The Coronavirus Pandemic II

The Consequences of a Covid-19 Infection

When speaking of the “inability to act” of the spirit-mechanisms of the higher I, or of no longer being able to act adequately, this means that every adult person infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus in whom the I — around 21 years of age — can fully enter into its function in the human organism, will have to deal in one way or another with the effects of meeting with that “counter-spirituality” particle, whether noticed or not (And I may add that if it is not noticed, it would in most cases not be an advantage from a spiritual point of view).

Due to the measures that have been taken to avert the spread of infection on a larger scale, there are dramatic consequences for countless people, the effects of which are not yet foreseeable. Starting with mental disturbances, which run through all age groups, but which probably affect children and the elderly the most. The economic consequences are obvious; how societies as such develop in their respective internal organisms, that is, how people react among themselves and toward each other, is put to the test; and that national-chauvinistic or “economic-chauvinistic” tendencies are emerging in countries and peoples can already be seen in the distribution of vaccines — whatever one may personally think of vaccination itself — (the vaccines that are sent, if at all, by the economically prosperous countries to the poorer countries are those which their own populations do not prefer.) And surely there are many other consequences that have resulted from the rules and precautions taken to contain the pandemic that will be seen and felt in the future.

In addition to these catastrophes, another one is now looming which is directly related to the virus: Aside from the suffering of those who have experienced a disruption in their lives due to the illness caused by Covid-19, apart from those people who lost their lives due to the Covid-19 disease, which — as indicated in the first volume — might represent “interference” with individual karma, and apart from those who also suffer through the loss of a loved one, the physical, psychological and spiritual long-term consequences of a Sars-CoV-2 infection will assume tremendous significance.

It is not possible to thoroughly address the consequences of such an encounter of this counter-spirituality with the I of an unprepared person within the framework of this short book, which can only illuminate a few aspects, and barely touch upon them.

The fact that a growing proportion of formerly infected persons — regardless of whether the course of the initial disease was severe, mild, or asymptomatic — are affected by a so-called long covid or post covid syndrome, indicates the lasting effects caused by the infection, (which, incidentally, do not happen in influenza virus infections, with which the Sars-CoV-2 infection is often compared or equated. An Influenza infection can also be severe and even fatal, but once the disease is over the symptoms do not persist and serious damage and impairments of various kinds do not occur at a much later point in time as a result of the original disease).

It is self-evident in an epoch of development of humanity, in which the single human soul is to find the entry-point to its higher development through thinking, that is, over the bridge of understanding, of insight into the communications of super-sensory facts, that it is just this entry-point that can be severely handicapped by an injury to the thinking organ or by damage to the nerves, which can occur as a consequence of the Covid-19 disease. The damage thus extends from the respiratory problems of acute illness (cf. Volume I) in a later stage, when the acute illness is believed to have ended, to those areas from which — considered from the viewpoint of humanity as a whole — the initial “sinning” originated. It can result in difficulties concentrating, weakness in remembering, word-finding disorders, and even to declining intelligence, that is, dementia-like symptoms.

But spiritually considered, these symptoms are caused by the I being under attack. This I is destined to take over the leadership of the lower component-members. In the present stage of the development of humanity it has first of all the task of taking over the fully conscious guidance of the astral body, i.e. of the soul. When this is one day fully accomplished, this guidance of consciousness will gradually extend to the etheric body. And when man ascends to his highest level of existence, his I also gains full power of consciousness over his physical body. Since an attack takes place on the I by what one could also call the “anti-I-spirit,” which has sought the Sars-CoV-2 virus as a suitable carrier medium, the cause for the consequential damages of the infection occurring in the nerve-sense-system of the human being is to be sought here, namely in the I under attack. But since the I is the highest component-member of the human being and — whether from “without” or “within,” unconsciously or consciously for the incarnated human being — the administrator and shape-giver of all the component-members, ultimately all the component members (and thus also all members of the physical body), it can be affected by injury.

There has already been talk of an autoimmune reaction. Due to this unequal altercation with the spirituality of the Sars-CoV-2-virus, a weakening of the I takes place, not only in relation to its guidance of the lower component-members, but also in its actual function toward the organism. The I is attacked and manipulated in such a way that it doesn't protect and ennoble its lower component-members, but assaults and demolishes them. The I, spoken simply, is brought by the I-opponent to do the opposite of what its actual nature and task is. Since the I does not only stand above the physical body, but also above the etheric and astral bodies, it has a damaging effect on these component-members when it is brought to act in this opposing way. Thus, the human being does not “only” develop a multi-organ illness which, depending on individual conditions, affects the most diverse areas of the physical body, but he also potentially has to struggle with the effects on his astral and etheric bodies. This can lead to feelings of being overwhelmed, depression, anxiety and personality changes, as well as the feeling of no longer being who one actually is. These phenomena can also come at a later point of time in life, or they can ebb and flow insidiously. And also the uncertainty of not knowing what the course of the illness will be means a successive attrition of the soul.

Now comes the vehemence which can be connected to an attack on the I and which must be borne. If one doesn't recognize this spiritual dimension and — as is currently widespread within the anthroposophical movement — thinks that a Covid-19 infection consists of more or less serious “common cold symptoms,” then one is looking (with a most limited view) only at the physical symptoms that appear during the acute phase of the illness. Because he knows about reincarnation, the anthroposophist could be inclined to say to himself: I don't care as much about the physical body as the materialist does. For me spiritual development is important! So it's not so important to me if the physical body in this life is damaged or not. I'll be getting a new one in the next life anyway. This would be a doubly short-sighted viewpoint!

This attitude may have a certain justification, but of course the anthroposophical spiritual student in particular will strive to take adequate care of his physical body as well, because he knows that the human being can only fulfill his life tasks, which he has undertaken in the spiritual world during prenatal existence, if he does not negligently ruin his physical body. The human being needs the physical body to fulfill his karmic tasks. And the other part of the doubly short-sighted view consists of not realizing that in this case he is involved with something that exceeds the challenge to his physical body. The damage goes far beyond the purely physical damage that can be observed. Here for the first time in the development of humanity, the I is directly threatened in this specific way in its actual, higher function. It is about damage to the higher forces of consciousness!

If the I cannot readily, or can no longer fully assume its actual function, it is much more difficult for the person concerned to follow the training path of spiritual self-education, or to be open to the spiritual worlds at all. Achieving higher consciousness development will become even harder for the human being compared to the conditions already made difficult by materialistic thinking. And for those who have already achieved it, meditation will certainly not be easier at first. They will have to struggle greatly so that the I becomes master over the lower soul-components, because it is really an attack on the I, even if it takes place via the domain of the asuras, via the gateway of the physical body, via damage to the physical body. When the I is attacked, it affects all the other component members. So just as the I is able to become master of the lower component-members in the best sense, if it is weak powerful effects on the lower component-members also emanate from it. For this weakness affects the other component-members of man with just as much negative, destructive strength as his moral maturity can have the strongest positive effects on the other component members. If the master in the house gets weak and sick, everything becomes disorderly.

The I enables the human being to live selflessly. Selflessness is a gift to the human environment, it is the water of life for the whole human organism. For this the I has been given to humanity. Selflessness is the actual quality of the I, to which it is destined. But it can only be received or unfolded by means of the human being's free decision. But because neglect has occurred in the I's development, the scourge known as Covid-19 is a phenomenon that affects the whole of humanity. What good could be brought forth for the human organism through the selflessness of the I, is reversed by the neglect of the I and now has an effect on the human organism in a bad sense, that is, as a “pandemic.” (This neglect was, so to speak, the origin of the virus.) Therefore, it is also a phenomenon that crisscrosses individual karma (see volume 1, page 24ff). And for the same reason, one should not commit the error of thinking that the people who become ill from Covid-19 are not strong in their I for karmic reasons. It may very well happen that people who have not yet begun consciousness-soul activity fall ill with Covid-19. But this neglect is a “humanity-epochal” neglect, which is why also those souls who have begun to achieve a consciousness-soul awakening in any way (not necessarily the anthroposophical path of training), are likewise not protected from the disease of Covid-19 and its consequences. As it is characteristic for “humanity-epochal” neglect, those who have contributed least to this neglect are also affected. Such souls then share — as somewhat innocent, but not necessarily voluntary victims — in their individual karma the consequences of the karma of humanity. If one wishes to understand the spiritual dimension of the Coronavirus problem, one must also keep in mind that — as already mentioned above and emphasized once more here — that when dealing with neglect involving the I, humanity risks having the rug being pulled out from under the effectiveness of its own spiritual inspiration, sent to it from the spiritual world, because the physical conditions for its effectiveness are made more difficult or are withdrawn.