Practices of unenbodied existence of consciousness in the novel “Petersburg” by Andrei Bely

The Silver Age in Russia is associated with the mystical renaissance, ardour for the theosophy of H. Blavatsky and anthroposophy of R. Steiner. In the novel “Petersburg” Andrei Bely describes practices of out-of-body existence of consciousness based on the secret lectures of Steiner delivered in 1912-1913. The states, arising in situations of extreme tension of a psyche, are defined by the term “pulsation of spontaneous body”. The heroes of the story discuss the metaphysical problems, and the artistic meditation of the author presents a new astral picture of the world of the coming era of cosmic consciousness.