Mineral kingdom

From the point of view of spiritual science, the mineral kingdom is the fourth and middle of the seven Conditions of Life into which each planetary stage of world evolution is divided. Like all Conditions of Life, the mineral kingdom is subdivided into seven Conditions of Form, which gradually condense from the unformed spiritual (arupa) to the physical and then just as gradually spiritualise again. The mineral kingdom thus encompasses far more than the minerals that appear physically-sensually in nature. The non-physical Conditions of Form of the mineral kingdom and the elementary beings associated with them, however, are only accessible to the imaginative spiritual seeing.

Minerals

Minerals (from Latin: aes minerale "mine ore") are substances formed by natural geological processes, usually crystallised in a solid polyhedral shape. Unlike rocks, they are formed from a single chemical element (e.g. diamond, sulphur, gold) or from a single chemical compound which has a defined structure and composition, but which may vary within certain limits due to the formation of homogeneous solid solutions. Mostly these are inorganic, in rare cases also organic compounds, such as mellite (honey stone) or evenkite (Tetracosane C₂₄H₅₀). Currently, about 5000 independent minerals are known. More than 90% of all minerals (quartz included) are silicates. The most common silicate minerals are the feldspars, which comprise about 59.5% of all minerals. Particularly beautiful or valuable minerals, rocks or glass melts, but also fossil resins such as amber or other mineralised organic materials are called precious stones or gemstones. Liquids, with the exception of mercury, are not counted as minerals; for example, water is not considered a mineral, but crystalline ice is. Mineralogy is the scientific study of the formation, properties and usability of minerals.

drawing from GA 208, p. 141

„When we look at the original form of the mineral, it is the crystal form, the polyhedral form (see drawing); the mineral somehow appears polyhedral to us. This polyhedral form, which appears to us in one form in the case of one mineral and in another form in the case of another mineral, cannot be understood in any other way than by first looking at the material which has formed itself out of the forces which are active within the space of the mineral. We must imagine: If we have any elongated mineral, then the forces which act in this direction (drawing on the right) are suitable for drawing the mineral along its length. The forces acting in this direction (right, horizontal line in the middle) may then develop a lesser strength - or how we want to express it - which makes the mineral narrower in this direction, and so on. In short, in order to be able to speak of minerals at all, we must imagine, whether these forces act from without or from within, that these forces stand at angles to each other, that they act in certain directions, and above all we must imagine that these forces are there in the universe, at least that they are effective within the earthly sphere.

But then, if they are effective, they must also act upon the physical body of man, and the physical body of man must have in itself the tendency to become polyhedral. It only does not become polyhedral in reality because it still has its etheric body, its astral body, which do not allow the human being to become a cube or an octahedron or a tetrahedron or an icosahedron and so on. But the tendency is in man to become such things, so that we can already say: In so far as man is a physical being, he strives to become polyhedral. If you are glad that you do not wander about as a cube or as a tetrahedron or as an octahedron, it is because the other forces, those of the etheric body and astral body, are working against the octahedral or cube forces that are in you.“ (Lit.:GA 208, p. 140ff)

Literatur

• E. H. Nickel: The Definition of a Mineral. The Canadian Mineralogist, Vol. 33, S. 689–690 (1995) (PDF, 270 kB)
• Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Dankmar Bosse (Hrsg.): Die Metamorphose des Granits. Substanz- und Gestaltbildung des Erdorganismus, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 1994 (Hrsg.) ISBN 978-3772505485
• Walther Cloos: Lebensstufen der Erde. Beiträge zu einer organischen Gesteins- und Mineralkunde, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 1984 ISBN 978-3772504853
• Helmut Knauer: Erdenantlitz und Erdenstoffe, Verlag am Goetheanum, Dornach 1961, ISBN 978-3723500705
• Wolfhard Wimmenauer: Zwischen Feuer und Wasser: Gestalten und Prozesse im Mineralbereich, Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 1992 ISBN 978-3878389453
• Dankmar Bosse: Die gemeinsame Evolution von Erde und Mensch: Entwurf einer Geologie und Paläontologie der lebendigen Erde, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgat 2002, ISBN 978-3772515934
• Dankmar Bosse: Die Lebenssphäre der Erde: Ihre Evolution in den geologischen Phänomenen, Rudolf Steiners Forschungen und in Goethes Studien, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 2012. ISBN 978-3905919370
• Dankmar Bosse: Goethes Initiation und die Ursphäre der Erde, Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart 1995 ISBN 978-3772500701
• Dankmar Bosse: Die Evolution der Minerale zwischen Kosmos und Erde: Entwurf einer Mineralogie und Kristallografie der lebendigen Erde, Verlag des Ita Wegman Instituts, Arlesheim 2015, ISBN 978-3905919684
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Geheimwissenschaft im Umriß, GA 13 (1989), ISBN 3-7274-0130-3 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Exkurse in das Gebiet des Markus-Evangeliums, GA 124 (1995), ISBN 3-7274-1240-2 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Die Polarität von Dauer und Entwickelung im Menschenleben, GA 184 (1983) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Der Mensch als Zusammenklang des schaffenden, bildenden und gestaltenden Weltenwortes, GA 230 (1993), Dornach, 9. November 1923 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

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