In olden times, in regions where man's body was still suited to these things, such an initiation took, place as follows. The person had to go through a sort of sleep-state. He must go through a sort of sleep condition. To understand the nature of sleep, let us remind ourselves what takes place when one sleeps. One's higher bodies are then separated from one's lower bodies.
Man consists of a physical body, which one can see with one's eyes.
The second member is the etheric body which surrounds the physical body and which is much finer than the physical body. Currents and organs of wonderful variety and splendour are active in it. The etheric body contains the same organs as the physical body. It has a brain, heart, eyes etc. They represent the forces which formed the corresponding organs.