In diverse earlier contemplations the constitution of man was contemplated. Man is therein thematised as a threefold. As a body man carries within himself a material element, as a soul a consciousness element and as a monad a spiritual element.1 The material element man has in common with the animals, the (individual / coordinated) consciousness is particular for man2 and the spiritual element he has in common with the gods (so called). It is on the evolutionary arc3 given as a task to man to form, refine and sublimate his animalistic element to his godly element.4 This is something typically human.
Now sex finds its origin on the bodily, animalistic level. On soul level and on monadic level there is no separation in sexes and thus sex is not the case.5, 6 It can be understood that also where sex is the case it is the task of man to refine and sublimate it, to bring it from a purely animalistic drive to a godly expression. And the means which he therefor may apply is his consciousness. But because man as man (and thus not as animal) is himself that consciousness it is by becoming, being and staying as man himself that he doesn't lose himself in sex, at least not without staying himself.7 He must, himself giving to the other, stay in his center of consciousness. Where we surrender ourselves in an animalistic way to sex we lose ourselves fully, we neglect our human task and sublimation will fail.
Now we have contemplated before that human consciousness is the widest on the buddhic level.8 This is the level of the intuition and of love-wisdom.9 Man must thus approach sex intuitively and with wisdom, and not in the last place bring love into it.10 This is for man the step towards ennoblement, through humanization and deification, of the animalistic sex which is connected with the body of man. For most men this is a step because they are not yet standing in full in their consciousness and their love.11, 12 It is however an important step that must be taken. It is through the bringing in of love that man can, and actually should, deify the animalistic sex.13
To understand that step from animalistic experience to human experience better it can be useful to explore the bordering area of animalism with humanism. That exploration may take place through the ninefold division of the human constitution whereby every part of the earlier mentioned threefold itself is divided into a threefold. The personality (earlier indicated among others as 'body' and 'animalism') consists in that ninefold of physicality (coarse and subtle), emotion and concrete thought, the soul (earlier indicated among others as 'consciousness' and 'human') consists there of abstract thought, love-wisdom / intuition and spiritual will, and the monad (earlier indicated among others as 'spirit') consists there of active intelligence, love-wisdom and will (the latter to on a higher spiral of being than the former mentioned).14, 15 It is interesting for our contemplation on the present subject to single out the highest animalistic level, the concrete thought, and the lowest human level, the abstract thought.
The concrete thought busies itself with loose, nonrelated concretes while the abstract thought busies itself with relating generalities. And it is the multiplicity which is the mediating principle between concreteness and generality. The perception of one single fire makes it for the perceiver a curious phenomenon but the perception of several fires makes the understanding of fieriness come to being. It is through multiplicity or by repetition that the step from concrete thought to abstract thought can be made, that the step from animalistic thought to human thought can be made. So for who cannot yet come into the love directly repetition can be a good first step towards love. With that repetition it is then important that the repetitions are related to each other, like pearls on a thread. For without that relation what is repeated stays as particular concreteness on itself.
Above the relation in the repetition was mentioned as step from animalistic to human thought and as incentive for the further step towards love. And this then is exactly what is advised in sexuality: to experience it within a relation where sex with each other can be repeated and where with the mediating step of repetition love can be brought in.16 When the love, the abstract thought and the repetition are not applied man stays in the concrete thought, or even in the emotions, and that may be a small elevation with regards to the raw animalistic sexuality; it does not bring the latter to a human, let be a godly, level.17
The above can also be seen in a greater importance. Sexuality is part of our animalistic nature and of our body, but that animalism, that body, that physicality and materiality are part of nature as a whole.18 And as it is the individual task of every man to elevate one's own physical body to godliness so this goes for humanity as a whole with regards to the nature in which he finds himself placed. It is the task of humanity to elevate, sublimate and ennoble nature.
That man has taken up this task we see reflected in his attempts to control and manipulate nature. Where we see man grow crops we see an attempt in its generality to elevate nature from its natural condition. To the manipulation of the crops is [in Dutch] even given a term like 'crop ennoblement'. That through the dominant position of man with regards to nature in its generality the latter is also exploited is also true. Humanity has not yet come enough to love and the manipulation of nature is still usually brought about through emotional and concrete thought attitudes. This by the way also goes for individual attitudes of humans with regards to sexuality, which also leads to sexual exploitation.
It is however a message of hope that humanity as a whole is on the verge of the first initiation which shall give some measure of soul control over the physical nature of his life.19, 20 And that hope may also live among individual people.