The Journal of Animal Consciousness Vol 1, Issue 2 Vol 1 Issue 2 | Page 14

man must first acquire it through inner
effort” (Poppelbaum 1931, p. 87). Wisdom in the animal
dwells deeper – within the organism itself – than in human,
and the animal at birth finds wisdom already incarnated
(Poppelbaum 1931, p. 89). As discussed above, the animal
soul organization is of the species group; its origin is not
found within the individual animal (as it is within human)
but is bound up within the bearer of the inherited qualities
of the given species as it draws downward from the stream
of heredity (Poppelbaum 1931, p. 98). This, in essence, is
what gives horse-ness to the horse. By contrast, in human,
it is the descent of the spirit (ego) that allows development
of the unique individual.
Animal exists in a state of consciousness similar to that
human once did – an atavistic clairvoyance that allows the
animal to see and grasp much that we can no longer
perceive – particularly relationships within the natural
world. It was previously discussed that the animal is a
specialized form.
For instance, the horse, with his
specialized digestive system can – given a species
appropriate diet and lifestyle – discern the difference
between a poisonous and non-poisonous plant. The horse
knows this from within organic wisdom; the current state
of human consciousness has to learn these things. The
consciousness of animals is that of the etheric or living
world with an active participation in and dependency upon
their lifeworld. The evolution of human consciousness –
the awakening of the individual spirit and the incarnation
of the “I” – has allowed us to become emancipated from
the organic processes of nature, whereas the animal cannot
exist without the relationship that flows between him and
his environment in a very active way. In contrast, human
consciously uses and manipulates his environment to
provide resources as needed. The human ego unites
concept and percept in thought (Poppelbaum 1928), yet we
have become deadened to much of it.
The
phenomenological relationship that flows between us and
nature is still there as it is with animals, it has not
disappeared, yet human lost the percept of it centuries ago
– we only see ‘us’ and ‘it’. Re-discovering the capability
of seeing the ontological relationship, this time from a
place of awareness can help us in every way, including in
our interactions with other species: “The new task of
mankind is to reawaken to the etheric world through the
development of a modern clairvoyance, Imaginative
consciousness that can operate simultaneously with wideawake self-awareness.”17
The more humans interact with animals the more their
individual spirit awakens (Mikic 2014, p. 33). Yet one of
the hallmarks of individuality is freedom, and with
freedom comes responsibility. This includes freedom from

the confines of dependency upon the environment, as was
stated above. The state of human consciousness allows
this – animal consciousness does not – and thus the
individual responsibility lies with us, the human. The
increased attention to animal welfare in recent years has
increased the tendency to attribute morality to animals and
we apply anthropomorphic language quite frequently,
seemingly now even more so with the ‘formal’ recog