Nachiel

Nachiel (Hebrew: נכיאל), the Intelligence of the Sun, stands for the strong forces of the Sun that had to separate from the Earth at the beginning of Genesis so that the Earth would not be spiritualised too quickly. This happened in the Hyperborean period. The Elohim could now begin their work of creation. Nachiel has the numerical sum 111 in Hebrew, which results from the numerical values assigned to the letters. Since in Hebrew one reads from right to left, it is as follows:

30	1	10	20	50	= 111
ל	א	י	כ	נ
Lamed	Aleph	Jod	Kaph	Nun

The hardening counterforces to this are formed by the earth or sun demonium Sorat, the two-horned beast of John's Apocalypse, with the digit sum 666, the Number of the Beast.

400	200	6	60	= 666
ת	ר	ו	ס
Taw	Resch	Waw	Samech

"The occult sign for those forces which would have worked and given direction to the whole development of the Earth if the Sun had remained united with the Earth, the occult sign for those forces, therefore, which would have spiritualised the Earth too soon, is this:

Nachiel, drawing from GA 101, p. 135

In this sign, he who is an occult student can recognise the forces that quickly lead humanity to spirituality. On the other hand, if humanity had separated from the Sun with the whole Earth, but still remained together with the Moon, it would very quickly have fallen prey to ossification and hardening. If the Earth had kept the Moon within itself, human beings would very soon have become a kind of puppets - marionettes. They would have descended too deeply into matter, just as they would have spiritualised too quickly on the other side if the Sun had remained connected with the Earth. Therefore the Moon had to leave the Earth. And all those forces which have been conveyed out and which today rule from the Moon and work in upon the Earth from without, all these forces are represented together in this sign, which looks like a double hook. This is the sign of the beast or the lamb with two horns from the Apocalypse.

Sorat, drawing from GA 101, p. 136

One sign is called Nachiel, the other Sorat. This second sign is also called the sign of the Earth Demon. All those powers which the black magician develops by the use of such dreadful methods lead in an occult way on earth to the increase of the powers which belong to the demonic nature of the Earth and which lead to the hardening of the Earth. If many people became black magicians, the result would be that the earth would become more and more like the moon, whereas through the forces of white magic the Earth would become more and more like the forces of the Sun, the forces which are in the rays of the Sun.

What, then, would be the result of a prevalence of black magic on our Earth? It would lead to the hardening of the globe, to the globe becoming a moon. The same forces that were excreted with the Moon, that had developed out of the substance of the Earth, are still present in the layers of the Earth. Besides all the forces which have the good disposition to become solar forces, there are also still present the forces which have the disposition to become lunar forces. Through white magic the Earth is becoming ever closer to its solar nature; through the forces of black magic it is becoming closer to its lunar nature. Through white magic everything must be defeated which does not lead by the way of enlightenment, of wisdom, to the mastery of spiritual forces. For all such procedures, such activities, as they have been called, do not lead by the way of wisdom, of insight, not by really looking into it, to the mastery of spiritual powers, but they are copied from nature, in that machinations and procedures are undertaken with it, by which powers without enlightenment are to be attained. Thus the apocalyptic seal is at the same time the sign of the overcoming of black magic by white magic. Through the human powers that are transformed, solar powers are born from man himself, so that the lunar powers lie at man's feet.|101|135ff}}

thumb|300px|The fifth Apocalyptic Seal: The Woman, clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet. Rudolf Steiner refers here to the fifth Apocalyptic Seal. It shows the Woman, clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet.

{{Quote|1 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. 2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. 5 She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. 7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.|Apocalypse of John|12:1–9}

Rudolf Steiner explains:

„SEAL V represents a higher stage of development of the human being, such as will occur when the Earth has reunited with the Sun and the human being will no longer work merely with the forces of the Earth, but with the forces of the Sun. The "Woman who gives Birth to the Sun" refers to this future human being. Certain forces of a lower nature, which live in man and prevent him from the full development of his higher spirituality, will then have been put out of him. These forces are represented in the seal on the one hand in the beast with the "seven heads and ten horns", on the other hand in the Moon at the feet of the Sun-Man. For spiritual science, the Moon is the centre of certain lower forces which are still working in the human being today and which the human being of the future will force 'under himself'.“ (Lit.:GA 284, p. 94)

Literature

• Rudolf Steiner: Mythen und Sagen. Okkulte Zeichen und Symbole, GA 101 (1992), ISBN 3-7274-1010-8 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Bilder okkulter Siegel und Säulen. Der Münchner Kongreß Pfingsten 1907 und seine Auswirkungen., GA 284 (1993), ISBN 3-7274-2840-6 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.