The drawing below dates from the year 1304. It shows the Scala Naturae (Scale of Nature) as it was called by the ancients.
It’s from a book by Ramon Llull titled “The Book of the Ascent and Descent of Intellect”. The scale was common among the Abrahamic people (today Christians, Muslims, Jews).
The Levels of Consciousness here are:
Elementative (relating to the four Elements Earth, Water, Fire, Air)
Vegetative (Beings capable of eating, growth and reproduction)
Sensitive (Beings capable of sensory perception)
Imaginative (Beings who can internally re-create and project what was perceived)
Humans (Beings who are at the same time part of material and spiritual, lower and upper reality)
Heaven (which includes several celestial spheres and realms and the Beings therein)
Angels (which the ancients defined as the purest spirits)
God (at the top of the staircase, on which the entire Kingdom below is dependent)
The ancients believed that all beings can ascend or descend (the Buddhists still believe this).
In his book, the author also mentions Beings that are one level below the Elementative level, which he calls “Ars”. Ars is Latin for “art” or “artificial beings”. These are beings created by humans. In other words, the concept of androids, robots and AI was already known 800 years ago.
As I’ve said, this “Levels of Consciousness” stuff is nothing new, it goes way back.
