As it is above, so it is below.

“Ontogeny replicates phylogeny” is such a great saying! And one I think is important to remember when we are wondering about birth. It is a biology (and sometime psychology) theory that explains how the process of embryonic development of mammals is patterned after the evolution of that species through earlier forms. While arguments about where this concept holds true and where it falls apart abound, this insight prompts fascinating reflections on the nature of creation.

I was first exposed to this concept when studying the works of Rudolf Steiner as a home schooling mother. Rudolf Steiner created the Anthroposophy movement in the early 20th century, based in part on Goethe’s phenomenology of form and archetype. He developed Waldorf education from this philosophy, where much of the teaching is done through presenting what Steiner called “true pictures.” Similar in concept to Jung’s archetypes, “true pictures” are identified in religious texts, fairy tales, parables and symbols. They are devices which are laid in creation to give answers to central questions, but leave the mind free to interpret and judge according to one’s own inclinations. Steiner taught that embryonic development follows the “true picture” given in Genesis.

Steiner believed that the creation of each individual may be perceived as a set of two forces joining in the embryo to create a unique being. These two force-systems meet in utero like two moving streams. The physical/genetic stream may be likened to a powerful river which flows through meadows, villages, and cities, and gathers material from these different environments. The spiritual self is likened to a clear, sparkling mountain stream, flashing over rocks and waterfalls, mixing with sunlight and air, yet bearing its own mineral deposits as well. In the mother’s womb these two forces unite. However, before the twining of the physical and spiritual can happen, an environment must be prepared to receive and nourish it. This is how the story of creation is told in Genesis. Before man was created, the Elohim created the heavens, the waters, and dry land, the plants and the animals.

Early embryologists were shocked by what they saw when the first high-powered microscopes became available after World War I. Dr. Karl Koenig of the Vienna Institute of Embryology reported, “It was quite incomprehensible to us: the opposite of what we thought was being revealed. The embryo is not visible during the first two-and-a-half weeks. It is not developing. What first develops are the embryonic sheaths, the enveloping organs. Only when they are established will the first embryonic forms suddenly appear as if out of nothing. It is not the center which arises first, with the environment developing from it, but the opposite which happens.”

Instead, embryonic development repeats the sequence described in the “true picture” of Genesis. It begins with a burst of light at fertilization, moves from a single cell, to a cluster of cells, to a larvae, to an amphibian, to a creature that resembles many mammals at similar stages of development, to a human being who emerges as unique from an other every created. The microcosm repeats the macrocosm.

Genesis first gives us the image of the spirit moving on the face of the waters. As the spirit of the Elohim moved on the face of the waters, they said “let there be light.” The ovum radiates light with what scientist call a “corona radiata,” a radiating crown. Then Elohim separated the light from the darkness. The blastula develops with an inner (tropho-blast) and an outer (embryoblast) space. The globe-shaped form is called the chorion. The Elohim said, “Let the earth bring forth plants.” Tiny silica-like fibers, plant like forms appear in the plasma of the chorion. Silica is intimately connected with the chlorophyll light process in leaves. Then the Elohim made two great lights, one to rule the day and one to rule the night. The amnion and the yolk sac separate; the placenta forms and sinks deeply into the blood vessels of the womb. The placenta will be a nourishing, warming sun for the embryo which soon appears. The tiny, sickle shaped allantois appears, looking like a slender new moon.

Then the Elohim made living creatures. Blood is the archetypal criterion of being an animal. At this point, amnion and allantois develop pulsating blood islands. No heart pumps this new formed blood: it pulsates from the plasma of the uterus. And finally the Elohim said, “let us make man in our own image” male and female. Now the true embryo appears. The embryonic disc appears the blastophorous grows, takes on flesh and incarnates.

In the presence of the deep and wonderful mystery of creation, can we be anything but humbled and awed? I believe that we are wise to remember that birth is part of this sequence and we are best served when we allow the divine design to unfold. As it is above, so it is below.