838. Becoming a two-poled being is consequently not something that happens in an instant. The transformation of the living being from a one-poled to a two-poled state constitutes a very long period of development. And of course, within that period are to be found all possible intermediate stages between the one-poled and the two-poled state. The representatives of these intermediate stages are therefore in varying degrees unfinished beings. In these beings the disposition towards marriage is to some extent strongly degenerating. Consequently, these beings are correspondingly more or less unsuitable as marriage partners. And the more advanced this degeneration is, the shorter is the duration of the "honeymoon" within the marriage, if the degeneration is not already so far advanced that the being does not marry at all. But it is by no means everyone whose degeneration is so far advanced that they do not marry. On the contrary, there exists a very high percentage of people who still marry, even though their disposition for marriage is extremely poor. What about men who, apart from the wives they have married, absolutely have to have "mistresses"? And what about women who, in addition to their husbands, cannot live at all without flirting and philandering in all ways with all other men? In many cases is not these women's attire and cosmetic make-up – plucked eyebrows, false eye-lashes, painted lips, coloured cheeks, hair and nails and so on – more to be admired by other men than their marriage partner? To long for the admiration of other men rather than their marriage partner cannot possibly show their marriage in a very good light. And it does not improve matters if the woman concerned feels that her camouflage is necessary in order to keep her husband for herself. A marriage partner who prefers a camouflaged beauty instead of the natural or true beauty is not a "genuine" companion or partner but rather a false one in the tie called "marriage". It is not his wife's natural appearance, but the ideal image of a woman, which his wife with the help of cosmetics tries to represent, that stimulates his amorousness. And the wife must thus by artificial means transform herself and become an imitation of or a substitute for this ideal image of a woman.
      But a marriage that is based only on an outer veneer, almost in the literal sense of the word, is not based on the natural appearance of the beings' true selves and it is consequently artificial. But of course, it is only to a very limited extent that this camouflage can shore up the durability of the marriage. In most cases it will break into pieces. The beings can no longer connect with each other, and the marriage becomes unbearable and has to break up. The beings rush into new love affairs, enter into new marriages and experience the same disappointments. The "honeymoon" in the new relationships and the marital bliss bound up with them cannot last. And the beings therefore chase in vain after the "lost paradise". They are no longer in the "Garden of Eden" as they believed. They are no longer "mating beings" pure and simple. The sexual urge has become more liberated. Whereas in the case of animals in the pure state it is a bound disposition, which means a disposition that is liberated only during periods when it is necessary for procreation, it has become, in the case of terrestrial human beings, more permanent. Unlike animals, human beings do not have a special "mating season", although springtime may be said to still have a strong stimulating effect on the sexual life of terrestrial human beings. The ability to reproduce in human beings is not confined to a certain season of the year but finds expression all the year round. Terrestrial human beings have become more conscious of their sexual urge. In these beings it is more a matter of will than in animals.