In The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric (1983), Rudolf Steiner writes, “It is of course a strange fact that man, in his ordinary consciousness as a physical, earthly person, experiences clearly only his sense perceptions and his thoughts. Waking consciousness only exists in this perception and thinking. Feelings are actually only dreamt, and the will is generally slept through. No person knows what happens when he just raises a hand, that is, when the will plays into his bodily organism, in the same way that he knows his thoughts. There is also the rule of the feelings; although this is somewhat clearer in consciousness than the rule of the will, it is still dark; it is no brighter than the pictures we have in our dreams. Passions, emotions and feelings are in truth only dreamt; they are not experienced in the light of consciousness that lives in the sense perceptions and mental pictures, and our will is not experienced consciously at all. So where do we go from here?”

I wish to share some quotes from a Rudolf Steiner lecture now in print, “The Fourth Dimension; Sacred geometry, Alchemy and Mathematics” (2001). Steiner was asked if the concept of three-dimensionality applies to the spiritual hierarchies, since we speak of their “areas” of dominion. Question: “Can we say that a human being’s essence is realized in space?” Answer: “space itself, from the esoteric perspective, must be seen as something produced as a result of creative activity. Its creation precedes the working activity of the highest hierarchies, so we can presuppose the existence of space. We should not imagine the highest Trinity in spatial terms, however, because space is a creation of the Trinity. We must imagine spiritual beings without space, because space is a creation.”

Question: “Does time apply to spiritual processes?” Answer: “Certainly, but the highest spiritual processes in the human being lead to the concept that they run their course timelessly. The activities of the hierarchies are timeless. It is difficult to talk about how time came about because the concept of time is implicit in the words ‘to come about.’ Instead, we would have to talk about the essence or being of time, which is not easy to discuss. No time would exist if all beings were at the same level of development. Time arises through the interaction between a number of higher beings and a number of lower beings. In timelessness, various levels of development are possible, but their interaction makes time possible.”