The Human Odyssey

The Stages of Life According to Rudolf Steiner

The early twentieth century philosopher and mystic Rudolf Steiner conceived of a theory of human development based upon seven year cycles, and linked those cycles to astrology.  The first seven years of life (0-7 years old) were associated with the Moon. During this time, the psychic forces are working to transform the body of the child from one that was inherited from the parents, to one that represents the full personality of the child.  The second seven years (7-14 years old) is associated with Mercury. At this time, the child's imagination and feeling life takes center stage.  The third seven years (14-21 years old) is associated with Venus, during which time the higher mind of the adolescent takes root, and the psychic development can be disturbed by the strong impulses of puberty.  The next three seven-year segments are associated with the Sun (21-42 years old), and the elements of sentient soul, intellectual soul, and consciousness soul.  The next seven-year segment is associated with Mars (42-49 years old), when the soul works hard to impress the full forces of its personality upon the world.  At this time, the soul has the opportunity to a higher state of consciousness called Spirit Self. The following seven-year segment is associated with Jupiter (49-56 years old), when wisdom is dawning and the ego needs to unfold the Life Spirit. The final seven-year period is associated with Saturn (56-63 years old) when Saturn completes its second "return" (e.g. comes back to its position it had at one's birth), and the soul can manifest an event higher element of Self called Spirit Man.  For more information, see Steiner's Karmic Relationships Vol. VII, lecture two.

Source:  Ceol agus Realta

The Stages of Life According to Ptolemy

The ancient astrologer/astronomer Ptolemy (83-161 C.E.), whose ideas of the structure of the universe (based upon spheres), dominated western civilization until Copernicus and Kepler in the 16th-17th centuries, associated different planets of the solar system with particular stages of life:

Moon:  Infancy - 0-4 years old

Mercury: Childhood - 4-14 years old

Venus:  Adolescence - 14-22 years old

The Sun:  Young Adulthood - 22-40 years old

Mars:  Mature Adulthood - 40-55 years old

Jupiter: Retirement and Wisdom - 55 to 67 years old

Saturn:  Old Age - 67+

Source:  Ceol agus Realta

The Stages of Life According to Medieval Islam

A map of the human life cycle that is associated with the Islamic middle ages and a philosopher/scientist named Al Biruni (973-1048 C.E.) is called Firdaria.  It is a system of astrology based upon specific planets that influence our lives at different stages of life.  The Sun rules the first 10 years of life (ages 0-10), Venus the next 8 years  (ages 11-18), Mercury the next 13 years (ages 19-31), the Moon the next 9 years (ages 32-40), Saturn the next 11 years (ages 41-51), Jupiter the next 12 years (ages 52-63), Mars the next 7 years (64-70), the North Node (a mathematical point that takes into consideration the relation between the Sun, Moon, and Earth at the time of one's birth) the next 3 years (71-73), and the South Node the next 2 years (73-75).  After this, the cycle repeats itself starting again with the Sun. This pattern applies to the astrological charts of individuals who were born during the day.  If the person was born during the night, the cycle begins with the Moon and follows the same sequence. According to the blog site Ceol Agus Realta, Al Biruni:  "made contributions to a very wide range of human endeavors, from chemistry to math to astronomy. He knew that the earth rotated on its own axis and knew about both heliocentric and geocentric perspectives. He developed special instruments for astronomical measurements and he is said to have written over 200 books. There is even a crater of the Moon called after him."

From a psychological standpoint, the sequence given above makes sense, at least with respect to most of the planets.  The Sun represents the ego, and the first 10 years of life involve the development of the child's self as it enters society. Venus rules the adolescence years, when romance and passion are at their height.  Mercury represents the mind, and early adulthood is a time when the mind is required to succeed at one's career, in one's relationships, and in becoming a good citizen.  Saturn, which is the planet of responsibility and discipline, rules the midlife years, when it is often necessary to work very hard to master the lessons of life.  Jupiter, which is the benevolent planet, is associated with mature adulthood, when financial and emotional stability make it possible to give something back to the greater community.

The Stages of Life According to W.B. Yeats

In W.B. Yeat's poem Supernatural Songs, part IX of the poem presents his "theory" of the human life cycle in poetic form.  According to Yeats, there are four stages of life or "ages of man" that relate respectively to body, heart, mind, and soul.  The first age recalls infancy, as the baby struggles to walk and to take its place among other upright human beings. The second age seems to echo adolescence, as the innocence and peace of childhood gives way to a mighty battle of the emotions.  The third age recalls adult maturity, as the storms of adolescence give way to the adventures of the mind.  The fourth, and final age, alludes to late adulthood, when spiritual concerns take front stage, and also to death, when the struggle for the soul is ultimately resolved.  Here are the lines:

IX. The Four Ages of Man

He with body waged a fight,
But body won; it walks upright.

Then he struggled with the heart;
Innocence and peace depart.

Then he struggled with the mind;
His proud heart he left behind.

Now his wars on God begin;
At stroke of midnight God shall win.

From William Butler Yeats, Supernatural Songs (in Parnell's Funeral and Other Poems, 1935)

The Stages of Life According to Native American Tradition

The stages of life in Native American traditions are sometimes represented through the Medicine Wheel, a cross within a circle that indicates the Four Directions:  East, South, West, and North.  The symbolism that is usually described goes as follows:  East - birth, childhood;  South - youth, growing up;  West - aging, mature adulthood;  North - wisdom, death.  However, the Wikipedia indicates that in the Hopi culture, North represents birth and infancy,  East - adolescence; South - young adulthood; and West - elderhood.  What is common to all versions, however, is the idea of the stages of life as a cycle, where, like the seasons, death gives rise to rebirth and a renewal of the life impulse. 

The Stages of Life According to Ancient Hinduism

According to the ancient Hindu Laws of Manu, there are four stages or "ashramas" of life, each lasting 21 (or 25) years.

The first stage - 0-21 (0-25)  years - Brahmacharya/Student - the person lives as a unmarried celibate, studies with a guru; the focus is on education, character development, development of skills

The second stage - 21-42 (25-50) years - Grahasta/Householder - the person marries, establishes a household, enters into a career, becomes an integral part of the world of activity

The third stage - 42-63 (50-75) years - Vanaprastha/Hermitage - the person leaves the household and goes into the forest (or now in modern society, a quieter retreat), where he/she lives a life of study, mentorship, prayer, and meditation.

The fourth stage - 63-84+ (75-100+) years - Sanyasa/Renunciate - the person leaves all worldly activity and engages the whole force of personality toward spiritual development and upliftment.  One can become a guru at this point.

The Stages of Life According to the Ancient Romans

According to the ancient Romans, there are five stages of human development:

0-15 years - Pueritia - early childhood and latent period of early school years

15-25 - Adulescentia - puberty and adolescence

25-40 - Luventus - first adulthood

40-55 - Virilitas - second adulthood

55+ - Senectus - old age

The Stages of Life According to Lawrence Kohlberg

Psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg created a theory of moral development (or more properly, "moral reasoning") based upon Jean Piaget's stages of cognition.  There are three basic levels:  preconventional, conventional, and postconventional, and two stages within each level.  The six stages are as follows:

Level 1 (Preconventional)

1. Obedience and Punishment Orientation - at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual acts from a belief that if they do something wrong they will be punished, so that the best reason for avoiding doing wrong is to avoid punishment.

2. Self-Interest Orientation - at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual will act from a belief that is may be okay to do something "wrong" if there is "something in it for me." 

Level 2 - Conventional

3. Interpersonal Accord and Conformity - at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual acts in order to fulfill prespecified social roles, such as the desire to be a "good girl" or "good boy."

4. Authority and Social Order Maintaining Orientation - at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual acts in order to maintain the social order.  "We have laws for a reason," goes this orientation, "to keep order." 

Level 3 - Postconventional

5. Social Contract Orientation - at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual acts with an understanding that laws are created by people coming together for the common good, and that these same people can change these laws if new demands or conditions arise.  Thus, laws are not fixed in concrete, but need to be flexible and accommodate new circumstances.

6. Universal Ethical Principles - at this stage of moral reasoning, the individual acts with the understanding that there are "higher laws" that go beyond conventional socially-imposed laws, and that these higher laws encompass abstract philosophical ethical principles (e.g. Kant's categorical imperative). This is the stage of a Martin Luther King or a Mahatma Gandhi. 

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The Stages of Life According to Sigmund Freud

Famed originator of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud created a psychosexual model of human development based upon the erogenous zones of the body.  He believed that as these zones matured neurologically, they activated the emotional world of the child (largely resident in the unconscious), and in the course of doing so, created the basis for later emotional health or mental illness in adulthood.  The stages are as follows:

• Oral Stage of Psychosexual Development (ages 0-18 months) - At this stage, the infant is focused upon getting pleasure from its mouth, especially through breastfeeding, which may be a source of satisfaction or frustration for the baby.
• Anal Stage of Psychosexual Development (18 months - 3 1/2 years) - At this stage, the young child is fixated upon its own process of eliminating feces, experiencing pleasure in the anal regions of the body, and reacting emotionally to attempts by parents or other caregivers to control this physical function through toilet training.
• Phallic Stage of Psychosexual Development (3 1/2 years - 6 years) - At this stage, the penis or vagina is the source of erotic satisfaction for the child, and he or she fantasizes about getting pelvic pleasure with the opposite sex parent and aggressively doing away with the same sex parent (the Oedipal Crisis).
• Latency Stage of Psychosexual Development (6 years - puberty) - At this stage, the emotional surges of the previous three stages go into hiding for a few years as the child learns how to repress, project, introject, sublimate, and in other ways channel the psychosexual energies of their earlier development. 
• Genital Stage of Psychosexual Development (puberty - adulthood) - At this stage, the psychosexual instincts of the first three stages of development reassert themselves at puberty, but instead of being directed toward fantasy or the child's own body, are directed outward toward a genuine love relationship focused on heterosexual genital sex.

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The Stages of Life According to Jean Piaget

Swiss philosopher Jean Piaget conceived of four cognitive stages of human development.  They are as follows:

Birth to Age Two - The Sensori-Motor Stage:   infants develop their thinking processes solely through the body; in the course of moving their arms, legs, and torsos around, infants make things happen accidentally, and want to make them happen again, and so begin to experiment, create sensori-motor hypotheses, and engage in other deliberate actions designed to manipulate the world.  In the act of doing these things, infants create very simple sensori-motor "schemas" or cognitive maps of how the world works.

Age Two to About Seven - The Preoperational Stage:  young children have begun to create inner imagery and use langugage to represent actions;  they also can symbolize through drawing, play, and other means.  This stage in Piaget's theory is a transitional stage when the young child is using a variety of cognitive strategies to make sense of the world.  These strategies are not logical in the adult-sense of the world, but involve using magic, animism (imbuing inert objects with life), participation (believing that inert objects are involved with our lives), and other supposedly non-rational means of explaining the world.

Ages Seven to Eleven - The Concrete Operational Stage - Somewhere between the ages of five and seven, children begin to think about the world in a way that is akin to adult modes of rational thought.  They develop the ability to classify, categorize, seriate (e.g. put objects of different lengths in a series), and engage in "reversibility thinking" (e.g. to mentally reverse an operation - for example, to pour water from a short fat beaker into a longer thin beaker and back again, understanding that the amount of water has not changed in the process).  Once children reach concrete operational thinking, they are able to engage in formal reading and math instruction, and games and sports that have social rules involving reciprocity, or taking the other person's point of view into consideration.

Ages Eleven to Adulthood - The Formal Operational Stage.  Once kids reach this stage in early adolescence, they become capable of "thinking about thinking."  That is, they no longer need concrete materials (such as math manipulatives) in order to think - they can operate in pure symbolic langauges (such as algebra).  Because they don't need the concrete world as a basis for thinking, cognition at this stage can really take off into the stratosphere with interests such as science fiction, computer programming languages, and political and religious idealism.

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The Stages of Life According to the Riddle of the Sphinx

The answer to the riddle of the Sphinx ( "What creature walks on four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three in the evening?") is as follows:

• four legs in the morning - the child (crawling)
• two legs at noon - the adult (walking)
• three in the evening - the old person (walking with a cane)

For more information, click here.

The Stages of Life according to Erik Erikson

The "Eight Ages of Man" of psychoanalyst Erik Erikson are as follows:

1. INFANCY: Basic Trust vs. Basic Mistrust - the infant struggles with dependency on its mother for love, nurturing, and (oral) sustenance, in the course of which he may develop an underlying sense of hope concerning his place in the cosmos, or failing this, may withdraw from the world of relationships altogether.
2. EARLY CHILDHOOD: Autonomy vs. Shame, Doubt - the young child experiences a conflict related to other people (e.g. parents) controlling its bodily functions (anal, urethral), and may come out of this crisis with a developed sense of will or autonomy (the ability to take charge of one's own life), or alternatively, because of deep shame (a sense of being exposed), develop a defensive structure of compulsiveness that tries to control self and others in a manipulative or obsessive way.
3. PLAY AGE:  Initiative vs. Guilt - the child is now a part of the family matrix and struggles with oedipal desires (locomotion aggression toward the same sex parent, genital attraction toward the opposite sex parent), which may be channeled into a positive drive to take initiative in the social world, or alternatively, may turn in on itself and develop into a sense of pathological guilt related to sexual and aggressive feelings.
4. SCHOOL AGE:  Industry vs. Inferiority - here the psychosocial world expands to include the neighborhood and the school environment, where the child's efforts to sublimate the drives of the previous stage through work and enterprise (e.g. hobbies, schoolwork, projects, chores etc.), may result in the construction of a personality that feels a sense of competency and ability, or alternatively, may develop into a pervasive aura of inferiority in relationship to the efforts and achievements of others.
5. ADOLESCENCE: Identity vs. Identity Confusion - with the advent of puberty, the psychosocial scene focuses upon the teenager's peer group and other groups that model a range of possible identities, which the teen will try on (through intense one-to-one relationships and/or membership in cliques), and through which he will ultimately develop a coherent sense of identity, or alternatively, experience a diffused, undefined, or fragmented sense of self that may result in delinquency, psychosis, or more commonly, the inability to settle upon a occupational identity as he moves into adulthood.
6. YOUNG ADULTHOOD:  Intimacy vs. Isolation - now that the individual has hopefully developed a stable identity, she moves into the adult world seeking a partner with whom to share work, sex, friendship, and intimate feelings, failing which, she sinks into exclusivity, elitism, isolation, or other forms of non-intimate social relations.
7. ADULTHOOD: Generativity vs. Stagnation - once the adult has found a partner to share intimacy with, he now is faced with the challenge of raising a family, making positive contributions to the workplace and the community, and engaging in other forms of generativity and care, failing which, he will become rigid, inert, and rejecting on the job, in the family, and/or as a citizen, or fall into other forms of stagnation.
8. OLD AGE:  Integrity vs. Despair - as an adult reaches the end of her life, she looks back at what she has or hasn't accomplished, and feels a deep sense of fulfillment or at least an acceptance of the life she has lived (out of which will come wisdom), or alternatively, she descends into anguish or despair at having not lived a full and vital existence.

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