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Etheric Realms, Radionics and Biodynamics
a flow of electromagnetic force along the inner surface of a wire. Around the same time, J. J.
Thomson ( who is credited with discovering electrons) discovered electrical discharge through gasses. Thomson’s subsequent discovery of what he termed the ‘ electron’ launched a new era of atomic
theory. This suggested to Maxwell there must be an extremely fine stationary field, which supports the propagation of light and electromagnetic waves in the way air propagates sound. He called
this the ether field. Ultimately, this field was not found by Michelson and Morley in their experiment
of 1887 when they attempted to detect the existence of the ether, a supposed medium permeating
space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves. They found no interaction with any etheric
field in any direction, even though the earth travels at great speed. They then built a huge interferometer resting on a bed of mercury to dampen extraneous vibrations, and they still detected no
‘ etheric wind’. This was taken as proof that there was no ether, which today is still the basic belief
( Shankland, 1964). However, though Michelson and Morley’s experiments disproved Maxwell’s
theory of a universal fixed etheric field, this did not disprove any other ether, and Dirac believed
mathematics required some kind of organisational activity – which is to say etheric activity – as an
inherent property of all physical masses ( Pais, 2005).
Prior to this however, Goethe, in his alchemical investigations, studied not only the elements and
ethers of Greek philosophy, but also elemental beings or individualities – gnomes, sylphs, undines
and salamanders – which he used his imagination to ‘ see’. The term ‘ being’ refers to their condition
of being self-organising and thus alive, but does not mean they organise physical substance. These
beings inhabit the ethers corresponding to the four elements of Greek philosophy ( fire, air, water
and earth), which indicate the effects of their otherwise unexplained activities ( Steiner, 1988). This
was such a major departure from the western worldview of Kant and modern physics that it triggered the automatic mainstream rejection of Goethe’s scientific works for all except Rudolf Steiner.
Steiner ( 1861–1925), an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, esotericist and clairvoyant, put forward the concept of the fourfold human being as a vessel consisting of a physical body,
an ether-body, an astral body and an ego or ‘ I’ ( Steiner, 1959). Steiner’s concept of the ethers is
also tied to the four elements. The four elements are visible, tangible and subject to entropy, while
the ether or ethers associated with these elements are invisible, dynamic and syntropic rather than
entropic. ‘ Dynamic’ indicates an energetic process that begins and ends over an interval of time,
and ‘ syntropic’ means they are organisational, as their order flows from lower concentration to
higher concentration. The ethers organise and activate the elements, each element relying on a different sort of ether.
Based on Steiner’s teachings, Dr Ernst Marti ( 1903–1985) took forward the study of the ethers
as a lifelong pursuit and proposed bridges between the ancient and medieval worldviews and the
present natural and spiritual sciences ( Marti, 2017).
Warmth Ether: The initial and most rarefied ether stage, the warmth ether, is one with the fire
element, as is characteristic of sulphur. It is a purely temporal and non-spatial oscillation, having no
mass or density, only duration.
Light Ether: Following the warmth ether, the light ether creates order, as is characteristic of
nitrogen, within the air element. Light ether flows outwards from surfaces, creating space within
the fullness of time. With light, we have the first appearance of its opposite – physical density and
mass, or the other side of surfaces.
Tone Ether: The next etheric stage is the tone ether, which organises the water element and
shows us the characteristics of hydrogen in the way water behaves. Tone adds vorticity or movement to warmth/ time and light/ space, as is characteristic of water, which spins either left or right as
well as in and out, creating nodes, waves, intervals, separation and union, number and periodicity,
precipitation and buoyancy.
Life Ether: The last and the most dynamically organised stage is the life ether, which is characteristic of carbon. It contains, permeates and integrates self-organising forms. The life ether provides unity and identity to organisms whose physical structure is made up of what Vedic and Greek
philosophies called the earth element.
Etheric Realms, Radionics and Biodynamics
a flow of electromagnetic force along the inner surface of a wire. Around the same time, J. J.
Thomson ( who is credited with discovering electrons) discovered electrical discharge through gasses. Thomson’s subsequent discovery of what he termed the ‘ electron’ launched a new era of atomic
theory. This suggested to Maxwell there must be an extremely fine stationary field, which supports the propagation of light and electromagnetic waves in the way air propagates sound. He called
this the ether field. Ultimately, this field was not found by Michelson and Morley in their experiment
of 1887 when they attempted to detect the existence of the ether, a supposed medium permeating
space that was thought to be the carrier of light waves. They found no interaction with any etheric
field in any direction, even though the earth travels at great speed. They then built a huge interferometer resting on a bed of mercury to dampen extraneous vibrations, and they still detected no
‘ etheric wind’. This was taken as proof that there was no ether, which today is still the basic belief
( Shankland, 1964). However, though Michelson and Morley’s experiments disproved Maxwell’s
theory of a universal fixed etheric field, this did not disprove any other ether, and Dirac believed
mathematics required some kind of organisational activity – which is to say etheric activity – as an
inherent property of all physical masses ( Pais, 2005).
Prior to this however, Goethe, in his alchemical investigations, studied not only the elements and
ethers of Greek philosophy, but also elemental beings or individualities – gnomes, sylphs, undines
and salamanders – which he used his imagination to ‘ see’. The term ‘ being’ refers to their condition
of being self-organising and thus alive, but does not mean they organise physical substance. These
beings inhabit the ethers corresponding to the four elements of Greek philosophy ( fire, air, water
and earth), which indicate the effects of their otherwise unexplained activities ( Steiner, 1988). This
was such a major departure from the western worldview of Kant and modern physics that it triggered the automatic mainstream rejection of Goethe’s scientific works for all except Rudolf Steiner.
Steiner ( 1861–1925), an Austrian philosopher, social reformer, architect, esotericist and clairvoyant, put forward the concept of the fourfold human being as a vessel consisting of a physical body,
an ether-body, an astral body and an ego or ‘ I’ ( Steiner, 1959). Steiner’s concept of the ethers is
also tied to the four elements. The four elements are visible, tangible and subject to entropy, while
the ether or ethers associated with these elements are invisible, dynamic and syntropic rather than
entropic. ‘ Dynamic’ indicates an energetic process that begins and ends over an interval of time,
and ‘ syntropic’ means they are organisational, as their order flows from lower concentration to
higher concentration. The ethers organise and activate the elements, each element relying on a different sort of ether.
Based on Steiner’s teachings, Dr Ernst Marti ( 1903–1985) took forward the study of the ethers
as a lifelong pursuit and proposed bridges between the ancient and medieval worldviews and the
present natural and spiritual sciences ( Marti, 2017).
Warmth Ether: The initial and most rarefied ether stage, the warmth ether, is one with the fire
element, as is characteristic of sulphur. It is a purely temporal and non-spatial oscillation, having no
mass or density, only duration.
Light Ether: Following the warmth ether, the light ether creates order, as is characteristic of
nitrogen, within the air element. Light ether flows outwards from surfaces, creating space within
the fullness of time. With light, we have the first appearance of its opposite – physical density and
mass, or the other side of surfaces.
Tone Ether: The next etheric stage is the tone ether, which organises the water element and
shows us the characteristics of hydrogen in the way water behaves. Tone adds vorticity or movement to warmth/ time and light/ space, as is characteristic of water, which spins either left or right as
well as in and out, creating nodes, waves, intervals, separation and union, number and periodicity,
precipitation and buoyancy.
Life Ether: The last and the most dynamically organised stage is the life ether, which is characteristic of carbon. It contains, permeates and integrates self-organising forms. The life ether provides unity and identity to organisms whose physical structure is made up of what Vedic and Greek
philosophies called the earth element.