One problem with evolving into an Angel is that the human mind, deluded by the illusion that sense perceptible matter is all that there is to life, can pull the soul of a human backward in evolution to the animalistic path of the Seven Deadly Sins — the dark vices that kill, instead of the heavenly virtues that give life. Every thought, feeling, or deed either creates the wings of our evolving Angel-hood, or the horns of our devolving animal-hood.

Throughout this book we will be seeking answers to many questions about the heart from the ancient Hindu Vedas to cutting edge modern research on heart rate variability. Many misconceptions will be outlined in a timeline that reflects the evolution of heart knowledge over the course of history.

One of those gross errors in understanding the heart and its function is the myth that the heart is a pump. The true view of blood circulation is much more complicated and has only become accepted by cardiologists in recent times.

Dr. Rudolf Steiner’s teachings contend that: “The heart is not a pump; the heart is an organ of perception.”

As a matter of fact, he believes that the heart is the most important organ of perception that can be trained to become a supersensible organ of perception of both the outside world and the inside world of the human being.

The heart is an organ that can commune with the divine through a language of the spirit that is unique to the heart.

In a quiet and reverent mood, the reader transmits to the loved one the contents of the book which describes the realms the person will be traversing from death to another birth. These spiritual spheres that the person is traveling through need a road map to help understand the new atmosphere and the topology of the spiritual world.

These spheres are the interpenetrating realms of hierarchical beings who inhabit these “heavens” that are so beautifully described in the cosmology of Spiritual Science. They are often referred to as the realms of the “harmony of the spheres.”

Reading descriptions of these realms to the deceased helps them orient themselves in these spheres which they have been “born” into recently.

The transformation through love within the realm of human feelings is a core mission of Christ through His Second Coming in the Etheric Realm.

For according to Rudolf Steiner, this transformation takes place within the etheric body through the human Ego manifesting selfless love to all sentient beings and all of the surrounding Cosmos. This, in turn, results in the development of a warm radiant force within the heart that rises up and bathes the higher centers of the head.

This is essentially the result of the “Christ in You” or “I Am” merging with the Human Ego and transforming the etheric or life-body of the human being into Life-Spirit (Budhi); which in turn, transforms its relationship to the astral body, physical body and the surrounding Cosmos.

Beyond this, Christ is also transforming the entire etheric life-body of the Earth and linking the microcosmic etheric heart of the human being to the macrocosmic etheric heart of the Cosmos.

The good news of the Apocalypse is that the harvest (sometimes called rapture) has already been reaped, because it was ripe. This part of the Revelation of St. John the Divine is seldom mentioned. Yes, the tribulation is in full swing, the end-times are here, and most people can see the plagues, death, and judgments of the Seals, Trumpets, and the Angels of Wrath happening in the nightly news. Fortunately, if you are one of those who understand the opening words of the prophetic book, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ”, then you would know what many believe, that Christ’s Second Coming has already happened.

In the modern world, ahrimanic shadow-thoughts rule the day. Our media devices are so alluring and addictive that children and adults seldom turn away from them for long. Whether those platforms are television, smart phones, game systems, computers, or virtual reality, they are seductive distractions that draw our attention away from the invisible spiritual to the materialism of an electronic world where Ahriman ensnares us in his spider web network of grey shadow thoughts.

The ego of the unwitting devotee of Ahriman is entangled in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a plethora of electronic prisons that fabricate a false version of the human ego – a digital-ego that “appears” to be connected with other human egos, but is, in fact, a complete mirage of one’s true ego.