Superhierarchies
In Steiner's celestial symphony the hierarchies are developed one from
the other in a descending and condensing sequence.The highest order,
or First Hierarchy of seraphim, cherubim, and thrones, composed of
the prime element "warmth," produce as offspring members of the
Second Hierarchy, kyriotetes, dynamis, and exusiai, who then condense
warmth into light and the shadow of light, which to Steiner is repre-
sented by air. Their progeny, in turn, the Third Hierarchy, thirsting
for actual darkness (rather than mere shadow) develop darkness to in-
terplay with light and thus create the magic of color, from whose re-
flection arises the watery element or chemical ether. With the final
condensation into earth comes life.
At this point the development of the "very useful" elemental beings
through the "tying-off" of parts of the hierarchical beings, plus the me-
diation of the devas, produces an uninterrupted process of creation
spreading across the earth to populate the mineral, vegetable, and ani-
mal kingdoms.
Closely connected with this development of the planet are what
Steiner calls "spirits of the cycles of time," descended, like the devas of
minerals, directly from members of the highest hierarchy, the thrones,
or spirits of will. Their function is to distribute work to the lower-
ranking nature spirits throughout the year, bringing about change of
seasons in the various regions of the earth. It is these controllers of cy-
cles who are credited with spinning the planet on its axis and rolling it
around the sun, responsible not only for generating day and night but
also for regulating the seasons and the growing and fading of plants and
animals, along with all other rhythmical repetitions of temporal events.