Ahriman, in the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, is a spiritual entity that represents materialism, material control, and stagnation. Steiner believed that Ahriman is one of the major forces working against the spiritual development of humanity and that it seeks to enslave the human spirit.
In Steiner’s worldview, spiritual entities like Ahriman can have an incarnation in the physical world, which he referred to as a “descent of the spiritual into the physical.” According to Steiner, Ahriman had a previous incarnation as the Persian spiritual leader Zoroaster, and he will have another incarnation in the future.
Steiner’s teachings on Ahriman’s possible future incarnation are based on his belief in the cyclical nature of spiritual evolution and the idea that spiritual entities can return to the physical realm in different forms. He saw this future incarnation as a time when Ahriman’s influence would be at its strongest and when the human spirit would face its greatest challenges.