most highly inspired, and only in future evolution, when man has become transparent to his own soul and reached spiritual autonomy, will he be able to master these. Also, man’s actual processes of thinking, feeling and acting leave subtle energy-traces or produce essential substances which flow back into these lofty regions and cast a shadow or a light there on individual and collective man, thus creating future dispositions for incarnation.