Practical Approach I, II, III, Toward Astrosphy Willi Sucher

PRACTICAL APPROACH I
STAR JOURNALS ONE

Toward A New Astrosophy
(August 1965 ~ May 1968)
By
Willi Sucher
Published by
ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC.

P.O. Box 13
Meadow Vista, CA 95722
STAR JOURNALS ONE
TowardA New Astrosophy
ISBN 1-888686-04-9
© ASTROSOPHY RESEARCH CENTER, INC. 2006

P.O. Box 13
Phone: 530-878-2673
E-mail: arci@bigvalley.net
Website: AstrosophyCenter.com
Editors: Roberta van Schilfgaarde

Darlys Turner
10987654321
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reproduced in any form without the written permission
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CONTENTS
FORWARD 4
INTRODUCTION 6
Star Calendar: October 1965 9
November 1965 14
December 1965 19
Star Journal: January 1966 24
February 1966 29
March 1966 34
April 1966 41
May 1966 47
June 1966 53
July 1966 59
August 1966 65
September 1966 71
October 1966 77
November 1966 83
December 1966 90
January 1967 97
February 1967 103
March 1967 110
April 1967 116
May 1967 122
June 1967 128
July 1967 134
August 1967 140
September 1967 146
Ovtober 1967 153
November 1967 159
December 1967 165
January 1968 171

February 1968 177
March 1968 184
April 1968 190
May 1968 197
Bibliography 204
FORWARD
“In the many years of astrological investigation, we have come to the conclusion that, unless
definite and precise questions are formulated, a chart can become a veritable ocean of facts in which the
mind of the investigator can easily be drowned and lose all capacity of useful interpretation. An
incarnation asterogram is a part of the great cosmos; it cannot possibly be exhausted by the human
mind. But we can approach it with well-formulated questions and problems and expect relevant and
productive answers.” Willi Sucher
This is the first of a three volume study series in astrosophy. These monthly journals and
letters were written by Willi Sucher and mailed to subscribers over a nine year period, and this
is the first time that they have been republished in their entirety. The Star Journals were origi-
nally published—beginning August 1965, with a preliminary issue, to October 1970—as a
monthly periodical for the practical application of the star events in the heavens. The first
three issues were called the Star Calendar; however, this was changed to Star Journal with the
publication of the fourth issue and remained so throughout.
There was a previous publication of the first 14 issues in a booklet titled Star Journals in
1986, but the remaining 18 issues in this publication have not been published since they were
originally written. The journals have been reproduced in their original text and form, with
minor editing. All significant changes or additions from the editors will appear in [brackets].
Most of the monthly calendars and commentaries have been excluded, unless they contained
information relating to the subject matter of the journal or to research information.
The Astrosophy Research Center was founded in 1984 by Willi Sucher, along with a few
friends. Born August 1902 in Germany, he was inspired already in his teens to create a new
astrology. With the impulses of Dr. Rudolf Steiner, he began work at age 27 to develop
astrosophy—a new star wisdom. In those early years he worked with Dr. Elizabeth Vreede, and
he continued this work with many others for the next 57 years until his passing in May 1985.
The Center is a non-profit public benefit corporation and is not organized for the gain of
any individual. It is a place for study and research and is open to anyone with an interest in this
pioneering work. Accommodations are available upon request, please contact the Center for
room rates and further information. If you wish to make a tax deductible donation toward
future publications, please send a check payable to the Astrosophy Research Center. All contri-
butions, large or small, will be very gratefully received.
On page 5, there is a list of the planets, signs/constellations, and other phenomena with
their symbols, which are used throughout the series in the graphics and diagrams.
4
STAR JOURNALS ONE
Planets
Sun Mercury Saturn
Earth Venus Uranus
Earth Mars Neptune
Moon Jupiter Pluto
Sign - Constellation
Aries-Ram Leo-Lion Sagittarius-Archer
Taurus-Bull Virgo-Virgin Capricorn-Goat
Gemini-Twins Libra-Scales Aquarius-Waterman
Cancer-Crab Scorpio-Scorpian Pisces-Fishes
Other Symbols
Ascending Node Conjunction Midheaven MC
Descending Node Opposition Midnight IC
Aphelion Epoch Julian Calendar

Old Style o.s.
Perihelion Birth Gregorian Cal.
New Style n.s.
Ascendant Asc Descendant Desc
5
INTRODUCTION
The Star Journal is intended to serve as an introduction and guide to a new star wisdom, or
astrosophy. It is becoming increasingly apparent that the traditional approaches and methods
of astrology no longer gives modern humanity what it needs.
Why should the traditional astrology not be what our present age needs? Some people will
maintain that it is so simple and easy to grasp and, therefore, should appeal to our present age.
Yet, we must realize that simplicity does not always tally with the truth. The more sublime
perspectives of human existence, to which a star wisdom would want to speak, are compli-
cated. Furthermore, our consciousness and our position in the world has changed completely
since the ages that saw the establishment of the old astrology. These facts demand reassess-
ment and fundamental changes in every detail; otherwise, we are judged and treated by stan-
dards that no longer apply to us. Therefore, it may be appropriate that the author of this
journal describes the stages of his search for new approaches and ways toward a new star
wisdom, or astrosophy.
Today, we can easily come to the conclusion that in ancient times the cognition of the
connection between the human being and the stars was simple, even primitive. However, we
should not overlook the fact that ancient humanity had a natural, instinctive clairvoyance that
provided a much deeper insight and perspective than our modern intellect does with all its
scientific approach. The Earth and all its inhabitants, including the human race, were experi-
enced as being guided and ruled by the cosmos of the stars. If we go back far enough, we find
an astrosophy that recognized the starry heavens as the expression of the invisible spiritual
world of the hierarchies, of divine beings who created the universe and all that exists in it.
They were experienced as constantly working and re-enacting the creation, and it was this that
ancient humanity saw expressed in the rhythms and movements of the stars. Later on, when
this capacity to realize that the stars were only the expression of the deeds of divine creative
beings was gradually lost, the notion increasingly gained ground that humanity and all nature
were ruled by the external stars. This was the moment when what came to be called astrology
was born, replacing the lost ancient astrosophy. In a certain sense, this can even be seen as a
betrayal of the sacred mysteries that were cultivated in the great ancient temple centers.
Thus a conception gained ground, over the centuries and milleniums, that came to regard
the human being as being ruled in all concerns of life by the stars. There existed relatively little
inquiry into the reasons, the explanations why this should be so. Most of the doubts arising
with the modern scientific attitude were countered by the answer that the astrological asser-
tions, in connection with prognostication, proved themselves correct by near statistical investi-
gation. The possibility that human beings may be able to change and break through the laws of
star lore, seemingly proposed by the statistics and the like, hardly occurred. The pronuncia-
tions of this kind of astrology became a matter of almost infallible and unalterable fate.
In the meantime the modern age arrived and with it the science of nature. We demanded
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
to know. We could not accept the ancient beliefs any longer. It was one expression of the fact
that we had stepped onto the road toward spiritual freedom from all the bonds that previously
were unquestionably accepted. This was a justified step in evolution; although the means to
attain healthy emancipation, as it turned out, were not always efficient.
In the course of these developments, ancient or traditional astrology began to be rejected,
because it could not support its assertions on a strict scientific foundation. It is true that the
great inaugurators of modern astronomy, like Kepler for instance, were preoccupied with as-
trology too, but it is just this kind of attachment that modern science holds against them.
As a matter of fact, astrology was already regarded by certain sectors of humanity as some-
thing detrimental, even godless and sinister, which had to be avoided by all means. It is docu-
mented that in 1108, the Archbishop of York was refused Christian burial, because a book on
astrology had been found under the pillow of his deathbed.
These are the reasons why we recognize the necessity for going in search of a new star
wisdom, or astrosophy. We want to find the truth about the relationship between the worlds of
stars and the human being—even all beings and objects in nature—with strictly scientific meth-
ods. We have convinced ourselves that this can not be done with a science of nature alone, but
with its healthy and congenial combination with a science of the spirit.
It may be of interest to know a little about the author’s endeavors in the field of astrology
and toward a new astrosophy. Actually, Dr. Elisabeth Vreede, an anthroposophist and co-
worker of Rudolf Steiner, gave the impulse toward an intensive investigation of these matters.
One day she drew the awareness of a larger audience to remarks of Rudolf Steiner on the
significance of the heavenly configurations at the moment of the passing-over of a human
being into the spiritual world. He had pointed out, on the basis of his spiritual research, that
the stars—particularly the planets—at that moment reflected the past biography of that hu-
man being in detail. This was like seeing light in a world of darkness, that here a perspective
arose that no longer depicted the human being as a helpless object of the rhythms and move-
ments of the stars. It was our soul and spirit being that became significant for the stars. In a
sense, they were even waiting for what we had to bring to them as the fruits of our Earth
experiences. This was worked out and confirmed on the basis of an objective comparison of
the biography of Leo Tolstoy and the astronomical, mathematical facts of the star configura-
tion at the moment of his death. A ray of hope that seemed to shed light on our quest for
spiritual freedom fell on the complex of astrology.
Subsequent researches, on the basis of the mathematics of planetary rhythms, fully con-
firmed that hope. Indeed, the biographical rhythms of a great number of historic personalities
proved to coincide perfectly with the configurations of the heavens at the moment of their
passing. The experience that we were just creatures of the cosmos and no more, into the
prospect that we were on the road toward becoming co-operators, even with the cosmos,
shaped itself persistently. This also gave hope that similar constructive viewpoints may even-
tually be found with regard to our association with the stars at the moment of our incarnation.
Later discoveries proved that this also wasn’t a vain hope.
7
The road of research was never easy. Grave dangers beset it right and left. For human
egotism, following strong patterns of tradition, is all too easily inclined to misuse any knowl-
edge of this kind in ignorance and dilettantism. However, all through the years, the shining
beacon of Rudolf Steiner’s wisdom was an unceasing encouragement and consolation. There
is particularly one passage in Rudolf Steiner’s lecture-cycle, Christ and the Spiritual World (28
December 1913 to 2 January 1914), which can be taken as light on the path: “...It became
clearer and clearer to me, as the outcome of many years of research, that in our Epoch there is
really something like a resurrection of the astrology of the third Epoch, the Egypto-Chaldean
civilizations, but permeated with the Christ Impulse. Today we must search among the stars in
a way different from the old ways, but the stellar script must once more become something that
speaks to us…” (Lecture V, January 1, 1914.)
On such foundations was the research work carried forward. The guiding impulse was the
idea to create the foundations for an astrology/astrosophy that clearly and scientifically recog-
nized our connection with the stars and yet fully respected the domain of our spiritual freedom
and dignity. Thus things gradually shaped themselves. It became ever clearer that to speak of
a connection of the human being with the stars in a general sense is not enough. Wide expe-
rience has shown that our organism is shaped by the cosmos before and at the time of our
incarnation. It also became evident that one had to distinguish between the principals of the
organism in order to form an accurate and efficient picture. The physical body, the life organ-
ism or ether body, the consciousness organization or astral body, all have their particular con-
nection with the world of the stars. They must and can be distinguished sharply, but all these
associations need not bind us any more and make us “unfree” as they did in ancient times.
They constitute the “tools” and “vehicles” that we must acquire to accomplish our earthly
sojourn. The crucial and decisive question is always: how will we use our “tools”. This is
where we must and can become “free”, just as efficient craftsmen must not be ruled by their
tools if they want to perform a “good job”. This capacity is not given to us from the outset.
We must acquire it, and the eventual ability “to use our stars” properly and efficiently must be
prepared in us already in the childhood years of education; certainly not by making us study the
stars in this sense but simply by evolving the dormant creative capacities of the child. Later in
life, in years of independence, this “working with their stars” can and, perhaps one day in the
future, will become a “scientific” capacity. In such like perspectives can we see the eventual
justification for a new astrosophy.
Willi Sucher July/August 1965
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
STAR CALENDAR - October 1965
Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

[Ed. note: This first issue contains a few {bracketed} blocks of text that were included in a
previous, unnumbered, preview issue of August 1965, which contained much of the same information
included in this first “official” issue.]
The writer of these pages intends to meet a need that has existed for a number of years.
Since the publication of his earlier Drama of the Universe and Isis Sophia, the problem has be-
come more and more urgent not only to study theoretically, as it were, the interrelationship
between cosmos, Earth, and human being, but to put such knowledge, as far as we are permit-
ted to obtain it in our present age, to practical use in a fashion in accordance with the spiritual
dignity of our modern age.
The Drama of the Universe took its first steps into the world in 1958. In the meantime a great
number of new developments and discoveries have occurred in this field. They seem to imply
the need for an intensive enlargement and elaboration of the ideas that were mapped out in the
Drama. A number of scientists have made rather important discoveries concerning the interre-
lationship between Earth magnetism and similar fields and events in the solar universe. Also,
extensive investigations were carried out associated with cosmic factors correlating to meteo-
rological data. We ourselves added many tangible observations in these spheres. Apart from
this, we made extensive comparative studies of embryology and cosmology. We did this par-
ticularly from the viewpoint of a possible combination of the heliocentric approach (as in the
“Drama”) with the geocentric aspects of classical astrology.
Furthermore, we investigated the ethical implications that beset the whole area of astrol-
ogy, the question of our freedom of thought and action in view of our undeniable association
with the universe of the stars. All this material we want to bring gradually to the knowledge of
those who are interested.
The cosmic events of the present time are extremely interesting. In fact, the years 1965
and 1966 are conspicuous on account of the dramatic configurations that occur in the solar
universe. Most of them fall in with the main pattern of events at present, i.e., all kinds of
angular relationships will occur between the planets with the oncoming conjunctions of Ura-
nus and Pluto (two latecomers in astronomy, Uranus having been discovered in 1781, and Pluto
in 1930), which are rare in history. The latter will happen exactl— from the geocentric view-
point and projected onto the ecliptic—on October 9, 1965, April 5 and June 30, 1966. It will
happen three times because of the retrograde movement of the two planets during winter and
spring 1965-66. [From the geocentric, the planets will at times appear to move backwards or in
loops, and this is what is meant by retrograde movement. When the planets move direct or
forward again, it is a rectograde movement.] For instance, the retrograde movements, or loops,
of Mercury happen three times during one year, always in different sectors of the ecliptic.
Heliocentrically the same aspect will happen once on January 6, 1966.
9
[The interval which is discussed in this present Calendar and Commentary corresponds to
the time during which the Sun (geocentric) moves through the so-called “sign” of (Virgo) of
astrological usage, and of the Earth (heliocentric) moving through 330° to 360° of its orbit.
Thus the period that we are discussing starts geocentrically with an opposition of Saturn to
Uranus on August 27. This was preceded by an opposition of Saturn to Pluto on August 17.
Saturn is at present in a retrograde move; therefore, it was in opposition to the two planets
involved already earlier in the year, when it was moving directly forward in the ecliptic. Now, as
it moves backward, it will come to stand in opposition a second time, and the same con-
figuration will be repeated once more when Saturn will move forward again. These opposi-
tions, happening a third time, will not occur before 1966. The Sun will join in with this pattern
on September 6, with an opposition to Saturn, and September 7 and 8 with a conjunction to
Uranus and Pluto. Following this, Mercury will be in opposition to Saturn on September 15,
and in conjunction to Uranus and Pluto on September 17. (Pluto’s angular correlations are
calculated on the basis of its relation to the corresponding ecliptic longitude. Pluto is, in fact,
far above the ecliptic and its angular aspects with the other planets will find it about 13° North
of the Sun’s apparent yearly orbit).]
In connection with the first of the three geocentric conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto, i.e.
on October 9, there will occur a number of squares or 90° angular aspects. In October, Venus
will move into such angular configurations with those two planets, and later Mars will do the
same. According to the heliocentric calendar, Mercury will be in square aspects to Saturn,
Uranus, and Pluto in October.
[These planetary inter-associations will even be more pronounced in the heliocentric calendar.
Particularly the time around September 5 will display an almost perfect space-cross, with the
Sun in the center while the four arms will be occupied by planets. In fact, all the planets except
Neptune will be engaged in this. The arm pointing toward the constellation of Aquarius will
accommodate the Earth and Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury will be found in Taurus, Uranus and
Pluto in Leo, and Mars and Venus in Scorpio.]
Another remarkable feature during October will see Neptune close to its aphelion. The
planet is, therefore, farthest away from the Sun—an event that has been going on for years
because of the ever fluctuating position of the aphelion. This will also be accompanied during
October by aspects from other planets. Geocentrically, Mercury will come into conjunction
with Neptune on October 25. According to heliocentric coordination this same aspect of
Mercury to Neptune will occur on October 11, and Venus will move into a square aspect (90°)
to the Neptune on October 14.
In view of this pattern of events it seems imperative, for the sake of interpretation, to get
a clear conception of the conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto. We are fully aware of the prob-
lems involved during 1965-66, which present a maximum of possible oppositions and squares.
Many people will watch these events with great awe and might be led to the most gloomy
astrological prognostications. However, it must be pointed out that numbers of contemporary
astrologers endeavor to get away from such concepts as “good” and “bad” in view of the
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
angular correlations and try to suggest more constructive ideas. We have come to the conclu-
sion during decades of experience that the time has come when humanity must find new
avenues with regard to its relationship to the cosmic world. We must find them, indeed, on the
basis of the recognition of our potentially being spiritually free individuals. We do imagine that
this is possible and can be cultivated. An artist would confront the material offered with a
mind of intuitive creativeness. Likewise do we conceive of our potential relationship to the
stars, as one which also calls forth our intuitive creativeness in any situation of life, leading in
the ideal case toward fulfillment of “our stars”. Of course the impacts of planetary configura-
tions, for instance on the kingdoms of nature, present a totally different proposition. As far as
we are a physical material being we belong also to the kingdoms of nature. If we do not rise to
the status of a spiritual individuality, we too, are bound to become subject to possibly violent
impacts from the cosmic world.
First, we must have a clear conception of the astronomical facts involved. Conjunctions
of Uranus and Pluto, which occur in approximately similar areas of the ecliptic, take place in
intervals of about 253 years. They can happen, because of the relative periods of revolution,
in only two positions of the Zodiac at a time, presently in the constellations of Aries and Leo.
The one that is the great landmark of 1965-66 occurred before in 1712 and 1457—both also in
Leo—and in 1203, apparently in Cancer. (There is enough astronomical evidence to suggest
that both planets existed already at those earlier dates, although they were discovered only
much later.)
The dates mentioned have been significant road marks in the history of more recent hu-
manity. The year 1712 saw a lot of important developments in Eastern and Western Europe,
and in 1453 the Turks conquered Constantinople. The time around 1203 saw the rise of
Temuchin, the leader of a relatively small Mongol tribe, to the position of Genghis Khan,
meaning Ruler of the World. This too became the focus of subsequent historic developments
that brought the conquering Mongol armies into the heart of Europe.
Simultaneously with these external happenings, cultural developments took place that were
mostly hidden in esoteric-occult schools of western humanity. Nevertheless they had a pro-
found impact on western civilization. For instance, 1457 was followed by “1459”, the year
mentioned in the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, one of the principally inspired mes-
sages of classical Rosicrucianism. The year 1712 was the germination point of much of the
spiritual culture of the 18th century. Goethe, for instance, was closely associated with 1712,
although he was born later in 1749.
About 82 years after these conjunctions, there followed oppositions of the two planets; for
instance, in 1794 Uranus was in Leo and Pluto in Aquarius-Waterman. It is remarkable that, if
we follow up the oppositions—the last one happened in 1794—we come to one such event in
1 BC, or year 0 in astronomical tabulation. This is the year during which Jesus was born,
according to biblical tradition. Although historical science has since cast doubts on the reliabil-
ity of this date, we still think, on esoteric grounds, that it is correct as far as the events recorded
in the Gospel of St. Luke are concerned.
11
We will now concentrate on the occurrences of 1711-12. While this conjunction hap-
pened, the famous French philosopher and writer Rousseau incarnated. It was not until 1749
that he really made a mark as a writer. This date was preceded by an extraordinary experience
of sudden inspiration that shook him to the foundations of his being. When it happened,
exactly 37.2 years had passed since his birth, which correspond to two cycles of the Moon
nodes.
The concept of the Moon nodes probably needs some elucidation. The Earth completes
a circle around the Sun in the course of one year (or from the onlookers point of view, we can
say that the Sun apparently describes a circle around the Earth during the same time). This
circle is called the ecliptic and within it lies the plane of the ecliptic. On the other hand, the
Moon moves around the Earth and completes one orbit in 27.3 days. However, the latter orbit
does not coincide with the ecliptic. The circle and the plane of the Moon’s motion are ob-
liquely set in the plane of the ecliptic, so that one half of it is “above” and the other half
“below” the ecliptic. Thus the Moon’s circle cuts in two points through the ecliptic plane. In
one point the Moon “ascends” as it travels along its path. This is called the ascending Moon
node (1 in Fig. 1). In the opposite point it descends and is, therefore, called the descending
node (2 in Fig. 1).
Figure 1
The matter is further complicated by the fact that the plane of the Moon’s orbit—and with
it the nodes—do not stand still. They move or rather rotate in the opposite direction to which
the planets move. After some time the position will be as indicated by the nodes 3 and 4 in Fig.
1. One complete rotation and return to the original position takes 18.6 years, or 37.2 years for
two rotations as we mentioned above.
Why should these Moon nodes and their rhythms be so significant? If we study the dia-
gram more closely we will realize that the Moon is the last stepping-stone from the spheres of
the solar cosmos to the Earth. Its orbit signifies the extent of its own sphere. Therefore, we
can see in the Moon and its domain the grand finale, as it were, of all the realms of the planets
through which we must move when we descend into incarnation and from whose ingredients
we built up the dynamic principles of our earthly organism. The orbits of the planets—
indicators of their spheric grandeur—are, more or less, lying on the plane of the ecliptic. The
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
plane of the ecliptic is, so to speak, the great field of inter-communication in the solar universe.
The orbit of the Moon, or its sphere, touches it along the line that connects the two Moon
nodes. Therefore, we can see the Moon nodes as the nearest points of communication be-
tween the great universe: the Sun, the planets. and the Earth. This viewpoint coincides with
Rudolf Steiner’s suggestion that the Moon nodes are gateways from the astral realms of the
cosmos to the Earth. On this foundation we can understand the importance of the rhythms of
the Moon nodes in human life.
The most profound connection with the event of 1711-12, we can find in the life of
Goethe, the famous German poet and scientist of the 18th and 19th centuries. Certainly he was
born later in 1749, August 28, and one can not conceive at first that he should have anything to
do with 1712. Yet, an occult-spiritual insight into his being comes to acknowledge the exist-
ence of his soul entity long before incarnation. He accomplishes the latter in stages until he
finally dives into the realm of matter. These stages are something like birth experiences, only
on higher, cosmic levels. Thus an exact scientific, occult investigation would not only speak of
a “nativity” at the time of birth but also of “spiritual nativities” of the human being which
need not coincide with the moment of birth. Rudolf Steiner suggested already near the begin-
ning of the 20th century such avenues of approach. He also intimated that these spiritual
nativities might be more significant than the actual configuration of the heavens at birth.
In Goethe’s case the event of 1711-12 happened 37.2 years before his incarnation. Again
we meet here a node rhythm similar to Rousseau. Only here that conjunction of Uranus and
Pluto falls into the time of Goethe’s approach to birth. Therefore, we realize in this association
one aspect of the “spiritual nativity” of Goethe. It indicated profound characteristics of this
great individuality and also connections with preceding incarnations.
Much of the spiritual essence of Goethe that was expressed in the event of 1711/12 (such
kind of “nativities” cannot be interpreted along traditional astrological lines) came to the fore-
ground in Goethe’s life during the years 1794-95. Uranus and Pluto had then moved into the
opposition which was mentioned above. Goethe had at that time settled down again in Ger-
many after a prolonged visit to Italy and he wrote one of his most significant works, the Legend
of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily. It was and still is the most profound revelation of his
spiritual genius.
13
STAR CALENDAR - November 1965

Last month we introduced what we call the “great pattern” of events during the present
and next year that build up on the conjunction(s) of Uranus and Pluto. This pattern also plays
strongly into the occurrences of the present month. In the geocentric calendar, Mercury comes
twice into a square (90° distance) aspect to Pluto. This happens because Mercury is entering
into retrograde movement on November 23. Thus it comes to stand at a distance of 90° to
Pluto a second time on November 25, after the first square had taken place on November 19.
(There will be a third square aspect between the two on December 30, when Mercury will
become “direct” or move forward again.)
In the heliocentric calendar, events referring to the “great pattern” are more strongly ex-
pressed. Saturn will come into opposition to Uranus on November 17. On the same day
Mercury will be in conjunction to Saturn and, therefore, also in opposition to Uranus and
Pluto. Furthermore, Saturn will move into opposition to Pluto on November 30. These latter
oppositions, to Uranus first and then to Pluto, are significant because they happen only once in
the heliocentric calendar during the period of the “great pattern”. On the other hand, we also
find trine aspects (120° angular relationships) of the Earth to Uranus on November 8 and to
Pluto on November 9 from the heliocentric viewpoint.
On account of all these happenings, it seems highly necessary to continue with the theme
of the historic implications of the Uranus-Pluto conjunctions. We can only learn from the
ways of an earlier humanity how these impacts were confronted. On the other hand we will
not forget that our modern age faces totally changed conditions and will have to find its own
original solutions and reactions to the corresponding cosmic events.
Last time we introduced Goethe’s connection with the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in
1712. We saw a glimpse of Goethe’s “spiritual nativity” in it. This appears to have come to
fruition, as it were, in 1795, time-wise in close proximity to the opposition of Uranus and Pluto
in 1794 that followed the earlier conjunction in 1712. Here we have an example that shows
how aspects or angular correlations between planets can work out, provided the human being
develops the potential of spiritual morality. The conjunction of 1712, when the two planets
concerned were close together, can be likened to a flower bud, containing the foundations for
later developments. Then in 1795, when the two were still opposite each other, we see how
Goethe, by the formulation of his Legend, transformed what is demonstrated in the earlier
conjunction as his spiritual heritage. Then the flower bud had opened up. This is a demonstra-
tion of how we ought to creatively resolve our relationship to the stars.
Why do we attach so much significance to Goethe’s Legend? The answer for us is the fact
that it appears to describe and announce hope for a humanity that is involved in a long, drawn-
out struggle. It is the quest for the redemption of the age-old misery of being estranged and
separated from the invisible spiritual world, the world of the real causes of all physical material
existence.
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
The story concerns a number of beings who find themselves in a geographical region
where a wide river separates two different countries. Their main problem is how to establish
means of communication from one country to the other. The one in which the beautiful Lily
lives is described in the course of the events as a region that is synonymous with the world we
normally enter at the moment of death. “Living” beings from the other shore, which would
represent the domain of material existence, die if they are accidentally touched by the beautiful
Lily. Yet, all the beings of the community involved endeavor to establish a connection between
the two realms that would redeem the fate of death. In other words, the central motif of the
Legend is to find means by which mortal beings are enabled to enter the invisible or spiritual
world without having to contend with the seemingly inevitable death experience.
Finally, after long labors in which the whole community is involved, the great work is
completed. One of their number, the Green Snake, decides to sacrifice herself and to build a
bridge across the river by spanning it with her own body. The Green Snake is like a symbol of
the patient labor of the human soul. She has great wisdom and knows of sublime secrets
hidden deep down in the clefts of the Earth. She also knows that by evolving spiritual poten-
tial and capacity for sacrifice out of love and compassion, we will eventually be able to establish
a bridge from physical material existence to the spiritual world. Yet, with all her great wisdom
the Green Snake remains humble, which is expressed in her horizontal posture.
The importance of human community and of all helping together to achieve the great aim
is strongly emphasized in the Legend. In this sense, it is an antithesis of the contemporary
French revolution which was on the point of failing. Once the bridge is built, human beings
can freely communicate between the two countries. In that moment there rises up out of the
subterranean regions of the country, which appears to represent the physical material world,
tremendous treasures that redeem its earlier fate of exclusion and limitation. A temple arises in
which are seated three kings: one consisting of gold, one of silver and the third one of bronze.
They can be regarded as the spiritual treasures that are dormant in our soul and which we can
evolve even in the limiting Earth existence.
In the wake of 1457 followed 1459, the date that is attached to the Chymical Wedding of
Christian Rosenkreutz. We must assume, therefore, that the personality whom we know only as
Christian Rosenkreutz went through a tremendous inner experience at that time. The story
was written down much later, in the beginning of the 17th century, by Valentin Andreae, then
still a young man who acted obviously out of spontaneous inspiration. It is described as taking
place in the course of seven days, starting with the eve of an Easter Sunday: Christian Rosenkreutz
is invited to a royal wedding in a remote castle full of the most wondrous treasures and secrets.
The central event turns out to be the act of beheading of three royal couples, which was not, as
Rosenkreutz himself remarks, exactly a joyful and festive occurrence. However, after this,
things develop in strange directions. Known only to Rosenkreutz, the bodies of the beheaded
are taken to a lonely island. There, in a tower and in the course of seven stages of work, they are
completely transformed. Here the description conforms to the language of medieval alchemy.
In the end the carefully prepared derivative of the work is molded into two human forms and
15
ensouled by two spirits that descend from the heavens, as it were. Again, these proceedings are
made known only to Rosenkreutz and two of the wedding guests. The newly created beings
grow up very fast and are then brought back to the castle as the new royal couple.
There is a seemingly strange coincidence between the Legend of Goethe and the Chymical
Wedding. In both stories three kings appear; in the Legend three kings who dwell at first in a
subterranean temple, in the Chymical Wedding three royal couples who are integrated in an al-
chemical process of sacrifice and transmutation into one couple. This is no longer strange if
we realize that Goethe, according to his own testimony in the poem The Mysteries, had a con-
nection with what one might call classical Rosicrucianism.
The Chymical Wedding, like the Legend, was intended to bring a definite message, though in a
pictorial mythological language, to modern humanity. Both can be interpreted (there are sev-
eral possibilities) as manifestos calling on us to break through to the cognition of a divine
spiritual world, where the original causes of physical material existence can be found. The
alchemical process described in the Chymical Wedding can even be regarded as a presentation of
the creation of the human corporeality from spiritual cosmic resources before incarnation.
However, in both stories the emphasis seems to be on the assumption that this breakthrough in
cognition is no longer a matter of outstanding individualities in history alone but possibly of
the whole of humanity as a spiritual community.
During the year of the Uranus-Pluto conjunction of 1203, events happened that can be
put in line with those of 1459 and 1712-1795. This was the time of the “Minnesänger” (Trou-
badours). A good deal of their interest and attention centered around the tradition of the Holy
Grail and Parsifal. One of the most elaborate and complete versions of this whole complex
was written down by Wolfram von Eschenbach about 1205, in his long poem Parsifal.
Parsifal, a young lad who has grown up in seclusion and inexperience, is led by his destiny
to a castle where a knightly order guards the Holy Grail. The most sublime events happen
before his eyes, but he fails to ask for their meaning, although they appeal strongly to his sense
of compassion. Thus he, of whom the cosmic principles of destiny intimated that he was
chosen to become the king of the Holy Graal, loses all and is chased out into the wilderness.
There follow long years of wandering, of strange adventures, of loneliness and even despair.
These stories appear, on a human level, almost like equivalents of the tale of the alchemical
transmutation in the Chymical Wedding, only that they are clad in the language and habits of
medieval chivalry. Finally, after a long catharsis, as it were, Parsifal comes to the castle of the
Graal a second time, but now he is spiritually so mature that he can manage to take over the
kingship of the Graal.
It is no easy matter to discern in most of the old writings on the Graal the nature of this
sacred object. The most comprehensive description speaks of it as the ever-feeding dish or
cup that Christ used on the occasion of the Last Supper and in which Joseph of Arimathea
collected the blood of Christ that was flowing from the Cross. Other sources suggest that it
existed already long before Christ and that it was made from a jewel which had fallen from the
crown of Lucifer, the adversary, during a fight of the latter with the Archangel Michael. This
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
version would suggest that the Graal was of cosmic origin. This coincides with the assertion
of Wolfram von Eschenbach that he received the content of his story from a master Kiot who
himself had found it written in a very old volume in Spain. The author of that book was
Flegetanis, a member of the Jewish community in pre-Christian times who said that he had
read the story in the stars.
This seems to be an important aspect for us, and we will try to investigate it more closely. It
might help us to get more actuality into our considerations of the Uranus-Pluto conjunction[s)
of 1965-66. Looking back into the past and trying to discern what generations before us did in
order to face up to the events in the heavens cannot exclusively help us to get nearer a solution
in the present situation. It can only lead us onto the road of investigation and decision.
The story of the Graal is not just an ephemeral myth of an isolated part of humanity in the
Middle Ages. It is indeed, as Wolfram von Eschenbach asserted, written in the stars and con-
cerns all humanity of all ages. “There is no philosophy, no religion that is not superseded by
the Grail, for the Grail embraces them all,” wrote Dr. W. J. Stein, a historian and great scholar
of Graal research.
In order to find the story of the Graal in the stars we will now study the principle features
and the structure of the solar system, because only then can we hope to find the full “script”.
The Sun is now regarded as the central entity of our solar universe. We say it is a fixed star.
How is this Sun capable of emitting the tremendous amount of energy of which that light and
warmth, felt on the Earth, are only a part? A lot of thought and speculation has been given to
these problems. At one time in the past, the Sun was imagined to be a solid piece of material,
burning away on the surface. This was superseded by the picture of a gigantic globe of gas
which was, likewise, eaten up on the surface by a mighty process of combustion. The atomic
age replaced this by the idea of uninterrupted atomic reactions that are supposed to happen on
the Sun. All these ideas present tremendous problems: One is the replacement of the sub-
stance that is, according to earthly physical conceptions, disintegrated on the Sun.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, offered quite a different suggestion. He
regarded the interior of the Sun as a place in the solar system that is absolutely void of any
material or substance, a kind of super vacuum. The vacuum that we employ in the principle of
the pump, for instance, can never be made completely empty, but if we imagine that this was
achieved, then we would be near Rudolf Steiner’s idea.
Such a cosmic entity would exert a tremendous impact of suctional nature on its environ-
ment, reaching far out into cosmic space. The Newtonian idea of the gravitational pull of the
Sun might be affected by this idea. Most important for our approach here is the perspective
that there might be a constant stream of cosmic substance of some kind: particles, etc., toward
the surface of the Sun and motivated by the suction of the latter. We know that the space of
our solar universe is not “empty”. Furthermore, we can imagine that the replacement of the
substance which is disintegrated on the surface of the Sun stems from the environment of the
latter. It would be, if one can use this comparison at all, a furnace that is not fueled from inside
the enclosure but from the “outside” and burning away like a big grill.
17
All this would then create the picture of a double action of the Sun, a kind of inhalation
engineered by the suctional function of our fixed star and something like an exhalation through
the emanation of energy, for instance, light and warmth, etc. The two streams would collide
particularly strongly in the places where the planets appear to stand at a given time in their
orbits around the Sun. This might one day even become the basis for an explanation of the
coming into being of substance of some kind on the planets, for instance, of mineral matter
on the Earth. Scientific experiments appear to have proven lately that crystals are made by
light.
These latter ideas find some support in the scale of so-called weights of the average mate-
rial of which the planets are made, as far as modern astronomy could measure them. We take
this scale as an expression of the density or state of aggregation of the planets.
One gallon of average material would weigh:
49 lbs. on Mercury
52 lbs. on Venus
55 lbs. on Earth
39 lbs. on Mars
14 lbs. on Jupiter
6 lbs. on Saturn
13 lbs. on Uranus
13 lbs. on Neptune
In the next commentary we shall combine this scale with the average distances of the
planets from the Sun. This will make an interesting graph that will tell us a lot about the
function and meaning of the solar universe in which we live.
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STAR CALENDAR - December 1965

In October we pointed out that the “great pattern”—planetary events related to the con-
junctions of Uranus and Pluto—will continue for some time, because the last conjunction will
happen on June 30, 1966, according to geocentric computation. Thus we find, for instance, on
December 8, a trine (120°) aspect of Mars to Pluto. Furthermore, on December 10 and 11,
square aspects (90°) of the Sun to Pluto and Uranus will take place. Finally, on December 30
and 31, squares of Mercury to Pluto and Uranus will happen, all according to the geocentric
perspective (the positions of the planets as seen from the Earth point of view).
There is much more to be said about these and similar events than we can afford at present.
We cannot but ask for patience. All will be explained and worked out in future commentaries.
Now, we can do no more than start with the essentials in order to build a solid foundation.
According to the heliocentric viewpoint (the positions of the planets as seen from the Sun
point of view) similar events take place: squares of the Earth to Uranus and Pluto, and trines
of Venus to the same planets on December 8. On December 20, Mercury will step into
conjunction with Uranus and Pluto, and also into an opposition to Saturn. This will be fol-
lowed up by squares of Mercury to Jupiter on December 22 and to the Earth on December 23.
In view of all these aspects, we will continue with the trend of thought at the close of our
last commentary. We regard the story of the universe in the image of the Holy Graal, which
we see “written” in the stars, as we said last time, as an essentially positive and healing approach
in a world that is so very much troubled by the events associated with the “great pattern” of the
present moment. We consider it to be a noble task of our present age, instead of capitulating
before the cosmos, to meet it with constructive ideas that can also lead to creative deeds.
We closed the November commentary with the scale of the relative weight of average
material on the planets of our solar universe. To this we add a table of the mean distances of
the planets from the Sun. We use as a measuring rod, as it were, the mean radius of the Earth’s
orbit around the Sun, regarding it as value 1.0.
Mean distance of: Mercury = 0.39 Earth radii
Venus = 0.72
Earth = 1.00
Mars = 1.52
Jupiter = 5.20
Saturn = 9.54
Uranus = 19.19
The orbits of the planets are arranged, according to the Copernican conception, in near-
circular and near-concentric fashion around the central Sun. On the basis of the preceding
table, we come to the following diagram in Fig. 2 of the solar system. However, we cannot
include the orbits of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto because they are relatively too large.
19
Figure 2
20
STAR JOURNALS ONE
If we combine both relative weights and relative distances, we arrive graphically at the
second diagram (see Fig. 2, bottom) representing, in a sense, the image of a wave on an ocean
beach.
First there appears a long slow rise that reaches its culmination of density in the point of
the Earth, and there it breaks down in the relatively small space between Sun and Earth. This
curve can easily be explained on the basis of the idea of the suctional activity of the Sun that
we spoke about in the last commentary. At the fringe of the solar system, in the ancient sense
at the orbit of Saturn, we would find a low ebb, as it were, represented by the relative weight on
that planet of only 6 lbs. of average material. (In comparison, a gallon of water weighs about
8½ lbs). There we would find the lowest state of aggregation, but as this substance is drawn
into the solar system, it is very gradually condensed by the suctional impact of the Sun, as we
can imagine. The planets moving along their orbits would constitute something like cosmic
roadblocks or assembly-points standing in the pathway of the “stream” toward the Sun. We
have referred to such a possibility already in the November commentary.
Important for our considerations is the obvious fact that the Earth constitutes a turning
point in this process, because here seems to be the culmination of densification and at the
same time the start of a breakdown of the latter. Similar occurrences we can imagine to
happen on Saturn, the point of “low ebb” in the “stream”—beyond Saturn, on Uranus the
relative “weight” of average “material” is supposed to be higher. Also on the Sun where the
“material” (these terms can only be relatively correct) is disintegrated, we imagine such a turn-
ing-point, as we suggested following the ideas of Rudolf Steiner.
We experience that two-sided process of densification and following breakdown constantly
on our planet. On the one hand as human beings we are inevitably involved in existence in
matter of all degrees of modification, right down to mineral-chemical composition and crys-
tallization. In human terms we call this “getting involved” the event of birth. On the other
hand we witness on our planet also the opposite throughout the kingdoms of nature—loss of
material coherence, pulverization, decay, death. From a superficial point of view this might
appear as a senseless waste of energy. Can we discern any tangible results of realistic meaning
in this process of gradual accumulation of cosmic substance to the point of mineral consis-
tency, followed by disintegration? We do notice that the mineralized substance we find on our
own planet is permeated temporarily by various agents, chiefly life and consciousness. We find
life as a modifying element in all three kingdoms above the mineral realm and consciousness in
the animal and human kingdoms. But in the human realm we discover a unique factor which is
developed within the orbit of living in a body of mineral components. It is the thinking
capacity on the basis of an awareness of self. Each one of us stands between an environment
whose impact reaches us via our perception, and a world of inner response, at first in the form
of concepts and ideas. A lot more ought to be said about this particular position of ours in the
world process. It has been most efficiently and extensively treated in Rudolf Steiner’s Philosophy
of Spiritual Activity. For us here it is important to see that, in and through our thinking activity,
an element enters obviously at the point of highest condensation on the Earth, adding a new
21
essence to the world process. It is not only that thoughts or ideas enter, but that they are
grasped by the ego. The universe, as far as it is a human environment, is first experienced by an
ego as idea and later by faculties that transcend thinking but take their start from the latter.
These transcending faculties have been described by Rudolf Steiner from many aspects as
Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition. They can be attained by every human being in the
course of a careful and well defined inner training. Rudolf Steiner has given precise advice on
these matters. It is not our task to enter into any detail, but it is important for us is to realize
that with and on the basis of what we called the “stream” toward the Sun, and consequent
densification and disintegration, such like developments are possible. The practice of these
capacities, once they are attained, does not only lend a hand to ever deeper comprehension of
the existing universe, but they open the gate toward new creation.
In these aspects of human existence, on the background of the totality of what we call the
cosmic process, we do see written the fact and the story of the Holy Graal, or Grail. If we
study once more the two diagrams of the present issue, we come to regard the rising wave to
the heights of densification on Mars and Earth as the momentum of the creation of the
“vessel”. The latter is simply the mineral body in which all the inhabitants of the Earth are
living. The process of disintegration between Earth and Sun can be symbolized as a kind of
“hollowing out” of that vessel. In the case of the human race, we can distinctly see that the
disintegration process becomes the basis of the stages of consciousness of which we are ca-
pable and which we tried to characterize briefly. This is done by all manner of work. Without
work, and sometimes very exacting work, we do not really achieve anything of lasting cultural
and spiritual value. But it is just these efforts that eat up, as it were, our corporeality.
The “healing and sustaining” content of the Holy Vessel, the Graal, then must rise from
what we as an ego can consciously make of ourselves. This making of ourselves is facilitated
by our standing between the perception of the environmental world and that inner, or spiritual
world which enters into us from the other side, first as idea and furthermore as higher faculties.
As a matter of fact, we reunite in ourselves the two worlds of perception and idea. The
seemingly passive process of perception by the senses becomes, through “higher perception”,
an active recreation of the world. Through such processes the world can be transformed just
as it has been calcified and petrified, as it were, in past evolutions.
The importance of such ideas for an Astro-Sophia, or wisdom of the stars, is that they give
us a basis of understanding for the working of the various planets, their contribution to the
great work, and not least, they can help us to formulate a creative attitude toward the impacts
of the stars—so to speak, to define our possible contribution toward the spiritual completion
of the great work—of realization of the universe by and in our self.
We have the impression that such, and similar, ideas should be evolved by the individual in
this pressing moment of world history. And not only should they remain somewhat life-
embellishing ideas but become real deeds, soul deeds at least. Wolfram von Eschenbach did
not write his Parsifal in order to add a nice piece of work to world literature, nor were The
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, or the Legend of Goethe produced for similar pur-
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
poses. They were intended to become, sooner or later, deed-inspiring realities in human souls.
We have come to the conclusion that there is at present such a moment when the provoking
events in the heavens need to be met by constructive human thinking if they are not to play
havoc in souls. It is certainly not only a matter of merely remembering and reciting how past
centuries tried to grapple with these problems, but they can be taken as signposts and chal-
lenges on the road to that great work of soul transformation, even transubstantiation, which
we can only perform in the sanctuary of our inner life.
We will now concentrate on a delineation of the properties of the planets and their impacts
on the Earth and its inhabitants, especially the human being. We will do it on the basis of our
views on the solar system that we developed earlier. We can divide the planets into three
categories. In the middle sector are Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars, which are associated with the
slow rising of the “wave” (see the diagrams). Then we have the inner group of Venus, Mer-
cury, and eventually the Sun. The Earth stands in between the two, so to speak, paying homage
alternately to both. In this activity the Moon of the Earth plays an important part. By its
rotation around the Earth it moves at times in the space allotted to the “inner” planets, i.e.
Venus and Mercury, and at other times it enters the space toward Mars, etc. Therefore, it can
act as a mediator for the Earth between the nature building and the disintegrating, yet con-
sciousness facilitating spheres of the solar universe.
The third group keeps, as it were, “outside the pale”. Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto belong
to it. Nevertheless, they exert a tremendous influence on the planets “inside”. They build, in
a sense, bridges between the solar system and the greater, fixed star universe. We are, thereby,
confronted with another, very important factor for any star wisdom, or astrology, which is
represented by the Zodiac of the 12 fixed star constellations.
Thus emerge the basic principles of our further studies. Three aspects we have to con-
sider. There is first the fixed star universe, chiefly represented by the Zodiac of the constella-
tions. This is like the fundamental framework in which our solar system is set. It is like the
static feature, or common prototype of the human physical body. Within the greater universe
we find the planets moving along their orbits. They are somewhat similar to the functions
within the human body. All the planets form correlations to the various regions of the fixed
star sky, particularly to the zodiacal constellations, as they move along their orbits. (Study once
more the first diagram. Seen from the Sun the planets obviously alter constantly their spatial
coordination to the peripheral world of the fixed stars). Thereby their nature is constantly
modified. They cannot help being permeated by the different impacts from the fixed star
environment of the solar system. Finally, we want also to relate all the happenings in the
universe to the Earth. There we also face a world of constant change and modification; and
there exist ways and means to correlate it all in a mathematical logical fashion to Earth events.
23
STAR JOURNAL - January 1966

First of all, we will concentrate on the three planets of the middle group of the “wave” in
the solar universe: Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. They are obviously associated with the “rising
tide”, or wave toward gradual condensation and densification, in short, with those creation
processes that finally result in the fashioning of the “vessel”. This happens on the Earth where
the densification reaches its culmination in mineral matter. The latter is the foundation of
corporeality: of all objects and beings of the kingdoms of nature including the human being.
In this terrestrial complexity we see the “vessel” or carrier of higher principles, for instance as
in the human being, but not a purpose in itself. Thus we find the story of the Holy Vessel, or
Graal written in the stars, first of all in as much as the planets of the rising tide contribute to
the material necessary for the fashioning.
The ideal positions of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars would then appear to be a moment when
they all stand in a row together with the Earth, i.e., along a line from the center of the Sun,
through the Earth and out into extra solar space. In this case the “stream” of building sub-
stance coming from the fixed star world would hit the Earth with full impact. The impact
would be especially strong, because the sidereal substance would have been “upgraded”, as it
were, on the way by the planets for final mineralization on the Earth. (With regard to these
arguments consult always Fig. 2 in the December Journal. Mark even the positions of the
planets suggested here and otherwise with pins stuck into the orbits for an additional help).
Thus the Earth could assimilate a maximum of facility creating cosmic elements. This does
happen in the course of cosmic history but relatively very rarely, and even then one still has to
take into consideration the direction of the fixed star sky to which that common line would be
pointing. However, the opposite can also happen, that these planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars
stand in a line away from the Earth. Then the “stream” going through them would not con-
dense into Earth matter but rather remain in a state of non-mineral, archetypal potentiality. It
would, in other words, not be condensed and compressed into natural Earth objects but stay in
a state of “spiritual” foundation or essence of material objects. (The cosmic situation in No-
vember-December 1901, came close to such a configuration.)
We see from this that a planet cannot be considered on the merits of its own position
alone, but that its impact on the Earth is modified according to its relationship to the other
members of the solar family, particularly to the Earth and the Sun.
What then are the essential properties of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars? Certain spiritual be-
ings who reside on them hold the archetypes—“thought” prototypes of all that we find in
material manifestation on the Earth. Normally, we do not realize this while we are in a physi-
cal-material body. Only when we hand back, as it were, the vessel of this body and withdraw
for a while from the Earth world, i.e., after death we gradually get acquainted with that world
of spiritual archetypes. Rudolf Steiner has described these experiences of the soul, from the
viewpoint of his spiritual investigation, in his book Theosophy, and he has elaborated on it in his
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
cycle of lectures Life Between Death and New Birth in its Relationship to the Cosmic Facts (Berlin,
Winter 1912-13).
As Steiner indicates in this material, after death we first enter spheres of purification and
dissociation from earthly affairs. These spheres, called Soul World in Theosophy, are synony-
mous with the astronomical spheres of the Earth, Moon, Venus, Mercury, and the Sun. Then,
after we have attained sufficient emancipation from our affinities to Earth existence we ascend
to still higher regions which are called Spiritland in Theosophy. They correspond to the astro-
nomical spheres of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Very briefly, in the sphere of Mars, a soul would
be confronted with the thought, or idea archetypes, of all physical objects; in the sphere of
Jupiter, with the corresponding archetypes of all that manifests as life on Earth; in the sphere
of Saturn, the archetypes or prototypes of soul experiences and existence. (Later on we shall
have to work a lot more with these perspectives.)
We are fully aware that in the foregoing we introduce a new concept: that of the spheres of
the planets. What do we mean by it? We recognize in the near-circular field around which the
planet moves, its sphere. The planet itself would be like a Moon, as it were, a catalyst for its
spherical activity.
One can argue endlessly about what was first, the sphere or the planet. A mechanical view
of the coming into being of the solar universe would insist on the planets having been first,
after ejection, for instance, from the Sun. This view cannot prevent us from recognizing the
possibility that the spheres were first, reaching out as fields of force from the Sun. Further-
more, we can imagine that the planets might have settled down in the fringe of the spheres
later on, adopting them as their orbits.
However, what business have we to concern ourselves with the concept of spheres if we
want to investigate the influences and workings of the visible planets? And, furthermore, how
can we lay our hands on such seemingly intangible cosmic facts as the spheres?
Our answer is that we see in the planets reflections of what is fundamentally working as
spiritual impulses, even beings, in their invisible spheres. We would also find it desirable for our
researches to go to the root of matters. With regard to the second question, we contend that
for years we have suggested ways and means by which the element of the spheres can be
gauged, as it were. This was first published in the author’s Drama of the Universe.
The planets and their spheres take up a definite relationship to the Earth via their nodes.
Furthermore they express an objective pronunciation on their inner state by the lines of the
apsides (perihelion-aphelion). The nodes of the planets rest on principles similar to those of
the Moon nodes, which we mentioned and demonstrated (by diagram) in the October issue.
Heliocentrically, we can speak of the ecliptic plane, the plane in which the orbit of the
Earth around the Sun lies. The orbits of the planets are almost resting on the same plane but
not quite. There are in all cases some angular deviations. Therefore, all the orbits of the planets
cut through the extended ecliptic plane. These cutting points are called nodes. The nodes and
the nodal lines that connect them obviously establish contacts between the ecliptic plane, which
we can regard as an expression of the sphere of the Earth and the sphere of the corresponding
25
planet. (The sphere of the Earth would not be limited to the space within its orbit but extend
beyond). If the corresponding planet, or any other planet, would step in the course of its
revolution into this line of communication, or its extension in space, we would expect some
special impact on the Earth and its inhabitants. This is actually the case as we shall see later.
Figure 3
Similar to the nodes of the Moon, the nodes of the planets are not standing still. They are
also shifting their positions in relationship to the fixed star constellations, but their movements
are infinitely slower. Their present approximate positions (about January 1, 1966) are as fol-
lows (see The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac):
Ascending node of:

Mercury 47° 55' of the ecliptic = constellation Aries
Venus 76° 22' “ “ Taurus
Mars 49° 18' “ “ Aries
Jupiter 100° 06' “ “ Gemini
Saturn 113° 24' “ “ Gemini
Uranus 73° 49' “ “ Taurus
Neptune 131° 25' “ “ Cancer
Pluto 109° 46' “ “ Gemini
The descending nodes are in the opposite points of the ecliptic, respective fixed star Zodiac.
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
The inclinations against the ecliptic plane are at present:

Mercury = c. 7° 00' Saturn = c.2° 30'
Venus = 3° 24' Uranus = 0° 46'
Mars = 1° 51' Neptune = 1° 46'
Jupiter = 1° 18' Pluto = 17° 46'
We have repeatedly mentioned that the orbits of the planets are not exact circles. Indeed,
the planets are at certain times farther away from the Sun than at others. For instance, if we
take the diagram of the nodes in this issue we could imagine that the planet was in the top part
of its orbit closer to the Sun than in the lower part. The actual orbit would then make an ellipse
with two foci and in one of the latter we would find the Sun. The point of near distance is
called perihelion, the farthest distance aphelion, and the connecting line is called the line of the
apsides. They are also slowly changing their positions with regard to fixed star directions.
Those of the outermost planets are oscillating relatively the most. The present approximate
positions of the perihelions are as follows:
Mercury = 76° 56' - Taurus Saturn = 90° 46' - Gemini

Venus = 131° 06' - Cancer Uranus =168° 24' - Leo
Mars = 335° 26' - Aquarius Neptune = 50° 44' - Aries
Jupiter = 13° 28' - Pisces Pluto =223° 12' - Libra
The aphelion positions are approximately in opposite fixed star constellations. If a planet
is in the perihelion position of its orbit, or sphere, we can discern an intensified interest or
conformity to the affairs of the solar universe, in the aphelion correlation approximately the
opposite. However, we shall have to establish more detail later.
With this equipment we will now try to work out the characteristics of the planets, based
on their thinkable spiritual reality and open to spiritual research, as the case of Rudolf Steiner’s
description of the life of the soul after death proves. He says in his Theosophy: “One finds in the
sphere of Saturn the archetypes of desires, wishes, feelings, etc. But here, in the spirit world,
nothing of self seeking clings to the soul. Like all life (in the other regions), in this third
(Saturn) region all longings, wishes, all likes and dislikes form a unity… All that a person has
carried out in life on Earth, in the service of the community, in selfless devotion to others, will
bear fruit here... The great benefactors of the human race, the self-sacrificing natures, those
who render great services to communities, have gained their ability to render them in this
region, after having acquired for themselves the readiness for a special relationship with it
during their previous earthly careers.”
This, then, would be our relationship to Saturn and its sphere in the life between death and
new birth. In passing through it on our way to incarnation we would acquire, metaphorically
speaking, our soul backbone, the general direction of inner motives with regard to the oncom-
ing life in the physical body. And all this he would work out on the basis of the soul essence,
27
the fruits of experience through destiny, the deeper reaching teachings of past earthly careers.
Then, when we finally enters Earth existence through gestation and birth, Saturn in its simulta-
neous position in the heavens would pronounce in abbreviation the sum-total of those experi-
ences and soul motivations in the sphere of Saturn long before birth. Of course, we have long
forgotten by then the facts about our sojourn in that sphere. Therefore, the manifestation and
working out of the soul motivations might appear as an objective power of destiny, possibly
imposing seemingly incomprehensible burdens and strange ways of events. Then Saturn might
be mistakenly regarded as a “great evil”, as it is done by some astrologers, whereas there is
hidden behind it that great will of soul which we acquired in the sphere of this planet long
before birth. Even the worst blows of destiny are thus willed by our prenatal soul for the sake
of acquiring definite faculties. These facts we will have to verify in connection with historic
work.
Thus it would emerge, already at this point, that our connection with the stars, as in the
case of Saturn, is not one of merciless and overwhelming domination. Rather would it seem
the task of a spiritual astrology to raise to such a level of self-knowledge and comprehension,
that we realize in the so-called nativity, and all that is associated with it, a reflection of the
greater being we are if we see ourselves in the context of reincarnation and life in the spirit
world between incarnations.
Quite different is our association with the stars in the moment of death and all that is
connected with it. The fact of this connection was well-known by an ancient humanity. For
instance, Tibetan lamaism is aware of it and uses it as a means of finding out in what condition
the soul entered the higher spheres of existence. In modern times Rudolf Steiner has saved
the knowledge of this association for the western world from oblivion.
The configuration of the heavens at the moment of death of a human being presents in a
symbolic fashion the sum-total of the past incarnation. Here appears in the heavens an image
of what one was as a human being on Earth, what one achieved, what one did for the commu-
nity, etc. Of course, also one’s failures become apparent. This is then further elaborated
during life between two incarnations.
In that moment Saturn becomes the great reaper of the harvest of an earthly life. This is
probably one of the reasons why this planet was depicted still in the Middle Ages with a scythe.
Later on, when the souls enter the sphere of Saturn, they meet the cosmic archetypes of their
involvement in earthly soul motives and direction of will. Out of this meeting is then woven
the “soul backbone” of the following incarnation.
28
STAR JOURNALS ONE
STAR JOURNAL - February 1966

In the January Journal we attempted to describe the working of the planet and sphere of
Saturn on the basis of a realistic spiritual cognition of our relationship to the latter. We do, of
course, realize that we, on Earth or in the cosmos, are always inside these spheres. However,
the difference is that our souls move in life between two incarnations right out, as it were, to the
periphery of the sphere of Saturn. In a sense one can even say that we become identical with
the latter and look at it as we would look at our body while on Earth. Thereby, we gain a
remarkable comprehension and universality enabling us to perceive the archetypes of all soul
motivation of which we spoke earlier.
In contrast to this, we are still associated with the spherical element of Saturn, but are
compressed and contracted into a point, the point of our physical body. Thus we can under-
stand that this contracted one-pointedness manifests in the organs of the human body. For
instance, the element of Saturn appears condensed into the dynamic function of the skeleton
and the spleen, among other concerns.
This perspective fits perfectly into the picture of the function of the totality of the plan-
etary system which we suggested in the December issue of the Star Journal. We carry in our
body the sum-total of the solar universe. It has been shrunk and condensed into the physical
organs. Thus we carry all that we experienced in the spheres between incarnations in our
physical and dynamic characterological form. This is, in a broad sense, the “destiny” that we
have built ourselves through past incarnations, and through their spiritual scrutiny, as it were,
between incarnations. Now, in our new life on Earth, it is left to us to resolve, to redeem, to
ethically enlarge or improve further what we built as a “living monument” of the past, as our
own corporeality.
The planet Saturn, which we actually see at the moment of birth, is then like a sign that
indicates where the cosmic clock stopped at the end of our prenatal “spherical” existence. As
the planet, together with its relationship to the other planets, is an integral part of the sphere by
which we can judge the condition of the latter at any moment, we expect from it correspond-
ing information about the individual human being’s association with Saturn. In other words,
we study, or at least try to study, our individual destiny—karma in Eastern esoteric terminol-
ogy—that we have prepared ourselves and that is lowered, as it were, right into a dynamic and
factual physiology as characterology in the broadest sense.
Thus we can visualize the perspectives of a spiritual astrology. We are never released from
the cosmos of the planetary spheres. They always permeate us, but at definite times of our
cosmic entelechy or career we change our relationship to them. Speaking figuratively, by mov-
ing from the periphery toward the center, we pass through varying degrees of aggregation, and
at one point of transition, at birth, the configuration of the planets stand out in the heavens
like a complicated dial-plate, marking our momentary position on the road of our own inter-
incarnation career.
29
By thinking along such lines, we arrive at such perspectives as we expressed in the last issue:
we acquire, by passing through the sphere of Saturn on the way to a new incarnation, our soul
backbone, the general direction of inner motives with regard to the oncoming life in the body.
The position of the planet Saturn around birth would then indicate, apart from its association
with the skeleton, spleen, etc., our inner, psychological skeleton of destiny formation around
which it built up the course of the new incarnation. At the same time, present in this position
of Saturn, would be the results of our involvement and motives in the past incarnation and the
resolution following thereupon in life between death and the present new birth. The innumer-
able possible modifications in individual soul life would come to expression in the varied posi-
tions of Saturn, according to the fixed star constellations and also by the angular relationships
or aspects to other planets. We shall work over these perspectives after a thorough investiga-
tion of the twelve fixed star groups of the Zodiac.
Saturn was called in Greece, Cronos, or Chronos—Omnipotent Father of Time. This has
a very far-reaching esoteric significance. The planet that we see in the sky is a kind of cosmic
memory of a stage of evolution in the dim past, called in esotericism Ancient Saturn (see
Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science). Time came into being then, as it were, out of a condition of
timeless duration. That universe in which this happened consisted at a certain moment of one
unified planetary entity only, filling a volume as big as the present sphere (or orbit) of Saturn.
On this background we can also understand that the rhythms of Saturn imprint themselves
significantly into earthly life. The planet needs 29 years and 167 days to go once through its
orbit and return to a line from the center of the Sun to a particular fixed star. This is called a
sidereal revolution and it coincides, approximately, with the time span of one generation. Also
with regard to historic developments, the cycle of 30 years, and particularly twice the time
interval of 60 years, is of great significance. Sixty years is the rhythm of the return of the so-
called Great Conjunction, that is the periodic return of these moments when Saturn and Jupi-
ter seem to move close together in approximately the same position of the ecliptic or Zodiac.
These rhythmic events are like the hands on a big cosmic clock which indicate that definite
intentions and inspirations become activated within the solar universe. In this sense Saturn
acts as a time keeper in the timetable of the individual human being, challenging us to ever
more enhanced, free spiritual response to the situations and opportunities of life. If we do not
respond in freedom, then Saturn can also become something like an avenger and announce
punishment for human laziness and indifference.
The sphere below, or inside that of Saturn, is Jupiter’s; it is much smaller, as the diagram in
the December issue shows. The soul passes through that sphere after death, before it enters
the one of Saturn.
Jupiter takes a middle position between Saturn and Mars. The three together form a unity.
As we pass through the spheres between two incarnations, we meet in them the creative thought
or idea archetypes of the three stages of manifestation that we experience in earthly existence:
mineral-physical being, life, and soul being or consciousness. (The latter we have described
already in connection with Saturn.)
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
Rudolf Steiner describes the sphere of Jupiter in his book Theosophy as follows: “The sec-
ond region of the Spiritland” (Mars being the first and Saturn the third) “contains the arche-
types of life. But here this life forms a perfect unity. One could describe this second stage of
the Spiritland as “flowing life”, formed of thought material... Of this, also, only a reflection
appears to us during earthly life... We (after death) become aware” (in the sphere of Jupiter)
“of how far the all-embracing meaning of existence does not lie in what is transitory and
separate. We regard the transitory as a ‘similitude’, a likeness of an eternal, of an harmonious unity.”
Therefore, we would experience there the futility of any narrowness and self-centeredness
in which we might have been involved in earthly life. All that in our earthly career that was not
directed and inspired by the greater aspects of cosmic life, for instance by great visions of
spiritual evolution, as true religion would express them, finds here its admonishing challenge
and re-integration into the stream of cosmic existence.
Then, when we descend toward a new incarnation, we would again move through the
sphere of Jupiter and gather important ingredients in order to build up a new life on Earth; for
instance, we will need the dynamic quality of this planet so that we can develop much later,
during the gestation, the organ of the liver. We certainly need the latter in order to preserve the
balance of our health in a physiological sense. Apart from this, we also need the dynamic
invisible forces of this organ in order to convert ideas into real deeds.
Thus Jupiter would indicate through its position, etc., around birth, what relationship we
found in prenatal, cosmic existence to the beings and facts of the sphere of this planet. Im-
plied by it would be the degree of capacity and direction that we acquired toward the greater
aims and ideals of humanity, the potential to work for them within the stream of evolution and
according to the situations in which destiny would put us.
This requires diving into the streams of earthly reality and to let oneself be guided in one’s
actions by the larger and smaller time rhythms of evolution. Therefore, Jupiter at birth would
be connected with the individual power of expansion in earthly life. All degrees are possible,
but the fundamental urge would be toward spiritual, ethical expansion. However, it is then left
to the freedom of all individuals to cultivate their fields of capacities or to leave them unat-
tended. Likewise, we can learn through the development of our Jupiter potential to con-
sciously use the vehicles of earthly life that are the rhythms of time: Jupiter is associated with
cosmic wisdom and one who is a pupil, as it were, of this wise planet, knows to act at the right
time; that is, one has learned to be aware of the rhythms of a definite development. Because
the stages of evolution can only be achieved “in time”, and in order to know the “right time”
one must penetrate to the secrets of the rhythms in the cosmos. To be able to do this means to
cultivate in full consciousness the heritage of Jupiter. As we have pointed out earlier, this
association of Jupiter with the rhythms of life, whether they are rhythms in evolution or rhythms
in organic life, stems from the periodic association of the planet with Saturn. However, Saturn
has much more the tendency of looking back in time, whereas Jupiter concentrates on the
future, on becoming and the potential powers of the life or ether forces in the universe. This
is the reason why Jupiter was called in ancient Greece, Omnipotent Father Ether.
31
Therefore, Jupiter has also a closer association with space, expansion in space, filling of
space, etc. This is expressed by Jupiter’s sidereal revolution (return to the same fixed star)
which is 11 years, 315 days—nearly 12 years. Thereby the planet needs 1 year to move through
each one of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac, and thus it establishes a plain relationship to
that great circle in which our solar universe is embedded and which is the spiritual foundation
of cosmic space.
The orbit of the planet Mars lies within that of Jupiter; therefore, it is already much smaller
and Mars needs only 687 days for one complete revolution. Its sphere constitutes the first
region of Spiritland. Rudolf Steiner describes it in his Theosophy as follows: “... The first region
contains the ‘archetypes’ of the physical world in so far as it is not endowed with life. The
archetypes of the minerals are to be found here, also those of the plants; but the latter only in
so far as they are purely physical... During life on Earth we learn to know only the shadows of
those archetypes that we grasp in our thoughts… We move (after death) among thoughts, but
these thoughts are real beings… We are, as it were, in the thought workshop where earthly
things are formed and constructed…”
The sphere of Mars is the last one through which the cosmic sidereal-stream of substance
moves before it enters the highest degree of densification in the physical objects of the Earth.
(See December issue: Fig. 2). On this background we can understand the apparently aggressive
connotation that is associated with the name of Mars. In order to bring about the final pre-
cipitation into physical matter on Earth the spiritual-cosmic origin must be, as it were, muted
and lead into a process faintly similar to freezing. This is done in an act that is, in a sense, a
dying process and the forces of Mars would promote it.
However, the aggressiveness of Mars has still another background. For instance, in the
story of the Trojan War we hear that the God or Intelligence connected with that planet was,
according to human conceptions, utterly unreliable and without principles. One day Mars
fought on the side of the Greeks, but the next day Mars was quite capable of assisting the
Trojans. The other Olympian gods had to interfere in order to let events come to their preor-
dained course.
Why these seemingly strange characteristics? The Greeks obviously realized that a power
had to work in the universe whose task it was to create obstruction and confusion. It had and
has to work, because only through this course could consciousness and finally even conscious-
ness of self be promoted in the human race. Eventually, the existence of a physical material
world serves this process. We knock, figuratively speaking, our head against the objects around
us and thereby we “wake up”. It is a hard school, but we must concede, a most effective one,
and Mars has, as we have seen, a decisive hand in its creation.
This same constellation of facts served and still serves also the coming into being of speech.
In the process of observation we must push, as it were, the objects back and away from our-
selves in order to create the concept of a thing and eventually the corresponding word. This is
a Mars activity taking place in us. We can perform it because we accumulated corresponding
experiences in the sphere of Mars before incarnating.
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
Mars at our birth is a cosmic symbol that indicates these kinds of experiences. It indicates,
in very broad outlines, the capacity we bring along for the confrontation of the physical mate-
rial world, starting with learning to speak as a child and right up to the conceptual compre-
hension of this world. However, a spiritual astrology will always endeavor to cultivate and
refine these qualities and to take the sting out of the original aggressiveness and the materialis-
tic tendencies easily combined with this activity. Much of the materialism in all fields of
human life in our present age is caused by one-sided realizations of certain impulses residing,
as it were, on Mars. This planet [and its sphere] is going through a tremendous transformation.
In a sense, forces following the impulse of a spiritualized, one can even say a christianized
Buddhism, seek to permeate Mars with redeeming and healing qualities. These and similar
developments on this planet reflect themselves into the working out of “our” Mars heritage
while we are on Earth. A spiritual astrology will have to take careful account of this fact.
The rhythms of Mars that are made by the planet’s periodical meetings with the Earth—
conjunctions, or Mars standing together with the Earth in a line extending from the center of
the Sun out into space—are important. They are associated with the impact of this planet on
the life of the Earth and its inhabitants.
It takes our own planet about 780 days to catch up with Mars in one such conjunction.
Thus they happen once within two years but always about 45 days later in the year than the
previous one. The effect of this rhythm is that the conjunctions march, within an interval of
about 15-17 years, steadily forward in the Zodiac and eventually return, after eight such meet-
ings with the Earth, to the zodiacal locality of the first one.
A similar rhythm is involved in the oppositions of Mars and Earth, or conjunctions with
the Sun, when the two planets stand on opposite sides of the Sun on a line going through the
center of the latter and extending into space on either side. Within an interval of 15-17 years,
nine such oppositions take place, and the ninth returns to the approximate zodiacal locality of
the first one.
Thus we arrive at the interesting discovery that these conjunctions and oppositions “draw”
significant patterns into cosmic space. In the case of the conjunctions with the Earth, we see
an octagon, or eight-cornered (though irregular) “star” coming into being which is close to the
Earth. In fact, these conjunctions bring Mars closest to the Earth. The oppositions establish
another eight-cornered “star”, but this one is much further away from the Earth and, therefore,
bigger in a sense. In times of oppositions to the Earth, Mars is furthest away from our planet
in the course of its career. Seen from our own planet (in other words geocentrically), we thus
discover two eight-cornered, or octagonal “stars” made by the meetings of the two planets.
One of them, which is smaller, is set within the other bigger one.
These patterns caused by cosmic rhythms are also important for the cognition of the plan-
ets’ nature. We will come back to them with practical suggestions.
33
STAR JOURNAL - March 1966

In the December issue we discussed the apparent three categories of planets of the solar
system. Of these, we have described in outline the middle triad: Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. As
soon as we have established a comprehension of the Zodiac in later issues, we can then work
out also the nature and varied impacts of these planets.
We will presently discuss the “inner” planets: Mercury, Venus, and the Earth with its Moon.
Of course in geocentric astrology we are used to dealing also with the Sun as an important
factor in this field. These concerns will, however, be elaborated in connection with a descrip-
tion of our own planet.
Mercury is the planet which is closest to the Sun. In the December issue, we gave the mean
distance from the Sun as 0.39 Earth radii. It is also the smallest of all the planets, apart from
the planetoids. These facts make it rather difficult to observe this member of the solar system.
Seen from the Earth it appears never to be further away from the Sun than 28° at the utmost.
If under such circumstances atmospherical conditions are favorable, it can be seen as morning
or evening star.
Mercury completes a sidereal revolution around the Sun within 88 days. In the course of
this journey it stands, at one point, in a common line with the Earth, reaching out from the
center of the Sun [and passing through the Earth] into cosmic space. This is called, astronomi-
cally, an “inferior” conjunction. Mercury stands then between our planet and the Sun. On
certain occasions it can even happen that Mercury appears to move right across the face of the
Sun and can be observed as a tiny black dot.
Let us assume that the Earth and Mercury have been standing at a certain time in one
common line passing through their bodies and also through the Sun. After that the two planets
move apart because Mercury is the faster one. Yet, because it is faster and also its orbit is
smaller than that of our planet, it will catch up again with the Earth after 116 days. Only their
common line will then point in a different direction from that of the first meeting. Thus there
comes about a very interesting rhythmic relationship between Earth and Mercury that we will
explain with the help of the diagram in Fig. 4.
We take our starting point in E1 and M1. Both planets are in conjunction and their com-
mon line passes through the center of the Sun. After 88 days Mercury returns to the same
position on its orbit (M2). This is called a sidereal revolution. The Earth has moved in the
meantime to E2. Therefore, Mercury now has to make an extra effort to catch up with our
own planet. It succeeds in doing that after an additional 28 days (E3-M3). Thus it needed 88
+ 28 = 116 days. Again Earth and Mercury are now standing in one common line, but it points
in a different direction from that of M1-E1. The game repeats itself after a second revolution
of Mercury. After 176 (2 x 88) days it is back in M1 and M2 (M4), but now the Earth has
moved from E3 to E4. Therefore, Mercury has to make a still bigger effort; only after 56 days
does it succeed in getting in line with our Earth. This happens in E5-M5, 232 days after the
34
STAR JOURNALS ONE
start. Again the common line of the two planets points in a different direction. Thus it
happens that in the course of one year, only three conjunctions can occur and likewise only
three oppositions, which take place approximately halfway between the conjunctions: They are
called in astronomy “superior” conjunctions because Mercury appears on such occasions to
stand behind or “above” the Sun.
Figure 4
Thus we have here another sequel of “star patterns”, made by conjunctions and opposi-
tions, similar to the “octagon star” of Mars (see February issue). Only in the case of Mercury
it is a triangular star that slowly rotates in the ecliptic. As the interval from conjunction to
conjunction of 116 days falls short by about 17 days in one year (3 x 116 = 348 days) the
triangle seems to rotate, or in other words, the conjunctions fall gradually back within the
rhythm of the seasons of the year. For instance, on March 21, 1966, an “inferior” conjunction
of Mercury will take place when the latter will stand between Earth and Sun. In 1967 the same
event will happen on March 4. The same applies to the other two conjunctions during the year.
Thus it is quite obvious that they fall back in the ecliptic, against the direction of all the planets.
After a full rotation, which takes about 20 years, they return approximately to the initial posi-
tions.
In Rudolf Steiner’s cosmology, the spheres of the “inner” planets and that of the Moon
belong to the soul or astral world. This is the world we enter first after death. Within this
setting the sphere of Mercury would correspond to the sixth region of the Soul World. Rudolf
Steiner says that what happens there after death is… “the purification of that part of the soul
35
which thirsts for action.” This sphere is important for “souls whose activity does not bear an
egoistical character, but springs, nevertheless, from the sensuous satisfaction which action af-
fords them... Many artistic natures and such as give themselves up to scientific activity because
it pleases them, belong to this class”… (From Theosophy, by Rudolf Steiner).
This gives us an idea of the heritage that the soul obtains from Mercury when it returns to
a new incarnation. After death we are confronted with whatever clings as egotism to our active
soul forces, so that it may be purified. Then, when we descend again to an earthly life, we will
acquire in that particular sphere the capacity and inclinations to participate actively and intelli-
gently in the flow of human civilization on Earth. Of course, into all this Mercury heritage,
there will be integrated and inscribed the karma evolved out of past incarnations. The mood
and the intensity of will with which we will partake in the preoccupations of humanity, we will
prepare already in the sphere of Mercury.
When we take the last steps that coincide with our embryonic development, Mercury ap-
pears, about the time of conception and birth, to indicate in a last summing-up the individual
tendencies toward life in activity, implying also enough room for broadness and flexibility.
Nevertheless, it would indicate in the case of Goethe (born 1749), for instance, a tendency to
use the idea and the power of the word as a poet and writer, whereas Henry Ford’s (born 1863)
Mercury reveals more an inclination toward so-called practical, even manual, and engineering
work. However, in both cases the planet did reveal a direction of the active soul force and
intelligence toward willingness to face and react upon the deeper spiritual situation of this
present humanity. If both Mercury and Saturn together are studied during the time of gesta-
tion, they can give information about the dormant will potential of a human being, because
Saturn adds to Mercury the archetypal orbit of the soul or astral capacity born out of karma.
Of course, all these observations will have to be substantiated in later issues.
Between the Earth and Mercury, Venus is moving. In contrast to Mercury this planet can
be observed at certain times very well, when it appears after sunset as the Evening Star or
before sunrise as Morning Star. On account of its greater distance from the Sun it can move,
apparently, to a distance of up to 48° West or East of the latter.
The fact itself and the changing phases of visibility of a celestial body depend to a high
degree on its apparent size and its nearness to the Sun. In order to get this clear, as far as Venus
is concerned, we want first to concentrate on the rhythms of the revolutions of this planet
around the central focus of the solar system (see Fig. 5).
As in Mercury’s case, we start from a conjunction of Venus and Earth, that is, the occasion
when both planets are standing in one common line passing through the center of the Sun
(V1-E1). In this position we cannot see the planet, because that side of it on which the rays of
the Sun are falling is turned away from the Earth. Venus is moving faster than our planet; also
its orbit is smaller. It needs, therefore, only 225 days to start from one definite point of its orbit
and to come back (V2). In the meantime the Earth has moved to E2 and Venus must make a
mighty effort to catch our planet in another conjunction. Before that happens something else
takes place. After 292 days from the start, Venus has moved into V3. At the same time the
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
Earth is in E3. Again the two are standing in one common line that passes through the center
of the Sun, but this time they occupy opposite ends of this line. This is obviously an opposi-
tion of Venus to the Earth. In this position we cannot observe Venus because it is hidden by
the rays of the Sun. In certain exceptional cases, it may even be hidden behind the Sun’s disk.
Figure 5
After that the chase goes on. After 450 days (2 x 225), Venus has returned to the original
position (V4) but the Earth is not there. It has moved into E4. Now there is a better chance
for Venus to catch up with the Earth and indeed, 584 days after the conjunction in V1-E1, both
planets are standing in a common line (V5-E5), though the line points in a different direction.
Thus these conjunctions between Venus and Earth repeat themselves once in 584 days.
They take place in five different directions seen from the standpoint of the Sun. If we start,
for instance, with V1-E1 then the next one will be in D (see diagram) followed by others in B,
E, C and again in A. This will need 5 x 584 days = 2920 days, or 8 years. After that the cycle
is repeated over another 8 years, and so forth. Always halfway between two conjunctions an
“opposition” will take place between Venus and Earth, like the one in V3-E3. In the course of
these cycles, the common lines of both planets inscribe two pentagons into the orbit of Venus.
They are fairly equilateral.
37
These pentagons are also rotating in the course of time, like the triangle of Mercury, which
is caused by the fact that the revolutions of Venus and Earth are not exactly synchronized.
However, this rotation is far slower: It takes the pentagons about 1200 years to perform one
complete revolution. Similar to Mercury they rotate contrary to the direction of the move-
ment of the planet in its orbit.
This rhythm of about 1200 years is closely linked to certain rhythms in history. For in-
stance, just at present (exactly in January) an inferior conjunction of Venus took place that is
always, observed from the geocentric position, associated with an apparent retrograde move-
ment of the planet in the ecliptic. As a matter of fact, if one would have plotted the course of
Venus between 5 January and 19 March, one would find that it performed a perfect “loop” in
the heavens.
Furthermore, we observe that a similar loop in the same place of the ecliptic, or Sun circle,
took place eight years earlier in 1958, and another one will happen in 1974. In between these
intervals of eight years, there will occur four more inferior conjunctions in the four remaining
corners of the pentagon-pentagram star, described above. However, we notice one important
fact: the conjunction in 1958 was further forward in the ecliptic, about 2½°, and the one in
1974 will have fallen back behind the one in 1966.
Thus we come to the conclusion that the pentagon star is rotating, which is born out by an
investigation of the conjunctions over the centuries. The one in 1966 took place in the same
portion of the ecliptic exactly in the years 711 AD. This is an interval of 1255 years. (One year
got lost, as it were, in the process of rotation, when the conjunction fell back over the point of
New Year into the proceeding year.) The year 711 AD was an important moment in European
history. Musa, the Calif ’s governor of the Mohammedan Arabs, who had by then conquered
the whole of North Africa, sent his field marshal, Tarik, to Spain. The Visigoths, who settled
earlier in Spain, were disunited among themselves and divided into hostile factions. Thus they
became an easy prey for the Arabs and were decisively defeated in the battle of Xeres de la
Frontera, in July 711. During the following years the whole Pyrenean peninsula was conquered
by Musa and soon the Arabs crossed the Pyrenees and descended upon the region of present-
day Southern France, which was then Frankish domain. It demanded of the Franks strenuous
efforts to hold the Arabs back and to finally drive them out of France and back into Spain. The
wars lasted right into the time of Charlemagne.
The Arabs developed a powerful and refined culture in Spain, the traces of which can still
be discovered there in architectural remains, etc. It had a tremendous influence on the devel-
opment of European spiritual culture of the Middle Ages. This influence was not regarded as
beneficial and wholesome by all great spirits of Europe. Scholasticism and particularly its great
exponent Thomas Aquinas, fought back at the teachings of Averroes. He was an Arabian
philosopher who had translated and interpreted the philosophy of the great Greek, Aristotle,
in a fashion that gave the impression as if the latter had denied our imperishable, spiritual
being. This was an inference that was wrong and regarded as dangerous for the development
of the human individuality in a European Christian sense.
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The coincidence of the conjunctions of Venus with the Earth in 711 AD and the corre-
sponding historic events would not be enough to establish a connection between the two.
However, there is the fact that the invasion of the Ottoman Turks in Europe coincided with
the time when the present conjunction of Venus-Earth had arrived exactly in the opposite
point of the ecliptic, and also was opposite the one of 711 AD. (This happened in the course
of the rotation of the pentagon-star that we spoke of earlier.)
In 1326, Orkhan I, son of Osman I, became Ottoman sultan. That was the moment when
that corner of the Venus pentagon, activated in the beginning of 1966, was exactly opposite.
About 28 years later, (3½ x 8, which is associated with the Venus pentagon rhythm) in 1353-4,
one of his sons crossed the Dardanelles. Thus the invasion of Europe started, which found
one of its culminating events in the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
March Commentary
One of the most important aspects, according to the heliocentric view, seems to us the
position of Jupiter in the constellation of Gemini. By the end of May it will stand in its own
ascending node (see January issue). This means that the planet will ascend in that moment
above the ecliptic, coming from below the latter.
Of course, this event is not exceedingly unique. It repeats itself within a rhythm of about
12 years. In fact, it coincides with the other feature in the heavens that we have been talking
about—the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto. Both planets are relatively close to the apsidal
line of Uranus. This is the direct line connecting the (slightly fluctuating) points of the perihe-
lion (nearest distance to the Sun) and the aphelion (farthest distance) of this planet.
Both events, Jupiter being close to its own ascending node and Uranus (but not Pluto) in
the proximity of its perihelion, were in these positions during the year 33 AD. (The conjunc-
tion of Uranus and Pluto is, of course, an additional emphasis). The year 33 AD was, accord-
ing to ecclesiastical writers and also in the view of Rudolf Steiner, the year of the Crucifixion
and Resurrection of Christ (3-5 April), possibly one year later, also the conversion of St. Paul.
We see in these coincidental occurrences not only just similitudes to anniversaries in his-
tory. The same cosmic chord, as it were, is touched now as when it happened at the time of
Christ, and we see in this a sign or signal in the heavens, or a reminder that a similar world hour
is with us, according to the rhythms of the cosmos. The cosmic clock will do no more than
remind us. But it will be on us to gauge carefully the demands, the possibilities, the expecta-
tions of this world hour. Failure to do so might mean that we miss an important opportunity
in the timetable or curriculum of humanity and are maneuvered into the danger of becoming
drop-outs, as it were. For we are not only on this planet to follow our own desire for leisure and
self-preservation, we have a task to fulfill.
What would be the human answer to those events in the heavens? If we only look, for the
moment, at the position of Jupiter in Gemini, we can experience in ourselves a mighty inspira-
tion. Gemini, the two Twins, have developed from older, totally different humanity proposi-
tions, to a picture of our modern exposure to the two adversaries—as the modern esotericism
39
of Rudolf Steiner describes them: Lucifer and Ahriman. Lucifer is the power working in us
that gives us the capacity of enthusiasm, of a sense of beauty and realization of ego. But
Lucifer would, if given sole power over us, lure us away from Earth reality, letting us hover in
dream existence and estrangement from our earthly tasks and problems. Ahriman gives us the
solid ground under our feet, an awareness of gravity and, therewith, the necessity for Earth
existence in its manifold manifestations of life experience. However, if Ahriman had sole
power over us, we would be dragged down ever more deeply into darkness of Earth, making us
forget any notion of the existence of the spiritual world, even letting us forget, through corre-
sponding social and educational institutions, etc., that we are individualities and not animals.
These powers are the real danger of our modern age and we must, and can, find the
strength to maintain our spiritual integrity between the two adversaries. This will, then, also be
a human answer to that cosmic challenge we see in the heavens. How this is possible in this
present age, we shall have to discuss in future.
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STAR JOURNAL - April 1966

In the last issue we had arrived—via the rhythms of Venus—at a common cosmic back-
ground of the invasion of the Moors in Spain, and of the Ottoman Turks in Europe. In both
events: in 711 and after, as well as in the course of the 14th century, we see a kind of pincer
movement of the Mohammedan world against Europe. First the one in the west was activated
and then, at “half-term”—as it were—the eastern end of the Islamic crescent Moon pushed
into Europe. There it took much longer, actually hundreds of years, to press the Turks back to
the narrow foothold that they still have on the European continent.
We expect the question: What has all this past history got to do with the present moment
when the pentagon-star is back in the original position? We certainly can’t expect that history
just repeats itself. This would be too simple. However, we have the impression that the situa-
tion has only shifted to a different level of experience. The original impulses are still active
though they have completely changed their external countenance. We shall reserve our argu-
ments concerning this until later, when we have established more cosmic foundations for a
sound judgment.
The orbit of Venus lies between the one of Mercury and that of the Earth (with its Moon).
Therefore, it has a somewhat middle position, expressed in the character of the planet and its
function in the solar cosmos. Similar to the other planets, we can learn a lot about it by
studying our experiences in this sphere of Venus after death.
Rudolf Steiner describes it in his Theosophy as the 5th sphere of the soul or astral world. The
soul ascending to spiritual, cosmic heights has attained already there a certain measure of
purification. “... In it sympathy with others has already reached a high degree of power. Souls
are connected with it in so far as, during their physical lives, they did not lose themselves in the
satisfaction of lower necessities, but have had joy and pleasure in their surroundings, which
seeks for the spirit that reveals itself in the things and events of nature.”
Thus we can more easily comprehend that our soul picks up on the way to incarnation in
the sphere of Venus our individual pre-dispositions concerning our relationship to the envi-
ronment and to other beings. Then at the time of gestation and birth, Venus reveals, in a kind
of cosmic shorthand script or hieroglyph, the individual coloring of our world of relationship.
This, of course, does not exclude the possibility that we, in Earth life, cultivate the karmic
heritage that we brought along and also transform our ways of contacts with the environment.
On this background we can understand why some sectors of contemporary astrology nar-
rowed the apparent influence of this planet down to, for instance, love affairs, etc. However,
this is only a tiny region of our association with Venus.
Next we will discuss the properties and capacities of the Moon of the Earth. It might
appear that this is an irrelevant approach, because the Moon is only a satellite of our planet and
therefore, seems to be only of secondary significance within a solar universe that we have, so
far, discussed, i.e. the planets orbiting the central focus, the Sun. However, the Moon is the
41
bridge, as it were, from the Earth to the planetary universe and therefore, must be of impor-
tance in matters concerning existence on our planet. Furthermore, we must not forget that our
Moon has a unique position even as a planetary satellite. It is only a little smaller than the
planet Mercury. The latter has a diameter of about 3000 miles, whereas the diameter of the
Moon is 2160 miles. Thus we can, in any case, not dismiss it as insignificant.
Since we have entered the age of space exploration and space flight, we have acquired a
good deal of information about the Moon, particularly about its surface, distance, size, etc.
Therefore, we do not want to burden the Journal with a repetition of these facts. Of course,
we realize that much of the so-called information is still in a state of speculation, for instance,
concerning the consistency of the Moon’s surface. We will concentrate on the elements of the
Moon’s orbit around the Earth which we need for later work.
It takes our satellite 27.32 days to complete a sidereal revolution or sidereal month, or
return to the same fixed star. If we observe the phases of the Moon, from New Moon, first
Quarter, Full Moon, last Quarter, and back to New Moon, which can easily be accomplished,
we notice that this takes about two days longer. This is called a synodic month (synod or
conjunction; in the case of New Moon, when Sun and Moon appear to stand close together)
which comprises 29.53 days..
The orbit of the Moon is inclined toward the ecliptic or apparent orbit of the Sun. Thus
the two circles cross each other in two points. These are the nodes of the Moon, which we
discussed in the October issue. They are basically associated with the rhythm of 18.6 years, or
one orbit of the nodes regressing through the ecliptic. The Moon also moves in the course of
one sidereal month through a point of maximum (apogee) and minimum (perigee) distance
from the Earth. These points progress through the ecliptic completing an orbit in 8.85 years.
It is well-known that the Moon’s daily movement across the sky of any place of the Earth
and its phases are connected with the rhythm of the tides. Any of the bigger encyclopedia will
give extensive information on this. We need not repeat it. But it all demonstrates that there
exists an intensive relationship between our satellite and the water economy of the Earth,
whatever the welter of technical explanations may be.
To this has been added in latter years, statistical computerized evidence that the phases of
the Moon are also associated with widespread precipitation all over the Earth. For instance, a
graph of rainfall statistics for 50 New Zealand stations over 25 years shows that the heaviest
rains occurred during the first week after New Moon and Full Moon, and the lowest precipita-
tion was at the time of New Moon. Similar data have been collected in other places, for
instance, in the United States. This was followed by the discovery that the phases of the Moon
are also associated with the incoming meteor rate, showing a curve similar to that of wide-
spread precipitation. Furthermore, graphic charts of geomagnetic disturbances reveal a coin-
cidence with the ups and lows of the precipitation tables.
The association of the Moon with the tides and precipitation can be explained as a working
in the sphere of life. It is quite obvious that water is the carrier of life on the Earth. Where
there is no water no life can exist. This too was instinctively well-known by an older humanity;
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the peasants of old tilled their soil, sowed and planted in harmony with the phases of the
Moon. It seems to have been done out of an awareness of the life-giving moisture of the soil,
the germinating and sprouting power of the plant saps and their falling in with the phases of
the Moon.
Thus it cannot be surprising that the Moon and its rhythms should play into everything
where cosmic life is infused and embodied into Earth matter. For instance, the processes of
conception and gestation are closely associated with the workings of the Moon. An older
medical knowledge was aware of this, for it did not count the period of embryonic develop-
ment according to calendar months but gauged it following the rhythm of sidereal Moon
“months”, that is 27.3 days, regarding 10 such months (27.3 x 10 = 273 days) being the equiva-
lent of a gestation period. These facts and perspectives will form an essential foundation of our
later investigations concerning the association of the human being with the cosmos of the stars.
Furthermore, it cannot be surprising that the Moon is also connected with our capacity of
ideation, fantasy, imagination, and thinking. These are all qualities that enable us to bring
cosmic essence and forces into material existence.
Taking into account the manifoldness of these aspects, we can well understand what the
spiritual investigations of Rudolf Steiner have to say about our affiliation with the Moon and
its sphere after death. There the souls experience (see Rudolf Steiner’s Theosophy) the first four,
crucial regions in the soul or astral world after death—Kamaloka in eastern terminology or
“fire of purification”. Step by step we are confronted with our own selfish, even greedy nature
out of which we conducted our earthly existence, which to a degree, we employed instinctively
while still in the body in order to maintain our physical identity. Now, in lower Kamaloka, or
the sphere of the Moon, there no longer exists organic means to satisfy these lower, instinctive
affinities to the material world. The result is soul suffering, and through the suffering a gradual
weaning away from all that still clings in the soul to matter and to satisfaction provided by the
physical senses. Thus we will slowly step out of the orbit of those Moon forces, whose task it
was to immerse us deeply into material existence shortly before each birth.
At birth the Moon stands in the heavens like a hieroglyph that pronounces and enacts our
individual degree of affinity and mode of final submergence in our physical, sense-bound
body. It is, as it were, an imagination of the vessel in which we finally glide down to Earth.
After death this vessel and its imagination has to be dissolved in order to free our soul from
earthly bondage and to prepare us for the great task which awaits us in the spiritual world of
getting again into line with the implications of cosmic life. Only out of these can we then build
up the vehicle of a new incarnation.
Earth and Sun

Heliocentric astrology seems to be, at first glance, in contradiction to classical geocentric
astrology, because it insists on the significance of the changing position of the Earth as it
moves along its orbit. The meaning of the Sun moving in the course of one year through the
12 “signs”, or constellations, of the Zodiac has become the mainstay, as it were, of astrology as
43
it developed over centuries, particularly popular astrology. Many people inclined in this direc-
tion might feel lost if a heliocentric astrology suggests considering the positions of the Earth,
which are always opposite those in the ecliptic of the Sun at any given moment.
However, this contradiction is only apparent, it is not a real problem to someone who tries
to search a bit deeper. The Earth is the place in the universe where we incarnate to live in a
physical-material body. From the foregoing descriptions of the spheres of the planets, we have
seen what a tremendous cosmic effort is needed in order to make this possible. Finally, all this
work of recollecting the great archetypal idea, or divine imagination of the human body is
lowered, as it were, onto the Earth by the activities of the Moon, chiefly during gestation.
Thus, we should expect that the movement of the Earth, during gestation, is rather important
as the place where our soul has to “get used to”. In the moment of birth, the final position of
the Earth on the ecliptic would find us again in the cosmic locality where we have been before
in incarnation. As a baby first, then as a child, and finally as grown-up, we must pick up the
threads of earthly existence, metaphorically, where we left off the last time.
Thus we have found through our researches that at birth the Earth is a pictorial recapitula-
tion of the last incarnation. This can be followed up into great detail. The position of the
Earth at the time of the epoch reveals much more the intentions of the soul toward the on-
coming incarnation, to pick up the tools for the earthly journey. The epoch is the cosmic, or
Moon conception, not necessarily coinciding with the physical conception. Ancient Egyptian
star wisdom speaks of the epoch as a fact that can be found with the assistance of the so-called
Trutina Hermetis—the Hermetic Rule.
The meaning of incarnation on our planet, a place of apparent numbness and estrange-
ment from the cosmic spiritual world, is to develop the power of the ego, against the resistance
of the physical in its manifold forms of appearance. It is quite obvious that the ego can only be
evolved in the constant battle of life against persistent non-ego forces. Human biography
demonstrates this seemingly never ending contradiction at every point. Life does not let us rest
in false peace on what we have acquired as corporeality in the process of incarnation. The
means by which destiny constantly urges us on to set ourselves into opposition to our purely
physical entity and, in this sense, to contradict our corporeal being, are innumerous and some-
times very painful.
This, then, is the solution with regard to that apparent contradiction of geocentric and
heliocentric astrology over the significance of Sun and Earth. The Earth is the final focus
toward which all efforts during the life in the spiritual world between two incarnations were
directed, of building up a new material, corporeal existence. One should expect that people
can regard this complex as a very useful means on the road to the acquisition of self-knowl-
edge. The Sun, however, is that focus of the solar universe which, as we said earlier, is the place
where finally the substances and materiality within the planetary system are dissolved and are
spiritualized in the process. Therefore, we can look upon the Sun as a cosmic symbol of the
potential of our physical existence—of what we can, in an ideal sense, achieve by it as a fully
awake individuality.
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Of course, these distinctions cannot be reduced to simple rules. The whole configuration
of the heavens at the time of birth has to be studied carefully before one can attempt any
conclusion. However, it can happen, for instance, that a person was born when the Earth was
in the ecliptic sign of Pisces. Correspondingly, the Sun was then in the sign of Virgo. This
might indicate that such a soul built up the new incarnation, particularly, under the helping
auspices of Jupiter, for this planet has a special association with the sign of Pisces, where the
Earth was at birth (Jupiter is the “ruler” of Pisces). However, once incarnated and grown-up,
the individuality might endeavor to bring that tremendous Jupiter wisdom right down to earthly
and intelligent comprehension; in other words, evolve the heritage into a Mercurial capacity.
Mercury is the “ruler” of the ecliptic sign of Virgo, where the Sun was at birth in this case. The
latter would appear rather like a challenging vacuum that should be filled in, as it were, by our
moral potential.
We shall have to substantiate all these ideas in later studies, once we are able to proceed to
the investigation of nativities of historic personalities.
We have, finally, to discuss the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and their spheres. They
are relative newcomers in modern astronomy and were found only on the basis of the develop-
ment of modern means and methods of scientific investigation. Thus, for instance, Uranus
was discovered by the English astronomer Herschel, after the telescope had become powerful
enough to discover such a small object as this planet in the heavens. The astronomical symbol
that we use for it, a converted H, still reminds us of its discoverer, Herschel.
Neptune was detected in 1846 by the astronomer Galle. First, it was found on paper, as it
were. Certain irregularities were observed in the orbit of Uranus. This led to the conclusion
that another, hitherto unknown celestial body disturbed it, according to the law of gravitation.
Several astronomers got down to work and calculated the position of the suspect disturber on
the basis of the known aberrations of Uranus. Then, one day in 1846, Galle directed his
telescope toward the spot where the unknown entity was supposed to stand. And, indeed, he
found it. The difference between calculated and actual position was less than one degree.
Furthermore, observations revealed that it was moving— a new planet had been discovered.
In 1930 Pluto was detected in a similar fashion. First, one suspected another celestial body
being the cause of certain irregularities in the movements of certain comets. Again, the posi-
tion was first calculated and then confirmed by actual observation.
Commentary
The conjunction of Mars with the Sun on April 28-29 in about 9° of the sign of Taurus
(constellation of Aries) is of special rhythmical interest. We pointed out earlier, when we
discussed Mars in February, that these conjunctions (and oppositions in the geocentric sense)
take place in two irregular octagons whose corners lie in the ecliptic. Thus it happens that
these conjunctions return to similar positions in the Zodiac in the course of about 16 years. It
seems to suit the nature of Mars that these rhythms carry an element of irregularity with them.
The one coming closest to the present one was in 1919, also in sidereal Aries, 47 years ago
45
(about 3x16). This was preceded by a conjunction in 1887, which took place nearly in the same
portion of the Zodiac as the present one.
The latter two dates are most instructive. In 1887 there were decisive preparations on all
sides, but particularly on the part of English policymakers, for the war that started in 1914. It
was, indeed, a “well prepared war”. In 1919, the “temporary” conclusion of the struggle came
in the signing of the so-called Peace Treaty of Versailles. The conjunction took place in May
and the Treaty was signed in June. The Treaty was only an instrument for the continuation of
the war using “different means” until it could be resumed again as an actual war.
Now, we face this conjunction of Mars again, after having had one in this approximate area
in 1934. How will humanity react to it? One has the impression from a multitude of instances
that the western world is again moving through a phase of long-range planning. Will the
planning lead to results of evolutionary progress or to destruction? Those are questions that
we ask with a burning heart, but in this moment it is essential to know and understand the
background. Only deepening knowledge can make the individual spiritually free.
Easter Sunday is on April 10. We know that this event reminds us of the most central event
of the whole Earth evolution, the event on Golgotha, that opened the road to a meaningful
spiritual future of the Earth and humanity. But this festival is not only a reminder, it is a fact
that potentially works on in history as a silent but most powerful companion. It works within
a rhythm of 33 years, in accordance with the 33 years of the life of Christ Jesus. (Under the
circumstances, we must leave the substantiation of these profound facts to a later occasion.)
Thus we are led back from 1966 to 1933, following this rhythm. There we are confronted
with one of the many often painful stages on the road toward the manifestation of the Christ
Impulse as the true spiritual integrity of humanity. Looking back to the events in 1933, we
realize that the road began particularly painfully. The year 1966 seems to prepare another
octave of the “Golgotha” of the Christ Impulse. We look forward from this year’s Easter to
the cycle of the 33 years ahead, which will bring us to 1999, the end of the century. It will
compare with the preceding cycle like the years of the conversion and missionary deeds of St.
Paul to the life of Christ Jesus. They will not be easy and will demand our extreme spiritual
wakefulness. For, during the oncoming phase, the demons will constantly raise their heads
against the spirit of the true Christian Mysteries. We must realize that the age of materialism
has not reached its culmination, and the decision of present humanity for or against the spirit
is still to come.
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STAR JOURNAL - May 1966

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto continued
These new planets might have been associated with our solar system for a long time. Nev-
ertheless, they show certain features that can be interpreted as signs of their joining the solar
universe relatively late. There is a great probability that they have been comets at one time,
coming from so-called outer space. Pluto definitely shows such features in its orbit. It is rather
elliptical, its eccentricity being 0.2486, that is, in its greatest distance (aphelion) from the Sun it
exceeds the mean distance by 25%, and likewise in its nearest point to the Sun (perihelion) it
falls back behind the mean value by 25%. By this alone it reminds us of a typical orbit of a
comet. Furthermore, the orbit is inclined by 17.14° toward the common plane of the other
planets’ orbits.
The aberrations of the orbits of the other two planets are far less drastic, but their Moons
show unusual features. In both cases they move against the otherwise uniform direction of
motion in the solar universe. For instance, if our Moon no longer moved as it does from the
West toward the East, but would proceed from the East gradually toward the West, then we
would have an example of what the Moons of Uranus and Neptune are actually doing. Apart
from this, the orbits of these Moons are set at tremendous angles in the common planetary, or
ecliptic plane of the solar system. In the case of Uranus they achieve angles up to 90° and also
the one of Neptune stands at an angle of about 35° on the ecliptic plane.
It takes Uranus almost exactly 84 years (84.02) to complete a sidereal revolution around the
Sun. Thus it needs 7 years to move through one of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac and,
thereby, reveals one of our associations with this planet. The seven year periods in a human life
are most important milestones of our gradual development into life and of our unfolding as an
individuality and creator of a definite biography. Particularly with regard to education are these
periods significant and conclusive in view of a healthy sequence in educational practice. So to
speak, our greater cosmic ego can come to manifestation along the stepping-stones of the
seven year cycles in human life.
We can comprehend this association still more if we listen to the descriptions of Rudolf
Steiner in Theosophy, concerning the Fifth Region of Spiritland which is the sphere of Uranus:
“... What we are here (after death) is really our “selves”: that which receives an external exist-
ence in the numerous and varied incarnations. In this region the true “self ” can freely live and
expand in all directions... The “self ” that has sought to realize the purposes of the spirit during
earthly life through an active thought life or through wise love expressed in deeds, will establish
a strong claim upon this region... The “self ” can feel itself (in the Fifth Region) to be a member
of the divine world order.”
Therefore, we must expect that when we incarnate, Uranus appears in the heavens as a
cosmic symbol of our individual association with that sphere where we were confronted with
our true spiritual “self ”. Of course, after having arrived in an earthly life we have forgotten
47
everything we experienced in those lofty spheres of spiritual existence. Now it remains to be

seen how far we consciously realize “the purposes of the spirit” during our earthly sojourn.
They are then our decisions and here lies our freedom. Even so, whatever we decide, we
cannot eradicate those prenatal experiences in the sphere of Uranus. Neither can we circum-
navigate the decisions for or against the spirit. The invisible beings of that sphere will always
be with us. If we ignore or reject them, which we are free to do, we will have to acknowledge
the consequences nevertheless. Then the forces and beings of the sphere of Uranus will work
through sudden and unexpected events, almost like “electrical” charges, and individual catas-
trophes and accidents. We have set them down, so to speak, in the pattern of our destiny, in
order not to let ourselves rest and stagnate in complacency and indifference. Thus will Uranus
work in an individual’s life step by step toward the realization of the spirit, against the inevi-
table forces of obstruction and denial. The latter are, of course, of vastly different and varying
nature in each individual case, caused by experiences and attitudes in past lives. All this comes
to expression in the position and interrelationships of Uranus around birth.
Neptune needs 164.77 years for one sidereal revolution. This is more than twice the aver-
age human life span. Therefore, this planet and the forces connected with it are at present still
“far above” the individual human being, though they work in our life as unconscious impacts,
which chiefly concern our integration and setting in the greater perspectives of humanity.
The sphere of Neptune would correspond to the Sixth Region of Spiritland which Rudolf
Steiner describes in Theosophy as follows: “In the Sixth Region we will fulfill in all we do, that
which is most in accord with the true being of the world. For we cannot seek after what profits
ourselves, but only—and alone—after what ought to happen according to the right course of
the world order.”
Thus we see that the sphere of Neptune is of still higher, super-personal significance for
the human being than Uranus. The experiences and inspirations that we receive here before
birth might work out in earthly life as associations with the great “revolutions” in human
history in all fields of existence. The degrees of participation are infinite, the nature as wide as
the whole range of human experience, from the highest forms of realization of the spiritual
worlds down to the establishment of adequate social conditions, or revolutionizing science and
technology. For instance, at the time of the great political revolutions, from the French Revo-
lution in 1789, to those during the 20th Century, the sphere of Neptune (represented astro-
nomically by the nodes and perihelion-aphelion of the planet) was always heavily involved. On
the other hand, such revolutionizing discoveries as electricity and its practical applications, the
steam engine, the discovery of radioactivity and its unfortunate applications happened under
the same accompaniment. Even the decisive stages in the development of modern astronomy
display a similar cosmic background. However, also the great cultural and spiritual leaders of
more recent humanity had such associations with the sphere of Neptune, which came to ex-
pression in their nativities.
In a still more lofty sense, Pluto affects the Earth and also, in a very super-personal fashion,
the human being. Drastic changes in the physical countenance of the Earth seem to be asso-
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ciated with this planet and its sphere—events like earthquakes, volcano eruptions, etc. As
catastrophes they can present the most tragic occurrences for humanity, but in a higher
sense they bring about physical changes that are necessary for the evolution of the Earth
and humanity.
Also the great events changing, as it were, the cultural face of the Earth are somewhat
connected with Pluto and its sphere. Such examples are the discovery (or rediscovery) of
America by Christopher Columbus, or the beginning of the Reformation as represented by
Luther’s rebellion against the Roman Church in 1517.
Another example of this category of impacts is Lenin. When he incarnated the sphere of
Pluto was especially heavily engaged. This demonstrates clearly that it is always a question with
this planet whether its essential forces can be controlled and used by us for the highest perspec-
tives of progress, though they might sometimes necessitate drastic changes and innovations, or
whether they are left to steer the world into absolute destruction. They are, in a sense, the
perfect antitheses of physical material existence. Their aim is the highest degree of spiritual-
ization of the physical. Rudolf Steiner describes this activity in connection with the highest,
Seventh Region of “Spiritland” (see Theosophy). Therefore, it can happen that if we submerge
into material existence exclusively, in other words, if we betray our own spiritual entelechy, we
alone provoke the clashes and battles between cosmic retardation and spiritual progress, in the
course of which material being might be broken up abruptly and completely.
We have come to the end of the foregoing, brief description of the impact and functions
of the planets in the universe and on the Earth. In later issues of the Star Journal, we hope to
be able to go into practical details in connection with historic events and also historic nativities.
For the time being we might summarize the nature of the planets on the basis of Rudolf
Steiner’s description of the higher principles of the human being. This will offer plenty of
opportunity for studies in addition to what we are able to present on these pages. However, we
cannot emphasize strongly enough that any scheme of cosmic workings can never pretend to
comprise the absolute totality. For that, the cosmos is too great to be caught, as it were, in
necessarily limited human thinking. What we suggest in the following can only be road signs
that we hope will lead us to ever greater understandings.
Rudolf Steiner speaks of the inner planets—Mercury and Venus, including the Moon of
the Earth—as the demonstrators of the seven regions of the cosmic soul world. We have a
connection with this world after death through our own soul being. Thus we can associate—
all the time being conscious that this can only be one side of the picture—these planets with
the following soul activities:
Moon: The physiological organization of the human being needed for the process
of reflection and thinking. Of thinking, the brain and nervous system are
one part but not the whole. The deeper capacities of this soul realm, for
instance, fantasy, etc., are also associated with the working of the sphere of
the Moon.
49
Venus: Feeling and its tool our rhythmic organization, breathing, and in a deeper
sense, also the circulation.
Mercury: Willing and its physiological foundation, the limb and metabolic system.
The “outer” planets, starting with Mars, can be associated with the cosmic archetypes of
our higher principles. For instance, in the sphere of Mars we are confronted with the arche-
types (or spiritual prototypes) of all physical objects. Among these physical objects we would,
of course, also find the physical body. Thus we find the following connections:
Mars: The cosmic archetype of our physical body, also with regard to its setting in
the totality of the physical world.
Jupiter: The archetype of our etheric or life body, in its integration into the whole
world ether.
Saturn: The spiritual prototype of our astral or soul body. This too we would find
here in the great panorama of all the astrality of the cosmos.
After that we come to the outer limits of the solar universe in the sense that ancient hu-
manity saw it. Only our modern age with its highly developed instruments of observation
became aware of the outermost planets; Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It is still an open ques-
tion whether Pluto will be the last one discovered in this fashion.
However, we are convinced that there is validity in the ancient conception that Saturn is the
last one of the actual solar cosmos. The outermost planets are, so to speak, “joined” onto our
universe, they are still “in the making”, as some of their features suggest.
We would, therefore, see in the totality of the universe, as far as the sphere of Saturn, the
actual “solar cosmos”. We have pointed out earlier that the Sun, which we see in the sky, is only
a focus. Mighty impacts radiate from the Sun into space, and also, other impacts are moving or
welling in the opposite direction, toward the surface of the visible Sun. Therefore, we will
regard this totality as the “Sun” in an occult sense, in which case the Earth would be “in the
middle” of that greater “Sun”. In this sense only, would we consider the following association:
(The greater) Sun: The cosmic archetype of our ego (in a comprehensive and higher
sense). This would coincide with Rudolf Steiner’s description of the Fourth
Region of Spiritland in his book Theosophy. How this “Sun” can be evaluated in
a practical sense must be left to later explorations.
After having established our bearings with regard to the outermost planets, we can go on
to tentatively discerning their concerns:
Uranus: The spirit home, as it were, of our 5th principle, the Spirit-Self, or Manas, our
transformed and purified astral body. It is described in Rudolf Steiner’s Theosophy in
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
connection with the Fifth Region of Spiritland. As a rule it appears in us only in

germinal form. Only during long ages of evolution still to come, will we transform
through the power of our ego the untamed forces of the astral or sentient body and
thus create the foundation for the Manas. Thus it is a principle that will be fully
developed only at a future time, and in this sense we look upon the spheres of the
outermost planets as being associated with an element “still in the making”, as we
said earlier.
Neptune: A still higher region of Spiritland where we would find the spirit home of the
Life-Spirit, or Budhi, our 6th principle; it is also in a germinal condition, so to speak,
the focus around which everything will collect that we will be able to create through
the transformation of our ether, or life body and that will in the dim future blossom
forth into the 6th principle. We find a brief description of it in Rudolf Steiner’s
Theosophy together with a picture of the Sixth Region (or sphere) of Spiritland, like-
wise, in the book Occult Science and many others.
Pluto: The sphere in which we would find the home of our highest 7th principle, Spirit-
Man, or Atma. This is developed as we work through the power of our ego upon the
physical body. It is not difficult to comprehend that this is an extremely sublime task
whose accomplishment is almost beyond the reach of earthly time concepts. Never-
theless, this principle has been implanted in the dim past into our being. It is a very
silent, but effective companion that confronts us when we enter Spiritland after death.
There is its home, in the Seventh Region of Spiritland. But in earthly life these forces
…“remain unconscious under ordinary circumstances. They work in their uncon-
scious depth upon the bodily organs, which bring about the consciousness of the
physical world.” (From Theosophy.)
Thus we can find in our nativity, particularly in all that which happens in the heavens during
our embryonic development, a reflection, a kind of grand imagination of our background as a
sevenfold entity. By no means would we see in that setting a deterministic imposition from the
outside on us, rather a kind of indication or “account” of where we have arrived on the long
journey through our incarnations. We choose this moment when the heavenly clock is, as it
were, in accord with our own spiritual being. Of course, the heavens would display in this
account not only the “assets” but also the karmic “debts” and self-incurred obstructions against
full self-manifestation.
Commentary
As we mentioned in the March Commentary, a similar event [Uranus conjunct Pluto] oc-
curred during the year 33 AD, the year of the Mystery of Golgotha. In between, the rhythm
returned once during the 9th and 10th centuries—874 AD and 958 AD. The present recurrence
was preceded by an approximately similar situation in 1883, and will not be followed by one of
the same order with remote similarity until 2049-50. The closest to 33 AD will be in 1966.
51
We have a demonstration here of how the events and facts in the external cosmos should
ideally be related to our world of inner, spiritual experiences. This inner world we experience
apart from mere physical existence. When we return to the latter, we can find in the external
cosmos—in events of the order similar to what we are discussing—a kind of memory picture
confirming what we were confronted with in our inner world. (See Rudolf Steiner’s, Cosmology,
Religion, and Philosophy.)
In the March and April Commentaries we referred to the connection of the present mo-
ment with the Mystery of Golgotha. Much more needs to be said about this, which we hope to
be able to do in the future. About the significance of the Christ Events for the cosmic history
of the Earth and its humanity, Rudolf Steiner has given ample suggestions and advice for
individual study. However, we see in the recurrence of this rhythm, during the 9th and 10th
centuries, a remarkable amplification.
The idea of the Holy Grail (see December Journal) became a historic reality during the 9th
century. Parsifal was an historic personality, not only a literary fiction. This whole world of
soul experiences, which we find described, for instance, in Eschenbach’s Parsifal, coincided
with the events in the heavens and the three occurrences during the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries
mentioned above. This would suggest that a similar potential of spiritual soul experience is
open to us at present, and all the more as it coincides with the rhythm of the conjunction of
Uranus and Pluto in Leo.
The knowledge of this puts a tremendous responsibility on human beings at the present
moment who endeavor to live an existence carried by full consciousness. We seem to have
entered a spiritual situation where we are challenged to take decisive steps with regard to the
world historic implications of esoteric Christianity and the Christ Impulse. For this would be
implied in the last but one cycle of recurrences of this rhythm—the one in 33 AD—though, in
the Grail’s events we would also see a decisive stage in the development and realization of
Christianity in humanity. The vessel of the Holy Grail that is ever filled anew with healing
sustenance (December Journal) is the imagination, in a general sense, of the creative power of
Christ in our soul. In the Grail’s story we see, however, this manifestation of the Christ Im-
pulse taken one step further. In the November issue, we pointed out that, according to the
story, the vessel was fashioned from a jewel that had fallen out of the crown of Lucifer. It
came from heaven, and this then seems to be the present challenge to a further evolution of
the Grail idea: to fill the vessel made of the forces of the cosmos as it comes down to the Earth
with the Christ Impulse. We are called upon to evolve a Christian astrology, and we are con-
vinced that it can be done. Such ideas will provide us with a lot of opportunities for future
work.
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
STAR JOURNAL - June 1966

Ecliptic and Zodiac
We have arrived at a preliminary conclusion as far as the planets are concerned, and now
we will turn our attention to the Zodiac. Here we are at once faced with a problem that besets
contemporary astrology, which speaks of “signs” through which the planets move and that
bear the familiar names of Aries, Taurus, etc. Yet, these signs are obviously not identical in
space with the fixed star constellations of the same names. Why this contradiction?
In order to find a satisfactory solution, we must come back once more to the fact of the
“common plane” of the solar system. We said earlier that most of the planets’ orbits are
situated as near-concentric circles, in one plane but with small, significant inclinations. Fur-
thermore, we decided, since our temporary home is on the Earth, to take our own planet’s orbit
as the basis of that “common plane” of the solar universe.
Into this plane the axis of the globe of the Earth is set at an angle of about 23°. Therefore,
the equator, the biggest circle between North and South Pole, forms an angle of 23° with the
plane. Consequently, the equator cuts in two points through the common plane. One is the
vernal point or vernal equinox (VP in diagram), the other the autumnal point (AP). Within
reasonable time limits they appear always to point, throughout the year, toward the same fixed
star, far out in space. There is not much appreciable change, at least for the naked eye, because
the fixed stars are so far away that even the changes of position of the Earth along its yearly
orbit do not matter.
Figure 6
53
If it happens in the course of the year that the Sun apparently steps into the line of the
vernal point, then we know that it is the commencement of spring in the Northern Hemi-
sphere of the Earth. We take this point as zero of the “sign” of Aries, or Ram.
Now, here emerges the problem we mentioned: If we actually look in that direction of
zero Aries the ”sign”, we discover that far out in cosmic space appear fixed stars belonging to
the constellation of Pisces. In fact, we would notice that those fixed stars belong already to
that end of Pisces, bordering on Aquarius. In other words, the “sign” of Aries and the
constellation of the same name seem to be out of focus by almost the length of a whole
constellation.
This divergence will even increase in times to come, through the effect of the so-called
precession of the vernal point, which we demonstrate in the diagram below. The axis of the
Earth is not standing still. For instance, the North Pole of the Earth describes a circle, relative
to the fixed stars, which one can trace if one prolongs the northern end of the axis out into
cosmic space. The movement is very slow—at present it needs about 72 years for one degree
of the circle and a full revolution takes a little less than 26,000 years. This is called a Platonic
year, or a Day of Brahma.
Figure 7
Thus it happened that 2000 years ago, about the time of Christ, the vernal point was
directed toward the fixed star constellation of Aries, next to Pisces. It was then that the tropi-
cal “sign” and the sidereal constellations coincided. After that moment they moved apart and
will continue to do so in the future.
One can now easily jump to the conclusion that to work with the tropical “signs” is a
fallacy and that we ought to concentrate exclusively on the sidereal constellations. However,
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
we cannot suggest this on the basis of our experiences. There is justification in both aspects, if one
takes the trouble of discriminating between the dynamics of the tropical and sidereal Zodiacs.
The tropical Zodiac, or ecliptic (orbit of the Earth around the Sun) is divided into 12
sectors of 30° each. The division starts above, or beyond the point where the Sun appears to
stand on March 20-21. No matter to which region of the fixed star Zodiac this point of
commencement of the ecliptic, or vernal point seems to be related, whether it is Pisces, as at
present, or Aries, as in the past, the date when the Sun happens to be there is the commence-
ment of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Likewise, the other subdivisions of the ecliptic,
or rather the times when the Sun appears to stand in them, are associated with the seasons of
the Earth. And nobody can deny that this is a reality concerning the life of the Earth. There-
fore, we can safely say that the ecliptic, with its 12 “signs” or subdivisions of 30° each, is a
cosmic manifestation of life in general, and if we relate individual planets to these “signs”, we
recognize their particular impacts or imprints into the world of the life or ether forces.
On the other hand, if we coordinate planetary and other cosmic phenomena to the fixed
star constellations we relate them actually to that tremendous world which in ancient times
found expression in the sidereal mythology of all peoples of the Earth. There we are con-
fronted with a domain of interplay between divine cosmic intelligences and earthly beings in
the process of physical-spiritual evolution. A world of cosmic soul and spirit speaks through
the constellations as if they were mouthpieces, or gateways. This ancient world of great imagin-
ations and inspirations we have to re-conquer as a modern humanity because its meaning has
been vastly lost during the last milleniums. However, we are here confronted with a back-
ground of cosmic soul or astral being, distinct from the etheric potential of the ecliptic signs.
With this background we can imagine that during the age when they coincided, the ecliptic
signs received—approximately at the time of Christ—something like new inspirations, so to
speak, provisions on the road into the oncoming Platonic Year of about 26,000 years. Thus it
happens that many of the characteristics of the ecliptic signs correspond to those of the con-
stellations, as that’s where they have their origin; however, this essence has been translated
from astral into etheric manifestation. Therefore, we will now concentrate on the meaning and
impacts of the constellations in order to get to the source of things.
Zodiac
The perfection and the increase in visual power of the modern telescope has produced an
overwhelming amount of facts and results concerning the world of the fixed stars. Modern
astronomical textbooks and publications in periodicals are strongly preoccupied with the riddles
of the greater universe beyond our own solar system. It has been possible to penetrate deeper
than ever into the remotest spaces of the cosmos. Stars and whole systems of giant universes
have been discovered, of which the civilizations of earlier ages seem to have had no know-
ledge. In one sense we have learned a lot, but from another aspect the discoveries have made,
in some of the scientists’ own opinions, the universe around us infinitely more complex and
more mysterious than it was in the world conceptions of bygone civilizations. Myriads of
55
unimaginably big star communities, fantastic conditions of velocity, gigantic processes of trans-
mutation, and other facts have been perceived through the telescope or deduced from the
observations. Many answers to old questions have been found, but it seems that every solution
has produced a host of new and still more formidable problems in its trail.
One thing has definitely emerged: Our own solar system has become, in the eyes of
modern astronomical conception, an insignificant grain of dust and even less, as far as quantity
is concerned, to say nothing about our poor little planet Earth. The danger is, if one thinks the
conclusions through to the end, that life in our small and smaller world appears increasingly
meaningless within the greater setting. However, is it really a matter of quantity?
With the introduction of homeopathy by Hahnemann (1755 - 1843) there has at least
entered a challenge on the scene that might help us to solve this problem. Homeopathy main-
tains and has proven that substances are still active in dilutions and high potentizations in
which their presence can no longer be detected by the usual means of chemical investigation.
It seems that the dynamic qualities of the substances are freed to the extent that their quantita-
tive mass is reduced. Hahnemann was convinced that the continuation of the process of
potentization and trituration develops a spiritual, curative agency by which health can be re-
stored. Is it then an impossible idea that our tiny solar system is a dynamically integral entity in
the tremendous choir of “greater universes” just because its mass and expansion in space is so
very inconspicuous? Is it not possible that there exist other systems that also exert, on the
whole, a dynamic influence rather than make an impression by sheer quantity and size?
It will be our next task to find the principles of relationship between the greater universe
and our solar system. Earlier we have pointed out that, apart from certain deviations, all the
planets belonging to our solar family are moving on one common plane. Now we imagine this
plane theoretically going out in all directions into so-called infinite space. There it would
ultimately meet a number of fixed stars that, seen from the center, would be arranged perspec-
tively in a circle. The outer edge of this common plane is composed of the well-known twelve
constellations of the Zodiac. This division into twelve groups is very old, and the partition of
the year into twelve months rests on this foundation. They are determined by the (apparent)
journey of the Sun through the twelve constellations in the course of one year.
However, we have not always combined the fixed stars at the edge of the plane of the
ecliptic according to uniform principles. The Chinese and the Tibetans also have Zodiacs of
twelve constellations that seem to originate in the very dim past, but the groups and their
names differ radically from those adopted for the Zodiac of western humanity. This is under-
standable, because the fixed stars are also moving, though exceedingly slowly; in fact the ex-
pression “fixed star” is misleading. It is well-known, for instance, that thousands of years ago
the seven main stars of the Great Bear, or Plough, formed a pattern totally different from that
of the present time, because they have in the meantime moved to different places. Thereby,
they have changed their relative groupings. Likewise, also the fixed stars of the constellations
of the Zodiac have changed their positions so much that the forms that they compose today
are not the same as those several thousand years ago. Therefore, the imaginations they evoke in
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STAR JOURNALS ONE
humanity differ according to the age in which they are conceived. The important point, how-
ever, is that there existed twelve constellations as far back as we can trace the history of cos-
mology. They evolve in the course of time, and this is expressed in the external changes.
Nevertheless, a knowledge of what they have been and what they conveyed, as well as an
intuitive fathoming of what they aimed at (as far as that is possible under prevailing circum-
stances) can help us to discern their impacts and propositions, as it were, at the present mo-
ment. Therefore, the necessity might well arise to amplify, even to rectify, some of the notions
concerning the constellations of the Zodiac in order to obtain an insight into their present
stage of evolution. On the one hand we certainly do not suggest bending tradition lightheart-
edly, because, in a sense, it is a sacred heritage we need, but on the other hand we must also
realize that nothing in this universe of ours is built to remain static for eternity.
The Zodiac generally known in western humanity was slowly developed in Asia Minor
during the last few millennia BC. It came via Greece and Rome to present humanity. One can
find the essential aspects of it already in Sumerian, Phoenecian, and Egyptian civilizations, yet,
one does not really know where its birth took place. It might have been in the highlands of
Iran, because the word Zodiac is possibly a distortion of “Zaruana Akarana”. He was the great
Father deity of Ancient Persian mythology. The God of Light, Ahura Mazdao the Sun Aura,
was externally represented by the constellations through which the Sun moved during the
spring and summer part of the year; Ahriman, the intelligence associated with darkness and
Earth gravity, was externally represented by the “winter Sun” constellations. Zaruana Akarana
made Himself manifest through the integrated totality of the zodiacal constellations. He is, so
to speak, a higher octave of cosmic spiritual reality, in whom the unavoidable conflict between
light and darkness in a lower realm is resolved and redeemed.
The twelve groups of the western Zodiac are the well-known:
Aries or Ram Libra or Scales
Taurus “ Bull Scorpio “ Scorpion
Gemini “ Twins Sagittarius “ Archer
Cancer “ Crab Capricorn “ Goatfish
Leo “ Lion Aquarius “ Waterman
Virgo “ Virgin Pisces “ Fishes
Associated with these groups were magnificent mythological conceptions that have their
origin in the great religions and philosophies of the peoples of Asia Minor and Egypt, of
Greece and Rome. The orbit of the Nordic civilizations also harbored the most wonderful and
illuminating cosmological mythology. These sidereal aspects intended to express, in pictorial
conceptions, the influence of the various constellations. Astronomy at that time was still closely
associated with astrosophy—then a complex of highly intuitive knowledge about the impact
of the heavens on earthly affairs, on nature, or on the destiny of nations and communities, and
the stars were still considered to be only the external expressions or gestures of the divine
world.
57
Commentary
In view of the fact that we have reached a kind of half-way position between the second
and last third of the present century, we might have a glance at the overall situation as it is
manifest in the heavens. From the viewpoint of the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, we
either have already entered or soon will enter a kind of universal “autumn” or “fall” situation.
By this we mean that these planets will step into the place of the ecliptic where the Sun is in the
moment of the autumnal equinox about the 22-23 of September, or in 180°, which in the
tropical Zodiac is called 0° of Libra. Neptune moved through this degree already in October
1942, Uranus will step into this place for the first time [this century] in September 1968, and
Pluto will follow in October 1971.
Thus we find the situation in the sky that all three planets will have moved through this
point of commencement of autumn, or fall, within an interval of about 29 years. This is rather
rare. The last time these three planets came so close together was during the 15th century. In
about 1451, Neptune was in 180°, in about 1465 Uranus followed, and in about 1477 Pluto.
How can we look at these events? Have they any meaning at all for the inhabitants of the
Earth, beyond mere astronomical coincidence? First of all, we see them similarly to the pas-
sage of the Sun through the equinoxes and solstices, year by year. Nobody can deny that this
is associated with the rhythms of the seasons. These rhythms are important for the life of the
Earth and its inhabitants. They regulate the growth of plants that sustain the life of the ani-
mated creatures of our planet. We might say that we are dependent on them and that this is a
domain of nature that keeps us in bondage. Of course, we know that our ingenuity, in a sense
also the instinctive ingenuity of animals, can circumnavigate the inevitable limitations set by
nature. By technical means we have learned to even out the effects of irregular or failing crop
supplies. Within the margins of powerful cosmic necessities, we create for ourselves a sphere
of relative freedom.
However, this knowledge teaches us not to oppose the rhythms of nature caused by cos-
mic cycles. Calendars tell the farmer when to sow and when to expect the harvest. In a similar
sense we look at the rhythms of those outermost planets, which we have mentioned. Of
course, they do not influence the cycles of plant life, for instance, but far deeper reaching
concerns of the Earth and, particularly, of the human race. Also in these rhythms the human
being can achieve a relative freedom with capacities that are normally still dormant in us and, if
developed, represent an enhancement of our spiritual qualities. In other words, also in the
realm of spiritual realities must we reckon with “seasons”, as it were, when it is wise to “sow”
or expedient to “reap” and prepare for the future. But through the unfolding of our inner
qualities, we can become independent of such “cultural” cycles caused by cosmic rhythms.
Then the rhythms will become signposts and time signals only, not factors of oppression. We
will continue along these lines in the July issue.
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STAR JOURNAL - July 1966

The Zodiac (continued)
In the rhythms and movements of the celestial bodies, the great priest sages of long by-
gone civilizations read the will of the deity. Only relatively lately was the complex known as
astrology developed from the original astrosophy. With the advent of the individual and ego-
istic personality, rose the suggestion that it is also subject to the influence of the cosmic world.
It is obvious that much of that magnificent mythological conception of the starry universe
has come down to us in distorted and misinterpreted form. Thus it happened that we have a
welter of mythological tradition which does not seem to convey the picture of an integrated
whole. One might even arrive at the impression that the sky of these sidereal mythologies has
been arranged at random. In speaking of these constellations, one hears sometimes the expres-
sion “Sky-Zoo”, implying that the names were chosen rather arbitrarily, and that their arrange-
ment was possibly the outcome of caprice and not of wisdom. However, if one enters more
deeply into the dynamic and esoteric background of the ancient zodiacal mythology, one can
discern that it was the result of a very disciplined and logically comprehensible order of inner,
or spiritual experiences of intuitive nature. Certainly, the extra-zodiacal constellations also
have their proper places in that majestic cosmic edifice of ancient star wisdom. They are like
assistants and heralds of the effigies of the Zodiac. Those imaginations and intuitions stood
on a foundation that was totally different from the aspirations and even tasks of modern
astronomy. But this need not prevent us from realizing that they gave ancient humanity a
means of going through an existence on Earth that made sense.
On this basis we will consider, together with the zodiacal constellations of Pisces, Aries,
and Taurus, the whole complex of the effigies of Perseus-Medusa and Andromeda above the
Zodiac and those of Cetus-Whale and Eridamus, the celestial river, below. Although they are
figures associated with ancient mythology, they still carry a message for our modern age and
can well amplify the meaning of the neighboring zodiacal constellations.
Taurus and Gemini, in the Northern Hemisphere, are associated with the Charioteer, or
Auriga, and its fixed star, Capella—in some mythologies also conceived as the Divine Smith.
Below, in the southern part of the sky, the Greater Dog with the brilliant Sirius, the Lesser Dog,
and foremost, Orion the Divine Hunter, come to our assistance in order to form conceptions
of the zodiacal constellations above them.
There follow in the Zodiac the constellations of Cancer, Leo, and Virgo, most important
stages of the “great circle”. The Bootes, or Bear Driver, with the star Arcturus, his two Hunt-
ing Dogs, and the Greater Bear, or Plough form a magnificent addition to their understanding.
They occupy a large part of the northern sky. Below the Zodiac we find the Hydra, a long
stretched-out constellation who has her head below Cancer, whereas her body stretches almost
as far as the constellation of Libra. On her back stands the Crater or Cup, and also Corvus the
Raven is perched there.
59
Very helpful interpreters of the constellations of the Libra-Scorpio-Sagittarius complex

are Ophiuchus, who carries the Serpent, and particularly Hercules, high in the Northern Hemi-
sphere. He kneels or stands on the Dragon. Above his head is the Serpent which is held by
Ophiuchus. On one side is the Northern Crown and on the other the Lyre. Below the Zodiac
are the Centaur, the Wolf, and Ara, the Celestial Altar.
Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces are accompanied by the Eagle with the star Altair, Cygnus
the Swan, and the big constellation of Pegasus, all in the north. Below, in the Southern Hemi-
sphere, we find the Southern Sea, with the Southern Fish and other effigies of significance.
With the help of these companions of the zodiacal constellations, we will be able to dis-
cern much better the great ancient imaginations and intuitions and also find ways and means to
translate them into modern concepts, without clouding over the old traditions.
The constellation of Aries or Ram: We find Aries on medieval star maps depicted as a ram,
resting on the ground and turning his head back toward the Bull and the other constellations
which follow him. This seems to intend to express that the Ram is the first of the twelve
constellations, or the “Leader of the Host of the Zodiac” and may go back to the time about
2000-3000 years ago when the vernal equinox was actually situated in it. However, it is also
correct from a deeper viewpoint.
Apparently Egyptian sidereal mythology often associated Aries with the bird Phoenix. Ac-
cording to the fable it was a most beautiful bird that lived a long time, according to some
statements thousands of years. When it felt its end coming, it built itself a nest of twigs and set
it on fire as its own funeral pyre. Then, out of the ashes rose a new bird. The life time of the
Phoenix was possibly a pictorial mythological representation of definite cosmic rhythms. Some
say it was the so-called Sothis period. Ancient calendars had to struggle with the fact that the
year, or apparent orbit of the Sun takes 365 ¼ days. For this reason the modern calendar has
to insert a leap-day every fourth year (4 x .25 : 1 whole day); otherwise, it would come into
conflict with the seasons. In certain ancient calendars, however, one let the year circle, as it
were, through the seasons. This rectified itself within a cycle of about 1460 years, or a Sothic
period. In this sense, the association of Aries with the Phoenix would mean the end and the
new beginning of a cycle of time.
In Greek sidereal mythology, Aries was associated with Zeus, or Jupiter. Jupiter was the
head of the Olympian gods. They had come to power against the Titans who were led by
Zeus’ father Chronos. The struggle of the son against the father took a long time and the
fortunes of the war swayed several times. On one occasion the Olympians were almost de-
stroyed by the Titans. They had to flee in all directions to save their skin. Zeus-Jupiter went in
a ram’s disguise to Egypt and stayed there until the tide had changed. In this disguise he was
called Zeus, or Jupiter-Ammon.
There is deep wisdom in this myth. The flight to Egypt wants to depict a connecting up of
the young Greek civilization with the stream of evolution as it had been manifested in Egypt.
Zeus was the inaugurator of that culture that deliberately turned for the first time toward the
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world flowing into the human being through the senses. “Rather be a beggar in the world of
the living than be a king in the realm of the shades” was the basic philosophy of the Greeks.
The human brain had reached by then the present perfection, after a long evolution. This fact
was depicted in the ram’s horns of Zeus-Jupiter-Ammon of the myths. They were an indica-
tion of the convolutions of the brain. Out of this newborn brain-senses-thought capacity, the
Greek civilization was able to create that wonderful world of the plastic arts and philosophy.
There is a welter of additional mythological associations concerning Aries. They all point
to an inaugurative, initialing, or sponsoring spiritual, divine element working in Greek civiliza-
tion and also in other settings. In Norse sidereal mythology, Aries seems to have been con-
ceived as Gladsheim, the “glad home” of Odin, the head of the Aesir gods, dwelling in Asgard.
As we said earlier, the constellations in the neighborhood of the zodiacal effigies are a great
help in the interpretation of the latter. Above and below Aries are assembled constellations
which are connected with the Perseus-Andromeda complex. (They concern, as we shall see
later, also Pisces). Particularly Perseus in the sky turns his gaze across Aries down to the effigy
of Cetus, the Whale. Perseus is one of the 12 great Sun-heroes of Greek mythology. He is the
son of Jupiter and Danae. Therefore, he is half divine; one can even say, a messenger of the
gods. He has taken upon himself a great task for the benefit of growing-up humanity. Equipped
with the winged sandals of Mercury, according to another version, with the winged horse
Pegasus, he worked his way through to the home of the Gorgons. They were three sisters, one
of them being Medusa, who had the terrifying capacity to petrify and transmute everything
into stone that looked into her eyes. Perseus, being well aware of this, approached the three
sisters not frontally, but rather, he turned his back to them and watched them in the polished
surface of his shield. Discovering Medusa asleep, he quickly raised his sword and cut off her
head. Forthwith, he flew away holding the head of the Gorgon in his hand, before the other
two sisters could realize what had happened. Thus he delivered humanity from this menace.
(We shall hear later that on the way home he comes to the rescue of Andromeda, who is in
bitter plight.)
The story of the petrifying qualities of Medusa appears to indicate a danger of a hardening
that threatened humanity and which the gods wanted to eliminate through the half divine
messenger, Perseus: It seems to be the danger arising from the newly conquered capacity of
full use of the brain and the senses, which incurred, and still incurs in our present age the
possibility of completely losing any awareness of the divine spiritual world. It is the age-old
battle on the plane of thinking, which in the Middle Ages raged as the battle between nominal-
ism and realism, and in modern terms is fought as the war between materialism and human
endeavors to break through anew to the experience of the reality of a spiritual world.
We can also understand that an older cosmology regarded Aries as the region of the cos-
mic archetype of the head and particularly the brain, though not the earthly reproduction there
of. Furthermore, on this foundation we can comprehend the symbol that is used by tradition
for Aries . From a superficial viewpoint it is, of course, the ram’s horns, but from a wider
perspective it can be conceived as a sign standing for initiative, for inauguration, for com-
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mencement of a cycle of development or evolution. An element that has come to rest and
completion earlier, which is stagnating, is permeated by a new impact from the “outside”, or
possibly even attacked and invigorated by a novel impulse. A world at rest and satisfied with
temporary completion can be fittingly expressed by a circle, the new impulse by a symbol
similar to an arrowhead. Then we come to the following cypher: for Aries.
From this aspect we can also understand that Mars ( ) was considered in ancient times to
be the “ruler” of this sign, and, as far as our investigations go, also of the constellation. Of
course, the affinity of Mars to “signs” and constellations must be interpreted with discrimina-
tion.
The constellation of Taurus or Bull: This group of stars, together with those in its neigh-
borhood, lead us straight into the ancient Egyptian Mystery civilization. One of the mainstays
of Egyptian religion and world conception was the cult of Apis, the bull-god. He was also
called Osiris-Apis, or Serapis, because he was conceived as an image of the soul of the god
Osiris. At some time the latter was identified with the constellation of Orion, south of Taurus.
The mythology of Osiris is of the most inspiring help for the interpretation of Taurus and
the associated groups of stars. Osiris and Seth were brothers and were at first in full harmony
with each other. But later Seth became hostile toward his brother. He decided to destroy him.
The legend tells in detail how he succeeded indeed. He threw the corpse into the river Nile
which carried it out into the sea. Isis, the sister, or wife of Osiris, found it and brought it back
to Egypt. Seth got hold of it a second time and cut it up into pieces. These pieces were again
collected by Isis and buried in several localities. Later, temples dedicated to Osiris were built in
these places.
Who was Osiris? In the Egyptian image of the universe, he was the representative of the
creative forces of the cosmos. Isis was, as it were, the Earth Mother, who received these forces
of creativeness into her being. In Seth (or Typhon) we can see the image of an awakening
power in the human race toward independence, acquired by gradual emancipation from the
divine spiritual world. This power in the awakening human being “destroys the god”. A god
cannot actually die, but can die in human consciousness. After his death Osiris became the
ruler of the underworld and judge of the souls of the dead. Even though he died in human
consciousness, he still works as cosmic forces into the Earth. But we no longer recognize the
cosmic divine origin of Earth matter. Therefore, the body of Osiris is “buried” in the Earth.
It is the stupendous energy that becomes apparent in the “splitting” of the atom, although this
carries the “death of Osiris” even one step further, into total destruction. Thus the constella-
tion of Taurus appears to have been experienced in bygone ages as a cosmic region that was an
expression of the descent of a divine impulse and its amalgamation with the Earth being or
even Earth substance. The divine impulse that bestows a new beginning on inert existence we
saw in the manifestations of Aries. In Taurus this has now descended one step further and is
active as an organizing principle in matter. This is also expressed in a Greek myth concerning
Taurus. Zeus, whose task it was to inaugurate Greek culture and, thereby, give a lead to the
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unfolding of European civilization, once saw from his heights—so the legend says—Europa,
the beautiful daughter of King Agenor of Phoenicia. He decided to take her to his realm. To
achieve this he assumed the shape of a snow-white bull and mingled with the herds of Agenor.
Europa approached to caress the animal, finally sitting on its back, whereupon the bull raced
with tremendous speed down to the beach, plunged into the sea and took Europa swiftly
across to the island of Crete. Thus Zeus was associated in Greek mythology with Taurus, the
Bull, as before we saw him as Zeus-Ammon in the form of the Aries-Ram fleeing to Egypt.
The Taurus principle of creating and organizing the physical realm is very vividly expressed
in the story of the constellation Auriga, with the fixed star Capella, situated above Taurus. The
effigy is presented on ancient star maps as a charioteer. According to some Greek sources he
seems to have been regarded as Hephaestos, the Divine Smith of Greek mythology, or one of
his sons. Egyptian legends give us more tangible information. It is well-known that the Egyp-
tian sanctuaries were orientated, at the time when they were built, to definite fixed stars. The
long axes of these temples, leading through gates, inner courtyards, and temple chambers into
increasing darkness, acted like observation tubes. Certain stars, rising on the axes or passing
over them, could thus be observed in the innermost sanctuaries, even in bright daylight. One
has found that such an edifice at Karnak, dedicated to the great Egyptian Ptah, was probably
oriented toward the fixed star Capella in Auriga. Another temple of Ptah at Memphis was also
oriented to the latter already as early as about 5000 BC.
Ptah was the divine artificer who was identified by the Greeks with Hephaestos (whom we
have already mentioned) and by the Romans with Vulcan, the Divine Smith, living and working
in his forge in the depth of the Earth. (See Proctor, Legends of the Stars). According to the
legend, he has forged the vault of the heavens and also the golden Scarabaeus, the winged Sun
Beetle. The chief priest of his sanctuary at Memphis called himself “director of the artists”.
Ptah was regarded as the father of the gods and he is called in one text: “Lord of Thebes, the
great God of the First Beginning”. He was venerated as the creator of the gods, the origin of
everything that entered into (physical) appearance, the creator of the heavens, the founder of
the Earth, lord of life. (Uehli, Kultur und Kunst Aegyptens.)
With this background, we can understand the symbol which tradition bestowed on us: .
It can, of course, easily be interpreted as the head of a bull , the animal which, in a sense, is
like an expression of the heaviness and yet of the astral volition, as it were, of Earth existence.
However, it seems to us that there is more: the inert lower existence, expressed by a circle
(see Aries), is permeated gradually by cosmic being or a cosmic order indicated by the
upper circle.
Commentary
We will now continue with the greater perspectives in the starry heavens during the last
two-thirds of the 20th century. In the last issue we spoke of an “autumn-fall” situation, signi-
fied by the outermost planets. The first one was Neptune, passing through the point of the
autumn equinox in 1942. This coincided with the height of the Second World War. Earlier,
63
during the years 1901 and 1902, the planet moved through the point of the summer solstice,
between sidereal Taurus and Gemini. Some time later Neptune approached its own ascending
node (see January Journal) in Cancer, which it actually reached in 1920. This is obviously con-
nected with the aftermath of the First World War.
We have a case here that clearly demonstrates what we mean by an “autumn” condition in
a cultural sense. In 1901, Rudolf Steiner started to speak about his particular message, chiefly
to western humanity. Who was Rudolf Steiner and what was his mission in a few brief words?
He came as one who had a deep insight into the spiritual requirements of the modern age: the
need for new capacities of cognition, transcending those of intellectual thinking, which an
earlier age had acquired. He saw this as an urgent necessity in view of the change of human
consciousness since the dawn of the present civilization, particularly in connection with our
endeavor to attain spiritual freedom. Thus, Rudolf Steiner was, from the beginning of the
present century till his death in 1925, an untiring and valiant fighter for this breakthrough in
consciousness, giving advice and demonstrating in almost every sphere of modern life, the
possibility of the development of new capacities. He also warned abundantly of what would
happen if humanity would not take the leap forward with courage and determination.
Rudolf Steiner was born in 1861. During that year Neptune was moving through the point
of the vernal equinox. Following our trend of thought, which we earlier suggested, we would
regard this as a “spring” situation, as far as Neptune is concerned. Thus Rudolf Steiner incar-
nated with a special view on this cosmic situation (we are convinced that for reasons of karma,
each individual selects particular associations with the stars) that was further emphasized by a
conjunction of Mercury and Neptune (geocentric) at the time of his birth. He lived and
worked out that “spring” situation as his message of Anthroposophy. This will appear plau-
sible if we recall the spiritual workings of Neptune and its sphere. In the May Journal, we
pointed out, on the basis of Rudolf Steiner’s descriptions in Theosophy, etc., that Neptune is
associated with the “true being of the world” and with a spiritually evolved and responsible
humanity, seeking “only and alone after that which ought to happen according to the right
course of the world order”.
Then from 1901 and 1902 onward, when from Neptune’s viewpoint it was midsummer,
the first “admonitions” came. Warnings of such a nature, but also positive advice for correc-
tion, sounded forth through Rudolf Steiner’s work. The planet moved, meanwhile, toward the
autumn equinox. “Harvest time will come soon, and you will harvest that which you have
sown, in either sense. It will represent the crops of your own deeds and thoughts.” This was,
so to speak, the message of Neptune.
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STAR JOURNAL - August 1966

The Zodiac (Continued)
The mysteries of “spirit in matter” are connected with Taurus-Bull. In the ancient myths
we hear the story of the submergence of cosmic spiritual essence in the material world. A
future humanity, which is possibly not very far away from our age, will have to evolve a new
“mythology” concerning this constellation if it decides to stand in spiritual freedom and spiri-
tual moral activity before Taurus. It will have to evolve, of course, on a scientific foundation,
a real science of matter and the spirit essence contained in it. Atomic physics alone can obvi-
ously not do it. Rather it seems to lead to total destruction, if it is not countered by a realistic
insight into the elements that we meet in this field. The stages of the development of atomic
science were strongly accompanied by planetary configurations in the constellation of Taurus,
which is rather illuminating.
Taurus-Bull was in ancient cosmology the archetypal region from which the larynx and the
whole organism devoted to production and perception of sound and speech are created. This
connection of the Taurus with the cosmic origin of the Word is clearly expressed in the de-
scription of the capacities of Ptah (see July issue). Everything that exists originated in him as
thought; and his thought, like all his plans and ideas for building and artistic creation, needed
only to be expressed in Words in order to become “real” objects. Thus is Ptah the Creative
Word, some kind of pre-Christian conception of the creative Logos (see J. H. Breasted, History
of Egypt). This, too, can give us an idea of the hidden potential in Taurus that we will be called
upon to evolve one day as a spiritually free being.
The constellation of Gemini or Twins: The perspective of divine creation through the
sacrifice of the divinity that we meet in Taurus is taken one step further in Gemini. There the
created world enters a kind of rebellion against its origin. Thus a contradiction comes into
being, manifesting as world polarity, for instance, light and darkness, day and night, heaven and
Earth, etc. Even such a polarity as is displayed in positive and negative electricity is connected
with this constellation.
In Greek mythology, Gemini-Twins is associated with the story of Castor and Pollux, whose
names are actually borne by the two main stars in the constellation. They were twin brothers, but
Castor was a mortal being, whereas Pollux was immortal. Once they attended a wedding feast
which ended in a fight among the guests. Castor was killed, but Pollux survived because he was
immortal. He was deeply grieved over the separation from his brother and implored Zeus to
restore him to life so that he could again live together with him. Zeus was so moved by their
brotherly love that he consented to Castor’s restoration to life, under the condition that both
stayed together alternatively half the time in the underworld and half in the light of day.
Another story that expresses an element of even stronger contrast is the Norse myth of
Balder. Balder’s home was Breidablik which corresponds to Gemini. He was called the Beau-
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tiful and his hair shone like sunshine. He was full of wisdom, exceedingly mild and eloquent.
Once there was great consternation in the realm of Asgard, the dwelling of the gods. Balder
had dreamed that his life was in dire peril. Odin, the All-Father consulted a Vala, a prophetess,
and she confirmed the forebodings of Balder. Then the gods sent forth messengers to take
oaths from all living creatures, from metals and stones, not to hurt Balder. All things promised,
but the mistletoe was forgotten because it was, in any case, considered to be part of a tree.
There was great feasting in the halls of the gods after the messengers had returned. They
threw all kinds of things at Balder because they knew that nothing would hurt him. Hodur,
Balder’s blind brother, stood aside, for he could not see what was going on. In that moment
Loki, the Evil One, saw his opportunity to take revenge for earlier mistreatment by the gods.
He crept up to Hodur and offered to help him take part in the great sport that was going on.
He pressed a bow and an arrow made of mistletoe into his hand and guided him to shoot at
Balder. The arrow pierced Balder’s body and he fell dead.
In this story the opponent against the god of light, in a sense an equivalent figure in Norse
mythology to Seth in Egypt, uses the handicap of blindness to realize his evil schemes. The
blindness of Hodur can be interpreted as an expression of the beginning estrangement of the
created world from its divine origin. This fact of the moving apart of the worlds of creation
and of the creators was strongly experienced in ancient Persian civilization, inaugurated by the
great Zarathustra. Originally the universe was united in the Father Deity Zaruana Akarana,
whose external manifestation was the Zodiac. (As we suggested earlier, the word Zodiac might
be a corruption of his name). But then a division occurred. Ahriman became the Lord of
Darkness, and he dwelt in the interior of the Earth. In the heights of the cosmos dwelt the
forces of Light under the leadership of Ahura Mazdao, the Aura of the Sun. And humanity
was called upon to bring light into darkness by tilling the soil. Organized agriculture had its
foundation in this mighty cosmic imagination.
This mythology, upon which a whole civilization had been built, is clearly associated with
the constellation of Gemini. The vernal point—i.e., the crossing point between the equator of
the Earth and the ecliptic, projected into the heavens—or in other words, the locality in the
fixed star Zodiac in which the Sun appears to stand at the commencement of spring, was then
in the direction of Gemini. Experience demonstrates that this ever-changing association of
the spring Sun with the zodiacal constellations exercises a decisive impact on the march of
civilizations.
There was, however, also consolation in the great conflict indicated in Gemini. Below the
latter is Canis Major, the Greater Dog, with the well-known fixed star Sirius. In Egyptian
mythology we find Isis, the sister and wife of Osiris, identified with this star. She was the great
Mother deity, who remained after the death of Osiris, with the Earth. Even as the spiritual
darkness spread on our planet, caused by the growing estrangement from the divine world, Isis
still preserved the spark of divine wisdom in humanity through the cultivation of the myster-
ies. She nursed and brought up Osiris’s son Horus, who became the avenger of his father’s
death by the hand of Seth, and destroyed him in mighty battles.
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For the Egyptians this star Sirius was the guarantor that, even in the spirit-estranged chaos
of the Earth, there was cosmic order and relief ever present. Whenever Sirius rose in the
course of the year before the Sun, they knew that the river Nile would begin to rise and bring
life-giving flood to their parched fields.’ Sirius, which was also called Sothis, was also used to
keep the calendar of the Egyptians in harmony with the heavenly rhythms caused by the fact
that the return of the Sun to its original position, or the “year”, needs 365.25 days. Their
nominal year moved ahead of the seasonal year by a quarter of a day annually. (Our modern,
Gregorian Calendar effects the correction by the institution of the leap day). After 1460 years
it had gained a complete year, and nominal and seasonal year corresponded again. This was
called a Sothis period.
Just as all things and beings in the universe develop and, thereby, change their nature, so do
also the constellations. Already the great Zarathustra perceived that the “Twin” in the heights
of heaven, Ahura Mazdao, moved down toward the Earth. In fact there exists in ancient
Persian literature a prophecy that seems to point to the Incarnation of Christ. In other words,
the ancient Persian saw in Ahura Mazdao the cosmic Being of Christ. He left his lofty abode,
the Sun, in order to perform on Earth the Great Deed of Redemption. Then Lucifer took over
the Sun, which until then he had shared with Ahura Mazdao. Thus, the constellation of Gemini-
Twins came to signify a most dramatic Triad: Lucifer in the Heights, Ahriman in the dark
depths of the Earth, and Ahura-Mazdao-Christ between them, keeping them in their bounds,
even redeeming them. This, then, became an Earth historic reality in the Temptation scene
described in the Gospels, following onto the Baptism of Christ Jesus.
In ancient cosmology Gemini-Twins was associated with the polarities in the human body,
as right and left side of the body, right and left arms, and also the head-limb polarity. This was
still the aspect of the unequal, asymmetric Twins that nevertheless are inseparably united.
Thus we can understand the symbol used for this constellation, a “higher” and a “lower”
world joined together by a “backbone” or “spinal cord”.
The constellation of Cancer or Crab: Although this is a relatively small constellation with
few conspicuous stars, it seems to have been regarded in ancient cosmology as important. In
Greece it was considered to be the gate of our incarnation, whereas the opposite constellation
of Capricorn was the Gate to the Gods, after death. This perspective appears to be a logical
continuation of the spiritual implications concerning Gemini-Twins. There we encountered
the great estrangement of Heaven and Earth, manifesting in countless spheres of human exist-
ence. Here, in Cancer-Crab, the two worlds have now come completely apart, which is also
expressed in the symbol we use for this constellation: . The two spirals move away from each
other and leave a gap, or abyss between them. In the symbol for Gemini-Twins, the two worlds
are still connected with each other.
According to the perspective of this constellation, souls descending from a world of divine
spiritual being enter through the gate of birth into an earthly existence in which they have at
first no recollection of prenatal experiences. They are deeply involved in building an earthly
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“house” in which to fulfill the tasks of Earth life. Therefore, Cancer is associated in astrology
with the “house”, meaning everything that facilitates the incarnation: parents, home, environ-
ment, etc. This was also expressed in the association of Cancer with the archetype of the chest
of the human physical body. It is the “house” of the heart and of breathing.
However, we enter the physical world through incarnation following a definite aim. This is
expressed in another myth of Greek origin, although its meaning is difficult to discern. Cancer
was connected with Bacchus or Bacchos, the god of wine. The introduction of wine for
human consumption in ancient times was intended to help the awakening of the human ego.
In the impact of alcohol on the blood, the awareness of self was called forth as a reaction.
This self-awareness was the meaning of the temporary severance of humanity from the divine
world by incarnating. Of course, our modern age must seek the realization of our “self ” with
different means. The old methods and practices provoke intolerable obstruction of the devel-
opment of egohood in a modern humanity. This is also indicated in Cancer. About this
change we shall speak later.
The separation of humanity from the spiritual world was expressed in Norse mythology by
mighty imaginations that were also connected with Cancer. This is the story of the great
Guardian Heimdal and the Bifrost Bridge. Once upon a time there existed a bridge that was
built of air and water and protected by flaming fire on its edges. Bif-rost means “rainbow”. It
led from Midgard, the dwellings of the human race, to Asgard, the abode of the Aesir, the
gods. Heimdal, son of the waves, was its guardian. He dwelt in Himinbjorg, “the ward of
heaven”, or the highest point of the bridge.
Then the Twilight of the Gods occurred, the great battle of Ragnarok was fought, when all
the sinister enemies of the gods rushed up in open rebellion against Asgard. The fire giants,
the Muspel, stormed over the bridge to invade the dwellings of the gods, and the bridge was
burned down. Heimdal, who destroyed the evil Loki, was killed by the latter in turn—like
most, the Aesir died at the hands of their enemies.
Therefore there was no longer a bridge between the human world and the realm of the
gods, or spiritual world. After a certain moment in history, we were unable to reach out to the
reality of that spiritual world. This is what the story wants to tell us. And the connection with
the dynamics of the constellation of Cancer, as it is expressed in the symbol we use , is
obvious. There still existed then, however, an awareness of these higher worlds that had with-
drawn from our reach. We can see this expressed in the upper one of the two spirals of the
symbol. This can be seen in the connection of Cancer with the Scarabaeus in Egyptian
mythology.
The scarab is a beetle which makes perfectly rounded pellets of dung in order to deposit its
eggs in it. The unceasing labor of this insect appears to have become a symbol for the Egyp-
tians of the ever-recurring victory of life over the forces of death and decay in the universe.
Stone images of the scarab were laid on the mummies to make sure that the souls of the dead
could advance to new life. The little pellets made by the beetles were conceived as symbols of
the cosmic forces that cause the Sun to rise every morning anew.
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Thus is the constellation of Cancer also connected with the life-renewing cosmic powers
and beings which manifest themselves, for instance, through the workings of the Sun in the
universe. This was not just a kind of lyrical beautification of what the Egyptians saw in the sky.
They still had the capacity to experience hidden, or spiritual realities in the heavens. Along
such lines it must also appear plausible when we hear that the leading spirit of the universe
entered material Earth existence. This happened in the Incarnation of Christ.
Even as a humanity acknowledges the history of the Christ Events, it is nevertheless di-
vided in opinion concerning the dates. However, we see good reasons for joining those, among
them Rudolf Steiner, who advance the idea that Golgotha took place on April 3, 33 AD. In
that moment Saturn had moved to the eastern edge of the constellation of Cancer. Mars had
also moved into this group of stars, and Jupiter was to follow at Whitsun of the same year.
Thus we would have found Saturn in Cancer during the major part of the “three years” of
Christ’s ministry. We are also aware of the fact that in Christ there appeared on Earth, in a
human body, the mighty spirit of the Sun, who had hitherto guided evolution from that lofty
abode and whom Zarathustra had perceived and called Ahura Mazdao. Humanity had lost,
before the advent of Christ, contact and access to the spiritual world. Christ came as the
Redeemer and Builder of a new bridge, in the place of the old Bifrost Bridge that had perished,
according to the story of the Twilight of the Gods. Thus the history of the heavens became
Earth history, and the visible configurations in the sky appear as the reflection and confirma-
tion of spiritual facts and realities.
The constellation of Leo or Lion: In contrast to Cancer the Leo group is a very conspicu-
ous constellation, which figured as a lion in all ancient civilizations of the Near East and the
Mediterranean space. It was associated in ancient cosmology with the heart and the totality of
the circulation of the human body. This was expressed by the symbol which is used: . It was a
gesture starting from a center and moving in a majestic sweep toward the periphery. Thus the
periphery was conceived to be intimately connected with the center, and vice versa. The rhythms
of the great cosmos reflected themselves in the rhythms of Earth events and creatures. This
was a certain consolation for a humanity that had to live with the perspective of the “broken”
bridge of Cancer, as described in Norse mythology. The life of the cosmos was still pulsating
through Earth existence. It was realized by actual experience that, for instance, a cycle of time
such as that of day and night on the Earth corresponded to, or reflected one cycle of a year in
the cosmos.
Thus we can understand what the Prophet Ezekiel means (Ezekiel IV, 6), concerning the
prophecy about the fate of the Hebrew people and Jerusalem. “I (Jehovah) have appointed
thee each day for a year.” Likewise, they also conceived the movements of the planets through
one degree of the arc of their orbits as being reflected or represented in one year of Earth
time. This was born out of the ancient clairvoyant perception of the relationship between
cosmos and humanity. There is still a certain validity in this. We shall come back to it later.
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Commentary
In the July Commentary, we spoke of the movements of Neptune in the ecliptic since 1901-
2. We said that it was descending since that time toward the autumn equinox. It might happen
all too easily that people regard the simultaneity of the “spring position” of Neptune in 1861
with Rudolf Steiner’s birth, and the “midsummer position” in 1901-2 with the commencement
of Rudolf Steiner’s work as a “warner” and most helpful spiritual and cultural adviser, as mean-
ingless coincidences. However, we are in a position to point out at least one similar occurrence
in history. In 1371, Neptune was in 0° of the ecliptic and in the “spring position”. Seven years
later, when the planet was still in the ecliptic sign of Aries, Christian Rosenkreutz was born,
recognized by many as the mysterious founder of the Rosicrucian movement during the 15th
century.
In earlier issues we have already pointed out the significance of Christian Rosenkreutz and
of this movement for European culture, particularly as it was expressed in such revelations as
The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459. This impulse intended to endow the
new age, moving toward the awakening of a scientific consciousness in humanity since the
beginning of the 15th century, with a deeper spiritual understanding of its own historic dynam-
ics and tasks. Although Rudolf Steiner’s message of Anthroposophy is not the same, it never-
theless wanted to renew, in a contemporary form, the spiritual intentions of genuine, medieval
Rosicrucianism, according to Rudolf Steiner’s own words.
Before the “autumn position” of Neptune in 1942, something else took place. As we said
earlier (July issue), Neptune passed through its ascending node toward 1920. In such a mo-
ment the working of the planet is particularly significant, because it steps into an important
alignment of its sphere with the Earth, which is signified by the nodes and the lines connecting
them. This coincided with the end of the First World War, having been caused by worn-out
and unhealthy social conditions in central and eastern Europe. (See the outbreak of the war
and the problems of the Austrian Empire.)
In that moment, and before, would have been an opportunity to effect a healing change in
the prevailing social conceptions of humanity, following the advice of a person like Rudolf
Steiner. However, the response in politically leading strata of that time was very small, even
hostile. Instead, one tried to mend the dilapidations that a war, fought with astronomical
expenses in material and human beings, had caused with the old worn-out capacities of an
intellectual thinking that proved, in the following years, utterly helpless and even disastrous. In
the last resort, it was this kind of apathy of mind that was responsible for the catastrophe of
national socialism in Germany. Also eastern Europe was overrun by the deadening impact of
modern materialism and theories grown on its soil that had been developed particularly by
western humanity. An objective observer, who also knew of the “seasons” as indicated by
Neptune, could perceive already in 1918 and later that some bad, even evil fruit was ripening
on the tree of human evolution. Yet, there was and still is hope, but wisdom must learn where
to seek the good crop and sustenance for future “seasons”.
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STAR JOURNAL - September 1966

In Greek mythology Leo was associated with one of the twelve labors of Heracles, the
destruction of the Nemean Lion. This animal had jumped down from the Moon and was
destroying beasts and men of a huge part of the Earth. What made it worse was that it was
invulnerable against any weapon in human hands. Heracles simply crushed the animal in his
mighty embrace and thus strangled him. Then he stripped off the skin and clad himself in it.
This is how he is usually depicted: clad with the lion’s skin and carrying a mighty club.
This myth wants to tell us more than meets the eye. The lion came down from the heavens,
as it is a cosmic power. We can even think that it had a connection with the constellation of
Leo. Heracles overpowers it. He masters these forces by the strength of his own ego capacity.
This is the meaning of using the lion’s skin as a cloak. He has become a “lion” (of cosmic-
human power) himself. This is also the meaning of the lion in coats-of-arms of royal person-
ages, etc.
The suggestion of the Heracles-myth of the Nemean lion would then be that a heroic
human being can still reach out to cosmic spiritual power and sustenance, even if the bridge of
direct access (see Cancer) is destroyed. To be heroic means, in this setting, to be in full control
of self, to have acquired this control by occult training, or to have attained initiation. This is
further amplified by the characteristics of the main fixed star in Leo, Regulus, according to
ancient conceptions. Already very early we find proof that it was considered to rule all the
affairs of heaven as an absolute monarch. It kept the other stars in order. In Babylon it was
Sharru the King, in India Maglia the Mighty, in Persia Miyan the Center. There is the sugges-
tion that the name Regulus is connected with the concept of regal power.
In the association with regal spender and ritual, still prevailing in certain coronation cer-
emonies, etc., we see a definite Leo manifestation of ancient order. All ritual and ceremony,
particularly in connection with the institution of royalty, was originally meant to be representa-
tive of cosmic spiritual power on Earth. Hierarchical order of royal courts, even as it still
appears in connection with some religious institutions, was supposed to evoke in the human
being mighty imaginations of the divine hierarchies in the heavens. Thus was regal power
originally meant to establish cosmic order in human society and thereby maintain its inte-
gration. Also the Round Table of King Arthur is an imagination of the transplantation of
cosmic order into Earth conditions. The famous round table at Winchester in England is a
table-top of 18 ft. in diameter, divided into 25 sectors, one for the King and 24 for the Knights
belonging to the Order of the Round Table. It is obvious that the 24 seats were representative
of the 12 constellations of the Zodiac (twice twelve). In fact a myth of King Arthur tells that
once he ascended to the Seven Kings of the Septentriones (the stars of the Greater Bear) and
was taught by them the secrets of cosmic order with the commission to establish the same
order also on the Earth.
71
We said earlier that the constellations grow and evolve in the course of time. The great
turning point in their evolution, similar to the Earth and to humanity, was the Mystery of
Golgotha. From then on it appears increasingly difficult to connect, for instance, the ancient
meaning and interpretations with the constellations of the Zodiac. Leo is no exception to this.
The gradual transformation of the constellations, which must be contemplated and established
with extreme esoteric tact, will come chiefly through matured human spiritual-moral inspira-
tion and intuition.
When we discussed the constellation of Cancer, we said the main part of the Three Years’
ministry of Christ was accompanied by Saturn moving through this constellation. Immedi-
ately after Golgotha it entered Leo. By the time of Whitsun it was already there, and it stayed
there for about 2½ years. This was the time when Saul-Paul persecuted the young community
of Christians until the mighty experience of his conversion, which is described in chapter 9 of
the Acts of the Apostles. After that he became the great apostle of Christianity in the western
world.
The story of Paul is like a new prototype of the spiritual potential of Leo. At the gates of
Damascus he experienced the divine cosmic Being, the Head of the hierarchies of the Sun and
of the whole universe, who had entered the physical world through the body of Jesus. He
recognized then, the One who will step more and more, as the representative of all the spiritual
hierarchies, in the place of the ancient manifestations of cosmic power as it was, for instance,
implied in Leo. Through the direct experience of that renewed cosmic power in himself (“Not
I, but Christ in me”), he had the strength to bring the message and the conviction to his
contemporaries and to posterity on his journeys through the Mediterranean area. Thereby he
gave a new meaning to the ancient symbol of Leo , probably not at all by doing it consci-ously
and deliberately. From the strengthened center of his own being he moved toward the periph-
ery.
The constellation of Virgo or Virgin: This configuration of stars is represented on most

ancient star maps as a winged, angelic figure. In the famous Zodiac of Denderah in Egypt it
appears as Isis or Hathor, holding or receiving her infant son Horus into her arms. In Greece
she was associated with Demeter-Ceres and Persephone. In the right hand she holds the fixed
star Vindemiatrix, which means grape gatherer, and in her left hand she carries the star Spica,
a sheaf of wheat.
Below the constellation is the long stretched-out effigy of the Hydra the Serpent. Its head
is below Cancer and from there it reaches as far as Libra, the Scales. Upon its back stands the
Crater or Cup and the Corvus-Raven.
Above is the constellation of Bootes with the star Arcturus. It was often regarded as the
Bear Driver, because it seems to chase the Great Bear in the northern sky. But it has also been
represented as a Herdsman or Ploughman. This would coincide with the fact that in some
parts of the world the Great Bear was conceived as the Plough. This aspect is of great impor-
tance. We will presently discuss it.
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We add to this background another important fact: During the ancient Persian civilization,
which was inaugurated by the great Zarathustra, the summer solstice (highest position of the
Sun during the year) took place in the constellation of Virgo. The vernal equinox then still
showed the Sun in the constellation of Gemini.
It is not easy to integrate the welter of mythological association of Virgo and the constel-
lations in its neighborhood into a congenial and comprehensible whole. They convey the
appearance of an agricultural community but this is only the surface. The deeper concerns are
not of a “commercial” nature, as it were, but a matter of transformation, even of transubstan-
tiation. This is already expressed in the connection of Virgo with the summer solstice of
Ancient Persian civilization. The summer solstice was experienced in bygone ages as a great
turning point. From the moment of winter solstice, the Sun was rising ever higher in the space
above the horizon. The ever more ascending disk of the Sun seemed to support, enhance, and
accelerate the life of the Earth and its living creatures. Then, from midsummer onward, when
the Sun fell back in space day by day, the life processes on the Earth appeared reversed. We had
to rely on our own capacities, feeling we had to awaken and develop our own consciousness,
particularly toward Michaelmas. Of course, these rhythms still work today into our life, but
they are obscured to a great extent by the artificiality of modern urban conditions.
In ancient Persian times this turning point in the year was ruled, as it were, by the dynamics
of Virgo. Earlier we have pointed out that this civilization was inspired and organized by the
Zarathustrian world conception of the polarity of Ahura Mazdao, the Great Sun Aura of the
light-filled cosmos, and the dark forces of Ahriman dwelling in the interior of the Earth. The
ethical implication resulting from it was to overcome the darkness by letting the light stream
into it. This could be done by tilling the soil and thus organized agriculture came into being.
But it has also the deeper meaning that each single plant we cultivated was a shaft of that
cosmic light streaming down to Earth from Ahura Mazdao. Thus the ancient Persians experi-
enced agriculture and all that was connected with it as a means of transforming the Earth.
This is even more strongly borne out in the myth of Horus. We mentioned already that in
this portion of the Zodiac of Denderah, there appears the effigy of Isis receiving Horus into
her arms. Horus is the son of Osiris, who was “killed” by his brother Set, or Seth (Typhon).
Set was identified in the heavens with the constellation of the Hydra, below Virgo. After
Horus was grown up he fought against Seth-Typhon. In mighty battles he defeated and de-
stroyed him. But several times Set rose again, always in new disguise. Finally he transformed
himself into a terrible serpent (the Hydra), but now he met his definite destruction by the hand
of Horus. In the course of these battles Horus, who was then called Hor-hut (Horus of the
city of him who spreads his wings), received the symbol of a winged Sun-disc, which was
affixed to all temples as a sign of the overcoming of the Evil in the world.
The story of Ceres-Demeter and her daughter Persephone describes a similar conflict
which was, however, resolved in different ways. Persephone, or Proserpina, played once with
her friends, the nymphs, in a meadow. Suddenly Pluto, the sinister lord of the underworld
appeared and took her away by force to his dark underground abode. Long did Ceres (Virgo)
73
search for her child, Persephone, until she learned from a river god where she was retained.
But Ceres also realized that Pluto would never let Persephone go. In her grief she neglected
the task of permeating the Earth with the streams of cosmic life. Nothing grew anymore on
the planet, and famine threatened the dwellers of the Earth. Zeus had to step in, and he
decreed that Persephone should return from her dreadful abode to the upper world. But, alas,
she had already eaten of the food of the underworld. Thereupon she was permitted to return
only half the time, some say only during the six light months of the year, and then return again
to the sinister palace of Pluto for the dark season. Demeter-Ceres instituted the Eleusinia,
festivals held at Eleusis in honor of her daughter and herself, to commemorate her long search
for Persephone.
A helpful contribution to the comprehension of the dynamics of Virgo is the mythology
of Bootes and neighboring constellations. Bootes meant “ox driver”, not bear driver, as it is
very often interpreted. According to Greek mythology he was the son of Demeter. After all
his possessions had been stolen by his brother, he was forced to support himself by cultivating
the soil. For this purpose he invented the plough. Thus he now stands in the heavens with his
two oxen, which according to other versions are his hunting dogs (Canes Venatici) and the
Plough (also known as the Great Bear or Ursa Major). Thus we find here a motive that we met
earlier in connection with the Ahura Mazdao and Ahriman perspective of Ancient Persia: the
forces of evil are overcome by “tilling the soil”, by letting the life-giving light of the heavens
stream into the darkness, even by turning the evil away from its path of destruction and using
it for the good. For in ancient Egyptian mythology, Ursa Major belonged to Set-Hydra. It was
called the “Thigh of Set” (Lum, The Stars in Our Heavens).
All this is very well corroborated by Celtic star mythology. There the Great Bear was called
“the Chariot”, or “Arthur’s Chariot”. It was and still is also called the “Plough”. King Arthur
was definitely associated with the Great Bear, or Plough. The name “Arthur”, like that of his
Gaelic equivalent, “Airem”, means “Ploughman” (see Charles Squire, Celtic Myth and Legend).
On the other hand, the name “Arthur” might well stem from the Welsh “Arth-Uthyr” which
means “Great Bear”. Arthur is not the name of a single individuality but is rather a title, or
degree of initiation. There seems to exist an ancient legend according to which “Arthur”
received a kind of initiation by the seven kings who are represented by the seven main stars of
the Great Bear (see Fiona Macleod, The Septentriones). Arthur and those around him destroyed
the ferocious monsters still populating the Earth as remnants of watery, vapory Atlantean
conditions in bygone stages of evolution.
The complexity of the mythology of Virgo is best resolved by studying its archetypal
connection with the physiology of the human body. This constellation has been considered,
since the most ancient times, as the cosmic origin of the digestive system, particularly the
intestines. There the mysterious transformation of substances, which we take into our or-
ganism as food, takes place. We certainly need these processes of breaking down and con-
version of the physical-material for the maintenance of our earthly existence, but we also
perform at the same time a kind of etherizing service with regard to the substances of the
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Earth. The amount eaten by the human race and thereby transubstantiated in some fashion,
since it is obliged to do this, must be colossal in sheer quantity. In this context the transform-
ing, ever changing dynamics of the constellation Virgo is unmistakably apparent.
However, all the transformation enacted in the human body and in the world, emanating
originally from the spiritual regions beyond Virgo, aim at the accomplishment of evolutionary
goals. Mythology expresses this by the imagination of the child, which often bears representa-
tive characteristics of the soul of humanity on its journey through the vicissitudes of earthly
life, invariably getting into conflict with the evil in the world, and finally overcoming it. Thus
the road into the future is freed from obstructions. The great imagination in Chapter XII of
the Revelation of St. John presents such a perspective. The “woman clothed with the Sun, and
the Moon under her feet and upon her head a crown of twelve stars” is an image of what we
can become in the future, if we have fully realized ourselves as a “self ” and the spiritual poten-
tial hidden “behind” the region of Virgo. Then our spiritual fruit or essence will be born; our
once material being and limitation will fall away. “And she brought forth a child who was to
rule all nations with a rod of iron, and her child was caught up unto God and to his throne.”
The dragon with seven heads and ten horns stood before the woman to devour her child and
thus obstruct the road into the future. But he and his host were defeated by the Archangel
Michael and his angels.
With all these mythological implications we can now make an attempt to understand the
symbol that is used for this constellation . In all the other symbols which we have encoun-
tered so far, we can detect a meaning, but this one seems at first impenetrable. However, this
is understandable if we realize that we are here facing the deepest mysteries of existence and
life on Earth, the perspective of slow evolution toward a non-material future, the existence of
Evil constantly trying to obstruct the forward road.
In ancient times when the Mysteries—the cognition of the spiritual secrets of humanity,
Earth, and universe—were still intact, a human being who endeavored to approach them was
obliged to take a long and often tedious road of cognition and moral preparation. In a general
sense, one can say that three stages of inner evolution had to be ascended, or advancement
through “three gates” of revelation to ultimate initiation. These three gates seem to be indi-
cated in the symbol of Virgo but have been somewhat distorted in the course of tradition.
What did the neophyte meet upon entering through the third gate? The serpent. In the
case of meeting the material and yet so mysterious reality of Virgo in the human form
as the region below the diaphragm, the imagination is quite obvious. The intestinal
tract can appear like a big and long serpent. With regard to the mystery of life, as
meaning and aim of existence and evolution, we meet the serpent of wisdom, but we
also meet the serpent of destruction and evil. We need only think of the serpent of
paradise. This was Lucifer who can lead us to enthusiasm and exalted wisdom, but also to
rebellion against the Godhead and downfall, experienced in human sickness and death. The
realization of truth through the Mysteries of Life and cosmic evolution was, and is, the protec-
tion of the human being.
75
Commentary
In the commentary last month, we spoke about the career of Neptune during the 20th
century. The time toward 1920, when the planet passed through its ascending node seems to
have been particularly important. This was the time of the aftermath of the First World War,
the Peace Treaty of Versailles, etc. Then came the moment when Neptune moved through the
point of the autumnal equinox. That happened in 1942, when humanity was already in the
middle of the Second World War. Then the “crop” that had been sown and planted earlier had
ripened. For instance, at the conclusion of the First World War, nationalism had remained in
western humanity as the only means to rebuild a shattered world. No new constructive ideas
were introduced. Then in the 1920s, nationalism demonstrated what it means to do, namely
destroy the individual human being. Similar developments occurred in other fields. Material-
ism, which scornfully rejected any notion of the spirit or spiritual world but became tremen-
dously aggressive in the technological sphere, created the Atom Bomb, and then dropped it on
Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. Neptune was then still near the autumnal equinox and was
joined by Jupiter, according to the heliocentric perspective. (It coincided with other events,
which we will discuss later.)
The Atom Bomb and many more such developments, such as the immense pollution of
the soil, the water, the air, have brought home to humanity the fact that all is not well with
regard to the “crop” resulting from the civilization of the latter half of the 19th and the first of
the 20th century. It is quite obvious that the concentration of the human mind on material and
materialistic developments, almost exclusively, has created enormous “power houses” of de-
struction. And it seems that this kind of crop does not even decay like a bad crop in nature
would do, but appears to harass our modern age to an ever increasing extent.
Where will all this lead to and what can we do as a positive and redeeming contribution
toward evolution?
In 1984-5, Neptune will move through the point of the winter solstice, when winter be-
gins, from this particular viewpoint. It may seem strange that this should coincide with two
dates: George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (published in 1949) and the expected return
of Halley’s Comet in 1986.
Orwell’s novel describes a super-dictator, Big Brother, who will come by 1984 and, assisted
by the most ingenious technical means, will have absolute control and insight into the private
lives of all human beings in their domain. Thereby, he will completely eradicate human indi-
viduality. Only human automatons will be left. Why Orwell had chosen just the date of 1984,
we do not know. Something like knowledge of the expected return of Halley’s Comet might
have influenced him.
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STAR JOURNAL - October 1966

The Zodiac (continued)
The constellation of Libra or Scales: We said that Virgo can be conceived as a representa-
tion of the portal to the mysteries. It points in two directions. If we follow the constellations
backward from Virgo to Aries, we find, so to speak, the reflections of the mysteries of the
cosmos. These are expressed in mythological pictures of the kind that we described in connec-
tion with Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, mainly the destinies of the deities, as it were. In Leo
we find mainly an enumeration of the requirements that the human being needs to fulfill in
order to go on that journey.
On the other hand, Libra represents the threshold that we have to cross in order to pen-
etrate to the mysteries of the lower world, that is, of our soul and of the mysteries of the
Earth, of the elements, etc. In order to enter this world he must practice balance of soul,
because in the depth of our own being we meet, apart from our immortal entelechy, also
destructive forces. At a certain stage we are confronted with the Mysteries of Death, which
will lead to resurrection in everlasting spiritual life. This is the stage of Scorpio, the constella-
tion following Libra-Scales.
Libra is a relatively small constellation. It does not contain particularly bright stars. This
might be the reason why its mythology is not very distinct. At one time, before Julius Caesar,
who reintroduced it into the calendar, it seems to have been ignored altogether, or combined
with Virgo. There are suggestions that long before this it was regarded as an Altar, a Lamp, or
even an image like the Tower of Babel. This is rather interesting and would, in a sense, confirm
what we said earlier. An altar on which an act of religious ceremony is performed, is a portal or
threshold to an invisible, divine world. A ritual is a presentation of spiritual facts.
Likewise, the Tower of Babel was such a threshold of gigantic measures. We know that
these “towers”, or Ziggurats, were, in a sense, the equivalents in the valley of Mesopotamia of
the Egyptian pyramids. But these towers were a kind of step-pyramidal buildings or terraces
leading up to a top terrace on which a sanctuary stood, and they were dedicated to the planets
according to their varying colors. This was a kind of astronomical observatory. From there the
priest-sages followed and calculated the movements of the planets, which were regarded as
gestures of the gods. Thus the “Tower of Babel” was indeed a threshold to the divine world.
The employment of this symbol for Libra would suggest that this constellation was experi-
enced as a “threshold”.
This aspect of Libra was also expressed in Egyptian mythology. There it was represented
by a feather against which the souls of the dead were weighed. They were brought by the dog-
headed Anubis into the presence of Osiris, who sat in the judgment seat before the scales—
where souls were weighed in order to find out whether they could proceed to the higher realms
of spiritual experience. This might be the background of the symbol which antiquity has
bequeathed on us for Scales: .
77
Above Libra is the head of the Serpens (or Serpent) which is carried by Ophiuchus, a
mythological complex about which we shall speak later. Still higher is the Corona Borealis.
According to the myth, this was the crown that was presented by Bacchus to Ariadne, the
daughter of Minos, a King of Crete. In his domain was the famous labyrinth that harbored the
ferocious Minotaur. Crete was so powerful in those days that it exacted tribute from Athens.
Every year the latter city had to send seven youths and seven maidens to Crete to be fed to the
Minotaur. Theseus, the son of the King of Athens was once one of the victims to be sent to
the island. However, before he was taken to the labyrinth, King Minos’ daughter, Ariadne, fell
in love with him. She decided to save him from the terrible fate of being imprisoned in the
maze where the Minotaur was housed. Once the victims were in that subterranean structure
they could not find their way out and eventually the monster caught up with them. Ariadne
gave Theseus a ball of thread and a sword. He was to drop the end of the thread as he entered
the labyrinth and unwind the ball as he went along through the passages. Soon he was con-
fronted by the monster which he killed with his hidden sword. Now he was able to find his way
out of the subterranean maze by following the thread of Ariadne. On the way back to Athens
the triumphant Theseus abandoned Ariadne. According to another version he had to yield her
to Bacchus who demanded her as his bride. Bacchus presented her with the crown as a wed-
ding gift, which today appears in the northern sky.
Represented in this myth is the deeper, spiritual significance of the Grecian civilization.
The latter was associated with Aries, for the vernal point was in that constellation during the
Grecian Age. Opposite it was Libra, then in the autumnal equinox. The preceding civilization
of Egypt and Chaldea was guided by the vernal point in Taurus, as we said earlier, and the
Mino-Taurus of Crete was, so to speak, the image of a terrible remnant of the earlier impact
into a later age where it was no longer justified. The Minotaur lived in the labyrinth, because
the Aries potential of the new capacity of thinking and use of the brain was at first bewilder-
ing, and we were in danger of losing our way. We needed the thread of logical thinking, of the
right sequence and co-ordination of perception and concept. Greek thinking was different
from what we generally call thinking today. From what we have as heritage by such thinkers as
Aristotle and Plato, we can surmise that they still had in their thoughts a strong and direct
awareness of the reality of a spiritual world. In this sense, the Crown of Ariadne, Corona
Borealis, is an amplification of the nature of Libra being a portal to the world of the spirit. She
who saved Greek thinking from being overwhelmed by the atavism of the Taurus, had earned
the crown, because she had saved what was supposed to be developed ever more into a new
approach to the spirit, congenial to the newly conquered power of egohood.
The constellation of Scorpio or Scorpion: We pointed out earlier that, having come from
Virgo which represents the Mysteries of Life and through the threshold of Libra, we face now
in the heavens the representation of the Mysteries of Death. The symbol which we use for
Scorpio is . We can understand the arrow which is attached. It was probably an
image of the scorpion’s sting. However, the prefix looking like the letter “m” is a mystery. We
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found the same symbol being used for Virgo, and there we suggested that it can represent three
gates or portals leading over three stages of an inner, esoteric development to spiritual truth and
reality. Thus we can read the symbol of Scorpion. The soul would find a double perspec-
tive beyond the last gate. The arrow or spear that points upward wants to lead on to the
realms of the spirit. The arrow pointing downward warns of death as an end in itself.
Both aspects were expressed by ancient mythology concerning Scorpio. In Egypt it was
associated with the commencement of the reign of Typhon, or Set, the murderer of Osiris. It
was then the constellation in which the autumnal equinox took place.
The fixed star Antares in Scorpio was looked upon as the rival or equal of Mars. The latter
was, and still is, considered to be ruler of Scorpion. In Central Asia, Antares was known as the
Grave Digger of Caravans (see Lum, The Stars in Our Heaven.)
This association of Scorpion with the experience of rising to the reality of spiritual, or
eternal life is not so obvious. It is understandable, because these concerns were closely guarded
secrets of the mysteries and of initiation. The neophyte who proceeded, after a long prepara-
tion to the final stage of initiation, had to go through a three day death experience that was
brought on by physical means. Afterward he was led back to life and now had a direct knowl-
edge of those spiritual realms that we enter only after death at the end of our life in the body.
This knowledge enabled him to master the problems and tasks of life through inner enlighten-
ment, which was in keeping with the great spiritual perspectives of world evolution.
Particularly the constellations above the Scorpion express this aspect. There is, first of all,
the effigy of Ophiuchus, which means “the man that holds the Snake”. In Greek mythology
he was connected with Aesculapius, the son of Apollo and god of healing. Holding the Ser-
pent, he is a living representation of the caduceus, the wand of the healer-god Hermes and the
ancient symbol of the medical art. Thus Ophiuchus-Aesculapius was, so to speak, the great
god initiate of the mysteries of healing. His skill was so great that he restored many to life who
had already died. Thereupon the ruler of the World of the Shades complained to Zeus, be-
cause he did not receive enough human souls into his realm. Zeus destroyed Aesulapius by one
of his thunderbolts, but he placed him in heaven where he can still be seen as the constellation
of Ophiuchus. His life-restoring capacity is in its proper place in heaven, not on the Earth.
Still higher in the Northern Hemisphere is the constellation of Hercules. He steps or
kneels on the Draco or Dragon who has the pole of the ecliptic in his grip. Next to his right
hand are the head of the Serpent, which Ophiuchus holds, and Corona Borealis. In his left
hand, as one finds on old star maps, is Cerberus the three-headed Hound of Hell, a monster
that Hercules brought up from the underworld in the course of one of his famous twelve
labors. Also the Lyra is on the left side of Hercules.
To be quite correct, this is the Hercules who was transplanted to heaven by the gods after
his death, according to the myth. Thus we find here again the motive of death and its transcen-
dence. However, we detect more. We are learning by way of mythological imaginations how
to transcend death. As we said, Hercules stands on the head of the Dragon, like a pre-Chris-
tian St. George. The Dragon in mythology and legend is always the representation of that
79
element working in us that attempts to hold us bound to the Earth and its gravity exclusively, to
make us a servant of matter and, above all, to eliminate with every conceivable means, all
notion of the reality of the world of the spirit. If this power succeeded, then death would
persist beyond the end of our earthly career. On the other hand, Hercules holds off the
Serpent above his head with the club in his right hand. This is the power in us that would
misuse our egotism, pride, and arrogance, to rebel against the divine world, to seek to establish
our own kingdom in the universe, apart from and against the great aims of cosmic evolution
which the divinity holds out since the beginning of creation. If this power were to succeed, we
would die an eternal death in utter isolation.
If we decide to transcend death, we must ward off the two powers that are lurking in our
own being, working to destroy us and build on our destruction their own divinity-estranged
cosmic kingdoms. This was age-old knowledge and wisdom of the ancient mysteries. For
those who had learned to “read”, it was even visible in the heavens, in the effigy of Hercules.
Rudolf Steiner depicted it in the great 30 foot high wooden statue he carved. It shows in most
expressive forms the anti-powers of Lucifer and Ahriman (their ancient names). Between
them stands a mighty figure, whom Rudolf Steiner called the Representative of Humanity, in
whom one can see the Christ as Archetypal Being. His gesture seems to be one of assertion of
the greater individuality of humanity, of that individuality identifying itself in full conscious-
ness and spiritual freedom with evolution as the divinity holds it out. Through this gesture
Ahriman and Lucifer are banned to the domains in which it is their allotted task to work.
Lucifer, the proud spirit, falls to the Earth; Ahriman is banned under the Earth, into the realm
of gravity. This statue can be experienced as a modern, christianized representation of Her-
cules in the sky.
Hercules, or the Representative of Humanity, would then identify himself with the aims of
cosmic evolution. Indeed, this identification is implied even in an external sense in the constel-
lation of Hercules, because in it lies the so-called solar apex. Modern astronomy has found
that our Sun is not standing still. It moves in space and takes the solar system along on the
journey. The aim of this movement seems to lie in the constellation of Hercules, in the near
neighborhood of the fixed stars Omicron Herculis and Lambda Herculis. and this is the solar
apex. (see Richardson’s, The Fascinating World of Astronomy, page 209-10).
To the left and right of Hercules are Corona Borealis and the Lyra, which we mentioned
earlier. They explain, in a sense, how Hercules can meet the two dangers he confronts, Draco-
Ahriman and Serpens-Lucifer. Corona Borealis, the crown of Ariadne, we discussed earlier in
connection with Libra. Ariadne symbolizes those soul forces that give Theseus the capacity to
find his way and maintain his integrity in the labyrinth of the newly conquered potential of the
brain and the senses. There is destruction lurking if we rely only on what is inside the orbit of
this physiological domain. To meet this attack of Lucifer, we must develop capacities that
transcend intellectual, statistical thinking.
The Lyre or Lyra, to the left of Hercules, not only concerns the complex of Scorpio but
also Sagittarius, which we shall have to discuss later. It tells how Hercules meets the danger
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coming from Ahriman. Certainly, in the heavens Draco’s (the Dragon’s) head is held down
under the foot of Hercules, and his hand has a firm grip on Cerberus, the three-headed Hound
of Hell, another symbolic representation of Ahriman. But the Lyre can tell us how to meet
these attacks constructively.
The Lyre is said to have been invented by Mercury. Later on it came into the hands of
Apollo who passed it on to his son Orpheus. The latter played upon it so masterfully “that
even the most rapid rivers ceased to flow, the wild beasts of the forest forgot their wildness,
and the mountains came to listen to his song” (Proctor, Legends of the Stars). The nymphs came
to listen and one among them, Eurydice, was particularly enchanted. Orpheus made her his
wife. But one day she was bitten by a snake and died. The unhappy Orpheus ventured with his
lyre into the sinister regions of Hades, in order to effect her release. Pluto, the lord of the
underworld, and those around him were so enchanted by the music streaming from the magical
lyre that they permitted Eurydice to return to the living. There was, however, one condition;
she was to follow Orpheus on the way to the upper world, but he was not allowed to look back
to her. He saw daylight in front of him when, forgetting the condition to which he had agreed,
he glanced back to make sure Eurydice was really following him. As he did so, she shrank
further and further away, irresistibly drawn down again to Hades. After the death of Orpheus
his lyre was carried to the heavens and this is the constellation of Lyra. Here we meet the
motive of the overcoming of death. Although Orpheus does not appear to have fully suc-
ceeded, he at least pacified the sinister power of Pluto with his instrument. In this sense, the
Lyre also belongs to the complex of the constellation of Scorpion and its environment.
Why had this Lyre such tremendous magical qualities? It was no ordinary instrument; it
had been invented by Mercury and possessed by Apollo. In other words, it was a cosmic lyre,
upon which sounded the Harmonies of the Spheres. And this was the secret of its power, of
its death transcending magic. Thus it is placed on the left side of Hercules, indicating that with
it he overcame the Ahrimanic danger, for Ahriman is, in a sense, the lord of death.
What are the Harmonies of the Spheres? In earlier issues we tried to work out a concept
of the spheres of the planets. They are the areas contained within the orbits of the planets.
The latter are, in this sense, only the visible messengers of the invisible spheres that were
experienced in ancient times, still in Greece, as the dwelling and working places of divine
spiritual beings. We can know that also the souls of the departed live in these spheres. As we
have pointed out earlier, the spheres are set one within the other in perfect harmony, which
expresses itself in the harmonic mathematical progression of the distances of their orbits from
the Sun. This then is the Harmony of the Spheres. To know and realize their spiritual reality
and their inhabitants is the meaning of the Lyre, or Lyra, of Apollo-Orpheus. Over the one
who possesses it, death has no power.
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Commentary
In last month’s commentary, we referred to the fact that Neptune will move through the
point of winter solstice in the ecliptic in 1984-5. We also mentioned that this event appears to
coincide with significant future dates, for instance, the expected return of Halley’s Comet in
1986. As a matter of astronomical computation, this comet is supposed to be on its way back
toward the Sun already and in 1966 is outside the orbit of Neptune.
Comets are, as a rule, beneficial for our solar system, and therefore one might say, also for
humanity. Many of them turn up unexpectedly. Although their orbits can be calculated, rela-
tively few have actually come back regularly. For this reason they can, or many of them can,
inject new impulses into the solar universe. In a sense, they break the monotony and compla-
cency of the planetary system, which seems to be incapable of producing more than a per-
petual repetition of similar positions of the planets along their orbits. One might even be
inclined to regard the latter to be in a state of stagnation and frustration, although this is not
quite correct to say. However, compared with the characteristics of the planets, the sudden-
ness and incalculability of most of the comets is the exact opposite. Therefore, they can have
a refreshing and rejuvenating influence on the solar system. However, if a comet like Halley’s
has taken on planetary characteristics, by having become a regular visitor of our solar universe,
then it might be worse in character then a planet. In fact, Halley’s Comet has been observed for
centuries on its rhythmic returns. Therefore, its benefits might be somewhat of a garbled
nature. Indeed, Rudolf Steiner has indicated, on the basis of his spiritual research, that Halley’s
Comet was associated with the phases of our descent into materialism. In this sense, the
comets in the past had a real task, because it was, from the viewpoint of the conquest of ego
consciousness, a necessity for humanity to get a firm grip on the physical material world.
We have seen very little or no evidence during the last 50-odd years that humanity has taken
the least notice of this and similar warnings. Therefore, we should surmise that such warnings
are all the more timely with regard to the expected return of Halley’s Comet, which is only 20
years away from the present moment. The fact that we have now an “autumn season”, and
then in 1986 “deep winter”, as far as Neptune is concerned, need not discourage or depress us.
All too easily we are inclined in this age to falter when we confront cosmic facts, like the one we
mentioned, by succumbing to notions such as, “if the world is coming to grief anyway, why
bother”. This would be self-abdication and betrayal. There is no doubt that it is just the
autumn-fall and winter seasons of the ordinary yearly cycle that can be the most fruitful and
constructive times in a spiritual sense, although many of the crutches of nature fall away from
us. We need only think of the tremendous spiritual uplift a consciously experienced and cel-
ebrated Michaelmas festival at the commencement of autumn (September 29) can give to the
individual. Likewise, Christmas stands at the commencement of winter. If we genuinely seek
an enlightened connection with Christmas, it can evoke in our soul life the most profound
realizations of the spiritual meaning and potential for ourselves and all humanity. Therefore,
we insist that such a moment as Neptune’s commencement of winter need not give rise to
pessimism but should call forth a sense of responsibility and awakening.
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STAR JOURNAL - November 1966

The constellation of Sagittarius or Archer: This constellation is depicted on classical star
maps as a centaur, a mythological being, with the body of a horse but a human upper part. He
is usually armed with bow and arrow, and seems to aim at some object in the neighborhood of
Scorpio. There exist, however, also other representations which show him carrying a lyre.
Another centaur can be found in the Southern Hemisphere, the Centaurus, a rather large
and conspicuous constellation. Unfortunately, it is so far south that it cannot at all be, or only
partly, seen in northern latitudes. It is below the Hydra and surrounds the famous Southern
Cross on three sides. In Greek mythology this constellation seems to have been associated with
Chiron, the great centaur who educated most of the heroes of Greek antiquity. He was an
adept of medicine and music. The Sagittarius was connected with the centaur Nessus who
played a decisive part in the story of Heracles. He was killed by Heracles for attacking his bride.
Who were the centaurs? Centaurus, the ancestor of this race, was the son of Ixion and a
cloud. Therefore, we should not imagine him as an ordinary human being. He, and also his
descendents, carry the heritage of the ethereal element of the clouds and the peripheral atmo-
sphere in their bodies. On the other hand, their ancestor Ixion had been banned by Zeus to the
darkest part of Hades, Tartarus, for an unpardonable offence against Hera or Juno. There he
was bound to a constantly revolving wheel of fire.
Thus the centaurs unite an amazing contradiction in their bodies. On the one hand, an
almost heavenly element and cosmic wisdom (as in the case of Chiron) lives in them. This we
see represented in the horse-body. The earthly part, as it were, appears in the image of the
upper human form and, particularly, the head. In other words, we realize in the centaur an
image of an early stage of the human being’s cosmic biography, which then was still permeated
very strongly by the cosmos and its rhythms. In a sense, it is implied that the body of the horse
still reached far out into the cosmos and moved on the firmament. He only submerged a small
part of his being in earthly substance. This is the centaur’s head.
In the myth, Heracles is constantly involved in the destiny of the centaurs and is always
obliged to fight against them. On one occasion he accidentally kills Chiron, his own tutor. We
have mentioned already that he also killed Nessus. Once Heracles came with his newly won
bride, Deianeira, to a river. Nessus, who lived there, used to carry travelers to the other shore.
Deianeira sat on his back to ride across when the centaur decided to gallop off with her as soon
as he had reached the opposite bank of the river. Heracles, who had stayed behind, soon
became aware of Nessus’ intention. A moment later Heracles brought the centaur to the
ground, pierced by one of the hero’s deadly arrows that he had dipped in the blood of the
Hydra, or Lernean Serpent.
This was, however, the cause of Heracles’ own death some time after. On one occasion he
was entreated to robe himself in the blood stained garment of Nessus, not knowing its origin.
83
No sooner had he put on the gown when the poison of the Hydra, which had been mingled
with the blood of the centaur began to eat into the body of Heracles. The torments became so
unendurable that he decided to end his life. He burnt himself to death upon a mighty pile of
wood. But his noble soul was caught up to heaven by Zeus, where it is now visible to all as the
constellation of Hercules.
Thus is Sagittarius, the Centaur, a dynamic representation of early stages of human be-
coming. Heracles, whose effigy in the sky stands like an external reminder of a human cosmic
prototype and future spiritual aim, as we said when we discussed Scorpio, kills or overcomes
the centaur in himself. He does this because his task is to become an Earth dweller who
realizes his egohood. For this reason, he must sacrifice his own cosmic heritage, the body of
the horse, representing our deep ancient and egoless involvement in the cosmos.
However, he has also to pay for his achievement of egohood by emancipation from the
cosmos. The death of the centaur in him becomes the cause of his own earthly death, though
he is raised afterward to the heavens, but now he is a member of the cosmos as a being con-
scious of his own higher “self ”. This is the tremendous evolution implied in the story of
Sagittarius-Nessus-Heracles. It is at the same time the eternal interpretation of this constella-
tion: the ascent to cosmic egohood over long stages of sometimes painful catharsis and cease-
less endeavor. Thus we can also understand and accept the symbol which is used for it .
Furthermore, we can also comprehend why it was regarded since ancient times as the cosmic
archetypal region of the thighs of the human body. From Aries to Virgo we see a gradual
turning to an inner world, in a physiological-archetypal sense, until in the Virgo region of the
human body we are confronted with a sphere that reaches a culmination of isolation from the
external world. After that we find already in Libra the beginning of a turning again to the
external world, and in Sagittarius the physiology of the human body definitely orientates itself
through the thighs toward the surface of the Earth.
The constellations of Capricorn or Goatfish, and Aquarius or Waterman: The two effigies
are closely interconnected. Capricorn appears to have inherited some of the twofold aspects
of Sagittarius. It is usually depicted as an ibex, a rare animal that lives only in the highest
mountain regions of the world, but instead of hind legs, it has a fish’s tail. This indicates that,
although it lives in extreme altitudes, it nevertheless reaches down into the watery element.
The fishtail lies under Aquarius, in fact it is submerged in the water which flows from the urn
of Aquarius-Waterman. This water forms the “Sea”, as it was known in Chaldean astronomy.
It is composed of the constellation Eridanus the river, the Southern Fish (Pisces Australis), and
Cetus or Whale.
In Greek mythology we find Capricorn regarded as the Gate of the Gods; the opposite
constellation of Cancer was the Gate of Birth, or descent of human souls [into material exist-
ence]. In Norse myth it was associated with Alfheim, the dwelling of the elves, or dwarfs.
They were divided into white elves and black elves, both being great artificers who were even
employed by the Aesir gods. They made such wondrous things as the sword of Odin, the ship
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of Balder, etc. However, the black elves were enemies of the Aesir gods and were want to
work destruction. In India this constellation was depicted as the Makara, a sea-monster, which
was the steed of the great god Varuna.
In all these mythologies we discover the double aspect that we mentioned above. Thus we
can well say that this constellation appears as a connecting link, or a kind of mediator, between
heaven and Earth. Indeed, the horns of the Ibex are like antennae that receive the elements of
the cosmos, and the body, particularly the fish’s tail, transmits them to the “waters of the
deep”.
The nature of the heavenly gifts that the Capricorn-Ibex receives from above is well repre-
sented by Cygnus the Swan and Aquila the Eagle, in the sky above this part of the ecliptic. The
latter constellation was the Eagle of Zeus in Greek sidereal mythology. Cygnus the Swan,
seems to have been simply the bird living high above Earth weightiness. With this background
we can understand the traditional symbol or of Capricorn and also its association with the
knee of the human body. The knee-pan carries the full weight of the upper part of the human
frame, and it also makes a flexibility possible that allows us to walk gracefully and in a harmo-
nious rhythm. Whereas we have in Capricorn a representation of the portal to the cosmos, so
does Aquarius-Waterman reflect something of the splendor of the cosmos itself. In Indian
cosmology this constellation was Varuna, the great Indian God, who was second only to Indra
in importance. He seems to have been the same who was recognized in Ancient Persian world
conception as Ahura Mazdao, the great Aura of the Sun. He was the guardian of Rita the
cosmic order, and had created the rhythms in the universe, like day and night, the seasons, etc.,
which are all made by cosmic rhythms. The opposite, “Nonrita”, or An Rita, became in later
days “one of the most common words for untruth and sin” (Basham, The Wonder that was India).
Likewise, the opponent of the cosmic order of Ahura Mazdao, Ahriman, was regarded as the
father of the lie.
In Greek mythology, Aquarius was associated with the goddess Hebe, who provided the
Olympian gods with nectar and ambrosia, the heavenly, or cosmic food which gave them eter-
nal youthfulness. For some reason Hebe lost her high office. Some say this happened because
she became the bride of Hercules after he had ascended to heaven. Therefore, Zeus had to
look for another cup-bearer. The Eagle (constellation Aquila) was sent down to search for a
substitute. He found Ganymede, the son of a King of Troy, and carries him on his wings up to
Olympus to take over the office of Hebe. Thus a mortal had become the caretaker of the food
of the cosmos, a tremendous change and perspective of a future relationship between all hu-
manity and the cosmos.
Above the Aquarius is the head of the constellation of Pegasus, the winged horse. He had
been created by Neptune from the foam of the salty sea. Thus he rises in the heavens from the
part of the sky that the ancients called “the Sea”. He lived in the sacred grove of the Muses,
where he had kicked open the fountain of Hippocrene, the fountain of poetic inspiration.
The horse in mythology is an image of intelligence. For instance, the four horses in the
Revelation of St. John (chapter VI)—the white, red, black, and pale horses—are perfect illus-
85
trations of the divine intelligence that will manifest in corresponding future ages of evolution.
The winged Pegasus belongs to a similar category of cosmic intelligence. It will endow all who
turn to him with inspiration. Human deed, not only poetic creation, rising from such inspira-
tion, is a manifestation of the cosmos on Earth. In actual content and effect, as well as timing
and rhythm, an inspired action of this nature can become a humanized and individualized
realization of the cosmos of the stars and its functions. Often we might not even be aware of
it; however, the future will demand more and more conscious action from us as a preparation
for distant stages of human and cosmic evolution. This is the message of Aquarius-Waterman.
Thus we can also understand the symbol of Aquarius ( ) as the waters of the deep reflect
and become even one with the waters of the heights. Furthermore, we find the dynamics of
this constellation at least indicated in the corresponding physiological counter image of the
human body. In the opposite constellation of Leo we found the archetype of the center of our
circulation, particularly of the heart. In Aquarius this stream of the circulation is brought to
the periphery of the body—to the “cosmos” of the environment.
The constellation of Pisces or Fishes: Like the opposite constellation of Virgo, the Pisces
in Greek mythology is connected with that divine element in the cosmos that is represented as
a female being. However, here it is a story of persecution and oppression, and following
rescue. Once when the Olympian gods, Venus and her son Cupid, had to flee from the wrath
of the giant monster, Typhoeus or Typhon, they changed themselves into fish in order to
escape the persecution. These are the two fish of the corresponding constellation in the heav-
ens, connected with a ribbon of stars.
The most illuminating information we obtain from the story of Andromeda, whose con-
stellation is above Pisces. She was the daughter of King Cepheus of Ethiopia and his Queen
Cassiopeia. Both their constellations can be found in the northern sky above Andromeda.
Cassiopeia was beautiful, and one day she claimed that she was more beautiful then the Nereids,
the daughters of Neptune. The Nereids complained to their father who rose in anger from the
sea and sent a monster, the Cetus or Whale, to Ethiopia. (This constellation can be seen below
Pisces-Fishes). The ferocious creature soon laid waste to the country. King Cephus had to
consult an oracle and was told that the only way to appease Neptune’s anger was to sacrifice his
daughter Andromeda to the monster, the Cetus. The suffering of the population became so
great that the reluctant King had to give his consent. Andromeda was brought to the seashore
to be chained to a rock. The Cetus approached already to devour her when Perseus came flying
overhead on his way back from the expedition in which he had killed the Medusa. (See descrip-
tion of the constellation Aries). He realized at once the plight of the maiden and, exposing the
severed head of the Medusa he still carried in his hand, he swooped down on the sea-monster.
It was instantly turned into a huge rock, for Medusa’s head still had the power to petrify every-
thing that met its gaze.
As always in mythological representations, the female element is an expression of soul
forces, either of human nature or cosmic beings. Andromeda is obviously associated with the
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human soul element, because her parents are humans who attract, as Cassiopeia, even the
wrath of the divinity. However, she is of outstanding qualities as her effigy in the heavens
demonstrates. She stands there with outstretched arms, chained to a rock. But the fixed star
Alpheratz, which marks her forehead, belongs also to the body of Pegasus. Thus the latter
constellation seems to rise up out of the head of Andromeda.
We have pointed out earlier that the image of the horse in mythology represents intelli-
gence. The Pegasus, however, is winged or divine cosmic intelligence. Thus Andromeda
appears in the heavens as a representation of human soul forces that are the bearers of cosmic,
not narrow earthly, intelligence. They are chained to the rocks of material Earth existence and
threatened by monsters who dwell in the twilight of an atavistic, watery element. But they are
rescued by the half divine hero Perseus who has overcome the powers of petrifying Earth
experience. This is indeed a tremendous picture of the situation in which the human soul
found itself in ancient times. But at the same time it contains also a mighty perspective of
future stages of human evolution.
In the preceding constellations we saw the possibility of a magnificent rise for all of us to
a new relationship with the cosmos and the spiritual world beyond it. In Sagittarius we are
confronted with the mighty battle for the realization of our egohood. In Capricorn we witness
the struggle to find the right relationship between the human microcosmos, endowed with
selfhood, and the macrocosmos. In Aquarius we are witnessing the beginnings of our new
union with the macrocosmos (see the story of Ganymede, the human cup-bearer on Olympus).
Now in Pisces we face simply the questions of why this evolution should take place, what its
cosmic purpose is supposed to be. By submergence in the physical material element, by being
chained to the rock, by suffering greatly, we will be called upon in the end (Pisces is the “end of
the Zodiac”) to transform the Earth and to redeem its inhabitants who were drawn into our
destiny in the kingdoms below us.
We have heard this message of transformation once before in connection with Virgo. But
there it was the transformation inaugurated by the gods in order to make of us the instrument
that we are expected to become. Now, in Pisces we stand alone. Along a painful road we have
come to the realization of our “self ” and the cosmos. As much as we can unite ourselves as a
“self ” with the cosmos, so much can we enact and perform that great deed of redemption and
transformation. This is the story and the potential of Pisces.
On the background of all this, we can discern a meaning in the traditional symbol for this
constellation. #10b. In Gemini we found the world above and below, the heavens and the
Earth, the division into the manifoldness of beings and objects of what once was
united. This must “in the end” become brotherhood of universal love, standing
side by side to achieve the goal. We can, thus, understand the association of this
constellation with feet and hands, because these are the periphery or “ends” of the
body; and also, with our hands we will be able to accomplish that great work of
redemption.
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Commentary
In the last commentaries we spoke about Neptune, who leads the march of the outermost
planets into a kind of super autumn and winter season. The next one to follow will be Uranus.
In 1968, it will enter the point of the autumnal equinox and in 1988 the point of winter
solstice. During the fall-autumn cycle, Uranus will step into its own descending node in 1984.
Last month we mentioned that those years between 1980 and 1990 might be crucial times
requiring a maximum of spiritual wakefulness. However, to study similar occurrences before,
can give us strengthening thoughts. Uranus moved through its ascending node in 1861. This
was the year when Rudolf Steiner was born. Thus this event in the heavens was accompanied
by something like a spring morning call from the cosmic spiritual world. And indeed, someone
who has studied and lived with Rudolf Steiner’s message to our modern age, Anthroposophy,
will realize that it is a science that wants to provide human beings with methodical means of
finding their own free and knowing access to the reality of the spiritual world.
Then, about the turn of the century, Uranus moved into its descending node, which it
actually reached in 1901. This was the time when Rudolf Steiner found the opportunity to
speak for the first time about Anthroposophy. It was a late autumn season from the point of
view of Uranus. It was also, in Rudolf Steiner’s own judgment, a bleak spell with regard to
spiritual culture. Into this “wintry” season he introduced the message of the possibility and the
urgent need for the awakening of the spiritual potential that we all have. This is how any such
autumn and winter, particularly in the sense of the outermost planets, should be met by hu-
manity. Just in moments when the external supports and crutches fail, as they do in nature
when autumn comes, we can find an opportunity to unfold and develop our own creative
capacities. This is the meaning of the Michaelmas and Christmas festivals, transcending their
significance as festivals of remembrance only.
On this background one should expect that the return of Uranus to its ascending node in
1945 brought a kind of recurrence or reaffirmation of the morning call that entered the world
in 1861. It is, of course, too soon to arrive at a definite judgment, because we are only 21 years
away from that event in 1945. But we have witnessed that there weren’t exactly healing deeds
introduced into modern humanity. It was the year of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Thus, we see a mighty perspective unfolding itself in modern history. A tremendous battle
has obviously been raging for decades. We are, of course, fully aware that not all people are
inclined to see the events in this light. It must be admitted that this picture does not give much
support to the idea of material comfort but, rather, calls forth a sense of individual responsibil-
ity. However, to see the cosmic circumstances that accompanied the birth of a man like Rudolf
Steiner and the commencement of his ceaseless efforts to lead humanity out of the materialis-
tic impasse, answered one Uranus cycle later by the introduction of the practical possibility of
total annihilation, should make us think twice.
It was not easy in the past to define the battlefronts and the opposing armies in this great,
modern conflict, because the war is fought on a multitude of fronts, and mostly those involved
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are oblivious of what is really attempted. However, the latest developments show clearly that
events are more and more maneuvering toward a final decision. On the one hand, the idea of
a human as being only an animal, emerges ever more strongly, or of a mechanized and comput-
erized society, which wants to eliminate the uncomfortable, allegedly crisis-causing ego and all
that it stands for, by all kinds of means—technologically and by drugs. Thus a “happy ant-
heap” humanity is supposed to be created. Against this there are the old religious beliefs, all
kinds of old philosophies, convention, and tradition etc., in rather helpless counter-front that
could be activated and made invincible by a “spiritual cognition” of our real being as an eternal
entelechy of decisive cosmic significance in future times.
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STAR JOURNAL - December 1966
A Spiritual Astrology in Action

The Star Journal has reached a certain conclusion with the November issue. In numbers
one to fourteen we have built up an outline of the essential properties and functions of the
Zodiac, with the surrounding fixed stars and the planets of the solar system. Thus we have
gathered the necessary building stones for further detailed investigations. Now it will be a
question of practicing our approach. Therefore, we will direct our attention in future issues to:
a) the current events in the heavens with concurrent events in history and b) the star events at
the time of the incarnation and death of historic personalities. Thereby, we hope to provide a
comprehensive presentation of the connection of Earth and individuals with the cosmos, as
we see it from the background of a spiritual science. We also hope that this will serve as a
practical introduction into our vistas of a spiritual astrology, both in a factual and in an ethical sense.
We shall in time elaborate all the details of these diaries of the cosmic events; thereby, we
hope to establish a foundation for a constructive confrontation of the occurrences in the
heavens as spiritually free human beings. We read so often in astrological almanacs of conno-
tations such as “good” or “bad” attached to the aspects of the planets among themselves, etc.
This can be frustrating to the point of no longer feeling that we are making own decisions and
actions. There is no need for this, and it must be said that many of the contemporary astrolo-
gers have moved away from such approaches and have come to regard the so-called “evil” or
“bad” cosmic influences as challenges that can, with certain provisions, even be helpful.
We select, to start with, the position of Mars in its aphelion for an investigation of the
possible meaning of this event. This is the moment when the planet is farthest away from the
Sun along its orbit (see January ’66).
The first question is, how and where can we find this kind of information? There are
several ways and sources. For instance it is mentioned in Raphael’s Astronomical Ephemeris of the
Planet’s Places for 1966 (geocentric), (published by W. Foulsham & Co. England), under “Phe-
nomena, 1966” on page 29. It can also be found in The American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac
for the year 1966 on page 4, under “Heliocentric Phenomena”. As the latter (US Government
Printing Office, Washington DC) is a joint publication with Her Majesty’s Nautical Almanac
Office at London, the information is probably also contained in the English Astronomical Ephemeris
of the same year.
The event can also be calculated with the help of astronomical tables, for instance, with the
Planetentafeln füer Jedermann by Karl Schoch, republished by Ebertin Verlag, Aalen, Württemberg,
Germany. The calculations with these tables are relatively simple. They do not involve work
with logarithms and trigonometrical functions. On the other hand they comprise a span from
3400 BC to 2600 AD. To find, for instance, the position of Mars in December, 1966, we
would calculate it for intervals of, perhaps, 10 days.
[Note: Although Willi used the methods described below for all of his historical and
heliocentric research, he indicated that working in this way—spending more time and effort—
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opened up many more insights than the methods that became available later. This has also
been the experience of others who have worked in this way.]
Since the original publication of the Practical Approach, heliocentric and geocentric eph-
emerides for the 20 and 21st century have become available. These comprehensive day to day
ephemerides provide all the planetary positions, the nodes, and apsides. The mean and true
Moon nodes, apogee, and perigee are also give in addition to other pertinent data (Sidereal
Time, etc.). With the use of these tables, the calculations can be eliminated for the period of
1901 and beyond. The American Ephemeris (Geocentric) and The American Heliocentric Ephemeris
are both compiled and programmed by Neil F. Michelsen and published by Astro Computing
Services, P.O. Box 16297, San Diego, CA 92116. They are available through, among other
sources: The American Federation of Astrologers, P.O. Box 22040, Tempe, AZ 85282.]
Thus, for December 16 we would discover the following data, according to the figures in
the corresponding tables: Arg. L Arg. N
Tables for: -Century 1900 283.1 5.0
Table A -Year 66 33.3 139.8 = L
-Month December 175.0 144.8 for adj.
-Day 16 8.4 L+N
499.8
- 360.0
139.8
Table B + 11.2 = adjustment
Table C .0
151.0° = helio. Mars
The heliocentric position of Mars is 151° in the ecliptic. We can see that it is close to its
aphelion, which is 155.44°. The latter information is contained in The American Ephemeris
for 1966, mentioned above (perihelion of Mars is 335.44°, therefore, the aphelion is 155.44°).
As the next step we must find out when Mars is exactly in its aphelion. Therefore, we carry
on with our computations and try the position on December 26.
Arg. L Arg. N
-Century 1900 283.1 5.0
Table A -Year 66 33.3 145.0 = L
-Month December 175.0 150.0
-Day 26 13.6 L+N
505.0
- 360.0
145.0
Table B + 10.4
Table C .0
155.4° = Mars in its aphelion
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How do we now evaluate this fact? There are also various ways, but we will chose the
evidence that historic humanity itself has provided by its simultaneous association with the
position of Mars in its aphelion. For this purpose we study the lives of great pioneers of
human civilization and their connection with the stars.
We detect (by calculations similar to the one above) that the great Renaissance painter,
inventor, and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, died when Mars was close to its aphelion (May 2,
1519). At the same time, we discover that about the time of his conception (he was born April
16, 1452), Mars was also approximately in that position. (Why we draw the time around con-
ception into our considerations, not only the time of birth, will be discussed later). We thus
have the striking evidence that Leonardo must have had a special affinity to the sphere of Mars,
which we can understand if we study the properties and effects of that sphere. (See Star
Journal, February ‘66). This side of Leonardo becomes particularly lucid if we study his unique
position in history as a pioneer in natural science and technology.
However, a mere statistical accumulation of facts, as it were, does not satisfy us, we want to
understand what possible association this has with the event of December 26, 1966. For, only
if we understand this will it make practical sense. For this purpose we will now concentrate on
the moment of death of Leonardo. In Fig. 8 we reproduce the geocentric position of the
planets on May 2, 1519. In this chart Mars appears in the constellation of Cancer and not Leo,
where its aphelion is. This is caused by the shifting of the planetary coordinates as we look at
the planets from the Earth. We know from ordinary life that if we look at objects from various
positions in space, they appear to be located in varying landmarks of our skyline. Thus, from
the heliocentric viewpoint on May 2, 1519, Mars was in fact in its aphelion, although it appears
from the geocentric perspective somewhere else. The possibility and significance of drawing
up a chart for the moment of the death of a human being has been pointed out in brief terms
by Rudolf Steiner. However, it was known in ancient times, for Tibetan lamas used it to gain
information about the conditions that the soul of the deceased meets after death, what must be
done in order to ease the purgatory period, even in what fashion the bodily remains should be
disposed of.
Following the advice of Rudolf Steiner, we discovered many years ago that the chart, or
asterogram as we will call it in future, of the moment of death contains a tableau of the totality
of the past life of a human being. In order to appreciate this fact fully we will now recall the
experiences of a soul during the first three days after death. As long as a person is alive, life
forces permeate the physical-material body. They organize the latter so that in the first part of
life, growth and development can take place “in time”. In the second half of life they gradually
withdraw and at the moment of death they completely separate from the physical body. Thus
the life forces, which appear for a higher, spiritual perception as an integrated organism, are
connected, one can even in a certain sense say, identical with time. This life or ether body
makes it possible for the human being to exist “in time”. However, this existence in time is
certainly terminated in the body at the moment of death but it is not lost as an integrated entity.
It still holds its integrity during the first three days after death and carries in itself the
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Figure 8
full continuity of the past life “time” but now freed from physical bodily functions. Due to this
fact is the well known experience of people who went across the threshold of death but were,
by some fortunate circumstances, brought back to life in the body. They recall that they found
themselves confronted, during their “death”, with a kind of tableau that contained the details
of the past life in one grand composition, details otherwise having been drawn out over the
whole span of life. Every human being experiences this after death. In other words, immedi-
ately after death we live in our ether or time body, which contains our living biography as an
Earth dweller.
Then, after about three days the ether or life body is “dispersed” in the cosmos where it
originated from. During the lifetime of a human being it works against and constantly over-
comes the gravity forces that are manifest through the physical-material body. We could not
use our physical organization if the gravity forces worked in us unopposed. (In the plant and
animal the ether body has similar functions). Thus after death, the ether body, which is now
released from its obligations toward the material body, moves away from the Earth gravity-
world, and it goes back to the cosmos. But it still contains the biography or time essence of
that human being’s life that it served, and this potential unites with the stars—chiefly with the
planets.
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It is almost inconceivable for the ordinary human mind, how it is possible that the death of
a human being occurs, as a rule, at such a moment when the outgoing and expanding ether
body of a human being fits, with regard to its inherent time essence or “biography”, into the
positions of the planets as they occur in that moment. This is a fact that has been proven ever
so often since its discovery, and we will demonstrate it presently. We are confronted here with
the spiritually ingenious working of the forces of destiny or karma, a kind of higher arithmetic
that far transcends the however-evolved human intellectual kind of arithmetic.
One branch of conventional astrology occupies itself with the so-called transits of the
planets, in later life, over the positions in the birth chart. We did the opposite with regard to the
positions in the death asterogram of Leonardo and have inserted the dates in the outer circle
when Saturn, during his life, was standing relative to the places of the planets at death (see
diagram). Thereby, we get a mighty cosmic tableau, something similar to a photographic nega-
tive, of the life of Leonardo. Into this negative, the ether or time body of Leonardo was
expanding, we must imagine, filling chiefly the planets with humanized ether essence, as it
were. Surely, a multitude of human beings died with this same configuration of the planetary
world and imbued it with a great variety of individualized ether or biographical substance.
At this point we feel obliged to give information on how we compute or ascertain the
geocentric positions of the planets in previous centuries, which we obviously need for a con-
templation as the one above. They can relatively easily be obtained by a little additional com-
putation following onto the one which we demonstrated before with the help of the Planetentafeln
by Schoch. There have lately, however, also been published ephemerides that give the plan-
etary positions already calculated within definite intervals of time. They are Solar and Planetary
Longitudes; for years 2500 BC to 2000 AD by William D. Stahlmann and Owen Gingerich (The
University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1963) and Planetary, Lunar and Solar Positions, 601 BC to
1649 AD, 2 volumes, by Bryant Tuckermann (the American Philos. Society, Independence
Square, Philadelphia, 1964).
The retrospect transits of Saturn over the asterogram of death of Leonardo give us an
interesting “tableau” of his life. We can well imagine that it is Saturn’s particular task to paint,
as it were, the “tableau”, because it is, in any case, the visible expression of Omnipotent Father
Time (see Star Journal, February ‘66). Thus Saturn at the time of Leonardo’s birth, 1452, was in
the place into which Jupiter stepped in the moment of death in 1519. About the time when he
entered apprenticeship with Verrocchio, about 1470, Saturn was in Aries-Taurus, where Mer-
cury, Sun, and Venus were in 1519. Then Saturn came back a second time to the later location
of Jupiter of 1519, and this time it coincided with the end of the master’s first Florentine era
and the beginning of his sojourn and work at Milan in 1482-3. In 1490 Saturn stepped into the
same position of the ecliptic that it occupied in 1519. During the preceding years, Leonardo
was involved in great architectural and engineering plans for the reconstruction of Milan. Then
in 1490, we hear that “he enjoyed some months of uninterrupted mathematical and physical
research in the libraries and among the learned men of Pavia” (Encyclopedia Britannica). This is
important for our investigations concerning the properties of Mars in this asterogram of death,
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for Saturn was [geocentrically] opposite the place of Mars in 1519. [At the same time, Mars
was in 153° heliocentrically and in its aphelion.] After that, Saturn moved into opposition of
the location of Jupiter at death. This refers us to 1497, when Leonardo was involved in paint-
ing his most famous “Last Supper” (1494-1498). In the meantime the political constellation at
Milan had become precipitous, and Leonardo left the city in December 1499. Saturn was then
in the place of Mercury at death. In 1501-3, he was in the service of Cesare Borgia as chief
engineer. Saturn was then close to the location of the Moon and Mars at death. In 1504 he was
back at Florence, which was the same time that Michelangelo worked there. Saturn was then
entering the constellation of Cancer, where Mars was at death. Soon after that, Leonardo
returned a second time to Milan (1506) and stayed there till 1513, when Saturn moved into the
place opposite the position of the Sun at death. About an orbit of this planet earlier, in 1483,
he had come to Milan the first time; now, in 1513 he finally left this city after his second
sojourn.
This relationship of human beings to the cosmic world, particularly to the planets, is unique
and opens up entirely new vistas of contemplation and ethics. The connection at the moment
of incarnation is, unfortunately, overlaid by complex, and in many instances, completely mis-
conceived ideas of our dependence, one might even say, of our frustration by the stars. The
perspectives at death speak a different language. Here we do not appear to be a passive recipi-
ent of cosmic forces; rather, we seem to step into the position of a donor toward the cosmos,
inasmuch as we offer up the substance of our ether body at death (later on also the principle of
the soul or astral sheath) to the cosmic world. Of course, it is difficult for our present mentality
to conceive that much is changed in the cosmos through this influx of humanized essence into
it, coming from this tiny human being on the tiny planet Earth. However, just the vastness of
the universe that surrounds us and the relatively minute distribution of tangible, yet most
potent, stars in it, lends a hand to the idea that this universe is operated on somewhat
“homeopathical” principles. In this sense, the question might be ventured whether we, just on
account of our minuteness, are not on the way to becoming a potent factor in the planetary
universe.
Our experiences in this field have proven that our essence, with which we endow the
planetary cosmos, is not lost or submerged in an ocean of indifference. Other human souls on
their way to incarnation might pick up, long after, perhaps even centuries later, as they move
through the spheres of the planets, the essence of humanly saturated ether and astral forces
that others before them had deposited in these spheres. They might then incorporate this
essence in their own organization, although it appears never just as plain copy of the earlier
events, ideas, and intentions. Rather, it seems we pick up this human essence in order to evolve
it ever further and to purify it. Thus the wonderful picture emerges, that the struggles, part
achievements, even failures of one generation are taken up by following generations and ages
in order to be carried ever more toward perfection or redemption.
To return to our original question, we can say that into the position of Mars in Leonardo’s
asterogram have “flown” the greatness and universality of this soul. In all his endeavors he
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sought to fathom, as a modern person, the secrets of nature and of the mind. Even as an artist
he evolved the attitude of a scientific investigator and experimenter. This impulse “to take all
knowledge to be his province” (Francis Bacon) permeated that Mars, which was in its aphelion
[heliocentrically]. The association of Mars with the archetypes of the physical world (see
February ‘66) was then in the aphelion, or furthest from the Sun; it was not narrowed down to
material existence but was open to that ingenious grand sweep of thinking in Leonardo to
penetrate the secrets of existence as a person of the modern age. This Mars heritage worked
on in humanity. Many picked it up and evolved it further along different lines. Among them
were the great astronomer Kepler (1571-1630), the discoverer of homeopathy Fr. Hahnemann
(1755-1843), and Henry Ford (1863-1947). They all incarnated at moments when Mars was,
either at birth or around conception, in its aphelion. They all evolved a similar universality and
ingenuity in the fields of science or technology that intends to make one a knowing and free
citizen of the universe, as also Leonardo attempted it.
Such kind of thoughts and impulses we ought to evolve at a moment when Mars is again,
as at present, in its aphelion. This would be the foundation of a positive and spiritually practi-
cal astrology. However, we shall have to establish many more details and facts of this order in
order to get under way toward such aims.
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Similar to the December Journal, we will select one particular, interesting feature of the
diary of events in the heavens in order to work our way still deeper into our approach to
astrology. On January 25, Mars and Venus will oppose each other from the heliocentric view-
point. Mars will be at the tail end of Leo and Venus in Aquarius. On the same day Mars will be
closest to the perihelion of Uranus, and Venus closest to the aphelion of Uranus. Further-
more, Venus will be in opposition to Pluto, projected onto the ecliptic or apparent path of the
Sun. However, in actual fact, Pluto is about 15° north of the opposition point on the ecliptic.
Nevertheless, this event can be regarded as an opposition.
On the following day, 26 January, Mars will step into conjunction with Pluto, again in
projection onto the ecliptic. Pluto will be, on this occasion, about 13° north of Mars.
The 25th of January is, according to old church calendars the Day of Damascus, the festival
of the Conversion of St. Paul, which is mentioned already in several calendars and missals of
the 8th and 9th centuries. It was celebrated in memory of that “perfect model of a true conver-
sion”. Whatever one thinks of the historicity behind the assignment of names to the days of
the calendar, we do consider this particular Day of Damascus as having a realistic cosmic
background from the viewpoint of the position of the Sun in that part of the ecliptic.
In order to assess the possible impact of the events in the heavens, we naturally look for
similar events in history. There were, of course, plenty of conjunctions of Mars and Pluto
associated with historic personalities. But it is difficult to find one that happened approxi-
mately in the same portion of the Zodiac. The one coming closest to it is in the complex of
the heavens at the time of the incarnation of Copernicus, born on February 19, 1473. Round
about the time of his conception Mars was in conjunction with Pluto, in the head of the
constellation of Virgo, not far away from the present conjunction. A little later Venus stepped
into opposition to Pluto, all heliocentrically. Also the incarnation asterogram of Machiavelli,
born 3 May, 1469, shows similar features. Mars round the time of his conception was with
Pluto, still in Leo. At birth Venus was opposite to Pluto, both events heliocentrically.
Of similarities with asterograms of death we have found two striking examples. When
Nostradamus, the famous French prophet and astrologer, felt death approaching about two
weeks before his actual demise on July 1-2, 1566, Mars in the head of Virgo was in opposition
to Pluto in Aquarius-Pisces. Napoleon I died on May 5, 1821. Weeks before that his health had
been deteriorating, and he was forced to stay in bed. During the last few days, Mars had been
in conjunction with Pluto in the constellation of Pisces, very approximately opposite the point
where the conjunction will be taking place in 1967. The interesting fact is that in both cases the
events in the heavens happened shortly before death. It demonstrates that such a conjunction
can work out as a process of disintegration of some kind. This we found occurring even in
history, for instance, in connection with the social revolutions during the present century, so to
speak, as “delayed action impacts’’ following such conjunctions. Nevertheless, we do think
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that this need not happen in such fashion. They can also be realized as highly spiritual-
izing events.
We will now concentrate on the full asterogram of the incarnation of Copernicus in order
to come to a comprehension of the conjunction of Mars and Pluto mentioned above; for the
singling out of such an event from the whole complex of an asterogram does not, as a rule,
lead to satisfactory conclusions.
As the readers will notice we introduced above an unusual viewpoint in astrology, when we
said, “Round about the time of his conception...” How can we ascertain such a time? We
could, of course, work with the medically acknowledged average of 273-280 days for an em-
bryonic development. However, we prefer to employ the “Trutina Hermetis”, the Hermetic
Rule, a very ancient rule of Egyptian origin, which appears already in documents dating about
1200 BC. It maintains, following the wisdom of priest-sages of a high order, that with the
elements of an asterogram of birth, one can find the date of the so-called epoch by astronomi-
cal computation. The epoch happens, in the average, 273 days or 10 sidereal Moon cycles
before birth but is shortened or lengthened according to certain properties of the birth chart.
However, the Rule in the original wording does not suggest that the epoch is synonymous with
the conception.
Then what does the concept epoch signify? We must bear in mind that it stems from
Egyptian priest wisdom and, therefore, has its roots in the mysteries attained by initiation. It
might even go right back to the mysterious founder of Egyptian civilization, the Hermes
Trismegistos or Thrice Great Hermes. We can comprehend it only if we understand the deeper
spiritual secrets of conception, for instance, as Rudolf Steiner described them.
Whenever a conception takes place, the soul of that human being is not yet knitted, as it
were, into the physical body. Only about the third week of embryonic development does an
amalgamation take place. However, the conception, or rather, the approximate time is accom-
panied by definite cosmic experiences of the soul in the sphere of the Moon where it still
resides. The counterpart of the physical body, the ether or life body of that particular human
being is formed out of the cosmic ether into an individual ether organization. Before this
happens the soul has already obtained, as it were, an astral or soul body. (For details see Rudolf
Steiner’s book Theosophy.) This entity of soul, astral body and ether body combines with the
physical body some time after conception.
We can, therefore, speak of a kind of “cosmic conception” as far as the ether organization
or “body” is concerned. In the course of our investigations over decades, we have come to the
conclusion that this ether organism is reflected in the configuration of the heavens at the time
of the epoch, in fact, in the totality of the cosmic rhythms and events during the time from the
epoch to the birth. In connection with the asterogram of death (see December ‘66) we pointed
out that the ether organism of a human being acts as a time body. Similarly, imprinted in the
ether body that we receive at the time of the epoch is a kind of ground-plan, a preview of the
oncoming life, as far as karma from past incarnations works into the present one. This has
been discovered empirically.
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The asterogram of the birth of Copernicus, according to Geocentric conception, is shown

in Fig. 9a. It shows the constellation of Leo rising in the East (the so-called ascendant of
astrological tradition, in this case through information from Junctinus, an astrologer of the 16th
century. We will concentrate on the method of calculating the ascendant, etc., at a later stage)
and Aquarius setting in the West. In the meridian, above the south point of the horizon, is
Taurus. Of immediate importance for us is the fact that the Moon is in a waning phase in
Scorpio, below the horizon of the birth. We need this in order to calculate the date of the
epoch.
The Trutina Hermetis distinguishes four possibilities:
1. If the Moon is waxing at birth and above the horizon, then the Moon at the
time of the epoch was in that point of the ecliptic marked by the ascendant or
rising point at birth. The time from epoch to birth is therefore shorter than
273 days.
2. If the waxing Moon at birth is below the horizon, then the Moon at the epoch
was also in the point indicated by the ascendant but the time from epoch to
birth is longer than 273 days.
3. A waning Moon at birth and above the horizon would indicate that at the
epoch it was in the point marked by the descendant, or setting point, and the
interval from epoch to birth is longer than 273 days.
4. A similarly waning Moon but below the horizon suggests that at the epoch it
was in the point of the descendant but the epoch took place less than 273 days
before birth.
The fourth position would then apply to the asterogram of Copernicus. In fact, the Moon
was in Aquarius, the place of the descendant at birth, on May 29, 1472, which happened 266
days before birth. We have inserted the Geocentric epoch positions of the planets in Fig. 3 in
the outer circle and added the movements of the planets and the Sun between the epoch May
29, 1472 and February 19, 1473.
In Fig. 9b we have drawn up the heliocentric equivalent of the preceding geocentric chart.
(All the calculations were done with the astronomical tables mentioned in December ‘66, especial-
ly with Schoch’s Planetentafeln.)
Our next question now is: What does such an asterogram mean and how can we interpret
it? The simple assumption that we are under the unalterable “influence” of the stars, and that
the complex of the heavens at the time of incarnation delineates this “influence” unfailingly, is
obsolete. In any case, only few believe in this anymore. Many of this present age have, deep
down in their souls, a notion that the connection between the cosmos and the human being
must stand on a higher ethical level then just plain domination by the stars. We caught a
glimpse of this when we discussed the asterogram of death in the December issue. It was no
more than a glimpse, and a lot more evidence has to be added to it in time. But we realized that
in the moment of death we rise to the position of a “donor” when we confront the cosmos in
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Figure 9a
Copernicus
Geocentric: Epoch to Birth
Figure 9b
Copernicus - Heliocentric
Outer circle - Epoch
Inner circle - Birth
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the course of that experience. We hand back to the universe our ether body, which is saturated
with our biography. It is no longer the same as it was when we received it at the time of our
incarnation. We have transformed it through the joys and sufferings of our life, through our
achievements and also our failings.
The question arises whether our active and possibly constructive relationship to the stars
can be cultivated during our lifetime, at least as much as they are present in us as the gift of the
heavens at incarnation,. One can even suspect that we might be dominated by “our individual”
stars as an unresolved and possibly tormenting burden, unless we cultivate this heritage con-
sciously and spiritually. Of course, we fully realize that many reject such an idea of a cosmic
heritage right out, and not a few for fear that it might be so as we suspect. However, in decades
of research, we have accumulated enough evidence which clearly shows this idea that we sug-
gest is not merely theory, but a fact.
Our practical researches coincided with the investigations of Rudolf Steiner and were
actually inspired by him. Toward the end of his life he stated the results of his spiritual insight
in these matters. In Letters to the Members of the Anthroposophical Society, which are col-
lected and published under the title Michael Mystery, Rudolf Steiner speaks in Letter VI of our
association with the stars: “... Michael (the Archangel)... endeavored also to keep humanity as
close (to the divine spiritual) as possible, and he continues to do so. It was his purpose to
preserve humanity from living all too intensely in a world that was only the workings, not the
being and not the revelation, of divine spirit... When humanity has accomplished their life
between death and new birth and is on its way down to take up a new existence upon Earth,
they endeavor, as they come down toward this new existence, to establish a harmony between
the course of the stars and their own Earth lives... That this is so, is the act of Michael, and this
act gives him such deep satisfaction, that a great part of his life element, his life energy, his
radiant sun like life will lives in this satisfaction...”
Rudolf Steiner suggests that our connection with the stars does not exist for our sake but
for the purpose of integration and inclusion of the cosmic worlds in the process of spiritual
evolution. One might even venture to say that it exists for the purpose of training us in future
times to become an integral spiritual factor in the universe of stars. “...The divine spirit being
from which we first sprang, spread abroad as human being throughout all the worlds, will then
have power to fill with light that cosmos that now exists only in the wrought likeness of divine
spirit. It will no longer be the same being which once was cosmos but will then shine forth in
light through the human being. Divine spirit, in its passage through humanity, will realize a
quality of being that it had not brought to manifestation before.” It was this perspective of
which we saw a glimpse when we discussed the asterogram of death. But it seems obvious that
life on Earth itself must become the preparation, the training ground for this great cosmic
work of humanity in the future.
What do we actually see in the asterogram of incarnation, for instance, of Copernicus?
From the viewpoint of the ideas that we expressed above we cannot simply expect that the fact
of the Moon having been in conjunction with Jupiter (see Fig. 9a), or Saturn between the
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constellations of Taurus and Gemini, etc., have made the person Copernicus and caused the
destiny he experienced. This would be too cheap and utterly incorrect.
The configurations of the heavens at the time of the incarnation of human beings is a
picture of their prenatal decisions on the basis of previous Earth lives, with a view on the
oncoming incarnation. In the course of long investigations we have come to the conclusion
that the stars at birth are more associated with the past life and those around the epoch with the
intentions formed concerning the present earth existence. But this is already an oversimplifica-
tion that needs much more detailed elucidation.
We thus have, during our life on the Earth, a silent “star companion” next to us, made of
the details of the celestial configurations between epoch and birth, who participates in every-
thing that we do or we fail to do, who looks upon us as a being of whom is expected answers
and spiritual, moral deeds in facing the issues concerning existence in a physical-material world
in relationship to a spiritual cosmos.
The movements of the planets between epoch and birth contain pictorial reflections of
the experiences of the soul between the last death and the new life. In other words, we arrange,
as a rule, our descent at a time when our past lives and decisions for the new one coincide with
the rhythms and the script of the planets. We would meet other souls who had just left the
Earth or who were also preparing for another incarnation. In the spheres would also be present
the memory pictures, the “biographies” of past generations, in the sense that we discussed it in
connection with the asterogram of death. Apart from these, we would also meet the great
memories of past stages of evolution; in fact, we would face the story of the creation of the
universe, from the very first beginnings and of the divine beings who inaugurated the stages of
creation. All this the “star companion” carries, as it were, in a cosmic, metaphorical memory
picture.
However, as soon as we arrive on the Earth, through the portal of birth, all these grand
perspectives seem to be completely forgotten. They have been lowered by then, as it were, into
the complexity of our organization, being dormant in so-called unconsciousness. In other
words, we as individual egos are not directly influenced or bound by them. They well up in
destiny, but even so they wait to be realized and redeemed consciously by us. Thus destiny, for
instance, would present us, in a kind of metaphorical language, with memories of our past or
experiences in the spheres of the planets before birth. But we are then expected to create
answers and solutions out of our own spiritual activity that might not exist any where else in
the universe.
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In the January issue we referred to a number of happenings around the 25th-26th of Janu-
ary: Mars and Venus in opposition to each other from the heliocentric viewpoint. We noticed
that at the same time they were standing in the apsidal line of Uranus; and on 26 January Mars
was in ecliptical conjunction to Pluto. (This later event led us then to the investigation of the
incarnation asterogram of Copernicus.)
Now, right at the beginning of February we notice a remarkable continuation of this trend
of happenings, and again in the heliocentric calendar. On the 1st of February, Mars will move
into conjunction with Uranus (conjunction is 0° angular distance; opposition is 180° distance).
On this occasion Uranus will be less than 1° south of Mars. On the same day Mercury will
step, heliocentrically, into opposition to Pluto, Uranus, and Mars. Likewise, Venus will be in
conjunction to Saturn. On the 3rd of February, Mercury will come into conjunction with
Saturn and on the 4th into conjunction with Venus, thus placing Venus between itself and
Saturn.
This gives us all the more occasion to return once more to the asterogram of incarnation
of Copernicus. We found already that in his heliocentric chart Mars was in conjunction with
Pluto around the time of his epoch (near date of conception). Of course, in the geocentric
chart Mars was not at the same angular distance because the planetary coordinates are different
from those which are valid from the Sun’s point of view. As a matter of fact, the Mars of the
geocentric perspective came into conjunction to Pluto only toward the end of the second
month after the epoch.
Here we might as well indulge for a moment in a discussion about the difference between
the geocentric and the heliocentric perspectives, their merits and their limitations, even their
permissibility as far as astrological practice is concerned. There are many people who will say
that, as we are concerned with happenings on the Earth, we must also relate the cosmic events
to the Earth, i.e., look at them from the geocentric viewpoint. This is certainly a valid ap-
proach which justifies a geocentric astrology within limitations. However, the Earth is also a
part of the solar cosmos and, therefore, we expect it to participate in the concerns of the solar
universe as a whole. We know there are even people who would be inclined to regard the
heliocentric perspective as being wrong. It is certain: the Copernican world conception has put
a final end to the ancient world view of a living universe of spheres, apart from the visible
planets, in whom divine beings lived and moved. Copernicanism has indeed denuded the
universe from all notions of the presence of spiritual beings behind it and in it. It has become,
in our modern view, a gigantic mechanism. However, we make a sharp distinction between
Copernicanism and a heliocentric world conception. There is no need to mix them up, and
even the elements of spheres, with all possible aspects of spiritual reality working in them and
through them, can be maintained in the heliocentric perspective, and in our eyes, even more
effectively than in the geocentric. We are, of course, fully aware of the claims of Christianity
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wanting to see the Earth, and with justification, in the center of the universe in view of the
Deed of Christ. However, we still contend that our planet is not yet the center, that we can
only hope that it will in future step into that place once the Deed of Christ is raised to realiza-
tion in the hearts and deeds of the human race. On the other hand, we can imagine that our
planet occupied, at some past stage of evolution, a different position in the universe and that it
sank from it for the very reason that Christ’s Deed of Redemption became a cosmic necessity.
However, we feel we cannot just arbitrarily bypass more than 400 years of scientific astronomi-
cal development and simply assume that it had all been wrong.
We have experienced that both views are of value in the interpretation of cosmic events
and that one supports the other. In the heliocentric picture we gain the perspective of the
relationship of the planets to their own spheres, by their positions and movements with regard
to their own nodes and lines of apsides, as well as to those of the other planets. Thus our
conviction has grown that, together with the “breathing” rhythms that we see in the geocentric
approach as they are indicated, for instance, by the loops and conjunctions with the Sun, we
can again break through to a realistic and yet spiritual conception of the spheres of the planets.
In other words, we can apply the geocentric aspect in all those concerns that intend to find the
realization of cosmic events in matters of Earth life, both with regard to Earth space and time.
The heliocentric approach will lead us to perceive how these events are related to the life of the
solar universe, dynamically and spiritually.
We will now return to the asterogram of Copernicus, in order to demonstrate what we said
before. Readers will remember (see January ‘67) that we were drawn to it because the heliocen-
tric chart of the epoch of Copernicus showed a conjunction of Mars and Pluto, similar to the
one on January 26, 1967. Since this conjunction took place from the viewpoint of the Sun, we
must regard it as an event that concerned the totality of the solar system in which the Earth
participates. We will have to find ways and means to gauge how it inserted itself into the life of
the Earth, particularly into the life of Copernicus. According to our experiences such conjunc-
tions of Mars and Pluto seem to work out often as revolutions in the history of humanity,
whereby the accent appears to be on “revolution’’ and not on “evolution”.
In any case, we now have the task to find a method by which we can relate events in the
prenatal chart to later life. Can we expect any relationship between the prenatal world of a
human being and life after birth? It should not be too difficult to conceive of such a possibility,
since the human body, which is developed during the embryonic stage becomes the vehicle of
the personality after birth. Therefore, much of our potential, at least as far as it concerns the
bodily orbit, must have been evolved in germinal form before birth.
The connection between the embryonic development and the cosmic, time-wise counter-
part is rather striking. The chart in Fig. 9a of January ‘67 demonstrates this clearly. Take the
orbit of the Sun in that picture. It looks, on a big cosmic scale, like the typically inverted form
of an embryo. We see in the open space between the Sun of the epoch (E) and the Sun of
birth (in Aquarius) the counterpart of the head of the embryo, and in the curve of the Sun
during the 9 months, the trunk and the limbs.
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This spacial, corporeal aspect of the prenatal chart has proven to be very useful and helpful
in the treatment and education of retarded children in curative education. Apart from this
perspective that will receive one day much more detailed attention by us, there is also a time-
wise relationship of the prenatal chart. When we discussed the Hermetic Rule (see January
‘67) readers will have noticed that we worked actually with a triplicity: Sun, Moon, and Earth, in
order to establish the date of the epoch. The four possibilities we mentioned were dependent
on whether the Moon was waxing or waning. This is a relationship between Sun and Moon.
But, furthermore, we also had to consider whether the Moon was above or below the horizon
at the time of birth. This is a relationship of the Moon to the Earth. Thus the coordination of
the Moon between Sun and Earth became important for the calculation of the epoch, the
Moon being, so to speak, the mediator between the two.
On this basis we can also understand that the Moon plays a decisive part in the whole of
the prenatal development, that it acts as mediator between the totality of the surrounding
cosmos and the embryo, and helps to build it into the growing organism. Thus it must also be
understood, as our empiric experience has revealed, that the cycles of the Moon are associated
with the rhythms of life after birth. In fact it has been proven in the many historic cases we
investigated that each cycle of the Moon of 27.3 days—the return of the Moon to its original
position at the epoch—reflects a seven year period in the life of a human being. Thus the first
cycle of the Moon, and all that happens in the planetary world during it, mirrors the first seven
years, the second cycle the time from 7-14 years, and so on. Of course, this cannot and should
not be taken as an absolute determination of the human being. Rather it is a kind of ground
sketch of the karma, or destiny, working from a past incarnation into the present. The whole
prenatal chart would then contain an average of 10 Moon cycles (10 x 7 years or 70 years). On
account of the four variations of the Hermetic Rule, the time would be slightly shorter or
longer in the individual case.
On this foundation we have produced here in Fig. 10, a graphic presentation of the prena-
tal chart of Copernicus. On the left side are the divisions of the ecliptic (signs, not constella-
tions). Along the top line are the indications of the Moon cycles during the prenatal develop-
ment. (The tenth cycle was not completed because the time from epoch to birth was, in this
case, shorter then the 10 cycles, of 273 days). By inserting the positions of the planets and the
Sun during the 9 months, and by relating them to time we get their curves as they appear in the
diagram. Thus we can easily gauge their association with the corresponding Moon cycles and
with their reflection in life after birth. The events in the first sector or first Moon cycle would
refer to the first seven years in the life of Copernicus, and so on.
Now we want to know when that solar event (heliocentric) of the conjunction of Mars and
Pluto (which naturally appears in the geocentric differently because the planetary coordinates
are different) was built into the organism of Copernicus and when it made itself noticeable in
the life of Copernicus. We said earlier that the Sun in this kind of chart represents the human
form and it is the Sun which would build, in a certain moment during the 9 prenatal months,
this event into the organism. Therefore, we look now for the moment when the Sun stepped
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Figure 10
Constellations
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into conjunction to Pluto and later to Mars, because the two planets were involved at the
epoch. For, we expect that in a conjunction it would converse, as it were, with the planets.
We find that this conjunction of Sun and Pluto took place during the fourth Moon cycle
(see Fig. 10), about the middle of it. This would mean that we have to seek the reflection
during the 24th to 25th year of Copernicus (3 x 7 = 21 years, plus fraction of the 4th seven year
cycle). As Copernicus was born in 1473, we would thus be led to the year 1497 in his life. What
happened then?
Copernicus had moved to the university of Bologna in Italy in 1496, chiefly for the pur-
pose of studying Canon Law. Before he left his northern homeland he had been made Canon
of the Ermland Chapter of the Roman Church of that region. Even before he entered Bolo-
gna he studied, apart from law, also philosophy, mathematics, medicine, and astronomy at
Cracow in Poland. Now, in Italy he found teachers of astronomy, among them Brudzewski
and Mario Novara, who held the view that the Earth was moving in cosmic space and not
standing still, as western humanity had accepted on the basis of Ptolomey’s conception of the
universe (2nd century AD). They built their teachings on some Greek astronomers, among
them the great Pythagoras, Heraclitus, Aristarchus, and even Nicolas of Cusa (1401-64), who
lived at the commencement of the modern age. They had expressed, somehow, the idea that
the Earth was in motion although they did not promote views similar to those of Copernicus
and his followers in modern astronomy.
Thus we must expect that in 1497, Copernicus met the full impact of these conceptions
which he obviously took deeply to heart and would never let go in his later life. For us, it is now
interesting and instructive to study the reflection of these events in the prenatal chart a bit
closer. Referring to the time of 1497, the Sun was in conjunction with Pluto near the “head”
of the constellation Virgo. The ancient Isis (according to the Zodiac in the temple of Denderah),
or Queen of Heaven—the Virgin of the Revelation of John the Divine, chapter XII—is crowned
with a crown of stars. Thus we have here the reference to the science of wisdom of the stars.
At the same time Venus and Mercury, the latter having just come out of retrograde (see Fig.
10), were in the constellation of Leo. The latter constellation is particularly associated with
cosmology. (See the mythological background of Virgo and Leo as described in Star Journal
Aug. & Sept. ’66). The very symbol that we use ( ) confirms this, descending from the
periphery or ascending to it. On this ground we can now see that the combination of Mars and
Pluto in the heliocentric chart of the epoch, indeed, reflected a revolution. The connection
with the star-crowned head of the Virgo, furthermore, suggests a revolution concerning as-
tronomy. However, the question of why it was just Copernicus who became the instigator
cannot be answered on this basis alone, because numberless other souls had, so to speak,
inherited this same conjunction. This needs more.
Thus we can follow the movement of the Sun through the prenatal chart and detect some-
thing like a biographical ground plan or reflection of the destiny of Copernicus, as far as his
life was determined by karma or destiny, resulting from past incarnations. Toward the end of
the 4th Moon cycle, we see Mercury in superior conjunction with the Sun (the planet was then
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on the far side of the Sun). This brings us to 1499, and we can imagine that it was associated
with a time of elevating intellectual experience for Copernicus, while he was still at Bologna.
We give in the following a brief table of events in following years and the corresponding
happenings in the prenatal chart.
1503: Promotion to Doctor of Canon Law at University of Ferrara. Relates to Mars in

conjunction with Uranus at the feet of Virgo (5th Moon cycle).
1506: Return from Italy to Heilsberg (Poland), as physician of his uncle, the Bishop of
Heilsberg, probably a time of most varied experiences. At Heilsberg he seems also to
have laid down the main lines of his astronomical work. Between 1510 and 1514, he
wrote an outline of it, the Commentariolus that was, however, circulated only in manu-
script form.
Relating to about 1506, Mercury in conjunction with Uranus (5th cycle). Relating to
about 1507, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter in conjunction in constellation of Libra, fol-
lowed by conjunction with Neptune (5th cycle). Relating to about 1510, Venus in su-
perior conjunction with the Sun, also in constellation of Libra (6th cycle ). It is interest-
ing to see that Mercury and Venus, which we mentioned above in connection with the
decisive years after 1497, and Mars, associated with the root configuration at the epoch,
are involved in the prenatal reflection of this time in the life of Copernicus.
1512: His uncle died and Copernicus resorted now to Frauenburg. There he supple-
mented his astronomical theories by observation of the heavens though it seems it did
not amount to very much. Relates to conjunctions of Venus and Sun with Jupiter and
Neptune in conjunction very close to them (6th cycle).
The following years must have been a time of great involvement in all kinds of
matters. He apparently also found opportunities to employ his medical skill. This is
demonstrated by Mars and Venus passing through the nodal line of the Moon and their
following meeting in a conjunction, then the Sun in the Moon node and Mercury in
retrograde movement (7th cycle).
1530: Copernicus might have completed the manuscript of his great work De revolutionibus
orbium coelistium around 1530, as far as the scanty notes go. However, he hesitated till
the last moment to have it published as a printed volume. In fact, the first copies left
the press in the moment of his death.
The year 1530 would, in the prenatal chart, coincide with a superior conjunction of
Mercury with the Sun (beginning of 9th cycle). Prior to this we see the conjunction of
Mars with the Sun (beginning of 8th cycle)—as it were, the initial aspect of the con-
junction of Mars and Pluto, as heliocentric solar event—now comes near practical
realization, mirrored in the meeting with the Sun. Also, Jupiter moved during the 8th
cycle through the nodal line of the Moon.
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This whole complex of the prenatal asterogram of Copernicus now gives us all the more
reason to study and evaluate the meaning and language of the individual planets in this particu-
lar case. Thereby we hope to supplement the quantitative, time-wise, destiny skeleton that is
revealed here by a qualitative picture of the meaning and spiritual potential of such a destiny.
Only then can we expect to find access to an astrology that does not only confine itself to state
what “the stars tell” but can provide creative ideas with regard to the cultivation and evolution
in spiritual freedom of our star heritage.
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Among the events in the heavens during March, there stands out the retrograde move-
ments of Mercury and Mars. Mercury went retrograde already in February, and now it will
come into inferior conjunction with the Sun, which means that it will stand approximately in a
line between Sun and Earth on that day.
Mars will become retrograde on March 8th (Raphael’s Astronomical Ephemeris), but it will
extend it’s retrograde movement right into May. These aspects to the Sun recur according to
definite rhythms, as we pointed out earlier. For instance, the retrograde movements, or loops,
of Mercury happen three times during one year, always in different sectors of the ecliptic. The
last one took place in November 1966, and the one following the present loop will occur in
June-July, 1967. The retrograde movements of Mars occur more seldom. The one preceding
the present feature of 1967 happened in January-April, 1965 and returns according to a rhythm
that is little more than two years. These rhythms bring the planets back, after a time, to repeti-
tions of similar positions between Sun and Earth. Thus, inferior conjunctions of Mercury
with the Sun in approximately the same positions of the ecliptic happened in March 1947,
1954, 1960; in other words, they occurred in intervals of 6-7 years. The yearly three inferior
conjunctions inscribe a triangle into the orbit of Mercury, as we have demonstrated in Fig. 4 in
March ‘66. This triangle is falling back in the ecliptic year by year. Thus it happens that M3 is
gradually moving into the position where M1 is at a given time; likewise, will M1 come into M5,
and M5 into M3, by the rotation of the triangle. This will take about 6-7 years. Apart from this,
a whole rotation of the triangle will bring back M3 in the course of 20 years to the initial
position, by going through the full circle. This accounts, for instance, for the fact that the loop
of Mercury in March 1967 was preceded in 1947 by a loop in the same sector of the ecliptic, as
we said above.
All these rhythms—there are plenty more—are excellent means of taking stock or evalua-
tion of one’s inner growth. For instance, diligent and objective investigation will reveal that
there exists an inner connection between the present moment and the years mentioned above:
1960, 1954, 1947. As this is a Mercury rhythm, it is associated with attempts of permeating
actions and expressions of will by individual intelligence of a definite character and direction.
Thus one will be able to gauge how far one has succeeded in realizing an impulse or where one
has failed. By no means are we ruled or imposed upon by these rhythms. They only offer us a
chance of self-fulfillment. It might even happen that we have to go back another rhythm of 20
years, that is to 1927, to find the relevant “ancestor” of the loop of Mercury in 1967 and at the
same time another root event of a definite impulse.
The corresponding rhythms of Mars we will discuss in the April Journal because the actual
opposition of the planet to the Sun will take place on April 15.
As to the other events in the heavens during March, attention might be drawn to the hap-
penings around New Moon, March 11 (GMT = PST March 10, 20h 30m). During that day the
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Moon will be in opposition to Pluto and Uranus, whereas the Sun will be in opposition to Pluto
on March 10, and in opposition to Uranus on the 13th. These events are associated with a kind
of conclusion of the ecliptic conjunction of Uranus and Pluto that we discussed in the Oct.
and Nov. ‘65 issues. Now, since the cosmic time keepers have announced the “hour”, in the
sense of historical memory, it will become a matter of human awareness and decision to re-
spond by corresponding deeds.
We might also mention the fact that Venus will move through its ascending node on March
21, and Mercury on the 22nd. (About the nodes of the planets, see Jan. ‘66). These transits of
the planets over the nodes and other sensitive points of the planetary spheres will be discussed
in future issues.
We return now to the asterogram of Copernicus, in order to demonstrate how all the
preparatory work that we did earlier can be applied in a practical sense. First we concentrate on
Saturn.
During the time of gestation Saturn moved through the head portion of the constellation
of Taurus or Bull. The epoch, around the time of conception, took place a few days after the
conjunction of the Sun with Saturn. That moment was the beginning of the building of the
“earthly house” in which Copernicus was to dwell. As the Sun is closely associated with the
cosmic “embryo image” (see Feb. ‘67), the nearness of Saturn to the epoch Sun seems to
indicate a certain prominence of this planet in the chart. This appears to be further empha-
sized in the heliocentric perspective. There Saturn is in its own perihelion shortly before birth,
i.e., the point in the planets’ orbit where it comes closest to the Sun.
Thus we now have several factors that can be used for the interpretation of the nature of
this particular Saturn. First, it stands in the perihelion sector of its sphere. In other words, it
reflects that part of its sphere which can, on a grand cosmic scale, be likened to the head
organism of a human being. Thus this Saturn would reflect the fact that Copernicus tended—
caused by experiences in previous incarnations and during his life in the spiritual cosmic world
between the last death and the present birth—to be entrenched in his head, as it were, at least
as far as his Saturn capacities are concerned. (If a planet is in its aphelion line, then the
opposite would be indicated, because the aphelion sector of a sphere can be likened to our
limb organization.)
To this we add, furthermore, the fact that Saturn is moving during the gestation time from
the constellation of Taurus toward Gemini or Twins. From the geocentric perspective the
planet could not quite make it, but from the heliocentric aspect it, indeed, entered Gemini at
birth. In order to evaluate this indication we will have to take recourse to our description of
the nature of Taurus and Gemini in the July ’66 issue.
What are the capacities and dynamics of Saturn and its sphere? In Feb. ’66 issue, we said
that we acquire in the sphere of Saturn between the last death and the new birth, our “soul
backbone”, “…our soul’s inner psychological skeleton of destiny formation, the results of the
soul’s involvements and motives in past incarnations, and the resolutions following thereupon...”
Indeed, Saturn is Omnipotent Father Time who preserves for each individual the thread of
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identity running through the incarnations; however, it does not prevent the individual from
facing this complex objectively and in inner freedom. Thus Saturn works particularly in the
upper part of the human soul or astral body, from where we inaugurate our instinctive upright
function and relationship to the environment via the senses.
The individual configuration of this whole complex of Copernicus’ organization would
then be indicated by the position of Saturn in the Zodiac. From the description of Taurus,
where Saturn was in the earlier part of the prenatal development, we gather that this constella-
tion is somewhat of a tremendous cosmic chronicle of the drama of creation, especially the
creation of that world where humanity dwells now, at this present greater age of evolution.
Through the sacrifice of the Deity, the Logos of Ptah, for instance, the world of material
objects, even the vault of heaven came into being. The “body” of Osiris, the spirit essence,
was buried in the earth and thus are constituted the mysteries of “spirit in matter”. The
Ancient Egyptian-Chaldean civilization is particularly associated with Taurus because the ver-
nal point was there during that age.
Much of this, we imagine, was present in the soul of Copernicus, possibly even as an
afterglow of a incarnation far back in Egypt. Copernicus’ decision to enter the career of a
priest might be connected with such affinities. Ancient Egypt was essentially a priest civiliza-
tion. Also the quite unique association with astronomy that he had found seems to rest on such
foundations. From the scanty evidence we have, we know that the Egyptian priest-sages had,
essentially, a heliocentric view of the universe, although they did not conceive the planets as big
material balls, rolling through cosmic space. They still had powers of consciousness that en-
abled them to see the cosmos of the stars as the dwelling places of invisible but real divine
beings. However, they were aware of the death of Osiris. Certainly, gods can never perish as
beings but they can perish from human consciousness; and this cultural trend into the future of
humanity the Egyptians must have divined. They must have realized it as an unavoidable
necessity, that of the human race moving away from the ancient natural gift of a dreamlike,
clairvoyant perception of the reality of the divine spiritual world; and in the end, a temporary
but complete emancipation by one-sided materialistic conceptions, so that we could find our
independent self and return in freedom to a new realization of the divine-spiritual. This pro-
cess seems to have been even deliberately accelerated by the practice of mummification, by
which a part of the soul, the “Ka”, was kept after death close to the body of the deceased
human being and thereby close to the physical material world.
This whole complex we can thus see working as an individual “drama of soul”, and possi-
bly as destiny from previous incarnations, in the life of Copernicus. He had a deep connection
with the cosmos and the study of astronomy, but it was for him a world in which the God was
“dead”. Therefore, he laid the foundation of an astronomy that could and can conceive the
cosmos only as a colossal, yet lifeless and soulless mechanism, in which even the appearance of
life tends to break down into being regarded as electrical, magnetic and like phenomena.
The mythology of Gemini, which Saturn approaches at Copernicus’ birth, further empha-
sizes this complex. In Norse Mythology the “death” of the God Baldur (see July ’66 issue) is
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brought about by the craftiness of the evil Loki through the hand of the blind Hodur. “Blind-
ness”, which means our increasing incapacity of awareness of the divine, spiritual reality be-
hind the physical, “kills” the divinity within our own being. And this “blindness” has become
in the modern age—inaugurated by deeds like that of Copernicus—a widely cherished ideal of
scientific investigation and experiment. Thus stands Copernicus at the threshold of an epoch
of civilization in which we plant our feet in a realm that is accessible to our physical senses,
whereas all that referring to soul or spiritual existence is, at best, relegated to the spheres of the
unknowable and religion and, at worst, to disreputable superstition. Thus does this civilization
live in a kind of universal schizophrenia that is, from another viewpoint, also reflected in
Gemini. This is, of course, only one side of the asterogram of Copernicus, so to speak, his
karmic connection with the drama of the human race during the present, greater age of evolu-
tion, and it would be wrong to see Copernicus only in this light.
The question that must rise with necessity is: If such a relationship of Saturn to Taurus and
Gemini can be deciphered on the background of mythological interpretation, are then all hu-
man beings who seek a similar relationship through Saturn at the time of their birth, involved
in similar experiences and destinies? One can, of course, never standardize human biogra-
phies. Numbers of human beings might have affinities of destiny which express themselves in
similar cosmic metaphors, but each individual will certainly live and manifest them in unique
and individual fashion. Only common trends can, at best, be discerned as a rule. Indeed, an
historical investigation reveals a veritable battle in that part of humanity, which is by birth, etc.,
associated with facts and events similar to the above. However, in any case the battle is con-
cerned with that drama of human consciousness which we sketched.
Among the most outstanding examples is that of Francis Bacon, the statesman, philoso-
pher, writer, and scientist. He was born on January 22, 1501. Saturn was then, heliocentrically,
just in the point of transition from the constellation of Taurus to Gemini. Therefore, around
the epoch it was in Taurus. As a scientist and philosopher Bacon was certainly involved in that
long drawn-out drama of the “death” of Osiris in human consciousness, and also in the “death”
of Balder by the hand of his blind brother. His philosophy marked a decisive step in our
modern relationship to the physical, external world. Metaphysical knowledge of the intercon-
nections in nature is probably denied to humanity, according to Bacon. The knowledge of
nature must be conquered by experience through the senses and by experimental methods.
Bacon is, so to speak, the father of experimental, inductive science.
The spiritual battle that is indicated, as we said earlier, in the constellations of Taurus and
Gemini comes to light especially in the latter. When the two scientists Pierre Gassendi (1592)
and Herschel (1738) were born, Saturn was in Gemini. Gassendi was an empiricist who main-
tained “that there is nothing in the intellect which has not been in the senses”, although he was
not always consistent in his empirical realism. Herschel perfected the telescope to the point
where he was able to discover the planet Uranus. A little earlier, in 1709, De Lamettrie was
born. Saturn was then also in Gemini. He was one of the founders of theoretical, philosophi-
cal materialism. One of his principal works was L’Homme machine (man is a machine). Much
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earlier, around the epoch of Augustine of Hippo (354), Saturn was also in Gemini. His life and
teaching stood on his realization that the immediate, spiritual revelation that inspired early
Christianity had come to an end and that the Scriptures were essentially the only means of
certainty of faith.
On the other hand, there were men like Michelangelo (born 1475) and Tolstoi (born 1828)
during whose epoch Saturn was in Gemini and whose work proves that they broke through to
some, however limited, realization of the spirit, though it obviously meant for them tremen-
dous inner battles. We thus see that it is not wise to judge the implication of the planets
according to preconceived, fixed ideas. The totality of an asterogram must be carefully taken
into consideration and, apart from this, we must also be prepared for changes of the basic
“temperaments”, as it were, of the planets, which like everything else in the universe, go through
changes in time.
Such slow but inevitable evolutions of the planets become chiefly apparent in connection
with the asterogram of death. When the well-known Augustinian monk Thomas à Kempis
died in 1471, Saturn was in Taurus. Contrary to the indications in birth asterograms, which we
mentioned before, we see here a man with refined spiritual qualities, even so much so that he
was considered in his own monastery not to be fit for more practical and mundane duties.
Nevertheless, by his Imitation Christi, which is ascribed to him, and by other writings and letters,
he has become a shining beacon for many in their religious and mystical endeavors. Nearer to
our time is the German philosopher Schelling, at the time of whose death Saturn was also in
Taurus (1854). Schelling started out as a pupil of Fichte and Hegel and built, thereupon, his
own nature philosophy. Later in his life he advanced to a metaphysical philosophy of mythol-
ogy and revelation. There are other examples that would, however, require a lot of biographi-
cal and literary amplification.
In Gemini we find, from the viewpoint of death asterograms, contradictions similar to
those in connection with birth charts. Thomas Hobbes, the English philosopher, died in 1679
when Saturn was in Gemini. He came to the conclusion that everything in nature happened
according to mechanical laws, even the sensations of living entities are caused by all kinds of
movements in matter only. The state and also the single individual are nothing but more
complicated machines than the man-made ones, but nevertheless machines. Another scientist
who died when Saturn was in Gemini was Laplace (1827). He was a mathematician and as-
tronomer who particularly endeavored to find mechanical explanations for the movements in
the solar system.
Against them stands William Blake who died also in 1827, when Saturn was in Gemini. A.
E. Abbot’s Encyclopedia of the Occult Sciences (Emerson Press, 1960) says of him: “…he fought
materialism and sought his own spiritual regeneration… He saw in simple everyday happen-
ings a transcendent significance which he transmuted into apocalyptic visions...”
As we pointed out earlier, the implications contained in the death asterogram herald a new
association of human beings with the world of the stars, which will come to full fruition only
in future ages. In this new connection, we will take an active part more and more in the
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transmutation and permeation of the cosmic factors with human, spiritual essence (see also the
January ‘67 issue).
How would we then imagine that a person of this modern age should meet a Saturn in
Taurus or Gemini, whether it appears in the asterogram of incarnation or plays into a specific
epoch of life? Principally, we should regard cosmic implications of this nature as an indication
of the material we decided to work with already before birth. Just as an artist would assess the
materials that are offered to him in order to gauge the possibilities that they present over and
against his ideas, just so would we imagine that we, ideally speaking, should view the cosmic
potential with which we associated through incarnation. It might constitute real challenges,
even in their so-called bad aspects, but even in the worst case they should never be regarded as
depressing or hostile fate.
Thus, for instance, we would see in a Saturn in Taurus a challenge to try and break through,
in the sphere of cognition (Saturn is also associated with “Gnosis”), to the real nature and
spiritual origin of matter and the material world. This was expressed as a challenge, one cannot
yet say as a solution, in the conjunction rhythms of the extra-saturnine planets of Pluto and
Neptune toward the end of the 19th century. The two were in conjunction, heliocentrically, in
the constellation of Taurus in 1892. The last time this happened was at the beginning of the
15th century at the threshold to the new age of scientific and technological development, and
also in Taurus. The challenge in the heavens during the last decade of the 19th century was met
in humanity by the discovery of x-rays and radio activity. Suddenly the nature of matter, which
had been conceived by humanity as unchangeable and well behaved, reared up in a totally new
image. It gave reason to look at matter as having two sides: solid and stable matter, and energy.
One scientist exclaims: “...The old materialism is dead, and even the electrons, which for a
time replaced particles of matter, have become but disembodied ghosts, mere wave-forms...”
(Dampier in A History of Science, Cambridge 1948). Yet, this is only the beginning, so to speak,
an opening of the door for a breakthrough to the cognition of the nature of matter, not only
in the sphere of scientific approaches and books but even in concerns of so-called daily life.
115

Among the most outstanding events during the month are the occultations of some of the
planets by the Moon. The waning, last quarter Moon starts out as a from the constellation of
Sagittarius, ecliptic sign of Capricorn. It comes into conjunction with Mercury, close to the
opposition point to Uranus. Then it an occults Saturn after moving though its apogee, furthest
distance from the Earth, and then it will move through its ascending node, meaning it will
ascend above the plane of the ecliptic or apparent path of the Sun. It will then conjunct and
occult, or cover, Venus in the constellation of Taurus.
Later in the month the Moon will conjunct and occult Mars near the fixed star Spica in the
constellation of Virgo. At approximately the same time the Moon will be in its perigee, i.e., it
will be closest to the Earth and will appear bigger than usual. Later the Full Moon will come
under the shadow of the Earth and thus cause a total Moon eclipse.
The question must arise, what do these occultations of planets by the Moon mean for the
life on the Earth, if anything at all? It certainly isn’t an answer to regard them as good or bad,
according to the information in some almanacs, and then arrange our daily life according to
them. This is an attitude that constitutes a direct insult against the dignity of the human being
of the present age, and we see full justification in the rejection of such notions and practices by
the greater part of humanity. In our view, it behooves our present age to meet the cosmic
events with a heightened sense of spiritual freedom, of which every human being is capable,
and to exert on such occasions the capacity of presence of mind and spiritual constructiveness.
Only in this sense is the information meant that we give in this Journal.
Certainly one essential thing is that we must always endeavor to gain a clear perception of
what is happening in the heavens. For instance, the three occultations of Saturn, Venus, and
Mars, simply mean that the light beams from these planets to the Earth are blotted out and
darkness steps into their place. Thus we can speak of a Saturn darkness or a Venus darkness
prevailing in such moments, however minute the shadow beam might be, in place of the light
beam. (Possibly the minuteness, or homoeopathic “dilution” must be regarded as a particularly
effective agent). Then dark or sinister Saturn or Venus beings might storm up from the center
of the Earth and out into the cosmos. For instance, Rudolf Steiner implies that in the case of
a Sun eclipse, when the shadow of the Moon fails on the Earth, it happens that such demonic
beings move out into the cosmos and continue their mischief there. On the reverse occasion,
when the shadow of the Earth falls on the Moon, demonic beings can enter the Earth from the
cosmos. They use, as it were, those corridors of darkness for their passage, always moving in
the opposite direction from where the shadow falls.
On such occasions, or before they happen, we can do one of two things. We can either
succumb to notions of woe and possibly pending disaster, and thereby renounce the spiritual
dignity of our modern age, or we can prepare to stand in front of such events with construc-
tive, spiritual ideas, ever ready to let them flow into deeds, when opportunities are offered. The
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“eclipse” of Saturn can mean, for instance, that the spiritual “atmosphere”, or aura of the
Earth, is filled with elemental beings that want to exert depressing, hypochondriacal, and like
influences, for this is the negative and dark side of Saturn. It would be a challenge and a noble
task for us to stand erect in such a moment in full and unerring awareness of our evolution and
of the universe from the dim past into the equally far future. The spiritual responsibility that
would accrue from such perspectives would be a healthy antidote against depression and simi-
lar attitudes. The cosmology in Rudolf Steiner’s book Occult science, for instance, can become
the departure point for such perspectives.
Likewise can the occultation of Venus be indicative of the presence of entities in the aura
of the Earth that intend to throw souls into whirlpools of feeling, bounded by materialistic
ideas and notions. There too, a knowledge and experience of our real and spiritual being can
be the only healthy reaction. The confrontation of the occultation of Mars should consist of
inner firmness and the unshakable presence of the idea of our spiritual dignity against at-
tempts, for instance, of derogation and degradation which might come from the environment.
There is certainly no better method of acquiring constructive attitudes of soul than an occupa-
tion with spiritual science and a gradual growing into it. About Sun and Moon eclipses we shall
speak later, because they need more elaborate elucidation.
We will now return to the asterogram of Copernicus. In the last issue we established a
delineation of Saturn, at least in a sketchy form. According to the historical evidence, it is
connected with that tremendous step of humanity toward emancipation from the old spiritual,
magical consciousness that amounted, in a sense, to our mental bondage, and toward spiritual
freedom. We know, and we have experienced it in history, that this is a precipitous path which,
eventually, led to the establishment of materialism, both philosophical and practical. However,
we pointed out in the last issue that this materialism appears to be heading for a course of self-
defeat, for instance, dawning on the scientific horizon in nuclear physics. If the modern
scientist can proceed to clear concepts about those “disembodied ghosts” of the “old materi-
alism”, manifesting, or rather vanishing, in the smallest “particles of matter “, then half the
battle will already be won. Then that tremendous expense of the gradual divorce from the
divine spiritual world will have been worth the cost, because we will have an opportunity to
find our way back in full freedom to the experience of the reality of spirit in the universe.
The work of Copernicus was one of the corner stones along that road of emancipation. It
became the foundation of modern astronomy that did conceive of the universe of the stars as
a purely material structure. In this world aspect, there was no longer room for a cosmos
permeated and motivated by spiritual beings, as in ancient cosmologies. But just for this reason
we can have the hope that the so-called Copernican world conception will eventually lead to a
new perspective of the universe that is again seen as being permeated by cosmic, divine intel-
ligence. Our realization of it will then rest on the foundation of modern scientifically trained
perception and thinking. Signs of such a possible development have already appeared on the
horizon. The great pattern of individual and humanity evolution has been established through
the Mystery of Golgotha as a going through death—all kinds of death experiences, not only
117
the cessation of the function of the physical body—and thus advancing to a resurrection in the spirit.
This potent pattern seems to be apparent in the deed of Copernicus, as in all modern sciences.
All this is borne out by the script of Jupiter in the asterogram of Copernicus. In this planet
we behold the wisdom of what, otherwise, appears as a reflection of destiny and karma in
Saturn. We said in the Feb. ’66 issue: “Jupiter concentrates on the future, on becoming, and
the potential powers of the life or ether forces in the universe” and in the May ’66 issue: “We
find (in Jupiter)… the archetype of our etheric or life body (the formative body or builder), in
its integration into the whole world ether.”
In the prenatal asterogram of Copernicus, Jupiter moved through the constellation of Libra
and arrived in Scorpio at birth. At the beginning it was in conjunction with Uranus, during the
embryonic development in conjunction with Neptune, and at birth close to the Moon.
We came to regard Libra as the cosmic symbol of the threshold to the reality of the spiri-
tual world (see Oct. ’66 issue). In Egypt it was regarded as the scales of Osiris in the realm of
the shades, on which the souls were weighed to find out whether they were fit to proceed to
higher planes of existence. Therefore, this constellation can also be regarded as a sign of
catharsis, which must precede the final act of initiation of the neophyte. In this sense, we
would look upon the Jupiter of Copernicus as an indication that the deeper life-wisdom of the
deed of this individuality was catharsis, humanity catharsis on the threshold to the new age of
consciousness. Indeed, if we compare the Copernican world conception with the colorful and
tremendously spiritual cosmologies of ancient humanity, then the conceptions of modern
astronomy appear abstract and impoverished, deserted by the divinity, a mere machine without
apparent meaning and moral aim. We can understand that some contemporaries of Galileo,
one of the first modern scientists who had adopted the Copernican view, fought with all might
against this new world conception. They as human beings felt insulted and degraded by the
fact of the planet Earth, on which they lived, being thrown out of its traditional central posi-
tion and grace-filled view of the divinity. Yet, Copernicanism carries also a tremendous poten-
tial in itself, and this is depicted in the Libra wisdom of Jupiter. Modern astronomy, based on
Copernicus, arrived at its conclusions by countering the welter of observations by thinking.
This thinking became more and more directed toward the material world exclusively; therefore,
the universe of the stars was conceived as a continuation and transposition out into cosmic
space of the material properties of the Earth. However, we can have the hope that with the
cultivation and spiritual conviction born of thinking, a future humanity will penetrate to new
and self-conquered spiritual conceptions of the universe that will not be founded on the atavis-
tic remnants of the ancient magical consciousness. The guarantee that this is a potential pos-
sibility is contained in the development and conclusions of atomic physics, of which we spoke
in the last issue. If this should happen, then the deed of Copernicus will have been truly a
stepping-stone on that long, painful road of human catharsis toward spiritual freedom through
thinking.
This is still more emphasized by the conjunctions of Jupiter of Copernicus with Uranus
and Neptune. These planets represent the cosmic “homesteads” of the highest principles of
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the present (April-May ‘66). Neptune on this occasion was close to its own aphelion, which
means that it reflected strongly the spiritual potential of its whole sphere. According to the
description in Rudolf Steiner’s Theosophy, the higher beings in this sphere work for the accord
of human doings with the true being of the world... “the right course of the world order.”
(May ’66 issue). From a more superficial viewpoint, it might appear that a conjunction of
Neptune and Jupiter would offer an enhancement of the described qualities. However, it is
more realistic to see in this aspect an absorption of the Neptune impacts by Jupiter. The latter
would then indicate a modification toward a higher degree of materialization. (This planet
altogether reflects tendencies of spatial and “prosperity” directed expansion, or the opposite
under corresponding circumstances). Thus this Jupiter would indeed indicate a world evolu-
tionary background of Copernicus’ deed but wrapped, as it were, in apparently “materialistic”
concepts at first. Similar aspects would then also apply to the initial conjunction of Jupiter
with Uranus in this asterogram. However, they would be more connected with the entelechy,
the spiritual thread running through the incarnations of this soul. This Uranus displayed an
inner, aspect-wise connection with Saturn at the beginning of the embryonic development, or
epoch. The two planets were then at an angular distance of 135° in the circle of the ecliptic.
At this point we must introduce certain concepts concerning these angular relationships of
the planets among themselves, apart from conjunctions and oppositions which we have en-
countered already. These relationships are technically called aspects and are built on regular
geometrical shapes inserted into the ecliptic. Thus, for instance, conjunctions and oppositions
are built on the shape of an equilateral square. Conjunctions are aspects in which two or more
planets meet in one corner of a square (position 1 in Fig. 11), oppositions if they stand in two
diametrically opposed corners (180° angular distance, position 2). Now it can happen that two
planets, or more, stand in two successive corners of a square. Then they are at an angular
distance of 90°, which is technically called a square aspect (position 3). However, it can also
happen that two or more planets move into a position like 4. Then they are at an angular
distance of 135°, and we must insert another equilateral square into the first one standing at an
angle of 45° to the latter, in order to demonstrate the relationship graphically. The squares in
the diagram can, of course, be rotated in the ecliptic (likewise the triangles in Fig. 12); they are
not bound to the given positions.
These aspects simply mean relationships between planets on the basis of their individual
and momentary positions in the ecliptic or the Zodiac. The twelve ecliptic “signs” and the
twelve constellations have characteristics that can be likened to the four elements: fire, air,
water, and earth, and to the four temperaments: the choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melan-
cholic. These we have inserted in the diagram, whereby we must not be tempted into generali-
zations; nevertheless, each constellation manifests a degree of individual “color”.
Now, in the case of a conjunction, it happens that planets meet under the impression of
the same elemental or temperamental color. Then it can be that they enhance each other’s
workings. They can also frustrate each other to the point of ineffectiveness. In order to decide
what they might do, one has to study the nature of the planets involved and their setting in the
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Figure 11
Phlegmatic
Water
Choleric
Fire Sanguine
Air
Melancholic Melancholic
Earth Earth
Sanguine Choleric
Air Fire
Phlegmatic
Water Phlegmatic
Water
Choleric Sanguine
Fire Air
Figure 12
Melancholic
Earth
totality of the cosmic configuration at the time of the aspect. A totally different matter, of
course, is the reaction of the human being. The latter cannot be foreseen, according to pre-
scribed formulas, but will be in accord with our moral and characterological disposition. For
instance, rain is an objective fact in nature, but individual human beings react differently to it.
Likewise, our reaction to cosmic events is a matter of the moral stamina that we acquire in life,
which can even be consciously cultivated.
All the other aspects constitute the most varied combinations of these “colors”. Opposi-
tions bring about confrontations of “kindred colors”, in a sense, like the choleric and the
sanguine or the phlegmatic and the melancholic temperaments. Squares would confront un-
congenial temperaments, in a purely cosmic sense, such as Fire/Choleric (Aries) and Water/
Phlegmatic (Cancer) or Air/Sanguine (Gemini) and Earth/Melancholic (Virgo). However,
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their initial lack of compliance can be transformed into constructive cooperation, in one way
or another, depending on the presence of mind of human beings involved in them. Therefore,
the still much feared oppositions and square aspects need not work out in a detrimental or
irredeemable sense. The same applies to the aspects built on two equilateral squares inter-
secting (see Fig. 11). There it can happen that, for instance, Fire (Leo) and Earth (Capricorn)
are confronting each other (called sesquisquare of 135°), under somewhat modified circum-
stances, or Air (Aquarius) and Water (Pisces), which is a semi-square of 45° distance. [For
example: 5 to 20 .]
The aspects which are built on the shape of the equilateral triangle are of a totally different
nature. For instance, the so-called trine, or 120° distance, combines elements or temperaments
of the same category. For instance, planets in Aries and Leo, or Aries-Sagittarius, Leo-Sagit-
tarius would be impressed by the choleric temperament, always in a cosmic sense, and/or by
the element of Fire. Therefore, these aspects constitute initially a harmony, as opposed to
most of the aspects built on the square. However, this can lead to stagnation, even to a kind of
inefficient “unworldliness”, whereas those of the square lead right down to the physical mate-
rial world where, for instance, the four elements rule and sharp corners might have to be
negotiated. It is interesting to note that conjunctions can apply to both geometrical figures, to
the equilateral square and triangle.
The sextile aspect, an angular relationship of 60°, stands on similar grounds. However, in
order to demonstrate this aspect graphically we have to insert two equilateral triangles into the
circle of the ecliptic. Then planets that form this relationship would occupy corners of each
triangle nearest to each other, for instance A and B in the diagram. Thus there would come
into being combinations of naturally more congenial elements, like Fire-Air or Water-Earth,
which on the surface might sound desirable and good, but in actual fact could lead to frustra-
tion if they are not employed constructively.
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At the beginning of the month, another occultation of Saturn by the Moon will take place.
This is one of a whole series of occultations, the first one happened in April (see April issue)
and will recur every month during this present year and once more in January 1968. It is
noteworthy that this is connected in time, in a wider sense, with Saturn’s crossing of the vernal
point on March 3. Earlier, at the beginning of the year, Saturn entered the constellation of
Pisces. This combination of events seems to be pointing out that the human being should
exercise at the present moment, more than before, presence of mind and inner wakefulness. A
superior (behind and out in space beyond the Sun) conjunction of Mercury with the Sun will
follow. The planet will at the same time be in its own ascending node, meaning that it will
ascend above the plane of the ecliptic. This can be regarded as the height of a cycle of Mer-
cury, when the planet was in inferior conjunction with the Sun (in front of the latter, between
Earth and Sun), which will come to a conclusion with another such inferior conjunction in July.
The Sun will be in opposition to Neptune, which appears in the heliocentric as a conjunction
of the Earth and Neptune. This will approximately accompany the transition of Neptune
from the region of the constellation of Libra and its moving toward Scorpio, after being in
Libra a good many years. Mars will then become direct (D in the ephemeris) after having been
retrograde below the constellation Virgo. It did not perform a loop on this occasion, as Venus
and Mercury mostly do when they come between Earth and Sun, but rather a hairpin curve.
We pointed out in the Star Journal for Feb. ‘66 that these oppositions—in connection with
the retrograde movements of the planet—march through the Zodiac in the course of succeed-
ing, similar events. This takes a time of about 15 to 17 years. They alternate during the same
interval with 8 conjunctions of Mars with the Sun, which always happen approximately in the
opposite part of the Zodiac. Thus we can follow up the career of the present opposition of
Mars to the Sun. It happened before in:
1950 (March 23) in 182° 1920 (April 21) in 211°
1935 (April 6) in 196° 1903 (April 20) in 210°
1918 (March 15) in 174° 1888 (April 11) in 202°
All these dates were potent moments in modern history and are worthwhile to study. Par-
ticularly the last one, in 1888, was associated, for instance, with certain political changes in
Germany that were largely responsible for some of the events in 1914 and later. During the
same year of 1888 and the following, the final mental breakdown of the German philosopher
Nietzsche occurred.
We will now go still further with the description of possible angular relationships, or as-
pects, among the planets. First, we will insert into Fig. 12 of the April issue, another two
triangles and thus get Fig. 13. The corners of all four triangles touch the twelve “signs” of the
ecliptic, or the constellations of the Zodiac. It can now happen that planets occupy two neigh-
boring corners of two triangles, for in stance, A and B. This is technically called a semi-sextile
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which constitutes an angular distance of 30°. It would combine succeeding elements or, tem-
peramental colors, such as Fire-choleric and Earth-melancholic or Earth-melancholic and Air-
sanguine, etc. (Compare with Fig. 11 in April issue). Thus tensions might be created that
could, nevertheless, be worked out harmoniously, if properly handled. The apparent contra-
dictions could even complement each other. The redemption might lie in a consequent evolu-
tion, for instance, from Cancer to Leo.
Figure 13 Figure 14
Astrology recognizes still more aspects. One of them, an angular distance of 150°, rests on
a combination of the square of 90° and the sextile of 60°. We simply go along from one corner
of the equilateral square to the following one, and still further to the corner of an equilateral
triangle, which has been erected in one of the four points of the square as it is done in Fig. 14.
Thus we have obtained between the objects A and B an angle of 150°. The traditional name of
this aspect is quincunx. It combines elements that are, on the surface at least, uncongenial and,
therefore, need extra efforts for handling.
Figure 15
There exists another family of aspects that can be devel-
oped from an equilateral pentagon, or pentagram. This creates
angles of 72° and 144° (Fig. 15). In astrology they are called t
this geometric shape is the spatial principle underlying the con-
junction cycles of the planet Venus with the Sun. (See Star Jour-
nal, March ‘66.) Therefore the quintile and the bi-quintile as-
pects have characteristics somewhat similar to the planet and its
sphere.
According to the heliocentric world conception the orbit of Venus lies inside that of the
Earth, next to the latter. Therefore, Venus is the planet, coming closest to the Earth on the
inside, in the case of an inferior conjunction. On the other hand, the orbit of Mars is outside
that of our own planet. It comes closest to the Earth on the occasion of an opposition of
Mars to the Sun. Thus the Earth is carried, as it were, by the orbits of Mars and Venus. With
these facts, two dynamic principles are connected that are decisive for the whole evolution of
our planet. If we study the properties of the sphere of Mars closely, we become aware that it
123
has a hand in the precipitation of the essence of the spirit into physical-material consistency
(see Feb. ’66 issue). This happened chiefly during what one might call the first half of the
Earth evolution and creation of nature.
The sphere of Venus lies, however, already on the road toward dissolution of the physical-
material condition. (See the “wave” theory in Dec. ’65 issue). Therefore, we associate this planet
and its sphere with the gradual spiritualization of Earth existence, which has barely begun and
is potentially a matter of the future or the second half of the evolution of our planet.
This is the reason why the aspects built on the pentagon, the quintile and bi-quintile are
chiefly associated with matters of the mind and the spiritual development of the human being
and the human race. (These aspects are not used very much in classical astrology.)
An efficient knowledge of the aspects and their workings is an excellent instrument for the
investigation of a cosmic configuration. It becomes obvious for one who tries to enter more
deeply into these matters, that the exclusive study of one single planet is not enough. For
instance, in the case of an asterogram of incarnation, all the planets sound together like a
symphonic structure. The general motive that might be inaugurated by one planet, usually
Saturn, is taken up by the other planets and modified into details reflecting the karma of a
person. In order to identify the general score of this symphony, as it were, we need the science
of the aspects as expression of interplanetary relationship.
In the last issue, we pointed out that Uranus in the epoch of Copernicus was at an angular
distance of 135° from Saturn (sesquisquare). Jupiter was drawn into the same aspect a little
later, when it came into geocentric conjunction to Uranus.
The relationship between Saturn and Uranus we find particularly illuminating with regard
to the “greater ego” of Copernicus, that ego which never really enters the single incarnation
but accompanies the soul through the repeated Earth lives, as it were, as a guardian of the
spiritual continuity in them. Now, we notice that the aspect connection between Saturn and
Uranus spells out, symbolically, a difficulty between them. They are, so to speak, at “cross-
purposes”, if we contemplate once more the geometrical foundation of the sesquisquare. The
two squares (April issue, Fig. 11) are at right angles.
How did this manifest in the life of Copernicus? Here we have a striking illustration of a
cosmic fact that Rudolf Steiner described on the basis of his spiritual insight. Why did
Copernicus lend a hand to the creation of a world conception ending up in materialism, as it
happened to many other souls of the present age? This is due, Rudolf Steiner explains, to the
fact that on Mars, and in its sphere, a great decline had set in that became apparent during the
Middle Ages, just about the time of Copernicus. Big wars raged on the planet, of a spiritual
kind though. Souls who had scientific inclinations and descended into incarnation might have
aggregated in moving through the sphere of Mars’ materialistic impulses. (Recall what we said
in the Feb. ’66 issue about Mars and its connection with the physical-object world; and also Dr.
Steiner’s Life between Death and a New Birth in Relationship to the Cosmic Facts 1912-13, lecture V.)
Copernicus was one of these souls, Rudolf Steiner explained. We find it illustrated in the
chart by the conjunctions of Jupiter with Uranus and Neptune during the gestation of
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Copernicus. They happened close to the descending node of Mars, particularly the conjunc-
tion with Neptune. This is further emphasized by the sesquisquare (135°) of Uranus to Saturn,
to which was added a quincunx (150°) aspect of Neptune to Saturn at the time of the epoch.
We indicated earlier that also this aspect reflects certain difficulties. Thus Jupiter indicates, by
its involvement in the two conjunctions close to the Mars node—a very pertinent element
expressing the life of the sphere of Mars—that prenatal experiences on Mars of the nature
described above played into the life of Copernicus. This is an example describing the signifi-
cance of the aspects between the planets and the relationship of planets to the spheres that can
be discerned in the heliocentric chart with the means of nodes and also perihelion and aph-
elion positions.
However, we want to study that Jupiter of Copernicus, and also Uranus and Neptune,
more closely. Of the many historic examples which we have collected we mention two, Harun
al-Rashid and Henry the Navigator. When Harun al-Rashid, Caliph of Baghdad, died (March
24, 809), Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus were all standing close together in the constellation of
Scorpio, at some 20° distance from the descending Mars node but still close enough to be
considered essential. Thus we are reminded of the Jupiter of Copernicus, but also of Saturn
because it was about opposite the Saturn of Copernicus. But, what had Copernicus to do with
Harun al-Rashid? Rashid was not only an aggressive leader of Mohammedanism in his realm
but also a great scholar. He patronized, among other things, the kind of Arabic science that
sprang up amidst Mohammedanism. It favored a scientific approach that later on became
apparent among the Mohammedan Moors in Spain, whose main representative was Averroes
(1126-1198). It was an approach in science which, one might say, transported the aggressive-
ness of early Mohammedanism into scientific endeavors and created world conceptions, or
apparent leanings, that introduced intellectualism and rudimentary materialistic ideas before
humanity was ready to cope morally with them. As a matter of fact, personalities like the
Prophet Mohammed, Harun al-Rashid, and Averroes, had at the moment of their deaths es-
tablished close relationships to the sphere of Mars, which was indicated in corresponding
relationships of the planets to the nodal and perihelion-aphelion lines of that sphere. We can,
therefore, imagine the kind of etheric biographical essence that Harun al-Rashid handed on at
the time of his death to the cosmos. This was not lost. It lived on in the universe and might
have been picked up again by kindred souls at the time of their incarnation. (We refer to our
description in the December ’66 issue). Something of this order seems to have come to ex-
pression in the relationship between the asterogram of the death of Harun al-Rashid and that
of the incarnation of Copernicus, and became one of the foundations of the world concep-
tions of Copernicus—an association with declining Mars forces. An additional illustration is
the fact that Uranus in the chart of Copernicus was in the same sidereal position where it had
been at the time of the death of Mohammed in 632. After 10 orbits it had returned there.
The connection with the Jupiter of the death of Henry the Navigator (1394-1460) is of a
totally different nature. That Jupiter was exactly in the nodal line of Mars, similar to the Jupiter
in the incarnation asterogram of Copernicus. This leads us to very significant viewpoints.
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Henry the Navigator was Grandmaster of the Order of Christ, which was the successor of
the Templars in Portugal after their destruction in the beginning of the 14th century. He was
the inaugurator of a number of expeditions along the West Coast of Africa that penetrated
deep into the south. The idea was chiefly to find the seaway to the East Indies. His ships were
usually flying the flag of his Order. Thus he carried the spirit of the Order of the Templars
forward in his days. The Templars were, indeed, a kind of precursors of the exploring and
inventive impulses of our present age. Through their East-West associations (Asia Minor and
Europe) they established, for instance, the first rudiments of an international trade and bank-
ing system. They had imbued the heavens with the heritage of their impulses at the time of
their painful destruction. Much of this heritage was taken up again by the great pioneers of
discovery and investigation of our age. Henry the Navigator was one among them. This can
indeed be discerned in his asterogram of incarnation. He, in turn, had bequeathed this impulse
to the heavens at the time of his death, through the medium of Jupiter in the node of Mars,
and much of this seems to have been remembered, as it were, by the Jupiter of Copernicus,
who realized it in his life. We certainly do not imagine that it was a personal memory but a
universal impulse of discovery. It is interesting to realize that the Neptune of Copernicus’
chart, which was in conjunction with Jupiter during his gestation, was indeed in a similar zodia-
cal position as at the time of the destruction of the Templars, about 1310-1314. The two events
were just one orbital interval of Neptune apart. Here too we can trace a kind of spiritual lineage.
With all these interconnections in the history of humanity, expressed in the image of the
heavens, the old question rises again: Are we bound by these affiliations? Is there no escape
possible from them? Certainly, all these connections are manifestations of our karma, means
of achieving the gradual catharsis of our individuality and of the human race. However, they
are not made to subjugate us but to provide chances of redemption of the past and of evolu-
tion to ever greater perfection. This can be practically demonstrated in connection with an-
other conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus in history (like the one in the chart of Copernicus)
that happened in 1900, only one constellation further on in the Zodiac, in Scorpio. It is asso-
ciated with two asterograms of death, that of Soloviev (August 13, 1900) and Nietzsche (Au-
gust 25, 1900), and with an important event in the life of Rudolf Steiner.
Nietzsche, the German philosopher, was born in 1844. A short time after his birth a
conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus took place in the constellation of Pisces. He was a mighty
fighter against the cultural and religious shortcomings and abuses of his age. For a long time
he was regarded by the spiritually searching German youth as a kind of prophet. However, in
the experience of all-inundating materialism, he eventually broke clown and became insane
(1889). He was faced with a similar proposition as Copernicus, expressed in part by the con-
junction of Jupiter and Uranus. But as Copernicus responded to the challenge by laying the
foundation of an astronomy of purely material celestial entities, Nietzsche was unable to break
through materialism and find a congenial spiritual world conception.
Soloviev, an inspiring Russian philosopher, lecturer, and writer, was born in 1853, when
Jupiter was in Scorpio 4 cycles earlier. He had decisive spiritual experiences that he described
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in a poem entitled Three Visions. As a child he had a vision of the Hagia (Saint) Sophia, the
Divine Sophia, during a religious service in a Russian cathedral. This experience repeated itself
while he was a student of theology at London. Shortly after that, he had a vision in the desert
of Egypt, as he says, of the unimaginable glory and heavenly beauty of the Divine Sophia. All
three visions are connected in some way with that Jupiter in Scorpio. Here, then, was a human
being who countered the materialism of his age with direct spiritual experience.
Rudolf Steiner’s great deed was that he did not reject the science of nature, as possibly
mysticism might do; rather, he promoted the idea that it needs to be enhanced and accompa-
nied by a science of the spirit. Thus he actively evolved spiritual science, with regard to ap-
proach and method, in great detail over a span of 25 years through intensive work and advice.
From the beginning he emphasized that he intended to continue and evolve the work of Goethe
as a scientist. Thus it is significant that one of his first lectures as a scientist of the spirit, in
1900, was on the subject of Goethe’s Secret Revelation (published in 1933 by Percy Lund Humphries
& Co., Ltd., London). This revelation is contained, foremost, as a grand imagination in Goethe’s
so-called Legend of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily. In essence, he describes a community of
human beings who eventually build a bridge over a huge river separating two countries. These
can be likened, on the one hand, to the land of the spirit that we normally enter only through
death, the domain of the beautiful Lily, and on the other hand to the material world, in whose
ground tremendous treasures and beings of great wisdom are hidden. Through the labors and
the sacrifice of the small community involved, the bridge could be built and, from that day on,
human beings were enabled to freely pass from one country to the other.
Rudolf Steiner fulfilled Goethe’s imagination and opened up for this present age the pos-
sibility to build the bridge and enter the “other country” in free self-consciousness and full self-
control. Furthermore, it is interesting and illuminating to see that it happened with the accom-
paniment of a star configuration that played into the life of Copernicus with completely differ-
ent tendencies. We have a connection in life with the stars in order to constructively answer
their challenges as a spiritually free being.
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We continue with the asterogram of Copernicus. Now that we have discussed the implica-
tions of Saturn and Jupiter, also Uranus and Neptune, we go on to Mars. At the time of the
epoch (see graph in Feb. ’67 issue) Mars entered the constellation of Leo. If we now recall
what we said earlier about this constellation (end of Aug. ’66 and beginning of Sept. ’66), we
can easily discern the association with astronomy. Thus Mars emerges as a cosmic symbol of
the active force and tendency in Copernicus with which he confronted the physical material
world in the special manner and direction that he did. (Compare also with our characterization
of Mars in Feb. 66 issue). The uniqueness of these facts as they appeared in the life of Copernicus
as an individual is furthermore emphasized by a quincunx aspect, or 72° angular distance be-
tween Mars and Jupiter at the time of the epoch. Thereby, a deeper, one can even say a
spiritual, relationship is symbolized between the Mars quality of Copernicus and the complex
expressed by the associations of Jupiter that we enumerated in April ’66 issue.
Earlier we pointed out our impression, gained in many years of study, that the positions of
the planets at birth express connections and reflections of incarnations of earlier personalities.
This seems to be borne out in the position of Mars at the birth of Copernicus. It was then,
heliocentrically, in the constellation of Capricorn, which coincided with almost similar posi-
tions of this planet at the time of the death of Mohammed (632) and Harunal-Rashid (809).
Thus we see that the motive revealed in Jupiter (see Apr. ‘67) was indeed taken up by Mars and
carried further.
However, one should not underrate the significance of the impulse in history that was
expressed by this Mars. The latter was in the same position as in the case of Copernicus at the
time of birth of the following personalities. We bear in mind that in all these nativities Mars
had about the same prenatal career, that means from epoch up to the moment of birth. All the
following data refer to heliocentric positions.
Paracelsus (born 1493, when Mars was in 316°), the famous physician who still had a
profound knowledge of the connection of our illnesses with the stars; on the other
hand, he also insisted that the physician read the “book of nature” and study the
manifold elemental interconnections in order to be a good healer.
Galileo Galilei (born 1564, when Mars was in 300°), the scientist and astronomer who
followed the ideas of Copernicus, which led to his prosecution by the Inquisition.
Goethe, born 1749, with Mars in 314°.
Hahnemann (born 1755, Mars then in 308°), the founder of homeopathy and propo-
nent of the idea that high dilutions of physical substances for medical purposes
liberate the inherent spiritual potentials.
Tolstoi, the well-known Russian writer, born 1828, Mars in 323°.
Soloviev (born 1853, Mars in 308°), another Russian writer and philosopher (see Apr.
’67 issue).
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These associations do support the idea that the deed of Copernicus, as much as it must be
seen in the light of his personal destiny, at least as a set of potential possibilities, was not just a
freak accident in history, as many people might be inclined to think, but that it was in line with
the, sometimes painful, road of cultural development of modern humanity. It was a necessity
that cleared the vistas into the future, although it eliminated finally the last remnants of the
wonderful, ancient spiritual proximity of human beings to the stars.
On such a basis one can now proceed to delineate the many implications of Mars with
regard to the time element in the life of Copernicus. The graph in the Feb. ’67 issue quite
obviously implies that Mars constantly changed its position and relationships to other planets
during his embryonic development. Since the time between epoch and birth is associated, as
we said, with the seven year rhythms in life, we must also accept the possibility that the Mars
forces constantly changed their characteristics in the life of Copernicus, according to the move-
ments of the astronomical Mars. We could, for instance, draw up a heliocentric equivalent of
the prenatal chart of Copernicus. Thus we would discover interesting facts that would amplify
what we said already about this asterogram. For instance, we would find that Mars came into
conjunction with Uranus during the 4th Moon cycle and stepped into its own descending node
and conjunction with Neptune around the middle of the 5th cycle. This would coincide, in
terms of projections of the Moon cycles, with the time approximately between 1497 and 1505,
i.e., Copernicus’ sojourn in Italy when he acquired the idea of the heliocentric universe.
Thus, at Copernicus’ incarnation this Mars was an image of his, one might say, professional
and vocational involvement in the physical material world. Even his preoccupations with medi-
cine are reflected in it, indicated by the similarity with the Mars at the birth of Paracelsus,
although he was by no means such a dynamic and revolutionary character as Paracelsus in this
field. He was rather conservative and stuck to the ancient medical authors and prescriptions.
However, one of his biographers (see Arthur Koestler, Sleepwalkers) says that he was far better
known in Erinland, where he lived, as a physician than as an astronomer.
Venus is of a totally different character. We said already in the last issue, that the potential
and the beings associated with this sphere are of a spiritualizing, and even redeeming nature,
against the precipitating quality of Mars. The details of Venus and its sphere reflect possible
confrontations of a human life with our total, not only human, environment. This is, of
course, caused by karma or destiny, rooted in earlier incarnations, and certainly not for the
purpose of any kind of punishment but for catharsis and evolution of self.
The geocentric prenatal curve of Venus is very illuminating (see January ‘67). It started in
the constellation of Aries and arrived at birth in Pisces. In fact it was in the ecliptic projection
point of the fixed star Alpha, or Alpherat, of Andromeda, which is above that portion of
Pisces. Thus one might say that this Venus “left out or untouched” the concerns of Pisces and
the whole complex of Andromeda (see Nov. ’66). How did this reflect itself into the life and
destiny of Copernicus?
The story of Andromeda, together with Pegasus, is the story of the fate of our present age,
starting in 1413 AD with the rise of a new consciousness in humanity. The vernal point, i.e.,
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the point where the Sun appears to stand in the ecliptic on March 21st, had by then moved (it is
in constant movement, amounting to about 1° in 72 years) into the middle of the constellation
of Pisces. The latter constellation consists of the effigies of two fish. One is turned toward
the constellations Aries and Andromeda, the other one swims toward Aquarius. They are
connected with each other by a ribbon made of faint stars.
The double faced aspect of Pisces is of greatest significance; it is particularly revealing
with regard to the character of the present age of Pisces. The fish which is swimming toward
Aries signifies the innate tendency in this age to fall back, i.e., stand on the tenets of the
preceding age of Aries when the evolution of humanity was inspired by the vernal point in that
constellation. What was the character of that age (747 BC, foundation year of Rome, till 1413
AD)? A new capacity broke into human consciousness at that time, the faculty of thinking,
particularly philosophical thinking. Before that, humanity of the leading Egypto-Chaldean
civilizations still had a degree of clairvoyant consciousness. This faded out more and more,
caused by the change of the human organization, which became increasingly accustomed to
the physical material world. Particularly the brain became fully developed, up to the standards
and capacities of the modern age. This is actually expressed by a myth concerning Zeus and
his association with Aries (see July ‘66 Star Journal). Once, so the myth says, Zeus had a split-
ting headache. Someone in his Olympic environment had the idea to split his skull open with
an axe, in order to cure him. Among humans this would be an intolerably rough handling of a
patient, but Zeus was relieved, because out of his brain ascended Pallas Athene, the Goddess,
in full armor!
Myths of this order intend to describe the secrets of the physiological development of the
human race. Minerva, whose Greek name was Athene, seems to imply the meaning of “to
wake” and “to know” (see H. A. Guerber The Myths of Greece and Rome, George G. Hatrap &
Co.), whereas the name Minerva appears to be connected with the Latin word “mens”, the
Greek “menos” and the English “mind”. Thus she would stand for the spiritual origin of that
power in the human being that came to expression in the development of Greek philosophy,
of the realistic attitude toward physical existence on the Earth, manifesting in Greek art. Fi-
nally, the organizational and down-to-Earth attitude of the Romans became a striking manifes-
tation of the Aries qualities, at least, one possible manifestation. It is the development of a
thinking that came to rest and depended increasingly on the senses and the world we can
contact and grasp through them.
Thus the meaning of the fish that swims toward Aries is the obligation of our modern age
to cultivate the heritage of the preceding civilization of Aries further. This is the foundation
of the sciences of nature which came strongly to the foreground soon after 1413, the com-
mencement of the modern age. However, if our thinking stands only on the impressions that
we receive through our senses, then civilization develops the tendency to slip more and more
into materialism, which fails to bring a positive meaning into our lives and the whole universe.
In order to prepare for the needs of future humanity, this present age must also comply with
the development of capacities that are implied in the fish swimming toward Aquarius.
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This western fish actually lies on the back of the Pegasus, below the latter’s wings, accord-
ing to the ancient star maps. We have already introduced the significance of the constellation
of Pegasus, the image of “winged intelligence” (see Nov. ‘66). How can we imagine in our
present age the realization of “winged intelligence”? It was precisely defined in Rudolf Steiner’s
Philosophy of Spiritual Activity as intuitive thinking: “In the perception only a part of reality is
present, and... the other part that belongs to it and first allows it to appear as full reality, is
experienced in the act of permeating the perception with thinking... What arises in conscious-
ness as thinking... (is) not a shadowy copy of some reality but spiritual reality itself… it be-
comes present in our consciousness through intuition. Intuition is a conscious experience of a
purely spiritual content, taking place in the sphere of pure spirit...” (Chapter IX.)
The publication of the Philosophy of Spiritual Activity (1894) is also directly connected with
the constellation of Pisces and, thereby, also with Pegasus. At the time when Rudolf Steiner
must have prepared and written it, Jupiter was in Pisces (1892) and Saturn opposite in Virgo.
In fact, the two planets were in exact opposition before Easter 1892, and Jupiter on that occa-
sion was relatively close to the fixed star Alpha-Pegasus, in the wing of the horse.
This, then, characterizes the spiritual, cultural situation that humanity will have to face to
an ever increasing measure during the Age of Pisces (1413 AD-3573 AD). On the one hand,
by the development of thinking during the preceding age of Aries, humanity had achieved a
high degree of emancipation from the heritage of an ancient connection and awareness of the
reality of the spiritual world but which had sunk more and more into religious dogma. How-
ever, at the same time the danger grew of complete detachment from the spirit. This is only
too apparent in our modern age. A thinking that can accept only sense impressions as sole
reality divests us of our spiritual dignity and takes all sense out of existence. We must learn to
develop the capacities which are indicated by the western of the two fishes in that constellation
and use our spiritual freedom to find new access to spiritual reality by our own efforts. Every
human being is capable of such efforts, and Rudolf Steiner has given plenty of advice on this.
We have thus a foundation for the delineation of the Venus in the chart of Copernicus. At
the time of the epoch it started in the constellation of Aries. Thus we can assume that
Copernicus, in the realm of relationship to environment and reality (which would be the indi-
cation implied by Venus ), had a connection with the kind of thinking consciousness that the
Greco-Roman Aries culture developed. Some of the Greek astronomers, like Philolaus (about
5th century), Heraclitus (about 375-310), and Aristarchus (about 310-230) ventured already
then (in pre-Christian times), to conceive the universe as heliocentric, although for their vision
it was still somewhat permeated by spiritual forces. For such a kind of association of Copernicus’
thinking, also speaks the fact that Venus was in superior conjunction with the Sun in the Libra-
Scorpion region of the Zodiac during his gestation (the Scorpion would refer us back even to
Egypt which cultivated essentially a heliocentric worldview (also see March ’67).
At birth Venus was in the constellation of Pisces, as we said earlier, below the head-star of
Andromeda. Without doubt, the suggestion (and no more) here was to develop “intuitive
thinking”. Copernicus was not able to do this. He combined his perception with a thinking in
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which only a shadow of the glory of Greek thinking was left. He lived at a time when western
humanity had lost the old kind of spirit awareness. The last evening glow of Scholasticism had
died, as it were, into the inwardness and Knowing Unknowingness (De docta ignorantia by Cusanus)
of medieval mysticism, and human beings of the modern age had not yet grown so mature that
they could reach out for the new cognition of the spirit of which Rudolf Steiner’s message
speaks. The result was a thinking about the universe that opened the door to the conception of
a cosmos of material balls rolling through space, controlled by purely mechanical laws.
Yet, we said earlier that Venus and its sphere is associated with spiritualizing and redeeming
cosmic impulses. Where can we find it in this chart? There is a promise for the future in it but
apparently not an element that Copernicus was able to work out during his incarnation.
The superior conjunction of Venus, mentioned above, did not always take place in that
part of the Zodiac. We explained in the Mar. ‘66 Star Journal that these conjunction points, five
in number, are steadily moving backwards in the ecliptic. The one in 1472 is at present just
entering the constellation of Taurus (superior conjunction in 1968, 1976, and so on). This is
that part of the Zodiac through which Saturn moved during the gestation of Copernicus. We
would see indicated in this fact the future possibility of a release of the so-called Copernican
world conception from its banishment into materialistic perspectives. In fact, a number of
signs point toward such a possibility during coming decades, or even centuries, when that
conjunction point will move into Aries and finally, into Pisces. This would bring us up to the
21st and 22nd centuries. It is possible that humanity will have by then evolved the capacity to
recognize again a spiritual world working behind the external appearance of the universe, and
will even bring about a practical reconciliation between the Ptolemaic (geocentric) and the
Copernican (heliocentric) conceptions.
The heliocentric positions of Venus in this asterogram are very illuminating. At the epoch
the planet was close to the perihelion (nearest point to the Sun) of Mars. Shortly after that it
came into opposition to Mars itself. Then, at birth it was standing almost exactly in the ascend-
ing node of Mars. This explains from another angle, the karmic difficulties that Copernicus
carried in himself. Venus was, in a sense, rather oppressed by the elements connected with the
sphere of Mars. It would indicate that he harbored in his being affinities stemming from a past
incarnation that would not let him fulfill the implications of Venus in connection with the
constellation of Pisces in the geocentric chart.
The position of Venus at the time of the epoch was similar to Venus at the time of the
death of Harun al-Rashid (809), whom we mentioned before in connection with Mars. We see
in this no more than a pointer to the cultural setting where this soul might have acquired certain
tendencies of soul attitude. However, we should very emphatically state that we do not, and
cannot, suggest any direct, or personal connections of Copernicus with the historic personali-
ties mentioned here, in the sense of earlier incarnations of this soul.
The planet Mercury and its sphere is connected with our astral organization and, particu-
larly, with that part of it which finds its expression in the will and in limb activity (see Mar. ’66
issue). However, over such unavoidable generalizations, we must not forget that this cosmic
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element also works into the intellect of the human being and into the middle sphere, the
feeling. In the cosmos the spheres of the planets interpenetrate each other, and also the vari-
ous functions in the human organization interpenetrate.
In the geocentric chart of Copernicus, Mercury started out close to the positions of Sun
and Saturn at the time of the epoch. Therefore, we would expect that all the deeper karmic
implications of Saturn (Mar. ’67 issue) lived strongly as will impulses in Copernicus and keenly
reflected themselves into the intellect. What this must have meant comes, furthermore, to
expression in the fact that Mercury was almost exactly in the vernal point at birth. Copernicus
in his time was a “modern” human being. He was well aware of the “modern” character of his
ideas on astronomy and also that this kind of modernism didn’t stand much of a chance
against the powers of tradition, particularly the powers that were represented by the Church of
which he was a member. Up to the last moment, he resisted the desire of some friends in his
environment to have his work on heliocentric astronomy published. The story might be true
that only on his death bed did he receive the first copy of his book into his hands. He knew
how the influential people of his Church would react, because he was aware that they would
feel as though they had lost the ground under their feet if the Earth were no longer the safe,
fixed center point in the universe as in bygone centuries. And indeed, other adherents of the
heliocentric view after him, like the famous scientist Galileo, had to suffer intensely from that
bitter antagonism.
We have not yet discussed our approach to a delineation of Sun (Earth) and Moon in such
a chart. These are rather complicated and involved matters that we must leave for a later
occasion.
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The Earth on July 5 will be farthest away from the Sun. This happens once every year,
about the same time. This rhythm of our planet being nearest to the Sun (beginning of Janu-
ary) and farthest away (July) is associated with definite life processes of the Earth. The perihe-
lion-aphelion axis of our planet is very slowly moving through the ecliptic, and, of course, also
through the constellations of the fixed star Zodiac. Far back in time, the perihelion (nearest
position of the Earth) took place in midsummer. This coincided with the last Ice Age.
In the course of our delineation of the birth chart concerning Copernicus, we frequently
referred to positions of planets in preceding centuries and in connection with historic person-
alities. We followed, thereby, the idea that the generations of humanity prepare and cultivate,
as it were, the “soil” of the cosmos by their own involvement at birth and death, so that
following generations can build their own existences on the heritages and evolve them ever
further. Of course, underlying such ideas is our realization (by working with the asterogram of
death) that nothing of what a human being establishes as a complex of experiences and achieve-
ments is lost and forgotten in the universe.
In order to build up something like a practical repertory of positions of the planets in
historic incarnation and death charts, we will now follow the planets through the ecliptic and
the fixed star Zodiac. We will start with Saturn in the Constellation of Aries from the heliocen-
tric viewpoint and in connection with asterograms of death:
Dante, death 14 September 1321, Saturn in 28° of the ecliptic. Here we must take into
consideration that, in order to find the position in the fixed star Zodiac, we must
add about 8½° for the precession of the equinox. Thus we arrive at about 36½° of
the present ecliptic, beyond which we would find the stars of Aries. Concerning
the precession of the vernal point or equinox and the apparent discrepancy be-
tween “signs” of the ecliptic and fixed star constellations of the Zodiac see Jun.
’66. Dante wrote a good number of works, but the best known is the Divina Comedia,
the very detailed description of the poet’s visionary journey through hell, purga-
tory and celestial paradise under the guidance of Virgil, the Roman poet. He de-
scribes the sufferings and experiences of the souls of the dead in the various spheres
of the spiritual world in truly cosmological perspectives. Dante gives, as the date
of the inner experience that became the basis of his great poem, the Good Friday
before Easter 1300. In that moment the planet Jupiter was in the constellation
Aries, in the place into which Saturn stepped at the time of Dante’s death. Thus his
Saturn “remembered” and eventually “received” the imperishable ether substance
of the Divina Comedia. Other souls met, as it were, this monumental substance.
They met also many other imprints of a similar nature that were embedded in this
region of Aries because of these souls’ affinity to it. This happened in the process
of their descent from cosmic heights into earthly incarnation. It inspired them to
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corresponding deeds. One such soul was the German philosopher Schelling. When
he prepared for his incarnation (1775-1854), Jupiter was in Aries in the place where
Saturn was at the time of Dante’s death. Schelling wrote, among many other works,
a Philosophy of Revelation and a Philosophy of Mythology, and moved somewhat in a
similar direction of world conceptions as Dante, though on an entirely philosophi-
cal level. We will meet other great spirits who had similar connections with the
constellation of Aries.
Savonarola’s martyrdom took place on May 23, 1498, when Saturn had just entered the
constellation of Aries (28° of ecliptic). He was executed as the result of his con-
flict with the Pope. Indeed, the two Roman commissioners who conducted his
trial and torture had orders from the Pope that Savonarola was to die “even if he
was a second John the Baptist”. He had preached and protested against papal
corruption and thus was, in a sense, a forerunner of the Reformation, though he
had never renounced his faith in the dogmas of the Roman Church. Subsequently
the impulse with which he died was kept alive in the spiritual cosmic world, and we
find the stages of the Reformation and following historic events connected with
the place of Saturn in Aries at the time of Savonarola’s death. When Luther posted
his 95 theses of protest against the abuse of indulgences in 1517, which marked
the beginning of the Reformation in Germany, Uranus was in Aries and was op-
posed in the same moment by Mars (heliocentrically). Later, at the time of the
outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War, Pluto was in Aries and Mars in conjunction with
it. The Bohemian Protestants who negotiated at Prague with two counselors of
the Roman Catholic Majesty, the German emperor at Vienna, became so exasper-
ated that they took the two and threw them out the window. This affront naturally
led to the commencement of open hostilities.
Albrecht Dürer, the famous German painter, draftsman and engraver (died 6 April
1528) was another great spirit, at whose death Saturn (34° of ecliptic) was in Aries.
This Saturn carried with it the memory substance of the years 1513-14 in the life
of Dürer (in the sense, of earlier Saturn transits as we described it in connection
with the death asterogram of Leonardo da Vinci, see Dec. ‘66). In 1513-14 he
produced his three most famous copper engravings: Knight and Death, Melancholia (a
figure surrounded by a welter of instruments and treasures, yet apparently sub-
merged in a deep melancholic apathy), and St. Jerome in His Study. The three can be
regarded almost as an ingenious vision of the drama of the modern age of science
and invention. First the Knight moves forward in spite of the attacks of Death and
the Devil; then the modern intellect breaks down in helpless defeat, though it has
all the means of scientific investigation around it; and finally, the inspired genius in
his study breaks through to a world of spiritual illumination.
Thus we can already recognize the pattern of destinies associated with Saturn in Aries. It
appears usually connected with human lives who, on the one hand, were focii of the character-
135
istics of the particular age and human communities in which they were incarnated, and, on the
other hand, who struggled to infuse a sense of eternal human principles into it. Sometimes
they succeeded, possibly up to a point, sometimes they failed. Of those who succeeded, their
works stand out as beckoning beacons to seek the timeless, spiritual archetypes and perspec-
tives of humanity. And in this sense their impulses do work on in humanity, even if their
individual bearers were separated, to a certain extent, from such incarnations at the moment of
death. However, we should not deceive ourselves that only the great and illustrious who found
their way into the history books are representatives of these struggles. Many apparently insig-
nificant lives have manifested them in their small and, from a superficial viewpoint only, incon-
spicuous ways, by associating at death with Saturn in Aries.
We find more historic individualities connected with a Saturn in Aries at death:
Shakespeare, died 23 April 1616 (Saturn in 30°). He was one of few examples of
manhood who strikingly displayed what we said above.
John Locke, English philosopher, died 28 October 1704 (Saturn in 33°). The begin-
ning philosophic materialism of his age found an expression in him. He insisted
that only what can be physically observed could be recognized as a permissible
foundation for a philosophic world conception.
Percy B. Shelley, the English poet, died 8 July 1822 (Saturn in 33°). He was born on 4
August 1792, when Saturn was also in Aries, 26° of ecliptic, one cycle of the planet
before. Shelley was a resolute fighter against outer authority and “despotism of
custom”. Yet, “...no one had a more authentic or vivid sense of universal charity.
The same radiant enthusiasm which appeared in his poetry as idealism stamped his
speculation with the conception of perfectibility and his character with loving emo-
tion...” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Nicolai V. Gogol, the Russian novelist and dramatist, died 21 February 1852 (Saturn in
36°). The Encyclopedia Britannica says of him “... He was a great artist and though
both the comedy and the novel were ‘events’ in the history of Russia, they are what
they are because of the imaginative genius of the author. Gogol the man found
himself the hero of those who would regenerate Russia...”
F. M. Dostoievski, another famous Russian writer, died 28 January 1881 (Saturn 29°).
He searched into the deepest foundations of the Russian soul and tried to connect
them with the higher ideals of humanity. This Saturn accumulated in its position at
death Dostoievski’s experiences around 1851, when he was imprisoned at Omsk in
Siberia for supposedly having conspired against the government. This had a tre-
mendous influence on his character and brought him to find a new realization of
Christianity, akin to the deep Christianity of the Russian people.
Charles R. Darwin died 19 April 1882 (Saturn 45° and conjunct Neptune). This Saturn
accumulated in cosmic memory, among other experiences, Darwin’s participation
as a naturalist in the surveying expedition of the “Beagle” and the time immedi-
ately afterwards. This was a profound preparation for his later work. His pocket
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book for 1837 contains the words: “In July opened first notebook on Transmuta-
tion of Species. Had been greatly struck from about the month of previous March”
(while still on the voyage and just over twenty-eight years old) “on character of
South American fossils and species on Galapagos Archipelago. These facts (espe-
cially latter) origin all my views.” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Joseph M. W. Turner, the famous English landscape painter and romanticist, died 19
December 1851 (Saturn inn 33°).
Henry W. Longfellow, the American poet, died 24 March 1882 (Saturn in 44°).
Ralph W. Emerson, the great American transcendentalist, died 27 April 1882 (Saturn in
46°). Both Longfellow and Emerson are towering, in their spiritual strength, so
much above the rest of humanity that we feel we need not add any further com-
ment.
Count Leo Tolstoi died 8 (21 n.s.) November 1910 (Saturn in 34°). He presented
humanity with a wonderful description of the nature of the Russian folk-soul, and
yet his message, and particularly his battle for ideal manhood, concerns the whole
of humanity.
Mark Twain died 21 April 1910 (Saturn in 26°).
Sigmund Freud died 23 September 1939 (Saturn in 26°). We hope to speak one day in
greater detail about the latter two great personalities. At present we feel we could
not possibly characterize satisfactorily their impact on civilization with just a few
remarks.
In contrast to these imprints into the realm of the constellation of Aries by human souls
who entered the spiritual world, we will now study a few asterograms of personalities who
incarnated at times when Saturn was in that constellation, going back as far as the 16th century:
Johann V. Andreae was born on August 17, 1586 (Saturn 28°). When he was 17 years
of age, in about 1603, he wrote down in a moment of profound inspiration, The
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459, which describes the tremen-
dous inner experiences through which the mysterious founder of medieval
Rosicrucianism, whom we know only by the name of Christian Rosenkreutz, was
led. We see in the Saturn of Andreae’s nativity an indication that he had a deep
connection with cosmic initiative in his prenatal experience as expressed by Aries,
which manifests in humanity as an impulse of spiritual rejuvenation as it worked,
for instance, in that medieval Rosicrucian movement.
A study of transits, that is, of planets moving through the constellation of Aries, will reveal
the progress and development of this Rosicrucianism even in modern times. For instance, the
Great Conjunctions and oppositions of Saturn and Jupiter indicate on the cosmic clock, as it
were, such times. In 1881 there was one such conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in Aries.
Thirty years later, in 1910-1911 Saturn was again in Aries, and Jupiter was exactly opposite. In
1940-1 the two planets returned to a conjunction in Aries. All these dates were deeply associ-
137
ated with the unwritten spiritual history of humanity, when human beings went through pro-
found experiences and “initiations” in those great spiritual impulses which lived also in esoteric
Christianity as it presented itself to humanity in Rosicrucianism.
Nicolo Machiavelli, 3 May 1469, another Saturn in Aries (Saturn in 33° of ecliptic),
brought a totally different impulse, one might even say the opponent of the one
described before, at the time of his birth. He was the author of Il Principe, in which
he proposed that political crises in modern humanity, as the ones which he wit-
nessed in Italy in his own days, could be solved only by the intervention of power-
ful despots. These ideas were the exact antithesis of the impulses of esoteric Chris-
tianity, suggesting self-education and self-development in a spiritual and also in a
practical sense, as constructive solution of problems in the social sphere.
Thomas Hobbes, who was born on April 5, 1588, brought another version of similar
views, but in this case founded on the science of nature in the modern age, through
his philosophy. During his embryonic development Saturn moved through Aries
(at birth in 49° of ecliptic). Through “…long life experience and intensive
contemplation”… he came to the conclusion that everything in nature happened
according to mechanical principles. Also human society and the individual human
being are nothing but machines or other “more complicated machines”.
Nicolas Culpeper, the English herbalist, was another personality at whose birth on 18
October 1616, Saturn was in Aries (37° of ecliptic). He had a remarkable destiny
and, although he died at the age of thirty-eight, he compiled seventeen books of
which his English Physician Enlarged is best known. Perhaps his greatest deed, which
is not yet very well appreciated by modern humanity, was his endeavor to recognize
the cosmic dynamic forces working in plants that are used for medication. He
contemplated the connection of these herbs with the planets. A future humanity
might discover constructive use of such associations of the plant world with the
cosmos.
Benjamin Franklin was a person who displayed the characteristics of cosmic spiritual
initiative in his life, as it appears connected with Aries. During his prenatal devel-
opment (born January 6, 1706 o.s.), Saturn moved through the constellation of
Aries (at birth 48.5° of ecliptic). A. E. Abott writes in his Encyclopedia of the Occult
Sciences (Emerson Press) of him: “He was an initiate of the will, a characteristic one
for the American people. His Poor Richard’s Almanack was an expression of the
truly American spirit. He was deeply versed in the Kabbalah. Some believed that he
was instructed by the Compte de St. Germain (the famous European occultist of
the 18th century) during his stay in France. Franklin united two streams, the Quaker
stream (of William Penn) and the Free Masonic stream that he encountered in
London. His scientific achievements began in his 42nd year. He founded the Acad-
emy of Philadelphia, the foundation stone of all learned academies in America.
His electrical experiments caused a stir in European scientific circles and set the
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electric age in motion. He invented the lightning conductor. Franklin affirmed his
belief in reincarnation.”
James Watt was a person who was born one Saturn cycle later, on 19 January 1736—
though Saturn was only in Aries at the time of his epoch at 47° of ecliptic (see
January ’67 issue). By completing and improving the principle of the steam engine,
he too made one of the decisive contributions to modern civilization. In 1763 he
had to repair an older model of a steam engine and already then he conceived some
improvements. Saturn entered the constellation of Aries in that year. He had an
idea that remedied certain wastes of the conventional model. In 1768-9 he had
gone so far with his experiments that he was able to have his improvements pat-
ented. Uranus was then in the constellation of Aries. This then made the commer-
cial production of steam engines possible in later years.
Two people who were born nearer our age, when Saturn was moving through Aries,
were Ulysses S. Grant (born 27 April 1822, Saturn in 30°) and the Dutch painter
Vincent van Gogh (born 3 March 1853, Saturn in 49°).
Although we see in the position of Saturn, in the complex of a chart, the externally visible
reflection of the deeper (astral) motivating forces in a human incarnation—we said in the Jan.
’66 issue, the “soul backbone”—we must not lose sight of the fact that to single out one planet
for a delineation has its problems. The other planets in such an asterogram might substantially
modify the perspectives that are expressed by Saturn. However, certain principles can always
be discerned, and it remains then a matter of human initiative to develop during life the poten-
tial present in the one or the other direction.
In this sense, we will confront in the next issue the asterogram of Vincent van Gogh with
that of another individuality at whose birth Saturn was also in the constellation of Aries, Vladimir
Soloviev, the Russian philosopher and writer. He was born in the same year, on January 16,
1853, only a few weeks prior to Van Gogh. Nevertheless, the two personalities had totally
different destinies and life experiences. Therefore, we will attempt to recognize how these
differences were expressed in their asterograms.
Two notable scientists of the modern age were also affiliated with a Saturn in Aries around
their births:
Alfred L. Wegener, born 1 November 1880, with Saturn in 26° of ecliptic. He was
involved in geological expeditions to Greenland and became known for his theory
of continental displacement. The continents of the Earth in their present forms
came, according to these views, into being by the land masses breaking up and
sliding over a kind of common substratum into their present positions.
Sir Arthur St. Eddington was born 28 December, 1882. At his epoch Saturn was still in
Aries (44° of ecliptic). He was a professor of astronomy at Cambridge and made
many important contributions to knowledge of the evolution, motion, and struc-
ture of the stars, and tried to bring about in his writings a reconciliation between
science and religion.
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The inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun interests us from an historical viewpoint.
In the Mar. ‘66 Star Journal, we explained how these conjunctions, both inferior and superior,
inscribe the pattern of a pentagon into the ecliptic. Conjunctions of the same nature and in
the same, approximate, location of the ecliptic repeat themselves in intervals of eight years.
Starting from 1967, we would thus find inferior conjunctions of Venus around the same sea-
son, (but occurring gradually later in the seasons) as we go back into past decades. At present
Venus will meet the Sun in the constellation of Leo, but in 1879, for instance, this took place in
the constellation Virgo, just a few days prior to Michaelmas. It is illuminating to check the
years of these inferior conjunctions in Leo-Virgo against the scientific and technological devel-
opments during the last ninety years, starting with conjunctions prior to 1967:
1959: Russia launches satellite that circles Earth and photographs Moon.
1951: Television sweeps United States.
1943: [Italy surrenders—WWII.]
1935: Color motion pictures developed.
1927: Lindbergh flies Atlantic.
1919: First transatlantic flight.
1911: South Pole reached.
1903: Wright’s airplane flies. Motion pictures developed.
1895: X-rays (and radio-activity) discovered.
1887: [The Reinsurance Treaty—a secret pact that allied Russia and Germany.]
1879: Edison’s incandescent lamp. (21-X)
We gave, in the Jul. ’67 issue, as two examples of a Saturn in the constellation of Aries:
Vladimir Soloviev (born 28 January 1853 n.s.) and Vincent van Gogh (born 3 March 1853). We
also emphasized that we should not let ourselves be tempted into judging a nativity on the basis
of a singled-out planet only. Therefore, we will now investigate how the other planets were
built around Saturn, so to speak, in each of the two charts in order to recognize how these
apparently totally different destinies are represented in them.
Depicted in the inner circle of Fig. 16 are the geocentric positions of the planets at Van
Gogh’s birth, in the second circle those at Soloviev’s birth, and in the third the positions of
some of the planets at important moments in the lives of the two individualities. We realize, of
course, that the facts given here might be regarded insufficient in the traditional sense, but even
so we will arrive at significant conclusions.
The two nativities have one striking factor in common, the closeness of Pluto, Uranus, and
Saturn in the constellation of Aries. The conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto took place during
1850-1 (several of them). They were also eventually joined by Saturn. These were unique
events in the history of cosmic rhythms and were equal to the conjunctions of Uranus and
Pluto, combined with oppositions of Saturn during these last few years, though the conjunc-
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Figure 16
Inner circle: Birth of van Gogh, 3 March 1853

Middle circle: Birth of Soloviev, 28-29 January 1853
Outer circle: Transits of planets during life.
tions took place in the constellation of Leo and in the space between Leo and Virgo. These are
in fact the two locations in the Zodiac in which these conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto have
been happening exclusively since the later Middle Ages—in Aries and Leo and in intervals of
about 252-3 years each.
The conjunctions in Aries, like their partners in Leo, are associated with important stages in
the spiritual, cultural history of humanity. (We wrote about the one in Leo in the Oct. and Nov.
’65 issues). For instance, we find that a Uranus-Pluto conjunction occurred in about 332 AD,
141
but it was still in the constellation of Pisces. That was an important moment in the develop-
ment of Christianity, among other events. Shortly before those years, Christianity had been
recognized and accepted by Constantine the Great. Although this signified for the early Chris-
tians the end of the incessant persecutions by the Roman emperors, it also coincided with a
crisis of Christianity in a spiritual sense. Approaching the year 332, in 325, the Council of
Nicea took place, bringing to the surface such divergences on the conception of the nature of
the divine Trinity and of Christ, as that of Athanasius and Arius. These spiritual battles were
the result of the fact that humanity by that time had already lost to a high degree the direct
insight, even clairvoyance, that the early Christians still possessed. This crisis followed the
history of Christianity all through the Middle Ages, chiefly in connection with those particular
conjunctions (and oppositions) arriving in 1598 in Aries. Soloviev was, in a deeper sense as we
shall see, connected with it, but also Van Gogh, strange as it might appear, shared in this
destiny.
Thus we can understand how the impacts, which both souls exerted on modern civiliza-
tion, were expressed in that Saturn in Aries at the time of their incarnation. But where is the
difference indicated between the two destinies?
First of all, we must work our way a bit deeper into the biographies of the two individuali-
ties. Soloviev experienced a fundamental religious crisis already at the age of fourteen, when
he destroyed his own icons. At seventeen he entered the faculty of science. He regarded
Darwinism as the new religion. It was the time when Saturn moved past the positions in the
Zodiac where Jupiter and the descending Moon node had been during the prenatal period.
However, in 1872 he broke away from this and began the study of philosophy. In 1873 he
graduated and attended lectures at the Theological Academy of the Monastery of St. Sergius,
at Moscow, which caused a great scandal. In 1874 he wrote his Ph.D. thesis called The Crisis of
Western Philosophy, in which he repudiated philosophical positivism and materialism. Then, in
1875, he went to London for studies concerning the Divine Sophia, the Wisdom of God, in a
state of expectancy of some important revelation. London itself, “its people, sights, churches,
and museums, all seemed unreal and shadowy”; nevertheless, the expected revelation hap-
pened to him, indeed. One day when he was sitting in the reading room of the British Mu-
seum, the Divine Sophia, whom he calls “Hagia Sophia”, approached him and gave him certain
directions.
We quote now from a translation by Mr. George Adams of a poem of Soloviev, the Three
Meetings, in which the inner experience in the British Museum is described: “Flower of God, I
feel thy presence here. Why didst Thou not appear since childhood’s days unto mine eyes?”
(Already at the age of nine he had the vision of the “Hagia Sophia” while he was attending
divine service in a Moscow cathedral). “And hardly had I thought these words, when suddenly
the space was filled with golden azure-blue, and once again she shone forth before me... It was
her countenance alone, her countenance... I spake to her: Thy countenance Thou hast un-
veiled, yet all of Thee I wish to see. What to the child Thou didst not stint to shew, to full
grown youth Thou’lt surely not deny. ‘In Egypt it shall be’, the inner voice resounded.”
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He went to Egypt in 1876, waiting there for things to happen until one day “...’twas in a
silent hour by night, like a cool zephyr breeze I felt her voice: ‘Out in the desert seek me, there
I am’.” So he went on foot into the desert, in the black overcoat of the student of theology and
over-high black top-hat. He barely escaped death when some Bedouins mistook the strange
figure for the Devil. When night came he lay down on the ground and tried to sleep in spite of
the bitter cold and the baying of jackals around him.
“Long lay I thus in anxious slumber. Then suddenly the words were breathed to me, ‘Sleep,
sleep, poor friend!’ I fell asleep, and when at last I wakened all aware, fragrance of roses filled
all the Earth and Sky, and in the Ether light of Heaven’s glory, Thine eyes aflood with azure
fire, Thou didst shine forth, like the first lightening of eternal Day… Whatever is, whatever
was and will be through the ages—all, all was one within Thy silent gaze. In the blue light
beneath me, seas and rivers sparkled; then distant forests, snow-capped mountain heights…
All I beheld, and all was One – One picture vast of fairest Womanhood. The limitless was
within its limits, before me and within me all wert Thou! O light of Sunrise Glory! Thou didst
not deceive me, for in the desert I beheld Thee all. Nor ever in my soul shall these roses fade,
where’er the waves of life may bear me… One instant only, and the vision closed. The Sun’s
disk rose on the horizon. The desert silence and my soul in prayer, filled with the song of
blessing, without end.”
He returned to Cairo with empty stomach and big holes in his shoes, but his soul was filled
with the echo of the great experience.
In the chart of the heavens we find this inner event corroborated by the return of Jupiter
to its position during the gestation of Soloviev (1875-6) and by Neptune, which had in the
meantime moved into the position where that conjunction of Uranus and Pluto (and Saturn)
had taken place.
After Soloviev’s return to Moscow he lectured a good deal but found also a lot of opposi-
tion. In 1881 he was even restrained from lecturing in public. Before that, in 1878, he had
written his Treatise on Godmanhood. He also started to work for Church unity and made contacts
with the Roman Catholics (1884). In 1888 he went to Paris and wrote his manuscript Russia and
the Universal Church. However, he met with sharp opposition from his own Church and with
coolness from the French Catholics and Jesuits. The opposition was directed particularly against
the third part of his Russia and the Universal Church, which spoke of the Trinity and Sophia, as
the divine revelation of the unity, harmony, and beauty of the created world. Soloviev was
convinced that belief in a personal God implies that the cosmos also has a personality, and to
this personality he gave the name of Hagia Sophia, or the Divine Wisdom: “...Each human
being can become a living reflection of the Absolute, a conscious and independent organ of
the cosmic life. Christianity is the revelation of a perfect God in a perfect person.”
Soloviev wrote later in his life The Meaning of Love and The Justification of the Good. In 1898 he
visited Egypt a second time. On his return he wrote the Three Meetings, of which we quoted
above, and the Three Conversations that also contain the story of the coming and downfall of the
Antichrist. He died in August 13, 1900.
143
We discover (see outer circle in the diagram) that all these dates coincided with transits
(conjunctions and oppositions) over the positions of the planets at Soloviev’s birth. However,
what interests us most is the return of Jupiter in 1875-6 to its original place during the gestation
of Soloviev. It was then, in 1852, exactly opposite Saturn at birth, at the moment it stepped out
of its retrograde movement (13° sign of Scorpio, July 11). As the birth of Vincent van Gogh
was only 5 weeks after that of Soloviev we should expect that also in Van Gogh’s life the return
of Jupiter in 1875 to the root position during gestation signified an important time. In 1876 he
was art teacher at Ramsgate in England, “and then determined to follow the religious voca-
tion” (Encyclopedia Britannica). This was about the same time of Soloviev’s great vision in Egypt.
In 1877 Van Gogh went to Amsterdam, to study theology, “Imbued with ideals of Christian
communism and seeking practical work, he went to live among the miners at Wasroes, in the
Borinage (on the border between France and Belgium).” He then went to Brussels in 1880 to
take up the study of painting. However, in 1888 he broke down mentally and showed serious
symptoms of sickness. On July 29, 1890, he died after shooting himself. Here, too, we detect
that all these dates corroborate with transits, oppositions, and square aspects of Saturn with
respect to planetary positions at the birth of Van Gogh. Yet, the question remains to be
answered, why did his life end in disaster, apparently so very different from that of Soloviev?
Of course, we realize that the comparisons, which we arranged in the diagram, are of a rather
generalizing nature and that in actual practice we can employ much more precise means of
distinction between charts.
It is interesting, nevertheless, to see that both personalities, Soloviev and Van Gogh, obvi-
ously went through decisive inner developments of a religious nature in that moment when
Jupiter came back to the positions where it had been in the gestation charts. This was, approxi-
mately, opposite the points in the Zodiac where the conglomeration of Saturn, Uranus, and
Pluto had occurred and we have the impression that we can get an idea here of what kind of
karma a Saturn in Aries might reflect. The fact that Venus, Mars, Sun, and Mercury, with
Neptune in the background, at the time of Van Gogh’s birth (inner circle in diagram) were in
square aspects (90° angles) to Jupiter from the epoch to birth reflects, furthermore, the karmic
difficulty of Van Gogh to follow through the religious vocation, which he envisaged around
1876, and the subsequent breakdown.
We can get a deeper insight into the workings of individual karma, if we study the chart of
Soloviev closer. The fact is that Jupiter at the time of his epoch was in the same position in
which this planet was at Raphael Santi’s death (6 April 1520). Here we see into the inner
connection of Soloviev with his experiences of the “Hagia Sophia”.
Similar to Leonardo da Vinci (see December ‘66) we can also find the biography of Raphael
imprinted in his asterogram of death. Jupiter, then in 225.7° of the ecliptic (Libra-Scorpio),
received and carried the imprint of the years 1514-15, because Saturn had occupied this place
during Raphael’s lifetime. During that time he painted the Sistine Madonna, the crowning presen-
tation of all his many Madonna pictures. He achieved a simplicity with it that surpassed all his
previous, though wonderful, paintings of the divine Virgin, and yet expresses the supreme,
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even cosmic, Majesty of the Virgin in a manner that no painter before nor after him attained.
Whereas in preceding pictures Raphael presented the Virgin Mary in partly very realistic earthly
settings and landscapes, the Sistine Madonna barely touches the globe of the Earth beneath her
feet. Only the two figures to the right and left below her remind us of earthly reality. The
figure of the Virgin herself reaches up from the Earth into cosmic space where innumerable
angel-like beings are indicated. And yet all the attributes of the “Heavenly Queen” that were
so often used by painters, such as crown and royal attire, are missing here. It seems to be this
simplicity that weaves an invisible cloak of cosmic, unsurpassed Majesty around the Virgin.
Raphael has, indeed, uplifted in this picture the imagination of the divine Virgin, the soul of
the world and of humanity, to cosmic dimensions.
In 1514, when Saturn was, as we said above, in Libra-Scorpio, Jupiter itself was opposite its
position at death in Aries and, therefore, in an opposition to Saturn. Thus, also Jupiter was
involved in the “imprint” of this great event in Raphael’s life into the cosmic ether. This
“bequest” by one of the greatest of the Renaissance did not get lost. It lived and lives on in the
cosmos, and souls who descended later into incarnation might have taken up the experience of
it, while they were still in cosmic spheres of existence. This can, of course, only happen if they
have spiritual affinity to such ideas and inner comprehension, rooted in previous incarnations.
Others might be “blind” to them.
One such soul was Soloviev. He probably had an earlier incarnation in a connection with a
mystical-religious experience, in a sense, similar to the sphere of realization out of which Raphael
painted his Madonna pictures. When he then moved through the heavenly spheres of the
planets, particularly that of Jupiter, he beheld the cosmic spiritual essence of the Sistine Ma-
donna and made the resolution to meet Her on Earth. This was expressed in the position of
Jupiter in Libra-Scorpio during the time from the epoch to birth. As a matter of fact, Uranus
was also involved in this; it was in Aries during the same time, where it had been once before,
at Raphael’s death.
Thus we can see that planetary positions in a birth chart are expressions of spiritual facts
concerning karma and reincarnation. Indeed, that Jupiter of Soloviev was a descriptive pre-
sentation, so to speak, of his soul mainstay, so much so that at the time of his death it appeared
again in Scorpio.
Van Gogh apparently had no such affinity indicated in his Jupiter of epoch and birth. The
whole complex of his chart of incarnation points more to the possibility that he had, in the life
between the last death and the new birth, an affinity to inner attitudes and soul struggles as they
were expressed by such individualities as Pascal (died August 19, 1662) and others. This prob-
ably brought a longing for deeper religious experience into the life of Van Gogh, but it obvi-
ously could not sustain his fight against the rising materialism of the 19th century.
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The Sun will come into conjunction with Pluto and Uranus about the middle of the month
and about the same occasion it will also move from the constellation of Leo into that of Virgo.
Mercury will be in conjunction with Pluto and Uranus during the beginning of the month, and
at the same time the Moon will also be there. In fact Mercury will come as close as 0.3° to
Uranus. Thus we face an activation of Uranus and Pluto during September, and it is well to
remember what we worked out in earlier issues about these two planets and the association of
their rhythms with the esoteric history of humanity.
Saturn in the constellation of Taurus: In the preceding issue, we brought our consid-
erations concerning Saturn in Aries to a preliminary conclusion. In quite a general sense, we
see reflected in such positions: initiative and inauguration impulses in history and in common
life. What might appear only in the realm of the Idea in Aries is taken one step further toward
terrestrial and practical realization in Taurus. We find here an element of inception and articu-
lation in every possible sense and direction. We can understand this if we realize that the
constellation of Taurus is the portal to the cosmic archetype of the human larynx. It is also, as
we said earlier, associated with the Logos, the divine creative word. In contrast to this, Aries is
connected with the cosmic spiritual archetype of the human head and brain. First, we name a
few personalities whose Saturn was in Taurus heliocentrically at the time of death:
Byron, the famous English poet, died April 19, 1824, Saturn 56° of ecliptic.
Christian Morgenstern, the German poet and Anthroposophist, died March 31, 1914, with
Saturn at 79°.
Richard Wagner, the composer, died February 13, 1883, Saturn 55.8°.
Angelus Silesius, a German religious poet and philosopher, died July 9, 1677, Saturn 61.2°.
Friedrich Smetana, Czech composer and pianist, died May 12, 1884, Saturn 73°.
These personalities were quite obviously associated with the manifestation and cultivation
of the human Taurus region, orientated toward speech and tone. However, we find here also
other individualities who were connected with this sphere of the Word in a wider sense, for
instance:
Philip Melanchton, German Protestant theologian and collaborator with Martin Luther.
He was called the scribe of the Reformation, but moreover he clarified and solidi-
fied much of what came through this Reformation as an original impulse. He was
in a broader sense a mouth-piece of Luther. He died on April 19, 1560, Saturn in
69°. Earlier, on August 8, 1471, Thomas à Kempis died, when Saturn was in 64°.
He is known as the author of the book The Imitation of Christ, which has been
translated “into more languages than any other book save the Bible, and which has
moved the hearts of so many” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Apart from this there exist
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a good many tracts about the monastic life and discipline by this Augustinian canon.
Friedrich W. J. Schelling, the German philosopher, died August 20, 1854, Saturn 69°.
He postulated: “To philosophize about nature means as much as to create nature”.
And Rudolf Steiner wrote about this sentence in his Riddles of Philosophy: “All that
of which Goethe and Schiller were convinced, that creative imagination ought to
have its share in the creation of world conception, has found in this one sentence a
monumental expression: What nature gives us voluntarily when we perceive and
observe it, all this does not contain its deepest meaning. The meaning of it we
cannot receive from our environment. We must create it.”
Spinoza, who died February 20, 1677, Saturn 56°, was a philosophic predecessor of
Schelling, whom he transcended in his own conclusions. Rudolf Steiner says of
him in The Riddles of Philosophy: “Spinozism is a world conception that seeks in God
the ground of all happenings in the universe, and therefore derives all occurrences
from eternal laws of necessity, similar to mathematical truths that can be deduced
from the corresponding principles.” Here the Old Testament line of thinking of
the Law and domination by the deity found a vivid expression.
At the opposite portal of human earthly existence, or birth, we meet a great number of
individualities who were directly associated with Taurus as the gate to Word and Tone. From
among them we mention:
Franz Schubert, born January 31, 1797, Saturn at his epoch was in 76°, famous Aus-
trian composer.
Anton Bruckner, born September 4, 1824, Saturn at birth 61.3°, also a famous Austrian
composer.
Konrad F. Meyer, the Swiss novelist, born October 11, 1825, Saturn in 76°, Thomas
Carlyle, the British essayist, historian and philosopher, born December 4, 1795,
Saturn in 70.3°, John Keats, the English poet, born October 29 or 31, 1795, Saturn
69°. A much earlier master of the word was Dante, the poet of the Divina Comedia
(see July ’67 issue), born about May 1265, Saturn about 62°.
Joan of Arc was another historic personality who was born when Saturn was in 55°
(January 6, 1412). She maintained that she was guided in her actions, which so
strongly influenced the course of the historic events of her time, by the voices of
divine beings coming to her.
A number of scientists drew near their incarnations when Saturn was in Taurus. We
mentioned two of them in the Mar. ’67 issue, Copernicus and Francis Bacon.
Galvani (born September 9, 1737), the discoverer of Galvanism, had Saturn in 69° at
the time of the epoch. This probably indicates that these souls originally intended
to seek the creative “Logos”, although their later careers might have turned them,
for certain reasons, into somewhat different directions.
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James Watt, who perfected the steam engine, was born on January 19, 1736, when
Saturn was in 57°.
Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist, born May 23, 1707, also had Saturn in 67°.
Auguste Piccard, born January 28, 1884, Saturn in 69°. He was the Belgian physicist
who is well-known for his balloon ascents into the stratosphere for the study of
cosmic rays.
Thomas H. Huxley, born May 4, 1825, Saturn in 70.2°, is an example of how an im-
pulse, which might have been associated in the soul’s spiritual existence before
birth with the creative Logos of the World, can be bent by earthly circumstances.
The Encyclopedia Britannica writes of him: “His great desire to be a mechanical engi-
neer, ended in his devotion to the ‘mechanical engineering of living machines’.”
Saturn in the constellation of Gemini: is associated with any kind of polarity in humanity
and in the universe. Heaven and Earth, day and night, darkness and light, beauty and ugliness,
gravity and levity, even positive and negative electricity, and many more contrasts have a con-
nection with this constellation. In ancient times this was expressed by the imagination of the
(unequal) twins Castor and Pollux. In the human form we find the dynamics of Twins repre-
sented in the contrast of head and limbs held together by the spinal cord. Also the so-called
symmetry of the human countenance and the whole human body, which in reality is asymmet-
ric, has its archetype in this constellation. If we study this vertical and horizontal twin-propo-
sition in the human organism, we come to see it as a cross whose beams intersect between the
shoulder blades. This is the point where the realization of personality, or ego, has a hold, in as
much as physiological uprightness—harmonious, and without undue force—is an expression
of the participation of the ego in Earth existence. Thus is Gemini connected with the stand
and experience of the ego in the contrast of heaven and Earth, even in a spiritual sense, and in
meeting the “brother”, right and left. Naturally, also the exaggerations and failures write their
stories into this constellation.
Beethoven was a human being who experienced such a Gemini contradiction but mas-
tered it in a heroic fashion. When he died, March 26, 1827, Saturn was in Gemini,
about 96°. He who lived so very creatively in the sphere of music and tone was
denied, since his 30th year, actual perceptive participation in this world on account
of his deafness. His world had fallen apart for him into an unreachable domain of
perception and a tremendously active sphere of inner conception. Yet, even so, he
succeeded to combine the two worlds, at least for humanity, by his magnificent
creations.
William Blake died August 12, 1827, when Saturn was still in Gemini. He had experi-
enced in life a duality, akin to the corresponding constellation, of a different nature.
He maintained that much of his artistic creation was due to the inspiration coming
from his younger brother who had died in his youth. Here, then, was a man who
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lived actively with what for most human beings of the present age appears, at least,
to be an insoluble enigma—heaven and Earth in intimate communion.
Max Stirner, in complete contrast to this, was a German philosopher who died June 26,
1856, with Saturn in 94°. His chief publication was his book Der Einzige und sein
Eigentum (The Individualist and His Privilege), in which he presents his view of a radical
individualism. Only the individualist, if not egoist, is for him the only reality. It
appears as if he was caught in the crossing point of the Twin beams of the vertical
and horizontal of which we spoke above.
Pestalozzi, the Swiss educator, who died on February 17, 1827, Saturn in 95°, was
another great personality who demonstrated the exact opposite attitude. He sacri-
ficed his life for his small “brothers” and “sisters” of a needy humanity, who re-
quired all the educational ingenuity he could master to reclaim them from the con-
sequences of poverty and desertion.
Sir Arthur S. Eddington, who died on November 22, 1944, Saturn in 96°, tried to bring
about a reconciliation of science and religion. He was an eminent English astrono-
mer and physicist, who contributed immensely to the knowledge of the motion of
the stars and the evolution and structure of the universe. Obviously, the union of
that which was separated was his innermost ideal.
Pierre Simon de Laplace died March 5, 1827, Saturn in 95.4°, was another personality
who tried, though with the materialistic means at his disposal, to penetrate the
secrets of the heavens. He was a French scientist.
John Wycliffe, the English reformer, who died on December 31, 1384, Saturn in 87°,
found himself, long before Martin Luther, in opposition to the papacy, to the tem-
poral power of the Church, to the endowed clergy, and even to the teaching about
the transubstantiation. Such kinds of confrontations are also characteristic for the
constellation of Gemini.
Jan Hus died July 6, 1415, Saturn in 102.4°, was another personality who was involved
in a similar kind of controversy with the ecclesiastical powers. After he had been
ordained as a priest he became interested in Wycliffe’s writings. He preached on
them, naturally arousing the anger of the authorities. Eventually he was burned at
the stake as a heretic.
Both Heinrich Heine, the German poet, died February 17, 1856, Saturn in 89°, and
Victor Hugo, the French author, died May 22, 1885, Saturn in 87°, were at one
time of their lives forced to go into exile. This kind of enforced separation, for
instance from the mother-soil, can also happen with the accompaniment of events
in Gemini. Saturn was in Gemini at 98° of ecliptic, at the time of Heinrich Heine’s
birth (December 13, 1797). We see here that the implication of separation, etc.,
was much deeper rooted and was associated with the karma resulting from a previ-
ous incarnation.
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Altogether, positions of Saturn in Gemini around the time of incarnation seem to intimate
some kind of soul experiences of the great divisions and even contradictions which go through
the human and cosmic worlds, and which would, therefore, present themselves as the conse-
quences of attitudes, etc., in earlier incarnations.
Augustine, the early Church father, born November 13, 354, is one such personality.
At the time of his epoch Saturn was in 76°, which was, with consideration of the
precessional movement, already in the constellation of Gemini. Augustine found
himself in the midst of the deep experience of having lost the original, inner aware-
ness of the spiritual reality of Christianity. So to speak, the spiritual heaven of the
Christ Impulse was lost and only the earthly reality of the written scriptures was
left. Therefore, Augustine could only do one thing in order to “organize” Christi-
anity, namely, to fix it in dogmas.
Nostradamus, born December 13, 1503, when Saturn was in 104° (epoch 94°), was a
personality who tried to hold the threads connecting the earthly human world with
the mysteries of the stars in a strange fashion. He is the author of Centuries, very
veiled prophecies concerning the destiny of humanity following immediately upon
his age, which he attained on an astrological basis. The method which he employed
seemed indeed strange. Deep at night, when no one was around, he is said to have
seated himself close to a pool of water. Observing the reflections of the stars in
the water he tried to decipher their hidden script and compose his prophecies. This
was a very ancient method of penetrating to secrets behind the external appear-
ances by “breaking up” the direct sense impressions. It yielded, however, because
of its antiquity and obviously rather hazy results.
Henrik Ibsen, the Norwegian poet and dramatist, was born March 20, 1828, Saturn in
110°. All his works and dramas grew out of his conviction of “the supreme impor-
tance of individual character of personality. In the development and enrichment
of the individual, he saw the only hope of a really cultured and enlightened soci-
ety” (Encyclopedia Britannica). This is precisely one of the qualities connected with
Gemini.
Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, was born May 6, 1856, with Saturn in
93°. His theory of the possible conflict between the conscious and subconscious
parts of the mind is a vivid description of a Gemini polarity perspective.
The impulse to unity and harmonized polarity and contradiction that can be conceived as
an ethical transformation of the prime qualities expressed in Gemini is also manifest in asso-
ciations with that constellation. Such an example was:
Amos Comenius (Komenský), the Bohemian educator who was born on March 28,
1592, with Saturn in 103°. He worked chiefly in eastern Europe as a reformer of
education and “he hoped to make education the means of world peace”.
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Saturn in the constellation of Cancer: is that region of the fixed star sky “behind” which
the spiritual beings dwell who created and maintain, for instance, the archetype of the chest of
the human body, the earthly “house” where the heart dwells (see Aug. ’66 issue). The founding
of this house of Earth existence or incarnation, can be a painful process of separation from
the divine cosmic world, from originally established oneness, for the sake of independence and
evolutionary, spiritual progress. If this road toward spiritual freedom and evolution through
inevitable catharsis is not consciously trodden by humanity, it can become a path leading into
chaos and disaster. One human being who stands out in history almost as a symbol of such
Cancer cataclysms was Rasputin, who died on December 15, 1916, when Saturn just entered
that constellation (116°). He was a Russian monk and became involved in the last days of the
Russian Court, before the revolution of 1917. By his attitudes and practices, he created an
atmosphere of chaos and moral destruction around himself that finally destroyed him too.
After an attempt by some Russian aristocrats to kill him with a strong dose of potassium
cyanide proved ineffective, he was shot dead. At the time of the commencement of the
Bolshevik revolution in Russia, November 7, 1917, Saturn had well moved into Cancer (128°,
all data heliocentric) and was still close to Neptune in the same constellation. Many human
beings perished in the course of those events, including the Czarist family in 1918. This was a
warning to modern humanity of the destructive forces rising out of the abyss of existence,
when at times the hands on the cosmic clock point to Cancer and find a humanity weak in its
resolve to respond to the calls for spiritual and social progress. A similar situation was indi-
cated in the cosmos after Pluto had moved into Cancer (after 1935). The events and horrors
during World War II were a reaction to humanity’s failings to put its “earthly house” in order
according to changed conditions.
Thomas More, who was beheaded on July 7, 1535, when Saturn was in 132° (eastern
end of Cancer), was the writer of Utopia. Although his work was a valiant effort
with suggestions to build “earthly houses” for humanity, it didn’t succeed much
further than a satire on contemporary social conditions.
George Washington died on December 14, 1799, Saturn in 125.4°. He was, indeed,
one of the great builders of an “earthly house” for humanity on the American
continent.
Robert Owen, the British reformer and pre-Marx socialist, died on November 17, 1858,
when Saturn was in 126.4°. He was a valiant fighter all through his life for the
improvement of the “earthly house” of that part of humanity that was involved in
the destiny of the industrial revolution. At an early age, when he was already
manager of cotton mills and similar factories, he worked for the amelioration of
the working, housing, and educational conditions of his workers, a good portion
of whom were children who were brought at the age of five or six from the poor
houses and charities of Edinburgh and Glasgow. He also tried to build up self
contained communities on the basis of what he conceived as improved conditions
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in the USA, but they failed because of individualistic differences among the mem-
bers.
Henry Ford, who died on April 7, 1947, with Saturn in 128°, must also be counted
among those who tried to build a satisfactory “earthly house” for the humanity
involved in the industrial process that they had inaugurated.
John Calvin, the French reformer, died May 27, 1564, Saturn 124.7°, tried to establish
a seemingly strange kind of “earthly house”. After he had established himself as
religious reformer at Geneva, he introduced a kind of religious dictatorship that
managed all the affairs of the community and controlled the social and individual
life of the people.
Michelangelo was one of the greatest “earthly house” builders in the domain of art,
who died on February 18, 1564, with Saturn in 121.2°. As a sculptor who imposed
the living images of spirit and soul experience of Earth life on the lifeless marble,
he was surely connected intimately with that material of our planet that is sepa-
rated most strongly from the spiritual origin. This belongs to the property of
Cancer. In the cycle of philosophic world conception, Cancer is even associated
with materialism. However, as a painter, when he depicted the story of Genesis on
the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, or the Last Judgment, he worked out of a grand
conception of the creation of the House of the Earth, and also its termination at
the end of the days of our planet. The fact that Michelangelo was also born at a
time when Saturn entered the constellation of Cancer (112.7°), on March 6, 1475,
demonstrates that he was connected with these impulses coming to expression in
this group of fixed stars in a very deep sense. Indeed, the emphasis is quite un-
usual; shortly before his birth Saturn was in opposition to Jupiter, the latter in
Capricorn. And at death the two planets were in conjunction in Cancer.
Robert Owen, whom we mentioned above, entered incarnation at a time when Saturn
was in Cancer. He was born on May 14, 1771, and nine months earlier, around his
epoch, the planet was already in that constellation.
Jean Jacques Rousseau’s embryonic development (born June 28, 1712), during which
Saturn moved through Cancer (at birth 136.4°), had experiences that, “…led him
to study the structure of society, government, and education... He preached de-
mocracy and with unanswerable arguments proclaimed the equality of humanity.”
(Cowles Encyclopedia) He was one of the spiritual fathers of the French Revolution.
Among the books he wrote are The Social Contact and Discourse on Inequality. He
belongs well to those who concerned themselves with building the “earthly house”
of humanity.
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We have now progressed in our studies so far that we feel we ought to devote more time to
a combined investigation of the geocentric and heliocentric features of contemporary events
in the heavens. As we have pointed out earlier, we see in the geocentric perspective a portal to
a symbolic representation of the interrelationship between planetary and earthly happenings.
One might even say that this is can be a portal to imaginative cognition of cosmic factors.
(Imagination in the sense of Rudolf Steiner’s definition as the first step of higher or spiritual
knowledge). The employment of the corresponding heliocentric perspectives can lead to a still
higher stage of spiritual insight, to inspiration, because it offers a realistic and modern concep-
tion of the (invisible but mathematically comprehensible) spheres of the planets, substantiated
by such elements as nodes and lines of apsides.
For instance, the so-called Middle East Crisis is an excellent example to illustrate this. The
actual hostilities started on June 5. We do not find much tangible indication in the simulta-
neous geocentric cosmic aspects of the heavens that would demonstrate a connection between
them and the terrestrial events. However, the story is at once different if we investigate the
heliocentric perspectives.
On June 4-5, Mars stepped into its own descending node. (Concerning the nodes of the
planets see the Jan. ’66 issue). At the same time the Earth moved through the descending node
of Uranus, i.e., the line from the ascending to the descending node, across the whole sphere
inside the orbit of Uranus.
We can imagine that tremendous events happened at that moment in the spheres of Mars
and Uranus, which were communicated to the whole solar universe. And if there did exist such
a precarious psychological situation on the Earth as it existed before June 5, those cosmic
impacts could act as an accelerating factor. We, however, do not imagine that the correspond-
ing cosmic events “made” the terrestrial ones. We would regard this as too primitive and
untrue a concept with regard to the present-day spiritual potential. The cosmos cannot be
made responsible for our reactions and actions, but it can happen that we are influenced by
events and impulses in our (cosmic) environment, particularly if we are ignorant of the latter—
in other words, if the ego is not fully at the helm of our earthly ship. This is, of course, at once
complicated if situations involve dealings with smaller or larger human communities.
The events in the sphere of Mars—the planet in its descending node, and Neptune stand-
ing quite close to the nodal line of Mars—can then provoke aggressive, war-like emotions, if
they meet corresponding conditions in human beings. Mars has one point of access, through
the gall bladder. The occurrences in the sphere of Uranus—the Earth being in the nodal line,
supported by Uranus and Pluto still standing close to the perihelion of Uranus—added a note
of suddenness and reactions similar to an electric charge.
We have observed effects of such impacts, associated with the interplay of the planets with
their spheres, on nature and human history for more than a decade, and we have reported on
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this in different places. Therefore, we think that it is essential that we corroborate the events in
the geocentric ephemeris with their heliocentric counterparts, because we obtain, thereby, an
insight into the working of the spheres. For instance, Venus is moving toward the end of
October (in the geocentric chart) into the neighborhood of Pluto. This is accompanied
heliocentrically by Venus stepping into the nodal line of Uranus on the 30th and then into its
own ascending node. We attain, thereby, an amplification enabling us to meet such an event
like the conjunction with Pluto with presence of mind and inner preparedness. This alone
often alters the nature of the impact in the life of the individual to the better. The sphere of
Venus, which is here involved, has one of many points of impact on our organization in our
feeling relationship, as it were, to our environment, especially our human environment. A
similar situation existed in the beginning of July of the present year. Venus moved then into
the nodal line of Uranus, but it was the descending end of that line, and on then it stepped into
its own descending node. The difference between ascending and descending nodes can be
characterized as cosmic similitudes to the qualitative difference in us between head and limb
activities. The ancient Chinese cosmologists, who surely drew from a deeper traditional in-
sight, called the ascending node of the Moon the Dragon’s Head, and the descending node the
Dragon’s Tail.
Before Venus will move through its own ascending node, it will stand in the ascending lines
of Mercury and Mars. (The nodal lines of Mercury and Mars are at present almost identical.
They will come still closer during the next three centuries). Having an idea of the possible
impacts of the sphere of Mars in connection with the events around June 5 and of the sensi-
tiveness and stabilizing tendencies of Venus on the other hand, we can form a picture of what
kind of inner attitude this event will require in order to meet it constructively. In addition to
this, Mars will move through the line of the apsides of Venus—through the aphelion part
where Venus is farthest away from the Sun when it steps into that part of its orbit. There is
indicated a kind of tug-of-war between Mars and Venus, in all these events. It is up to us to
react to it in a positive fashion.
Mercury’s swift movement leads it through a number of nodal lines during October. First,
it is in the descending node of Jupiter, then in the descending node of Pluto, and finally in the
descending node of Saturn. It will also step into the aphelion of Venus, as Mars will later.
Mercury is associated with the intelligence that is, as a rule, dormant in our will-limb organiza-
tion and which can enter our consciousness in a thinking that is not reflective but permeated by
will (see Rudolf Steiner’s Philosophy of Spiritual Activity).
One more cosmic phenomenon deserves our attention. We mentioned already that on
October 18, a total Moon eclipse will take place. Can we discern a, possibly, historic meaning
to this occurrence? As a rule such eclipses belong to the more critical events in the heavens and
demand our “special” presence of mind. In the case of a Moon eclipse, such as this one, a very
long cone of shadow falls from the Earth upon the surface of the Moon. Certain beings of the
invisible world who are connected with “darkness”, in a spiritual sense, can in such a moment
ride, as it were, on that cone of shadow and enter the Earth.
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All these eclipses recur according to a definite rhythm, the so-called Saros Period of 18
years and 10-11 days. Thus we can assume that a Moon eclipse must have taken place in
October 1949, as indeed it did on October 7 of that year. We can now go much further back
in time, for instance, nine such Saros Periods which bring us to 1805. According to the ephem-
eris a Moon eclipse happened on July 11 of that year which is precisely the predecessor of the
one in October 1967.
But why did we go back just 9 Saros Periods? We did it because this coincided with another
occurrence in the heavens. For years the planet Neptune has been close to its aphelion, the
position furthest away from the Sun. (The perihelion-aphelion positions of the outermost
planets vacillate a good deal with regard to the positions in the Zodiac toward which they
point. In other words, one of these planets can be in either perihelion or aphelion a long time.
The precise data can be found, for instance, in the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac).
Neptune was in its aphelion once before around 1799. This was the year when Napoleon came
to power, and by 1805, when the predecessor eclipse of the present one occurred, Europe felt
this power pretty well; it was then irresistible.
We do not want to suggest that similar events must happen now. History never repeats
itself that precisely. However, we ought not to forget that another Saros Period brings us to
1985, and a Moon eclipse on October 28. Earlier we have mentioned that the date of Orwell’s
novel “1984” does not seem to be just empty fiction, and we think that at least a few human
beings should in these decisive times, stand guard in a spiritual sense. It is interesting to note
that Neptune was close to its aphelion two cycles further back, that is around 1633. On the one
hand this was a rather dramatic culmination of the Thirty Years’ War in Central Europe. It was
also the time when the great classical scientist Galileo had to face the Inquisition and was
forced to abjure his belief in the Copernican world conception. Certain forces tried to hold
back the freedom and progress of human consciousness by primitive external force.
Esoteric Astrology and Astrosophy

Saturn in the constellation of Cancer (continued): We return now to our investigation of
Saturn and its relationship to the constellations of the Zodiac in connection with the incarnation
and excarnation of historic personalities. The reason why we go into such great detail is our
experience proving that Saturn is the reflection of the backbone, as it were, of any such event.
This planet works in the human being, for instance, as the power of uprightness, that action in
the human organism giving us the distinct differentiation from the position of the animal on
the Earth. It lets us stand erect between heaven and Earth, and provides the foundation on
which we can move toward spiritual freedom. In a much deeper sense, it is the line that inter-
connects our incarnations, and not only in a metaphorical but in a practical spiritual sense.
Thus we can look at Saturn in a chart as the one which gives the fundamental motive of the
“symphony of life” perspective with which it is connected, and the other planets evolve this
motive according to their own dynamics. We have demonstrated this in our earlier description
of the charts of Soloviev and Van Gogh (see Aug. ’67 issue), as far as a Saturn in Aries was
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Figure 17
Geocentric
John F. Kennedy, born 29 May 1917
Epoch
1 Sept. 1916
on 1 March 1917
Between epoch and birth
concerned. The motivating impacts of Saturn in the constellations of Taurus and Gemini we
described in association with the chart of Copernicus (see Jan. ‘67 and f.). We will now go
further and work out the implications presented in a chart where Saturn is in the constellation
of Cancer. For this we have chosen the incarnation asterogram of the U.S. President John F.
Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, Brookline, Mass. (See also information in the AFA Bulletin of
January 1964.)
During the entire prenatal period in this asterogram, Saturn was in the point of transition,
or ingress, from Gemini to Cancer. Furthermore, we notice that at the time of the epoch it was
close to the position of the descending node of the Moon, and to Venus. Furthermore, at the
time of birth it was near the meridian, i.e., relatively high in the sky, above the south point of
the horizon.
We see here reflected again, in the position of Saturn in Cancer, the deep concern of this
soul with the “earthly house” of humanity. The indication is that this was a very dominant
factor, because the planet is at birth in mid-heaven (i.e., in the meridian and south). Yet, at the
same time it also intimates a precarious situation. The constellation of Cancer is the abyss, so
to speak, from a pre-Christian aspect. It revealed this aspect of itself once the ancient, “mat-
ter-of-course” connection with the spiritual world was broken, for then materialism began to
rise out of the abyss. Cancer is indeed associated with the world conception of materialism.
(The abyss is also expressed by the symbol we use for Cancer ( ) two spirals which are discon-
nected.)
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This was further aggravated by the nearness of Saturn to Neptune. This Neptune brings
us back historically to about 1751, the year when De Lamettrie, one of the fathers of French
philosophical materialism, died and implanted this impulse into a similar position of Neptune.
We see also Venus at the time of the epoch close to Saturn, a combination of unequal cosmic
characters. Finally, we detect that also the descending Moon node at the epoch was near
Saturn, as we said already above. This node, like all the nodes of the planets, is a “portal for
astral forces” (Rudolf Steiner), forces that can inspire the human soul but which can also
combine with spiritual darkness and create formidable obstacles. It was forces of this nature,
rising out of the “abyss”, which destroyed John F. Kennedy.
The corresponding heliocentric chart is very illuminating. There Saturn started out at the
epoch from its own ascending node, which is still in Gemini. The full weight of the sphere of
Saturn—Omnipotent Father Time—and of karma is implicit in this. Altogether this sphere
stands out strongly: Venus was in the perihelion of Saturn at birth and Mercury in the aphelion.
Heliocentric: Epoch: 1 Sept. 1916
Figure 18 Birth: 29 May 1917
Saturn, as the “backbone”, held also a
strong hand over Jupiter and Mars. [Note:
Kennedy suffered severe back pain.] It was
at the epoch in a 90° square aspect to Jupi-
ter, and at birth in the same angular position
to Mars. Both planets were, at the corre-
sponding times, in the constellation of Ar-
ies. If we study the implications of Saturn
in Aries (July ’67 issue) we discover that much
of that humanitarianism must also have been
present in this soul, though in a totally
changed form. Jupiter works in the human
being, for instance, as the power of thinking.
It intends to transform the human organism
into a tool of thought. Mars endeavors to im-
plant into the human form the power of con-
fronting, of meeting the world of physical ap-
pearance, possibly even to oppose it, or facets of it,
just as the gall bladder and its secretion attacks the food
we take in, because it comes at first as a foreign impact.
The most interesting features in this chart reveal themselves in connection with the prena-
tal reflection of the time of the assassination. In the Feb. ’67 issue, we pointed out that the
prenatal Moon cycles (sidereal) are connected with the seven year periods in later life. Thus the
time of 46½ years in John F. Kennedy’s career was associated with the positions of the planets
on March 1, 1917. He was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The heliocentric chart shows
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that Mercury at that moment was (as it was once during gestation) in the aphelion of Saturn.
Venus was almost opposite the whole complex of Saturn and Neptune in Cancer. The most
interesting feature, however, was an exact opposition of Earth and Mars, which was then in its
own perihelion. The emphasis of this Mars in that moment was on proximity to the affairs of
the solar world, the opposite of a spiritually elegant, sidereal swing which it can display in the
aphelion. Furthermore, Mars was in the place where the Earth was at the epoch (see chart)
and, so to speak, attacked the latter.
We add two more examples of incarnation asterograms with a Saturn in the constellation
of Cancer:
Beethoven, whom we mentioned in connection with Gemini, was born at a time (De-
cember 17, 1770) when Saturn was in Cancer (131°). His life, “though outwardly
uneventful, was one of the most pathetic tragedies” (Encyclopedia Britannica). One
can easily imagine that his deafness was an incessant source of anxiety. There were
other anxieties, such as those connected with his nephew. He was as if a person
suspended all his life above an unfathomable abyss. Already as a child he was
forced by his father to study the violin and piano so that he might earn money.
Strained circumstances of this kind never really left him. This can be one of the
characteristics of Cancer, reflecting the results of earlier lives, that is, the experi-
ence of incarnation as falling into or living in an abyss.
Count Leo Tolstoi, born September 9, 1828, Saturn in 116°, was another person who
experienced life from a somewhat similar angle. He led a life of rich experience:
first as the peer of a big estate, then in the army, and as a writer of a number of
novels that brought him great fame. Yet, about the age of 41, he also moved into
the experience of the abyss, which changed him completely. Reflecting upon the
style of life he had been leading until then, he became uneasy and desperate, full of
“disgust with unjust and fleshly life”. In subsequent years he built up a religion of
his own, mainly founded on the social implications of the Gospels. Attempts to
introduce his kind of Christian socialism into his estate and his relationship to his
workers and servants led him into severe conflicts with his family. In the end he
fled from home and died on the journey (1910).
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Geocentric
In the beginning of November, a total Sun eclipse will take place. These eclipses belong to
the most interesting features in the cosmos. As we said in the last issue, an eclipse at a certain
time recurs according to an interval of 18 years and 10-11 days. Yet, this is only partially
correct. They do not go on recurring for an eternity. They start, according to a special rela-
tionship between the orbits of Sun and Moon, as very partial eclipses. The cones of shadow
only graze, as it were, the edges of Sun or Moon, and furthermore, Sun eclipses taking place
near the ascending Moon node always start, or are being born, at the North Pole of the Earth,
wander in intervals of about 18.029 years south, cross the Equator, and “pass out” over the
South Pole. Eclipses near the descending Moon node start, or started at the South Pole and
perform the opposite movement. Thus eclipses have life cycles, like animated beings. They are
being “born” and they “die”. And such a life cycle of a Sun eclipse lasts about 1200 years,
containing about 65 eclipses—incidentally, as many eclipses as years in an average human life.
Moon eclipses have a shorter “life span”. Therefore we can speak, in a spiritual sense, of
eclipse beings in the universe, and we come to recognize about 40 Sun eclipse beings and about
30 Moon eclipse beings. Their life cycles coincide with definite historic events whose study is
one of the most inspiring experiences.
The eclipse of this month takes place at the descending Moon node, and it is visible mainly
in the Antarctic. Therefore, we assume that it is still rather “young”. Indeed we can follow it
back through intervals of 18.029 years, but already in 1787 we cannot, with the means at our
disposal, define with certainty whether it was then already “born”. (In 1805 it did take place.)
One of the previous eclipses of this “being” happened on September 18, 1895, in 26° of
the sign of Virgo. During that year, and in the beginning of 1896, radioactivity was discovered
and, thereby, the foundation was laid for what is now with humanity as atomic science. Some
skeptic might regard this as meaningless coincidence. However, the cosmos speaks a different
language. On August 6, 1945, the day of Hiroshima, when the principles of this atomic sci-
ence were for the first time employed for destruction, Jupiter was in that 26°-27° of the sign of
Virgo. It is interesting that the eclipse this month will be accompanied by a conjunction of
Venus with Pluto (about 22° Virgo) and then with Uranus (about 27° Virgo). Both are close to
that 26° degree of Virgo. There is no need to jump straightaway to the conclusion that this
forebodes something dreadful. It can be quite different, particularly if human beings follow
the events in the heavens with spiritual awareness.

Saturn in the constellations of Leo: Earlier we said that Leo reflects our endeavor to come
from the periphery or environment, in whichever form the it manifests, to our own self, so
much so that possibly egotism—with all its attendant variations, such as pride, ambition, or
tendency to dominate—can result from it. This is also expressed in the symbol which we use
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for Leo, . However, this is only one side of it. Particularly in our age, the material or building
stones of this constellation can be transposed into efforts of breaking through to the invisible,
spiritual “environment”, i.e., to penetrate to the mysteries of the connections with the universe
or to those of the Earth with the cosmos. This can also be seen expressed in the symbol,
moving from the little circle to the curve and out into the periphery.
First we start with examples taken from death asterograms, where we see the mirror of
human accomplishment, in either sense. (All Saturn positions, as before, are given according to
the heliocentric perspective):
Cesare Borgia died on March 12, 1507, when Saturn was in Leo (146.9°). He is one of
the extreme examples of a Leo egotism that knew no bounds. One of the typical
adventurers of the Renaissance, he succeeded in building up a political domain, at
least for a short time, for himself and the Borgia family, with vigor and with utter
ruthlessness and treachery.
Nostradamus, who died July 2, 1566 (Saturn in 152.3°), expressed just about the oppo-
site life attitude. We have mentioned Nostradamus earlier in connection with his
Saturn of birth (Sept. ’67 issue). This Saturn of his accomplishment, or death, is a
lucid description of his ability, whatever were his methods, to penetrate to the
mysteries of world and humanity karma as it was reflected in the movements and
rhythms of the stars.
Jakob Boehme died 17 November 1624 (Saturn in 145.9°). The well-known theoso-
phist was another soul whose connection with Leo at the moment of his death is
obvious. He wrote, among a number of works, Dialogues on the Supersensual Life, and
The Signature of all Things, all on similar subjects.
James I, King of England, died the year later on March 5, 1625 (Saturn in 149.8°). He
was obviously associated with certain esoteric streams and movements of his age.
Joh. Val. Andreae died June 27, 1654. His was one of the most striking human connec-
tions with the constellation Leo, as expressed by Saturn in that position (147.8°) at
the time of his death. He was the author of The Chymical Wedding of Christian
Rosenkreutz and other writings that demonstrate his association with the Rosicrucian
movement of his time. In the Nov. ’65 issue, we pointed out that The Chymical
Wedding could be interpreted as a description of the building-up of the human
corporeality as a spiritually dynamic potential in the divine cosmic world, long be-
fore actual incarnation. This then is one of the finest examples of a spiritually
moral cultivation and understanding of the dynamics of the “periphery” by the
power of an awakened Self, as it is suggested in the symbol of Leo.
Nicolas Culpeper, an English physician and herbalist, was another great soul who died
during the same year on January 1, 1654 (Saturn in 142.2°). He investigated and
catalogued a great number of medicinal herbs and their associations with the plan-
ets. His best-known work is English Physician Enlarged, which was published in 1653,
one year before his death.
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St. Bernard of Clairvaux, who died August 20, 1153 (Saturn in 141.6°), was another
personality who imparted at the moment of his death his imperishable principles
to a Saturn in Leo. He made a tremendous impression on the civilization of his
age. The great poet of the Divina Comedia, Dante, praised him as the “proclaimer,
or prophet of the mysteries of the fixed stars”. Here, too, we see the connection
with the “periphery”, or cosmos, in the widest sense.
Emanuel Swedenborg died on March 29, 1772, when Saturn was in Leo (148°). He was
a prominent natural scientist and engineer, who is still acknowledged by modern
natural science with regard to some of his discoveries. Around the years of 1743-
5, he had deep inner experiences that completely changed his life. He became,
thereafter, the great seer and visionary who wrote books such as Divine Love and
Wisdom, The Apocalypse Revealed, and Heaven and Hell. He tried, according to his own
approach, to draw awareness to the existence of a divine cosmic world and the
beings living and working in it. Thus he tried to create a bridge from the world
revealed by natural science to the world revealed by the spirit. However, he was
unable to close the gap. “...he applied himself to discovering the nature of soul and
spirit by means of anatomical studies. He traveled in Germany, France, and Italy,
in search of anatomical knowledge... In no field were Swedenborg’s researches
more noteworthy than in physiological science...” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Yet, it
seems that the fact of not being able to discover the nexus between brain function
and activity of the soul drove him finally out of his career as a natural scientist and
into becoming the famous visionary. His destiny shows the magnitude of the task
that is expressed, as a moral, spiritual expectation, in the symbol of Leo: to hold
fast to the achievement of ego consciousness in Earth existence, and yet, learn to
realize again the existence of a spiritual cosmic world of divine beings.
Novalis, the German poet, was another soul who demonstrated the possible achieve-
ment of this aim with an apparent ease, which may seem surprising. When he was
born, May 2, 1772, Saturn was in Leo (149.0°), and at the time of his death, March
25, 1801, it was again there (142.2°). Novalis displayed, particularly in the last few
years of his life, a most intimate relationship to the divine spiritual world and the
beings, also to souls of deceased human beings, therein. This is expressed in one of
his many Sacred Songs: In countless pictures I behold thee
Maria, clothed in form divine;
But none so wondrously enfold thee
As in my soul I see thee shine.
I only know the world is flowing
Away from me like restless dreams;
A Heaven more sweet than mortal knowing
Within my soul forever gleams.
(Translated by Eileen Hutchins, for the Camphill Press, Aberdeen, 1956.)
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Yet, Novalis was not a man of wooly mysticism. There exists a collection of more
than 3000 small apercus or conspectuses—kind of diary entries—containing the
most inspiring ideas about any field of human civilization, about art, religion, math-
ematics, cosmology, the most complicated problems of natural science, etc. It
appears that he was almost permanently standing in the stream of inspiration from
his invisible “periphery”, or the spiritual cosmic world.
Goethe is one of the most profound examples of a Saturn in Leo, imbued by the life
essence of a human being of this nature. When he died on March 22, 1832, Saturn
was in 163°. In the December ’66 issue, we demonstrated how the human ether
body imprints the essence of life memory of that particular incarnation into the
positions of the planets. If we study the Saturn of Goethe’s death from this per-
spective, we find—to our surprise—that it is connected with the beginning and
conclusion of his labor over his greatest work, his Faust. At the time of the first
transit of Saturn over its position at death, in 1772-3, Goethe conceived the idea of
Faust. At the time of the last transit, in 1831 (Saturn moved over this point twice,
in 1831 and 1832, i.e., at death, on account of its retrograde movement), he com-
pleted the second, last, part of Faust and had the whole work wrapped in a sealed
parcel.
In his Faust, Goethe has given a most intimate description of his experience of
the spiritual situation of a modern human being who attempts to fulfill the inner
calling of manhood. Faust is a person who travels through the mazes and also
vicissitudes of human life, all the time accompanied by beings of an invisible, spiri-
tual world. Even Mephistopheles, who constantly acts as the Devil, or Satan, in his
soul vicinity, is in reality a being of that invisible world. Finally, the struggle of
Faust, who battles to maintain the integrity of his own good self against the temp-
tations of Mephistopheles, becomes a struggle between the exalted good forces of
the universe against the down-dragging powers of evil and spiritual darkness. The
man Faust is not alone. His fight is recognized as a fight in which the universe of
spiritual beings is concerned, and in the end his never ceasing endeavor can redeem
him. We see here again a profound transmutation of the dynamics of Leo.
Gotthilf H. Schubert was an individuality who tried to carry on with the spiritual cul-
ture that had been inaugurated by Goethe, Schelling, and others of German Clas-
sicism. He died on July 1, 1860, when Saturn was in 148°. He was a scientist who
comprised, in a most profound fashion, human soul existence within the existence
of the universe. On the one hand he studied the mysteries of the psyche, which led
him to publish books such as History of the Soul (with an appendix The Diseases and
Disturbances of the Human Soul), Old and New Facts From the Domain of the Science of the
Soul; and on the other hand he was able to combine this with a formidable study of
the universe of the stars, etc., from which came such books as The Primeval World
and the Fixed Stars, The Edifice of the Universe, the Earth and the Ages of Man on Earth.
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H. P. Blavatski, the founder of the Theosophical Society, died on May 8, 1891, when
Saturn was in 166.4°, beneath the tail-star Denebola of Leo. We feel it superfluous
to comment on her association with that constellation—in view of her connection
with esotericism it is only too obvious. However, we find Saturn in Leo already at
the time of her incarnation. Madame Blavatski was born on August 12-13, 1831,
when Saturn was in 154.7°.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was an example in which a human soul carried through a transmu-
tation of the potential of Leo to a remarkable degree. He was born on May 25, 1803. His
incarnation chart from epoch to birth, according to the heliocentric perspective, is reproduced
below. We have chosen the heliocentric approach for reasons that will become obvious.
Figure 19 Heliocentric
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Epoch: 26 August 1802
Birth: 25 May 1803
We find in this chart a veritable assembly of planets in the constellation of Leo at birth.
Saturn, in the first place, moved from 161° - 170°. Jupiter started, at least, in the same constel-
lation; at the epoch it was in 165°. Mars (161°) and Mercury (168°) had arrived there at birth.
Important also, is that the Earth started at the epoch in the opposite part of the Zodiac, in the
constellation of Aquarius (334°) close to Pluto. This same place was then taken up by Venus
(332°) at birth.
The correlation of the biography of Emerson with events associated with this chart is
most illuminating. At the time when Saturn came—after one orbit—back to its original posi-
tion in Leo, a decisive turning point occurred in Emerson’s life. Early during that year, it was
1832, his wife died. Soon after that he got into disagreement as a Unitarian minister of religion
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with his congregation, and he retired from his pastoral office. (This was the year during which
Goethe died.) Then on Christmas Day he embarked on a trip to England, where he met Landor,
Coleridge, Carlyle, and Wordsworth. All this made a tremendous impression on him, and the
Emerson was born as we know him in history. On his homeward journey he wrote such entries
in his diary: “... A man contains all that is needful to his government within himself... There is
a correspondence between the human soul and everything that exists in the world; more prop-
erly, everything that is known to man... The purpose of life seems to be to acquaint man with
himself... the highest revelation is that God is in man.”
Fifteen years later, in 1847, he traveled a second time to England and Europe. Saturn was
then opposite its position during Emerson’s gestation, in the constellation of Aquarius. In the
course of that trip he gave lectures, some of which were later published in Emerson’s famous
Representative Men. Rudolf Steiner expressed his opinion on it as follows: “...This book is one of
the greatest achievements of the spiritual endeavors of humanity.” Altogether he said of
Emerson that he was “one of the greatest spirits of the 19th century...”
The cosmological background of this book, Representative Men, interests us vividly, for it can
give us an idea of what the real sources of human inspiration can be. The book contains
inspiring essays on the lives of six great individualities in human history and their impact on the
spiritual history of humanity. They are: Plato or the Philosopher; Swedenborg or the Mystic;
Montaigne or the Skeptic; Shakespeare or the Poet; Napoleon or the Man of the World; Goethe
or the Writer.
How did Emerson come into a position to lecture and write what he did about these men?
A superficial answer would be to say that he studied their biographies and works after he had
chosen them at random. However, the astrosophical-astrological implications speak a differ-
ent language. Emerson had a real connection with the cosmic heritage that these men left to
posterity.
This kind of kinship expresses itself in positions of the planets in the incarnation chart of
a human being, epoch to birth, that are similar to positions of these planets in death charts of
individuals who died earlier. By being similar we refer mainly to conjunctions and oppositions.
In the December ’66 issue, we elaborated how the heritages of human biographies flow through
the emancipated ether bodies into the planets and their spheres and combine with them. Thus
nothing is lost of the essence, the endeavors, the achievements, and also the failures of human
Earth existences. It is all preserved in the planetary cosmos. Souls who descend meet it, and if
they have affinities to it out of their own soul nature, they might take up these impulses and
challenges to carry them further, to redeem, or complete them.
In the next issue we will compare positions of the planets in the death charts of the historic
characters in Representative Men with Emerson’s incarnation chart.
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In the last issue, we set out to investigate the spiritual cosmic background of the associa-
tion of Emerson with the historic personalities of whom he wrote so inspiringly in Representa-
tive Men. The connections become evident if we compare Emerson’s incarnation chart (Fig.
19) with the death charts of those people:
Swedenborg: died 29 March 1772 Emerson during gestation

Venus 102° - Venus conj. Earth, 101°
Uranus 49.3° - Epoch, Neptune 231° (opp)
Montaigne: died 13 September 1592 Emerson Birth

Mars 156.4° - Mars 161°
Shakespeare: died 23 April 1616, o.s. Emerson Birth

Earth 223° - Earth 244° (near)
Uranus 99.3° - Gestation, Venus-Earth, 101°
Napoleon: died 5 May, 1821 Emerson Birth

Jupiter 10° - Jupiter 186° (opp)
Mercury 307° - Epoch, Mercury 130° (opp)
Goethe: died 22 March 1832 Emerson epoch

Saturn 163° - Saturn 161°
Venus 281° - Gestation, Venus-Earth, 101° (opp)
One can argue that Goethe and Napoleon were still alive when Emerson was born. But
even so, human beings can contact that “heritage”, coming from the so-called dead, in later life
through root positions indicated in their own charts.
The date of Plato’s death is too uncertain to compute the positions of the planets. If it is
correct that it occurred in 348 BC, we would find Saturn in 142° at the beginning of that year,
which would bring us—in terms of precessional change (plus 30° since the 4th century BC, to
about 1800 AD)—to about 172° of the ecliptic in relationship to modern positions of the
Zodiac. This was approximately the place where Emerson’s Saturn was at birth, 180°.
Thus all the planets in Emerson’s asterogram were engaged by “memories” of past biogra-
phies that had been elevated to cosmic existence. We found in our researches that this is a very
valid method of studying an incarnation chart. We even have the impression that this can
become an effective means of pedagogical and didactic self-guidance without hurting the spiri-
tual independence of a human being. It leaves, in any case, big margins for individual continu-
165
ation of the heritage of bygone generations, even the possibility of reasonable and spiritually
justified dispute and opposition toward it.
It is also illuminating to study the character of the planets involved. For instance, the
association of Emerson with Montaigne is expressed by the position of Mars in Leo. As we
have pointed out repeatedly, Mars brings an element of aggression and contradiction into the
world. This task is a necessity. For instance, in the human being it is necessary in order to give
us the power of discernment and mental distinction, etc., when we meet the world as our
environment. Thus the Mars of the death chart of Montaigne is an expression of his univer-
sality, in a sense, by its position in Leo, and at the same time it “blocks” this Leo quality by the
skepticism that Montaigne had developed.
The example of Emerson’s incarnation chart and its associations with the historic charac-
ters of Representative Men opens up a totally new perspective with regard to interpretation. It
demonstrates the great significance of work with death charts, beyond being a mere aesthetic
preoccupation which it might appear to be on the surface.
Here are more heliocentric examples of Saturn in Leo at the time of incarnation:
Sir Thomas More, the famous English scholar and humanist—in the medieval sense—
of the 15th century, was born February 7, 1478 (Saturn in 151.4°). He came into
contact with Erasmus of Rotterdam, and he also read the writings of Pico della
Mirandola. A number of these humanists were students of the Kabbalah, the Jew-
ish esoteric teaching, which means that they were occultists, and we can say with
reasonable certainty that also More was an occultist. This would coincide with Sat-
urn being in Leo at his birth, meaning a realization of the invisible in the periphery.
(The association of Saturn with Leo, as with any other constellation, can easily be
misinterpreted. Leo certainly has a connection with our relationship to our envi-
ronment via the senses. This is already expressed by the symbol for Leo. Philo-
sophically it is Sensualism or Sensism. However, Saturn can introduce into this a
note of gnosis or gnosticism, that is, spiritual knowledge of what is offered as a
world perspective gained through the senses.)
George Berkeley, the Irish bishop and philosopher (founder of Berkelianism), was born
on March 12, 1685, with Saturn in 164.4°. Rudolf Steiner writes of him in his
Riddles of Philosophy: “(Berkeley maintains) I do not know anything at all about things
in my environment except what I produce in myself as concepts of them. There-
fore, it is senseless to speak of objects that are supposed to be of a material na-
ture... What I call a rose is of an absolutely spiritual nature, that means a concept
experienced by my spirit.” This is commonly called subjective Idealism, which can
easily evolve out of a disposition, at least partially, indicated by a Saturn in the
constellation of Leo.
Louis Claude de Saint Martin, the French philosopher and occultist, was born January
18, 1743, Saturn 151°. Very early he had a connection with Freemasonry, Kabbalism,
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and Mysticism. He studied Swedenborg and, very intensively, Jakob Boehme the
German mystic (see last issue); in fact, he translated some of the Boehme’s writings
into French.
Samuel T. Coleridge, the English romantic poet and philosopher, was born October
21, 1772, Saturn 155.3°. We need only point to his The Ancient Mariner and Christabel
to recognize that he was a seeker of a knowledge of the invisible and of the spirit.
Lord Lytton (Bulwer Lytton), born May 25, 1803 (Saturn in 170°—epoch about 160°).
Wittemans in his History of the Rosicrucians writes of him: “...According to Wynn
Westcott, he (Bulwer Lytton) was initiated into the Order (of Rosicrucians) in a
lodge... His romance Zanoni, said to be written in the cryptography of the
Rosicrucians and transcribed by him, is a most interesting book about initiation
and the occult faculties...”
Rabindranath Tagore, born May 6, 1861 (Saturn in 158.8°). The Encyclopedia Britannica
says of him: “...By his abundant writings, which are permeated by a sense of the
beauty of the universe, by a love of children, and of simplicity, and by a conscious-
ness of God, Tagore has done much to interpret for the West the more serious
reflections of the people of Bengal...”
Rudolf Steiner, born February 27, 1861 (Saturn in 156.3°, the founder of Anthroposo-
phy and spiritual science. He has, indeed, evolved the potential of a Saturn in Leo
to an unprecedented manifestation of a “gnosticism” or spiritual knowledge of the
real being behind that world presenting itself to humanity through the senses. He
saw the need for a collaboration between natural and spiritual science in order to
give humanity the opportunity to fulfill its spiritual calling on our planet.
Saturn in the constellation of Virgo: In the Sept. ’66 Star Journal, we spoke extensively
about this constellation and its connection with ancient star mythologies. Eventually we saw it
distinctly associated with the Godhead of the divine Wisdom, called in Egypt Isis and in Chris-
tianity, particularly in Eastern tradition, the Divine Sophia. The progressive evolution ex-
pressed in the sequence of the Zodiac reaches an exalted and flamboyant presentation in Leo
that is even manifest in the symbol we use for Leo ( ), in the curve that swings away from the
little circle and out into space. Virgo is, in contradistinction, a manifestation and potential of
consolidation and maturity, especially of the Leo impact.
The latter fact found expression in the Saturn positions in the death charts of two people
whom we have already met: Claude de Saint Martin died October 23, 1803, when Saturn was
in 175°; and Coleridge who died July 25, 1834, when Saturn was in 192°. At the time of their
incarnation, Saturn was in Leo, at death in Virgo. Since the birth chart reveals the potential that
a human being brings into an incarnation and the death chart the soul fruits of a life time, we
can well expect in both cases a spiritual progress expressed in the advance of Saturn from Leo
to Virgo. A study of their biographies bears this out very well.
Other personalities who died when Saturn was in the constellation of Virgo (consideration
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of the precession of the vernal equinox is, as always, taken into consideration in these historic
examples) were:
Thomas Aquinas is a towering example of a manifestation of divine wisdom in a hu-

man being. He died on March 7, 1274, when Saturn was in 177.3°. Aquinas was
one of the great, one might well say the greatest, teachers of Scholasticism. In an
age when thinking was beginning to lose its power to reach out to the reality of a
divine spiritual world, which it had in ancient times, he was one of the last ones
who, in his Summas, brought down spiritual truth and wisdom into thinking.
Johann Tauler, who lived a few generations after Aquinas, died June 16, 1361. Saturn
(165°) was just crossing over from the constellation of Leo into Virgo at his death.
He was confronted with the loss of the thinking that still enabled a few of the
Scholastics to reach up to spirit reality. Yet, he was a soul searching with great
sincerity for the spirit, and thus he followed the mystical path of inner experience.
His sermons were expressions of deep soul wisdom.
Paracelsus, the great Swiss physician, was another personality who stood at the thresh-
old to the new age and experienced a similar situation. He died on September 24,
1541, when Saturn was in 209°, then near the star Lambda, the left foot of the
effigy of the Virgo. It is not easy to describe this remarkable individuality with a
few words. Already at an early age he went on long journeys to the Near Eastern
Asiatic countries and other parts of the then-known world in search of wisdom
and experience useful to his medical art. Rudolf Steiner writes about him in his
Riddles of Philosophy: “... Paracelsus is seeking a ‘Higher Nature’ behind nature. His
mood of soul is of a kind that does not want to experience things exclusively in
himself, in order to penetrate to the foundations of existence; so to speak, he wants
to screw himself, with the power of his ego, into the events in nature, to let the
spirit of those happenings below the surface of the world, which are imparted to
us by our senses, reveal itself. The mystics of ancient times wanted to penetrate to
the depths of the soul; Paracelsus, however, wanted to attempt that which leads to
meeting the roots of nature within the external world.”
Giordano Bruno, the Italian philosopher and scientist, was burnt at the stake by the
Inquisition on February 17, 1600, when Saturn was in 203.2°, mainly for his sup-
port of the Copernican heliocentric astronomy. However, his conception of the
universe was not of a materialistic kind, conceiving only of dead, material bodies
of the planets and stars rolling through space. He saw the universe permeated and
governed by spiritual entities, the so-called Monads. For instance, the human ego
was such a living Monad in his view.
Friedrich von Schiller, the German poet, playwright, and philosopher, died on May 9,
1805, when Saturn was in 194°. The Dictionary of the Occult Sciences by Lionel Stebbing
quotes from Schiller’s Aesthetic Letters saying: “…every individual person bears within
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a second, ideal person and that it is the noblest task of existence to grow more and
more into this likeness.” This idea of people as an entities on the road to becom-
ing, rather than being perfect as they appear on Earth, sums up the spiritual poten-
tial that can reveal itself in and through Virgo—the divine being, whose external
image in that constellation, is the great Mother who holds in Her being the arche-
type of the spiritual human of the dim future, that which the divine world expects
earthly humanity to become.
In connection with incarnation charts we mention:
Prince Henry of Portugal (Henry the Navigator) was born March 4, 1394 (Saturn in
204.3°). He inaugurated the expeditions along the West Coast of Africa that even-
tually, after his death, led to the circumnavigation of the Cape of Good Hope and
the discovery of the way to India by sea. In order to achieve his purposes he set up
a real center of learning to have his pilots, captains, and other personnel instructed
in the art of navigation, making of maps and instruments, etc. The real source of
the inspiration motivating his endeavors was obviously the spiritual heritage of the
Order of Christ, of which he was Grandmaster. This Order was the successor of
the Templars in Portugal, after their destruction in France and elsewhere between
1306 and 1314. The Templars were able to lay the foundation of world-wide com-
munication among the family of humanity by their East-West activities, comprising
also trade and the beginnings of an intercontinental banking system. These im-
pulses were carried forward by the Order of Christ and matured into the establish-
ment of the sea passage to India and the discovery (rather re-discovery) of America,
etc. Their deeper background was the sublime mystery wisdom that they still pos-
sessed and which was also the source of inspiration of Henry the Navigator. (In
this connection see Sept. ’66 issue and what is said about Virgo and the Gateway to
the Mysteries.)
Leonardo da Vinci, born April 16, 1542 (Saturn in 195.6°), was a great soul who dis-
played a similar connection to Virgo through a Saturn in that constellation. His
universality of genius in many fields of human knowledge and also his inspired
wisdom does vie for equals in modern human history. He was a painter, sculptor,
and musician, but also an architect, mechanical engineer, and natural philosopher.
He tried to reach out to technical inventions, which became reality centuries after
him. If we study his painting, The Last Supper, we comprehend the cosmic spiritual
awareness of this mind. Each one of the twelve apostles is depicted in such a
fashion, that they display in their very gestures the twelve constellations of the
Zodiac. The Twelve represent a spiritualized and humanized Zodiac in this paint-
ing with the Christ as a spirit Sun in their midst.
Swedenborg was born on February 8, 1688 (n.s.), when Saturn was in 199.3°. We have
mentioned him already in the Nov. ’67 issue, in connection with his death chart.
The great change in his life which broke him away from his scientific career and led
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to those tremendous inner experiences, happened at a time when Saturn approached

a third time the initial position in Virgo. That was around 1745, and Swedenborg
wrote about it to Oetinger, a German mystic and theosophist, that “he was intro-
duced by the Lord first into the natural sciences and thus prepared, indeed, from
the year 1710 to 1745, when heaven was opened to him” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Pestalozzi, the famous Swiss educator, was born when Saturn was in Virgo (188°) on
January 12, 1746. His innate wisdom led him to build his educational method on
the “natural, progressive, and harmonious development of all the powers and ca-
pacities of the human being” (Encyclopaedia of the Occult sciences by A. E. Abbot).
F. W. J. von Schelling, the German philosopher, contemporary of Goethe and the Ger-
man Classicists and Romanticists, was born on January 27, 1775, when Saturn was
in 183.8°. He was first aligned to nature philosophy, but in his later years he turned
more and more toward a spiritual philosophy. He then wrote books like Philosophy
of Mythology, and Philosophy of Revelation. Though on a purely philosophical level, the
tremendous inner development of this individuality reminds us distantly of
Swedenborg. Rudolf Steiner quotes in his Riddles of Philosophy a sentence from
Schelling’s writings “To philosophize about nature means as much as creating na-
ture.” And Rudolf Steiner goes on: “This sentence is a monumental expression of
what Goethe and Schiller were convinced: That productive imagination must have
its share in the creation of world conception. What nature gives us voluntarily
when we observe it, contemplate it; all this does not contain its deepest meaning.
This meaning we cannot receive from our environment. He must create it.”
Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, when Saturn was in Virgo (187°). At a decisive
moment of his life, when Saturn returned to the original position in 1892-3, he
built the first motorcar. Here we see the cosmic wisdom and intelligence streaming
into a mechanical creation. Incidentally, Jupiter was in the constellation of Virgo
during the gestation of Henry Ford and also at birth.
William B. Yeats, the Irish author and mystic, was born 13 June 1865 when Saturn was
still in Virgo (209.1°). Abbot says of him in the Encyclopaedia of the Occult Sciences:
“One of the greatest modern poets and one of the world’s clearest thinkers... Much
of his work has definite value to the student of mysticism…”
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Heliocentric
There are numbers of aspects between the planets heliocentrically that offer much material
for individual research. These aspects together with the phases of the Moon, which can well
be coordinated into the heliocentric perspective, have become the foundation of research by a
number of reputed scientists in various practical fields in past decades. It has been found that
the heliocentric 0°, 90°, and 180° (conjunctions, squares, and oppositions), particularly of the
outer planets (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars), are associated with the fluctuations of the so-called radio-
weather (radio waves). Earlier it was discovered that there is a statistical connection between
the “phases” of Venus—geocentrically, inferior and superior conjunctions; heliocentrically,
conjunctions and oppositions to the Earth—and the frequency of Sunspots. Furthermore, it
was found on a broad statistical basis that the phases of the Moon—Full Moon and New
Moon—fall in with widespread precipitation and the incidence of hurricanes. Also geocentric
magnetic activity, increase and decrease, appear to have some association with the Moon and
other planetary phenomena.
Naturally, these happenings also play into the life of individuals like a kind of cosmic,
“meteorological” background, so to speak. Objective awareness and watchfulness, certainly
not fear and apprehension, in this field can ward off a lot of otherwise unaccounted for “psy-
chological” pressures.
As for the heliocentric aspects, we shall in future add more of the relationships of the
planets to the nodes and apsidal lines—perihelion (nearest) and aphelion (farthest) positions
from the Sun. We have found in many years of research that just these events exert an influ-
ence on the “psychological meteorology”. Gradually, we will discuss these and other happen-
ings in greater detail.
The heliocentric relationship of the planets to the constellations (and also to the signs of
the ecliptic) are apparently not of such great importance as the features we mentioned above,
although they must not be neglected either.

Saturn in the Constellation of Libra: We described this constellation earlier (see Oct. ’66)
as a cosmic locality of “soul-weighing” and decision concerning spiritual matters. This has
been demonstrated in a unique and broad sense by the Saturn positions in the death charts of
the three famous astronomers: Copernicus who died 24 May 1543 (Saturn in 227.8°), Tycho
Brahe who died 24 October 1601 (Saturn in 222.5°), and Johann Kepler who died 15 Novem-
ber 1630 (Saturn in 218.4°). All are connected with the advent of the Copernican heliocentric
conception of the universe and the arguments arising with it in medieval humanity.
We have written about Copernicus extensively in the Jan. and Mar. ’66 issues. His theories
were only possible because he already lived in the modern age, which has a tendency to think in
terms of material quantity and technological solutions. This trend ought to be balanced in the
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present age with a new awareness of spiritual realities, free from traditional bonds. Naturally,
this will mean an incessant struggle to bring about a cooperation between natural science and
spiritual science, which is obviously a matter of a delicate equilibrium in our soul. Thus, impli-
cations of Saturn in Libra at the moment of Copernicus’ death are significant. Indeed, this
Saturn was connected, in the sense of earlier transits (see Dec. ‘66), with the years 1512-13
during the life of Copernicus. It was the time when he worked over his Commentariolus—a kind
of outline of his astronomical views (see Feb. ‘67).
Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, was unable to convince himself of the validity of the
Copernican, heliocentric system. Inspired by a deep spirituality having its roots partly in pre-
vious incarnations, the Earth occupied the center of the universe in his view. However, even-
tually he tried to find a compromise between the geocentric and heliocentric theories. He
developed a conception of the solar universe in which the planets move in orbits around the
central Sun, but the Sun, with its whole cortege, circles around the Earth in the very center.
This view was never practically adopted by astronomy of the modern age.
An incident in Tycho Brahe’s life, which was connected with the earlier transit of Saturn
over its later position in Libra, demonstrates the kind of battle for an inner equilibrium in
which he was involved. This happened in 1571-2, about 30 years before his death. At that time
he was occupied with alchemistic studies, apart from his astronomical inclinations, in a labora-
tory that an uncle had provided for him. One evening he came up from the room, which was
deep down under the house, and saw a brilliant star in a place where he knew no planet or
bright fixed star was to be expected. What he beheld was a so-called Nova, a fixed star that
suddenly brightens up tremendously and, after a certain time, falls back into obscurity. They
are regarded in modern astronomy as stars that exhaust themselves in a colossal explosion.
This is significant for the spiritual attitude of Tycho Brahe, i.e., to search for the mysteries
of matter and for the mysteries of the heavens, which is what the medieval alchemists at-
tempted. There is a picture of him in his observatory, Uranieborg, on the island of Hveen near
Copenhagen, which shows him holding the balance, as it were, of this twofold impulse. He is
sitting there in the middle story of the building and directing the astronomical observations on
the top of the house, as well as the alchemical work that is going on in the cellar. It is also true
that he did make medications.
Kepler joined Tycho Brahe at Prague, toward the end of Tycho’s life. As a matter of fact,
Saturn’s earlier transit over its death position in the chart of Kepler occurred a few months
before Brahe’s death. Thus this event of Kepler’s career was cosmically remembered and
preserved. Kepler was inclined to accept the Copernican theory, but Tycho Brahe tried to lead
him away from it. Nevertheless, after Tycho’s death, Kepler became one of the foremost
scientific workers and fighters for the Copernican world conception. He wrote a number of
books on astronomy, but he was by no means a materialist who conceived the universe only as
a mechanical contraption. In fact, he tried to preserve the idea in his concepts of the musical
“harmonies of the spheres”, in relation to the orbits of the planets, that was the talk of ancient
cosmologists. He also attempted to find traces of spiritual harmony in the geometrical prin-
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ciples of the orbits of the planets, which he conceived for the first time as ellipses. On the
other hand, he was a convinced astrologer, like Tycho Brahe, who still had spiritually tangible
things to say about the interconnections between heaven, Earth, and the human being, though
this was more like the last dusk of bygone ages of human insight into these matters.
Thus, these Saturn positions in the corresponding death charts are expressions, or rather
memories, of tremendous spiritual battles in the souls of that humanity of the 16th and 17th
centuries. On the one hand the traditional concepts and institutions were diminishing fast,
though they still carried the last shadows of a living, spiritual insight into the mysteries of the
Earth and the cosmos; on the other hand, breaking into the human mind was a world revealing
itself in ever increasing awareness through the activity of the senses. Between the two, was the
fight to find a balance with which we could live as a conscious being. In modern times this
problem of finding a healthy equilibrium has again changed. Now, it becomes more and more
the necessity to re-conquer, on an entirely modern and scientific level, that lost insight into the
reality of the spirit as a counterbalance against the deadening one-sidedness of a world built
only on experience through the senses and intellect. Another historic example will also tell of
this battle.
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, died on March 30, 1925, when Saturn was
in 220° (heliocentric). This Saturn is the expression of the decisive battle of a single human
being toward the end of the last century, somewhat akin to that of the three cosmologists
whom we mentioned before, yet on a higher octave. Steiner writes about that time, around
1896 when he was 35 years of age (coinciding with the earlier transit of Saturn over its position
in Libra at death): “Associated with the revolution in my soul life were inner experiences of
grave import for me. I came to know in the inner experience of the soul, the nature of
meditation and its importance for an insight into the spiritual world... On such meditation,
practiced because of the inner requirement of the spiritual life, the consciousness gradually
evolves of an ‘inner spiritual person’ who, in complete detachment from the physical organism,
can live, perceive, and move within the spiritual... Thus I experienced at that time, from all
sides, the question: How can a way be found in order to bring that which is inwardly beheld as
true into forms of expression that can be understood by the age?... And this question became
inner experience: Must one become silent?” (Rudolf Steiner’s The Story of my Life, chps: 23-24.)
Rudolf Steiner did not become silent. All through the years, he built up his message of
spiritual science or anthroposophy to modern humanity step by step. He never tired of build-
ing bridges from “spiritual science” to “natural science” in almost every field of modern life.
These were deeds designed to hold the inner balance between the domain revealed in the
activity of the senses and that revealing itself in the perception of the spirit, and thus lead to a
catharsis that Rudolf Steiner regarded as indispensable for the progress of humanity into the
future. History has arrived, in the present moment of the 20th century, to a point that fully
proves the seriousness of the concerns of Rudolf Steiner. The chaos surrounding this age, in
every field of existence—without exception— forcefully demonstrates that the whole of hu-
manity stands at the threshold to the cognition of the spiritual world, which is needed to solve
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the problems of the physical-material world in order to prevent the complete destruction of
human civilization. This is the new and, yet, age-old perspective of Libra. It is not a question
anymore of what “benefits”, if any, we can expect from the cosmos, but rather, how can we
answer constructively the challenges it poses?
Whereas positions of planets in death charts express accomplished facts in connection
with human biographies, those in birth asterograms describe the decisions that human souls
have made, long before incarnation, with regard to their oncoming lives on Earth. An excel-
lent example of such a prenatal decision and its working out during actual incarnation, is con-
tained in the birth chart of Goethe, born 28 August 1749. At the time of his epoch, Saturn was
already in Libra, and at the moment of birth still there, just on the point of moving into
Scorpio (221°, 231° heliocentric). We would expect, therefore, that living in Goethe was an
impulse somewhat in line with Rudolf Steiner’s ideas, which we described above. Indeed, this
was the case; so much so that Rudolf Steiner regarded Goethe as the forerunner of the impulse
toward the amalgamation of natural science and spiritual science.
However, let us investigate how this actually worked out in Goethe’s career. At a moment
when Saturn was exactly opposite its position at Goethe’s birth—in other words, when the
prenatal “decision” knocked at the door of his soul—in a kind of reflection, the following
event happened: Goethe and Schiller had attended a lecture on botany. On the way home they
were surprised by a thunderstorm and Schiller was obliged to take shelter in Goethe’s house.
They sat clown to a conversation on what they had heard in the lecture, and Goethe gave
expression to his ideas on botany. In fact, he even drew a picture of what he conceived as the
“archetypal plant”, which he considered the invisible but creative prototype of all physical
plant-hood. Schiller replied: “Yes, but what you have drawn there is not an experience, not
observation, that is an idea,” meaning that an idea had no significance for the actual coming
into being of the physically existing plant. Goethe felt obliged to reply: “If that is an idea, then
I see my ideas with my eyes,” meaning that for his experience, thoughts and ideas were not
abstract, unreal things in the mind but were objective and real entities capable of—even indis-
pensable for—the creation of the objects in nature that we perceive; and he realized in that
moment that he did “see” them.
In that moment Goethe became conscious of the interpenetration of the natural and the
spiritual world. This was a manifestation of the spiritual dynamics that are expressed in the
constellation of Libra. Rudolf Steiner was led by his own destiny to meet this Goethean
impulse during the last decades of the 19th century and carry it forward to the unique comple-
tion that he was able to accomplish.
It can also happen that a human being, who is connected with a Saturn in Libra at the time
of incarnation, cannot consciously establish a breakthrough to an equilibrium as in the case of
Goethe. For instance, Martin Luther, born on November 10, 1483, was associated with a
Saturn in Libra (220.4°). With his inauguration of the Reformation, he certainly threw a tre-
mendous challenge into the cultural life of modern humanity. It was originally born out of the
impulse to open the door toward spiritual freedom, against the fetters of external dogmas and
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institutions. The Reformation did not succeed with the establishment of this aim; one can
even argue that very soon it was turned into the opposite, into a strengthening of secular,
feudal powers. Nevertheless, the impulse that was given birth by Luther’s deed, the search for
spiritual freedom, lives on since then and works inexorably in humanity, even as it goes through
all kinds of oppressions and deviations. This is also connected with the constellation of Libra,
for the equilibrium between the cognition of the natural world and the spiritual realms of
existence can only be built on the activity of the spiritually free human being.
Also Johann Kepler, who has been mentioned above in connection with the initial history
of Copernicanism, was born when Saturn in 218.5° had entered Libra (December 27, 1571).
One can ask the question: What made Kepler finally decide to accept, in that great battle, the
Copernican world conception rather than Tycho Brahe’s? In order to find the answer, we refer
back to his incarnation chart and discover that Jupiter had moved into the vernal point by the
time of his birth (heliocentrically), the point where the Sun appears to stand at the commence-
ment of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. This point, which is at present in the constella-
tion of Pisces, is gradually falling back in the fixed star Zodiac, according to the movement
called the precession of the vernal equinox (see June ‘66). Thus the vernal point and its con-
temporary position in the constellations of the Zodiac is an expression of the ever changing
evolution of the consciousness of humanity. For instance, this constellation of Pisces is a vivid
description of the present age and the stage of consciousness at which we have now arrived, an
“in-between” situation. On the one hand it inherited, for instance from Greco-Roman times,
the capacity of thinking (vernal equinox in Aries). As this became “old”, it deteriorated into
abstract intellectuality; on the other hand, this humanity yearns for a deeper comprehension of
the living reality behind the facade that nature presents to the human senses (vernal equinox in
Aquarius in times to come).
The position of Jupiter in Kepler’s chart, which was close to the vernal point, would indi-
cate that an impulse lived in him that wanted to live as a “contemporary”, as someone who for
the sake of the future decided to identify himself with the onward march of humanity together
with the spirit of the age. This spirit of the age works toward the emancipation of humanity
from ancient bonds, for instance, the Ptolemaic geocentric world conception. Certainly, the
road on which Kepler took his first steps led him into materialistic, mechanical views of the
universe, but it would eventually give humanity a chance to find a redeeming conception again
of the cosmos by the power of spiritual freedom. However, Kepler was aware at the same time,
according to his own words, that with the introduction of the heliocentric view, something was
revealed into the modern world as a challenge that existed already in Ancient Egypt, though in
the deep secrecy of the mystery temples. It was kept there as a knowledge of the spiritual
consequences of the Fall of humanity and the Earth from their original position closer to the
divine world and that which has to be redeemed in the future—what was future is now present.
Two people who were born on the same day (12 February, 1809), Charles R. Darwin and
Abraham Lincoln, had Saturn in the constellation of Libra (229°) around the time of their
epoch. At their birth it had moved into Scorpio.
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If Saturn, or another planet, moved from one constellation to the following during the
prenatal development, we would see in the position at the epoch a reflection of the decisions
taken long before incarnation, while the soul was still in the spiritual world. As we look back
from the birth toward the epoch (around conception), we behold in the events and movements
of the planets a kind of abbreviated image of the path of the soul through the spiritual cosmic
world. As a rule, the epoch itself reflects the so-called Midnight Hour of existence, the time
between the ascent after the last death and the descent into the new incarnation. However, this
should not be generalized.
These two individualities certainly brought worlds of Libra challenges into Earth existence
and threw them into the modern age, which have not, even at the present moment, fully been
realized. Darwin was not responsible for what was later called “Darwinism”, being only one
conclusion drawn by a sector of people from his ideas. Others rose against these conclusions,
for instance, that man descended from the ape. However, Darwin had not suggested this
himself, but he was indirectly the cause of the spiritual battle which ensued. Thus he brought
the science of biology to the point of decision on those essential matters concerning the
existence of the human being. This is a typical Libra challenge.
Abraham Lincoln, as president of the US, made himself the focus of those vital decisions,
concerning the practical position of the human being in the community of American people,
as they were earlier visualized in the Constitution of the US. This came strongly to the surface
especially during the Civil War. Here one can indeed witness a tremendous struggle to incor-
porate the highest Libra qualities into Earth existence.
Naturally, it can happen that human beings have connections with the constellation of
Libra other than through Saturn. These will also work out according to the nature of the
planet and the spiritual weight of the individuality. For instance, Rudolf Steiner had such an
association (to be discussed at a later time), and toward 1894 the planet Uranus entered the
constellation of Libra. Thousands of human beings had such connections with Libra, even
though not much might have happened in their lives when Uranus tried to accelerate those
dispositions. Rudolf Steiner answered the challenge in a profound fashion. In 1894 he pub-
lished his Philosophy of Spiritual Activity (German title Philosophie der Freiheit—Freedom). This
book paved the road toward a new and active relationship to the spiritual world, without ne-
glecting the physical, and has been characterized earlier. This is an example of how we should
and can respond to the Libra potential, by creative thoughts and actions.
One cycle of Uranus earlier, i.e., when it was also in Libra in 1809, Schelling, one of the
greatest of the German classical philosophers, published his Philosophical Investigations About the
Nature of Human (spiritual) Freedom and Facts Connected With It. Rudolf Steiner comments on it:
“With the progress of his thinking, the contemplation of the world became for Schelling the
contemplation of God, or Theosophy. He already stood fully in the realm of such a contem-
plation of God when he edited... (the above book).” (From Rudolf Steiner’s The Riddles of
Philosophy.)
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Geocentric
Of the more significant events in February, we may mention the retrograde movement of
Mercury. On this occasion, the planet will perform a perfect loop in the space between the
Sun and the Earth. The conjunction with the Sun will take place just in the area between the
constellations Capricorn and Aquarius. This means that the Sun itself will enter Aquarius in
that moment.
A loop of one of the inferior planets, Venus and Mercury, signifies the termination of a
cycle, which in the case of Mercury comprises an average of 116 days. It can even be con-
ceived as a lemniscate, whose one branch is the loop and the other branch the far flung-out
part of the planet’s career behind or above the Sun and whose farthest point is the superior
conjunction with the Sun. Thus the cycle of Mercury, coming to a termination now, started
with the hair-pin curve—as it does not always perform a loop—in October-November 1967.
It reached its culmination (outer branch of the lemniscate) in the superior conjunction with the
Sun, in December 1967.
Quite naturally, these cycles affect the relationship of the planet to the Earth and, thereby,
also have a connection with human life. We leave the individual to investigate the experiences
associated with this particular rhythm. On such an occasion the tremendous value of a per-
sonal and general diary will become apparent. However, this is not the only perspective open
to investigation. Earlier we pointed out that these “lemniscates” of loops and conjunctions
shift forward in the ecliptic, and then they periodically come back to that initial position. Thus
a loop of Mercury happened almost exactly in the same position of the ecliptic (with the
inferior conjunction in 334°) on February 21, 1961. These seven, intervening years represent
another, larger cycle of Mercury, and it is very worthwhile to investigate this rhythm also in
connection with one’s own and other people’s life experiences. One will then discover that
these cycles are connected with inner development, with the realization of will-impulses within
the setting of external circumstances, perhaps also failure of realization—in short, the rhyth-
mic “pace” of a human being through life. Then it will become obvious that Mercury is
connected, among a multitude of other associations, with the life of will that is spiritually
hidden in the limb organization and which receives constant impacts from the world of thought.
It will then also be obvious that much of the free spiritual “handling” of Mercury depends on
a harmonious and well-disciplined cooperation between thinking and will.
Heliocentric
From the heliocentric events, we should like to draw attention to the conjunction of Mars
with Saturn in the constellation of Pisces and close to the perihelion of Jupiter. For checking
and comparing notes, we mention that a similar conjunction in the same position of the Zo-
diac occurred in the epoch chart of Oswald Spengler (born May 29, 1880), who became fa-
mous for his prophecies based on comparative, historical research, published in his Decline of
177
the West. According to a law of the rise and fall of civilizations throughout history, which he
maintained he had discovered, he suggested that western civilization would die and become
extinct in a “winter” season during the 22nd century. At present it would then already be deep
in its own “autumn-fall” season. Furthermore, he suggested that another young civilization
would step into its place and experience its “spring”. However, he was unable to create con-
structive views on sowing the “winter corn” for the new civilization, which one would think
was the indispensable necessity at this moment in history. This then would be the perspective
of such an event in the apsidal line of Jupiter in Pisces. As it concerns the sphere of Jupiter, it
is associated with a cosmic appeal to cognize (Saturn or Gnosis) in activated thinking (Jupiter)
an end, or “finale” (Pisces, the last of the 12 constellations) of a phase in evolution, or the like,
and a new beginning, or the need to “sow” (Mars) the winter corn for a future phase. In
Spengler’s case, this obviously stood out as a cosmic hieroglyph at the time of his epoch,
indicating the deeper cosmic spiritual will-impulses that led him into his incarnation. In actual
Earth existence, he did not quite live up to these prenatal intentions.
Thus it would be a fitting attitude, in meeting the conjunction of Saturn and Mars, to take
stock of the world situation, to recognize where humanity stands, and to prepare in construc-
tive thinking the ingredients for the future evolution of humanity—possibly in a totally changed
world—arising again from a mighty catharsis of some kind. This can be done, and messengers
of the spiritual world, such as Rudolf Steiner, have provided all methodical help that is needed
for it.
Significantly, this conjunction is accompanied by Mercury moving through its perihelion
on the same day. Recalling what we said in the geocentric commentary about Mercury, it is
obvious that the perihelion, or nearness of the planet to the Sun, further emphasizes what we
suggest above concerning the Saturn-Mars conjunction. For Mercury in its perihelion would
indicate a maximum concern of the planet and sphere about the affairs of the solar system as
a whole.
We should also like to draw attention to the position of Venus in its descending node. A
stronger influx of forces from the sphere of Venus can take effect at such a moment than at
other times. They could be experienced in the world of feeling and possibly transformed and
elevated to inspiration. Famous personalities who had combined with such a Venus in the
descending node at the time of their epoch were William Blake, Dostoiewski, and Ralph Waldo
Emerson, and at their birth were Benjamin Franklin and Hahnemann, the founder of home-
opathy. They were surely standing in the light of inspiration at certain times in their lives.

Saturn in the constellation of Scorpio: In the Oct. ’66 issue, we pointed out that this
constellation is connected with the “mysteries of death”, which is also expressed by the symbol
we use for it , or . This particular association has been demonstrated by the position
of Saturn during the middle of the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648). Naturally, many human
beings died in the course of that war, but among them three leading personalities stand out.
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The first was Count Tilly, the generalissimo of the troops of the Catholic League. After a
number of victories over the armies of the Protestants, he was killed in battle on April 30,
1632, when Saturn was in 234.8°. He was actually defeated in his last battle by Gustavus
Adolphus, King of South Sweden, who had come to the continent in order to defend the cause
of the German Protestants. However, he was also killed soon afterwards in battle on Novem-
ber 16, 1632, when Saturn was in 241°. Now another great general of the troops of the
Catholic emperor Wallenstein, came to the foreground. He had a strange destiny. Being a
capable army leader and Bohemian nobleman, he soon developed political ambitions of his
own. The imperial court at Vienna became suspicious of his loyalty, and as a result he was
finally assassinated by some of his own officers on orders from the emperor on February 25,
1634 (Saturn in 255°). With regard to his own political schemes, he had relied too much on
old-style astrological advice and had neglected caution.
The association with an unusual experience of death is, however, only one aspect of Scorpio
and stops short at the real meaning, which is to break through death and physical extinction to
resurrection in the spirit. In fact, in practical terms of occult development of the dormant soul
capacities, this is the progress to inspiration: to inner, spiritual “hearing”, to an indwelling of the
Word of spiritual being. This can be attained only by an act of momentary renunciation of the
results of imagination in which our soul receives a pictorial, but still veiled, impression of the
spiritual world. This possible progress, which need not depend on the efforts of one incarnation in
question, is also associated with Scorpio. Thus it is understandable that the lives of famous musi-
cians and composers appear reflected in the position of Saturn in their death chart:
Joh. Seb. Bach died on July 28, 1750, Saturn in 241.1°. Already at the time of his birth
(March 31, 1685), Mars was in Scorpio, geocentrically. This he transformed to the
greatness that was then reflected in Saturn at his death.
Haydn died on May 31, 1809, when Saturn was in 241°.
Paganini, the famous Italian virtuoso, died on May 17, 1840, Saturn in 258.2°.
Brahms died April 3, 1897, Saturn in 236.2°.
Great masters of the spoken and written word are also associated through their death
charts with Scorpio (all heliocentrically):
St. Dominicus, the founder of the Dominican Order, was one of the greatest and
noblest preachers of the Middle Ages. When he died, on August 6, 1221, Saturn
was in 248°.
Giorgio Vasari, an Italian painter and architect, has become famous by his publications
of the history of Italian art and particularly by his history of the giants of the
Renaissance, of the great painters, sculptors and architects. He died on June 27,
1574, when Saturn was in 246°.
Blaise Pascal died on August 19, 1662, when Saturn was in 245°. He was one of the
remarkable religious philosophers of the late Middle Ages. This he combined with
natural science and mathematics. He published a number of his writings, which
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were based on real spiritual experience and inspiration. One such experience hap-
pened to him at the age of 31 years. He called it his “conversation”, implying that
it was somewhat in line with the great experiences of the mystics, even with the
Christ experience of St. Paul at the Gate of Damascus. His most inspiring book is
his Pensees.
Gotthold E. Lessing died February 15, 1781, when Saturn was in 253°. His work as a
critic and dramatist contributed immeasurably to the rejuvenation of the cultural
life of Germany during the 18th century. He even tried in his book, The Education of
the Human Race, to introduce the idea of reincarnation into European ethics. As he
was born in 1729, he lived and wrote like a spiritual forerunner of German classi-
cism, represented by Goethe and Schiller, and of German romanticism, repre-
sented in Novalis and the circle around him.
Rainer Maria Rilke, the German poet and author, lived nearer to the present time. The
Encyclopedia Britannica writes of him: “His writing is deeply artistic and deeply musi-
cal at once; a religious mysticism colors an extraordinarily rich and melodious style,
which absorbed the best influences of most of the important European litera-
tures.” And Abbot, in the Encyclopedia of the Occult Sciences, says of him: “...(his)
greatest works arose from a conscious meditative life and intuition bestowed by
grace.” When he died on December 29, 1926, Saturn was in 239.8°.
It would be a great illusion to think that all “masters of the word”, i.e., poets, writers,
dramatists, etc., died when Saturn was in Scorpio. The few we mentioned and many others
established, as it were, a rather simplified and obvious connection with this constellation.
However, this does not always appear immediately on the surface but is sometimes hidden in
truly esoteric astrological ways. This concerns, in actual fact, the stages of life after death that
represent for the human soul a growing together with the cosmos in an intimate, spiritual
sense. Still, these connections demand much more esoteric work than we have done hitherto,
and therefore, we must postpone their elaboration for the time being.
With regard to incarnation charts, we find also here a number of musicians and composers
connected with Saturn in the constellation of Scorpio:
Tartini was born on April 8, 1692, with Saturn in 247° at birth.
Mendelssohn was born February 3, 1809, Saturn in 237.2°.
Chopin, born February 22, 1810, Saturn in 249.5°.
Robert Schumann, June 8, 1810, Saturn in 252°, very close in time with Chopin.
Tschaikowsky was born May 7, 1840, Saturn in 258°.
Also a number of authors of profound influence on European civilization were connected

with Scorpio through Saturn:
Tennyson, born August 6, 1809, Saturn in 242.8°.
Gogol, March 31, 1809, Saturn in 239.2°.
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Gorki, March 28, 1868, Saturn in 241°.

Gotthill H. Schubert, born April 26, 1780, Saturn in 244, 4°—whom we mentioned in
the Nov. ’67 issue—was associated through Saturn in Scorpio at birth and in Leo at
death. This demonstrates a remarkable combination. By the leading impulses
guiding his incarnation, he was endeavoring to penetrate the mysteries of the soul
aspect of Scorpio, and in the course of his life he rose to be a forerunner of the
spiritual science concerning the relation between the great cosmos and the human
microcosm (Leo).
So far, we have described Scorpio as a constellation that can be transformed and made the
foundation of creative deeds, so to speak, leading to a breakthrough in the experience of death
to resurrection in the spirit. There is, however, also another side to Scorpio. In order to
discern this we will now investigate the birth chart of Lenin.
Lenin was born on April 9 (o.s.) or 22 (n.s.), 1870 (see Encyclopedia Britannica). During his
prenatal development, Saturn moved through the constellation of Scorpio—255.4° (263.4°
heliocentric). We have included a diagram for this date in Fig. 20.
To make a start with the delineation, we now pose a definite question that must arise: On
what background did Lenin become the revolutionary who shook the very foundations of the
complacency and indifference of modern humanity in matters of social evolution? In many
years of astrological investigation, we have come to the conclusion that unless definite and
precise questions are formulated, such a chart can become a veritable ocean of facts in which
the mind of the investigator can easily be drowned and lose all capacity of useful interpreta-
tion. An incarnation asterogram is a part of the great cosmos; it cannot possibly be exhausted
by the human mind. But we can approach it with well-formulated questions and problems and
expect relevant and productive answers.
Saturn in this asterogram was worked out in Lenin’s life as an expression of a great rebel-
lion. This leads us to the deeper history of evolution, which is contained in the fixed star
worlds like a great cosmic chronicle. In ancient times, when humanity had not yet descended
into the abyss of the present hard materialistic life standards and attitudes, Scorpio was con-
ceived as the image of an Eagle flying high above the Earth and possessing the absolute survey
of everything that happens “down here”. This is still present in the association of the origina-
tors of the Four Gospels of the New Testament with the Zodiac. St. John, the author of the
Gospel of St. John the Divine, is thus connected in tradition with the Eagle, whose cosmic
counter image is what we call Scorpio. The high, esoteric character of St. John’s Gospel is most
inspiringly expressed by the image of the Eagle. This aspect of the constellation leads us back
to the very beginnings of cosmic evolution, long before the present Earth existed, and is beau-
tifully and most esoterically expressed by the beginning chapter of that Gospel: “In the begin-
ning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
The image of the Scorpion tells us of a later stage of cosmic evolution, when an event
took place that is reflected in our Fall from Paradise. The origin of that event, in the early
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stages of the evolution of the Earth, is found by the spiritual investigator in the great (Luciferic)
rebellion during the so-called Ancient Moon incarnation of the Earth (see Rudolf Steiner’s An
Outline of Occult Science).
However, we want to know why Lenin developed just this side of the constellation Eagle-
Scorpio. Why didn’t he become like one of those great, creative artists, etc., whom we men-
tioned earlier? In order to find an answer, we will now investigate the prenatal asterogram of
Lenin. Earlier, in connection with Copernicus, we worked out the fact—found in many years
of research—that the prenatal Moon cycles are reflecting the seven year periods of life. There
are two ways of looking at this: the Moon cycles, starting from the epoch and moving toward
birth, are a reflection of the physical and so-called “psychosomatic”—to use a modern expres-
sion—development of a human being. This we presented in connection with Copernicus.
There is, however, also another approach feasible. We can also start from the birth and go
backwards with the Moon cycles toward the epoch and find these cycles also associated with
the seven year periods in human life. This is like looking back to the great decisions taken in
the cosmic spiritual world between two earth lives, with regard to the oncoming incarnation,
whereas the movement from the epoch forward represents the precipitation of all that into the
physical body, working as karma or destiny. Thus the consideration of the cycles, based on the
birth-to-epoch approach, can reveal the spiritual intentions toward self-evolution inherent in
karma, possibly also the failure to recognize these spiritual impulses conceived with the help of
the divine hierarchies of the universe, thereby stifling them.
In Lenin’s case we are led back, starting from birth, to a loop of Venus during the last three
months of the prenatal period. The inferior conjunction with the Sun took place on February
23, 1870, in 335° of the ecliptic, during the 3rd Moon cycle, counting backwards from the birth
date. Thus we would expect decisive events just then in the life of Lenin, so to speak, the
conclusion of a long cycle of destiny, similar to what we described in the present edition in
connection with the loop of Mercury during February.
We find such an event indeed, during the third seven year cycle in Lenin’s life. His older
brother, who had joined a revolutionary terrorist society, was caught and executed in May 1887
by the Czarist government. This was a terrible blow to Lenin. He was then seventeen years of
age, and he is reported to have murmured under his breath: “I shall make them pay for this.”
An unfathomable hate of so-called bourgeois society possessed him then and determined all
his later actions. Soon he started to systematically study Karl Marx and joined revolutionary
movements in Russia. He was imprisoned and sent to Siberia. Finally, he had to leave Russia
and live in exile in Switzerland.
It would certainly be a fallacy to attribute these events and experiences to the “influence”,
as it were, of that loop of Venus. This wants only to point the way of going into deeper
investigation. In the Mar. ’66 issue, we mentioned that these conjunctions repeat themselves in
intervals of 8 years, in approximately the same sector of the ecliptic, but over long intervals of
time (multiples of 8 years) they fall back in the Zodiac.
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Figure 20
Direction of entry
Lenin, born 22 April 1870, n.s.

(See Encyclopedia Britannica, biography by David Shub, and Buchder Zeit, Leipzig, 1960.)
Inner circle: Birth positions
Outer circle: Epoch positions
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Heliocentric
Heliocentrically, the planets Venus and Mercury will establish significant relationships to
their spheres. It is very instructive to study the heliocentric counter events to the geocentric
happenings. The latter relate to the Earth, obviously, and they pronounce these associations
more in a pictorial, imaginative language. The heliocentric aspects can reveal the dynamic
developments in the solar cosmos much more in the domain of inspiration, in as much as they
establish connections between the (invisible, and therefore more spiritual) spheres of the plan-
ets and their “Moons”, that is, their visible planets.
Thus, the conjunction of Venus and Mercury, according to the geocentric view, is accom-
panied by Venus moving through the aphelion (farthest distance to the Sun) of the apsidal line
of the Earth. On the following day, Mercury will move through its own descending node.
Gradually, we shall work in the journal toward a comprehension of these heliocentric events.
The position of Mercury in its own node interests us especially. From a number of histori-
cal and similar associations, we select two to get an idea of what it could mean. At the time of
the death of Johann Tauler, a German mystic, on June 16, 1361, Mercury was exactly in that
position. Tauler was one of the greatest mystics of that period. He had gone through tremen-
dous developments and inner experiences. His sermons, as a Dominican preacher, were so
powerful that listeners sometimes fainted, we read. What he said appealed obviously to the
will-nature, to bring about a catharsis of that sphere in people. This he “bequeathed’’ to the
cosmos and particularly to the sphere of Mercury at the moment of his death.
On February 11, 1858, Mercury was also in its descending node. That was the day when
Bernadette of Lourdes had her tremendous experience of the “Lady”, as she called her, in the
grotto of Lourdes, which subsequently became the famous place of pilgrimage and healing
(see Franz Werfel’s The Song of Bernadette). Experiences of this nature cannot be comprehended
without an intensive study and knowledge of the occult properties of the sphere of Mercury.
This does not mean that we only need to sit down and wait for similar things to happen on
a day when such an event takes place in the solar universe. Without corresponding human
efforts, nothing will happen. However, if we take our own inner development in hand, accord-
ing to methods such as those suggested by Rudolf Steiner in his book Knowledge of the Higher
Worlds and others, the “heaven can be open” for us in one way or another. It need not be the
experience of the “Lady”, as it happened to Bernadette, it might be “only” a guiding idea in a
difficult situation.
The position of Mercury in its own aphelion, on March 18, strikes a similar note, but it
appears to work somewhat deeper into the limb-will and intuition nature. Again we take two
death asterograms, because they indicate possible accomplishments, whereas birth asterograms
suggest potentials which, however, might never be evolved.
When Agrippa of Nettesheim died, February 18, 1535, Mercury was close to its aphelion.
He was “a writer, soldier, physician, and, by common reputation, a magician. One of his works
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is De occulta philosophica, in which he defended magic as a means by which one may come to a
knowledge of nature and of God, and contains Agrippa’s idea of the universe with its three
worlds or spheres” (Encyclopedia Britannica). He lived a rather turbulent life, and more than once
he got into trouble with the Roman Church and with the Inquisition.
Thomas Vaughan was no less a “magician”. He died February 27, 1666 (o.s.), when Mer-
cury was also in its aphelion. He was an alchemist who sought the universal solvent and the
philosopher’s stone. In fact, he seems to have died from inhaling the fumes of mercury in the
course of alchemical experiments.
Thus we have in these two personalities rather striking demonstrations of what a Mercury
in its aphelion can provoke or imply. Of course, these are extreme cases, and we cannot expect
that this happens as a rule, but they can point the way to an understanding. As we have
repeatedly said, the sphere of Mercury is connected with the will as it is incarnate, one can also
say, dormant in the limbs. The aphelion part of the sphere is particularly associated with the
will. If the planet Mercury steps into this line, it can act like a “Moon”, reflecting into the
environment the nature of the sphere and possibly accelerate and activate, especially, the acqui-
sition of higher knowledge (in most situations, however dormant) through the doing, such as,
laboratory or research work. If it appears in a death asterogram, it might indicate that such an
attitude was carried through by the person concerned, and also that it might work on and
inspire following generations wherever there is preparedness and affinity to spiritual cognition.
Venus is in its own aphelion on March 26, suggesting rather some possible association with
the world of feeling, contact capacity through feeling, and in the highest sense with inspiration.
This is exemplified in the asterogram of death of Shakespeare, who died April 23, 1616 (o.s.),
when Venus was in its aphelion.

Now we return to the interpretation of Lenin’s asterogram and follow up the genealogy, as
it were, of this particular loop of Venus, and we make interesting discoveries. For instance, we
are led back to the year 1414 AD, when a previous loop took place in the constellation of
Gemini. The inferior conjunction occurred on June 25, in 101°. This was the time when
medieval Christendom prepared for the Council of Constance in Germany (1414-1418) amidst
a truly chaotic situation. Three rival popes contested the chair of St. Peter. Thus, the so-called
Great Schism of the west occurred. The Council of Constance set itself the task to remedy
this sickness—which was not easy. The Council also effected the condemnation of the famous
Bohemian reformer, Johannes Huss (Jan Hus), for heresy and had him executed by the “secular
arm”. This was an unfortunate tragedy. Only by treachery was Huss induced to come to the
Council at all. He was supposed to have “spoken disrespectfully of the church, had even
hinted that Antichrist might be found to be in Rome... and continued to speak of Wycliffe (the
English reformer) as both a pious man and an orthodox preacher” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
We have the strong suspicion that the soul of Lenin was incarnated in the chronological
orbit of the Council of Constance. Three different astrological (time-wise) checks suggest
185
this, although we should not take it as an absolute proof of the validity of the idea. From
certain evidence in the chart, it seems even possible that this individuality was on the side of
those who condemned and destroyed Huss. If this should be correct, we would see in it a
possible explanation of the experience of an execution very close to him, as Lenin, in his own
family. As an experience of compensation, so to speak, to what happened in an earlier life, he
would have sought the possibility of such an incident in his Lenin incarnation. However, the
reaction, emerging as that fearful hate, was a momentary decision not included in his karma.
One could even imagine that the atheism that Lenin appropriated in later life arose out of a
reaction against a somewhat narrow ecclesiastic experience in a former life. Such inner devel-
opments have happened in our history.
These ideas are supported, for instance, by the complex of the Moon node associations in
Lenin’s chart. We have tentatively spoken already in the first journal about these aspects—in
connection with Goethe’s birth—and the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in 1712. This
complex, we said then, is a reflection of the “spiritual nativity” of a human being. We will now
add a further element necessary for investigation, which is the position of the Moon in the
birth chart.
In past editions, we have repeatedly pointed out that we see the incarnation asterogram as
being a panorama of the descent through the spheres of the planets into an earthly existence.
Also the Moon can be regarded as a hieroglyph revealing significant secrets concerning the
descent. In fact, we have concluded in our researches that the Moon at birth signifies the
“direction”, as it were, from which a soul descended into incarnation. This would coincide, in
a certain sense, with the Hermetic Rule, which we mentioned earlier, and by which we decide
on the date of the epoch or cosmic counterpart of conception. The Rule says that the position
of a waxing Moon at birth is the “ascendant of the epoch”, and a waning Moon, that is, the
point where it appears at birth in the Zodiac, indicates the “descendant of the epoch”—the
“ascendant” then being opposite. Ascendant potentially means the line or bridge that connects
spheres or stages of cosmic importance. For instance, the ascendant of birth, that is the point
of the ecliptic that is rising at birth, signifies the interconnection between the (etheric) Moon
component and the Earth element with which a human being associates at birth. Therefore,
we regard the “ascendant of the epoch” as an indication of the line of entry of a soul from the
higher planetary sphere into that of the Moon. This has been borne out as a workable pro-
position in the course of our historical researches.
The Moon on April 22, 1870 was waning, in about 29° of the ecliptic sign of Capricorn
(Greenwich, noon). Therefore, the “ascendant of the epoch” was, according to the Hermetic
Rule, in the opposite position of the ecliptic. Of course, the hour of Lenin’s birth is not
known, but even so, the line of “entry into the sphere of the Moon”, under all circumstances,
would be in the constellation of Cancer.
We have described earlier the nature of the constellation of Cancer in the opinion of hu-
manity in ancient times (see Aug. ’66). It was associated with the Twilight of the Gods in Norse
mythology, with the breaking away of evolving humanity from the awareness of the spiritual
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world and descent into materialistic conditions, which were becoming increasingly more dense.
The position of Lenin’s “ascendant of the epoch” in Cancer can thus be regarded as an indica-
tion of his appropriation of philosophical materialism as the world conception of Bolshevism.
All this seems to be further illustrated by the apparent sextile aspect between the Moon at
birth and Jupiter in the constellation of Taurus. The sextile aspect (see Apr. ’67) is an intima-
tion of a friendly cooperation between dynamics that move in different directions. Jupiter in
Taurus can lead us back to a disposition of thinking that is grounded, as it were, in ancient
Egyptian practices and life standards. Ancient Egypt saw the birth of the principle of theoc-
racy. As humanity broke away more and more from the awareness of the spiritual world and
developed increasingly a lack of response to direct moral guidance, the leaders of the Egyptian
and succeeding civilizations deemed it necessary to guide and rule by strict religious-moral laws
and codices. Thus the concept of dogma gradually came into being, and also the notion that
dogmas had to be enforced by severe regulations and the offender punished. Then in the
Middle Ages it seemed necessary to the upholders of the idea of theocracy to eliminate the
offender, the heretic, by capital punishment. Johann Huss, whom we mentioned in connection
with the Council of Constance, was one of the numberless victims of these theocratic in-
stitutions that sailed, not in the least because of such practices, into materialism.
On this basis, we can now clearly discern the roots of that seemingly strange phenomenon
in modern history: Bolshevism, that adopts the principles and habits of an ancient theocracy
and founds on such principles of dogma, a “church” and “religion” of strictest materialism,
including all the gauges of severest punishment for the offender and heretic. Apart from that
background indicated by the “friendly” cooperation of an ascendant of the epoch in Cancer
and a Jupiter in Taurus, it is not difficult to discern why the Bolshevist brand of socialism
should have sailed into this kind of ultra-dogmatic attitude.
To come back to our earlier remark that the secrets of the so-called “spiritual nativity” are
associated with the Moon node and the Moon, we can now go one step further. Our re-
searches have verified that this “spiritual nativity” is indicated in a moment when one of the
Moon nodes passes over the place where the Moon stands at birth. This can happen before or
after birth, and it needs a good amount of esoteric discernment to find the appropriate mo-
ment around the time of incarnation. In Lenin’s case, the ascending Moon node, in fact,
moved across the “ascendant of the epoch” (opposition to Moon at birth), either during Lenin’s
embryonic development, or possibly even at birth. Thus there is a strong likelihood that the
sextile between Jupiter in Taurus and epoch ”ascendant” in Cancer belongs to the complex of
the “spiritual nativity” of Lenin.
However, this is not the only perspective we have in mind. The descending Moon node
was also in that position before (with consideration of the precession), at the time of the
predecessor of the loop of Venus in Lenin’s asterogram. That was in 1414 shortly before the
commencement of the earlier mentioned Council of Constance. Jupiter was then in the con-
stellation of Scorpio, just opposite Taurus and where this planet entered during the embryonic
development of Lenin, and also where Saturn was at Lenin’s epoch. Thus we have more
187
evidence pointing to the possibility that the individuality was a contemporary of the beginning
of the 15th century.
Along the line of entry into the sphere of the Moon, indicated by the Moon at birth,
Lenin’s life pattern unfolded in its main outline. In May 1887, when his brother was executed,
Saturn approached that line in Cancer. As we said earlier, this was the moment when Lenin
appropriated that tremendous hate against the so-called bourgeoisie that guided all his later
actions. By 1917, when Lenin entered Russia in order to inaugurate the Bolshevik revolution,
Saturn moved through that line, indicated by the Moon, a second time. Now, the cultivation of
hate had borne fruit and the impulse of Marxist socialism, built on “dialectic and historic”
materialism, proceeded to be put into practice. This time it was not only one, Johannes Huss,
who was delivered into the hands of the secular arm in order to be eliminated.
Saturn in the constellation of Sagittarius: This constellation is opposite that of Gemini,

which is a manifestation of contradictions of all kinds (see Aug. ’66). Sagittarius represents the
endeavor to unify the extremes (Nov. ’66). For this purpose, the human beings engaged in this
endeavor must identify with ever increasing degrees of spiritual orbit and seek intuitive unison
with the contradictions and polarities in their own being, the kingdoms of nature, and the
cosmos. This can be accomplished only in time, and Sagittarius is therefore an expression of
evolution in any sense. The symbol we use for this constellation, the arrow, is a fitting sign for
this never ceasing endeavor that lives and works in us as a natural principle of our being,
manifest in the flow of historic evolution.
Luther, the German reformer, collected up the main stream of his life endeavor at the
moment of his death, into a Saturn just entering the constellation of Sagittarius.
He died February 18, 1546, Saturn in 258° (precession up to 20th century, plus 5°).
The Mogul emperor Akbar of India, died October 15, 1605 (Saturn in 266.7°), was
another individuality who combined, out of the realities of life, with such a Saturn.
His many years of warfare, for the sake of securing his empire, speak of a character
bent on pressing forward relentlessly. However, there obviously also lived more
profound impulses in him. He tried to create a deism, first for himself, that was
supposed to embrace the highly diverse religious creeds of his subjects, which be-
cause of their great diversity, bore the potential of constant conflict in them. Thus
“he gained for himself the title, ‘Guardian of Mankind’ for his tolerance and wide
sympathies” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Geoffrey Chaucer, the English poet, died on October 25, 1400, Saturn in 277.9°. We
can understand that through his life he created a strong connection with Sagittarius
through Saturn, particularly in view of his well-known Canterbury Tales. The Encyclo-
pedia Britannica recounts the number of offices he held: the guardianship of two
Kentish wards, justiceship of the peace, representing the county of Kent in the
parliament of 1386, etc. Thus he seems to have gained a deep, one might say,
intuitive insight into human nature in all walks of life. This ability of intuitive
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identification has made the Canterbury Tales, especially, a wonderful collection of

sketches of the most diverse characters on the road to Canterbury. It is a truly
constructive representation of the potential of Sagittarius.
Charles Dickens, the great English novelist, gives another fitting demonstration of
such similar qualities of Saturn (266°) at the time of death (June 9, 1870). In one
sense similar to Chaucer, but within the orbit of more modern settings and social
problems of his time, he described the characters of his human environment to the
point of intuitive identification with the souls and their problems. This capacity of
intuition, and especially the inherent potential of evolution of self in such a direc-
tion, is one of the more profound perspectives of Sagittarius.
Vladimir Soloviev died on July 31, 1900 (o.s.), when Saturn was in 274°. We have
written more extensively about some aspects of his incarnation asterogram in the
Aug. ’67 issue. He was indeed a personality who worked out that intuitive potential
of Sagittarius during his life, of which we spoke above. The great spiritual guide of
his work was the Being of the Divine Sophia, whom he had experienced, according
to his own words, three times.
Sir Christopher Wren, the famous English architect, died when Saturn was in the con-
stellation of Sagittarius (263.3°, February 26, 1723). This is an interesting astero-
gram, because it displays, compared with the birth chart, a progress of Saturn from
Scorpio at birth to Sagittarius at death. In between (Wren was in his ninety-first
year when he died) Saturn had completed three orbits through the Zodiac. Thus
we would expect that he brought into his incarnation a certain inspirational poten-
tial (Scorpio) that he transformed into an intuitive capacity. This was his way of
becoming an architect of the artistic and spiritual magnitude, which he achieved.
The story of the rebuilding of St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), after the great fire
of 1666, is a vivid description of the transformation and association of Wren with
Saturn in Sagittarius. The first design proposed a rotunda surrounded by a wide
aisle; however, the dean and chapter of St. Paul’s “objected to the absence of a
structural choir, nave, and aisles and wished to follow the medieval cathedral ar-
rangement” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Wren had to abandon his design, which appar-
ently followed the idea of a church serving “brotherhood”, in which the congrega-
tion was united in one community, without any actual differentiation according to
rank, etc., and prepare another scheme. Thus there must have lived in Wren an
impulse of attempting to identify the lay congregation with the events at the altar
by a possibly intuitive experience. For Wren, this was obviously a matter-of-course
experience, as a number of instances in his life show. For instance, in later years,
after the building of the new St. Paul’s had been completed, he could sit in the
cathedral and gaze with ever new amazement at the structure. He experienced
himself, the architect, in humility as an instrument who had, by the indwelling of
invisible forces greater than himself, accomplished this magnificent building.
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Heliocentric
Many years of our research have proven that not only are the positions of the planets in
their own nodes and apsidal lines significant, but also their associations with the elements of
the spheres of the other planets in the solar system. For instance, Mercury and Venus will
move through the aphelion of Uranus (farthest from Sun) during the second half of April.
Events of this nature make, as it were, the “climate” of the solar universe to which the Earth
belongs and responds correspondingly.
It is often argued—against the employment of the heliocentric view—that for us on Earth,
it matters where the planets appear from the perspective of our own planet, that is, the geocen-
tric aspect. This is certainly true up to a point and with regard to definite requirements. How-
ever, it is based on a simplified geometric approach that does not exclude the heliocentric view.
The two rather complement each other. The heliocentric perspective tells us of events that
concern the totality of the solar cosmos, particularly of the spheres of the planets (the spaces
set within the planets’ orbits), in which the Earth is also submerged. Similar to the human
organism where, for instance, a stomach disorder can cause discomfort in a totally different
region—such as causing a headache—so the Earth also participates in the woes, joys, and
“meteorological” conditions of the whole solar universe.
The elements (nodal and apsidal lines) of the planetary spheres do not stand still. They
also move in time, although their pace is very slow compared with that of the planets them-
selves. The progress is somewhat erratic, or at least uneven, especially the movements of those
of the outer planets. However, we can observe in their progress (often a regress with regard to
the positions in the fixed star constellations) large-scale rhythms that are very revealing in view
of evolution. For instance, Mars will be in its own ascending node on April 4. Three days
earlier it will be near the ascending node of Mercury, because the two nodes are only 1½°
apart, coordinated to the ecliptic. We extend the nodal lines—the lines from the ascending to
the descending nodes—through the center of the Sun and out into space beyond the actual
planetary orbits. Thus Mars can be in the nodal line of Mercury, although it is not moving on
the orbit of Mercury.
This was not always the case. On account of the movement of the nodal lines of Mercury
and Mars in time, the two were, for instance at the time of Christ, still about 10 degrees apart.
They come closer and closer together, and in about 300 years the two lines will be identical, or
in conjunction.
The rhythm that reveals itself in the coming closer of the two nodal lines is reflected in the
collision and amalgamation of two spheres of human activity and is characteristic of our present
age. We said earlier that we evolve the essential nature of Mars as the capacity to face the
physical material world, to recognize it, even to formulate this cognition in speech. Mercury
manifests in us as the impulse to meet this world with intelligence, which flows from the
invisible realm of existence, and it is also connected with our limb-centered will.
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The cosmic facts, as far as the nodes of Mars and Mercury are concerned, reveal that the
two domains of human nature might be exposed to a certain development, one might even say
danger. The impacts that reach our soul as we face the physical environment, which can be
overwhelming to such a degree that we can only see the material surface of objects entering
our orbit, combine with our capacity of intelligence and will. Thus it can happen that our
capacities are completely overpowered and turned into materialistically orientated intellectual-
ity. We witness here a contributing factor that helped to accelerate the development of mod-
ern materialistic thought and practice. However, this has happened only because a certain,
possibly small, part of humanity has succumbed to the adverse aspects of this trend. We are of
the opinion that this need not happen, because the inference of the corresponding cosmic
event should not be taken in a fatalistic sense. It could become a tremendously enhancing
impulse if it is positively handled and evolved by the human being. Then it can be a balancing
factor (the two descending nodes are in the constellation of Libra or Balance), effecting a
constructive cooperation between natural science and spiritual science.
We, therefore, are not surprised that we find a great number of fighters for modern world
conceptions: scientists, discoverers, etc., connected with a Mars in its ascending node, both in
asterograms of incarnation and of death. The constructive development of this kind of cos-
mic impact seems to manifest in the sphere of speech and music which are, in any case, the
most cultivated expressions of the sphere of Mars. There were, for instance, mighty masters
of the word such as Dominicus (founder of the Dominican order) and Thomas Aquinas asso-
ciated with a Mars in its ascending node at the moment of their death, likewise a number of
musicians and composers.
The associations with Mercury in its own ascending node, which is close to the ascending
node of Mars, show slightly different characteristics, more toward the intellectual and literary
side. Great writers were connected with such a Mercury: Sir Walter Scott at death (September
21, 1832) and Bernard Shaw, the great dramatist, at birth (July 26, 1856).

Saturn in Sagittarius (continued): In the field of Saturn positions in the constellation of
Sagittarius at birth, or epoch, we must expect a wide range of realization of such a potential,
owing to the double nature of this cosmic effigy. In actual life it is always a question of
whether the head-part of the Centaur is evolved, which in turn can tame and spiritualize the
limb- or horse-body-part. Our limb organism is essentially the most spiritual region of the
human organism. There dwells the will that can become, however, the source of uncontrolled
actions borne out of dormant instincts, if it is not lifted by incessant inner efforts to the level
of disciplined and day-wake consciousness.
King Henry VIII of England was constantly inclined to follow the ancient, one might
say, Centaurian pattern of conduct. If one studies his biography, one becomes
aware that his whole life was an incessant battle with his share in the Centaur’s
horse-body, which he received at birth. It was a never ending struggle between
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political “raison d’etre” and entirely personal motives. Even the Encyclopedia Britannica
has to admit: “...The atrocity of many of Henry’s acts, the novelty and success of
his religious policy, the apparent despotism of his methods—or all combined—
have made it difficult to estimate calmly the importance of Henry’s work or the
conditions which made it possible. Henry’s egotism was profound, and personal
motives underlay his public action...” It is interesting to note that this Centaur
heritage was expressed at birth by the position of Neptune, which then (June 28,
1491) entered the constellation of Sagittarius. He died on January 28, 1547, when
Saturn was in 269.3°.
Pope Alexander VI, the famous head of the Borgia family, born (December 31) Janu-
ary 1, 1431, Saturn in 277.8°. (Lucrezia and Cesare Borgia are his best-known
children). The dimensions to which this unconscious instinct-directed will can
expand is displayed in his incarnation chart. He is called “the most memorable of
the corrupt and secular popes of the Renaissance.” Studying this epoch of history,
we experience that such an utterly undisciplined Sagittarius potential can eliminate
all realization of moral perspectives.
Frederick II, the German Emperor (born December 26, 1194, Saturn in 279.1°), had a
similar life story. His ceaseless quarrels and wars against the papacy were a mani-
festation of subconscious, restless Sagittarius forces. We take this as an example,
demonstrating that a person doesn’t have an incarnation chart in order to submit,
as it were, to extra-human cosmic influences, but to transform, cultivate, and el-
evate them to the level of humanized spiritual morality, which, we admit, is not
always an easy proposition in practical life.
Richard Wagner, the German composer (born May 22, 1813, Saturn in 285°), was a
man who fought this great battle with forces implied in Sagittarius all his life. Natu-
rally, in his earlier years the fight was most obvious and can be traced even in his
compositions. At one time (1849) he was involved so much in political rebellion
that he had to flee for his life and stay in exile many years. Yet, there was always
alive in him the search for the highest ideals of spiritual morality, and toward the
end of his life he was able to transpose that endeavor in his inner life into the
drama and music of his Parsifal. We hope to investigate and write one day more
extensively about this chart in the journal.
Baron Robert Clive (born September 29, 1725) is another great example of the vigor
that the intuitive Sagittarius can kindle in a human being. Saturn, during his embry-
onic period, was in about 282° and at birth in 291.5°, which was then the transition
from the constellation of Sagittarius to that of Capricorn. The story of the con-
quest and integration of India into the British Empire, which was his work, speaks
for itself as a manifestation of one possible Sagittarius potential. The Encyclopedia
Britannica says: “Young Clive was the despair of his teachers. Sent from school to
school... he neglected his books for perilous adventures. But he could read Horace
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in after life; and he must have laid the foundation in his youth of that clear and
vigorous English style which marked all his dispatches…” His actions were simi-
larly filled with vigor and determination.
Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, is an example of a totally different Sagittarius
manifestation, though somewhat akin with regard to temperament. He was born
December 14, 1546, with Saturn in 259°-268° during the embryonic cycle, which is
synonymous with the head-part of the constellation of Sagittarius. The restless
nature of the Sagittarius forces manifested in Tycho Brahe’s younger years in his
long journeys on the European continent in search for knowledge. Later, another
aspect of this constellation came to the foreground. Its intuitive potential emerged
in Tycho Brahe’s astrological preoccupations. He made some political prognoses
that afterwards proved strikingly correct. For such a capacity, truly intuitive quali-
ties are needed. Rudolf Steiner once expressed that astrology is an entirely intuitive
science, for which the highest possible degrees of super-sensual perception are
needed. The incarnation asterogram of Tycho Brahe is most illuminating, just in
connection with the mentioned facts in his life, but we must reserve its presenta-
tion and interpretation for a later occasion.
Saturn in the constellation of Capricorn: The very effigy used for this constellation in
ancient star maps betrays a lot about its essential nature and dormant potentials. The ibex lives
on the highest mountaintops. His horns reach out still further into cosmic space. He attempts
to keep aloof of all matters too mundane. His endeavor is directed toward the vertical, the
heaven-Earth axis, and he endeavors to reach the highest in the cosmos that can be reached.
Yet, the effigy of its region of the heavens is depicted with a fish-tail instead of hind legs.
Therefore, there must have existed in ancient times an awareness that this cosmic potential was
also somewhat associated with the watery element. What does this mean? An intensive inves-
tigation reveals that in its purest manifestation, Capricorn waits to be realized in the human
endeavor to establish a knowing connection between the macrocosm and the microcosm. The
most potent medium of the working of cosmic forces in Earth existence is the liquid element,
the water and certainly also the liquid substances of the human body. It is magnificent to
observe, in exact experiment, that the solid substances, once they are dissolved or liquefied in
water, become perfect reflections of cosmic events in the realm of the planets, etc. This then
is the meaning of the fish-tail of the Ibex-Capricorn.
Of course, this need not express itself in strictly formal cosmological research, etc. We
must not loose sight of the fact that the cosmos accessible to the senses is only a countenance-
like manifestation of spiritual cosmic forces and divine beings. Therefore, a human being can
work out such an association purely in the domain of awareness and devotion to the experi-
ence of a real spiritual world; for instance:
St. Francis of Assisi was surely not a cosmologist in a formal sense, but he was a
spiritual cosmologist by virtue of his unique realization of the Risen Christ, that is
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the Cosmic Christ, in his life and his deeds. When he died, October 3, 1226, Saturn
was in 305.1° (constellation Capricorn). At the same time Jupiter was in 313° (still
Capricorn) and Mars in 308°, whereas Mercury was in opposition in about 125°.
Joan of Arc was vested in the cosmos in her own way, with similar Capricorn qualities
when she died on May 30, 1431. Saturn was then in 290.8°. (In regard to the
precession of the vernal equinox, this is equivalent to about 298° (291 plus 7°, for
about 500 years.) According to her testimony, she was in audible, spiritual contact
with the divine world, heard “voices” that guided her, and she felt directed by the
Archangel Michael. The horns of the Ibex-Capricorn are like “horns of plenty”
through which the sustenance of the spirit can flow down into earthly manifesta-
tion.
Leonardo da Vinci was another human being in whom we can detect the presence of
the divine cosmic Word in the form of inventive and constructive ideas. For in-
stance, his famous painting of the Last Supper is a pictorial description of the twelve
constellations of the Zodiac, which seeks an equal in magnificence. Each one of
the twelve apostles demonstrates, in facial features, in bodily movements, and ges-
tures, the spiritually dynamic nature of the one constellation allotted to him, partly
according to tradition. Thus through his death asterogram, Leonardo has bequeathed
to the cosmos a realization of the humanized qualities of the Zodiac, standing out
as a shining example in the spiritual history of humanity. When he died, May 2,
1519, Saturn was in 287°—plus about 6° precession would be 293-4° (see also Fig.
8 in Dec. ’66 issue).
Jacques de Molay and the story of his death, as the last Grandmaster of the Knights
Templars: at the end of the prolonged and painful trial by the bitter enemies of the
Order, can be taken as proof that he had a deep connection with the spiritual world
in all reality. Saturn was in 297.1° on the day of his death, March 11, 1314. The
impulse to prepare the globe of the Earth for the habitation of the Risen Christ
lived on in spite of the cruel extermination of the Knights Templars, for instance,
in the Order of Christ in Portugal.
Henry the Navigator, who was also a Grandmaster of that Order, tried to carry the
impulse to practical ends by the inauguration of the expeditions along the west
coast of Africa, with the aim of eventually reaching India along that route. He
decided on taking up the impulse already before birth, which is expressed by Mars
in Capricorn (314.2°) at birth and is, furthermore, confirmed by Saturn in the same
constellation at death in 291.3° (November 13, 1460).
Raphael Santi’s paintings, particularly his pictures of the Madonna with the Child, carry
such a tremendous aura of inner reality that one cannot but assume that the spiri-
tual world and the beings dwelling therein were for him a matter of direct experi-
ence. Of course, he might have taken living persons as models for his paintings,
but the execution and idealization of his work betrays that he saw more than only
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that which the sense of physical sight would convey. When he died, April 6, 1520,
Saturn was in 297.4°.
Robert Fludd, the great English physician and Rosicrucian, was one of the few who
developed, in the course of his life, a most direct realization of the potential of
Capricorn and bequeathed it, as it were, to the cosmos at the moment of his death.
His writings and particularly his Utriusque costal historia betrays a magnificent knowl-
edge of the Mysterium Magnum—the relationship between the macrocosm of
fixed stars and planets and the microcosm of the human body and its functions.
When he died, September 8, 1637, Saturn was in 294°.
Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, was the most striking example of an
association with Capricorn. When he died, July 2, 1843, Saturn was in 292°, just on
the point of entry into Capricorn. But also at the time of his birth, April 10, 1755,
Saturn was in 292.5°. Apart from the “law of similars” (i.e., diseases can and
should be cured by drugs that, when taken by the healthy, produce symptoms simi-
lar to those of the sickness), he discovered that substances in high potencies can
significantly accelerate their curative power. For potencies, quantities of liquid are
usually used in which minute quantities of the substance or drug are dissolved.
Thus potencies can be produced in which the actual substance cannot be detected
any longer with ordinary chemical means, and yet, they are effective. Here we see
the connection of the Capricorn dynamics with the watery element (the fish-tail),
which makes the curative properties effective. But even more significant is
Hahnemann’s own opinion on the mystery of these high dilutions. He regarded it
as a process in which the actual physical element is decreased to a point where the
spiritually (cosmic) dynamic power of the remedy is liberated and can work freely.
With this we have entered the sphere of associations of Saturn in Capricorn with incarna-
tion asterograms, and we find here some amazing examples of corresponding connections.
There was, for instance:
Bernadette of Lourdes (born January 7, 1844, Saturn in 297.8°), a peasant girl of the
south of France who, at the age of 14, had the experience of what she called the
“Lady” in the Grotto of Lourdes. The “Lady” told her what to do about the
healing properties of the spring water that emanated from the Grotto. This later
became the world famous focus of pilgrimage of numberless people who sought
and found healing there from physical ailment.
John Trithemius, Abbot of Sponheim, was born February 1, 1462, Saturn in about
305°. He was a great spiritual teacher that had an influence on his time. His
teachings also comprised the knowledge, and presumably experience, of the his-
torical law of the Archangel Ages. He saw intervals of about 355 years operating
in history that are under the spiritual guidance of the seven great Archangels. Thus,
for instance, he foresaw a change of “rulership” in 1879 when the Archangel of
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the power of the Sun, Michael, would take over from the preceding Archangel of
the Moon qualities, Gabriel. Anyone who has a deeper insight into the dynamics
of history and civilization, understands that this is indeed a spiritual reality.
Ignatius of Loyola, born December 24, 1491, with Saturn in 310°, had a remarkable
connection with Capricorn. Originally he was a soldier, but in the course of one
campaign his leg was shattered, particularly the knee. Now, the knee is associated
with Capricorn, as far as the human body has its cosmic, archetypal foundations in
the Zodiac. And thus it happened that as the physical-material knee was damaged,
the archetypal, spiritual cosmic counterpart of it was set free, as it were, and be-
came an organ of higher perception of some kind. Through this, Loyola had those
higher or mystical experiences that led to the foundation of the Jesuit Order and
also to the conception of the “spiritual exercises” that became the core of spiritual
discipline for the members of the Order.
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Geocentric
Saturn will be in the ascending Moon node, according to the latitude of the Moon and not
to the mean positions of its nodes as they are given in the ephemeris. This is an event that
needs to be watched and met with full consciousness and with determined moral imagination.
These conjunctions happen every 5-6 years, and the last time it took place in this particular
portion of the ecliptic was the end of August, beginning of September, 1939. (It happened
twice around that time because of a retrograde movement of Saturn.) This was actually in the
first degree of the sign of Taurus and in the constellation of Aries, whereas this conjunction
will be in 19° of the sign of Aries but still in the constellation of Pisces—a difference that must
not be overlooked when it comes to gauging its impact.
Heliocentric
In May there will be a conjunction of Venus with Saturn that will be accompanied by a
square of Mars to Jupiter. This is the kind of configuration that John H. Nelson of RCA
Communications, Inc., employs to predict long-distance radio communication disturbances.
Thus forecasts are possible months in advance, and actually, Nelson is right 93% of the time.
This field of investigation proves that the events in the solar cosmos, as they occur from
the viewpoint of the Sun and not only as they appear from the Earth, have a mighty influence
on the planets as well as on the Earth. They obviously affect the electromagnetic conditions on
our planet and other regions. We are certain, from years of observation, that they also play into
the conditions of animated beings and also into our life, particularly where we are unaware of
what is happening. This is understandable, because our physical organization is woven into the
pattern of the domains of nature outside our own bodily orbit. This is also the reason why we
have the impression that it is essential in our age to create an awareness of these factors in order
to evolve methods by which we can eventually emancipate ourselves from these influences.

An association with Capricorn can also lead to an over-estimation and excessive glorifica-
tion of self, arrogance, and all kinds of despotism. A study like the one we attempt here can
lead to the awareness that there is no guarantee that even the richest gifts of the cosmos
couldn’t be turned into the opposite if moral, spiritual leadership of the self over the lower and
subconscious regions of the human being is lacking. Here we find some striking examples:
King Henry VIII of England, whom we met already in connection with the Saturn of
his death in Sagittarius (see last issue). When he was born, June 28, 1491, Saturn
was in 304.6°. Here the spiritual loftiness of Capricorn was turned into a mate-
rialistic extravagance and despotism. But, even so, he rendered significant services,
inaugurating developments and institutions that met the modern impulse of indi-
vidualism and freedom.
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King Louis XIV was born September 5, 1638, when Saturn was also in 304.6°. He was
the classical example of absolutism when he regarded himself as the “Roi Soleil”,
the Sun King, or when he ventured the statement “L’etat c’est moi” (“I—the King—
am the State”). As an external expression of this exaggeration, he had the royal
palace of Versailles built like a Sun from which the streets radiated like sunrays in
all directions, or one can also say that the palace constituted an ideal center to
which led all roads.
Queen Marie Antoinette, the wife of the French King Louis XVI, is one who’s attitude
of the absolute monarch reached a final conclusion with her tragic destiny. When
she was born, November 2, 1755, Saturn was also in Capricorn, 298.7°. Through
her extravagance, dissolute life, favoritism, etc., she contributed much to the down-
fall of the French monarchy during the French Revolution and was guillotined
herself.
Saturn in the constellation of Aquarius: Aquarius is opposite Leo and, therefore, comple-
mentary to it in a certain sense. We pointed out earlier that the very symbol that we use for Leo
indicates the potential to move from a periphery to a center (for instance, of our self) but also
to evolve from such a center toward the periphery. Aquarius, then, is this periphery; it is also
expressed in the association of the two constellations with the archetypal origins of the human
physical organism. Leo is thus connected with the human heart and circulation and Aquarius
with the periphery of circulation in the lower arms and calves of the legs. Folk-lore medicine
knew this and influenced the circulation and heart from these regions, as in the case of fever.
The final periphery is the cosmos, particularly the cosmos of the fixed stars, but there are
innumerable milestones in between before the outermost periphery is reached; therefore,
Aquarius can appear associated with impulses toward achievement of degrees of human one-
ness, unification, universal love. Altogether, it is rather difficult to express a clear-cut definition
of the challenges emanating from the constellation of Aquarius, also of Pisces, because they
are in a state of almost turbulent transformation. The reason for this is the fact that they are
closest to the present age and its humanity, via the precession of the vernal point.
Already in the Jun. ‘66 issue, we elaborated the principle of precession and the fact that
since the time of Christ, the ecliptic signs (used by classical astrology in almanacs etc.) and the
fixed star constellations of the Zodiac are slowly moving apart. At present we say, when the
Sun moves through the vernal point on March 20, it enters the ecliptic sign of Aries; however,
from the viewpoint of the constellations, it will then stand in front of the fixed stars of Pisces,
and soon in front of Aquarius.
Thus, we can readily see that the present and the coming age of human civilization is, in an
astral sense, under the impression of Pisces and soon of Aquarius. (We regard the fixed star
constellations, as we said earlier, as expressions of world astrality.) Much of the tremendous
upheavals, convulsions, and far-flung changes of our present civilization are due to the chal-
lenges of these constellations and the resulting changes in all humanity with regard to old
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traditions and heritages. One can even speak, in this sense, of slow but incessant and tremen-
dous conversions of the mythological implications of Pisces and Aquarius. For instance, an
earlier humanity might have experienced the elements of Pegasus above the elements of Pisces
and of the water element of Aquarius below, as ingredients of never-ceasing and natural inspira-
tion. This has changed radically since the time of Christ and even before. In the meantime,
humanity has developed intellectuality, which gradually cuts it off from the spiritual, cosmic
sources of inspiration—though it has, thereby, achieved emancipation from dependence and
moved toward freedom. The spiritually free human being can regain access to these sources of
inspiration and intuition by determined, disciplined, and conscious efforts. This cannot be
attained but by suffering, and Pisces is particularly connected with suffering, loneliness, etc.
In the field of asterograms of death, we find two humanists connected with Saturn in the
constellation of Aquarius:
Pico della Mirandola (died November 17, 1494, Saturn in 344°) and Reuchlin (died
June 30, 1522, Saturn in 322.5°). Their affinity to Aquarius comes to light in their
association with the Kabbalah, the great complex of Hebrew esotericism. Particu-
larly the teachings of the Kabbalah on Emanation from the Godhead and the
Beings of the spirit world, as the foundation of world creation and evolution, is
typical for Aquarius. Thus it is a manifestation of the ancient and sacred properties
of this constellation. This is also the reason why the Kabbalah is almost a sealed
book for modern humanity, except for a few human beings. Unless our present
and future humanity makes decided and conscious esoteric and meditative efforts,
the doors to the mysteries of the spirit cosmos, in relationship to the earthly world,
will remain closed, and we will be deprived of the tools of cognition that we really
need in order to set our earthly house in order.
Nicolas of Cusa is another almost archetypal example who lived at the commencement
of the modern age. When he died, August 11, 1464, Saturn was in 334.2°. In his
time, medieval Scholasticism, which saw its culmination during the 13th century,
had come to its end. Scholasticism was able, at least in a few of its representatives,
to still reach out into the realm of inspired thinking, coming to that splendid ex-
pression we find in the Summas of Thomas Aquinas. But already in the 14th century
this capacity had faded away, and western humanity was only able to reach out to the
reality of the spirit in mystical experience. Mystics such as Master Eckhart, Johann
Tauler, and Heinrich Suso lived through similar endeavors. Then in the 15th century,
Nicolas of Cusa stands at the portal to the new age and seeks, in mystical experience,
an “unknowing knowledge” or realization of the divine, amidst a world in the process
of turning away from the awareness of the spirit. He is known by his Docta ignorantia.
As a cardinal of the Roman Church, he was also involved in efforts to overcome the
great schism between the eastern and western churches, although in vain. We see here
the Aquarius impulse of unification at work. On one journey in connection with this
mission, he had a deep mystical experience of unknowing oneness with the Godhead.
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The painters Rubens (died May 30, 1640) and Rembrandt (died October 4, 1669) had
an affinity to Aquarius through Saturn at the time of their death (about 324°),
though just one Saturn cycle apart. Particularly in Rembrandt, we see an artist who
endeavored to penetrate to the mysteries of light and darkness in his work. We
witness here a tremendous struggle to redeem darkness in color by the purity of
light.
Ibsen (died May 23, 1906), the great dramatist, was another human being who associ-
ated with Aquarius through Saturn (338°) at the time of his death. He fought a life-
long battle in his artistic work with the problems of individuality on the one hand
and love on the other. Individuality tends, at least in the becoming stages, to be
egoistic and deny love. How to reunite the awakened individuality with the human
community at large, and yet retain the fruits of individualism, is the attempt of
Ibsen’s art.
In the domain of birth asterograms connected with Saturn in the constellation of Aquarius,
we find one great personality of the middle ages among the others:
Paracelsus (most likely birth date 10-11 November, 1493, Saturn 332°), the physician
and alchemist, stands as a shining demonstration of what one is, ideally speaking,
able to make of an association with Aquarius (also see, in this context, the Dec. ’67
issue, concerning Saturn in Virgo at the death of Paracelsus). In his alchemical
studies and practical medical work, he went right out to the periphery, which is
implied in this constellation. He had a deep insight into the interconnections be-
tween the human physiology and the cosmos of the stars, and he also suggested
that it should be possible to work consciously and practically with cosmic factors in
healing sickness. Looking at his birth chart from the heliocentric perspective, one
must grant that he had an exceptionally strong affinity to the line from Leo to
Aquarius, which implies a special potential for cosmology, obviously derived from
prenatal life and earlier incarnations. At the time of the given date, Jupiter was in
Leo, almost in exact opposition to Saturn. Furthermore, Mars was just on the
point of entering Aquarius, though not yet in conjunction with Saturn.
William Blake, the British poet, painter, and mystic, and another personality who dis-
played a high degree of evolving the possible potential of a Saturn in Aquarius, was
born 28 November 1757, Saturn in 322.2° (precession up to present plus about 3°).
The source of his strikingly cosmic imaginations and revelations was his connec-
tion with the soul of a brother in the spiritual world who had died at an early age. It
was his way of touching the far periphery—in this case the spiritual periphery of
those who had left the Earth. His chart is most illuminating and will also be one of
those we intend to study in much greater detail. We are fully aware that we can do
no more with our present investigation of Saturn in the constellations than discern
very general associations, because in the individual case they are highly modified by
factors indicated by the other planets.
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Edgar Casey, the “sleeping prophet” (born 18 March 1877, Saturn in 341°), is a striking
example of what a person can fathom in such a peripheral Aquarius experience.
He was a very simple man, having no medical training whatsoever. Yet, in a state
of trance-like sleep, he was able to pronounce the most complicated and scientific
diagnosis and also very potent therapeutic suggestions concerning sick people who
were brought into his presence. One can indeed ask oneself when studying this
unique human phenomenon: What will human beings who develop such capaci-
ties consciously—of spiritual, peripheral insight—be able to accomplish in the fu-
ture? We get the impression that such souls like Edgar Casey are sent forth like
messengers by a higher guidance to this present humanity, to shake the devastating
complacency that only materialistic intellectualism has the answers to the problems
and woes of our age.
Indeed, every further day of this present civilization proves that this intellectualism falls
short on all sides and lets humanity slide into prospects of fearful catastrophes. We bitterly
need the higher knowledge of the spiritual world, the winged intelligence, but as we said earlier
in connection with Aquarius, we must develop it consciously on the basis of a strict esoteric
discipline, as indicated by Rudolf Steiner.
Saturn in Pisces: The positions of Saturn in Pisces bring us right down to the problems of
our modern age, which we described above: stagnation in the intellect only or breaking through
the stagnation and complementing it with a new intelligence. In the field of death asterograms,
above all, we meet those great personalities who through their challenges—especially in the
realm of natural science and technology—enter into the ring of modern history:
Benjamin Franklin, a most universal character, statesman, diplomat, author, scientist,
and inventor died when Saturn was in Pisces (357°, April 17, 1790). His experi-
ments in the domain of electricity and invention of the lightning conductor are
well-known.
James Watt died when Saturn was in Pisces (356°, August 19, 1819). He perfected the
principle of the steam-engine to such a degree that it could be used for commercial
production. It became an integral part of modern civilization and determined
more of the history of the present age than we are usually aware.
Marconi died in July 1937, when Saturn was in about 359°. He invented the first
successful wireless telegraph.
Antoine H. Becquerel, the French physicist, discovered the radiation given off by ura-
nium in 1896. Thus he was, together with Pierre and Marie Curie, one of the
pioneers of atomic physics. He died 25 August 1908, with Saturn in 5° of the
ecliptic and in Pisces.
Ernest Rutherford (1st Baron Rutherford), the eminent British physicist, produced the
first nuclear reaction. When he died, October 1937, Saturn was in about 2° of the
ecliptic and in Pisces.
201
One could easily be inclined to think that if these people had not bequeathed humanity
with their inventions and discoveries, many of the man-made big catastrophes in our age could
have been avoided; however, this would be faulty thinking. Humanity of the present has to go
to the end of the road to find the mysteries of space and matter by scientific and experimental
approaches. This is also expressed in the dynamics of the constellation of Pisces, the last of
the twelve, whose one fish swims toward Aries, the constellation of the preceding civilization,
and the other toward Aquarius, the civilization that is to come in the sense of the precessional
movement. The real problems and gravest dangers in this modern humanity arise from the
fact that the new breakthroughs in science and technology are grabbed by antiquated thinking
and attitude. Much of our modern practical life in the field of economy, politics, and culture is
dominated by ancient, sometimes very ancient, modes of thinking, or rather, intellectualized
habits and notions. For instance, there can be no doubt that a lot of our present social institu-
tions and general foundations of life are harassed by outmoded and devastating concepts of
“Roman” power politics in our age. It is very often the ghosts of the past (in this case of the
Aries civilization preceding the Pisces Age) that eagerly grasp the new breakthroughs in sci-
ence, in order to perpetuate their own shadowy existence. In the area of birth asterograms we
witness, at least to a certain extent, a similar spectacle:
Sir Isaac Newton, the famous British mathematician, scientist, and philosopher, was
born 25 December 1643 (o.s.), when Saturn was in 356°. There can be no doubt
that he was one who moved in line with the development of modern conscious-
ness. But just in connection with his concepts concerning the law of gravity, we
meet another of those ghosts of the past, dogmatism. Many of the concepts
formulated on the basis of experimental science are very often taken with a sense
of finality, of ultimate and unalterable conclusion, whereas if they would be re-
garded as stepping-stones to evermore enlightened insight, they would open mag-
nificent roads toward spiritual, and even material progress. An age like ours that is
in constant, and sometimes turbulent flux—possibly more than any other age be-
fore—cannot accomplish its tasks under unjustified domination by any dogma.
Michael Faraday, who was born 22 September 1791, also had chosen to incarnate un-
der a Saturn in Pisces (14.8°). He was the discoverer of electromagnetic induction,
which became one of the most important foundations of modern technology and
industry.
Albert Einstein, the German physicist, was born when Saturn was in 5.1°, Pisces (14
March 1879). He formulated the theory of relativity. However, after 1945—that is
after Hiroshima—he became a militant advocate of world government. This be-
trays, at least, a consciousness of the fact that the new scientific era needs also a
new approach to the problems of all our community structures. Eventually, this
can be mastered, but only by a new spiritual cosmic intelligence in fulfillment of
the new myth of Andromeda-Pisces.
202
STAR JOURNALS ONE
Oswald Spengler was born one year after Einstein, on 29 May 1880, when Saturn was
still in the constellation of Pisces (20.3° of the ecliptic). He was the prophet of the
Decline of the West, a Piscean concept in one sense, as Pisces is, so to speak, the “end
of the road”. However, he was unable to give constructive ideas of how to go on
from this to a new beginning. The intellect alone, obviously, doesn’t have the an-
swer. It can only be done by an intuitive thinking borne out of independence and
spiritual freedom.
Dostoievski, the Russian writer and novelist, once gave a vivid description of the ob-
stacles on the road toward such a rebirth of the human inner faculties. He was
born 11 November 1821. During his prenatal development Saturn was in Pisces
(at birth about 24°, epoch 14°). His novel, The Brothers Karamazov, contains a re-
markable episode during the time of the Inquisition: Christ comes back and unex-
pectedly turns up in a Spanish town. The people flock to him, because they expe-
rience the wellsprings of that spiritual freedom that humanity needs for its salva-
tion. The Grand Inquisitor comes by and at once recognizes the Christ. He has
him imprisoned and in the deep of the night he confronts him. He reproaches
Christ for having come to disturb the work of the Church and those combined
with it. They gave the people bread and made them happy, according to the rulers’
ideas and requirements, by withholding any notion of inner freedom from the
people. That would only have led them into trouble and problems, so those powers
said. Finally the Grand Inquisitor releases the Christ with the admonition never to
come back again. This story is an ingenious description of the old power-ghost of
bygone ages that can only see the possible solution of the problems of the body
social of humanity, in the exclusive rule by strict power. And the novel also recog-
nizes where the real and constructive solutions lie.
With the present issue we come to the end of our journey with Saturn through the constel-
lations of the Zodiac. We attempted to demonstrate how a planet can modify the impacts of
the different constellations, although we are fully aware that there is always the danger present
of inaccurate generalization in such a demonstration. The presence and cooperation of the
other planets can completely alter such a picture. We intend to investigate individual charts of
historic personalities in the future, in order to enter more and more into the intricacies of the
relationship between the cosmos, the Earth, and ourselves.
203
Bibliography
Publications by Willi Sucher
Isis Sophia I - Introducing Astrosophy (first publication)

Isis Sophia II - Outline of a New Star Wisdom
Isis Sophia III - Our Relationship With the Stars (formerly Man and the Stars)
Practical Approach I - Star Journals One

Practical Approach II - Star Journals Two
Practical Approach III - Letters Twoard A New Astrosophy
Cosmic Christianity and the Changing Countenance of Cosmology
Drama of the Universe
Living Universe - Studies in Astrosophy
For shipping and updated price lists, please contact:
Astrosophy Research Center, Inc.

P.O. Box 13
Phone: 530-878-2673
Website: www.AstrosophyCenter.com
Recommended Reading:
An Outline of Esoteric Science
How to Know Higher Worlds
Human and Cosmic Thought
Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path
Life Between Death and Rebirth
Cosmic Memory
Theosophy
PRACTICAL APPROACH II
STAR JOURNALS TWO

(June 1968 ~ October 1970)
By
Willi Sucher
Published by

P.O. Box 13
STAR JOURNALS TWO
ISBN 1-888686-05-7

P.O. Box 13
Phone: 530-878-2673

Darlys Turner
10987654321
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

in any form without the written permission of the publisher,
except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles,
or for copies that are not for sale but for private use.

Auburn, CA
CONTENTS
FORWARD 4
Star Journal: June 1968 6

July 1968 12
August 1968 19
September 1968 26
October 1968 33
November 1968 40
December 1968 47
January 1969 54
February 1969 61
March 1969 67
April 1969 74
May 1969 80
June 1969 87
July 1969 94
August 1969 101
September 1969 107
October 1969 114
November 1969 121
December 1969 127
January 1970 134
February 1970 139
March 1970 142
April 1970 152
May 1970 158
June 1970 166
July 1970 175
Aughst 1970 183
September 1970 189
October 1970 196
Bibliography 202
FORWARD
“...as we move toward the end of the 20th century, the principal question that
must arise is: What is the meaning of past history, both in a personal and in a
humanity sense, [as it is] being woven as karma into the present? This is the
fundamental question concerning all astrology also. It simply means that we are
not designed to live only our small, narrow existence. We live to fulfill tasks that
concern the whole Earth and even the cosmos. By constantly battling and mak-
ing decisions in facing the challenges of existence, we insert ourselves into the
greater processes of cosmic evolution. In addition to this, we have reached a
point in history where we must learn to formulate and practice the decisions out
of our own inner resources of spiritual activity and from a deeper insight than
the intellect only.” Willi
Sucher
This is the first publication of this second half of the Star Journals (and the second of the
three volume study series called Practical Approach) since they were originally written and mailed
to subscribers from June 1968 to October 1970. The journals have been reproduced in their
original text and form, with minor editing. All significant changes or additions from the editors
will appear in [brackets]. Most of the monthly calendars and commentaries have been ex-
cluded, unless they contained information relating to the subject matter of the journal or to
research information.
4
STAR JOURNALS TWO
Planets
Sun Mercury Saturn
Earth Venus Uranus
Earth Mars Neptune
Moon Jupiter Pluto
Other Symbols

Old Style o.s.
New Style n.s.
Ascendant Asc Descendant Desc
5
Geocentric
With regard to personal experiences and significant inner developments in connection
with similar rhythms, [as the return of the inferior and superior conjunctions of Mercury and
Venus—the 7 and 8 year rhythms], we can only refer to our earlier remark: a diary can be of the
most illuminating revelation and, at the same time might be a powerful admonition on human
inconsistency and lack of perseverance, possibly by a lack of insight into the mysteries of
karma and the spiritual potentials inherent in a human life. On the other hand, to check
possible historic implications in connection with such rhythms can be equally revealing. Ear-
lier, in connection with those rhythms or the conjunctions of Venus (see Mar. and Apr. ‘66), we
have demonstrated how we can investigate their challenges over the centuries. Thus many of
the modern historic developments that are deemed to be novelties might appear in amazingly
old-fashioned company.
In connection with the conjunction of Mars with the Sun in 91°, the years 1953 and 1936-
8, indicating the rhythm of 15 to 17 years, have been mentioned above. We would recommend
restudying, in this context, the history of the years preceding the Second World War, and also
the war in Korea and its conclusion by the uneasy Armistice of Panmunjon on July 27, 1953.
It is, of course, obvious that the rhythm of approximately seven years, associated with the
cycles of Mercury, is closely bound up with the rhythms of individual human life.
Jupiter in the Twelve Constellations

As promised, we will now concentrate more on the presentation and investigation of individ-
ual charts. We also want to follow up further on our study of the manifestations of the planets
in the constellations of the Zodiac. In order to combine both aspects, we will select one
individual chart for each of the twelve positions of Jupiter and also of the other planets, which
can be regarded as representative for the corresponding twelve diversities.
Jupiter in the constellation of Aries: As a representative we have chosen the nativity and
prenatal chart of Ulysses Simpson Grant, the great and successful general of the Union armies
against those of the southern Confederates during the American Civil War and later the 18th
president of the US. The following diagram (Fig. 1) depicts the positions of the planets, etc.,
at the birth in the inner circle, according to the customary astrological practice. In the outer
circle we add the movements of the planets during gestation, starting from the astrological
epoch, according to the Hermetic Rule.
One of the basic features of this chart that strikes us straightway is the fact that the Sun,
Saturn, and Jupiter are close to the rising point, or astrological ascendant (data adopted from
Alan Leo’s A Thousand and One Notable Nativities, No. 237). This is a key position in the chart.
Jupiter was in the constellation of Aries most of the prenatal time. Saturn was also there. (We
mentioned this in the Jul. ’67 issue.) Therefore, the two must have been in conjunction. In-
deed, there were three such conjunctions: one shortly before the astrological epoch (approxi-
6
STAR JOURNALS TWO
mately the time of conception) and two more during the embryonic cycle of Grant. They
happened three times because of the retrograde movements of the two planets. Thus we find
here a remarkable engagement of the constellation of Aries at birth. We can understand this
and the particular realization of these impacts by Grant (see also Jul. ’67 issue, in connection
with Saturn), if we contemplate the enormous and decisive influence this individuality had,
simply by his actions—perhaps, not only on the development of the United States but the
whole of modern humanity. In another theatre of history it was accompanied by the Emanci-
pation Edict of Czar Alexander II of Russia, which declared the Russian serfs legally free
(March 13, 1861). Of course, there were many others involved in these events, such as Abraham
Lincoln who was also at the moment of his incarnation connected with the constellation of
Aries, though from a different planetary angle.
Figure 1 Ulysses S. Grant

Born: April 27, 1822
Epoch: July 23, 1821
7
In order to discern the specific implications associated with Jupiter, we suggest restudying
its description in the Feb. ’66 and May ’66 issues. To this, in this specific case, we now add the
two factors: that it was in conjunction with Saturn, and it was at the point where the prenatal
Sun-curve came to an end, i.e., where the Sun was at birth. The conjunctions of Saturn and
Jupiter repeat themselves in approximately the same sector of the Zodiac according to a rhythm
of about 60 years. Thus the one conjunction of 1821-2 recurred in 1881. However, a closer
study reveals that they shift forward in the Zodiac by about 9°-10° within one 60 years’ cycle.
The events of 1821 took place (heliocentrically) in about 23° of the ecliptic, whereas the fol-
lowing one in 1881 was already in 31.6°. Furthermore, we discover that conjunctions of this
nature happen in two other localities of the Zodiac. For instance, the occurrence in 1821 was
followed by another one in 1842 in about 278°, and in 1862 one took place in 167.2°, until in
1881 the one of 1821-2 repeated itself. Thus they happen in a (not quite equilateral) triangle,
or trine, that is not standing still but is slowly rotating in the Zodiac, for instance: 1821 = 23°,
1842 = 278°, 1862 = 167.2°, 1881 = 31.6°, 1901 = 285.5°, 1921 = 177.4°, 1940 = 41.9°, etc.
Experience shows that these Great Conjunctions accompany the course of history like the
big hand on a clock. The external and observable events indicate the rhythms according to
which cosmic-divine beings meet in conference and concern themselves with the course of
evolution. The Saturn beings carry the memories and the karma of the past into the present in
order to safeguard spiritual continuity and the universal principle of redemption. The Jupiter
beings are like interior architects who take the ground sketches of Saturn, translate them into
realities of the present, thereby creating foci upon which the future can be built. As much as
Saturn is the age-old Father Time, as it is sometimes depicted in medieval representations, so
much is Jupiter the High Priest of the unborn, far future. These conferences, if we can call
them that, between the Saturn and Jupiter beings would then attempt to establish an equi-
librium between the karmic consequences of the past and the requirements of evolution to-
ward the future.
The Great Conjunction of 1821 was, heliocentrically, still close to the perihelion of Jupiter.
The one in 1762 was even closer. This is the point on its orbit around the Sun where the planet
comes nearest to it. This would be an indication that the beings connected with the sphere of
Jupiter (the apsidal lines are integral parts and indicators of the spheres) take an intensified
interest in the affairs of the solar universe, that is, in its significance as a stepping-stone toward
the future; and in the conjunction they would also draw Saturn into this concern. In order to
find a similar event of this order and within the row of ancestors of this particular conjunction
(with disregard for the moment of the other two rows of conjunctions in the triangle—see
above), we would have to go far back into pre-Christian times. As we go back, we discover a
Great Conjunction belonging to the ancestry of 1821, in 213 AD, which took place in the
aphelion of Jupiter in the constellation of Virgo. About the same time, in 212, Roman citi-
zenship, hitherto limited to Romans by birth, was extended to all provinces of the Empire. It
is worthwhile to compare the sociological implications of this decision with the events during
the life time of General Grant.
8
STAR JOURNALS TWO
In 988, halfway between the two events in 213 and 1821, there was a Great Conjunction in
269.2° of the ecliptic, which at that time was the location of the descending node (270.3°) of
the Jupiter orbit. (About nodes of the planets see Jan. ’66 issue.) It seems worthwhile to dwell
on this occurrence a little longer in order to get a grip on the conjunction around General
Grant’s incarnation.
The descending nodes of the planets work out more in connection with action in history,
whereas the ascending nodes and events associated with them seem to fall more in with con-
templation, etc. Now, around the time of 988, actually in 986, Bjarni Herulfson, a Norman,
saw the American continent for the first time on one of his sea journeys west of Greenland;
however, he did not actually land. Leif, the son of Erik Rauda, another Norman, sailed from
Iceland to the American coast around 1000 AD, as far as Boston in New England. We don’t
know what happened in the soul of Herulfson when he first saw the American continent, yet
for some reason he did not step on it. One can imagine that such an experience might lead to
the decision, in life between two incarnations, to incarnate on that continent. Of course, we
realize that such an idea might be regarded as mere conjecture at this stage; although our
method of checking this, which we mentioned in connection with Lenin’s chart, does confirm
the possibility.
There was, however, another feature in General Grant’s chart that falls in with this idea. As
we can readily see in the diagram, there was also a conjunction of Neptune and Uranus taking
place in the constellation of the Archer-Sagittarius around that time. Moreover, this event was
at an angular distance of 120° from the birth Sun, or trine aspect at birth. These conjunctions
recur at intervals of 171-172 years and also shift very slowly forward in the Zodiac; the location
where they appear at present is Sagittarius. Thus we have another big hand on the cosmic clock
of rhythms, which is worthwhile investigating.
Indeed, in 965 AD, there was one such conjunction of Neptune and Uranus, but then it
was still back in 190.8°, which was—with consideration of the movement of the precession—
the equivalent of 202° about the time of General Grant’s incarnation. Thus it took place
within the orbit of the Norman discovery of the American continent. This position is almost
exactly opposite to the point where Jupiter retreated during its retrograde movement in winter
1821-2. Thus we have another important contribution to the interpretation of this chart.
We are confronted here with the suggestion that this Jupiter in Aries is an expression of
forces working as the agents of an individual karma, carrying implications of the past into
future evolution. In the association of Jupiter with Aries, there appears an element of unique-
ness and singularity of character and actions, inaugurating possibly a long line of battles in
humanity for future social configurations. However, the fact that Jupiter was close to con-
junction with the Sun at birth would indicate that General Grant didn’t have much inclination
to promulgate ideas with which he associated. He was a man of action, who translated ideas
he was convinced of immediately into deeds. That Jupiter in Aries, although it must have
been fired by the ideals of humanity, worked in and through the limbs as the instrumentality
of the will.
9
In the Feb. ’67 issue, we pointed out already that the Sun curve, during gestation, presents
a kind of counter image of the embryo. The open space between epoch and birth Sun would
depict a reflection of the head-part, out of which the whole embryo grows, as it were, particu-
larly in the initial stages. The curve itself would stand as an image of the feet, the instrument
with which we step on the Earth, as we actually do, in a sense, at the moment of separation
from the organism of the mother. As Jupiter was in the neighborhood of the birth Sun in this
chart, it would indicate that this soul insisted on bringing the corresponding qualities “right
down to Earth”, through the limb centered will into deeds.
Of other Jupiter birth positions in the constellation of Aries that manifested their bearers’
strikingly kindred characteristics to that of General Grant, we mention:
Mahatma Gandhi, the great Hindu leader and social reformer, was born October 2,
1869, Jupiter in 43°.
President John F. Kennedy’s chart we have already introduced in the Oct. ’67 issue. At
his birth Jupiter was in 50° and still in the constellation of Aries.
In death charts we find very interesting Jupiter-Aries positions, striking heritages of corre-
sponding characteristics and deeds in the lives of historic personages:
Julian the Apostate (died June 26, 363, Jupiter in 29°) was a remarkable personality at
the time when Christianity became the Roman State religion.
Charlemagne (died January 28, 814, Jupiter in 31°) was King of the Franks and Em-
peror of the Holy Roman Empire.
Lord Robert Clive died November 22, 1774, with Jupiter in 43°. He was the British
statesman whom we mentioned in the Apr. ’68 issue.
Marquis de Lafayette, who died May 20, 1834, Jupiter in 49°, was the French soldier
and statesman who served in the American Revolutionary Army and took a leading
part in the French Revolutions.
As Saturn was in a similar position, we would have to visualize a corresponding tendency.

However, this would rather come to expression in a fashion typical for the dynamics of this
planet. One would expect that General Grant met his karma, meeting and encountering people
and situations, by walking and moving, as it were, not so much in the realm of ideas and
absolutely conscious decisions.
Why did destiny and inclination lead General Grant into a military career as a possible field
of expression for his inner being? To find an answer we must study the movements of the
planet Mars in this chart. Dwelling for a time in the sphere of Mars before incarnation gives
the human soul the capacity to face the physical material world and its practical issues. The
individual connection with this sphere is different in each case, because of karmic associations
from the past. This can reveal itself in the position and movement of Mars during gestation as
a kind of recapitulation implanted into the physical organism. In actual life, this capacity of
confronting the physical material world and the beings in it must necessarily be accompanied
10
STAR JOURNALS TWO
by minor or major degrees of aggressiveness, at least at the outset. The very concept of
confrontation suggests it, because human beings who confront must push back the environ-
ment to a tolerable distance in order to distinguish between themselves and “it”. However, this
can be changed and modified in actual life experience by the development of love and compas-
sion.
What were the individual properties of General Grant’s Mars? In the geocentric chart
Mars started out (epoch) in the constellation of Taurus, moved through Gemini, Cancer, and
Leo. Here it performed a loop, close to the descending node of the Moon, and at birth it was
still in Leo. Interesting is the conjunction with the Moon node, suggesting the possibility of
strong impulses from the astral combining with the Mars qualities (The Moon nodes are gate-
ways for cosmic astral forces (see Oct. ’65 issue).
However, we do not now intend to interpret these positions of Mars in the geocentric
chart. There exist a good many books of geocentric interpretation by well-known astrologers
(for instance, the introductory works on astrology by Alan Leo), that we feel it is superfluous to
add to them. Since we promote a cooperation in these journals between the geocentric and
heliocentric views, we deem it rather important, for the sake of ever increasing cultivation of
astrology toward spiritual expediency, to concentrate on the corresponding heliocentric impli-
cations. Not much has been published concerning this field.
Mars started in its own ascending node in this chart (constellation of Aries) and arrived in
180° of the ecliptic at the moment of birth (constellation of Virgo), according to the heliocen-
tric perspective. The initial position in its own ascending node could, of course, indicate a
tremendously strong Mars impact and suggests rather impressive experiences in this sphere
before birth. Here also lies the hidden relationship between General Grant and Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln (born February 12, 1809), who entered his incarnation accompanied
by a similar Mars that also started, approximately, in its ascending node (constella-
tion of Aries) and at the time of birth arrived in 174° (constellation of Virgo).
Napoleon I, the great Mars inspired warrior, born August 15, 1769, however, is even
more illuminating as he also had a Mars in its ascending node around the time of
his epoch that moved at birth into 174°.
Wallenstein, the Austrian imperial general in the Thirty Years’ War, was born Septem-
ber 14, 1583 when Mars was in its descending node (constellation of Libra), oppo-
site the epoch Mars of General Grant.
11
Jupiter in the twelve constellations

In the last issue we investigated the Mars of the chart of General Grant, and we mentioned
a few historic personalities who had similar positions of this planet at the time of their incarna-
tions. We also find Mars positions in history that shed light on Grant’s chart from another
angle, from the viewpoint of the heritages delivered by souls into the hands of the cosmos at
the moment of their death:
St. Dominic, the founder of the Dominican Order and fighter for his convictions, died
when Mars was near its ascending node (August 6, 1221 in 52°, transition from
Aries to constellation of Taurus).
Prince William of Orange (William the Silent), the Dutch statesman and soldier, leader
of the revolt of the Dutch against Spain, died (July 9, 1584, o.s.) when Mars was in
its ascending node (43°, constellation of Aries).
On the other hand, we also find revealing imprints in Mars positions similar to that of
General Grant at his birth, that is above the autumnal equinox of the ecliptic of the Earth.
Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit Order, which he built up on military
principles, died July 31, 1556 when Mars was in 179° (constellation of Virgo).
Wallenstein, whom we mentioned before, also died February 25, 1634 with Mars in
165° (still constellation of Leo).
Count Tilly, another imperial general in the Thirty Years’ War, died on April 30, 1632,
and had chosen a moment when Mars was in 174° (constellation of Virgo).
Garibaldi, the Italian patriot and militant leader, who we also discover in the attempt to
achieve the unification of Italy during the last century, died on June 2, 1882 when
Mars was in 166° (constellation of Leo).
We would now have to go into a discussion of the inner planets: Venus and Mercury and
the Moon. However, these planets are connected more with personal traits of this individual-
ity whose discussion would need the study of great details of this biography. We postpone this
until we have gathered a more general knowledge of these planets in connection with other
charts.
Jupiter in the constellation of Taurus: Being a remarkable example of Jupiter in Taurus, we

will now occupy ourselves with a study of the incarnation asterogram of Lord Byron, born
January 22, 1788, whose diagram of the geocentric chart we produce in Fig. 2 (also from Alan
Leo, No. 752), in similar fashion to that of General Grant. This is a very dramatic picture.
Saturn and Venus were still close to Pluto at birth. The three were near the MC (Meridian or
Medium Coeli), the point in the ecliptic exactly above the “south” (Zenith) of the birthplace.
Below the horizon the Moon was close to Uranus and also Mars, which had become retrograde
12
STAR JOURNALS TWO
nearer the birth and had been in conjunction with Uranus when it started its “loop”. Also the
descending node of the Moon was apparently in the same part of the ecliptic during the
embryonic development, which then was rising at birth in the east (astrological ascendant).
Figure 2
Lord Byron
Born: January 22, 1788
Epoch: April 22, 1787
As we mention here the rising point of the ecliptic, or ascendant, it might be a good
opportunity to discuss its computation and meaning.
We see, or we know, that the Sun is rising in the east every morning. Also the Moon and the
stars are rising once in 24 hours in the east. How does this happen? Science has realized for a
13
considerable time that the Earth as a globe is rotating around its axis, which runs through the
planet from the North to the South Pole. As we, who are living on the Earth, are not aware of
this motion, we get the impression—if we are not informed otherwise—that the whole sky
with all the stars, the Sun and the Moon are rotating around the Earth. In reality, it is the Earth
that turns once in 24 hours—the time of its rotation—past every point in the heavens. Thus it
happens that at the equator, within each 24 hours, we would see every star that is visible in the
sky rising in the east, passing overhead, and finally setting in the west. The stars close to the
celestial North and South Poles would always lie on the horizon, exactly in the north or south
point. However, if we moved into the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth, we would certainly
also see a certain number of stars rising in the east and setting in the west, but others that are
visible in the Southern Hemisphere would be permanently hidden from us. The curvature of
the globe of the Earth simply covers them up from our view.
The exact time of rotation, and also the rhythm according to which definite stars or groups
of stars rise, is 23 hours and about 56 minutes. This is the sidereal day. For certain reasons one
does not take the rising time of a star as the start of the sidereal day but rather its culmination
above the south point on the horizon. Thus the vernal point, or equinox (see the Jun. ’66
issue), is the standard location on whose culmination we base all calculations concerning the
daily rotation. This point is in culmination above the exact south on 20 or 21 March each year
exactly at noon. This is 0 hrs. 0 min. Sidereal Time, which is given in any ephemeris. As the
Sun is also in the vernal point at midday during that time of 0 hrs. 0 min., the Sun and Sidereal
Time coincide.
However, already on the following day we see a small change. The Sun has then moved by
1° (apparently, as we say, according to the heliocentric view, because the latter maintains that it
is the Earth that has moved through about 1° of its circle of 360°). This means that the Sun
will culminate on the day after the vernal equinox 4 min. later, that is, 23 hours 56 min. plus 4
min. = 24 hours later. The vernal point itself (and, of course, the stars near it) culminated 23
hrs 56 min. after the culmination on the day before.
Thus there appears a difference between the day, according to the Sun, and the sidereal day,
which increases every day by 4 minutes and which in one year mounts up to one full day.
Therefore, the difference corrects itself by the end of the year and a new cycle is started. Of
course, we could not arrange our daily timetable according to Sidereal Time; we must follow
the course of the Sun, or the day of a full 24 hours. This is difficult enough anyway because of
the differences of the sunrise and sunset times according to the seasons. For the calculation of
the rising points, culmination points, etc., of the ecliptic, we must take recourse to the sidereal
day or Sidereal Time, meaning the time according to which the vernal point is culminating
relative to the day, or time of the Sun.
Let us take an example for the computation of the rising point of the ecliptic, etc., at a
given time. Full Moon will occur on July 10, at 3:18 a.m., GMT. The first thing we must realize
is that this full Moon will happen at a different time for each geographic locality around the
globe. For instance, in New York the full Moon will take place at 22:18 (10:18 p.m.) on the
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preceding day, because this city is nearly 75° further west from Greenwich and follows Eastern
Standard Time, which is 5 hours earlier than Greenwich. (Each 15° account for a difference of
one hour.) When it is early morning in England, it is still late evening of the preceding day in
New York. Now we consult an astronomical ephemeris concerning Sidereal Time. For in-
stance, Raphael’s Astronomical Ephemeris for 1968 (published by W. Foulsham & Co. LTD., En-
gland) gives 7 hrs. 14 min., as sidereal time at noon for 10 July, p. 14, first column after “Days
of the month” and “Days of the week”. This means simply that the vernal point culminated
on that day, 7 hrs. 14 min. before noon, according to the Sun. Now we calculate:
1. For London (Greenwich) Sidereal Time at noon, 10 July 7h 14m

2. Because we cannot subtract 8h 42m (see #3) from 7 hrs
14 min., we must add + 24h____
31h 14m
3. Time of Full Moon 3h 18m = minus 8h 42m before noon - 8h 42m
22h 32m
4. Correction because the Full Moon will be about one-third
day before noon at Greenwich (diff. for one day = 4 min.), - 1m
minus Sidereal Time at Full Moon at London 22h 31m
1. For New York the Sidereal Time 7h 14m

2. Full Moon 22h 18m on 9 July is plus +10h 18m
3. Correction for about one-third day is minus - 1m
Sidereal Time at Full Moon, at New York 17h 31m
With these figures of Sidereal Time for the Full Moon, we could now calculate the rising
points at the two localities. For this event, with the employment of the principles of spheric
trigonometry—which is a bit cumbersome—astronomers have compiled tables that give the
rising points or ascendant, the culmination points (MC, or Medium Coeli) and some more
information for each possible Sidereal Time and geographic locality—because the rising points
vary also according to the latitude of a place on the globe. These are called Tables of Houses.
For instance, Raphael’s Ephemeris, which we mentioned above, contains Tables of Houses for
London (p. 42-3) and for New York (p. 46-7).
For London and the Sidereal Time of 22h 31m, we find 9 29 given in the Tables for
Ascendant, or rising point, which is almost the middle of the ecliptic of the tropical sign of
Cancer and the constellation of Gemini. The Sun itself was in about 18° of tropical Cancer,
shortly before rising. (The actual time of sunrise is given in the American Astronomical Ephemeris
as 3:50 a.m.). The Moon as Full Moon is, naturally, in the opposite sector of the ecliptic and
just about to set in the west (time of Moon set given as about 3:22 a.m.).
For New York the picture is, of course, different. The Sidereal Time for Full Moon is given
as being 17:31 or 5:31 p.m. and gives as rising point (ascendant) tropical about 17 30 (in the
15
Tables, p. 47 between 17h 29m and 17h 33m). The culminating point is given in the Tables in
column 10 (right of Sidereal Time) as tropical 23°-24° . The Moon, which will in that moment
be in about 18 (opposite the Sun), will appear in New York between east and south, not too
high in the sky.
We should suggest leaving the rest of the information given in the “Tables” (columns 11,
12, 2, 3) alone. There exists some controversy in astrological circles about their validity. We
shall have to come back to this at a later point.
The birth time of Lord Byron seems to have been 2 p.m., London, January 22, 1788. (Alan
Leo says in A Thousand and One Notable Nativities: “This map [on the basis of that birth time]
was published by Pearce in The Future, ii 72, data taken from a letter preserved in the British
Museum.”)
The Sidereal Time at noon for that day was 20:05 or 8:05 p.m.. (It is almost identical with
any Sidereal Time for noon on that day during a leap year.) To this we add the difference
between noon and actual birth time = 2:00 Sidereal Time at moment of birth = 22h 05. Now
we inquire again in the Tables of Houses for London (see above, Raphael’s Ephemeris, p. 43) and
find that the ascendant, or rising point in the ecliptic was 4 , which is the constellation of
Gemini. The point of the ecliptic above the local south as 29 and identical with the constel-
lation of Aquarius (column 10 to the right of “Sidereal Time”, in the Tables). We have indi-
cated these points in the diagram.
Why do we attach significance to these locations? Principally, we regard the space around
a definite geographical locality, whether it is the birth place or locality of some other event, as
a kind of receptacle for cosmic impacts, as it were, a three dimensional board on which the
cosmos writes. We include in this not only space above the horizon, where the stars and
planets are visible, but also the space below the horizon, that is the part of the sky invisible to
the eye, although we would expect that its character is fundamentally different from the im-
prints above the horizon.
The next question is: Have we any means of differentiation in looking at that “space
board”? To find an answer we will now consider the rising point, or ascendant (also, of course,
the descending point, or descendant) and the Mid-heaven point, or Medium Coeli (MC), as
well as the location opposite it, below the horizon, the Imum Coeli (IC).
Naturally, we would expect that a star, or part of the ecliptic, rising above the east, in other
words that enters the sphere of visibility, would have a special message different from what a
setting star would carry that was going out of sight below the western horizon. Likewise, a star
moving through the lowest point, or IC, would have a definite quality, because in that position
it is about to enter an ascending career in that particular space. A star in the MC, the culminat-
ing point, obviously enters a descending course, after having reached a certain culmination.
However, there appears more in this than only a symbolical meaning. A chemist and scien-
tist, Dr. R. Hauschka, has found that exposure of material substance in liquefied form, exclu-
sively, to the rising and setting Sun can effect a remarkable and durable preservation of its
properties. Of course, rising or setting Sun means that it is at the ascendant or descendant. We
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are here faced with the first steps toward a practical cosmology of the future that harbors
unfathomable possibilities.
With regard to the human being, this ascendant is not just merely of symbolical signifi-
cance. It is also of “practical” importance for us, as far as the amalgamation of the celestial
and our physical being are concerned. Earlier (see the Jan. ’67 issue) we pointed out the wis-
dom contained in the very ancient Trutina Hermetis, which can be employed practically in the
calculation of the epoch, an apparently significant point of time around the conception. [The
(Trutina Hermetis) Hermetic Rule is repeated in July ’69 of this volume]. In order to fully
appreciate this connection, which is a relationship between the “Earth” and the “Moon” of a
human being, we will now go into greater detail with regard to the process of incarnation,
especially around the conception, and we will especially refer to the descriptions of Rudolf
Steiner.
During the possibly long interval between two incarnations, our soul is chiefly engaged
with the substantial assistance of the divine hierarchies in the cosmos, building up the spiritual
dynamic foundations of a new vessel for a future life on Earth. This reveals itself in the fact
that the earthly human body is, in its essential parts, a microcosmic image of the twelve con-
stellations of the Zodiac and of the workings of the planets. The occultist calls this founda-
tion of the body the “spirit germ” of the physical material body. Step by step the soul carries
this spirit germ through the cosmic spheres until it enters the last sphere on the road to incar-
nation, the sphere of the Moon. Now the physical conception takes place, but in order to
implant the human form into the material, which is offered by the parents, that “spirit germ”
must be amalgamated with the physical germ. It drops out of the hands, as it were, of the soul
and enters the domain of the Earth before the soul is ready to follow. The occultist describes
now how the soul, still staying in the sphere of the Moon, goes through an experience of loss
and, as a kind of compensation, the individual life or ether body is organized out of the sur-
rounding cosmic ether. This entity, now consisting of soul, astral or soul body, and ether body,
then unites during the third week of the embryonic cycle, around the 18th day, with the physical
germ (see also the Jan. ’67 issue).
We see in the epoch, and the configuration of the heavens at that time, the moment of the
creation or conception of the ether body, which is built in accordance with the decisions made
on the basis of the karmic perspectives of the individuality. This expresses itself in the con-
figuration of the planetary world in that moment, and this is also the reason why the move-
ments and gestures of the planets between the epoch and the birth reflect a kind of ground
plan of the oncoming life on the Earth. (See our description in the Feb. ’67 issue, in connec-
tion with the prenatal chart of Copernicus.)
Thus the ascendant (or descendant) is an integral part of the incarnation chart of a human
being. It does reflect the epoch Moon as representative of the cosmic ether forces that have
been organized into an individual ether or life body and amalgamated with the physical body.
Equipped with this idea, we can now return to the ascendant of Lord Byron, which is given as
4 . Since this concerns the ether body, we have reason to adhere to the sign or corresponding
17
ecliptic division and not the fixed-star constellation, which in this case would be Gemini. (See
distinction between tropical and sidereal Zodiacs in Jun. ’66 issue.)
The ecliptic signs (tropical) and the sidereal Zodiacs have come apart in the course of the
precession of the vernal point and will continue, of course, to do so. However, there was a
time when the tropical and sidereal perspectives, which we still use, were more or less identical.
This was the age around the new era, or AD, possibly some short time before. Apart from the
aspect of the inauguration of Christianity in humanity, which we consider as highly significant
and important in this context, this coincides also with the age during which the chief weight of
human civilization shifted from Asia to Europe, Greece, and Rome. Compared with the Asi-
atic civilizations that still carried the memories and traditions of mighty spiritual culture, the
Greek and particularly Roman humanity moved away from the ancient receptivity and aware-
ness of the reality of the spiritual world into emancipation and independence. Thus a long line
of preceding associations of humanity with the cosmic-divine world had come to an end and
a new era started indeed. This is expressed in that identity of signs and constellations.
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We started in July to discuss a possible interpretation of the ascendant of Lord Byron, and
we came to the conclusion that it seems logical to employ the tropical signs of the ecliptic for
this purpose, because we are confronted with a relationship between the Moon and the Earth;
in other words, with the ether body of the human being. In order to find access to a practical
evaluation of these “signs”, we take recourse to the moment in history when the last time the
ecliptic signs and the fixed-star constellations were identical, which was around the commence-
ment of the new era, or about the time of Christ.
In this sense the sign of , which was rising at Byron’s birth, would bear the imprint of the
constellation Cancer of old as an etheric memory into the age of humanity’s struggling toward
freedom (perhaps “freehood”) of the individual. The constellation of Cancer carries the memory
of the “loss of the bridge to the spirit world” (see Aug. ‘66) and the ensuing spiritual darkness
that fell upon humanity. If we try to form a picture of this proposition, we can imagine what
kind of “etheric landscape” must have lived in Byron, who, after his departure from England,
“...was the typical figure of the romantic movement, the artist who found in 1816 his subject in
his own sorrows, in his own remorse,” and who said “My pang shall find a voice.” He displayed
to the world, as Arnold has said, “the pageant of a bleeding heart” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
This is borne out by numbers of other individualities who were born when this sign was
rising and whose destinies displayed, in one way or another, the loss of the bridge and the
opening of the abyss under it:
Marie Antoinette, the Bourbon queen who was guillotined during the French Revolu-
tion, was born with an ascendant in 3° of Cancer.
Maximilian (1832-67), the Emperor of Mexico who was shot during a rebellion, had an
ascendant in 13° of Cancer at birth.
King Louis II of Bavaria, the unhappy king and friend and patron of the composer
Richard Wagner, was born when 7° of Cancer was rising. He became insane and
committed suicide.
There is also the other side of Cancer, all that which entered humanity through the Mystery
of Golgotha, to which access can be attained only through suffering.
We will now discuss the planets according to their order in the solar universe: Saturn
described a loop in the constellation of Aquarius during gestation, close to the fixed-star Alpha
Aquarii. In the May ’68 issue, we mentioned a few similar positions at the time of birth of
historic personalities, among them William Blake. To this we can add:
Friedrich Schiller, the German poet, playwright, and historian, was born November 10,
1759.
John Ruskin, the British author and art critic (born February 8, 1819).
Walt Whitman, the US poet (born May 31, 1819).
19
Others who combined in the moment of their death with such a Saturn in Aquarius were:
Henrik Ibsen died in 1906, May 23, when Saturn was in Aquarius.
George Sand, the French novelist (died June 8, 1876).
Joseph R. Kipling, the British novelist and poet (died 1936).
Maxim Gorki, Russian novelist and dramatist (also died 1936).
Martin Buber, Jewish philosopher and scholar (died 1965).
This can give us an idea of the characteristics of such a Saturn as the one in the prenatal
and birth asterogram of Byron. However, in the last issue we see in the chart that this position
is strongly emphasized by the closeness of Pluto and Venus to Saturn at birth. With Pluto,
which as we know was discovered only in 1930, we come to the outermost edge of the solar
universe, where the laws and conditions that govern, for instance those concerning substance
and particularly matter (as on the Earth), fade out and the principles of the fixed-star universe
begin to take over. Therefore, we see cosmic elements and activities in Pluto and its sphere that
insist on spiritualization of all substance tending toward solidification and temporary stagna-
tion within the solar system. If it does not find a congenial response, it might well manifest as
a tendency to destruction and catastrophe in manifold ways. This applies, in degrees, to all the
“new” planets beyond Saturn, and we have plenty of evidence of such destructive and dissolv-
ing activities in connection with nature and human cataclysms.
Byron always tried to turn his Saturn affinities toward the spiritualization of human civili-
zation. For a host of reasons, he did not always succeed, and then catastrophe took over, as in
the circumstances that preceded and accelerated his final departure from England in 1816.
Nevertheless, these painful events, his “ostracism in London was, in a sense, his liberation; it
made him great… He was from that moment (of departure from England) the typical figure
of the romantic movement” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Here we see the realization in life of the
conjunction of Venus with Saturn at birth. Venus refers to the middle sphere of the organism,
the rhythmic, compensating, harmonizing, and healing element between head and limbs, as
feeling between one-sided thinking and willing. This is the sphere of the poet and his creative
work as a healing of the unhealthy extremes of life. But, as we said, the conjunction of this
Venus with Saturn implied a painful road as a part of the karmic residue from the past. It is
helpful to add to this geocentric position of Venus at birth, the heliocentric perspective. ac-
cording to which Venus was then exactly below the vernal point (Sun position on 20-21 March)
of the Earth’s ecliptic or pathway. Thus it was in a unique position, as far as the evolution of
our planet is concerned, borne out by the fact that other great artists entered with a similar
Venus (heliocentrically) through birth:
Mozart was born January 27, 1756.
William Blake was born November 28, 1757.
Hölderlin, the German poet (March 29, 1770), at whose death (1843, June 7) Venus
was again in this position.
Tennyson was born when this planet was in the vernal point (August 6, 1809).
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To this we add now two more viewpoints that are helpful. The first is the fact that the
triple conjunction of Pluto, Saturn, and Venus is in the MC (see chart), that is the culminating
point above the south of the birth place. This indicates that the three planets had risen during
the preceding hours of that day and had reached a culmination from which they were about to
descend again through the western part of the sky. We have here a symbolic expression of
certain great impulses that worked in the soul of Byron, rising up from the past, reaching a
climax, and finally descending again into karma, thus being transformed by the experiences
and vicissitudes of the new incarnation.
Another factor we have demonstrated earlier is the embryo image contained in the Sun
curve during gestation, which can add to the foregoing suggestion (see Feb. ’67 issue). We are,
of course, fully aware that this is an entire novelty to orthodox, traditional astrology. However,
in decades of very practical research in this field, we have come to the conclusion that it is a
valid approach that can build bridges from symbolic astrology, so often accused of supersti-
tion, to a factual astrology that can make the interaction between, for instance, cosmos and the
growing embryo acceptable in a scientific sense, similar to other correlations that have been
established by statistical research.
According to this approach, the head-image of the embryo would live in the space from
the constellation of Capricorn to that of Pisces—the space not touched by the Sun during
gestation. (The Sun started out from Aries, see chart, and stopped in Capricorn.) Just in this
“open” space was positioned that triple conjunction, which suggests that it worked particularly
into the head image and from there into the whole body image.
In order to fully appreciate this, we must add another perspective. We know that the
embryo in the beginning stages of development consists almost entirely of a head with rela-
tively tiny appendices of a trunk and limbs. Only during the later part of gestation are head
and trunk with the limbs growing into the proportions of the body of a newborn baby. Rudolf
Steiner, on the basis of his occult research, has pointed out that this is the expression of a
definite spiritual fact. After death the spirit essence of the physical body (the material parts go,
of course, back to the elements of the Earth) is transformed into the spirit image of a head.
This spirit image becomes the foundation of the body of the following incarnation, and there-
fore the embryo is almost entirely head at the beginning. To a limited extent we can even say,
we carry in our head a kind of residue of the past incarnation upon our shoulders. The cosmic
image of this head is already “existent” at the time of the epoch, and it is represented by the
space in which the Sun had been before the epoch. In the case of Byron, this would have been
the constellations of Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Thus we can regard the conjunction of
Pluto, Saturn, and Venus as an expression of karma reaching over from the past, carrying a
tremendous message and also suffering. Other facts of Byron’s life also emerge here in their
cosmic context. We see the triple conjunction associated with Aquarius, above which is Pe-
gasus the winged horse, who lives by the “well of inspiration” from which the poets drink,
according to the myth. Another illuminating viewpoint is the fact that Aquarius is a constel-
lation of the future, inasmuch as the vernal point will move into it once it leaves Pisces where
21
it is at present. Human civilization, inspired by Aquarius, will have its focus chiefly in the Slav
nations of humanity; and it was just the Slavs on whom Byron had his strongest and lasting
influence, “not only as a poet, but also politically and morally”. Among the Polish poets, it was
Mickiewicz and Slowacki, and among the Russians it was the great romantic poets Pushkin and
Lermontov.
The concept of the “open space” of the epoch to birth Sun curve, with karmic residue of
the past being concentrated in the head and from there working into the whole organism, is
interesting from another angle. Classical astrology uses the ratio of one day, or 1°, of the Sun
path after birth, for one year as a means of projecting the facts of the birth chart into later life.
For instance, the Sun moving through the 26° to 28° of the ecliptic, starting from the birth
position in 2° of the “sign” of , would be reflected into the 26th to 28th years of Byron’s life,
according to this idea. This would bring the Sun to about 28° to 30° of , which is just that
portion of the ecliptic through which Saturn moved during Byron’s gestation. In life it was that
tumultuous time of his marriage to Anne Isabella Milbank, followed by his departure from
England in 1816. In experiences of this nature we can surely discern the working of karma
from the past, “accumulated” in that head image.
We now carry on with an investigation of the Jupiter background of Byron. During the
embryonic cycle it moved through the entire constellation of Taurus. In this case we have an
unmistakable reference to the cosmic archetypal region of the human larynx and the whole
organism for the reception and production of the Word. Thus we can say that Byron was,
indeed, a poet of cosmic eminence. Furthermore, we find that this Jupiter moves through the
heart sphere of the body image which was indicated by the prenatal curve of the Sun, as we
said above. Therefore, he was a poet also by virtue of his heart forces.
We have described the nature of Jupiter and its sphere in the Feb. ’66 issue. There we said,
for instance, that the forces of this planet and their experience in life between the incarnations
would enable us to direct our capacities toward the greater aims and ideals of humanity, and
would indicate the potential to work for them within the stream of evolution, according to the
situations in which destiny would put an individual. As much as Saturn has the tendency of
looking back in time, so does Jupiter concentrate on the future—on becoming. If we combine
this perspective of Jupiter with the position in Taurus, as it happened in the chart of Byron, we
can understand much of his struggle, his work and his appreciation by parts of humanity
inclined in similar directions. This is all the more emphasized by a study of other historic
Jupiter positions in Taurus of a number of kindred souls from their death asterograms:
Calderon, the Spanish playwright, died May 25, 1681 (86°).

Charles Dickens, the British novelist, died June 9, 1870 (65°).
Emerson, US essayist and poet, died April 27, 1882 (66°).
Longfellow, US poet, died March 24, 1882 (63°).
Ibsen, Norwegian playwright and poet, died May 23, 1906 (77°).
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From their incarnation asterograms, we have:

Val. Andreae, wrote Chymical Wedding, born August 17, 1586, epoch (66°).
Moliere, French writer, born January 15, 1622, at birth (84°).
Balzac, French novelist, born May 20, 1799, at birth (68°).
Charles Dickens, born February 7, 1812, at epoch (72°).
Mark Twain, born November 30, 1835, at epoch (75°).
This can give us an idea of the potential that is expressed in a Jupiter in Taurus. However,
we should not let ourselves be deceived into the assumption that such a position of Jupiter
must bring forth a poet under all circumstances. The capacity of the poet is only the instru-
ment by which an individuality can express deeper motives. It is better to say that such a
personality might develop an idealistic attitude in life, seeking ways and means to overcome the
weight of matter and a materialistic world. (See also our description of the constellation of
Taurus in the Jul. ’66 issue.) The impulse to do this can lead to success but also to failure if
congenial means are not found or not employed. Therefore, a cosmology or astrology of the
future will have to develop methods to help people find the right ways of self-education to-
ward the unfolding of their innate potential.
Now we go on to the investigation of Mars in the birth chart of Byron. At the epoch, it
just entered the constellation of Pisces, in conjunction with Venus (see diagram in the Jul. ’68
issue). It was also at the same longitude as the fixed-star Alpha in Pegasus (about 20° above it).
During gestation it moved from Pisces through Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer, before
going into a loop, or retrograde, back to the constellation of Gemini at birth. As we mentioned
earlier, Mars must have been in conjunction with Uranus when it became retrograde, and it was
also, around that time, in the place where the Moon stood at birth. In the heliocentric chart
Mars was exactly in conjunction with Uranus at birth.
The position of Mars at the epoch is already very revealing. In our earlier description of
the potential of Mars (Feb. ‘66), we pointed out that this planet and its sphere give us the
capacity to confront the physical world. The most refined manifestation of this potential is the
development of speech. This combined at the epoch with Venus, in which we can see an
indication of an innate impulse toward artistic expression. Venus is associated with our feeling
and the capacity to create and cultivate relationship to the environment. This is emphasized
further by the conjunction of Mars with Alpha-Pegasus, the winged horse (or intelligence) of
the poets, although Pegasus is far north of the planet.
According to the idea of the embryo-image being manifest in the gestational Sun curve,
which we suggested earlier, this conjunction of Mars with Venus would fall exactly into the
larynx part of the head-image, present as part in the “open space” of the prenatal Sun (posi-
tions between epoch and birth). Thus we have here another reference to speech and the word.
In the heliocentric aspect of the epoch chart, Mars was moving from the constellation of
Capricorn to Aquarius (321°) and was at the time in conjunction with Saturn, not far away
from Pluto. This gives us a still deeper insight into the profundity of this Mars as an expression
23
of the particular potential inclination in this case. It coincided with great heritages from the
past, indicated in positions at death:
St. Francis of Assisi died 3 October 1226 (Mars 308°, plus about 10° precession to date
is 318°).
Raphael Santi, the great Italian painter of the Renaissance, died 6 April 1520 (Mars in
334°).
Swedenborg, the Swedish scientist, philosopher, and seer, died 29 March 1772 (Mars in
317°).
After the birth of Byron we find interesting associations of a similar kind as, for instance:
John Keats, the famous British poet of the Romantic school, died 25 February 1821
(Mars in 318°).
Rabindranath Tagore, the Hindu writer and artist, died 7 August 1941 (Mars in 337°).
The conjunction of Mars with Uranus at birth, according to the heliocentric approach (in
the geocentric it happened about 2 months before), brings us to the constellation of Cancer
and the neighborhood of the ascending node of Saturn. As it happens so close to birth, we
should expect a strong karmic connection coming to expression in it. (The aspects around the
epoch are more a presentation of the resolves during the life between two incarnations whereas
the birth configurations are more a summary expression of the karma from the last incarna-
tion.) One perspective of Cancer is the “abyss”, which was caused by the “Twilight of the
Gods”, the falling away of humanity from the recognition of the spiritual world and the divine
beings dwelling in it. One possible experience of this is an awareness of the bareness and
inhumanity of earthly life. Something of this lived in Byron when he displayed, after his
departure from England, “the pageant of a bleeding heart”. Others experienced it differently
but in somewhat similar settings of circumstances, for instance:
Jacques de Molay, the last Grandmaster of the Knights Templars, who had to witness
the destruction of the Order and of his friends, and finally was burned at the stake
himself (died 18 March 1314). Mars was in Cancer during his last days.
Dante, the poet of the Divine Comedy, died 14 September 1321, when the planet was
also in Cancer. He spent the creative years of his life in painful exile from his native
town of Florence.
Paracelsus, the great physician and occultist, had a similar destiny. He was driven as a
restless wanderer from place to place, which was the result of his stern rejection of
antiquated medical tradition and practice. Some historians said he was murdered
by the jealous colleagues of his profession. When he died 24 September 1541,
Mars was in 126° (constellation of Cancer).
Giordano Bruno, the Italian philosopher who rejected the powerful Church dogma-
tism of his time, was burned at the stake as a heretic by the Inquisition on 17
February 1600 (Mars in Cancer 137°).
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In different ways but also accompanied by somewhat similar prolonged experiences of

suffering in their lives were:
Mozart, with Mars in 132° (died 5 December 1791).
William Blake, with Mars in 124° (died, 12 August 1827).
These are expressed by positions of the planet at death and not at birth as in Byron’s case;
nevertheless, because of this we can realize what a tremendous karmic background must have
been hidden behind that Mars at Byron’s birth. Positions of Uranus in death asterograms:
Mani inaugurated the Manichean movement that spread over the northern part of
Africa and right over to the far eastern shores of Asia. He died a martyr’s death in
276 AD, when Uranus was in 101° (plus 23° precession up to 20th century equal to
124° or Cancer).
Theodoric the Great, the king of the Eastern Goths and who had a great influence on
history and was known in medieval legend as the hero Dietrich of Bern, died when
Uranus was in Cancer in 526 AD (96° plus 20° precession to date).
Agrippa of Nettesheim, the great medieval Rosicrucian, died when Uranus was in Can-
cer on 18 February 1535 (111° plus 5° procession).
25
A Letter to the Readers of the Journal

With the present issue of the Star Journal, we have reached the conclusion of the third year
of its existence. Yet, to the editor it seems as if it had barely been started. There is still an
enormous volume to be worked out in order to make it a comprehensive manual for practical
purposes.
On the whole, the publication appears to be well appreciated. A few readers find it difficult
and complicated. However, we insist that this is due to the unique nature of the subject.
We are, of course, well aware that in our time there exist attempts to popularize astrology,
to make it easy and palatable to the public. We consider this to be a dangerous course. A
popularized astrology, in this sense, is evidently in constant need to abandon its esoteric foun-
dations, without which it all too easily falls into the traps of materialistic interpretation and
finally into superficiality and charlatanism. It then becomes the kind of astrology of which the
well-known English astrologer Alan Leo said, “that a curse was upon it…and that it can only
be removed and made a blessing by one who overcomes the limitations of separateness. (By
separateness, Alan Leo means the self-centered, egoistic attitude of people who are subject to
their sense impressions alone.) A knowledge of esoteric astrology will remove that curse for
those who understand.” (Alan Leo, Esoteric Astrology, chapter XXV.)
We have come to the realization that it needs a science of the spirit, or spiritual science, to
fully comprehend the mysteries of the correlation between the stars and Earth and human
beings. Otherwise, it remains a compendium of unexplained assumptions, leading to all kinds
of misunderstandings and misinterpretations.
Astrosophy, or astrology, was called in ancient times the Royal Science. Only the highest
degrees of initiation offered access to these secrets. We do not intend to imitate bygone ages
but want to lift up astrology to spiritual dignity and scientific precision, so that it can become
for modern and future people a true companion on their earthly journey. In order to achieve
this, we must be prepared for more than average efforts. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of
anthroposophical spiritual science, once expressed his opinion that only the highest possible
degrees of spiritual insight can lead to the mysteries of the cosmos. He substantiated this in his
book Occult Science (chapter V) by describing the path to higher cognition:
“We may now set down in order, the stages on the way to higher powers of cognition,
attained in the training for initiation that has here been described:
1. Study of spiritual science, in which one employs one’s power of judgment gained in
the physical sensory world.
2. Acquiring imaginative knowledge.
3. Reading the occult script—corresponding to inspiration.
4. Living into the spiritual environment—corresponding to intuition.
5. Knowledge of the relationships between Microcosm and Macrocosm.
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
6. Union with the Macrocosm.

7. Total experience of all previous experiences as a fundamental mood of the
soul...”
Natal and Prenatal Astrology and Astrosophy

We carry on with the delineation of Byron’s asterogram: After the investigation of Saturn,
Jupiter, and Mars, we continue with the Sun and the inner planets. Incidentally, we have already
had a look at the Sun, in as much as we introduced the prenatal Sun-curve of Byron in the last
issue, representing a kind of counter image of the embryo (see Fig. 2). Still earlier, in the Feb.
’67 issue and in connection with the asterogram of Copernicus, we demonstrated that the
prenatal configuration of the heavens does not only carry these spatial, embryo-physiological
implications but at the same time also gives a pre-birth perspective of the “karma chronology’’
of the oncoming incarnation. In this sense, we include in Fig. 3 on page 28 a graph of the
prenatal movements, according to the geocentric view, of the planets during Byron’s gestation.
First, we want to add a word about the technique of these graphs. Normally, the movements
of Sun, Moon, and planets appear to us in the sky to move, more or less, along a huge circle
that we define as the ecliptic. If we assess these movements over an interval of time, for
instance during the gestation cycle, we get the picture that we produced in the Jul. ’68 issue.
There, we simply took that big circle of the ecliptic with its curves of the Sun and planets and
put it, as it were, flat on paper. This is a helpful presentation when it comes to investigating the
“embryo-image” and implications concerning the spiritual, psychological physiology of a hu-
man being, possibly in connection with sickness, etc. However, this form of diagram is inad-
equate in cases where we want to relate the prenatal star complex to time, for instance, to the
“karma chronology’’ implied in the planetary movements, as we suggested it above. For such
purposes we resort to a graphic presentation, which is nothing but the circular picture (Jul. ‘68)
pulled out lengthwise (from left edge of graph) and in addition related to time, following the
return of the Moon ten times to the position where it was at the epoch, or nine months before
birth (see top edge of graph).
Why we have chosen time segments (top edge) related to the sidereal return of the Moon
to the initial position will become clear if we recapitulate what we said in the Feb. ’67 issue.
There we suggested that, according to our findings, each one of these sidereal Moon orbits
represents a seven year period in the pre-birth “karma chronology” of the oncoming life.
With this method we get an illuminating preview of Byron’s karma, a few details of
which we will demonstrate presently. In 1799 he was sent to a preparatory school at Dulwich.
There he had the free run of a library, and “he read a set of the British Poets from beginning to
end more than once. This, too, was an initiation and a preparation” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Byron was then 11-12 years old, which we would expect to find reflected in the 2nd Moon-cycle
sector (from the left edge), around 27 May 1787 (1 full Moon cycle is 7 years). We find a
conjunction there of Mercury with Jupiter, which was close to the position opposite to that of
Jupiter (239° heliocentrically) at the time of the death of John Milton (1608-74), the famous
27
Figure 3
Epoch George Gordon Byron Birth
appox.
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
British poet and writer, author of Paradise Lost. This is another example demonstrating how an
earlier impulse, or deed, that was “imprinted” in the heavens at the moment of the death of a
human being can be picked up by another soul in prenatal life, possibly much later, and cul-
tivated anew, though in an entirely different way.
After 1805 we find Byron at Cambridge. There he produced his collections of poetry,
Poems on Various Occasions and Hours of Idleness. This time appears reflected in the prenatal graph
in the conjunction of Venus with Jupiter (3rd Moon cycle sector). Venus was then in 33° of the
ecliptic heliocentrically, which was synonymous with the opposition point of the Earth at the
epoch of Byron, and also opposite Venus during the gestation period when it was in superior
conjunction (i.e., it appeared directly behind the Sun seen from the Earth). In other words,
Byron came “into his own” then as a poet (Venus).
In June 1809 he went with his friend, Hobhouse, on a long journey to Portugal, Spain,
Malta, Greece, Asia Minor (where he swam across the Hellespont), and Constantinople. He
returned to England in July 1811. On the journey he wrote the manuscript of Childe Harold’s
Pilgrimage, which was published in March 1812. The effect, says Thomas Moore, his biogra-
pher, “was ... electric, his fame seemed to spring, like the palace of a fairy King, in a night.”
Referring to those years, we find another remarkable event in the prenatal chart of Byron
in that Venus came close to the descending Moon node (beginning of 4th Moon cycle). The
nodal lines, and particularly that of the Moon, must be considered as gateways for cosmic soul-
forces coming down to the Earth, and as Venus was again involved, we can imagine that this
event laid the foundation for what entered Byron’s life in those years. Heliocentrically, Venus
was in 60° of the ecliptic and refers us to the point opposite of Jupiter’s position at the death
of John Milton, whom we mentioned just before in connection with the very early prepara-
tions of Byron for the vocation of the poet.
In 1815 Byron married Anne Isabella Milbank, but after the birth of their daughter, Ada,
the marriage came to an unfortunate end. He was confronted with tremendous accusations
and found himself ostracized to such a degree that he left England for good in April 1816. He
was then 28 years of age. We find this time reflected in the end of the 4th prenatal Moon cycle,
August 10, 1787, when Venus was in conjunction with Uranus. The latter has a remarkable
predecessor in history: at the time of the execution of Thomas Moore, the famous English
statesman and author (Utopia), who was beheaded under King Henry VIII (July 7, 1535). Ura-
nus was then also in transition from the constellation of Gemini to Cancer.
The corresponding heliocentric position of Venus also carries an indicative memory: when
Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer, died on October 24, 1601, the planet was about 90° of
the ecliptic. In Byron’s prenatal asterogram, it was in 92.5° on August 10, 1787. Tycho Brahe,
who had for many years lived a quiet life of astronomical study and research on a tiny island
near Copenhagen, became, by force of circumstances in the latter years of his life, a fugitive
and wanderer in Germany and Bohemia, somewhat similar to Byron.
We come now to the last stage in Byron’s life. In January 1824, he joined the War of
Liberation of the Greeks against the Turks and at his own expense formed a brigade of 500
29
men. But very soon, on April 19 of the same year, he died at the age of 36. This would be
reflected in the prenatal chart at the beginning of the 6th Moon cycle (5 x 7 = 35, plus 1 year =
4 days), along the dotted line in the graph, on 10-11 September.
In order to fully appreciate the karmic significance of this moment, as it was indicated in
the prenatal asterogram, we take recourse to the heliocentric positions of the planets on 11
September 1787. The Earth was in 348°; Mercury was in conjunction with Jupiter in about
75°, close to the ascending node of Venus and the perihelion of Mercury; Venus was in about
145° and in opposition to Saturn in 326°; Mars was in 47° and close to its own ascending node.
One could now easily jump to the conclusion that the opposition of Venus and Saturn “was
responsible” for Byron’s early death. One could even produce historic examples to prove this;
however, there also exist data that prove that such an association can be turned to the positive.
Why things happened in Byron’s life as they did is a matter of karmic import that one would
have to study on the basis of the entire spiritual picture of his karma, as it was connected with
his previous incarnations.
One can ask, with justification, what happens to the essence that is implied in the prenatal
asterogram if one dies early and does not live out these implications? This essence is indeed
not lost. Byron demonstrated this to the full extent. Others after him, who had some affinity
to his sphere of life experience, apparently received it into their own life, though they might
have carried it further in different directions. Thus the ether substance (which is reflected in
the prenatal configurations) that a human being is unable to “live out”, or live to the end, is
sacrificed to following generations. For instance, the Earth had arrived in 348°, a moment
corresponding to the death of Byron. (The Sun was seen from the Earth in the opposite
location of the ecliptic.) Four years after the death of Byron, on 9 September 1828 (n.s.), the
great Russian writer, Leo Tolstoi, was born and the Earth was again in 347°. This would
indicate that Tolstoy received some of that ether substance sacrificed by Byron.
This is, however, not the whole story. Just to demonstrate how spiritually real these inter-
connections are, which are implied in the visible cosmos in the prenatal asterogram of Byron
and then as they refer to the time of his death: Venus was in 145° heliocentrically (see above),
and then at the moment of his passing away, on 19 April 1824, it was exactly opposite in 325°.
It “reflected”, indeed, the Venus that Byron was unable to “live to the end”. This was taken up
by others. For instance, Goethe had a deep connection with Byron. He had, so to speak, an
organ of cognition for Byron’s significance built into his own etheric organism: Venus was in
136°, heliocentrically, at Goethe’s epoch (December 2, 1748), close to the Venus of September
11, 1787, and opposite the Venus at Byron’s death. At the time of birth of other poets who
came after Byron, when Venus was close to that position:
George Bernard Shaw was born 26 July 1856, with Venus in 127°.
Maxim Gorki was born 28 March 1868, o.s., with Venus in 136°.
Christian Morgenstern was born 6 May 1871, with Venus in 135°.
Wilhelm Busch was born 15 April 1832, with Venus in 319°, or opposite.
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
In the last issue, we mentioned that Byron had a lasting influence on a number of Polish
and Russian poets. Those whom we mentioned were contemporaries of Byron. Similar to
Goethe, they had built into their organisms an etheric receptivity for what was present already
in Byron’s prenatal asterogram and which culminated, as it were, in the configuration associ-
ated with his death, on September 11, 1787. Partly they were still children when he died, and
they apparently received, on the etheric level, his sacrifice. This receptivity is strikingly ex-
pressed in their birth configurations. We mentioned earlier that the moment of Byron’s death
is reflected in his prenatal chart by a conjunction of Mercury and Jupiter in the perihelion of
Mercury, among the other heliocentric aspects.
Again, as in the case of Venus, the actual position of Mercury on the day of Byron’s
passing away, 19 April 1824, demonstrates impressively the reality of these cosmic intercon-
nections, because on that day it was in about 65°, that is, close to the place where it was in that
crucial moment of the prenatal chart, on September 11, 1787. Thus the sacrifice of Byron was
impressed into the cosmic world and apparently was taken up by souls who had an affinity to
his spirit:
Mickiewicz, who was one of them (we mentioned them in the last issue), was born on
December 24, 1798 (o.s.), when Mercury was in about 66° and Mars in 53°, close to
the position of Mars on September 11, 1787, during the gestation of Byron. These
were the “organs of receptivity” of Mickiewicz for the heritage of Byron.
Slowacki was born at a moment (4 September 1809 o.s.), when Venus was in 65° with
Saturn and Neptune opposite in 244° and 246°.
Pushkin was born on June 6, 1799 (o.s.), when Jupiter was in 71° close to the position
on September 11, 1787.
Lermontov entered his earthly life when Mercury was in about 251°, Uranus in 243°,
and Neptune in 257° (3 October 1814, o.s.), i.e., opposite the position of Mercury
and Jupiter on September 11, 1787.
Thus we can, indeed, detect that the stars do reflect most intimate but real spiritual facts of
human existence. However, we contend that we must not fall into the temptation of making
the stars the operators of human destinies. This would appear to us as a sell-out of the human
being. We would be nothing but puppets in the hands of the stars. We have come to the
conclusion that the spiritual powers, who are our guides, insist that we arrange our incarnation,
earthly life, and excarnation in such a fashion that the stars can accompany us on our journey.
Thereby, we are called upon to redeem and spiritualize the cosmos, so to speak, with the life
blood of our experiences, preventing it from falling completely into the clutches of world
conceptions that can only conceive of the universe as a tremendously big and material mecha-
nism. This is a grave responsibility that we have taken upon ourselves. We can live up to it if
we permeate and govern earthly existence with the highest possible spiritual and cultural aspi-
rations and deeds.
31
We should expect that the counter argument would say that all the cultural and spiritual life
of humanity has not changed the stars in their courses; there is no evidence that we have any
influence on the cosmic world, except if we shoot rockets into space. To this we reply that it is,
for an unprejudiced mind, quite obvious that we do change and alter the Earth, be it for the
better or worse. Why should we be unable to transmute the cosmic world, however slowly?
Of course, in order to realize this, we need to accept the idea of our sojourn in the spheres of
the planets, etc., after death; and there it is a matter of what kind of humanity and spiritual
heritage, as a result of our earthly existence, we introduce into that world.
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
Heliocentric
In the heliocentric calendar we will find Venus in its own descending node, and later Mer-
cury will move through its ascending node. The main event will be the passing of Uranus
above the autumnal point (180°), i.e., the point in the ecliptic, or orbit of the Earth, where the
Sun appears to stand on 23 September of each year. The geocentric equivalent occurred
already the end of last month.
Speaking astrologically from the heliocentric point of view, one can ask: Can this purely
mathematical relationship of Uranus to the orbit of the Earth have any influence on it? How-
ever, we must not forget the fact that the heliocentrically conceived orbit of the Earth is not an
arbitrary chance element. For a spiritual-cosmological conception, the orbit belongs to the
existence and life of our planet and is, with regard to distance from the Sun, etc., born out of
the most intrinsic position and function of the Earth in the solar universe. Therefore, we
would expect that a corresponding longitude of Uranus, although it is so very far away from us,
has a definite message concerning our planet.
How can we discern any such message? Principally, any attempt of interpretation should
be preceded, in our opinion, by corresponding inner, spiritual experience. We would combine
this with the external, visible events in the cosmos for confirmation and precision.
We attempted such an approach earlier when we said that humanity is, during the second
half of this century, obviously moving into an “autumn-harvest” phase of its history, during
which it seems to “harvest” the crops of its earlier sowings and plantings, whether good or evil.
This is an observation that every human being must arrive at who watches world events objec-
tively, with a spiritual sense of truth and honesty. After that we find a kind of confirmation and
mathematic-cosmic precision in the events in the world of the stars; the outermost planets,
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto have been moving, since about the middle of the present century,
into that part of the Zodiac where the Sun appears to stand in late summer and autumn.
These three outer planets cannot be regarded, from an esoteric consideration, as planets in
the same sense as the classical planets of our solar system. They are differently integrated into
the solar system, which is expressed, for instance, in the fact that the moons of Uranus are
moving in orbits whose planes are almost perpendicular to the ecliptic, and their motions are
backward compared with the motions of all the celestial companions of the Sun. These outer-
most planets are, so to speak, bystanders of our solar system and view it from the “outside”.
Therefore, one might expect of the forces and beings connected with them even a more objec-
tive, though sometimes more harsh, judgment than from the classical planets.
In this sense, Uranus seems to have something to say at present, with regard to that “au-
tumn season” in which humanity has now arrived, which we can know anyway. How can we
discern the specific message of this planet, and how can we verify and specify our inner expe-
riences concerning the state of our present humanity? One way is to investigate certain his-
toric cycles as they are reflected in the rhythms of Uranus. Of course, we must not expect that
33
we will arrive at precisely similar events in the past—similar to what we will have to face in
present history, but we can discover definite trends and their development through the ages by
such investigations.
Uranus was standing (heliocentrically) in the line from the Sun through the autumnal point
of the Earth, and further out into space in 1885, 1801, and 1717. In 1717 Pluto was also close
to the autumnal point, somewhat similar to the present, and in 1801 Neptune was in the au-
tumn sector of the ecliptic, not far behind its present location. In 1885 both these planets
were, however, in the spring sector of the ecliptic.
On all three occasions we find historic events that have a certain bearing on the present
problems of humanity, at least in one particular sphere, concerning the relationship between
eastern (chiefly East European and Asiatic) and western humanity. The time around 1717 saw
widespread wars in which almost the whole of Europe was involved, mainly Austria against
Turkey (the victory of the Austrian general Prince Eugene against the Turks near Belgrade in
1717 is significant) and Sweden against Russia, then ruled by Peter the Great.
Around the end of the 18th century, we find Napoleon’s France involved in invasions and
war actions in Egypt against Turkey and England, likewise, in India and South Africa. Then, in
1801 we see the British clash head-on with the French in Egypt. It was a kind of all-round race
of the big European powers for colonial possessions in Africa and Asia.
Then toward 1885, another note crept into the relationship between eastern and western
humanity. The French tried to achieve supremacy over Annam, a port of Indochina. In the
process they clashed with the Chinese, who defeated them at Lang-son. In 1881 the British
were beaten by the Boers in South Africa. But the worst disaster came for them in 1885 in
Egypt. Already in 1884 they were beaten by the forces of the Mahdi, the Egyptian caliph, and
in 1885 the general Charles G. Gordon, British governor of Sudan, was massacred with his
garrison by an Egyptian force. It was a time of a sheet-lightning approach of events con-
cerning all the open and disguised colonialism of white, western humanity.
Now, before and around 1968, similar trends are again rising up with shattering violence.
Of course, the old colonial empires of the 19th century have almost completely disappeared;
but in the course of the 20th century, stepping into their places, is a new colonialism working
very cunningly with hidden means—partly on the level of world finance—that is all the more
dangerous, because its inaugurators and its methods are almost anonymous. And again it is the
Middle East, the Far East, and the neighborhood of China that are the battlefields. Only now
it is becoming more and more obvious that the problems besetting the relationship between
eastern and western people cannot be resolved with the methods that have been adopted so
far, and the danger is that insistence on their further employment might lead to immeasurable
conflicts and catastrophes that this planet has not seen before and which might cost hundreds
of millions of human lives.
What is the use in knowing these historic interconnections and their consequences? They
want to call on our sense of responsibility to find spiritually-constructive and true cosmopolitan
means and ideas by which a genuine cooperation between all humanity can be established in
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
full keeping and awareness of our dignity and standing in the universe. Such ideas have been
and still are streaming into human Earth existence, since the problems have arisen. Humanity
of this age should make efforts by an accelerated and activated thinking to grasp them. There
might, however, come a moment when the powers of world destiny will be forced to pro-
nounce a “Too Late” and destruction on a universal scale will take its course instead.
A truly esoteric astrology, or astrosophy, will never let itself be confined in apathetic fatal-
ism but always try to find and suggest ways and means of therapy and construction. Of
course, another question is whether its advice is accepted and executed. This is the second,
imperative half of the remedy, without which no cure can be expected.
Toward a New Astrosophy

Jupiter in the constellation of Gemini: Nostradamus, the famous French astrologer and
occultist, was born on December 14, 1503, at St. Remy (43N45, 4E50, o.s.). At that moment
the heliocentric position of the planets were as follows: Saturn in 103.8°, Jupiter in 99.3°, Mars
in 98.1°, Earth in 91.1°, Venus in 77.4°, and Mercury in 82.9°. If one adds the approximately
6° of the precession of the vernal point since the beginning of the 16th century to the present
moment, one comes to the conclusion that all the planets were in the constellation of Gemini,
including the Earth. Even Venus was just on the point of leaving Taurus. Saturn was exactly
in the nodal line of Pluto, as far as our knowledge is with regard to the astronomical rhythms
of Pluto. Thus we have a unique occasion in the history of astronomy, in that Jupiter had
chosen a moment when it was well supported on all sides.
First of all, we need a brief recapitulation of the biography of Nostradamus. He was born
into a Jewish family whose members and forbears might have had to adopt Christianity by
Royal Decree. He was educated by his own grandfather, who seems to have been a physician
and astrologer. Thus he was probably introduced very early to the mysterious, medieval aura
of alchemy and astrology. Chavigny (La Vie et le Testament de Michel Nostradamus) reports that
“even as a youth he had a passion for the study of the stars”. He studied at various universities
and finally, around 1530, took his degree as a medical doctor. His first wife and his two child-
ren were killed by the pestilence that frequently broke out in those days on the European
continent. Altogether, he seems to have had a harsh life of wandering and disappointment, on
the other hand, he appears to have been esteemed as a skilled physician. In 1547 he finally
settled in the town of Salon, where he found enough peace to follow the inner calling, which
must have accompanied him for many years and might have grown ever stronger through the
vicissitudes of his earlier years. At Salon he seems to have begun to compose his prophecies,
first published in 1555, which he had been working on for some years, according to Chavigny.
These prophecies, edited under the title Centuries, contain forecasts, mostly in very veiled allu-
sions, concerning happenings during the oncoming ages, starting with the 16th century and
allegedly leading up to the end of the 20th century. A vast amount of literature has since been
published by many people trying to penetrate the verses and interpret their meaning. Some of
35
the prophecies were remarkable and turned out to be precise, once the corresponding events
had taken place, and it was possible to check them against the mysterious content of the verses
that were written by Nostradamus. Obviously, they were built on an astrological clairvoyance,
maybe instinctive, of the rhythms and time related secrets of the stars. However, most of the
prophecies are concerned with wars and other disasters, partly brought about by nature, but
most of them by people themselves.
He died during the night of July 1-2, 1566. Earlier, already in June 1566, he is supposed to
have written in his ephemerides of the stars: “Hic propre mort est” (“My death is near”). The
fact is that on 17 June he had dictated his last will and testament (see James Laver’s, Nostradamus
or the Future Foretold, Penguin Books).
The feature that interests us most is the fact that Nostradamus foresaw events chiefly in the
political sphere, wars, revolutions, etc. But even where he describes, as it turned out much later,
nature conflagrations, such as the great fire that destroyed London in 1666, he employed an
organ that must have been built into his organization at the time of his incarnation. It is just
this “organ” that is expressed, or circumscribed, by that accumulation of planets in the constel-
lation of Gemini at his birth, particularly that position of Jupiter we mentioned.
Gemini speaks, according to Norse mythology, of the great conflict between Loki, the
Evil-one, and the Asa Gods. In the course of this conflict, Balder the God of Light is killed,
and Loki prepares for the final battle in which Asgard, the dwelling of the Asas, was destroyed
and most of the Divine Dwellers killed. In Persian theosophy, which became the foundation
of that whole ancient civilization, we hear of the age-old conflict between Ahura Mazdao, the
God of the Sun-Aura and Light, and Ahriman, the great Power of Darkness dwelling in the
depth of the Earth. Something like a deep realization of the position of our planet in this
conflict between the forces and beings of heaven and hell must have been present in
Nostradamus and found expression in his relationship to Gemini at birth.
The presence of Saturn in that constellation would indicate a deep “karmic”, or destiny
relationship, to the Great Duality coming from experiences in a previous incarnation. Here we
can also discern why he incarnated in an environment still having a strong Talmudist and
alchemist background of Judaism. In the esotericism of Judaism, there lives a strong heritage
of that dualism that the Jews possibly picked up during their Babylonian captivity, when they
came into contact with Persian Zoroastrism, etc. We have written about Saturn in Gemini in
greater detail earlier (see Sept. ’67), both in birth and death asterograms.
The planet Jupiter, and particularly its sphere, gives us a kind of “architectural” capacity to
build up our own life, to expand, as it were, into the human society and world situation that we
meet in one incarnation, and to erect our own house within the settings of this age. Of course,
we acquire these capacities in degrees (see also Feb. ’66 and Aug. ‘68).
Under certain circumstances, it can also happen that a person receives the gift to expand
into the “architectural” secrets of parts or the whole of the universe from spiritual beings
standing behind, as it were, the sphere of Jupiter. This must have happened to Nostradamus in
his pre-earthly existence in the spiritual world.
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
It is expressed in the trine aspect (120° distance) between Jupiter and Uranus at birth.
Heliocentrically, Jupiter was standing close to its own ascending node and Uranus close to its
aphelion. Thus in both cases the all-embracing spheres, not only the planetary “bodies”, were
involved. With Jupiter in Gemini, we see reflected the emphasis on the “great division” be-
tween heaven and Earth, even that rising from the interior of the Earth. This is joined and
enhanced by another great impulse expressed in the planet and aphelion of Uranus (the planet
of occultism) in Aquarius. Aquarius is an image of the heavenly “waters of life” that pulsate
through the universe; one could also call them the cosmic intelligence that permeates all exist-
ence within it. Nostradamus participated in this in a strange fashion. One might see in him a
messenger of that world whose sole task was to bring home to a startled humanity the fact that
there exist more things and beings between heaven and Earth than an impoverished earthly
reasoning might be inclined to admit.
Others who entered the earthly world when Jupiter was in Gemini, or at least had it in
Gemini at the time of their gestation, were:
Joh. Val. Andreae, born August 17, 1586, had Jupiter in 89.5° and in conjunction with
Mars heliocentrically. He was the author of that fundamental and truly
cosmosophical guidebook of medieval Rosicrucianism, The Chymical Wedding of
Christian Rosenkreutz.
Charles Dickens, the famous British novelist, born February 7, 1812 (n.s.), Jupiter in
95° at birth.
Benjamin Franklin, born January 17, 1706 (n.s.), Jupiter at epoch in 92°.
Mark Twain, the US writer, born November 30, 1835, Jupiter at birth in 98°.
The remarkable universalism displayed by these personalities is reflected in Jupiter.

In asterograms of death we find:
Lord Byron’s death on April 19, 1824, saw Jupiter (106°) in Gemini.
Teilhard de Chardin, the well-known modern scientist and cosmologist, died April 4,
1954, Jupiter in 90.7°.
Richard Wagner, the great mythologist of human cosmic evolution, which he trans-
lated, apart from the poetical texts of his operas, into mighty musical composi-
tions. He died February 13, 1883, Jupiter in 91°.
We proceed now with the implications of Mars in the chart of Nostradamus. At birth it
was in companion with Jupiter on the inferior side, i.e., between Jupiter and the Earth, in
Gemini. Mars would “give a voice” to the problems of the “great divorce” that is expressed in
this constellation. We said earlier that Mars comes to expression as a particular kind of con-
frontation with the physical material world, leading to the formation of speech. Thus
Nostradamus felt urged to pronounce, at a certain moment of his life in the written word of
his Centuries, his experiences of the “great division” between heaven and Earth. This arose in
37
him as a realization of what was deeply built into his organism by Saturn and Jupiter in Gemini.
One can even detect that at the time when he apparently started to compose Centuries at Salon
in 1547, Saturn was opposite its initial position in Gemini during the epoch. It, so to speak,
reflected then the essence of this Saturn of Nostradamus.
This kind of “seeking out” of the problems and dynamics intimated in Gemini can, of
course, take many forms:
One very radical pronunciation in “deed” happened through Cesare Borgia, born 17
September 1475, when Mars was also in Gemini. One can truly say that his life and
actions were a veritable battlefield of the forces opposing each other according to
the image of this constellation, particularly of the forces rising from the darkness
of existence.
There were, however, others who valiantly transformed the image of Mars in Gemini into
a healing element and, thereby, helped humanity:
Raphael Santi, the great Renaissance painter, was born on April 6, 1483, with Mars in
Gemini (98°). He was a contemporary of the Borgias and must have been a wit-
ness to many of the dark incidents of that period in the history of Rome. Yet, he
succeeded unobtrusively to confront that obvious crisis in human consciousness
with his many paintings, particularly of the Madonna-Isis, which has had a lasting
and healing effect on humanity.
Culpeper, the English herbalist, was born 18 October 1616, (o.s.), when Mars was in
Gemini (99°). He established, indeed, a healing relationship between the heavens
and the Earth. In partly quite substantial volumes, he published the results of his
life’s work and research concerning the healing properties of a great number of
plants and herbs, but at the same time he also discerned and enumerated the con-
nections of these herbs with the planets. This we can recognize as a redeeming
feature with regard to the constellation of Gemini.
It seems that Nostradamus was overwhelmed by the clairvoyant experience of the Gemini-
Mars forces of darkness, which he saw rising up in ages beyond his own life-span. One is
almost inclined to ask why he published his prophecies, for of what use were they, as any
prophecy, to humanity? One answer is that he was probably delegated by the powers of des-
tiny, at a crucial point of evolution, to warn humanity. On this background, we can also
understand that Mars is found in Gemini in connection with the death of prominent martyrs
of more recent history such as:
Thomas á Becket, who was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral on December 29, 1170,
(85°).
John Huss, the Bohemian religious reformer who was burnt at the stake on July 6,
1415, (90°).
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
Rudolf Steiner died on March 30, 1925, when Mars was in Gemini (95°), close to Pluto
(about 102°) and opposite to Jupiter. With his deep insight into the tremendous
battle of consciousness in modern humanity, and the seriousness of the 20th cen-
tury situation with regard to the evolution of the whole universe, he was indeed a
“martyr” because of his awareness of the incessant war of the darkness against the
light. Yet, with almost superhuman efforts, he offered means of redemption by the
constructive advice he gave concerning innumerable fields of human experience
and activity, born out of his capacity as a scientist of the spirit.
This is a modern, supreme example of how the image of Gemini can be trans-
formed and turned into a healthy direction.
39
Heliocentric Events
In earlier publications of journals, etc., it used to be common place to mention day-by-day
anniversaries of birth or death dates of important personalities in history, sometimes also of
historic dates. This has vastly, if not completely, been discontinued, possibly because these
dates did not mean very much anymore to a modern humanity. We will now try to recall the
memories that the planets carry of past events. By no means do we intend to suggest that we
expect history to repeat itself, but we hope to discover by such means how definite trends in
humanity evolve, how they possibly combat each other, and how past deeds created karma,
even humanity karma, in times following them.
We will first take a look at Saturn. During November it moves from 22°40' to 23°43' of the
ecliptic, which is the fixed-star constellation of Pisces. The planet was in that same position in
May-June 1939. Those were the times of devastating political tensions caused by Hitler’s and
Germany’s actions, eventually leading to the commencement of the Second World War in
Europe. As a matter of fact, Saturn on March 15, 1939, was in 20°12' of the ecliptic, when
Germany “dissolved” the State of Czechoslovakia. About the time we write this down, exactly
on August 22, 1968, Saturn was again in the very same position, when we now hear about the
political events in Czechoslovakia. So, history does repeat itself, after all? No, it does not. In
1939 the blow came from the center of Europe, under totally different circumstances and
motives from the present ones. Now, in 1968 the invasion came from the east.
We find Saturn in the same position 60 years earlier (5 November 1968, corresponding to
12 January 1910), and again in 1880, 1850, and 1821. The last three dates are obviously con-
nected, among many other events, with the life of the Russian writer Dostoievski. He was
born on October 30, 1821 (o.s.), when Saturn was in 24° of the ecliptic. Incidentally, Jupiter in
the same moment was in 27.4°, only 3° further on. Thirty years later, when Saturn had re-
turned to the initial position, Dostoievski went through his immensely crippling experience of
four years imprisonment in the penal settlement of Omsk in Siberia, for political reasons. In
1866, when Saturn was opposite to the initial position, i.e., in the constellation of Virgo,
Dostoievski published his novel, Crime and Punishment, and in 1880, shortly before his death,
when Saturn was again in that part of the Zodiac—where it is at present—he reached a culmi-
nating point in his life. He finished and then published his famous novel, The Brothers Karamazov.
A study of these biographic dates, and also of the novels mentioned, will reveal that much of
Dostoievski’s later life and work was determined and formed by those shattering experiences
he had around 1849-1854. However, the Encyclopedia Britannica writes of them: “These years
profoundly changed his mind, and it was then that he evolved his new Christianity, which was
essentially based on worshipping Christ...”
Do the occurrences then, associated with that position of Saturn that we are contemplat-
ing, suggest that this cosmic configuration will always be connected with turbulence and aggra-
vation in the human sphere? This is by no means the case, and we are able to produce evidence
40
STAR JOURNALS TWO
for this assertion. On 12 January 1910, the heavens displayed a threatening configuration, in
the conventional astrological sense. Saturn in sidereal Pisces and Jupiter in Virgo were standing
in opposition to each other, and at near right angles to them were the Sun conjunct Uranus in
Sagittarius opposite Neptune in Gemini. Some people were, indeed, gripped by fear, but Rudolf
Steiner, who was lecturing at Stockholm, took the opportunity to convey one of the most
elevating messages from the spiritual world to humanity of the present age. For the first time
he spoke, on the basis of his spiritual investigation, of the “Second Coming of Christ”. This
prophecy we hear in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, in connection with the
Ascension of Christ. Rudolf Steiner pointed out, and he repeated the message in many other
places in the following months, that the Christ would become “clairvoyantly visible” to num-
bers of human beings from about 1935 and during the oncoming 3000 years. However, he
would not “come”, Rudolf Steiner asserted, in a physical body but in an etheric sheath and
elevate the Deed on Golgotha to that higher level of existence. Thus, a humanity living through
a physically declining phase of the cosmic biography of the Earth, can maintain its spiritual
integrity. It is a message of hope whose significance it is often difficult to fully appreciate in
our time.
This is an excellent example, demonstrating how we can meet the cosmos and its “por-
tents” in a creative and constructive fashion. This attitude must be taken up more and more
consciously, so that we can stand in front of the cosmos, listen to the it’s challenges and ques-
tions, and work toward answers out of newly acquired spiritual capacities that will eventually
even permeate the universe with new life.

Jupiter in the constellation of Cancer: For a demonstration of this feature, we have se-
lected the incarnation asterogram of Richard Wagner, the German composer. In Fig. 4 & 5, we
produce his geocentric and heliocentric charts. We find Jupiter moving in each chart through
the constellation of Cancer during the time of gestation, close to a conspicuous area of the
chart. Mars and Venus were in that neighborhood at the epoch (see Jan. ‘67), also the Moon
node. Furthermore, the waning Moon was in the opposite part of the ecliptic at birth, which
would indicate, according to the Hermetic Rule, that the “direction of incarnation” was from
the area of the constellation of Cancer (also see Mar. ‘68).
Now, how can we discern when this Jupiter became especially manifest in Richard Wagner’s
life? After all, we do not want to rest on generalities but work toward tangible indications. In
order to do this we can employ several methods. One would be to work with the prenatal chart
as we have done before. A simpler method is the very ancient axiom: each degree of progress of
the planets and of the Sun, from their root positions in a chart, corresponds to one year in life.
For instance, we take the Sun at Wagner’s birth of ½° of the ecliptic sign of Gemini. This Sun
has to move through about 63-64° of the ecliptic to come to the point where Jupiter was in 4° of
ecliptic sign of Leo. This is a valid indication in the sense that it would imply the activation
41
Figure 4
Richard Wagner
Born: May 22, 1813 at sunrise, Dresden, Saxony
Epoch: August 15, 1812
of certain Jupiter and Cancer forces at the age of about 64 years (1876-77). What happened in
Wagner’s life at that time? We find him at the end of a long road. In preceding decades he was
engaged in writing the texts and composing the music of the cycle of operas known as the Ring
of the Nibelungs. The final tragedies in this cycle were Siegfried’s Death and Twilight of the Gods.
They were completed in 1876 and for the first time performed as a whole at Bayreuth. They
are the typical representation of the old mythological saga of the constellation of Cancer—the
Twilight of the Gods—and the destruction of the Bifrost Bridge (see Aug. ‘66). Then, in 1877,
Richard Wagner broke through to the new Christian saga of that same constellation. From
then on he wrote down the poetical foundation of his opera, Parsifal, and subsequently com-
posed the music for it as well. In 1882, the year before his death, it was completed and per-
formed for the first time.
42
STAR JOURNALS TWO
Figure 5
Heliocentric
Parsifal is the spiritual prototype of the human soul, who suffers through the utter dark-
ness that has been created by the Twilight of the Gods in human consciousness and the loss of
the Bridge of the access to the spiritual world. Finally, the soul breaks through to the experi-
ence and kingship of the Holy Grail, the image of a new and active relationship to the divine-
spiritual world.
This is a unique description of what Jupiter in the constellation of Cancer can demand of
a human being. In the case of Richard Wagner, it was partly lived through in painful experi-
ences. This is typical for Jupiter. As a planet and representative of the sphere, it attempts to
evoke a realization in self-consciousness of the divine wisdom that has been working, since
primeval times, as the life-endowing wisdom of the hierarchical world. In this sense, the forces
of Jupiter and its sphere can work in a human existence like an interior architect, as we said
earlier, attempting to build up, step by step, inner harmony and spiritual sequence of a person’s
biography. Of course, in the modern age Jupiter cannot and is not allowed to do this for the
individual; it can only challenge, and we are expected to answer this challenge by our own free
spiritual activity.
43
If we look now at the heliocentric chart, we find a valuable contribution. The challenge of
Jupiter was always present in Richard Wagner, but only late in his life was he able to realize it.
The spiritual background of this Jupiter impulse can be gauged in the heliocentric configura-
tions. There we find that the Earth (at birth 240.5°) had to move through 38° to step into the
nodal line of Jupiter (38 degrees, corresponding to 38 years, would bring us to the year 1851
when Richard Wagner was in exile). Two years earlier, in 1849, he had to flee from Germany
because of revolutionary, political activities in which he was involved. The forces of Jupiter
came with their challenge quite close to Richard Wagner, in what appeared externally as a life
catastrophe. But then the full weight of the challenge came back about 7 years later, in 1857.
On Good Friday of that year, he had a deeply moving experience, according to his own words.
He heard with his inner ear, as it were, the musical “Good Friday” motif of his later opera
Parsifal, and he also conceived in that moment the outlines of the drama. If we return to the
chart, we find that the Earth (at birth 241°) had to move through 44° of the ecliptic in order
to get to the place where Saturn was standing at birth (285°). These 44° standing for 44 years
would come to 1857. We find similar Jupiter positions in Cancer at the epoch of:
St. Augustine in 108° (born 12 November 354): St. Augustine, the Church Father,
expressed in his life deeds—not with so many words but by his attitude—the fact
of the loss of the old Bifrost Bridge and of a connection with the spiritual world,
by building on the assumption that the Christians of his 4th century had lost all
insight, including clairvoyant insight, into the Event of Golgotha, and that only
one thing was left, the documentation contained in the sacred books of the Gos-
pels, which as a Christian one must take in faith.
Jupiter positions in Cancer at the birth of:

Galilei in 126° (born 15 February 1564): Galilei saw only one possibility in his time,
with regard to astronomical knowledge, to accept and live with the externalized
views of Copernicanism, to look upon the appearances in the cosmos as material,
rolling balls, including the rolling globe of the Earth. This was the cosmology that
had to come after the complete loss of the Bridge. He even had to face the Inqui-
sition of the Church for his views, a Church which wanted to retain the image of a
hallowed Earth, standing still and being the center of the universe.
Machiavelli in 128° (born 3 May 1469): Machiavelli, the Italian writer, tried to create in
his book, The Prince, the image of the head of a state who was no longer bound by
a consciousness of the divine and a conscience of spiritual realization but solely by
bare intellectual considerations of a statesman who was acting out of care for the
maintenance of his princely stature.
Heinrich von Kleist in 133° (born 18 October 1777): Heinrich von Kleist was a Ger-
man poet and playwright. He committed suicide at the age of 34, apparently in a
mood of deep inner suffering over the incongruity in human life, caused by mod-
ern man’s loneliness in facing the world around him since the Bridge was destroyed.
44
STAR JOURNALS TWO
Among the souls who passed over into the spiritual world at a time when Jupiter was in
Cancer are:
Michelangelo in 126° (died 18 February 1564): Michelangelo, with his strong sculptor’s
hands, took the matter from the abyss that had opened up beneath the destroyed
Bridge, the hardest mineral matter of marble, and forced it to become images of
the most spiritual elements that work in humanity (also see also Oct. ‘67).
Philip le Bel in 119° (died 29 November 1314): Philip le Bel, the French King, had
actively combined with the forces of the abyss. The decisive hand that he used in
the ruthless and tragic destruction of the Order of the Knights Templars stands as
a witness for this, his alliance.
Gruenewald in 129° (died 31 August 1528): Mathis Gothard Gruenewald, a German
painter at the time of the Renaissance, is most famous for his altar paintings at
Isenheim in Alsace. He created a presentation of the crucifixion that betrays the
deepest of insight into the mysteries of the abyss entered by the Christ on Golgotha.
But he also painted, on one of the wings of the altar, a Resurrection scene that
depicts the overcoming and redemption of the abyss of death and desolation by
the Rising Christ in an unsurpassed fashion.
Novalis in 125° (died 25 March 1891): Novalis the poet, whom we mentioned in the
Oct. ’67 issue, gave his experience of the fact and redemption of the abyss, the
most sublime expression. In his Sacred Songs (translated by Eileen Hutchins and
published by Camphill Press, Aberdeen, 1956) he says, for instance:
“While I thus in sickness languished,

All my heart with sorrow anguished,
Fear and madness by my side,
Suddenly, as though from Heaven,
From the grave the stone was riven,
And my soul was opened wide...
Then will you not with joy resigning

Each wish, give all to seek His Face,
Your heart with His alone entwining
Since He has promised you His Grace?...”
All the time we bear in mind, of course, that the Mystery of Golgotha was primarily con-
nected with the constellation Cancer by the presence of Saturn there during the latter part of
Christ’s Ministry.
We have written about Richard Wagner’s association with a Saturn in the constellation of
Sagittarius already in the Apr. ’68 issue. For the most part, we find the Archer on ancient star
maps equipped with bow and arrow, but there also exist traditions that present him with a lyre
45
instead. This is a memory of the centaur who, according to mythological tradition, also taught
music to the great heroes of Greek sagas. This aspect is definitely connected with Richard
Wagner’s capacity as one of the greatest composers. On the other hand, there was also some-
thing living in him, perhaps even a good deal, of the double nature of the Centaur-Sagittarius.
This was an incessant cause of catharsis and redemption of karma in Richard Wagner’s life.
Naturally, the positions and movements of Mars must interest us, since this planet is con-
nected with sound and speech. Both in the geocentric and the heliocentric asterograms, it sets
out from the constellation Cancer and passes immediately over into Leo after the epoch. The
breaking out of the relative narrowness of Cancer into the experience of the periphery (we
think, for instance, of the Harmonies of the Spheres), seems to have been manifest in the life
work of great masters in the sphere of music, as well as great poets. At the time of their death
we have:
Joh. Seb. Bach (28 July 1750), Mars was in 135°.
Mozart (5 December 1791), Mars in 132°.
Dante (14 September 1321), Mars in 128°.
Robert Fludd (8 September 1637, o.s.), Mars in 133°).
This connection with Fludd also reveals another side of Richard Wagner, that of the
esotericist. This is additionally indicated by the correspondence of his epoch Mars with the
Mars at the death of Fludd, the English Rosicrucian and physician who brought esotericism
right down into practical concerns of life, somewhat similar to what lives in Wagner’s operas as
a realization of spiritual facts of human evolution.
At the birth of Richard Wagner, Mars was just about to enter the constellation of Sagit-
tarius. In fact, it was close to the point where the strong hand of the star effigy of the Archer
holds the bow, according to the traditional star maps. As we mentioned before in connection
with Saturn, other traditions exist that endow the Archer with a lyre instead of a bow. We find
similar positions of Mars in the birth and death asterograms of other musicians and composers
who were endowed, as it were, with the Lyre of the Centaur-Sagittarius, among them:
Anton Bruckner (born 4 September 1824), Mars in 266°.
Anton Dvorak (born 8 September 1841), Mars in 285°.
Gustav Mahler (born 7 July 1860), Mars in 288°.
Giuseppe Tartini died 26 February 1770, when Mars was in 271°.
We notice that Mars in the incarnation asterogram of Richard Wagner had a strong con-
nection with Jupiter. In the geocentric chart this appears as an opposition of the two planets at
birth. In the heliocentric equivalent, we see Mars starting out at the epoch from the place that
was then occupied by Jupiter at birth. At the birth, itself, Jupiter was at an angular distance of
135° from Mars, which is an important aspect (see Apr. ’67 issue). This would imply that
everything we discerned as a potentiality in Jupiter could only be realized by Wagner in the
course of a tremendous soul-struggle, which indeed it was.
46
STAR JOURNALS TWO
Heliocentric
The most conspicuous feature is the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter as they finally meet
just below Pluto. This will take place on 25 December, Christmas Day, and will also be near
Uranus, which will have crossed over the point where the Sun appears to stand, seen from the
Earth, at the autumn equinox and where the Earth will be at the spring equinox.
Heliocentric conjunctions of Jupiter and Mars occur approximately every two years, but
they only return to the same zodiacal position, as on December 25, at much longer intervals of
about twelve years. Even then they do not often recur in the same ecliptic longitude.
However, between the many near equal conjunctions, we detect one opposition of the two
planets on September 14, 1909, which finds Jupiter in exactly the same ecliptic longitude as on
December 25, 1968 (174° 35' in 1968, compared with 174° 44' in 1909). We will take that date
in 1909 as the basis for our investigation, even though it was an opposition and not a conjunc-
tion of Jupiter and Mars. The movement in time from the opposition to the conjunction, we
would regard like the contraction of a plant from the flower stage to the fruit or seed-point.
Among the many events that surely happened then, we select one that was not apparent on
the surface but which took place in the obscurity of an intimate circle of human beings who
were sincerely searching for spiritual truth. On September 15 to 24, 1909, Rudolf Steiner gave,
on the basis of his spiritual scientific investigation, a cycle of ten lectures at Basle in Switzer-
land on The Gospel of St. Luke. This cycle is one of the most illuminating and encouraging
presentations concerning the Christmas Event in human evolution, and since the conjunction
of Jupiter and Mars falls this year on Christmas Day, we regard this historic coincidence as
especially significant. In this cycle of lectures, Rudolf Steiner described the vast spiritual and
occult background of the original Christmas and its unique importance for the future of hu-
manity. Another important aspect, which we do not want to lose sight of, is the fact that the
conjunction will take place close to the head of the constellation of Virgo. We said that for the
ancients Virgo stood in the heavens as the imagination of Isis, holding or receiving her infant
son Horus into her arms—a prophecy, in a sense, of the Virgin birth of Jesus (see Sept. ‘66).
One could now ask: Why should what a man said some 60 years ago have a bearing on the
star event that we are presently discussing? It is here where we might collide with an older
astrological tradition that is inclined to regard an individual as being under the influence of the
starry heavens, regardless of how earlier generations have received and worked out similar
impacts in life. That astrology might concede similar, statistically traceable reactions of human
generations to such events. Yet, it might reject the idea of a causal effect of the attitude and
activity with which the earlier occurrence was handled by a preceding humanity on the re-
peated star event in following times.
However, as we have pointed out now so often in this journal, we have come to the conclu-
sion, in more than four decades of intensive historic research, that not only do the stars have an
“influence’’ (with reservations) on us but our earthly life also works back on the stars and over
47
centuries and millenniums might change their nature. We are well aware that this sounds to
some people like utter conceit, yet the fact can be proven on an astrological basis. It was chiefly
Rudolf Steiner who created the challenge and sent those who endeavored to search for truth in
this field through, sometimes, rather painful but spiritually rewarding experiences.
We do think that the event of that lecture-cycle, The Gospel of St. Luke, can come like a
hand, stretched out to help those who seek an understanding and a means of actively confront-
ing the oncoming conjunction of Jupiter and Mars. The stars present challenges to the human
being, and they are waiting for our spiritually constructive answers. If we fail, they are disap-
pointed and the spiritual forces and beings connected with them might then well send us on a
course of inner catharsis through life experience.
Rudolf Steiner “spoke”, as it were, to that opposition of Jupiter and Mars in 1909, and
what he had to say was not only in his words or books. It lived and lives on in the cosmic world
and can thus help later generations to proceed steadfastly on the road to evolution and their
relationship to the stars. Thus can a preoccupation with such a book, as that of Rudolf Steiner’s
The Gospel of St. Luke, just on the occasion of the twelve Holy Nights, become a seed point of
much more than only enhancement of personal knowledge.
Rudolf Steiner has reiterated his ideas, with regard to our relationship to the stars and vice
versa, in many of his books and lectures. On one occasion he wrote it down in the form of a
verse, or mantra:
The Stars spake once to Man.

It is world destiny
That they are silent now.
To be aware of the silence
Can become pain for earthly Man.
But in the deepening silence

There grows and ripens
What Man speaks to the Stars.
To be aware of this speaking
Can become strength for Spirit Man.
(Translation by George and Mary Adams)

We still have to complete the picture of the incarnation asterogram of Richard Wagner.
The so-called inferior planets of Venus and Mercury are important factors in any such configura-
tion. They are called inferior because in the geocentric conception of the solar universe, they
are close to the orbit of the Sun and move at times even into the space between the Sun and the
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
(central) Earth. Of course, in the heliocentric perspective their orbits are lying, in any case,
inside that of the Earth. In this connection, we also have to discuss the Sun-Earth relationship
in Richard Wagner’s asterogram.
The planet Venus and its sphere are a necessary complementation of Mars. What Mars has
to instill into us, in order to give us that power to distinguish self from environment and send
us on the road to independence, must be one-sided. It has drawbacks that can lead us into all
forms of egoism. Against this one-sidedness are the capacities with which Venus imbues in us.
They are connected with the creation of relationship to our total environment, as well as to the
human environment. Their highest ethical manifestation is love, not limited to the emotional
or affectionate kind but love and compassion in a supreme sense, somewhat following the
teaching of the Gautama Buddha.
Venus had an intense relationship to Mars in the geocentric asterogram of Wagner. At the
time of the epoch, it was close to Mars in the ecliptic sign of Leo and in the constellation of
Cancer (see Fig. 4). As a matter of fact, it was still involved in a retrograde (loop) movement
that started before Wagner’s epoch in 138° of the ecliptic, which is almost identical with the
point where Mars was at the epoch. Therefore, we can conclude that this Venus was, indeed, a
kind of complementation, even an element of rectification of Mars in Wagner’s life. A study
of Wagner’s biography easily implies that his Mars potential sometimes needed to have “the
brakes applied”. A further study of the prenatal asterogram and its relationship to later life
reveals, indeed, that the application of these Venus potentials were necessary in order to lay the
first foundation of the Parsifal opera in 1857, which also enabled the innate capacities of Mars
to contribute finally to the creation of the text and the music of that opera after 1877.
This Venus had a deep connection with the struggle of a modern humanity to live up to
and come to terms with the ethical challenges of our age. This is expressed in the heliocentric
similarity of this position of Venus with the epoch asterograms of:
Copernicus, the astronomer, with epoch Venus in 339°.
Albert Einstein, the German physicist—theory of relativity, etc., with epoch Venus in
333°.
Rabindranath Tagore, Hindu writer and philosopher (1861-1941), with epoch Venus in
328°.
Apart from this, there were also many etheric biographic heritages into this Venus, which
was heliocentrically in 330° of the ecliptic, such as:
Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim, a Rosicrucian, died on February 18, 1535, when
Venus was in 325°.
Thomas Vaughan, the Welsh alchemist and possibly also a Rosicrucian, died February
27, 1666, o.s., with Venus in 320°.
Giuseppe Tartini, the well-known Italian musician and composer, had Venus in 321° at
the time of his death. We mentioned him last month in connection with Mars,
which at his death was similar to the Mars at Wagner’s birth.
49
Though Byron died in 1824 and after the birth of Wagner; however, we regard it as a
useful indication that Venus was in 325° at his death.
The heliocentric epoch Venus of Richard Wagner had moved into the perihelion of Mars,
when it comes closest to the Sun and is more than at other times “interested in the mundane
affairs” of the solar world. This is further supplemented by the position of Venus at birth close
to the ascending node of Mars. We see that Wagner’s Venus had a very lively connection with
the sphere of Mars from many angles.
It is rather revealing that Venus at Wagner’s birth was similar to the position of the planet
in the asterograms of:
Schopenhauer, the German philosopher, was born February 22, 1788, Venus in 47°.
Richard Wagner was closely associated and inspired by his philosophy.
Nietzsche’s (born October 15, 1844) Venus was in 74° and no longer close to the node
of Mars, yet in the constellation of Taurus. Nietzsche was also strongly influenced
by Schopenhauer’s philosophy and also became very enthused with Wagner’s world
of operas; however, the relationship ended in disappointment and resulted in
Nietzsche’s disconnection from Wagner and Bayreuth.
Liszt, the famous composer, died July 31, 1886 when Venus was in the ascending node
of Mars in 49°, which gives us an idea, at least, of the nature of that region in the
Zodiac. He, too, had a close relationship with Richard Wagner. We are, indeed,
looking through this Venus into the orbit of Wagner’s world of relationships.
The planet Mercury can be regarded as the complementation of Jupiter. The planet Jupiter
is a manifestation in the universe of the primeval, cosmic wisdom that is innate in all creation.
Mercury however, or rather the spiritual beings connected with it, can awaken in our soul a
spark of this divine wisdom as the source of our individual intelligence and initiative.
In the present asterogram, there existed a rather significant relationship between Mercury
and Jupiter. At birth the two were, geocentrically, at an angle of 90°, or square aspect. This
angular relationship has often been regarded by traditional astrology as very difficult. But one
modern astrologer, Margaret E. Hone, in her Modern Textbook of Astrology concedes that it
means, “Difficulty of working but can be energizing and constructive.”
We have found in our researches that the “square” (90° distance) and also the semi-square
(45° distance) are based on the rhythms of Mars. We mentioned in the Feb. ’66 issue, that the
recurring conjunction and opposition points of Mars in the ecliptic (from the geocentric view-
point), move in a series of eight in each of the two categories through the Zodiac and then
return approximately to the initial positions. Thus a double octagon is created, as it were, in the
heavens around the Earth. Theoretically, each corner of the octagons should be 45° distant
from its predecessor and successor. In actual fact, however, the distances vary according to the
variable speed of the planet as it appears from the Earth. Here, we have the archetypal foun-
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dation of square and semi-square, for the semi-square is the ideal distance between two con-
junctions or oppositions in the sphere of Mars.
On this basis, we would suspect such a “Martian” relationship inherent in the square aspect
between Mercury and Jupiter in Wagner’s birth asterogram. And indeed we can detect it.
About two weeks before Wagner’s epoch, Mars was in conjunction with the Sun in approxi-
mately the same place of the Zodiac where Jupiter was at his birth. Two years before that,
another such conjunction took place in approximately 82° of the ecliptic, and in 1808 the
conjunction happened almost exactly in the place where Mercury was at Wagner’s birth, about
32° (all geocentric). Thus we have three corners of one of the two octagons of Mars during
those years. They stand, as it were, as silent witnesses behind that square of Mercury and
Jupiter.
The point for us is that this Mercury apparently “energizes’’ (a spiritualized concept of
Mars) Jupiter. In this context, we are thinking particularly of all that we said concerning Jupiter
in Cancer in Wagner’s chart. This is how such potentials, as that indicated in Jupiter, can be
realized by innate capacities reflected in Mercury. In an individual chart like the one here, it can
indeed be discerned how this has happened in life, for instance, on the basis of the prenatal
cycles and their connection with the seven year periods in later life. However, we must leave
this for a later occasion.
In the heliocentric chart, Mercury started out at the epoch from its own aphelion (furthest
distance from Sun), moved three times through its orbit, came back to the same position, and
progressed up to Capricorn and the aphelion of Venus at the time of birth. In this aspect we
see a reflection of Wagner’s artistic potential; however, let us look at the cosmic, etheric heri-
tage that might be indicated in this Mercury.
Here we find that the Mercury of the epoch, or rather the spirit beings connected with it,
became a source of inspiration similar to what lived in:
Beethoven and Bruckner, the two eminent composers. At the time of Beethoven’s
epoch (born December 15-16, 1779), Mercury was in 254° and at that of Bruckner
in 249° (born September 4, 1824).
But also the esoteric background, which surely came to manifestation in Wagner’s life, was
indicated in this Mercury and very similar to Venus. At the time of the death of:
Cornelius Agrippa of Nettesheim (see above), Mercury was in 248°.
Thomas Vaughan passed-over when Mercury was in 255°.
Also Wagner’s Mercury displays equally important relations at birth:

Mozart was born on January 27, 1756, when Mercury was in 311°.
Joh. Seb. Bach entered this world (March 31, 1685, n.s.), when Mercury had reached
290°.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria was born on 25 August 1845, when Mercury was in 285°.
This is also interesting, as he became Wagner’s most prominent supporter and inti-
51
mate friend, who then also made the building of the Opera House at Bayreuth
possible for the performance of Wagner’s operas.
Of the many perspectives that are possible, the Sun and the Earth can be regarded as
complementations and, in a sense, opposite cosmic polarities to Saturn. The Sun bears the
cosmic image (but only the image) of our ego. It indicates the direction from where this ego
descended, and it is this ego that is confronted with karma that which is intimated in the
rhythms and deeper secrets of Saturn. The ego alone can consciously live with karma, trans-
form and redeem it, and bring about the required healing compensation and soul evolution.
On the other hand, it is the Earth that offers the human being physical existence, the place in
the cosmos where karma can, in fact, be realized and brought to its conclusions. In this sense,
Sun and Earth are complementations of Saturn, which is the external manifestation of the
Lords of Karma.
We find the Sun in Richard Wagner’s geocentric asterogram in a conspicuous position, as it
is just rising above the eastern horizon. Astrologically speaking it was at the ascendant. In the
Jul. ’68 issue, we have worked over more extensively the meaning and the nature of the ascen-
dant and came to the conclusion that it is associated with the last step down from the cosmic,
pre-earthly existence into the incarnation and, in that sense, is an image of the individual life,
or ether, body of the human being. The building up of this ether body is closely associated
with the position of the Moon at the time of the epoch, which then becomes the ascendant or
descendant at birth.
However, if the Sun is rising at birth, i.e., if it is in conjunction with the ascendant, as is the
case in Richard Wagner’s asterogram, this situation poses the question of whether the “image
of the ego”, the Sun, is not interfering with the “image of the ether body”. Added to this is the
fact that the Sun at birth had already entered the constellation of Taurus, which is the cosmic
region beyond which we seek the archetype of the bodily region of the larynx, the ears, all that
which the poet, the musician and composer especially needs. In Wagner’s case, this affinity
seems to have been most powerful, but it imposed, in a sense, tremendous strain on the nec-
essary placidity and calm that the ether body needs. This fact came to expression in his volatile
temperament, in the occasional flooding of his being with a superabundance of astrality, which
was also an asset, up to a point, in his life battle. Already at the age of about fourteen, he wrote
a drama where forty-two people die.
One might see a kind of mellowing impact on this Sun by the fact that Venus was in
(superior) conjunction with it. At least it seems to have worked out in this sense in Wagner’s
life. Earlier (see Feb. ’66), we elaborated the rhythms of these conjunctions that take place in
the five corners of a pentagram, set in the ecliptic around the Earth. Always after eight years
the same kind of conjunction of Venus with the Sun takes place in approximately the same
corner of the pentagram. In between, after four years, another conjunction but of opposite
character occurs in that same locality of the ecliptic, i.e., a superior conjunction is followed
after four years by an inferior conjunction and vice versa. Thus that conjunction of Venus and
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Sun in May 1813 returned in intervals in Wagner’s life, and these following recurrences are
biographically important. In May 1849 there was another conjunction, but this time it was an
inferior one and close to the place of the one in 1813. This was the time when Wagner had to
flee from Dresden because of his participation in the so-called May revolution. This gave his
whole life a decisive and, in a sense, a very sobering turn. Then again in 1857, around Easter,
another inferior conjunction occurred. This was the time when, on the Good Friday of that
year, he conceived the “Good Friday motive” of his Parsifal. Finally, in 1877, the last superior
conjunction of this series happened in Wagner’s life. He turned then to his last crowning work,
the poem and music of Parsifal.
Thus we see how the complexity of such an incarnation asterogram does indeed reflect the
forces, even the spiritual beings, who work together in order to bring about the conditions for
the unfolding of an individual’s life. They manifest in the formation of karma, in the aspira-
tions and potentialities of the soul, and in the power of the individual ego. The so-called chart
can only give us an idea of what is at work and of the foundations. It certainly does not and
cannot substitute our spiritual initiative and activity. We alone must provide and develop this;
no power in the cosmos can or will do it for us. But if we confront the complex that is
intimated in our chart with that spirit of freedom and initiative of which we are all capable, that
complex will meet us like a guide who waits for constructive answers and not as an entity that
might dominate and even be oppressive.
53
Heliocentric
The heliocentric positions still show the aftermath of the conjunction of Mars and Jupiter
in December. Now, we see Mars moving into a conjunction with Uranus, almost exactly in
181°. In the last issue we looked for information concerning the conjunction of Mars and
Jupiter by going back to an earlier occurrence of similar nature. Presently we will search again
for an equal, or near-equal, event but in combination with Uranus. We also notice that Uranus
is standing close to Jupiter.
Going back in history in order to obtain explanations by similes is one way of research. Of
course, as we have pointed out repeatedly, we by no means expect to find readymade patterns
that fit any later occasion. In other words, we do not hope to discover, thereby, just plain
repetitions of history. Rather, we can witness by this method the birth of certain trends or
impulses in history, their evolution in time as the ages go by, and their possible challenges and
expectations for our present age. The other feasible method, with regard to investigation, is
“inspiration”, but this needs intensive and exact occult training of the kind, for instance, that
Rudolf Steiner presented in his books and lectures. The ideal would be a combination of both
methods, certainly as far as the field of astrology and astrosophy are concerned.
As the sidereal revolution of Uranus would bring the planet back to an initial position
within a span of 84.02 years (see May ‘66), we would first of all investigate this rhythm, and
whether we can find Jupiter (and possibly Mars) close to Uranus on any such earlier occasion
when the latter planet was near the autumnal equinox. We can, indeed, find similar situations
(all heliocentrically) and by not going too far back, i.e., only one or two revolutions of Uranus
around the Sun. In April 1886 Uranus was in 186°, Jupiter in 182-4°, and Mars in 177-191°.
Then again in August 1803, Uranus, being in 191°, was met by Jupiter and Mars above the same
degree of the Earth’s ecliptic, or orbit. The further we go back in history, the more we would
find Jupiter belated in meeting Uranus exactly in this place, near the point of the autumnal
equinox. Only after a very long time would we detect similes again. (This very long rhythm we
shall investigate on another occasion.)
What are we going to do with those two dates in order to find some illumination, if pos-
sible, with regard to the present situation? Naturally, there were a seemingly vast multitude of
things happening. We select two aspects that appear to us of importance with regard to the
present moment. They actively concern the psychological, spiritual situation in which human-
ity finds itself at this juncture of history. Around the beginning of the 19th century, two
significant cultural movements were standing out in central and Western Europe. One was the
movement of Classicism and the other Romanticism, which were not restricted to expression
in art but also affected the sciences and sociology.
Classicism would predominantly see, in the ancient Greek and Roman works of art and
culture, the prototypes and standards of modern artistic and life principles. This attitude mani-
fested in all fields of art; however, it came to expression most conspicuously in architecture.
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Buildings imitating the Greek temple styles are living witnesses of these trends, also in sculp-
ture and painting, but chiefly it became manifest in literature. Numbers of writers in all coun-
tries are known as classicist in this sense. Among the Germans in this field, there stand out
writers and artists such as Goethe, Schiller, and Hölderlin who lived around the turn from the
18th to the 19th centuries. This is the one movement whose activities and creations would
coincide with that event of the conjunction of Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars in 1803 from where
we started. Particularly Jupiter, which was then in the autumnal equinox (i.e., in the ecliptic sign
of Libra), would reflect the etheric harmony and equilibrium that the creative energy of the
classicist depended.
Romanticism grew out of a reaction against Classicism. It found a strong expression, for
instance, in English literature. Its chief exponent was Coleridge. Also Walter Scott, Byron,
Shelley and others belonged to this school of artistic creation. In Germany the reaction came
a bit later, but it was then more thorough. It was chiefly a circle of young people who rallied
around Novalis (pseudonym for Hardenberg), who is well-known as a poet, in spite of his
short life. Also the philosopher Schelling belonged to this movement together with many
others who made an impact through their work, not only on literature and poetry but also on
philosophy and even on the sciences, such as physics, medicine, and the science of economy.
The characteristic element of Romanticism is that it did combine and identify itself with
metaphysics and ideas coming from an awareness of the real existence of a spiritual world.
Goethe was perhaps one of the very few who succeeded in combining Classicism and
Romanticism. This combination became particularly evident in his Legend of the Green Snake
and the Beautiful Lily, which is an artistic description of the journey of a number of souls to
spirit land, one might say, and of their endeavor to establish a bridge between the realm of the
spirit and that of material existence (see also Oct.-Nov. ‘65). To this, Novalis contributed a
similar legend (Klingsor’s Legend), which is contained in his (unfinished) Heinrich of Ofterdingen, a
novel. There, souls also travel into cosmic, spiritual realms of existence and return after pro-
found experiences in order to found the “Kingdom of Eternity in which all strife and fighting
will be replaced by peace and love.”
Such were the ideals of Romanticism, and we find more an expression of Uranus in it (the
planet that is decisively connected with the esoteric life and kindred impulses, which it creates
in the human soul) near the autumnal equinox and also near its own perihelion. Goethe’s
legend came into being in 1795 and the legend of Novalis only a few years later. They were, in
a sense, culminations of the spirit of Romanticism and coincided, more or less, with that
cosmic event at the beginning of the 19th century that we have in mind.
In 1886, at the time of the second meeting of Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars near the autumnal
equinox that we now contemplate, we witness a different situation in humanity. This was the
age of people such as the German philosopher Nietzsche, who was sometimes called a neo-
romanticist. Indeed, one can come to the impression that he belonged to some such cultural
stream by reading his only really complete book, The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music.
However, this was only one phase in Nietzsche’s stormy, inner development. It was followed
55
by quite different philosophic perspectives after the break with Richard Wagner. In 1886 and
1887, just during the years that we now consider, he wrote Beyond Good and Evil and The Ge-
nealogy of Morals. He wrote them after his Thus Spake Zarathustra, and promoted a hero morality
in them, eventually the morality of the superman who is guided by nothing but his instinct and
will to power, by his own self-made “morality” of the master against the morality of the “herd”
of humanity. Thus he came to the conclusion that “...conscious thinking ... is the weakest ...
instinct (within the orbit of the absolute power of the superman) is the most intelligent of all
the kinds of intelligence ... consciousness maybe regarded as secondary, almost as indifferent
and superfluous, probably destined to disappear and to be superseded by perfect automatism.”
(See Durant The Story of Philosophy.) One might think these were absurd outbursts of a world-
estranged philosopher, without correlation to reality; however, the facts indicate that attempts
have been made, and are still made, to organize whole nations and states according to such and
similar principles (for instance, in Germany after 1933). Nietzsche’s philosophy was only the
external symbol of the fact that a new age had broken into humanity, an age where we will
increasingly have to face the “great battle” between forces who, on the one hand are working
toward the moment when they expect to be able to triumphantly proclaim not only that “God
is dead” but even much more, “...that the human being of the old order who was a dreamer of
a divine world, of evolution, and of himself as being the bearer of an indestructible individu-
ality, is dead at last. He abdicated in favor of the infallible intelligence of the computer, the
new superman.”
This is the one view in the “greater war” of this and the coming centuries. In opposition to
it, there should stand fast that which was, in a sense, betrayed during the last hundred years and
whose glorious evening Sun rays shine in the movements of Classicism and Romanticism. In
the present recurring conjunction of Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars near the autumnal equinox, we
see another “sign in the heavens” calling for a serious re-consideration of that second front of
fighters. New efforts can and must be made to break through and contact again that world of
the spirit and its inhabitants, which for Novalis and Goethe were a reality. This is the only
measure that can rescue us from that total destruction and give us a sense of our true, eternal
being, of the meaning of existence, and eventually the experience of spiritual freedom, which
we are, mostly unconsciously, seeking so desperately. We have come to the conclusion that
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, can be a true guide toward such achievements.
The question might arise: What has all this to do with these pending conjunctions of
Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars? How can one see these ideas in the cosmic events? The point for us
is not what one can read in them; we observe what others before us “wrote” into them and
what we can and must do to keep pace, in a constructive sense, with what is thus expressed as
evolution of the human race. In this sense, we look up to the ecliptic sign of Libra, in which
the events happen, and see in it the challenge to make a decision. However, we would see in a
concrete redevelopment and cultivation by the individual, of the ideas of Goetheanism and of
the genuinely constructive issues of Romanticism, an effective antidote that could help to save
the spiritual integrity of the human being.
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Jupiter in the fixed-star constellation of Leo: It will now be our task to contemplate these
positions, as we have described the nature of Leo in Aug. & Sept. ’66, and also its manifestation
in combination with Saturn in Nov. & Dec. ‘67. Saturn is mainly concerned with recapitulations
of the past: past incarnations, or lives which have just come to a conclusion, etc. It represents,
so to speak, the past so that it may be redeemed or evolved further. Jupiter’s associations with
Leo, in a sense with all constellations, reflect desires and impulses that direct their gaze toward
the future. The spiritual beings and energies connected with this planet insist on promoting
human capacities and potentials that are just born and that promise a future, possibly a great
future. This is particularly pronounced in a Jupiter in Leo. We will presently produce two well-
known historic examples: Paracelsus, the great physician and occultist of the 16th century and
Hahnemann, the discoverer of the principles of homeopathy,
The most probable date for the birth of Paracelsus was November 14-15, 1493. Jupiter
was then (heliocentric) in 151°, the constellation of Leo. Saturn was almost exactly in the
opposite part of the Zodiac. Paracelsus was a courageous and relentless fighter against anti-
quated methods and practices in medicine. Naturally, he encountered an enormous amount of
opposition from his colleagues. During the latter part of his life, because of this opposition—
even persecution, he was so frustrated that he wandered from place to place in search of
opportunities to work in peace. Indeed, if one studies the numerous books he has written, one
can understand that he did not find much sympathy among the contemporaries in his profes-
sion. He was a great, even one of the greatest, cosmologists in modern humanity, and he tried
to detect and employ the deepest mysteries of our connection with the universe of the stars in
his unique art of healing. From the reports we have, we must conclude that he was a very
successful medical doctor.
In our preoccupation with cosmology and association with the stars, we see impulses at
work in Paracelsus that are reflected in the position of Jupiter in Leo at the time of his in-
carnation. The very symbol we use for Leo (see Aug. ‘66) possibly proclaims the potent capaci-
ties in such a position, and Paracelsus was, indeed, strong enough to evolve them. Standing
firmly on the Earth as an individuality, he was able to go out toward the farthest peripheries of
the universe and seek the primeval wisdom hidden there. He insisted that the book of study
for the medical doctor must ultimately be nature, the universe and their wisdom.
Rather toward the end of his life, around 1535 or 1536 (died - 1541), he proceeded to write
his last book, Astronomia Magna, or “the whole Sagacious Philosophy of the great and the small
world”. Professor Sudhoff, writer and biographer concerning Paracelsus, says of it: “This is,
undoubtedly, the authentic indisputable kernel of the mature work of a ripened man, Paracelsus
at his height. …Already in 1535 or 1536, Hohenheim (his full name was Theophrastus von
Hohenheim, genannt Paracelsus) was busy with the disentangling of many and various ideas
connected with magic, divination, and (in the widest sense) cosmological notions generally...”
57
Sentences like the following characterize the boldness of the statements of Paracelsus, and
also the fact that present humanity is further away than ever before from the comprehension,
nothing to say about the realization, of the supreme Jupiter wisdom that must have lived in this
man. It is still undiluted future: “It is indeed possible for people to get hold of and to enclose
the whole world in their grasp, and this with all its foundations and in clear perception of its
perfect entirety... That science is truly Magic which is able to bring the forces of heaven into a
medium and to set them into operation through the same... Like a physician putting his medi-
cine into a small box, an extract weighing little yet containing great virtues, so can also a Magus
put into a small stone much of the heavenly science, and such (the said small stones) are the
Magus’s boxes in which he preserves the sidereal power and virtues...” (From Basilio de
Telepnef ’s, Paracelsus, a Genius Amidst a Troubled World.)
Naturally, for us the question must arise: Can one detect any factual connection of that
Jupiter of Paracelsus with, for instance, the book he wrote? The cosmic reference is indeed
one of the simplest aspects in astrological knowledge. In 1535 and 1536, Jupiter moved through
that portion of the Zodiac (Aquarius) that is opposite its position at the epoch and birth. At
the same time, 1535 till 1537, Saturn crossed over the same span of the Zodiac that Jupiter had
passed through during the period from the epoch to the birth, i.e., Cancer and especially Leo.
Christian Hahnemann was born on April 10, 1755. Jupiter was then in 166.6°
(heliocentrically). At his epoch it was in 145.9°. Uranus at birth was almost exactly opposite
his Jupiter (347.7°). Hahnemann received his MD at Erlangen in 1779 at the age of 24, which
corresponds approximately to 2 orbits of Jupiter. He carried on with his studies at Leipzig and
Vienna and finally settled at Leipzig in 1789. In the following year, he discovered the “law of
similars” (similia similibus curantur), in connection with observations he made concerning the
use of drugs. It struck him “that the symptoms produced by quinine on the healthy body were
similar to those of the disordered state it was used to cure”. Thus he came to maintain that the
like must be cured by the like. Furthermore, he arrived at the conclusion that drugs ought to be
diluted in order to achieve high degrees of effectiveness. This is called homeopathy. It has
been proven that substances can have curative properties even in such high dilutions in which
the presence of the material substance or drug can hardly be detected by chemical analysis.
During the years following 1790, Hahnemann published his discoveries, and he eventually
expressed the opinion that in the process of trituration and dilution, the gross matter of the
substance used is removed and only its spiritual energies remain. In other words, he recognized
dynamic spiritual-cosmic forces of creative and organizational qualities present in matter, how-
ever dormant or stagnant, but which can be freed and activated. In this sense, Hahnemann was
a cosmologist, because he realized invisible but potent powers beyond the Earth matter state.
This potential of realization in him was reflected in that position of Jupiter in Leo during his
gestation period.
One can, of course, argue that this had nothing to do with cosmology in a strict sense.
Such facts as those of homeopathy can, at best, be regarded as manifestations of an invisible,
spiritual reality, working as a dynamic element beyond mere matter. This has not or need not
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have any connection with the cosmos of the stars. Such views are, however, based on inconsis-
tent and superficial observation. As soon as we enter the field of energies and the resulting
movement of the same kind, we find ourselves at once referred to the interplay between the
Earth as a planet and extraterrestrial, cosmic factors, such as Sun and Moon or the other
planets. This might be somewhat hidden and difficult to detect in some cases, as in Earth
gravity, but in other fields it is only too obvious, for instance, in the fact of the ocean tides,
weather conditions, plant-growth, etc. Thus, a person such as Hahnemann might never have
said anything that could be interpreted as “cosmology”, strictly speaking; nevertheless, the
recognition of forces working in substances, as he did, reveals him as a potential “cosmo-
logist”, because he observed and employed elements that can ultimately, in their true nature,
only be defined as originating in the interplay between the Earth as a planet and other cosmic
factors. In this sense, Hahnemann might have taken the first steps toward a cognition of the
relationship between nature and the universe, of which the guiding vision was proclaimed by
Paracelsus in his books and especially in his Astronomia Magna.
Another aspect of importance for us is the question of whether any connection can be
found, time-wise, between Jupiter of his incarnation and his discoveries. Indeed, the year
1790, during which he discovered the principles of homeopathy is signified by one of the
simplest perspectives of time ratios in astrology by simple transits. In 1790 Jupiter moved,
heliocentrically, from about 143° to 173° of the ecliptic, that is the portion of the Zodiac
where Jupiter was during the gestation (145.9° to 166.6°, see above). We would interpret this as
indicating that Jupiter “reminded” Hahnemann in 1790, of course in his unconscious life, of
the decisions that he had taken before birth.
Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, born January 18, 1743, Jupiter in 156.2° at birth (heliocen-
tric), was another great soul, who during his life worked out the characteristics of a Jupiter in
Leo. He was an esotericist whose writings were published under the name of “le philosophe
inconnu”. He met mysticism while he was serving in the French army, which he left in 1771. In
1788 he was introduced to the writings of the German mystic, Jacob Boehme. His translations
of the works of Boehme were one of his most constructive works, but there were others, for
instance, one which was translated into English under the title, The Ministry of Man the Spirit.
This kind of mysticism and esotericism is especially connected with Leo, because it represents
a meeting of the soul at the periphery of material Earth existence with the spiritual cosmos. It
is instructive to see in his incarnation asterogram how deeply he was connected with Jacob
Boehme who died 17 Nov. 1624: Saturn 146°, Jupiter 168°, Venus 285°
Saint Martin’s birth: Saturn 151°, Jupiter 157°, Venus 298°
Of others who incarnated when Jupiter was in Leo we mention:

Victor Hugo, the great French novelist (The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables,
and many more), born 26 February 1802, Jupiter in 151.2°.
Saint Therese of Lisieux, a French Carmelite, known also by her autobiography Histoire
d’une ame, born 2 January 1873, Jupiter in 143°, died 1897.
59
Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy, born 27 February 1861, Jupiter in143.3°.
Among souls who entered the spirit world when Jupiter was in Leo:
Giordano Bruno, an Italian philosopher and great fighter for scientific and spiritual
freedom, was eventually excommunicated by the Roman Church and was burnt at
the stake on February 17, 1600, Jupiter in 138°. The chief cause of his collision
with the Church was his rejection of the old Aristotelian astronomy for the Coper-
nican views, apart from his attacks on that contemporary Christianity.
Benjamin Franklin, died 17 April 1790, Jupiter in 150.5°.
Edward Bulver-Lytton at death found Jupiter in 144.3° (January 18, 1873). He was the
famous writer of The Last Days of Pompeii, Rienzi, Zanoni, The Coming Race and many
others.
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Jupiter in the constellation of Virgo: is the next position we want to investigate. One of
the finest historic examples is the nativity of Raffaello Santi or simply Raphael, the great painter
of the Renaissance, born on Good Friday, 1483 (March 28 in the Julian Calendar, and April 6
according to the Gregorian Calendar). We produce here the heliocentric diagram of his nativ-
ity. He has been mentioned already in the Oct. ’68 issue.
Figure 6
Raphael Santi
(Heliocentric)
Birth: 28 March 1483 (o.s.)
Epoch: 19 June 1482 (o.s.)
In this chart, Jupiter was in the constellation of Virgo most of the prenatal time, Pluto was
in the same position, and Saturn was in that constellation, at least at the epoch. Then at birth
the Earth and Venus moved into this sector of the Zodiac, and there was actually a conjunction
between the two, seen from the Earth, that appeared as an inferior conjunction of Venus with
the Sun.
We have described the mythological background of Virgo extensively in the Sept. ‘66 issue.
Principally, it is the cosmic-archetypal region appearing in the human form as the intestinal
tract, below the diaphragm. This is the region where we finally transubstantiate the material we
take into our organism as food. In Leo we meet an archetypal sphere, which gives us the
organic foundation to establish a rhythmic equilibrium between the physiological periphery
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and center, as in the human heart and circulation. In this Virgo organism, we retreat into our
innermost being, in a physiological sense, and create a new world of existence, as in the digest-
ing processes or in the embryonic development, which takes place in the extreme seclusion of
the female organism.
This is that side of the constellation of Virgo that is given to us and incorporated into our
physical organism, as it were, in microcosmic form by the mighty forces of the macrocosmic
world. We are endowed with it so that we can live an existence on the planet Earth as a
member of the human race. However, this is not an end in itself. We received this body so that
our soul and spirit have a home and place where they can work and create. It is this activity
alone that eventually can justify the gift that was bestowed on us by the spiritual powers. Ev-
erything depends, once we are incarnated and able to operate in our organism, on our ability
and determination to evolve our soul and spiritual potential. This is the other side of our
association with the cosmos, i.e., the “fulfillment” of that which was given to us as the image
of the planets and the Zodiac. It appears, for instance, in the vast compendium of information
that astrological tradition, since most ancient times, has bequeathed to us and which contains
the records of how humanity of past ages tried to “fulfill” and transubstantiate the gifts of the
cosmos. We must respect it as that, and at the same time be prepared to adapt our relationship
to the world of the stars according to the requirements of modern human consciousness,
which is so totally different from the stages that we lived in the past when the main features of
traditional astrology were formulated.
Thus we look, for instance, at the constellation of Virgo as that region from which the
human race was, since the remotest times of cosmic creation, entrusted—and still is—with the
most profound and mysterious means of progenitive capacity. In order to honor that trust of
the divine cosmic world, we must transubstantiate this capacity into one of spiritual “progenitive”
activity, according to the facilities and potentials on the present level of human consciousness.
This is it exactly, what such a mighty individuality as the Renaissance painter, Raphael,
“made” of his association with the constellation of Virgo through Jupiter. His artistic works
are ever-lasting witnesses of his unsurpassed and inimitable power of creation, and have be-
come the sources of activating inspiration for numberless human souls. The connection of his
career as an artist with the root positions in Virgo can easily be established.
Along with Jupiter, we also find the Earth in conjunction with Venus at birth. We noticed
a similar relationship between the Earth and Venus in the incarnation asterogram of Richard
Wagner (see Dec. ‘68), though in that case it was an opposition between the two, or a superior
conjunction of Venus with the Sun. Furthermore, we discovered a relationship between these
Sun-Venus conjunctions and Wagner’s biography. The same principle can also be applied in
Raphael’s asterogram.
The Earth-Venus conjunction of 1483 repeated itself in the constellation of Virgo in 1491,
1499, 1507, and 1515. All these years were decisive milestones in the development of Raphael.
It appears that the repetitions always coincided with the inauguration of new phases in his life.
In 1491, at the age of eight, his mother died, and a few years later his father also passed away.
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Apart from the sadness of this experience, we can also imagine that it had a profound influ-
ence on the child, and we cannot know by ordinary means what worked between the soul of
the departed mother and her son. This kind of relationship can be very real in a spiritual sense
and possibly unfold capacities in a growing person that otherwise might remain dormant. In a
broad, tentative sense, we venture to suggest that Raphael grew, through such a relationship,
into a deep soul-wise comprehension of the cosmic nature of the Divine Sophia, the Mother
Being whom he painted in his later life in countless pictures.
It was very probably in 1499 when Raphael entered the studio of the painter Vannucci
(called Perugino by the Renaissance biographer Vasari) as an apprentice. His paintings of that
period, as far as one can ascertain the time of their execution, speak already of a tremendous
spiritual maturity and imagination. One is particularly interesting called, The Dream of the Knight;
a sleeping knight is approached by two female figures. One is studded with pearls and offers
him flowers. The other, of more serene appearance, presents him with a sword and a book.
From one perspective, he is expected to choose between two extremes.
In 1507 another new phase in Raphael’s life as an artist commenced. In the autumn of that
year, according to Raffael, by the German biographer H. Knackfuss, we see him in the service
of Pope Julius II, who was—apart from being a great war-lord and clever politician—also a
remarkable promoter of the arts. In the following year, Raphael painted in the Stanza della
Segnatura, a room in the Vatican at Rome, the famous Disputa, which depicts a conference and
discussion of the well-known theologians of Christian history concerning the Sacrament of
Transubstantiation at the Altar. We see how Raphael was able to lift up the Mystery of Trans-
formation, which speaks through all that with which the region of the constellation of Virgo
endows our physiology, to new heights of spiritual understanding. In Raphael’s experience, it
becomes a picture of the struggle of the human being to comprehend the Transubstantiation
of Bread and Wine according to Christian tradition. This struggle is followed and presided
over by the Divine Trinity in the heights of heaven and the spirits of the Apostles.
This was followed by the School of Athens, which is a unique representation of, what one
might call, the spiritual communion of all humanity in the reality of the world of philosophical
and spiritual ideas, guided and enacted by the greatest human individualities in this field of
sublime endeavor since classical Greek times. It is, in a sense, a humanized representation of
the great divine wisdom, where all seemingly contradictory ideas and philosophies are united as
in one harmonious cosmos. In this painting, we can behold Raphael’s transmutation of the
constellation of Virgo into a realization of the sublime divine wisdom that was weaving through
the universe as primeval wisdom in all creation and which can awaken in our thinking power as
the world of ideas. Here the human beings are alone among themselves, distinct from the
Disputa.
The third painting, covering one of the walls of the Stanza della Segnatura, is the Mount
Parnassus. The central figure is the divine Apollo who, though he does not play his classical lyre,
creates the harmonies of the spheres with a violin. The most significant feature in this painting
is the fact that the divinity is surrounded by human beings, creative artists of historic fame.
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Among them are: Homer, the great Grecian poet; Vergil, the Roman author; Dante, the poet
of the Divine Comedy; and others. Now the heavens, with their divine inhabitants, are no longer
so far above or removed from the human race (as in the Disputa), nor are human beings alone
with a reflection of the divine world in their thinking (School of Athens). In the Mount Parnassus,
he is in the presence of the being of the spiritual-cosmic world, and this presence inspires him
to creativity in the highest sense. This is a representation of what our relationship and active
realization of our heritage from the cosmic region of the constellation Virgo must become. By
stepping consciously into the presence of the divine being of primeval wisdom, we must rise
from the status of creature to becoming a creator ourselves, in a cosmic sense.
In 1515 there was another conjunction of the Earth with Venus in the direction of the
constellation of Virgo, and with it another phase of manifestation of Raphael’s Virgo heritage
ensued. During the years 1515-16, he designed, for instance, the tapestry cartoons for the
Sistine Chapel that depict scenes from the Acts of the Apostles, among them: St. Paul’s Conver-
sion and St. Paul in Prison. In the sense of the spiritual elevation of his connection with the
constellation Virgo, which we have in mind especially, he reached a climax in the painting of
the Sistine Madonna, completed around 1516. Before this he had painted many pictures of the
Madonna, showing her in the most lovely natural and, yet, sublime settings. Here in the Sistine
Madonna, he perceives her in cosmic heights indeed. She seems to stand upon the globe of the
Earth enveloped in clouds, and she descends with the child from her majestic cosmic domain
to the members of the human race. This is an artistic realization of what we in the future will
have to attain to be able to set our earthly house of existence in order (even with regard to the
most practical concerns), to bring to birth within our innermost being, the “child” of the
creative spirit through the power of the divine wisdom now descended to the human realm.
These phases of Raphael’s artistic development can also be corroborated with the cosmic
facts of his incarnation asterogram on the basis of the movements of the planet Uranus. It
started out at birth from Scorpio-Sagittarius. By 1504 it arrived opposite the point of Jupiter at
Raphael’s epoch. Then, in the following years, up to about 1515, it moved through that part of
the Zodiac opposite the constellation of Virgo, chiefly through the configuration of Pisces.
We would see reflected in this fact, Raphael’s concern with the history of humanity as it is
represented in the paintings of the Stanza, the tapestry cartoons of the Sistine Chapel, etc.
From among souls who also descended into incarnation when Jupiter was in Virgo, we
should mention:
Albrecht Duerer, the great contemporary and artist friend of Raphael (see also Jul.
‘67), born 21 May 1471, Jupiter in 185°.
Joh. Seb. Bach, the composer, born 31 March 1185 (n.s.), Jupiter in 197°.
Mozart, born 27 January 1756, Jupiter in 189°.
Bishop George Berkeley, the Irish metaphysical philosopher, born 12 March 1685 (o.s.),
Jupiter in 196.3°.
St. Columba, the Celtic Saint and founder of the Celtic Church of Iona, born 7 De-
cember 1571, Jupiter in 158° (plus 20° precession to date).
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Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose heliocentric incarnation diagram we produced in the

Nov. ’67 issue, was born, 25 May 1803, when Jupiter was in 186°.
Among the souls who entered the spiritual world when Jupiter was in Virgo, we find:
Beethoven (see Sept. - Oct. ‘67) died 26 March 1827, Jupiter in 188°.
Mozart, died 5 December 1791, Jupiter in 197° (returning to a similar Jupiter as at his
incarnation, see above).
Leonardo da Vinci (see Dec. ‘66) died 2 May 1519, Jupiter in 195°.
Thomas á Kempis, German mystic (Imitatio Christi), died 8 August 1471, Jupiter in
191°.
Nostradamus (see Jan. & Feb. ‘67) died 2 July 1566, Jupiter in 192.5°.
Tycho Brahe (see Jan. ‘68) died 24 October 1601 (n.s.), Jupiter in 185°.
Sibelius, well-known Finnish composer, died 20 September 1957, Jupiter in 191.5°.
Jupiter in the constellation of Libra: Here we meet that area of the Zodiac that is an
expression of those powers in the cosmos who created the archetypes of the regions of bal-
ance in the human organism. This is manifest, for instance, in the hip region of our body,
which is the point of balance between the upper and lower corporeality. The archetypal func-
tions that are embodied in the spheres associated with the constellations from Aries to Virgo
are obviously orientated toward an increasing organic introversion. This reaches its climax in
the Virgo region of the human body. Now, from the Libra-Balance area downward, the human
organism is built so that it can increasingly meet the environment until finally stepping onto the
Earth, exploring it by walking over its surface. However, this is not the only region of a
balancing character in the body. We know that the inner ear, for instance, carries an essential
organ of orientation toward balance between the inner organism and its environment.
The physiological capacity of balance has been built into the human body as a gift of the
divine powers of the cosmos over very long periods of time. The universe in its interplay
between fixed-star Zodiac and planetary world is, so to speak, a vast chronicle of past stages of
evolution. If we learn to read it, we can know how the archetypes, for instance, of the func-
tional and factual regions of the human organism were built by the divine world in immeasurably
long intervals of past cosmic creation. Thus we would also discover that the regions of bal-
ance built into the human corporeality are the result of mighty cosmic acts of creating equilib-
rium in most varied ways. [See the author’s Isis Sophia I and II.]
We have received these gifts in order to appropriate the underlying spiritual archetypes
more and more consciously and to lift them up eventually into new acts of creation. Thus will
the cosmos experience, sometime in the dim future, a kind of resurrection in ego permeated
consciousness through our spiritual-moral activity. One can say, with a certain justification,
that as much as everything we meet in our earthly environment shows the tendency toward
inevitable aging, so much does there exist potential universe that gets ever younger. Of course,
we by no means underestimate the fact that humanity at the present stage of evolution has
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barely taken the first steps toward the realization of such sublime ideals, and that it faces
already the most serious dangers of deviation and possible deadlock with regard to its own
future.
In order to exemplify the potential of a Jupiter in Libra in practical terms, we have chosen
the incarnation asterogram of Count Leo Tolstoy (epoch of 9 Dec. 1827 and birth of 9 Sept.
1828, n.s.). We see that Jupiter is in the constellation of Libra for most of the prenatal time.
Figure 7: Count Leo Tolstoy
All through his life. Tolstoy was indeed

involved in a struggle for balance of the soul.
This comes to expression in all of his nov-
els and particularly in his biography. His
struggles led him through various phases
of experience. After his marriage in 1862,
he lived a relatively happy and harmonious
life in the midst of his family, and this cre-
ated a satisfactory foundation for his literary
work. In 1864 he began to write the first of
his great novels, War and Peace. Jupiter had re-
turned by then the third time to its initial posi-
tion in Libra. Some time after this, in 1873, he began
the novel Anna Karenina. Then, in 1876 when Jupiter again returned to Libra, Tolstoy entered
a period of a decisive inner crisis in his life. The preceding concept or soul attitude with regard
to “balance” didn’t suffice any longer. He felt driven in his mind to find new philosophical and
religious foundations for his life. This urge took him through painful inner experiences and
searching of his soul, and he did not rest until he found, in a new relationship to Christianity, a
platform of balance on which he was able to live. This is usually called his “conversion”, about
which the Encyclopedia Britannica writes: “The decisive stage in this conversion, he tells us, was
the moment when he realized that the whole message of Christ was contained in the words
(Matthew 5, 39) ‘that ye resist not evil’. This doctrine of non-resistance became the founda-
tion of the creed that soon became known as Tolstoyism.”
The reaching out of Tolstoy for a new philosophical and religious balance accompanied
him for the rest of his life and influenced his later writings and also his practical life. It was so
strong that it appeared as a decisive factor in his asterogram of death on 21 November 1910.
At that time Jupiter was not far from entry into Libra (212°), Mars was already there (220°),
close to the descending node of the Moon (about 229°), whereas Saturn was opposite in Aries
(31°), all geocentrically. (For the asterogram of death, as far as we intend to study the accumu-
lated life biography in it, we have to take the geocentric view into consideration, because the
souls of the departed move away from the Earth, out into the cosmos.)
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In the last issue we worked over the meaning of a Jupiter in the constellation of Libra in
connection with Count Leo Tolstoy’s asterograms. We should like to add a few more examples
in charts at the death of historic individuals:
Pope Nicholas I, also called the Great, is the first that must interest us. At his death
(November 13, 867), Jupiter was in Libra (218°). During his pontificate, the schism
or separation between the eastern and western Church took place. This was caused
by a series of unfortunate events, and Nicholas is by no means solely responsible
for it. Rather, it was the manifestation of tendencies in humanity in general that
made the separation even necessary for a time. Western humanity made ready to
move into the age of the development of the science of nature and technology.
Eastern humanity, particularly those associated with classical Greek and later Slav
Christianity, had the task to preserve the spiritual, mystic essence of the Christ
Impulse for a later age; however, the split became an external fact that determined
many—partly very fateful—events of later history. The differentiation into an
eastern and western humanity (though in name Christian), with the inherent and
constant potential of conflict between the two, had set up a decisive road sign by
this schism for modern evolution and history. It is one possible manifestation of
the meaning of Libra the Balance; and as it is connected with Jupiter in that con-
stellation, it implies a mighty challenge with regard to the future.
The rest of the death chart of Nicholas suggests that he must have been very
well aware of the seriousness of what had inevitably happened: the Sun was in
conjunction with Saturn in the constellation of Scorpio at the time of his passing
over into the spiritual world.
Henry the Navigator was mentioned earlier (May ‘67) regarding Jupiter in Libra (223°)
at the time of his death (November 13, 1460). Through his initiative, the sea pas-
sage to the Asiatic East was opened up. It made travel to the east much easier,
although the totality of the African continent had to be circumnavigated. On the
other hand, one can regard him as one of the spiritual fathers of the re-discovery
of the American continent. Christopher Columbus appears to have received im-
portant geographical information from sources of Templars and (successive) Christ
Order origin. Prince Henry was a grandmaster of that order. Thus we would see
in Jupiter at his death, in the constellation Libra-Balance, an implication of his
standing in the stream that expanded modern humanity’s geographic experience
toward the east and the west.
Blaise Pascal (see Feb. ‘68) died on August 19, 1662 when Jupiter was in 228°, constel-
lation Libra-Balance. He lived and worked out this balance problem in an inner
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sense. On the one hand he was a natural philosopher and mathematician, making
important and far-reaching discoveries concerning the conic sections. At the age
of 17, he had already published these discoveries in a resumé, Essai pour les coniques.
He also worked on the infinitesimal calculus and on the arithmetical triangle. Fur-
thermore, he demonstrated the practical use of the barometer, and he also discov-
ered the fact of differential barometrical pressure according to altitude. On the
other hand, he was a deeply philosophical, even mystically orientated, human be-
ing. His family had become converts to the Jansenist religious movement. On one
occasion, in a religious retreat at Port Royal, he had a deep mystical experience that
he described as his “conversion”.
Thus we see here a person who, as a modern human being, holds the balance
between the world of nature and the world of the invisible, spiritual reality. In this
capacity he has become significant in humanity, and still is. The message of Jupiter,
the proponent of the future, in Libra is of such a nature.
T. E. Lawrence (May 19, 1935, Jupiter in 230°), known as Lawrence of Arabia, was a
British archeologist, soldier, and writer of The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. During the
First World War, he managed to establish a liaison of confidence with the Arabs to
such an extent that he was permitted to organize their successful campaigns against
the Turks. The balance of mind that he created, between his own as a westerner
and that of the Arabs, came to expression in the Jupiter in Libra at his death.
Henry Ford (April 7, 1947, Jupiter in 230°) was a modern man, inasmuch as on the one
hand he developed industrial production to points of highest efficiency, yet, on the
other hand he was well aware of the impact that the extreme mechanization of
production, for instance, the moving assembly belt etc., must have on the human
being, and he tried to remedy this in a number of ways. Again, we see here a sense
of balance at work with regard to the forward march of humanity to new forms of
economic and social life.
In order to estimate such Jupiter positions in Libra, also in incarnation asterograms, we will
now return once more to the charts of Soloviev and Vincent Van Gogh, which we have de-
picted and described in the Aug. ’67 issue. We are aware, however, that Jupiter in both asterograms
started out from Libra at the time of the epoch but had arrived in Scorpio at birth.
Jupiter in the constellation of Scorpio: Both Soloviev and Van Gogh were fighters for
balance of soul; their unique biographies prove this. We gave some hints in the Aug. ’67 issue.
In the image of Jupiter in Scorpio toward the time of their birth, we see them confronted with
additional life problems. Scorpio is associated with the Mysteries of Death and also with
healing and Resurrection, as we demonstrated in the Oct. ’66 issue. Soloviev broke through to
the Mysteries of resurrection in a way remarkable for modern humanity. His salvation was
obviously the experience of the Being of the Divine Sophia as a spiritual reality. Van Gogh
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also sought salvation and resurrection of the soul when he intended to study theology (1877),
but he was unable to break through, and his life ended in insanity and disaster. He did not
succeed in transforming Jupiter in Scorpio into a new image in the place of the image of death.
In the grandeur of human destinies, we witness here the spiritual battle of a modern humanity,
concerning its affinity to that constellation. A very ancient humanity saw the image of an
Eagle in the place of Scorpio, suggesting sublimity and elevation above the mere world of
matter. Then, with our emancipation from direct contact with the divine world, the Eagle fell,
so to speak, and became the image of the scorpion with its deadly sting. A future humanity,
which will consciously regain knowledge and union with higher worlds, will simultaneously trans-
form the image of Scorpion into an image such as that of the white Dove of the Holy Spirit.
This tremendous battle of humanity was expressed in the picture of the nativity of
Copernicus, which we presented in the Jan. & Apr. ’67 issues. In his case, Jupiter also moved
from Libra into Scorpio at birth. He gave the inaugural impetus to the so-called Copernican
conception of the universe, which looks—on the face of it—like the dying process of the old
glorious and living cosmos into a gigantic but lifeless mechanism, reflected in human thinking.
However, it need not be the final and inevitable conclusion. This phase of astronomical knowl-
edge can lead to a new comprehension and establishment of a spiritually dignified relationship
between cosmos and humanity. Thus, Jupiter in Scorpio in Copernicus’ nativity was a sign of
the commencement of the great battle that will, we hope, lead humanity of the future to new
horizons of meaningful existence.
The fierceness of this battle, which one must certainly not underrate, also came to expres-
sion in the life of the German poet Hölderlin. When he was born (March 20, 1770) Jupiter was
also in Scorpio (253°). During the earlier part of his life, he aspired to highest ideals of man-
hood; but he too, eventually, broke down and ended his earthly career in that darkness of
insanity (1843).
Also, associations in asterograms of death with Jupiter in Scorpio demonstrate, with re-
markably dramatic gestures, the character and the challenge concerning the future of this con-
stellation. At the beginning of our present century, three people of significance died while
Jupiter was in Scorpio:
Soloviev (mentioned above) died August 13, 1900, Jupiter in 252°, handed back to the
cosmos at the moment of his death, the Jupiter that he had received at his incarna-
tion “on loan”, so to speak, for a life time. But now it was filled with the Resurrec-
tion experiences of which we wrote earlier.
Nietzsche died August 25, 1900, Jupiter 253°. We described his tragedy in the Jan. ’70
issue. He was unable to break through to the direct knowledge of the spiritual
world, and he lived his last twelve years in insanity.
Karl Julius Schroer died December 16, 1900, Jupiter in 262°, was a Professor of Ger-
man Literature at the University of Vienna, at a time when Rudolf Steiner studied
there. He became Steiner’s teacher and friend, particularly through his deep, inner
connection with Goethe and his time.
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The year of their death became the birth year of Rudolf Steiner’s message of anthropo-
sophy. Around Michaelmas, he gave the first, one might say, inaugural lectures: on September
22, About Nietzsche and September 29, Goethe’s Secret Revelation (published in 1933 by Percy Lund
Humphries & Co., Ltd., London). This was followed by an extensive lecture-cycle on “mysti-
cism”, whose first lecture was delivered on 6 October. The cycle was later published in book
form as, Mysticism at the Dawn of the Modern Age. It appears as if these souls, who departed from
Earth existence, stood in that moment like godfathers to the event of the birth of anthroposo-
phy. Nietzsche, as someone who realized the full extent of the human tragedy he had lived
through in his existence and who longed for a redemption; Soloviev, as one who had experi-
enced the significance of the being of the Divine Sophia for the healthy evolution of the
human race; and Schroer, who saw the creative spiritual potential of a reborn and revived
Goetheanism, like the one Rudolf Steiner founded.
Two Jupiter cycles later, on January 21, 1924, Lenin died (Jupiter 245°). His life revealed, to
the fullest extent, the downward trend of human culture, from the ancient Eagle’s heights to
the Scorpion’s depth, that began already long ago. It coagulated for him into dialectic materi-
alism and its practice in social life.
Jupiter in the constellation of Sagittarius or Archer: On the old star maps, there appears in
this portion of the sky, the image of the centaur (see also Nov. ‘66), distinct from the other
centaur in the southern sky below Libra, Chiron the great teacher of the famous Greek heroes,
among them Heracles. The centaur of Sagittarius was Nessus, who used to carry travelers
across the river Evenus. According to the myth, he was killed by Hercules, but he was then
elevated to the starry heavens by the Gods.
This aptitude of “carrying travelers across the river” comes to profound expression in
associations of Jupiter with Sagittarius. Very often people who entered incarnation with such
a propensity appear as giants of achievement in some field of human endeavor. They are not
precisely teachers but people who are able to help others across the sometimes swollen and
obstructing rivers of life. Those born with Jupiter in Sagittarius were:
Beethoven (see Sept. & Oct. ‘67 and Feb. ‘70) is an outstanding example. When he was
born, December 16, 1770, Jupiter had entered Sagittarius (275°). It is difficult to
estimate how many human beings were carried across the rivers of drudgery and
mundane preoccupations by his elevating compositions.
G. W. F. Hegel, the German philosopher, was born on August 27,1770 when Jupiter
had just entered Sagittarius (266°). What Beethoven did as a composer, Hegel did
as a philosopher of idealism. The universe is the result and manifestation of cre-
ative ideas. We can grow into this reality (only) through the development of our
self-conscious power of thinking. Rudolf Steiner says in his Riddles of Philosophy:
“…Hegel attempts, in a certain sense, to let the soul grow up above itself to a
height, where it unites with the universe. With the birth of thought in Greek
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philosophy, the soul separated from the universe, learning to feel itself in loneliness
and contradistinction from it. In this loneliness, the soul discovers itself, together
with the thoughts working within. Hegel intends to lead this experience of thought
to its culmination. He discovers in this most exalted realization of thought, at the
same time, the creative principle of the universe. Thus the soul has moved through
a circle of experience, first by separating from the world in order to seek thought.
It feels separated from the universe as long as it recognizes thought only as thought.
But the soul feels reunited with it as soon as it discovers in thought the fountain-
head of the world; thus the circular course is completed...”
Swedenborg (see Nov. & Dec. ‘67) incarnated February 8, 1688 (n.s.), when Jupiter was
in Sagittarius (279.3°). We recognize in him a unique giant in humanity, inasmuch
as he displayed in his life the twofold nature of the centaur, whose human upper
part and head are orientated toward the world perceived by the senses. His lower,
horse-body part, reaches into the unknown world that is otherwise in our uncon-
scious. Up to his 55th year he was a natural scientist and technologist, whose dis-
coveries and inventions are still recognized by present day science. Then suddenly,
during that age of life, he turns into a visionary and mystic. He breaks through to
a certain insight into the workings of divine beings and the heavens. His best
known books in this realm of his experience are: Divine Love and Wisdom, The Apoca-
lypse Revealed, and Heaven and Hell.
Michelangelo’s embryonic development (born March 6, 1475) saw Jupiter, most of the
time, in the constellation of Sagittarius. At birth it entered Capricorn (295°). He
stands out as a giant who, still to this day, can “carry” human beings across the river
of world riddles and problems by his mighty artistic creations. We need only look
at his sculpture of the Pieta, or the painting of Judgment Day in the Sistine Chapel, in
order to comprehend these mysteries, at least feelingly. A spiritual understanding
can all the more confirm the truth that is represented artistically in many of
Michelangelo’s paintings and sculptures.
Two people, who lived closer to our time, displayed in their own unique fashion similar
potentials, intimated by a Jupiter in Sagittarius during their embryonic epoch:
Friedrich Schiller, born November 10, 1759, Jupiter in 298.2°.
Henry W. Longfellow, born February 27, 1807, Jupiter in 294°. It is only too obvious
what a lasting, soul-carrying influence these two poets had on their age. Each one
was profoundly able to convey messages to their own people, which are still shining
like guiding beacons in the vicissitudes of life.
In the area of our connection with the stars at the moment of passing back into the spiritual
world, we also witness remarkable associations with Jupiter in Sagittarius. They appear even
more penetrating and designed to promote the future of humanity. There are, for instance:
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Martin Luther at whose death on February 18, 1546, Jupiter was in 289.5°. Although
we are inclined to think of his act of Reformation as being rather a powerful begin-
ning, not an end in itself, we must concede that he opened up avenues of hope into
the modern age for many. He laid some first cornerstones of that bridge over
which humanity must pass in order to move forward on the road to freedom.
Correggio died March 5, 1534, with Jupiter in 286°

Rubens died May 30, 1640, with Jupiter 771°, were two giants in the field of painting.
Sagittarius is the constellation in which Jupiter moves through its descending node. It
descends into the Southern Hemisphere, below the ecliptic or orbit of the Earth, from our
northern viewpoint. This means that it refers, thereafter, more to that element of the Earth
that can be likened to Libra and the will organization. It is, in this connection, noteworthy that
the bulk of the continents of the Earth are in the Northern Hemisphere, whereas in the south-
ern half, the oceans are predominant. Therefore, we should expect that Jupiter in its descend-
ing node in Sagittarius reflects or inspires that sphere of human activity that can eventually
combine with the more lasting element of the ether of the Earth. The ascending nodes, rather,
appeal more to activity of the head, observation, and thinking. (The ascending node of the
Moon is, according to ancient Eastern tradition, called the Dragon’s Head, the descending
node the Dragon’s Tail.)
We should finally like to mention that Rudolf Steiner died March 30, 1925, when Jupiter
was in Sagittarius (280°), almost exactly in its descending node. A significant event in his life
combined with this Jupiter from October 1901 to March 1902, when he spoke in a cycle of
lectures called Christianity as Mystical Fact (later published as a book). This event is important in
connection with Jupiter, because Saturn occupied (in 1901-2) Jupiter’s place at the death of
Rudolf Steiner. This we called earlier a “retrospect transit of Saturn” over the positions in the
asterogram of death. We have demonstrated them and described their nature in the Dec. ’66
issue, in connection with Leonardo’s asterogram of death. (For this purpose we have to con-
sider the planets according to their geocentric positions. At Rudolf Steiner’s death, Jupiter was
in 20° of the sign of Capricorn, or 290° of the ecliptic.)
A remarkable historic event was associated with a Jupiter position in Sagittarius. In 869
AD, two years after the death of Pope Nicholas I, one of the so-called Great Conjunctions
took place. Jupiter and Saturn had moved close together, and they met in 254° of the ecliptic.
To this we must add 15° of precessional movement in order to obtain the true position of this
conjunction in the fixed-star Zodiac, which was in the bow of the constellation Sagittarius.
This event in the heavens coincided with the Church Council of Constantinople. In the course
of this Council it was decided, in very complicated and partly obscure phraseology, that the
human being was not that threefold being of body, soul, and spirit as conceived by a previous
humanity. Henceforth, human beings were to be regarded as beings of body and soul only and
were to be considered gifted only with a few spiritual attributes. This historic coincidence can
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lead us to the realization of what the position of Jupiter in Sagittarius really purports, particu-
larly in connection with the Jupiter of Rudolf Steiner (see above). Behind it looms the battle
for the spiritual nature and the dignity of the human being. Rudolf Steiner always maintained,
on the basis of his spiritual insight and comprehension of the Mysteries of Christianity, that we
are beings of body, soul, and spirit. This is important to realize at a moment when certain
sectors of humanity go even further than the Council of Constantinople and proceed to de-
clare that human beings are only a machine-like functioning animal-body, without even a soul.
73
Geocentric
The cosmic situation around Easter will be especially dramatic, according to both the geo-
centric and heliocentric calendars. Venus has been retrograde since March, which means that
it is performing a loop between the eastern and western fish of Pisces. In this case it is a
perfect loop. The inferior conjunction will take place this month, and only a few hours later
Mercury will come into superior conjunction with the Sun. Thus we have the relatively rare
event that the Sun will be flanked by Venus in front and Mercury at its back, as seen from the
Earth. We worked out earlier that the conjunctions of Venus repeat themselves according to a
definite rhythm. They happen at the corners of a pentagon set within the ecliptic. This pen-
tagon rotates backwards very slowly, i.e., against the direction of planetary movement in the
Zodiac. Thus the loops repeat themselves in intervals of approximately 584 days, occupying
the five corners of the pentagon in succession. After eight years (5 x 584 days), the loop occurs
again near the initial position, about two days earlier than the initial date. In other words, the
pentagon has rotated backwards in the ecliptic by about 2°.
According to this rhythm, we find the last loop of Venus in Pisces in March-April-May
1961. The inferior conjunction with the Sun took place on April 10-11, of that year. Thus, we
can go back with Venus in intervals of 8 years and observe the planet in a similar relationship
to the Sun but further forward in the ecliptic. In 1945 (3x8 years further back from our ’69
loop), another loop happened that saw Venus in inferior conjunction with the Sun near the
transition point from the constellation of Pisces to Aries. This was the year of the Hiroshima
event. A number of rhythms bring us back to 1889, when the loop of Venus occurred in Aries.
This was the year when it became evident that Nietzsche, the tragic German philosopher, was
a very sick and insane man. Other fateful things happened during that year, leading to decisive
developments in European history.
In 1849 we find another loop of the same category. At that time, the corresponding
inferior conjunction was still in the transition point from the constellation of Aries to Taurus.
In 1848 and 1849, the revolution of a number of European idealistic movements against Feu-
dalism, which was still prevailing, broke down. For instance, Wagner, the composer, was in-
volved in such revolutionary activities at Dresden and finally had to flee from his home coun-
try. Many other significant events happened at the same time.
Another leap brings us back to 1801 when the loop of Venus was still in the constellation
of Taurus. Shortly before, the German poet and philosopher Novalis died (25 March, 1801).
We mentioned him earlier. Europe found itself in a tumultuous situation because of the rise
of Napoleon I. This selection of events shows that we cannot simply identify the correspond-
ing conjunctions with external recurrences that are similar in nature; rather, we observe certain
trends toward the achievement of spiritual freedom. Against this rise the powers who are
determined to try to deny the human being any such freedom. The results are often furious
battles in the domain of soul life and civilization.
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Where then, can we detect the wellsprings of the nature of this particular conjunction? We
recognize it easily if we study its connection with the Christ Events. Indeed, about March 21,
33 AD, an inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun took place in the vernal point. This was
just a few days before Golgotha and Easter Sunday (3-5 April, 33 AD). The present loop will
occur almost in the same position of the ecliptic. The earlier occasions, which we mentioned,
can be regarded as a kind of preparation of the present and near future. As a matter of fact, the
inferior conjunction of this series, which will recur in 2033 AD, will also happen in the vernal
point on March 21. However, the present loop will not coincide with the same corner of the
pentagon where it happened in 33 AD. That corner has, in the course of the last centuries,
rotated as far back as the ecliptic sign of Virgo. Nevertheless, we regard the sign-wise similarity
of this loop of 1969 with the one in 33 AD as significant. This indication is further emphasized
by the fact that the Moon nodes have returned to the same position they were, in 33 AD. The
Moon nodes are the crossing points between the ecliptic circle and the path of the Moon. They
rotate through the ecliptic according to a rhythm of 18.6 years; thus, they periodically come
back to initial positions. Thus, in April 33 AD the ascending Moon node was in about 4° of the
ecliptic sign of . At Easter 1969, it will be in the first degree of the ecliptic (not according to
the “mean” positions in the ephemerides but according to the latitude of the Moon). There-
fore, it will be in the same ecliptic place where it was shortly after the original Easter when the
young community of early Christians struggled for its existence (see Acts of the Apostles).
What positive attitude would be advisable with regard to these two events such as Venus
and the Moon nodes? The more passive question, what will they bring?, will not lead to a
constructive answer. Rather, it is inclined to throw us into bondage. But a creative attitude will
try to engender an inner, living understanding of the Deed of Christ. This is possible, par-
ticularly in view of the fullness of the indications that Rudolf Steiner gave in his lecture-cycles
on the Gospels, etc. Then the events in the heavens that we discuss can become gateways to
the realization of our spiritual freedom, inaugurated by the Deed of overcoming death and the
bonds of matter through the Event of the Resurrection. This can also lead us to a realization
that we have the possibility of gaining our freedom from the laws of nature and of history.
The association of the present moment with the problems of spiritual freedom is further
underlined by the fact that an earlier position of the ascending Moon node at the vernal point
leads us to the year 1894. Rudolf Steiner published his book, The Philosophy of Freedom (or)
Spiritual Activity, in that year. This can be regarded as one of the key works of the present age.
Altogether, cosmic events related to the vernal point must be regarded as indicative concerning
the corresponding historic cycle of time, or age. On a small scale, the moment when the Sun
steps into the vernal point around 21 March of each year is, in a much truer sense, the com-
mencement of the year than the New Year of western humanity. It determines also the date of
Easter (the first Sunday after the first full Moon, following the spring equinox), which can be
conceived in the context of the mighty overture of each new year.
Thus we can discern, in the position of the vernal point relative to the fixed-star Zodiac,
the particular challenge that each age of human history is confronted with. If the Moon node
75
steps into this place, the gateways for such cosmic challenges are opened in an enhanced sense.
For these nodes are gateways to the spheres of the cosmos beyond the Moon of the Earth.
They can no longer be apprehended in a similar sense as all visible phenomena in the heavens.
The fact that they are not “visible”, but must be approached by mathematics, can bring us to
the realization that they are, at least, stepping-stones to the invisible worlds—to the worlds of
the workings of divine beings.
A superficial observation of the movement of the vernal point through the constellations
of the Zodiac can confirm its connection with history. When it moved through the constella-
tion of Gemini (about 5000 BC), one of the leading civilizations of humanity was Ancient
Persia, inaugurated by Zarathustra. It operated on the basis of the great cosmic contradiction
of Ahura Mazdao, the (spiritual) Aura of the Sun, and Ahriman, the anti-power who lives in
the darkness of the Earth. They were Twins, indeed, though opposed to each other. During
the Egyptian and Chaldean Age of humanity, the vernal point moved through the constellation
of Taurus. This was realized in history as the impulse to bring the forces of the cosmos right
down into Earth reality, even Earth materiality. The heavy forms of the Egyptian temples, and
particularly the pyramids and ziggurats, were expressions of this impulse. They are realizations
of the cosmic effigy of the Bull stamping on the soil of the Earth. Yet, this Bull carries those
mighty horns appearing like cornucopias, or horns of plenty, pouring cosmic forces into Earth
existence. The Greek and Roman civilizations took place when the vernal point had entered
the constellation of Aries. Aries, the Ram, is the cosmic image of the human head. The
capacities connected with the human head were certainly developed especially during that age.
We think of the birth of philosophy and of employment of the senses, expressed in the perfec-
tion of Greek art. The Romans, especially, developed the capacity of head-born organization
of state, etc. There was a greater challenge present, however, in the association of the vernal
point with Aries. It had come to the Hebrew people at the time of the Exodus as the great
promise veiled in the ritual of the Passover Lamb. Then, at the turning point of time, John the
Baptist realized that the “promise” had been fulfilled. Thus he could say: “Behold the Lamb
(Ram) of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (St. John 1 : 29). Rudolf Steiner shed
light on this mystery when he described the cosmic Being of Christ, Who entered the body of
Jesus at the moment of baptism by John. The “Lamb (Ram-Aries) of God” was an ancient
occult expression for the recognition of a divine being of high cosmic order. He is the head of
the hierarchy of the Spirits of Wisdom, or Kyriotetes, in Greek angelology. This is the highest
spiritual principle of the Being Whom we call the Christ. And the incarnation of Christ hap-
pened during the age when the vernal point was still close to the head-stars Beta and Gamma
of the constellation Aries.
What is the challenge for this present age? The vernal point is at present very close to the
fixed-star Omega in the tail of the western Fish, and will then travel the full length before it will
enter the constellation of Aquarius. Of course, the waters flowing from the urn of the Waterman
are already below it. This gives the present age, in a certain sense, a distant undertone of the
characteristics of the future Waterman-Aquarius civilization. All this would mean that the
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present humanity is challenged to face and actively work out the contradiction between heri-
tages of head and brain capacities from the past (Aries, etc.) and a future that is characterized
by the flowing, cosmic waters of Aquarius. Still more, Aquarius is complemented by Pegasus,
the “winged intelligence”, the constellation above it. This “winged intelligence” must be inter-
preted as meaning more than just brain intelligence. Actually it means spiritual cognition. This
challenge to the modern age is, in addition, expressed by the position of the vernal point below
the fixed-star Alpha of Andromeda (according to Right Ascension). It is on the forehead of
this constellation where a spiritual cognition, or science, would locate the “two-petalled lotus
or chakram”, the organ of higher wisdom, or insight into the “unseen”. Moses is often de-
picted with two rays of light emanating from his forehead, indicating that he had developed
this higher organ of perception; however, the Andromeda in the heavens is chained to a rock
and is in mortal danger, coming from Cetus, the Whale. She must be rescued by Perseus, above
Aries. He is a representative of what accrues as potential human development from the Age
of Aries or Ram to the present and future. It is what entered the earthly world as our possible
spiritual rebirth through the Deed of the “Lamb or Ram of God”. This is the character of the
challenge that meets our modern age. It is expressed in the present position of the vernal point.
In this light, we must also see the position of the ascending Moon node and the loop of Venus.
From the opposite side of the ecliptic, there comes something like a nod of confirmation.
Uranus is performing a loop (retrograde) in the autumn point, and Jupiter is near to it.
Mars is at present in the constellation of Scorpio and will become retrograde the end of
the month. In a kind of hairpin curve, it will move back to the head of the Scorpion and enter
again a cycle of forward movement in July. These retrograde movements of Mars also recur at
certain intervals. In the course of about 16-17 years they happen eight times and move through
successive positions in the Zodiac, The ninth retrograde curve returns then to the approximate
place of the initial one. Thus earlier events of the same category, which constitute oppositions
of Mars to the Sun, took place in the constellation of Libra in 1952 and in Scorpio in 1937,
1927, and 1890. We shall come back to possible implications in this event, in connection with
the May calendar.
A penumbral eclipse of the Moon will occur, in connection with full Moon. This means
that the Moon will move through the outer, fringe shadow only of the Earth. It will not appear
as an actual eclipse, but the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac of 1969 points out that, “it
belongs to the initial penumbral series preceding the umbral eclipse of May 16, 2041.” In an
umbral eclipse the Moon moves through the central, full shadow that the Earth casts into
space. Thus, this penumbral eclipse is a kind of preparation of future events.
Moon and Sun eclipses happen according to a cycle of 18 years and 10 days. This is called
the Saros period. Thus, for instance, the penumbral eclipse of April 2 will recur in 1987, 2005,
and 2023, always with a delay of about 10 days. Then, after four Saros periods, it will come
back on May 16, 2041, as an umbral eclipse. It will, therefore, go through a stage of growing
up, as it were. After that it will move through Saros periods of normal eclipses. The “lifetime”
of such an eclipse is around 1000 years. Of course, other eclipses in different years have their
77
own “life cycles”. There exist about 70 such “eclipse beings” moving through their Saros life
cycles: about 30 of the Moon and about 40 of the Sun. We shall have more to say about these
beings of darkness on future occasions.
Heliocentric
The most conspicuous event in April will be the conjunction of Jupiter with Uranus on
Good Friday, in 182° 08' of the ecliptic. The following day, Mercury will be in an opposition to
Jupiter and Uranus. We have written more extensively about the conjunctions of Jupiter (and
Mars) with Uranus in Jan. ‘69.
We combine with this event the results of our own researches over many years of observa-
tion. As that conjunction of Uranus and Jupiter occurs, we can imagine that it makes an
impression in the Aura, or sphere, of the whole solar universe centered in the Sun. Further-
more, we can imagine that this Aura is rotating together with the rotation of the Sun. This is
not an impossible assumption, especially if we look at the solar universe as a living being and
not as a dead machine. Then the rotation would take the “impression funnel”, caused by that
conjunction, along on its journey. Eventually, it would arrive at the place where the Earth is
standing along its orbit. We will call this the Central Meridian Passage, a concept that we
borrow from astronomical usage. The moment when a sunspot has arrived exactly opposite
the Earth, because of the rotation of the Sun, is called in astronomy a Central Meridian Pas-
sage, or CMP. As we know the ratio of the rotation of the Sun at its equator is about 25 days,
we can calculate the CMP that we have in mind (see Fig. 8). Thus, we come to the observation
that the CMP of the “impression funnel” of the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus on April 4,
will occur on the following day. It appears so soon because the Earth is standing only 13°
further from the place of the conjunction on that occasion, and 14° is the average ratio of the
rotation of the “impression funnel”
per day.
Figure 8
We are well aware that we are

creating a novel perspective of cos-
mic features that some people might
find difficult to accept in this field,
which presents, in any case, so many extreme
difficulties. However, we have come to the con-
clusion through many years of research that these
occurrences are important in the life of the cos-
mos. They invariably appear to be connected with
corresponding reactions of the Earth. To the hu-
man mind that wants to live in material stability and
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security, they manifest as nature catastrophes, such as earthquakes, storms, etc. But we also
found human, i.e., political catastrophes involved in this, particularly if Mars takes a share in
creating “impression funnels” together with the outermost planets of the solar system.
In future discussions, we shall have to work more in detail with these CMP’s. They support
the idea, not uncommon in astrological practice, that events in the cosmos needn’t only affect
the life of the universe spontaneously, the effects can be delayed; however, the problem for
practical research is to find the ratios of these delays. [There is a more detailed discussion of
the CMP’s in Practical Approach III, Part One, March 1971.]
There will be a series of occurrences in connection with the ascending and descending
nodal lines of Mercury and Mars. First, Mercury will move through its own ascending node
and through the ascending nodal line of Mars on April 14. Then, Mars will move through the
descending nodal line of Mercury on April 19, and through its own descending node on April
21. Finally, Venus will be in the descending nodal line of Mercury on the 26th, and on the
following day in the descending nodal line of Mars.
How can we read this “script of the stars”? One way is to search for similar occurrences in
the past. This is rather ineffective, as a rule, as far as the fast-moving planets are concerned. It
requires a detailed and meticulously precise knowledge of history, which is sometimes difficult
to come by. Another way is to take the places where these events happen as markers of greater
phenomena that occur in the history of the cosmos, either in the past or future.
One such guiding phenomenon of great practical value is the cyclic recurrences of the
Great Conjunctions. The planets Jupiter and Saturn meet regularly in conjunction about every
20 years. Of these, every third conjunction after an interval of about 60 years takes place in
approximately the same location of the Zodiac. They differ by about 10° in the forward
direction and write an almost equilateral triangle, that slowly rotates, into the Zodiac. This
rotating triangle is like the big hand on a cosmic clock. It is an excellent means of gauging time
in the process of evolution and has always been used as such.
We find that a Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will take place in the year 2000,
close to the ascending nodal lines of Mercury and Mars. A halfway point will occur in January
1971, when Saturn will be in the ascending nodal lines of Mercury and Mars, and Jupiter will be
opposite them. The Great Conjunction at the end of this century was preceded by one in
November 1949, but not yet in those nodal lines.
Here we have an inspiring “background scene” of the events of April, mentioned above.
On the one hand we are reminded of the strenuous situation of humanity around 1940, and on
the other hand our gaze is also turned toward the future, to the requirements of a humanity as
we move toward the end of the century, which we must provide for already now. The opposi-
tion of Jupiter and Saturn in 1971 is a clear indication of the present needs. Geocentrically, this
opposition will happen the end of Dec. 1969, then early March and in mid-Nov. 1970.
It is evident that we must do more groundwork in order to get a hold of this “cypher” of
the cosmic script, which we shall eventually do on some future occasion. Also the character-
ization of Jupiter in the remaining constellations of the Zodiac must be deferred until June.
79
Geocentric
On 4 May the Moon will occult Antares, the main star in Scorpio. This occultation will be
repeated on the 31st, almost simultaneous with the full Moon on that day. It will coincide with
the opposition of Mars to the Sun, though Mars will be slightly above the Moon and Antares.
Thus we will have the unique event that the Moon will be passing over Antares.
We have tried to follow up these occultations of Antares by the Moon. They occurred in
1968 on a number of consecutive occasions. (This can happen as the result of the particular
position of the Moon nodes in the ecliptic at a certain time.) As far as we were able to discern,
they are often connected with man-made accidents and catastrophes. However, we are disin-
clined to make a rule of this. We consider such events in the heavens much more as a challenge
to the human being to compensate for the obvious darkness as the result of the occultation.
This can be done by a heightened consciousness and self-awareness.
Mercury will be above the first of the Hyades, a part of Taurus, early in the month, and a
little later it will be above Aldebran, one of the eyes of the Bull. There exists a storehouse of
myths concerning the constellation of Bull, and particularly of the Hyades (and Pleiades) within
the effigy of that configuration. There are five Hyades (sisters), whose brother, Hyas, was
killed by a wild boar. At this they wept so much that Zeus had pity on them and elevated them
to the sky. But even there they kept mourning, and their tears were falling to the Earth as
showers. (See Lum, The Stars in our Heavens, Thames and Hudson, London). The interesting
fact is that they, and especially the Pleiades near them, are associated in numbers of mytholo-
gies from various parts of the Earth with calamities caused by floods.
Mid-month the Moon will occult Venus. This can be connected with unrest in the meteo-
rological sphere of the Earth. For instance, a similar occultation happened on January 21,
1969, and it was associated with meteorological violence in many parts of the world. Near the
end of the month there will be an occultation of Uranus by the Moon, which has also hap-
pened in 1968 and 1969 so far, a number of times. This event is sometimes connected with
outbursts of human violence. For instance, the shooting of Robert Kennedy and his death on
June 5-6, 1968, coincided almost exactly with an occultation of Uranus by the Moon (0 hr.
GMT). We have reason to insist, however, that one cannot regard such happenings as being
inevitably caused by the events in the heavens. Rather, we have the impression that existing
morose conditions of mind in human beings can be affected by them. Of course, one cannot
foresee whether the forces of darkness will succeed in using such a clouded-over human mind
for the execution of their intentions. The Moon will also occult the fixed-star Spica in the
constellation of Virgo. Finally, the opposition of Mars to the Sun will occur, which we men-
tioned already in connection with its loop in Scorpio. This will almost coincide with the infe-
rior conjunction of Mercury on May 29.
In order to build up resources of creative and constructive perspectives, by which we can
possibly meet events like this, we take recourse to viewpoints of approach that we indicated
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already in the last issue. These are theGreat Conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter, which take
place at near regular intervals. To make the idea that we proposed in the April issue more
precise, we will demonstrate these occurrences in the following diagram:
Figure 9: Rotation of Triangle of the Great Conjunctions of

Saturn and Jupiter from 1563 to 1961
(The arrows indicate the qualitative, not geometric, movement of the central
points in the constellations according to the precession of the vernal point.)
We take the Great Conjunctions that are nearest to the present moment, i.e., 1961, 1940-1,
and 1921. The diagram demonstrates that they happened at the corners of a near equilateral
triangle. Furthermore, we notice that they took place in intervals of twenty years. In order to
proceed a step further with the idea, we go back a few multiples of such intervals. Thus we
arrive, for instance, in the 16th-17th centuries, and find corresponding conjunctions in 1604,
1583, and 1563. But we also notice that they happened further back in the Zodiac. In other
words, the triangle has, in the meantime, rotated forward. We now have obtained something
like a big, threefold hand on the dial-plate of the Zodiac. This we can use as a means of
gauging time in history.
81
We are, of course, fully aware that in order to move through history with these rhythms, we
need to calculate the positions of the conjunctions with the help of astronomical tables. Some
of the more handy ones we suggested right in the beginning issues of the Star Journal. How-
ever, we imagine that it is not everybody’s case to work with seemingly complicated figures,
although we contend that they are not nearly so difficult to handle as a superficial glance might
suggest. At sometime we hope to publish in the journal, or in connection with it, lists of these
Great Conjunctions for the past two thousand years.
From the diagram, we conclude that, indeed, there was a Great Conjunction in 1604, close
to the point where we now find Mars at the time of its opposition to the Sun.
That Great Conjunction in 1604 has an interesting relationship to history. Its approach did
not go unobserved, particularly by the astrology minded people of that age. In fact, as it was
expected to happen in the constellation of Scorpio, it did provoke some gloomy prognostica-
tions and assumptions. They were not fulfilled, although one can detect some connection with
the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War in 1618.
Yet, in the seclusion of small esoteric circles, remarkable things happened. That mysterious
document of Rosicrucian esotericism, The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459,
came into being immediately prior to that Great Conjunction of 1604. A young man, Johann
Valentin Andreae, who later on became a minister of religion in Germany, conceived it and
wrote it down. It must be regarded as one of the most illuminating “secret revelations” of the
Rosicrucian movement in the Middle Ages. Disguised in the very pictorial form of a seven-day
alchymical work, it describes the principles of a Rosicrucian Initiation. With a deeper under-
standing, it can be interpreted as a description of the experiences of a soul in the spirit cosmos
between two incarnations. From another esoteric perspective, one can also see in it a presenta-
tion of the seven great stages of the cosmic evolution of the Earth.
This event stands in the background of that position of Mars in Scorpio and in opposition
to the Sun on. As a cosmic memory aspect, it can remind us that events in the heavens need
not be taken as messengers of gloom. Rather, they are challenges that want to call on us for
heightened spiritual efforts. They want us to grow up to our potential spiritual dignity, which is
hidden beyond the maya of our purely earthly, material, small existence.
We can go even further back in history with the key of the Great Conjunctions. We simply
follow the turning hands of the triangle. Thus we come to one earlier Great Conjunction that
seems to be important, which took place in the year 6 BC (astronomical), in the constellation
of Pisces. Actually, it happened three times during that year, seen from the Earth. This, then,
is the ancestor of the one in 1604 and 1961.
The Great Conjunctions in 6 BC have often been associated with the birth of Jesus as
described in the Gospel of St. Matthew. We have come to the impression that this is correct,
and that the corresponding heavenly event also had a connection with the “star” of the Three
Wise Men who came to visit the child. However, here we have to overcome an enormous
hurdle with regard to chronology. Christian tradition and chronology places the birth of Jesus,
at least the one who is described in the Gospel of St. Luke, at the commencement of the new
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calendar era. We have also come, after diligent research, to the conclusion that this is correct.
However, how can this be reconciled with the fact that the, presumably indicative, Great Con-
junction took place in 6 BC, nearly seven years before?
Following the advice of Rudolf Steiner and intensive research, we take into consideration
a “spiritual nativity”, as far as the incarnation of the human being is concerned. This can occur
years before or after the actual nativity, and it has a causative connection with it.
On the face, it looks as if this concept is a radical and, therefore, suspicious novelty. Yet,
we have the impression that it was always known in strictly esoteric circles. It is based on the
conception of the heavens at the moment of the birth of a human being, as a pictorial descrip-
tion of the stages of descent into incarnation long before birth and conception. Thus, accord-
ing to this approach, the Moon at birth would be the image of the last, but one, step of the soul
into incarnation. It is probably the entry into the sphere of the Moon from the higher realms
of the cosmos. This would be, according to the rhythms of that expressive feature of the life
of this sphere, accomplished by the nodes of the Moon. In other words, when one of these
nodes stand in the ecliptic locality that is to be, or was, the place of the Moon at birth, it is a
significant moment, in this sense, in the process of incarnation. This has been proven to be
valid and helpful in many instances.
We now consider the moment of the birth of Jesus, as Christian tradition takes it, accord-
ing to the Gospel of St. Luke. This would be midnight December 24 to 25, of the year zero
(astronomical). We find the Moon in about 28° of the ecliptic, or Aries. Above this point the
stars of the constellation of Taurus already appear. In this we can see something like an
imaginative representation of the sublime cosmic aspects of the incarnation of that child. St.
John puts it in the words: “and the Word (the Logos, Taurus) became flesh”. From here we can
go further on and find that the ascending Moon node in 6 BC was, indeed, in that same place
where the Moon was during the original Christmas Night. It coincided with the time of those
Great Conjunctions in Pisces; therefore, we consider them as being part of the “spiritual nativ-
ity” of Jesus. In the conjunctions in Pisces, the last of the twelve constellations, we would see
the implication that “the time was fulfilled”, according to the ancient prophecies about the
incarnation.
How do we justify what might appear at first to be a lot of assumptions? We see in the
Three Wise Men the last representatives of generations of Initiates of the highest order, who
had a deep esoteric insight into the workings of the cosmos. We find evidence that they must
have known already, even thousands of years before, the cosmic circumstances of the ex-
pected incarnation of Christ. When “the time was fulfilled”, the Three Wise Men would know,
both by their clairvoyant insight and by being able to check in connection with cosmic events,
that the decisive events spoken of in the ancient documents had commenced.
Of course, we are perfectly well aware that the events, with respect to the Incarnation, are
even more complicated then we are able to present at the moment. For instance, according to
the description of Rudolf Steiner, we have to deal with the perspective of two Jesus children.
The one is presented in the narration of the Gospel of St. Matthew, the other in St. Luke.
83
Later a unification between the two took place that is described in St. Luke’s story of the twelve
year old Jesus in the Temple.
The important aspect for us, in this moment, is the vast historic background that all this
can suggest with regard to that opposition of Mars in Scorpio to the Sun at the end of May. In
the sense of inner, esoteric work, we can combine this with the idea of a greater cosmic “an-
nunciation”. Historically, we can see it expressed in the circumstances connected with the
Advent of Christ. But we also see it in a modified metaphorical sense, returning in the associa-
tion with the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, which we mentioned earlier. That genu-
ine Rosicrucianism has by no means finished its mission. It has only commenced its task, and
it will play a decisive part in real, spiritual unification of all religions. In this sense, we can try
to meet that event on May 31, with an idea of the greater “annunciation” for which this present
age is waiting.
Heliocentric
Saturn has now finally moved into the constellation of Aries (similar to the geocentric).
The last two times the planet was in that position were in 1939 and 1910. We will report about
these features more extensively in June.
Rather obvious are the events in the neighborhood of Neptune all through the month but
especially toward the end. This supplements what we said about the opposition of Mars and
Sun in the geocentric.
In the beginning, Venus will step into conjunction with Neptune, then Mars will do the
same, and later the Earth will conjunct Neptune, coinciding with the opposition of the Sun to
Neptune on the same day, according to the geocentric calendar. Near the end of the month
Mercury will come into conjunction with Neptune, and then it will conjunct the Earth (equiva-
lent of the geocentric, inferior conjunction). Lastly, Mars will be in conjunction with the Earth
(equivalent of the geocentric opposition to the Sun). All this will happen in Scorpio.
How can we read this apparent emphasis on Neptune? Furthermore, it poses the question:
What is Neptune’s role and impact on the solar universe?
Neptune, together with Uranus and Pluto, have been sighted and evaluated as planets only
with the means that modern astronomy has acquired. Some of their features suggest that they
have not fully adjusted to the principles of the solar system. The orbit of Pluto even seems to
indicate that its origin might be a comet. For instance, the aphelion end of its path (far distance
from the Sun) is flung out far into cosmic space. It looks like a replica of a comet’s orbit.
The classical planets, starting with Saturn and coming down to the Moon of the Earth,
have a discernable connection with our physical organism. In fact, they appear like prototypes
of the functional properties within the skin of the human body. Saturn has its operational
focus in the crown of the human head. From there it works down into the body as the intent
of uprightness. It uses the whole system of the skeleton for this purpose. Furthermore, it
works in the organ of the spleen, in order to establish segregation from the physical environ-
ment. Jupiter uses the facilities that the whole nervous system of the human body possesses,
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and, thereby, it leads the human being step by step to the realization of thinking as a creative
power [and is also connected with the liver]. Mars has its focus in the region of the larynx. The
connection with speech is obvious, but it can lead to speech only by the establishment of a
distinction between object and subject. In the process, it can even produce antagonism, ag-
gression, etc., in the subject against its object environment. It can also work through the gall
bladder as a kind of organic “aggression” against the environment and entering, as food, into
the human body. Thus we can go along with the classical planets and find them associated with
organic functions in the human body.
The planets discovered in post-classical times, however, have obviously a totally different
standing. We can imagine them as working from above and from the exterior of the physical
human being, as it were. If we look at them as indicators of corresponding spheres in the
cosmos, we can conceive them, so to speak, as going in circles around our body. Thus we
would see them as being at times “above” or “below” our corporeality. In other words, we are
confronted here, it seems, with images of our invisible spiritual principles—the ether, or life
body, astral body, and so forth.
We can thus understand why Alan Leo, the well-known English astrologer, called Neptune
“the Mystic” (see Alan Leo, The Art of Synthesis). Also Margaret E. Hone gives, in her Modern
Text Book of Astrology, as keywords for Neptune: nebulousness and impressionability. She says
“...the judgment of the urge toward the non-material, the non-confined, the spiritual or the
merely vague will depend largely on Neptunian characteristics.”
In any confrontation with Neptune and its sphere we are faced with realities that can be
handled healthily only with a well-disciplined, higher consciousness. History has proven on
many occasions that disaster might be the result if we do not meet situations, coinciding with
such events, with spiritual insight. Almost crude examples, when planets were standing in the
nodal line of Neptune, were:
The French Revolution, July 14, 1789, with Uranus and Jupiter in the ascending node
of Neptune.
Outbreak of World War I in 1914, with Uranus and Jupiter in the descending node of
Neptune.
Russian “October” Revolution of 1917, with Neptune and Saturn close to ascending
node of Neptune.
National Socialist Revolution in Germany, January 30, 1933, with Saturn in descending
node of Neptune and Earth in ascending node of Neptune.
The emphasis concerning Neptune describes very clearly the situation in which present
humanity finds itself. On the one hand it intimates that forces and impulses from an invisible
world are breaking with great might into this humanity, manifesting in the many rebellions and
potential revolutions in all spheres of present civilization; and on the other hand there stands
the historic admonition that the underlying, deep-seated problems can be solved and construc-
tive peace be attained only by resolutions and actions born out of spiritual insight. Eventually,
85
it will require a modern equivalent of the ancient clairvoyance that has been lost by humanity;
otherwise, unfathomable chaos might be the result.
In this case we are also led to the idea that past events, in the place where Neptune stands
at present, can teach us a lesson. We do, thereby, listen to the memory of the cosmos. For
instance, we can follow up in history the conjunctions (and eventually oppositions) of Nep-
tune and Uranus. Similar to the Great Conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter, they recur rhythmi-
cally. The intervals are, however, much longer. There was one such conjunction (heliocentric)
in 1821. The next one to follow will take place only in 1993.
In the Middle Ages, we find two of those conjunctions close to the present position of
Neptune. One was in 1307 (about 223°) and the following in 1479 (about 239°, both heliocen-
tric). Events coincided with them that were not exactly shining manifestations in humanity of
a spiritual dignity and tolerance, etc., especially not in a Christian sense.
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Heliocentric
In preceding months Saturn crossed over from the domain of Pisces to that of Aries;
however, in space it is considerably below the stars of Aries. The last two times this happened
were in 1939 and 1910. The events in 1939 broke years of suspense, particularly during 1937,
1938, and 1939. During that time Saturn was in the constellation of Pisces. Thus signifying,
indeed, something like a suspense, inasmuch as the eastern of the two fishes swims toward
Aries. This represents the past, in the sense of the precession, or movement of the vernal
point. The western fish swims toward the future, the Aquarius-Waterman, into which the
vernal equinox will eventually move. Of course, we realize that the events commencing in
1939 were a desperate solution of that suspense. Once developments had gone that far, there
was no other way out any longer; however, this will happen if the challenge of the age is not
consciously and constructively met. How can this be done?
The answer was, to a certain extent, given in the earlier parallel of 1910, at least in a germi-
nal, yet highly creative form. When Saturn finally entered the region of Aries (July-August),
the first of Rudolf Steiner’s Mystery Dramas, The Portal of Initiation, was performed for the first
time. These Mystery Dramas represent the many colored destiny of a community, which finds
itself called upon to live up to the spiritual demands on a modern humanity. At present, two
Saturn cycles later, we can realize that we would need a presentation and comprehension of the
Great Mystery Drama of the whole of our present humanity. Only then can we hope to
comprehend and even solve the hundreds of problems of the human family of our age.
We mentioned in the last journal, two conjunctions of Neptune and Uranus in 1307 and
1479. They are informative with regard to the opposition of Mars to the Sun at the end of last
month. In 1307, just around the conjunction of Neptune and Uranus, King Philip IV of
France, by secret order, had all the Knights Templars in his country arrested. It was the begin-
ning of the total destruction of the Order. Seven years later, the last remaining Knights,
among them the Grandmaster of the Order, Jacques de Molay, were burned at the stake. They
were accused of heresy, etc. But the grim suspicion remains, at least as far as King Philip IV
was concerned, that very material interests were one reason for the destruction. The Order
functioned, apart from its cultural and religious activities, as a kind of medieval, commercial
exchange organization between Europe and Asia, and because of this it was supposed to have
accumulated fabulous possessions and riches. It was obvious that the King desired to acquire
these. He hoped to achieve his ends by the dissolution of the Order.
The following conjunction of Neptune and Uranus in 1479, coincided with a significant
stage in the unsavory story of the Inquisition in Spain. It was Thomas Torquemada who
steadfastly worked toward a reorganization of the Inquisition. He achieved his aim in 1479
when a papal bull authorized the appointment, by the Spanish sovereigns, of two inquisitors at
Sevilla, apart from those who existed elsewhere. The result was a tremendous acceleration of
the activities of the Inquisition. Numberless people suffered all manner of persecution. Thou-
87
sands were burnt, while others fled the country. Next the Moors in Spain were vanquished by
the instigations of the Inquisition. In the end, the fury of the Inquisition turned against the
Jews in Spain. A decree was issued by the sovereigns, ordering the Jews either to convert to
Christianity or to leave Spain. Historians are not sure how many fled. Numbers given vary
from 800,000 to 1,700,000.
These examples demonstrate what can happen if the spirit of an impulse is no longer
understood and if problems arising in human society are not handled with esoteric tact and
comprehension. Nobody can deny that the two historic instances were by any means in keep-
ing with the spirit of the Christ Impulse. This must appear true, even if there were traces of
truth in the accusations, for instance, against the Templars. These and other events, of no less
tragic nature, happened because traditional Christianity had left the perspectives of its esoteric
meaning and significance for the whole universe far behind.
Today we face a situation in the cosmos that apparently wants to remind us of those dark
shadows on the road of human evolution. It seems to call out for a decided realization of the
totally new aspects of humanhood that entered the world in the course of the Christ Events.
This is clearly expressed in the cosmos. At the time of that Great Conjunction of Jupiter and
Saturn in 6 BC, which we mentioned in the May issue, Neptune was in the same position as it
is at present, and at the time of the birth of Jesus it was still near there. Thus the cosmos
provides, generously but sternly, suggestions for active and constructive participation in the
world process. Such participation, born of conscious insight, could lead humanity to the real-
ization of real freedom from domination by the powers of fate.

Jupiter in the constellation of Capricorn (see description of Capricorn in Nov. ’66 issue):
We find Jupiter in Capricorn, either at birth or during the prenatal cycles, in the charts of the
following personalities:
Tycho Brahe, the Danish astronomer and contemporary of Kepler, born l4 De-
cember 1546 (o.s.), 317°.
Jean Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher, born 28 June 1712, 301°.
Novalis, the German poet and philosopher, born 2 May 1772, 318°.
Walt Whitman, the American poet, born 31 May 1819, 307°.
Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, born 2 April 1724, 299°.
H. P. Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, born 13 August 1831, 318°.
Albert Einstein, scientist and mathematician, born 14 March 1879, 323°.
Of these personalities, Tycho Brahe and Novalis have an especially representative relation-
ship to Capricorn through Jupiter. We will discuss them in greater detail in the setting of the
totality of their charts, because we find this is much more efficient. It is a well-known fact that
similar positions of planets in different horoscopes can suggest totally different implications,
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
according to the individual setting of the planet with regard to its companions. A few Jupiter
associations with Capricorn in star configurations at death we mention:
Swedenborg died 29 March 1772, 315°.
Spinoza died 20 February 1677, 307°.
St. Columba, Abbot of Iona, great missionary of the Celtic Church in Scotland,
died 8 June 597, 285° (precession is about 19° plus).
Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, died 2 July 1843, 319°.
Van Gogh, the painter, died 29 July 1890, 307°.
Most representative for a Jupiter in Capricorn are Swedenborg and St. Columba. The
delineation of these and other charts at death we shall also leave to a later occasion.
Jupiter in the constellation of Aquarius (see description of Aquarius in Nov. ’66 issue):
The three constellations of Capricorn, Aquarius, and the western end of Pisces cannot easily
be defined with regard to their borders and ingresses. For instance, the body of Waterman is
located in the stars above those that mark the fishtail of Capricorn, and the stars that depict the
water flowing from the urn of Waterman are situated below those indicating the outlines of
the western fish of Pisces. Therefore, it is somewhat difficult to definitely locate planets with
regard to these particular constellations. However, it is fairly safe to associate positions in
about 0°-20° of the ecliptic sign of with Capricorn, and of about 25° to about 15° of
the signs with Aquarius. With regard to earlier historic cases, the ratio of the precessional
movement of the vernal point (about 1° in 72 years) has to be observed. In some instances, it
is advisable to consider both constellations that overlap each other. Expressed in this is the fact
that these constellations, starting with Sagittarius and carrying on into Pisces, are in a process
of transformation, so to speak. The vernal point, or equinox, will enter them only at some
future point. Much of what will happen and shape the future is, to a certain extent, dependent
on the present. Of course, we are aware of the fact that the vernal point will not be in these
constellations for the first time. It has been there in the dim past, in the earlier stages of the
“lost continent of Atlantis”. But the soul and even the physiological conditions of humanity
have changed completely. They will also call for totally new approaches in the future, once
Aquarius and Capricorn will again become prominent, with regard to the conduct of human
civilization. For examples of Jupiter in Aquarius at birth we have:
Goethe, born 28 August 1749, Jupiter in 352°, just in the constellation Pisces (at
epoch in Aquarius).
Leonardo da Vinci, born 16 April 1452, Jupiter in 322°, Aquarius (at epoch in
Capricorn).
Bernadette of Lourdes, born 7 January 1844, Jupiter in 336°, Aquarius (at epoch in
Capricorn).
Rembrandt, born 15 July 1606 (n.s.), Jupiter 325°, Aquarius (at epoch in Capri-
corn).
89
In death charts we find the following cases of Jupiter in Aquarius:

Goethe died 22 March 1832, Jupiter in 337°.
Thomas More died 7 July 1535, Jupiter in 329° (precession plus about 6°).
Bernard Shaw died 2 November 1950, Jupiter in 338.8°.
Dante died 14 September 1321, Jupiter in 316° (precession plus about 8-9°).
Nicholas Cusanus died 11 August 1464, Jupiter in 337°.
Thomas Vaughan English alchemist, died 27 February 1666, Jupiter in 337°.
Culpeper, English herbalist and occultist, died 10 January 1654, Jupiter in 328°.
Farada died 25 August 1867, Jupiter in 333°.
Galilei died 8 January 1642, Jupiter in 322° (precession plus about 4°).
Perhaps the most prominent Jupiter positions in Aquarius are those of Goethe and Leonardo.
However, it is quite evident that a fleeting consideration of Jupiter alone cannot give us a fair
picture of the workings of the planet. Therefore, we will postpone those delineations until we
can give more detail on individual charts.
Jupiter in in the constellation of Pisces (see characteristics of Pisces in the Nov. ’66
issue): Jupiter positions in Pisces at birth and which also involve Aquarius:
Goethe, born 28 August 1749, Jupiter in 352°.
Kepler, the astronomer, born 27 December 1571, Jupiter in 359° and conjunct Pluto.
Bernard Shaw, born 26 July 1856, Jupiter in 359° (earlier in Aquarius).
Oswald Spengler, born 29 May 1889, Jupiter in 3° (earlier in Aquarius).
Abraham Lincoln, born 12 February 1809, Jupiter in 358° (earlier in Aquarius).
Charles Darwin, born 12 February 1809, Jupiter in 358° (earlier in Aquarius).
Tennyson, born 6 August 1809, Jupiter in 14° (earlier in Aquarius).
Jupiter in Pisces at death:

John F. Kennedy died 22 November 1963, Jupiter in 18° 13'.
Aldous Huxley died 22 November 1963, Jupiter similar.
Walt Whitman died 26 March 1892, Jupiter in 2°.
John Keats died 23 February 1821, Jupiter in 4°.
Sigmund Freud died 23 September 1939, Jupiter in 4.3°.
Erasmus of Rotterdam, Dutch humanist, died 11 July 1536, Jupiter in 3°.
Napoleon I died 5 May 1821, Jupiter in 10°.
All the above positions are heliocentric. As Jupiter is a slower moving planet, they do not
differ very much from the geocentric positions.
We will now investigate the incarnation asterogram of Tycho Brahe, the Danish astrono-
mer and contemporary of Kepler, whom we have mentioned earlier a number of times. The
position of Saturn at the time of his death (24 October 1601) we discussed in Jan. ’68 and
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Saturn of his birth (14 December 1546) in Apr. ‘68. We also mentioned Jupiter at his death in
Feb. ‘70, and Venus at death in Sept. ‘68. All the data were given according to the heliocentric
conception.
In the following we will look at all the charts of epoch, birth, and death and also combine
the heliocentric and geocentric. The corresponding geocentric diagrams will be produced
later, whereas the heliocentric positions will be mentioned in the text.
Tycho Brahe was born at 10 a.m., 14 December 1546, in the southern most province of
Sweden, Skania, which belonged to Denmark at that time. The date is given according to the
old Julian calendar, which was at that time still in force. (It was changed only in 1582, but even
then not all countries adopted it straightaway.) The difference between the old and the recti-
fied calendar principles amounted to 10 days in the 16th century. This means that the date given
as 14 December was 24 December, according to our modern adjusted calendar. For this rea-
son, one has to be especially careful with regard to dates given for the last centuries, right into
modern times. Up to 1709, starting from 1582, the difference is, as we said already, 10 days;
from 1700-1800, 11 days; between 1800-1900, 12 days; and after 1900, 13 days. For instance,
Czarist Russia reckoned according to the old Julian calendar till 1917. Before that the dates
given in some such context are 13 days behind ours, if they have not been corrected already in
history books, etc. This led, for instance, to the erroneous conception in the West that Czarist
Russia was celebrating Christmas on the Day of Epiphany, i.e., 6 January; however, they cel-
ebrated it on 25 December according to their Julian calendar still in use, which had simply
fallen behind by 13 days, compared with the Gregorian calendar.
In order to work out how the planets and the ecliptic were related to local space and time
in the moment of Tycho’s birth, we have to ascertain the so-called Sidereal Time. This gives us
the moment when the vernal point (crossing point of the ecliptic and celestial equator) arrived
on that day exactly in the meridian of the place. The meridian is the great circle that starts from
the exact south point of any geographic locality, rises up to the zenith, descends to the north
point on the horizon, and carries on below the surface until it meets again the south point from
underneath.
The Sidereal Time can be calculated with certain astronomical tables. However, it is sim-
pler to take it from astronomical ephemerides where it is already prepared. For instance, we
have to find the Sidereal Time for December 14, 1546. First, we realize that this date is,
according to the new calendar, December 24. Next we search in a handy astronomical ephem-
eris, for a corresponding date. We find that 1546 was 2 years after a leap-year, therefore we take
the ephemeris for 1966, because this was also 2 years after the leap-year 1964. There we read
that at noon on December 24, the Sidereal Time was 18h 10m 15s. This simply means that at
5h 50m past noon, the vernal point was in the meridian, or 18h 10m + 5h 50m = 24h or 0h =
(0° of the ecliptic). In other words, only at 5h 50m in the afternoon on that day does the
vernal point move through the meridian, neither at noon, nor at 10 a.m. (birth time of Tycho).
What point of the ecliptic was in the meridian at the later moment? In order to obtain this we
have to make the following computation:
91
Sidereal Time 24 December 1546, at noon 18h 10m

Birth Time 10 a.m. - 2h____
Sidereal Time at birth 16h 10m
As this is Local Time, we need not make any more correction. (In modern times where we
have adopted Zonal Times, for instance: Greenwich Mean Time, Central European Time,
Eastern Standard Time in US, etc., we have to convert these data into Local Time—the indi-
vidual noon for all localities along the same meridian.)
Next we would have to calculate the spatial position of the ecliptic for the given locality
and time. This is done on the basis of the Sidereal Time at birth, with the help of spherical
trigonometry. Since this is rather complicated, Tables have been prepared by astronomers that
give the required data. They are the so-called Tables of Houses. For instance, Raphael’s Astro-
nomical Ephemeris (London) contains such tables for the latitudes of London, Liverpool, and
New York. (Each latitude needs its own Table.) For the birth place of Tycho Brahe we require
Tables compiled for 56° N. They do exist, for instance, in the Haeusertabellen des Geburtsortes,
(Tables of Houses for Places of Birth) by Dr. W. A. Koch, Sirius Verlag, Dr. Koch, Goeppingen,
Germany. We have extensively written about these matters in Jul. ’68; however, we imagine
that one cannot repeat and demonstrate it often enough.
In any of the Tables of Houses for 56° N, we will see that at the Sidereal Time of 16h 10m,
5 (ecliptic sign of Sagittarius) was moving through the meridian of the birthplace. This is
expressed in the various Tables in different terms. Raphael’s Ephemeris calls it the ‘cusp’ of
House 10 (immediately to the right of Sidereal Time). In the mentioned Tables of Houses by Dr.
Koch, it is simply defined as ‘M’, meaning Medium Coeli or Mid-heaven, according to a medi-
eval astrological term. We can also read it as meaning meridian.
Apart from this, we find figures in the Tables referring to “Ascen” in Raphael’s Ephemeris (4th
column to the right of Sidereal Time). In Dr. Koch’s Tables the equivalent appears under the
column “A”. This means simply “ascendant”, the point or degree of the ecliptic that is, at a
given time, rising above the eastern horizon. For 16h 10m Sidereal Time and 56° N Latitude,
26 (ecliptic sign of Capricorn) is rising, whereas the exact opposite point 26 (Cancer) is
setting and called the descendant.
The Tables contain more information, columns which are designated to indicate in Raphael’s
Ephemeris the “cusps” (or commencements) of the 11th, 12th and 2nd, 3rd Houses. In Dr. Koch’s
Tables they appear as XI, XII and II, III. What do they represent?
They come to us through astrological tradition, and they should not be neglected. Of
course, we must learn to understand the meaning of these “Houses”. Space around us is
obviously divided into two hemispheres by the meridian; thereby, we get an Eastern Hemi-
sphere (toward sunrise) and a Western Hemisphere. Furthermore, this space is divided by the
horizon into the hemispheres above (visible) and below (obscured by the surface of the Earth).
Thus the two, meridian and horizon together, divide space into four quadrants. One is
above the horizon toward the east, the other below the horizon. Likewise, we have obtained
another two quadrants toward the west where one is above and the other below the horizon.
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To this, astrology added more divisions of space. It divided each quadrant again into three
partitions. Thus we get 12 (3 x 4) subdivisions of space. These are the twelve Houses. In order
to form a picture of them, we imagine a big orange consisting of twelve slices. The slices are,
in this case, arranged around the north-south axis of space. Thus each quadrant consists of
three slices.
What we have obtained, thereby, is nothing less than another Zodiac. This one is based on
the harmonious division of space around any given geographical locality. Thus, we now have
three Zodiacs with which we work: the first one is the Zodiac of the fixed stars or “constella-
tions”, which we actually see in the sky; the second one is the Zodiac of the twelve “signs”, the
subdivisions of the ecliptic, or apparent orbit of the Sun; and the third one consists of the
twelve “houses”, or subdivisions around the north-south axis of any given locality. To these
three Zodiacs we refer the planets, Sun, and Moon. This is intended to be expressed in the so-
called astrological “chart”. Of course, we want to understand what the three Zodiacs repre-
sent, because only then can we handle these matters as modern human beings who know what
to do with them.
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Geocentric
The most outstanding event in the geocentric sky during this month is the conjunction of
Jupiter and Uranus. This is the third occasion that the two planets move close together. The
first time happened in December last year, the second time in March this year. This one will
take place in the first degree of the ecliptic sign of Libra. Only a few minutes later and the
Moon will be in conjunction with the two planets.
Naturally, the question will come, what does this mean? Our unswerving answer is, it will
mean precisely what human beings make of it. Even if things should happen on the surface
that looked as though they were coming from the “outside”, as seemingly undeserved fate, we
still maintain our statement. It is possible that we lay the foundation of “events to come” by
thoughts and actions long before the cosmic implications arrive. The roots might even be in
past incarnations. One could develop a precise science of this kind of interconnection. For
instance, it is relatively easy to discover the reasons for the present “humanity-shaking” events
in the social domain from happenings during the past decades. Insistence on old, worn-out
ways of society building, which all too often turns into society denial, has caused much of our
present problems. This is very often accompanied by glaring laziness of thinking. What hap-
pens then is the hardening into inhuman conditions, and against these are reactions from hu-
man emotions that result in explosions. Of course, these social explosions lead only to abso-
lute chaos if they are not substantiated and followed up by constructive ideas. If this order of
events carries on, humanity will move into ever increasing perilous conditions.
For our work the questions arise: How can we prove that earlier deeds of humanity (per-
haps also “non- or mis-deeds”) come back in events of later times? How do we imagine that
we can stand with a constructive attitude in front of definite situations? Does it not sound like
utter conceit to say that we can, by constructive ideas, change even the character of cosmic
events?
We have investigated these problems from many angles and for a long time. One of the
simplest examples is the cosmic counterpart of the roots and occurrence of the last two world
wars. We have demonstrated this in the earlier publication Isis Sophia III - Our Relationship With
the Stars, Part I.
The question still remains: How can we face constructively such an event as the conjunc-
tion of Jupiter and Uranus?
This conjunction recurs in intervals of about 14 years. The last one was October 7, 1954,
January 7 (116° 05') and May 19, 1955. The one before happened on May 8, 1941 (55° 39'). It
was preceded by three conjunctions: July 16 (3 24) and August 11, 1927 (3 ), and January
25, 1928 (0 23). Further back it occurred on March 3, 1914 (309° 32') and October 20, 1900
(250° 05'), all geocentric. Of all these dates, the last one is the most conclusive. About that
time Rudolf Steiner had started to speak about anthroposophy, the message of the reality of
the spirit, to western humanity (27-29 September 1900).
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It is difficult to find adequate information about conjunctions of this nature in or near the
autumnal equinox. Only in 1886 and 1803 did this happen. The latter was the birth year of
Emerson, 25 May 1803. Also E. Bulwer Lytton, the novelist, was born during the same year on
25 May. He is well-known for his novels The Last Days of Pompeii, Zanoni, and others. Both
were born during the approach of the conjunction that took place in September 1803. On July
1, 1804, George Sand was born, and of her many writings the best-known are probably: Consuelo
and La Comptesse de Rudolstadt. Much earlier, the English physician and occultist, Robert Fludd,
combined in death (8 September 1637) with a conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus, close to the
autumnal equinox.
From this we see a definite pattern of affinities to this conjunction arising. It is an approach
to spiritual and occult matters by thinking cognition. At least, it seems to stand out as an ideal
in the historic cases we mentioned. Of course, this is understandable if we take a look at the
planets involved. Jupiter is associated with our thinking capacity, with the orientation of our
whole corporeality toward that end. On the other hand Uranus is connected with our aspira-
tion—that which is outside or above the orbit of the world that can be grasped with the senses.
What happens if constructive activity should not be forthcoming at the time of such a
conjunction of Uranus and Jupiter? The subhuman regions of nature might raise their head.
We imagine that Uranus is not only working “above” the orbit of the human physical form but
also below. This can happen if it is not checked and handled by full consciousness, for then it
can become destructive.
In order to fully appreciate this possible aspect, we take recourse to the heliocentric equiva-
lent of that conjunction. There we can study the spheres of the planets Uranus and Jupiter.
According to the geocentric view, the planets present us with an “imaginative’’ picture of their
activities. The heliocentric view, particularly that of the spheres, can provide a factual, inspira-
tional interpretation of the happenings in the cosmos. An essential description of the interre-
lationship between the planetary spheres and the Earth is given in the fact of the nodes. They
constitute points of intersection between the orbits of the planets and the ecliptic, or path of
the Earth.
The interesting fact is that the ascending nodal lines of Uranus and Jupiter coincided in
about 3100 BC, in approximately the transition point from Cancer to Gemini (constellations).
(At present they are about 26° apart.) This was a “conjunction” in a very potential sense.
According to Eastern wisdom and Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research, 3101 BC was the com-
mencement of the Dark Age or Kali Yuga. This then is in the background of a conjunction of
Uranus and Jupiter, particularly when it happens in the autumnal equinox: forces of darkness
and destruction, represented in Indian esotericism as the Goddess Kali, can enter the earthly
scene. This need not and should not happen any longer, because the Dark Age or Kali Yuga
came to an end in 1899 AD, after 5000 years duration. However, this precludes that we bring
the end of Kali Yuga by our moral deeds. To do this we must step out of our own spiritual
darkness inherited from earlier centuries. Now is the time for us to bring spirit light con-
sciously into the orbit of our humanness or humanhood.
95

In June we started to concentrate on the natal and prenatal chart of Tycho Brahe. We
arrived at practical methods of discerning three Zodiacs. The first one is the Zodiac of the
fixed-star constellations that we actually observe in the sky. The second one is the Zodiac of
the 12 signs of the ecliptic, dividing the ecliptic into 12 equal parts of 30° each, starting from
the vernal point. The third Zodiac, at least a terrestrial manifestation of it, consists of the 12
astrological houses, or divisions of space of a geographic locality.
The Zodiac of the twelve fixed-star constellations is an image of the spiritual archetypes
of everything that exists. It is in deep of cosmic space, far beyond the boundaries of our solar
universe. Therefore, it is a world much greater than our planetary system. It is, in a sense,
much older, “wiser”, and all embracing than the others. In ancient Persian cosmology, the All-
Father Being Zaruana Akarana (possibly the root of the word Zodiac) amalgamates in Itself
the Spirit Being of the whole Zodiac, even the contradiction of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman,
for only if these two are separated do they appear as the principles of Light and Darkness,
opposed to each other. (Hidden behind this is the fact that Ahriman is a divine being, but one
who is self-appointed to be opponent of the “normal” spiritual hierarchies.)
The Zodiac of the signs of the ecliptic is obviously built on the rhythms of the seasons of
the Earth. When the Sun appears in the vernal point, spring commences in the Northern
Hemisphere. When it is in the autumnal point, autumn is inaugurated in nature. (In the
Southern Hemisphere of the Earth this is reversed.) Thus we are confronted here with a
cosmic element that is associated with cosmic life cycles working into the Earth. We can also
regard them as the ether body of our planet in whom the greater cosmos reflects itself as life-
sustaining potential. If we, therefore, refer planets, etc., to this second Zodiac we interpret
their workings in terms of the impacts of these ether forces on Earth existence.
The third Zodiac, the astrological houses, takes us right down to physical Earth reality.
They are based on the physical, geographical location of an Earth event, such as the birth of a
human being. If we then relate the planets, Sun, and Moon to these houses, we face a world
where the heavenly principles enter a state of contrast to the physical sphere. This can, of
course, manifest in many ways. In the case of the human being, one would expect the ideal
position consisting in a mediating, even redeeming attitude. We of all nature beings on the
Earth have the potential, by spiritual insight, to build bridges between the spirit of the cosmos
and the unavoidable propensities of the physical Earth.
If we take all the factors involved into consideration, we obtain the picture suggested in
Fig. 10. We see the situation from above and outside Earth space, thus we look down on the
plane of the horizon of the birthplace. Slightly sideways we face the circle of the meridian,
which in perspective appears as an ellipse, like the horizon. Where it crosses the horizon are
the local south and north points. At right angles to the north and south axis are east and west.
(Of course, in the perspective presentation the right angles appear distorted.)
In this local space setting of Tycho Brahe’s birth, the ecliptic rises in the south-southeast
(Asc, ascendant, or rising point). It does not rise in that moment in the exact east. This is due
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Figure 10
Birth of Tycho Brahe

Born: 14 December 1546 (o.c.)
10 a.m., 56° N 15° E
(diagram approximate)
to the fact that the birth date was in midwinter, before noon, and the place in a far northern
latitude. The position in the ecliptic where it crosses the meridian of the locality is “M”. From
there the ecliptic rises still higher and then descends again to the horizon and is invisible to the
human eye. Further out and beyond the ecliptic, we would then also find the fixed-star constel-
lations. For instance, far out in deep space, beyond the point that is marked “Asc”, we would
find the stars of Capricorn just rising. Those of Sagittarius would stand above it, in the space
between “Asc” and “M”.
To this we now add the planets. The Sun with Mercury and Saturn were all standing in the
space between the “Asc” and “M”. Below the horizon were Jupiter and Venus. They rose soon
after that moment. Still lower down was Mars, and toward the west was the Moon above the
horizon and visible in that moment.
We have not included in the diagram the subdivisions of space, or astrological houses, for
otherwise, the diagram would have become unintelligible. However, we have to imagine the
four quadrants being divided into three “orange slices” each. The first of the four quadrants is
the one on the eastern side of the meridian and below the horizon. This contains the houses
1, 2, and 3. The first house is directly below the eastern horizon, the others follow. They are,
as divisions of the Earth Zodiac (see above), representative of Aries (1), Taurus (2), and Gemini
(3). The quadrant below the horizon but on the west side of the meridian, also contains three
subdivisions. They are the houses 4, 5, and 6. They can be regarded as Earth space represen-
tatives of Cancer (4), Leo (5), and Virgo (6). Then follows the quadrant on the west side of the
97
meridian but above the horizon. It is subdivided into the houses 7, 8, and 9. They are
representatives of Libra (7), Scorpio (8), and Sagittarius (9). Finally, we come to the last
quadrant, on the east side of the meridian and above the horizon. This subdivision consists
of the houses 10, 11, and 12. They are connected with Capricorn (10), Aquarius (11), and
Pisces (12).
We now convert Fig. 10 into Fig. 11. For this purpose we take out the ecliptic circle in #10
and put it flat on paper in #11. (The ecliptic in reality is a perfect circle. Only in the perspec-
tive presentation of #10 does it necessarily appear as an ellipse.) We have also inserted the
houses and the planets. For instance, the very short part of the ecliptic that appears in #10
between the “Asc” and “M” turns up in the bottom part of the inner circle of #11. In order to
obtain in #11 the approximate parity to #10, we view #11 from the right, upper corner of the
diagram. The constellation Aries would then be at the lowest point. The line “Asc to Desc”
must now lie horizontally in front of us. In the upper left above the ascendant, appear Sun,
Mercury, and Saturn. They correspond now to their position in #10, i.e., they stand in the
short bit of the ecliptic, between “Asc” and “M”. (For better orientation, we can also hold the
line “Asc to Desc” horizontally.)
We have added to this the positions of the planets at the time of the epoch in the outer
circle. Furthermore, we have indicated the movements of the planets and of the Sun between
epoch and birth.
The time of the epoch is determined by the Trutina Hermetis, or Hermetic Rule. We have
mentioned and demonstrated it in the earlier issues, but we will repeat it here once more. The
Rule constitutes, actually, an explanation of the ascendant-descendant line and all the houses at
birth. It simply says that the Moon at the epoch is either in the place of the ascendant or
descendant of the birth. The mean interval is 273 days, which is ten Moon orbits. This is
modified according to the following rules:
1) If the Moon is waning at birth and above the horizon, then the ascendant of birth
is the place where the Moon was at the epoch, and the time from the latter to the
birth was shorter than 273 days by the number of days which the Moon needs after
birth to move from its position to the position of the ascendant.
2) If the Moon is waxing at birth but below the horizon, then the ascendant of the
birth is the place where the Moon was at the epoch, and the time between the latter
and the birth was longer than 273 days.
3) A waning Moon at birth, above the horizon, indicates that the descendant of birth
was the locality where the Moon had been at the epoch and the epoch-birth inter-
val was longer than 273 days.
4) A waning Moon at birth but below the horizon gives the place of the descendant
of birth as the position of the epoch Moon, and the time from epoch to birth was
shorter than 273 days.
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Figure 11
Tycho Brahe
Epoch: 12 March 1546 (Moon at Desc.)

Birth: 14 December 1546 (o.s.)
(precession about 6°)
99
This can be simplified by calculating the position of the epoch Moon for the place of the
ascendant of birth, in a case where the Moon is waxing at birth. If it is waning at birth it must
be computed for the place of the descendant. The time that one has to go back before birth is
an average of 273 days. This can vary by 13-14 days, more or less, according to whether the
Moon at birth was above or below the horizon.
We return now to Fig. 11. The Moon at birth was in the ecliptic sign of Virgo, the Sun in
the winter solstice. Therefore, this Moon was waning. According to the Rule, we would have
to seek the epoch Moon, in this case, in the descendant of birth, that is 26° of the ecliptic sign
of Cancer, or 116°. Now, we go back 273 days before birth, which leads us to March 16, 1540.
On that day the Moon was in about 170°, i.e., similar to the birth position; however, we want it
in about 116° of the ecliptic, that being the locality of the descendant of birth (26° of the sign
of ). Therefore, we have to go back four days further, which leads us to March 12 as the
epoch. (The Moon travels, in the average, 13° of the ecliptic per day.)
Thus, ascendant and descendant take on quite a distinct qualitative meaning in the chart.
(Also the astrological houses are determined through them.) They appear to constitute some-
thing like bridges from the epoch Moon and finally down to the Earth in the process of
incarnation. It need not disturb us that the epoch might not coincide with the physiological
conception; rather, we see it as a final preparation of the soul for its Earth journey. Rudolf
Steiner speaks, on the basis of his spiritual research, of a moment when the soul collects from
the cosmic ether its individual ether, or life body. This happens independently from the con-
ception, while the soul is still in the sphere of the Moon. This etheric conception might have
been perceived clairvoyantly by the Egyptian initiates, who imparted the Hermetic Rule to
humanity more than a thousand years BC.
This would also explain why the curve of the Sun between epoch and birth offers some-
thing like a cosmic (etheric) image of the embryo by its curved and introverted form. We are,
of course, aware that in the modern age the moment of birth can be determined by artificial
means. Purely human, sometimes all too human, considerations might enter the scene, and the
resulting time of birth can be rather arbitrary. In such a case, the ascendant or descendant of
birth might not indicate the position of the epoch Moon. All we can do then is to take the
average of 273 days. However, this requires careful consideration of each individual case.
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Geocentric
One most conspicuous event is the conjunction of the Moon with Venus. Venus will then
be about 7° below the Moon. During the following night the Moon will be in its apogee
position. This means that it will be furthest away from the Earth. A little later Venus will enter
into sextile aspect to Saturn (60° distance).
We will try to form a picture of this coincidence. The rhythm of near and far distance of
the Moon to the Earth is, from a certain angle, rather significant with regard to the intercon-
nection between cosmic and earthly life. It will have to be taken more into account in future
than it has been in the past. Expressed in it is an intimate relationship between the Moon and
the Earth. The Moon accumulates the forces and effects of happenings in the extra-lunar
world and translates them into manifestations of life on our planet. It does this with the
employment of the watery element on the Earth. Thus the positions and phases of the Moon,
relative to the Earth, work into the tides of the oceans, into the rhythms of the meteorological
sphere (widespread precipitation, etc.), and also into the rhythms of the circulatory systems of
all living organisms, plants, animals, and even human beings. Science has discovered that even
the seemingly solid and stable continental masses follow measurable “tides” that are dependent
on the rhythms of the Earth-Moon relationship. The fact that these interactions stay within
tolerable boundaries (from the viewpoint of the desire for security in our Earth existence) is
dependant on the average distance of the Moon from the Earth. This was not always so. The
Moon was a part of the globe of the Earth long ago. At a certain moment it separated, and
since then it circles around the Earth. Before the separation, the conditions on our planet,
particularly concerning “life” manifestation in any form, were totally different from what we
are used to at present (see Rudolf Steiner’s Cosmic Memory). Spiritual science also speaks of the
return of the Moon to the Earth in not too distant a time. Then Earth conditions will again
change radically. In the meantime, the perigee and apogee positions of the Moon remind us of
these changes that took place in the past and which will happen in the future.
The closeness of the Moon, when in its apogee position, to Venus can be taken as a mo-
ment when we may concentrate especially on these problems and perspectives. By no means
do we suggest that radical events may happen; rather, we see it as an opportunity for construc-
tive work, if human beings elect to do so.

(Tycho Brahe, continued)
With the facts we have accumulated in the last journals, we can now proceed with the
interpretation of Tycho Brahe’s asterogram of incarnation.
What do we intend to achieve by such an interpretation? In the case of an historic person-
ality, it is relatively easy to come to definite conclusions, because the biography stands before us
as a completed whole. However, just for this reason, such a study can be very instructive with
101
regard to the development of the ethics of an astrology. For instance, we could try to inquire
what cosmic configuration was operative in Tycho Brahe’s “chart” when he lost his nose in a
duel, and the like. In view of the magnitude of such a personality, it would become quite
evident that this approach was self-defeating for an astrological endeavor. In every human
being there lives an impulse that wants to overcome the trivialities of life. Moreover, in us
somewhere there is the desire to experience life as the manifestation of purposeful integration
into the whole of humanity and its evolution. It is true that this impulse can be stifled, particu-
larly in our modern age, which has lost, to a high degree, the old religious guidance and has
often not yet attained spiritual and moral guidance of the “self ” in its place. There are even
very powerful forces at work wanting to forestall this progress in humanity at all costs. These
forces want to keep us down as a docile fragment of an ego-less humanity, organized and ruled
by a super-technocracy.
All the more, a responsible astrology could assume the noble task of helping us to find our
bearings with regard to the elevation of our selfhood beyond the mere trivialities of life. It
could show the image of our greater being that was in the spiritual cosmic world before we
incarnated. Then we would be able to overcome and transmute the inevitable limitations
caused by karma. Otherwise, it can easily happen that astrology would be misused by the anti-
powers to make us not only a slave of a material technocracy but a helpless object of a gigantic
cosmic machinery as well.
We have mentioned Saturn of this birth asterogram already in the Apr. ’68 issue. As we
now have the detailed chart before us, we will demonstrate ways and means to arrive at specific
viewpoints; of course, it must be realized that there is not only one method. In the course of
the history of astrology, many legitimate approaches have been developed. One would, how-
ever, expect that they lead in the end to qualitatively similar results.
Saturn during the embryonic development, in this case, was in the point of transition from
the sidereal constellation of Scorpio to Sagittarius. At birth it was then joined by the Sun and
Mercury. This happened in the 11th astrological house, which has Aquarian characteristics,
translated into terrestrial concerns.
For a discernment of the implications of the sidereal constellation of Sagittarius, we can
employ the following perspective: These constellations of the Zodiac are an externalized
expression of creative forces in the greater universe. In order to get them into a comprehen-
sible conception, we can imagine them as the archetypal forces that developed and maintain
the human form. In a certain sense, the human form is the basic, summarizing hieroglyph of
all that exists, for instance, in the kingdoms of nature. The spiritual-cosmic archetypes of the
human form are, of course, very different from what appears on the Earth as a physical mate-
rial shape. This is so because our “form” has gone through a long development on this planet
that tended to separate us from the cosmos. In a certain sense, it can even be regarded as a
road of rebellion against the cosmic-divine intentions.
Thus, for instance, the elongated earthly human form, built-up along the skeleton, does not
originate in the cosmos. The grandiose spherical shape of the cosmos, rather, suggests arche-
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typal patterns distinctly similar to the human head. This is still remembered, as it were, in the
inverted form of the embryo. At the beginning of Earth existence, it is still close to the
dynamics of the cosmos. There are, in fact, hidden in the human head the features of the total
human form. We can conceive them as a manifestation of the Zodiac.
Figure 12 Figure 13
The signs, which are assigned to the limbs in the total shape of the material body, are
associated here with the (lower) jaws, which still display a trace of mobility.
However, the human head has obviously moved into a rather stagnating and, in a sense,
immobile position. This at once becomes different if we consider the totality of the upper
principle of the human bodily trinity (see also Rudolf Steiner’s Man in the Light of Occultism,
Theosophy, and Philosophy, June 1912, especially lectures V and VI concerning the ancient Mysterium
Magnum). Thereby, we can open up roads to an understanding of the spiritual-dynamic back-
ground of the constellations Aries-Taurus-Gemini-Sagittarius-Capricorn-Aquarius-Pisces. (In
order to comprehend the remaining constellations, we shall come back to the other two prin-
ciples of the human trinity in time.)
On this foundation we can now relate Saturn to Sagittarius. This planet works in human
uprightness (see above mentioned Man in the Light… by Rudolf Steiner), through the spinal
column and skeleton. Thus, it operates as a bridge or portal from the sphere-oriented sidereal
universe to the radius-center-organized earthly world. Thereby, the heavens and the Earth are
aligned in us. This interconnection, as much as it is a present fact, is a process in time. It is
bound up with evolution in the widest sense, and Saturn is, therefore, also Omnipotent Father
Time. Logically, one would expect that it is, in the individual’s case, connected with the laws of
reincarnation. In this whole setting of association, it would be a vivid representation of the
higher cosmic will that stands behind the single incarnation.
This Saturn entered the sidereal constellation of Sagittarius in Tycho Brahe’s asterogram.
Thus we see an image in it of the cosmic will, living in this individuality, expressed in the
archetypal hieroglyph of the two human arms—a fundamental tendency of moving out of the
relative enclosure of the individual’s head organism (which is in itself a residual accumulation
of a past incarnation). Furthermore, it would indicate a prenatal will, set on experiencing the
103
peripheral world by “touching it” and working on it with the hands, etc. This is the background
of why Sagittarius is often associated with a desire for travel or destiny toward that end.
Such a tendency or karma was wonderfully expressed in Tycho Brahe’s life. As we pointed
out earlier (see Apr. ‘68), he was rather a wanderer in his younger years. At the end of his
sojourn on this Earth, he again became a wanderer and fugitive. Furthermore, we also see the
impulse to “touch the periphery” manifested in the story of his vocational life. His becoming
and being an astronomer, in a unique sense, was an expression of desiring to penetrate the
mysteries of the peripheral cosmos by observation and the power of reason. He was one of
the first modern astronomers, inasmuch as he insisted on accurate observation and computa-
tion; on the other hand, he also had an astounding capacity of intuitive comprehension of
cosmic happenings and their (astrological) connection with earthly events. This faculty of
intuition is another possible manifestation of Sagittarius. If it is developed, it is like a con-
scious extraversion of limited head and brain capacity through the (ethereal) arms and hands.
This is, furthermore, emphasized by the fact of Saturn (with Sun and Mercury) being in the
11th House. This has an Aquarius potential in connection with terrestrial affairs. Aquarius,
however, is an expression of the periphery in the widest sense. Tycho Brahe seems to have
developed this by the combination of astronomical and alchymical studies, which he practiced
already as a young man.
The development of this Saturn potential was clearly present in the movements and as-
pects of this planet during the life of Tycho Brahe. On 21 August 1560 (he was then not even
14 years of age), he observed a partial eclipse of the Sun. The fact that this event had been
announced beforehand made a mighty impression on him. He came to regard it as “…some-
thing divine that people could know the motions of the stars so accurately that they were able
a long time beforehand to predict their places and relative positions” (from Arthur Koestler’s
The Sleepwalkers). At that moment, Saturn was opposite the place in the Zodiac through which
it had moved during the embryonic development of Tycho Brahe [see Fig. 11, page 99 or 108].
In 1562 he was sent to Leipzig in Germany, accompanied by a tutor to study law. He spent
whole nights there in viewing the stars. And indeed, on one night (17 August 1563) he made a
discovery. He observed that Saturn and Jupiter had so closely moved together that they ap-
peared almost identical. In other words, he saw one of those rhythmically returning Great
Conjunctions. He looked in his astronomical tables and noticed that the Alphonsine Tables were
a whole month out of date regarding this event. As a consequence of this discovery he re-
solved to find ways and means, by astronomical observation, for the establishment of precise
data in this field. This was the birth of the modern astronomer.
This conjunction happened in about 119° of the ecliptic; in other words, it was close to the
point of the descendant in Tycho Brahe’s asterogram. This was also the place where the Moon
was at the epoch.
After studies at the universities of Wittenberg, Rostock, Basle, and Augsburg, he returned
to Denmark in 1571. In 1572 he had a startling experience. He was then involved in alchymical
studies in his laboratory, situated in the basement of a building that an uncle had given him. In
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the evening of 11 November 1572, when he came up from his working place, he saw an
extremely bright star where none had been seen before. It was to the northwest of the constel-
lation of Cassiopeia. Tycho Brahe hardly trusted his eyes. Later, it turned out to have been a
new star, a so-called Nova. This was an experience very descriptive of Tycho Brahe’s unique
personality. On the one hand the preoccupation with alchemy betrays a deeper connection
with medieval occultism, and this he was able to combine with a determination toward exact
observation. He was certainly not a dreamy mystic. It was a characteristic that accompanied
him all his life. There exists a contemporary picture of him and his observatory, which he was
eventually able to build on the island of Hveen, opposite Copenhagen. He is sitting in a kind
of observation tower. At the top are the astronomical instruments he developed and built, and
in the basement of the tower is shown an alchymical laboratory. It is known that Tycho Brahe
indeed made medicaments.
The illuminating fact is that, during that November 1572, Neptune was exactly opposite
the position of Saturn at birth (27 36). This is all the more interesting, because Saturn had a
close relationship to Neptune at birth. The two planets were at an angle of 120° (trine),
Neptune having been in 26 54. Thus we can well say that the spiritual prenatal impulses
expressed by Saturn and Neptune, so to speak, complemented each other. In Saturn the intent
was demonstrated to “touch”, in a way, and experience the outermost environment—the heav-
ens—through the senses. With Neptune we are led to the element of the supersensible and to
methods of its comprehension. The planet was close to its perihelion at Tycho’s birth in the
sidereal constellation of Aries. The element of surprise, which accompanied this experience
for him, was expressed in an angular distance (square) of 90° of Pluto (24° ), in that moment,
to the prenatal Saturn.
In 1575 Tycho was again traveling through Germany and Italy. He was almost set on taking
up residence in Basle. By then King Frederick II of Denmark had realized the significance of
Tycho’s work. He offered him the island of Hveen (which we mentioned above) for the build-
ing of an astronomical observatory. On 8 August 1576, the first foundation stone of Uraniburg
was laid on the island. Twenty-one years of intensive astronomical research followed. Many
scholars came to visit the place, even princes and other royalty. Among them was James VI of
Scotland, later King of England. Also on 8 August 1576, Saturn was in 24.5 , back to its
position during the embryonic development.
During the years following the foundation of Uraniburg on Hveen, Tycho Brahe worked
out his own ideas on the structure of the solar universe. Shortly before Tycho’s birth and after
the death of Copernicus in 1543, the latter’s book on his heliocentric world conception had
been published. Tycho Brahe did not accept these views but developed his own system. It was
a compromise between the old geocentric conception and the heliocentric perspective. Al-
though he never worked it out scientifically, it played a part in the history of astronomical
science. After the death of Tycho Brahe, at the time when Galileo clashed with the Roman
Inquisition, the Roman Church tried desperately to hang on to the old view by adopting the
Tychonian system.
105
Figure 14
Tychonian World Conception
The Earth ( ) stands

in the center of the solar sys-
tem.
The Sun ( ) moves
around the Earth, together
with the inner planets, while
the outer planets move
around them all.
On the surface, it is somewhat difficult to understand why Tycho Brahe did not accept the
Copernican, heliocentric conception. In most other astronomical concerns he was a really
modern scientist. It is here where we can demonstrate one of the possible uses of an unbiased
astrology. The Tychonian system was developed around 1583. We follow up this date, as we
did above, with the help of Saturn’s rhythms rooted at birth in Sagittarius. In the middle of
1583, it had arrived in about 348° of the ecliptic sign of . During that same year, one of the
Great Conjunctions (Saturn-Jupiter) took place. We realize, in connection with a study of Fig.
11 below, that this Saturn was opposite Uranus and the Moon at birth, both of which stood in
the sidereal constellation and ecliptic sign of . At the same time they were placed in the 8th
astrological house, a manifestation of the Scorpion element in the terrestrial Zodiac. The
Scorpio is connected with death, however in a wide sense. It can lead to a realization of the
spiritual world and the beings inhabiting it beyond the portal of death, to which belong also the
souls of human beings who have died and those yet unborn. In this sense, Scorpion can
become a gateway to the eternity of the spirit against the temporal, material world. This was
also the very original meaning of procreation with which Scorpio is also associated. Only in
the course of the development of materialism, in the widest sense, did the latter deteriorate
into the manifestation as bisexuality in the human race [having both male and female organs].
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Geocentric
Mercury will become retrograde between the left (southern) side of Virgo and Corvus, the
Raven, performing a rather narrow loop on this occasion. These loops of the planets usually
mark the termination of definite cycles of development and new beginnings. It need not be
connected with the last loop exclusively, which in Mercury’s case happened in May-June of the
present year. These cycles can be stretched out over decades.
The loops of Mercury repeat themselves in the same place of the ecliptic according to a
rhythm of 6-7 years. Then again they recur in similar positions after 3 x 6-7 years or 20 years.
For instance, the present loop in the sidereal constellation of Virgo happened in almost the
same place in 1949, and in 1929. Ten years ago, in 1959, one such feature took place in the
opposite part of the Zodiac, in sidereal Pisces. The same occurred in 1939, i.e., 30 years before
[the current loop].
This rhythm of about 30 years coincides with two others: the rhythm of Saturn, which
siderally is 29.5 years, and the prenatal rhythm of Mercury, as it is reflected into the seven year
periods of life after birth.
The rhythm of Mercury, from inferior (in front) conjunction with the Sun via superior
(above, or behind) conjunction and back to the following inferior conjunction, takes about 116
days. An average of 2½ such cycles fit into a prenatal development, from epoch to birth. The
prenatal time comprises about 260-290 days, which is representative of up to 72-73 years of
life, because each Moon cycle of 27.3 days pre-reflects 7 years of later life. (The utmost that an
epoch-birth interval can contain is 10.5 Moon cycles, 7 x 10.5 = 73.5 years.) Thus a period of
116 days, or one prenatal Mercury cycle, divided by 27.3 days would be four Moon-cycles,
corresponding to 29.75 years of life. (Example: Graph of Copernicus, Fig. 10 in Feb. ’67.
Between two loops of Mercury, elapse about four Moon-cycles—vertical divisions—pre-re-
flecting about 28-30 years.)
We think that for such and similar reasons the above mentioned Mercury rhythm of about
30 years is important (return of the loop to the opposite place in the ecliptic). However, also
the other rhythms that we mentioned may be significant. A study of their manifestation in
history and biography can be very helpful and revealing.
Toward a New Astrosophy (continuation)

Thus, we conclude from the near conjunction of Uranus and Moon in Tycho Brahe’s chart
(see p. 108) the following: the Moon at birth is a picture of the descent of the soul from the
highest spheres of the cosmos into an incarnation. The epoch Moon indicates, then, the final
stepping down. It indicates, symbolically, the region with which the particular individuality was
connected between the last death and the new birth. (Very often the Sun at the moment of the
last death was in that same place of the Zodiac.) As Tycho’s Moon was in the constellation of
Virgo—divine wisdom—and shone into the 8th House, we regard this as a suggestion that we
107
Repeat Figure 11
Tycho Brahe
Epoch: 12 March 1546 (Moon at Desc.)

Birth: 14 December 1546 (o.s.)
(precession about 6°)
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are confronted here with a spiritually highly developed human being. Furthermore, this was
emphasized by the nearness of Uranus, the planet that stands, symbolically, beyond the portal
to the unseen world. But what did this Uranus indicate?
By a little historic excursion, we come to realize that this Uranus had returned after many
orbits to the same sidereal (related to the fixed stars) position where it had been immediately
after the Event on Golgotha. This then is the background of what spiritually lived in Tycho
Brahe. We know that he had a deep connection with esoteric Christianity, which he had at-
tained in severe life trials of past incarnations (see Rudolf Steiner’s Karmic Relationships, Esoteric
Studies, vol. IV).
It was this relationship that made it impossible for Tycho, at his time, to accept Coperni-
canism. When Saturn moved, in 1583, toward the place opposite of Moon and Uranus at his
birth, these problems were accelerated. He had realized in earlier incarnations that the Christ
Event must be regarded as the central event of the present cosmic evolution. This the early
Christians had claimed, and he had come to accept it in partly bitter struggles and experiences.
If this were so, then the Earth could not be a planet dependent on a central Sun; one would
expect it to be the center itself. Yet, the new scientific age was approaching and had already
been speaking through Copernicus and others. So, Tycho saw the solution in an astronomical
compromise, although his public reasoning for it might not have been on this basis.
Tycho Brahe seems to have regarded his position and work on his little island as one of
royal dignity in the ancient sense. Kings in pre-Christian times were initiates who were initiated
into the highest mysteries—the interrelationship between the macrocosmos and the microcos-
mos. The evening glow of this, as it were, is presented in the Gospel of St. Matthew as the
story of the Three Magi, or “Kings”. They came to visit the Child, because they had divined
this birth on the foundation of their sublime star wisdom.
As long as the old King Frederick II of Denmark lived, Tycho Brahe was protected and, so
to speak, recognized in this unspoken claim. As soon as the King died in 1588, Tycho got into
trouble with the new King Christian IV and his court. The evidence we have points to the fact
that Tycho’s strange sovereign attitudes, which he developed on his island, were thoroughly
disliked by the new rulership. Finally, in 1597, he left Hveen and resumed his wanderings
again. Only in 1599 did he find asylum at Prague. The German Emperor Rudolf II appointed
him Imperial Mathematicus.
During that year of 1597 and Tycho’s departure from Hveen, Saturn moved into the posi-
tion in the ecliptic where Uranus and Moon had been at birth. Thus we see “called up” once
more, all that which happened around 1583 and what we said above about it. At the same time
something else took place. In 1588 Neptune, which was at birth in a trine (120°) relationship to
Saturn, had moved as far as about 120°, or the sign of . That was the year when Tycho’s
troubles on Hveen started, caused by the death of King Frederick II. Nine years later, in 1597,
Tycho left the island and went into exile. During that year Neptune arrived in about 142° of
the ecliptic. Thus we see the positions where the planets Jupiter, Venus, and Pluto were, acti-
vated at birth from the opposition. They were then in the 1st astrological house.
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Thus we have here an additional interpretation of those planets in the 1st House. During
the embryonic development Jupiter moved across the point that was rising at birth (Asc).
Therefore, it seems to indicate that this perspective was particularly significant. Distinct from
Saturn, Jupiter is the planet that emphasizes the present and the development toward the fu-
ture. It emphasizes more the broader streams of evolutionary tendencies of which the work
of the individual might only be a small part.
The position of Jupiter in Tycho’s asterogram in the sidereal constellation of Capricorn is
a particularly lofty one. In Greek sidereal mythology, Capricorn was associated with the gate-
way to the realm of the Gods. In Indian mythology, it was recognized as Makara, the steed on
which the great god Varuna rode. We find Jupiter in Capricorn connected with the incarnation
of personalities who made great contributions to the cultural evolution of humanity. Among
them were Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Novalis, and Walt Whitman. Thus we can also
understand that such an individuality as Tycho would not let himself be subjected to any rule
but himself. Furthermore, this was implied in the sextile (60°) aspect of Jupiter to Mars at
birth. The position of Jupiter in the 1st (Aries-orientated) House is, of course, an indication
that all this is connected with the root characteristics of the personality.
The combination of Venus and Pluto is of a different character. In itself, a Venus in the
ecliptic sign of (see Fig. 11) would speak of a certain enhanced soul gentleness. Alan Leo
speaks of a desire for soul communion. However, Pluto would permeate this with an extreme
demand for rather spiritualized cosmic communion. This is an element that hardly exists yet.
It must be developed during the coming Age of Aquarius. Venus and Pluto already entered the
sidereal constellation of Aquarius. Thus it stands out in this chart as an element of rupture and
dissolution in connection with Tycho’s departure from Hveen in 1597. Above Aquarius stands
the image of the lofty Pegasus, the winged, cosmic intelligence. Once a peasant tried, so the
myth says, to harness Pegasus for his own practical concerns and plow his fields with him. The
result was disastrous. Pegasus cannot be chained to narrow earthly concerns.
There was another, additional feature with regard to Venus in this chart. During the em-
bryonic development it moved through a superior conjunction with the Sun in about 68° of
the ecliptic. This was in the sidereal constellation of Taurus. It happened during the third
prenatal month after the epoch. Each sidereal Moon month (return of the Moon to the same
fixed-star) pre-reflects a period of 7 years in later life. We have demonstrated this in connec-
tion with Copernicus’ incarnation chart (see Feb. ‘67). Thus, that superior conjunction of
Venus was a pre-reflection of the year 1563 in the life of Tycho Brahe. He observed the
conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn at that time. He also noticed that the existing astronomical
tables were, time-wise, considerably in error with regard to this event. In that moment the
decision might have arisen in him (he was then not yet 17 years old) to become an astronomer
and do a better job than his predecessors.
Venus is, from a certain aspect, connected with our feeling life. It is, therefore, also associ-
ated with our relationship to the environment, to other human beings, contemporaries, or
history. We have, in Tycho’s chart, the interesting fact that the place where the superior con-
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junction of Venus happened was connected with the charts of his contemporaries in the field
of astronomy. Sidereal Taurus was a dominant feature in the asterogram of Copernicus (see
Jan. & Feb. ‘67), who had already died when Tycho was born. We know that Tycho repudiated
the idea of Copernicus’ heliocentric views, trying to replace it with his own system. In Kepler’s
chart (born 27 December 1571), Taurus was also somehow prominent. He joined Tycho in the
beginning of 1600. The two then worked together during the following one and a half years
(Tycho died in October 1601). But there were tremendous tensions and blow-ups between
them. Again, between the two emerged the battle for and against the Copernican theory.
Another astronomer with a prominence of sidereal Taurus in his chart was Galileo (born 15
February 1564). He came to the forefront of history only after the death of Tycho. Well-
known is his promotion of the Copernican heliocentric theory and his clash, thereupon, with
the Roman Church and the Inquisition.
There is a common background behind all these interconnections via Taurus. This is the
Egypto-Chaldean Age of human culture. The vernal point (the crossing point of ecliptic and
equator and position of the Sun at the time of the commencement of spring in the Northern
Hemisphere) was in Taurus in the beginnings of that civilization. Those personalities, whom
we mentioned above, were obviously associated in past incarnations with that age. Kepler, for
instance, was quite aware of it. He wrote that, in order to discover what he did, he had to go to
the Holy Mysteries of the ancient Egyptians and take away their sacred vessels in the temples.
What did he mean by that? Researches by a number of people have found that Egyptian
temple science worked with a kind of heliocentric perspective of the solar system. This was
then openly proclaimed by the Greek astronomer and mathematician Aristarchus of Samos
(about 270 BC).
How can we read the indications contained in the positions of Sun and Mercury at birth?
For this purpose we introduce here another, actually well-known, projection of the facts of the
birth chart into later life. Such a chart reflects the final coagulation of karma into a potential
entity that accompanies us all through life. In a kind of germinal form, the rhythmic laws
according to which karma is going to be worked out in time are contained in it. We have
demonstrated earlier such a rhythmic law in connection with the prenatal Moon cycles in an
asterogram. Each one of the ten sidereal lunar months pre-reflects a time of seven years in life
after birth. Likewise, do the transits of the planets over sensitive points of the chart constitute
a rhythmic law with which karma works. We have demonstrated this earlier with a view on the
decisive stages of the development and career of Tycho Brahe.
Another ancient and well-known rhythmic law indicating how karma unwinds is built on
the ratio: 1 day, or 1°, progression of the Sun after birth equals 1 year in life. For instance, we
want to know the germinal disposition of what happened to Tycho in 1560, when he was not
quite 14 years old. He observed a Sun eclipse at that time and was deeply impressed. We take
the Sun of his birth, in 2° of the sign , forward by about 14°, corresponding to 14 years. This
leads us to December 28, 1546 (o.s.). On that day the Sun was in about 16 , which was the
place where Mars had been at the epoch (see Fig. 2, Jul. ‘68). Thus we can say that according to
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this rhythmic law, the Sun was accelerating the karmic Mars propensities of Tycho. The Sun
would stand as a symbol of the personality and its accommodation in the bodily vessel built for
the incarnation. Mars would be an image of the individual’s cognitive confrontation and active
acquisition of the physical material setting of his incarnated. This is precisely what happened
to Tycho in 1560. The awareness of the starry world entered his existence.
At the same time Mercury was in about 26 . This was the place where the Zodiac rose at
the time of his birth (ascendant in the diagram). It is the equivalent of Aries, or 1st House,
according to the third, terrestrial Zodiac. Mercury is an image of the power in us that can
individualize and appropriate the potential indicated in Jupiter. (Jupiter moved during the
prenatal cycle close to the ascendant of birth). Thus we can say that Tycho’s karma led him,
during that experience in 1560, into his own life impulse.
This reflection, in the sense of the working of karma, appears even more clarified in the
time-law ratio referring to 1563 when he observed the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Sat-
urn. Tycho was then not quite 17 years old. We would take the moment when the Sun had
progressed 17° after birth. This was on December 31, 1546–January 1, 1547. On that day we
find Mercury in 0 (sign) right in the place of the loop of Jupiter in the prenatal chart. After
that we find Mercury further, busy indicating the process of individualization in the sphere of
personal intelligence (Mercury), i.e., of the idea potential of Tycho’s Jupiter. From 1569 till
1571, he was at Augsburg in Germany, busily engaged in astronomical and chemical (alchymical)
researches. In 1570 he was 24 years old. That time would, therefore, be connected with a
progression of about 24° after birth. This brings the Sun to 26 (sign)—the place of the
ascendant. At the same time Mercury was in about 9 (sign), the position of Jupiter at birth.
In 1576, just before he had completed his 30th year, Tycho settled down on Hveen and
started to build up Uraniburg, his observatory. This would be reflected in a progression of the
Sun of about 30°. It would bring it to about 2 , a vital point in the prenatal career of Jupiter.
Mercury was then in about 18 , close to the position that Venus took up at birth. Now, he had
really come into his own. He insisted that his work be built up around his own, not the Coper-
nican, conception of the universe. (See our earlier contemplation of the propensities of Ve-
nus.)
After a relatively undisturbed period of work on Hveen, came the stormy years following
the death of King Frederick II in 1588, the faithful protector of Tycho. They ended with the
self-chosen exile of Tycho in 1597. He was then 50 years of age. We see it reflected in a
progression of the Sun by 50° after birth, that is 22 . This was the point where we find Pluto
at birth, which is an expression of cosmic spiritualization. It can also be an image of dissolu-
tion. In Tycho’s life it became manifest in both capacities. His departure from Hveen was
certainly a sad dissolution of all the foundations for cosmological research that had been built
up over two decades. At the same time it facilitated the meeting between Tycho Brahe and
Johann Kepler at Prague. Although this meeting was accompanied by emotional storms, it
nevertheless had a profound impact on the development of Kepler and, furthermore, decisive
developments in modern astronomy.
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This period of spiritualization and dissolution was at the same time strongly expressed by
Mercury. When the Sun arrived in 22 after birth, referring to the age of 50, Mercury pre-
pared to move into a loop. Such a loop, when the planet steps into the space between Sun and
Earth, is often connected with the termination of a definite cycle in life. This particular loop
happened just in front (conjunction) of Pluto. A few days later the Sun was in 27 , referring
to the 55th year of Tycho, 1601. During that year Tycho Brahe died on 24 October, (n.s.). At
that time Mercury was (about 55 days after birth) fully in its loop and in actual conjunction with
Pluto. On the face of it, it was a dissolution. Tycho’s earthly task had come to an end , but just
then he was enabled to proceed toward the taking over of tasks in the spiritual world.
It is more difficult to arrive at a delineation of what is expressed by Mars in this chart. Of
course, its position in the sign of and the 2nd House (Taurus quality) does suggest a strong
choleric temperament.
Tycho certainly did display such a disposition. In his younger years part of his nose was
sliced off in a duel with another noble Dane. It was caused by a dispute as to which of the two
noble Danes was the better mathematician. Later on he used to wear a nose made of an alloy
of silver and gold. It had to be glued on with a special ointment. During the Uraniburg years
on Hveen, many scholars visited the observatory, and sometimes there were lively discussions
on astronomical matters. In the heat of debate Tycho’s nose sometimes dropped off. If
somebody dared to laugh in such a moment, a thunderstorm of reproach and reprimand could
break loose from the host’s mouth.
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Geocentric
A remarkable accumulation of planets will be in the sidereal constellation of Virgo during
this month. Pluto, Uranus, and Jupiter have been there a considerable time. These will be
joined by Venus, Mercury, and the Sun. The Moon will move in front of all of them, starting
with a conjunction with Venus and ending with New Moon a couple of days later.
Naturally, the question will arise: What does this mean? To this we can only answer that we
do not think that spontaneous, precisely definable effects will result from these events. Often
it happens that the repercussions on the Earth are delayed and are more of a general, slow
moving character. For instance, the configuration of February 5, 1962, was such an example;
as Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and the Sun were assembled in sidereal Capricorn.
They were joined by the Moon, and there was a total Sun eclipse. Not much happened imme-
diately following this accumulation; however, many dire and pressing problems have turned up
in humanity since that time, which are surely connected with it. Capricorn was connected, in
Greek mythology, with the gateway to the realm of the Gods and immortals. Alan Leo (How to
Judge a Nativity) says of the corresponding ecliptic sign, which certainly has a connection with
the constellation: “In its highest sense it is ideals made practical”. However, if this is not
achieved, it may well fall back into a realization of the ancient Egyptian imagination in the
place of Capricorn: the Crocodile, power of sly destruction, in the Zodiac opposite Cancer,
the abyss.
The accumulation in Virgo directly reminds us of the problems of our present age, which
is still influenced by the vernal point (Sun on 21 March) in Pisces. Any star map giving the
positions of the fixed stars and of the crossing point of celestial equator and ecliptic (vernal
point) will verify that we have not yet entered Aquarius, as it is sometimes proclaimed. Like-
wise, the autumnal point or equinox is still in sidereal Virgo.
The Age of Pisces, which commenced (astronomically only) soon after the time of Christ,
is best characterized by the constellation Andromeda standing in the space above sidereal Pi-
sces (see Nov. ‘66 for the mythology of Andromeda). It has one star in common with the
constellation of Pegasus, Delta Pegasi (Alpheratz or Alpha Andromeda), which stands on the
forehead of the Andromeda. For the occultist it is a hidden reference to an organ for spiritual
perception, or “chakram”, the two-petalled Lotus, behind the forehead. It is the organ of
“winged, or higher intelligence” (a horse, like Pegasus, in mythology is always a symbol of
intelligence). Moses, the great leader of the Hebrew people into the Exodus, is usually de-
picted with two horns, or rays, emanating from his forehead, symbolizing his developed two-
petalled lotus, or chakram.
This is what we of the present age ought to attain in order to meet the requirements of our
civilization. The ever increasing chaos in all spheres of human life is a clear indication that the
old capacities of an intellectual approach cannot solve the hosts of social, economic, and
cultural problems any longer that beset modern humanity all around the globe. If we would
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make efforts to evolve the potential of our higher intelligence, helping hands would reach out
from those spheres that are indicated in the constellation of Virgo, the image of the Divine
Sophia, or Wisdom of God. This can be done, and Rudolf Steiner, who re-opened the door to
a new science of the spirit, has given precise advice on how to achieve this.
This is how we would see that accumulation of planets in sidereal Virgo, following Michael-
mas: as one of the many admonitions of the divine world to modern humanity to live up to
those greater expectations concerning our existence. If this should fail, as others failed before,
then humanity must expect to be obliged to cash in correspondingly on a missed opportunity.

We have the impression that more was hidden in the Mars of Tycho than merely personal
traits. In order to find this, we turn to the heliocentric equivalent of the geocentric incarnation
chart. This will demonstrate, indeed, that the geocentric and heliocentric need not be irrecon-
cilable opponents. They can cooperate with each other in a very constructive sense.
Figure 15
Tycho Brahe
(Heliocentric)
Birth: 14 December 1546
Epoch: 12 March 1546
(o.s.)
115
In this diagram we find Mars close to its own ascending node at birth. It had moved a few
degrees beyond it, so that on the actual birthday it came to stand in the constellation of Taurus.
This is a rather significant indication. The sphere of Mars, one of whose major indicators are
the nodes, is closely associated with the development of our cognitive and perception-activat-
ing potential. In this sense, it is strongly connected with the development of natural science
and technology. Around the year 1413 AD, the ascending node of Mars entered the constella-
tion of Aries, coming from Taurus. In that year the modern Age of Pisces commenced in an
historic sense, not astronomically. (The astronomical ingress according to the 1° recession of
the vernal point happened much earlier.) This modern age has the specific task of indepen-
dently developing science and also technology. It was this that Tycho Brahe also compre-
hended as his individual task in the field of astronomy. As we said earlier, he made the me-
thodical and precise observation of the heavenly phenomena one of the main concerns of his
career. When he left Hveen in 1597, he had finished a catalogue of a thousand fixed stars, in
which the positions of 777 of them had been determined accurately with the instruments at
Tycho’s disposal at that time.
This is a clear indication of Tycho’s connection with the fundamental impulse of the mod-
ern age in keeping with the transition of the node of Mars in 1413. The proximity of the
planet to its node, especially at birth, emphasizes this. What then does Mars at the time of the
epoch demonstrate? Altogether, epoch configurations describe much more the character of
the experiences of a soul in the depths of cosmic existence between two incarnations. Tycho’s
Mars was in the constellation of Scorpio at his epoch, close to the nodal line of Venus. This is
totally different from the implications at birth. This Mars stands, so to speak, in awe of all that
which concerns the second great part of the Earth evolution. The first part is predominantly
of a Martian character, the creation of great nature, comprehensible by the senses, created out
of the cosmic word and wisdom. The second part must eventually introduce into this Martian
universe the Venusian (Mercurian) impulse of love and compassion; otherwise, the Martian
universe would hopelessly die into the decline and decay of its own exhaustion. Against this
rise certain Mars forces that want to uphold the order of the old Martian universe by all pos-
sible means. Thus a Mars in Scorpio can easily become the expression of an immense struggle
in a human soul. This Mars (at the epoch) points to another trend in Tycho’s character. It is the
mind that tried to penetrate to the spiritual secrets of nature and the universe. He lived in the
realization that there was “more than meets the eye”. This is the soul who had a strong inclina-
tion toward astrology and alchemy. It can be achieved only with the cultivation of loving
understanding of the spiritual essence of all things. We find such Mars positions in the charts
of other historic personalities who also developed similar impulses toward spiritual cognition,
among them Rudolf Steiner and Swedenborg. There were, however, also other such Mars
associations with personalities who rather pushed humanity ever deeper into materialism.
Therefore, we must regard a position of Mars in Scorpio as a symbol of the grand battle that
takes place in modern history, for or against the spirit. It is much more a challenge to the
individual who has such an affiliation, than a narrow determination in any sense.
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Another perspective applies to the heliocentric Mars at birth, which we mentioned already.
It was, as we said, close to its ascending node. Such absolutely contradictory characters as
Thomas Aquinas and Stalin had this Mars position at the moment of their death. It demon-
strates how much depends on our moral activity with regard to our relationship to the stars.
We can bring this about constructively only by an active acceptance of esoteric, not only reli-
gious, Christianity. This great change taking place through the Christ Event seems to be indi-
cated in the Pistis Sophia where Christ Jesus is described as having said that he had brought
about great changes of the cosmic spheres when he descended to the Earth. (See: Pistis Sophia,
a Gnostic miscellany, translated by G. R. S. Mead, Published London, John M. Watkins). Then
Mary says to him “...thou hast taken their (angels who transgressed) power from them and
from their horoscope casters (of the old order) and their consultors...” (First Book). Later on
the disciple Philip asks Christ Jesus about this and he receives the answer: “I have changed
their path (of some of the heavenly powers) for the salvation of all souls. Amen, amen, I say
unto you: If I had not changed their path, a host of souls would have been destroyed...”
Tycho Brahe was obviously deeply involved in this battle concerning the propensities of
Mars. This was, in addition, expressed in the position of Venus at birth, also close to the
ascending node of Mars. We can see in it the expression of an impulse going out to pacify, to
redeem, and to transmute the tendencies of Mars, which we described above. A modern
scholar who heroically tried to do this, one might possibly say with inadequate equipment, was
Teilhard de Chardin (died 4 May 1954). When he died, Venus was in the ascending node and
Mars itself in the descending node of Mars, a striking indication of the great life battle that had
taken place here. Clara Barton, who organized the American Red Cross, was born when Venus
was in the ascending node of Mars (25 December 1821). Numbers of such historic examples
with similar implications could be cited.
The epoch position of Venus in the heliocentric asterogram is also very illuminating. In
the geocentric equivalent, the planet was in conjunction with Pluto at birth. In the heliocentric
this happened at the time of the epoch. It was then between its own aphelion and the perihe-
lion of Mars. This leads us, historically, to the roots of that tension between the forces of Mars
and Venus in modern humanity. The Mars impulses, as we described them, want to live in and
restrict evolution to the development of (materialistic) science and technology, whereas the
Venus beings want to lead humanity on to the manifestation of spiritual love and compassion
in Earth existence. This situation has not come over our modern age suddenly; it has prepared
itself over thousands of years. Eastern wisdom recognized it as the result of Kali Yuga, the
Dark or sinister Age. It commenced in 3101 BC and, lasting five thousand years, was expected
to come to an end in 1899 AD. However, its long shadows are obviously still falling into the
present stages of history.
The commencement of Kali Yuga was accompanied by the approximate “conjunction” of
the apsidal (perihelion-aphelion) lines of Mars and Venus. However, the spheres of the two
planets were then reversed—the perihelion of Mars coincided with the aphelion of Venus.
This indicates the ensuing tension between the beings of the two spheres. We regard this
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background as a complementary elucidation of Venus in the geocentric chart of Tycho Brahe.

Numberless historic examples could be cited that demonstrate humanity’s involvement in this
great struggle and also the suffering accruing from it. It is interesting to notice that Clara
Barton, already mentioned above in connection with Venus, died 12 April 1912, when Venus
(328°) was between its own aphelion and the perihelion of Mars.
We described earlier, in the geocentric asterogram, the perspective associated with Mer-
cury. It was connected with the gradual realization of Tycho’s vocational impulses. This is
corroborated in a dramatic fashion in the heliocentric chart. There we see Mercury starting
near its descending node, and a few days later it moved through its own aphelion. After that, it
circled three times around the Sun during the embryonic development. Shortly before birth, it
returned to the original position, drew once more through its descending node and aphelion,
and finally into conjunction with Saturn.
There was a time when these two essential elements of the sphere of Mercury, the nodes
and perihelion-aphelion, coincided. This happened about 5900 BC. It was a time when, after
the final collapse of Atlantis, the very first beginnings of a new human civilization commenced.
This phase is called the Ancient Indian civilization (see Rudolf Steiner’s Cosmic Memory and
Occult Science). It was a humanity that still had a very close connection with the reality of the
spiritual world. Therefore, it found it difficult to take even the very first steps of descent into
the material reality, into which Post-Atlantean humanity eventually had to descend. Shadows
of this aversion against the material world are still discernable in much of present day Indian
spiritual heritage.
However, at the time of the “conjunction” of the nodes and perihelion-aphelion of Mer-
cury, the Ancient Indian civilization had almost come to an end. Another humanity began to
rise, eventually formulating its attitude toward the material world on the basis of the world
views of the great teacher Zarathustra. This was the Ancient Persian civilization. It reconciled
itself to the fact of the great cleavage between heaven and Earth, between cosmic light and
Earth centered darkness. However, it took the cleavage positively. It looked up to the heavens
and to the divine forces therein, surrounding the Divine Ahura Mazdao, or Divine Aura of the
Sun, and it combined with them, working upon and against the Ahrimanic darkness rising from
the center of the Earth. This they did by organized agriculture, by letting the light of the
heavens flow into the Earth. These combined with the plants that take in the forces of the
cosmos through their leaves and blossoms and communicate them to the darkness of the soil
through the roots.
Here we see a background of Tycho Brahe’s “vocation”, which is much more than just an
accident of life. We can also understand that he endeavored not to be only a cold astronomer,
observer, and mathematician. Here are the roots of what appear to many modern scientists as
a strange contradiction in this soul: On the one hand he was a modern scientific empiricist and
on the other hand he was, as a modern skeptic may put it, that superstitious (yet successful)
astrologer. How can this be reconciled? The answer is given by Mercury in the heliocentric
asterogram. For Tycho Brahe, the heavenly “bodies” were not dead, rolling ball parts of a
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lifeless mechanism. For him they were the expression of divine forces and beings, enacting in
and through human beings the great “battle” between the spiritual world and the dark anti-
forces.
Last month we pointed out that Tycho’s Jupiter was in a somewhat lofty position.
Heliocentrically, it was almost in the same position as Venus at birth. This means that it was
also standing between the aphelion of Venus and the perihelion of Mars. Therefore, it was
equally involved in the historic perspective of the commencement of Kali Yuga. The descent
of the Dark Age over humanity made it necessary to keep the secrecy of the ancient mysteries
ever more secure and guarded. The Initiate, who had gone through the severe disciplines of
the schools in the mystery temples, was regarded as the only one who was able to safely rule
and guide a nation. A shadow of this lived in Tycho’s otherwise seemingly strange, sovereign
tendencies. The certainty and self-assurance of the old initiates came to life in that attitude.
There was more, however.
Jupiter started out at the epoch from the descending node of Saturn and moved, during the
embryonic development, through the descending node of Neptune, which also leads us back
into the past. In about 6000 BC, the two lines were in conjunction. It may seem strange, but
this coincided with another event, about 400 years earlier. Also at that time, the apsidal lines
(perihelion-aphelion) of Saturn and Neptune were in conjunction. Therefore, these two su-
preme planetary spheres were “in line”, which perfectly fits the description of the age when it
happened. It was the Ancient Indian civilization that we mentioned before. Saturn, who is also
the Guardian of the Portal to the spiritual world, combined with Neptune, which can be found
associated with the direct (inspired) experience of the divine world. Of such a nature was that
civilization which was inspired by the great teachers, the Holy Rishis. A shadow of this lived in
Tycho Brahe’s Jupiter too. He tried to harmonize this with the heritages implied in Mercury,
Venus, and Mars.
There was, however, not only the past but also the future of the Earth and humanity’s
evolution manifest in the position of Jupiter at Tycho’s incarnation. The descending node of
Neptune and the aphelion of Venus were then (in the 16th century) already close together. In
the meantime they have moved still closer. Soon, in about 2100 AD, they will be “in line”. This
means that we will move toward an opportunity to combine that impulse of “inspired” realiza-
tion of the spiritual world (Neptune) with the new Christian Mysteries of love and compassion
(Venus). Deep down in Tycho Brahe’s soul-being, there obviously existed a connection with
this side of Jupiter. Under the conditions in which he had to live, it could not come to the
surface. However, circumstances connected with his early passing from the Earth suggest that
he worked spiritually in his life after death in this direction.
There was another reference to a far-flung future point contained in this Jupiter. As we
said above, at the epoch it was close to the descending node of Saturn. Still further back it
passed through its own descending node. At present the two nodes are still 13° apart, but in
future they will move closer together. Finally, in about 12,000 AD the two will form one
straight line through the center of the Sun. One may think that this is too remote a future to be
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considered in a chart like this; however, we are beings who truly cannot live out of a short-
sighted present. Our existence would become a senseless coincidence, an apparent waste of
time. Only the perspective and greatness of our potential future gives even our small labors on
this planet a meaning. Therefore, we do not suggest, nor can we know, whether the point in the
distant future that we mentioned, played into Tycho’s day-wake awareness. However, we imag-
ine that it lived in him, at least as a kind of organic presence, as it were. It was the unconscious
directive in his life—to make it meaningful. At the time of his death it came to expression
when he prayed over and again: “Let me not seem to have lived in vain.”
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The point in the future of 12,000 AD, leads far beyond even what occultism recognizes as
the Post-Atlantean Epoch of seven civilizations of 2,160 years each (see Rudolf Steiner The
Apocalypse, Nuremberg 1908). We are at present in the fifth of these civilizations. Two more
are still to come. Toward that end, physical conditions on our planet will change radically.
(One sometimes gets the impression that a certain part of present humanity is doing its utmost
to bring about these changes very fast.) What will follow after the present epoch will be
terminated, conceivably, in a mighty catastrophe. It can be comprehended in the words of the
Revelation of St. John. (The Revelation of St. John is the description of experiences as the
fruit of exalted initiation.) There we read in chapters 2 and 3 of the destiny of the “churches”.
These are the seven civilizations of the Post-Atlantean Epoch. After that we hear, in chapters
6 to 8, of the “opening of the seals”. This is an imaginative description of the great Sixth
Epoch of evolution. The opening of the second seal and the imagination of the Red Horse
(Chapter 6, verse 4) represents the time equivalent to about 12,000 AD, which we mentioned
above: “And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat
thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given
to him a great sword...”
This sounds like a moment of Great Judgment, if not the Last Judgment, something that
comes close to the scene in Michelangelo’s “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel. Something
similar is also expressed in the conjunction of the nodal lines of Saturn and Jupiter in about
12,000 AD. The sphere of Saturn is the “workshop”, as it were, in which our greater, cosmic
will (our “karma”) is forged—that which comes as the result of the past. Thus the forces of
Saturn work also in history as representations of the divine intentions and expectations. It is
the Great Judge of the universe who keeps the accounts and records of the past. They will be
presented at the Last Judgment.
The sphere of Jupiter and the forces therein will combine in future with those of Saturn.
This is expressed in that cosmic event in 12,000 AD. Jupiter carries the spiritual “meaning” of
the future. Its forces try to convey a deeper understanding of evolution, of future cosmic
stages for whose accomplishment the “judgment” of Saturn must take place. Thus it is con-
ceivable that the combination of the Saturn and Jupiter forces will bring about a decision and
a segregation between the human element that has succeeded to prepare spiritually for future
cosmic stages of evolution and that which has failed to accomplish it. This is also what the
imagination of the rider on the Red Horse, with the great sword, wants to convey.
Something of this must have lived, at least in a feeling awareness, if not more, in the soul
of Tycho Brahe. Because he was an initiate (in past incarnations), the “Apocalypse” as the
result of supreme initiation must have been present in some form in his being. Thus we can
see, from a different angle, a reason for his apparently strange tendency toward sovereign
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claims. From a superficial observation, it has often been described as arrogance and even
despotism; however, we see in those vast backgrounds of the past and the future the real
reasons for these attitudes that, we must grant, the present age cannot easily comprehend.
We should expect that the Saturn in Tycho’s chart falls in with all this, because the element
of this sphere represents his greater spiritual will. It is a symbol of what binds him to the Will
of the Divinity from the very beginnings of creation. According to the chart of Tycho, Saturn
had moved through its aphelion during the prenatal time. In the geocentric asterogram, we
noticed that it was in conjunction with the Sun and Mercury at birth. This means that, accord-
ing to the heliocentric conception, the Earth was opposite Saturn at birth. In fact, it was then
close to its own perihelion.
Thus we have here the indication that the lines of the apsides (perihelion-aphelion) of both
Earth and Saturn were involved. This also opens up historic perspectives. At present the two
lines are still apart, but they are moving closer together. In about 6000 AD they will coincide.
The two perihelion-ends will then arrive near the point of the transition from Gemini to
Cancer (constellations), whereas the aphelion-ends will be in transition from Sagittarius into
Capricorn.
Perihelion and aphelion of a planet are expressions of the nature of the concern and participa-
tion that the forces of the sphere adopt toward the solar system. They can also be remotely
likened to the polarity of head and body of the human organism. We do imagine that this organ-
ism is not the product of a freak development, but that it is a reflection of great cosmic stages of
evolution. Thus, the perihelion can be regarded as something like the “head” of a planetary
sphere, where one is more inclined to “contemplate’’ and adopt the affairs of the solar universe
as its own, like the head organism of a human body receives the facts existent in its environment
through perception. The aphelion of the sphere, distantly akin to the will in the limbs of our
body, aims at developments and goals “outside” the “status quo” of the solar world.
In this sense, we can now get a glimpse of the meaning of the pending conjunction of the
apsidal lines of Saturn and Earth. Tycho’s Saturn moved through its aphelion. This indicates
that the sphere was deeply concerned with the greater, apocalyptic implications of cosmic
evolution, beyond the mere temporal solar setting. The Earth in its perihelion would remind us
of significant past stages of the Earth evolution. The movement of the apsides is very slow. A
sidereal revolution takes more than a 100,000 years. Thus, with this rhythm, we would go back
into unfathomable times of the past; however, we can also approach this via a grand imag-
ination. This is the story of the Loss of Paradise. As a result of this loss, we became a being
divided into head and limbs. We ate, as the Bible says, of the Tree of Knowledge (head), but
we were denied the fruit of the Tree of Life (body and limbs)—Genesis, Chapter 3. Even the
origin of the division into two sexes we would have to seek here. Before that event the human
being was much more a unified, cosmic entity.
Human beings who now carried the head-limb polarity in their physiology, moved through
a number of significant changes in the course of evolution. We can gauge these changes if we
follow the passage of the apsides of the Earth through the constellations of the Zodiac, or
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their corresponding predecessors. Thus an important change took place around 2100-2000
BC. This was the time of Abraham of the Old Testament story, and the perihelion of the
Earth moved from the position of the present Taurus into Gemini.
The change that happened concerned the employment of our head forces. This is clearly
described in the story of Abraham. We hear that he moved away from Chaldea. He became
emancipated from the intelligence that humanity had been able to employ until then. In Chaldea
we can still see today the remnants of the ziggurats, ancient temple pyramids, or towers of
gigantic size. They were used as astronomical observatories, and the events in the heavens
were followed from their tops. Thereby, the ruling priesthood attained a kind of astrosophical-
astrological insight. We have the proof from ancient documents that whole communities were
ruled and guided by these means.
Abraham could no longer live with this kind of intelligence. The first traces of indepen-
dent thinking had awakened in him. For this reason he is sometimes also called the father of
arithmetic, because he was the inaugurator of that kind of intelligence needed for the develop-
ment of arithmetic, in a modern sense. First, he went from Chaldea to Egypt, but the soul
condition he encountered there did not suit his novel spirit either. Finally, he settled down in
Palestine and became the father of the Hebrew people whose special task it was to develop the
brain-founded thinking of the intellect.
The perihelion of the Earth entered the constellation of Gemini at that time. That which
stands in the cosmos as a witness of the story of the human head indicated that another mighty
change was going to take place. The earthly Twin, our mortality, was on the road of emanci-
pating its intelligence from the heavenly Twin, the old cosmic intelligence, which humanity of
old had received as a gift in a state of dependence. But the stream of humanity that Abraham
inaugurated had the impulse to move toward freedom and independence.
This is, however, not the end of the story. As much as we needed the development of
spiritual freedom, so much was there also the danger of carrying emancipation too far. The
impulse of freedom was implanted into us by the Divinity so that we might eventually raise
ourselves to the level of a new hierarchy. Out of the power of that freedom and love, we are
expected to fall in with the great cosmic aims and goals of the Divinity. However, there is the
possibility that we completely separate from the course of divine evolution. This possibility is
innate in the very nature of freedom. If it should happen, it would mean the fall of humanity
into the abyss of animalhood and even lower.
In this sense, the perihelion of the Earth is still in Gemini. The development of our head
forces is still exposed to the dangers of that great emancipation. However, the final crisis, with
regard to the destiny of the human intellect, will come when the perihelion of the Earth will
have entered the constellation of Cancer (about 6100 AD and later). Cancer, if it is not met by
us with the power of the Christ Impulse of Love, becomes the cosmic expression of the abyss
of utter destruction and oblivion.
Rudolf Steiner has spoken, on the basis of his spiritual insight, of that time when this will
happen, during the seventh and eighth millenniums. As previous Epochs, for instance, Lemuria
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and Atlantis, were terminated in universal catastrophes, so must the present epoch also come
to an end during that future time. In the past it was catastrophes of nature, for instance,
colossal flood disasters in Atlantis. They were partly caused by human failure. The present
epoch will come to an end, during the last civilization (about 5700-7900 AD), in a “War of All
against All”. This will, of course, be the result of an intellectuality that will have lost all mean-
ingful integration in the totality of Earth existence. (Sometimes one can get the impression
that our present age is already preparing those events in the future with great haste.)
We expect the argument that it is difficult to conceive of the possibility that such like
concerns, as indicated by Jupiter and Saturn in the heliocentric chart, lived in Tycho Brahe’s
soul. However, we still maintain that most of his biographers were unable to do justice to the
true character of this personality. The esotericist and occultist—his astrological views and
activities are proof that he must be seen in this light—is by nature hidden to purely literary
access. Apart from this, we have delineated the asterogram of Tycho Brahe in order to demon-
strate, particularly, the possibilities and ethical perspectives that a spiritual astrology can offer.
The human being has much deeper and more profound connections with the cosmos than
classical astrology has the means to discern. In the great majority, these potentials are usually
wasted away in complacency and mediocrity. It could become a most noble task of a spiritual
or Christian astrology, to guide people to the true wellsprings of their eternal being, and it
could lead them to real and productive integration in the greater process of evolution.
One way to ascertain, in the field of history, how far human beings lived up to their cosmic
potential is the asterogram of death. The chart of October 24, 1601 (n.s.), when Tycho Brahe
died, finds Saturn in the sidereal constellation of Libra, both geocentric and heliocentric. We
have mentioned this earlier (Jan. ’68 issue), and we also pointed out that this coincided in
position with Saturn at the moment of the death of Copernicus and Kepler. These positions
were expressions of the tremendous battle and decision in which these three individualities
were involved. They were decisions that concerned humanity and the implications arising
from the Copernican, heliocentric world conception against the old geocentric views. We have
described these problems earlier in connection with the study of the incarnation chart of
Tycho Brahe. He was very hesitant to accept Copernicanism, and in the end he worked out his
own compromise solution. We said that it seems to have been deeply associated with the
implications of Christianity in coming to regard the Christ Event as a central event in the
universe. For this reason the Roman Church saw itself obliged to expect that the Earth, on
which this central event had taken place, occupied the center of cosmic space. This is why
Copernicus avoided, up to the end, publicizing his heliocentric views too broadly. He knew
that he would otherwise run into strong opposition from the Roman Church. Later on, Galileo
did indeed encounter this opposition for his heliocentric views. His clash and curtailment by
the Inquisition is well-known.
The question must arise: What is the right position of a modern human being with regard
to these problems? Principally, we must realize that the esoteric perspective of Christianity
need not claim centrality for the Earth as the heavenly locality on which the Christ Events took
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place. It certainly has deepest reasons to regard these events as standing in a decisive central
position in greater evolution but in a spiritual (not in a spatial) sense. Even early Christian
tradition of the Gospels speaks of the birth of Jesus having taken place in an obscure corner
and situation of the world. And the ministry of Christ was possibly only witnessed by a few
hundred people at the time,
An esoteric Christianity will recognize that the Christ Impulse must in time become the
center of the universe if humanity and the Earth are to fulfill their meaning in evolution. But
it also realizes that we still have a long road to travel to that end, which will demand tremen-
dous inner efforts from humanity.
Rudolf Steiner spoke on these problems in a lecture on January 11, 1924 (printed in the
collection Rosicrucianism and Modern Initiation, London, 1950). He pointed out that in the medi-
eval Rosicrucian mystery schools, the pupil was at first confronted with the Ptolemaic, geocen-
tric conception of the universe. He was told that the Earth should have been the center of the
solar cosmos. However, because of the Fall of humanity, the Earth lost its potential position,
and the Sun took over as center. The remedy is the Christ Event. Through our identification
with the Christ Event, the Earth and the human being will be able to establish, in future times,
the rightful position of the planet in the cosmos. It will require our expansion to spiritual-
cosmic dimensions, of whose magnitude we can hardly have any concept at present.
Another question might arise: Is the compromise conception of the cosmos that Tycho
Brahe developed (see Aug. ’69), under these circumstances, a rather superficial solution? Is the
heliocentric perspective not, after all, the only permissible one? There is, however, in Tycho’s
conception more than meets the eye. A deep awareness must have lived in him that: 1)the
Earth should have been in the center, 2) it is not there because of the sin of humanity, and 3)
in far future times it must attain that central position by an esoteric Christian evolution of our
spiritual being. In this sense, Tycho’s world system is a seed point of future developments.
That future will bring, at first, a perspective according to which both, Sun and Earth, will be
conceived as moving and alternately exchanging places in the solar cosmos. Of course, present
astronomy is far too strongly entrenched in the Copernican system to accept any such view;
however, a future science will be able to move beyond the craving for materialistic simplifica-
tion. Rudolf Steiner has pointed out such possibilities. They are also conceivable from practi-
cal viewpoints. One can see Sun and Earth (even the planets) both moving in lemniscates
(similar to the figure “eight”). According to this view, they would occupy the center in turn. In
actual fact, such a solution looks like a slow preparation of future times, when the Earth with
its spiritualized humanity will become a new Sun-center of the universe itself.
Such ideas are also guidelines for our attempt in this journal to combine and reconcile the
geocentric and the heliocentric approaches. We regard it as a provisional measure until such
time when the two views can be integrated in a new unified conception of the universe. Theo-
retically this is feasible, but as long as the present dogmas of mechanistic-materialistic outlooks
in all concerns of human existence prevail, the human mind is, as a rule, not inclined to accept
the practicability of such a new conception.
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From this viewpoint, Tycho’s Saturn in Libra at death, as an expression of humanity deci-
sions, receives a new meaning. It becomes an image of the greatness of Tycho Brahe, in the
sense of a spiritual responsibility. Yet, in his incarnation he was unable to go any further than
he did. His age was against him, and that had to be so. Tycho’s Saturn at death is then the
picture of an unfinished task that will demand completion in the future. As such, it goes into
the future, a constant challenge with regard to the problems concerning the spiritual integrity
of humanity and the Earth. An investigation of the returns of Saturn (and of other planets)
into sidereal Libra reveals that these are always connected with moments of decisions in hu-
man history.
On this basis we hope that our readers can see that our seemingly exalted views on Tycho
Brahe’s heliocentric incarnation asterogram are not overdone.
The value of the heliocentric view has lately been verified by the investigations of a medi-
cal doctor in Czechoslovakia. He investigated the asterograms of so-called Mongoloid chil-
dren, and he compared 50 cases of inflicted youngsters with 150 healthy ones who had the
same mothers. A German astrological magazine (Kosmobiologie, 36th Year, No. 5, 1969, edited in
Aalen by E. Ebertin) reports from a letter it received: “…the geocentric approach did not lead
to any convincing results… However, the heliocentric perspective presented us with startling
discoveries. In almost all cases of the sick children, Mercury was in detrimental aspect to
Venus, and simultaneously, the Earth to Neptune. These aspects were not contained in the
asterograms of the healthy children...”
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Geocentric
The most outstanding event during the present month is the first of five oppositions of
Jupiter and Saturn. This one will take place on December 30, with Jupiter in 2° 04' of the
ecliptic sign of , and Saturn in 2 04. Saturn will then be in the sidereal constellation of
Aries, whereas Jupiter will still be in the region of the feet of what, astronomically, is consid-
ered to he the effigy of Virgo.
The following four oppositions will occur on March 8, 1970, November 18, 1970 (with
Jupiter in sidereal Libra), June 12, 1971 and October 17, 1971 (with Jupiter in sidereal Scorpio
and Saturn in Taurus). (The heliocentric opposition will happen on January 11, 1971.)
These events are the halfway occurrences between the Great Conjunctions of Saturn and
Jupiter of 1940-1 and 2000. We have mentioned the 1940-1 already in the May ‘69 issue, and
have also described its setting in the big triangle, which these conjunctions form in the ecliptic.
In the following diagram (Fig. 16), we indicate some of the ancestry of the sequence of con-
junctions (and in some cases, also the intervening oppositions). This information is derived
from a study of the rotation of the Great Triangle in the course of history.
The first conjunction in the AD Era leads us back to 34 AD. This followed the year of the
Events on Golgotha, in 33 AD. We must, therefore, presume that the preparatory stages of the
conjunction saw the attacks of Saul on very early Christianity, and finally his dramatic conver-
sion (see Acts VIII-IX). This obviously set the pace of the challenges that entered human
history afterward in connection with the descendants of that conjunction in 34 AD. It is also
evident that not all the challenges were met with such constructive and positive developments
in the human domain as that of the conversion of Saul to the great apostle of Christianity to
western humanity, St. Paul.
One such event that displayed a certain resemblance to the experience of Saul at the Gate
of Damascus was synonymous with the Great Conjunction of 452, a descendant of the one in
34 AD. Attila, the King of the Huns (“the Scourge of God”), had invaded Western Europe in
the preceding years. After he was defeated at Châlons-sur-Marne in 451, he turned to Italy in
452. At the height of his ravaging incursion, he was met by Pope Leo I, who persuaded him to
abstain from further advance. The Huns turned back and never returned. The legend, how-
ever, says that in the moment when he was confronted by Leo I, Attila saw the spirits of the
princes, the Apostles Peter and Paul, appear above him. This is supposed to have made him
decide to break off his Italian campaign. The great Renaissance artist Raphael Santi depicted
this scene in one of his paintings.
The original event, where we started in 34 AD, led us back to a moment when a human
being experienced the Presence of the Risen Christ, against a whole world of disbelief and
skepticism. In a very broad sense, we can say, an intensive historical study leads us to similar
events of the experience of the “presence” of the spirit, or the spiritual world. However, the
forces who see reason to deny and even to eliminate this “presence” from the experience of
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the human soul, also raise their heads. They meet the challenge of the Great Conjunctions
with acts of denial. A perfect example is the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 869 AD. On
the Earth this was accompanied by the Church Council of Constantinople, which abdicated
the third principle of the human being, the spirit. We have elaborated on this Council already
in the Mar. ’69 issue.
Figure 16
Great Conjunctions (outer circle) and Oppositions (inner circle)

of the series starting in 34 AD
(In the case of an opposition, Saturn returns to the approximate position of the two planets
at the preceding conjuncion, whereas Jupiter is then opposite.)
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At the same time, at least during that 9th century, events happened that led humanity for-
ward into the opposite direction. During the 9th century, the story of Parsifal took place as an
historic reality, which was described by Wolfram von Eschenbach, Chrétien de Troyes, and
others. In these descriptions, Parsifal stands out like an archetype of a humanity seeking the
spirit and its manifestation in the physical world and eventually finding it after long trials. It is
the exact antithesis of what the Council of Constantinople had postulated.
However, the mighty impulses of doubt and opposition moved through history too. Around
1077, an opposition of Saturn and Jupiter took place, belonging to the sequence that eventually
leads to 1969-70-71. This was the time of Berengarius, a medieval theologian. He is the chief
figure in the Eucharist controversy of that age. That humanity had already lost, to a high
degree, the capacity to understand and adapt as a truth the Transubstantiation of Bread and
Wine at the altar into the body and blood of Christ, and Berengarius gave expression to this
incapacity.
Only two oppositions of this order later, around 1196-7, Eschenbach must have started to
write down his Parsifal, which intends to open up roads to the perception of new vistas toward
the spiritual meaning and significance of the Transubstantiation.
Another two cycles of this Great Opposition lead us to the years 1314-5. This was the time
when a certain sector of a so-called Christian humanity had, in practice, obviously dismissed
the principles of the Christ Impulse. Thus it was possible that the Order of the Knights
Templars was eliminated on the basis of typical Inquisitorial torture and extraction of false
self-accusations. These means were quite obviously the exact antitheses of the true spirit of
Christianity. The final act of destruction was the burning of the last Grandmaster of the
Order, Jacques de Molay, at the stake on March 18, 1314.
Nevertheless, the forward march of the experience of the “presence” could not be totally
obstructed by these events. Another two cycles of the Great Opposition of this order brings
us to about 1434. It was the century when that great mysterious personality, Christian
Rosenkreutz, inaugurated the Rosicrucian movement. This must be regarded as the true suc-
cessor of the impulse that lived in the Knights Templars, even in the Knights of the Holy
Grail. The Order of the Holy Grail saw in the Holy Vessel, which has a certain connection
with our physical body, an element that originally stemmed from the realm of Lucifer, the
Adversary. However, it had been elevated and sanctified by the Holy Host that was laid down
in it every Good Friday by the Dove from Heaven. Likewise, the Knights Templars regarded
themselves as the guardians of the Sepulchre, representing the darkness of the Earth but from
which the Resurrection, the hope of all future, had taken place. And Rosicrucianism summed
this up in the imagination of the Rose Cross. The black cross is the pictorial sum total of all
that binds us to the domains of the Earth in which death rules. But the glowing red roses
represent the ever possible presence of the resurrection and eternal life in our being.
After the 15th century, the stream of human evolution, which responded positively to that
particular sequence of Great Conjunctions/Oppositions, withdrew more and more into the
background of history. One can regard it as the stream of Esoteric Christianity that didn’t find
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in the ensuing age of materialism much popular recognition. We see that the Great Opposition
of about 1613 was met by a great number of writings on genuine Rosicrucianism, published in
the course of those years (see A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology, Edited by Paul M. Allen in
Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1968, p. 600.). In 1612, Jakob Boehme, who worked until then as
a simple shoemaker, gave up his profession and wrote Aurora, oder die Morgenröte im Aufgang.
This was a book of deep spiritual content that made a lasting impression on a Central Euro-
pean humanity in search of the spirit.
The Great Opposition of 1791 saw the French revolution in full swing. Soon afterwards it
deteriorated into the Terror of Robespierre and finally reversed itself into the rise of Napo-
leon. This is a particularly important and admonishing aspect with regard to the present oppo-
sitions and corresponding world situation. At the same time, the movements of Classicism
and Romanticism entered decisive stages of their development. In Germany, Goethe and
Schiller drew closer during the following years, which was of great significance. It laid the
foundation for Goethe’s publication of the Legend (das Märchen von der grünen Schlange und der
schönen Lilie) in 1795. This must be regarded as a further representation of Rosicrucian truth.
Also the German poet, Novalis, went through decisive developments and meetings at the univer-
sities of Jena and Leipzig. He can, in the truest sense, be regarded as a modern representative
of a Christianity of “experience” and “presence”.
Two cycles later bring us to the Great Oppositions of 1910 (30 April and 18 October).
Again, decisive developments occurred with regard to the experience of spiritual reality and
presence. Rudolf Steiner opened the year of 1910 at Stockholm with a cycle of lectures on the
Gospel of St. John in relation to the other three Gospels. In between, on 12 January 1910, he
spoke for the first time of the pending appearance of Christ in an etheric sheath (the Second
Coming, according to The Acts of the Apostles, chapter I), which was to be expected from the
second third of the 20th century toward the future. Thus, the challenge of this Great Opposi-
tion was again answered by the cognition of the “presence” that first confronted St. Paul.
During the following months and in 1911, Rudolf Steiner complemented this message with
many lectures, for instance, the cycle of lectures, From Jesus to Christ, in October 1911, at Karlsruhe.
Between 1910-11 and the present, was the Great Conjunctions of 1940 (8 August and 20
October) and 1941 (15 February). They belonged to the same sequence of conjunctions going
back to 34 AD. These were the years that were under the extreme pressure of events in
Europe, during the Second World War. Even so, we know that things took place in extreme
seclusion and in the back stages of external history, which were in line with the streams of
evolution discussed above. For instance, it was possible to find the principles of cosmological
confirmation and amplification of the imminence of the Second Coming, which Rudolf Steiner
had pointed out 30 years earlier.
With this whole background of historic implications, we now move toward those opposi-
tions in 1969, 1970, and 1971. We can easily realize how much will depend on the human
attitude and spiritual activity with which these events will be met. This can become a grandiose
preparation for the following Great Conjunction of this order, in 2000 AD. There might still
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now be an opportunity of preventing developments from sliding into similar and probably
worse catastrophes than those one cycle earlier, in 1940-1. There are always the two possibili-
ties for us of meeting the events in the heavens: either by spiritually constructive, redeeming,
healing deeds, which will become more and more our responsibility toward the stars , or we will
disappoint them by letting things slide, and then the demonic forces will take hold of the
cosmic situations and use them for their destructive aims.
Heliocentric
The geocentric events at the end of December are accompanied by corresponding aspects
in the heliocentric perspective. This happens very often; for instance, we noticed the geocen-
tric opposition of Jupiter and Saturn, and at the same time, only with little more than an hour’s
difference, Venus will be in a sextile aspect to Jupiter (60° distance) and in a trine to Saturn
(120° distance). During the same time, with a few days difference, we discover that the spheres
of Jupiter and Venus are engaged, according to the heliocentric calendar.
On December 21, Mars will stand in the perihelion of Jupiter, directed toward the sidereal
constellation of Pisces. On December 27, Mercury will step into the same perihelion line. (A
few months earlier, on September 3, Jupiter itself was in the aphelion end of its line of ap-
sides.) On December 25, Venus will be in its own descending node, directed toward sidereal
Scorpio.
This can give us an idea of how the geocentric and heliocentric views can complement
each other and must not be regarded as irreconcilable conceptions of the cosmos. The geo-
centric view carries an imaginative impression of the cosmic events that, in the truest sense, is
indispensable for astrosophical and astrological work. The heliocentric aspect can give a first,
and, so far, preliminary idea of the happenings with regard to the spheres of the planets.
Thereby, we have the beginning of a new insight into the spheres, which an ancient humanity
still had, and that we must discover in a modern, practical, and yet, spiritual approach.
In order to create a conception of how events connected with the apsidal lines of the
planets can be met constructively, we might, for instance, employ the historical approach. As
we pointed out earlier, these lines do not stand still. They are also moving, measured on the
background of the sidereal constellations, though their movement is very slow. Thus, accord-
ing to the present ratio of progression, the perihelion of Jupiter has entered the domain of
present sidereal Pisces coming from Aquarius in the dim past. This must have happened
around 5600 BC. We are, of course, fully aware that Pisces must have presented a very differ-
ent image at that time from the present. On the other hand, it will enter the domain of present
sidereal Aries, according to computation, in about 7900 AD. Therefore, this perihelion will be
found moving through the total constellation of Pisces during the era that occultism recog-
nizes as the cycle of seven civilizations following the epoch of Atlantis. It started in 7227 BC
with the ancient Indian civilization, and it will come to a conclusion with a seventh civilization
in 7893 AD. Rudolf Steiner speaks about this Era in books such as Occult Science and Cosmic
Memory.
131
In these books, Rudolf Steiner describes the transition from Atlantis to the present cycle,
or from the Fourth to the Fifth Root-race (Cosmic Memory, chapter IV). He says: “The principal
leader of the Fifth Atlantean sub-race (the fifth sub-cycle of Atlantis) gradually prepared it so
that in later times after the decline of the Atlantean way of life, it could begin a new one that
was to be wholly directed by the faculty of thought … it was a matter of arranging all of life
according to the new conception of a divine administration of the world. Everywhere the
thoughts of people were to be directed from the visible to the invisible...”
The very image of the constellation of Andromeda, above Pisces, below which the perihe-
lion of Jupiter moves, supplements this information. (We have referred to this cosmic mystery
in the Nov. ’66 issue.) Andromeda has the star, which marks her forehead, in common with
Pegasus. Thus Pegasus, the image of winged intelligence or thought, seems to be rising up
from her head, from the region of that organ that is sometimes called in classic Asia “the Third
Eye”. The additional implication through the perihelion of Jupiter is that all this must be
fulfilled by the development and possible spiritual potentization of the power of thinking. The
forces of Jupiter create in us the organization necessary for thinking, i.e., the whole nervous
system. However, we are expected to evolve, thereby, not just that kind of statistical faculty
that is all too often mistaken for thinking; rather, in order to get on with the job of the whole
Post-Atlantean epoch, we must develop moral imagination and even intuitive thinking.
This kind of capacity must have been present in some form in the lives of such great souls
as Leonardo da Vinci (died 2 May 1519) and Michelangelo (died 18 February 1564). They
fulfilled their artistic achievements by such faculties. This was indicated clearly by the position
of Mercury at the moment of their death. It was, in both cases, in the perihelion of Jupiter,
similar to the situation on December 27 of this year. Also at the moment of passing over of
Goethe (22 March 1832) and Emerson (27 April 1882) Mercury was in that same apsidal line.
It is not easy to find examples in history of Mars in the perihelion of Jupiter as it is on
December 21. Two occasions, on which glowing responses came from the human realm, stand
out in modern times: one was on December 25, 1922, when Rudolf Steiner composed those
words that we printed in the Star Journal of Dec. ’68, “The Stars spake once to Man...” This is
one such manifestation of creative, intuitive thinking. A creative potential of our relationship
to the stars is hidden like a germ in our emancipation from the ancient dependence on the
cosmos. This is the message of hope in those words. The second, a similar demonstration of
possible response to a Mars in the perihelion of Jupiter, is contained in the essay Rudolf Steiner
wrote on October 25, 1924. (Mars was then, heliocentrically, in 9.5° of the ecliptic and the
perihelion of Jupiter in 13.1°.) He was already tied down by sickness but regularly edited essays
to the members of the Anthroposophical Society. (They are collected in English translation
under the title The Michael Mystery.) In the one of October 25, he speaks of the Archangel
Michael’s endeavor to connect the world of the stars through human beings with the spiritual
world. The starry universe has moved so far away from the original divine cosmos that there is
no longer spirit life in it. Thus there would no longer exist a need for us, at present, to associate
with it in the moment of our incarnation. However, Michael insists that we take up a connec-
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tion at incarnation so that the stars, being present in us during a lifetime, are still linked to the
spiritual cosmos. Moreover, looking toward the future, we are more and more called upon to
impress upon the spirit-estranged external cosmos, the essence of what we can become as a
spirit being ourselves. This can happen, for instance, at the moment of passing over, when by
handing back our principles, such as the ether body, we permeate the cosmos with the essence
of our life’s endeavors.
In the two instances, we see examples describing what we can eventually evolve in our-
selves as free, constructive responses to events such as those at Christmas time of the present
year.
The position of Venus in its own descending node on December 25 expects responses
from us of a different kind but eventually falling in with the ones we described above in con-
nection with Mars and Mercury. This Venus is associated more with the second half of the
whole Earth evolution and, particularly, with the new perspectives brought into Earth exist-
ence through the Christ Event. In a deeper sense, it waits for all that we can bring about as the
transition and new creation from the ancient mysteries to the new Christian Mysteries leading
into the future. Guidelines with regard to this were expressed by Rudolf Steiner, for instance,
in his cycle of lectures on the Revelation of St. John, or Apocalypse (Nuremberg, June 18-30,
1908). On the day of the first lecture, 18 June 1908, Venus was in its descending node.
A great human being who passed over when Venus was close to its descending node was
Thomas Aquinas (died 7 March 1274). He was surely close, in some way, to the new Christian
Mysteries. Later, only great composers seem to have been able to live up to such heights. The
planet was in its descending node, or close to it, at the moment of death of the following great
ones in the world of music and composition: Gluck (15 November 1787), Haydn (31 May
1809), Bruckner (11 October 1896), Verdi (27 January 1901).
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Heliocentric
The superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun occurs on Jan 24, in c. 304° 26' (also
January 24 geocentrically). This conjunction is one in a series that repeats itself every eight
years. Thus a few of the predecessors of the present one were: January 27, 1962, c. 307°;
January 29, 1954, c. 310°; February 1, 1946, c. 312°; February 4, 1938, 315°; February 6, 1930,
317°. Halfway between there were inferior conjunctions of this series, when the planet was
involved in retrograde movement and was standing in front of the Sun as seen from the Earth.
This occurred Janua ry 26, 1966, c. 306°; January 28, 1958, c. 308°; January 31, 1950, c. 311°;
February 2, 1942, c. 313°; February 5, 1934, c. 316°.
These figures show that the conjunctions of one series are very slowly moving backwards
in the ecliptic. The difference between two events of the same order is only 2 or 3°; however,
over a long time this establishes a complete rotation of the conjunctions in this series through
the ecliptic. Such a rotation needs little more than 1,200 years. For instance, the conjunction
of January 1970 was in about 305.5° of the ecliptic on January 22, 723 AD, similar to 1970 but
without consideration of the precession of the vernal equinox. This means that in 723 it
happened at the tail end of the sidereal constellation of Capricorn. In between, the conjunc-
tion moved steadily backwards in the Zodiac until it arrived again, on its orbital return, in the
same longitude.
Apart from this series of conjunctions, there exist four more series that are activated in the
course of eight years. For instance, the following superior conjunctions happened during the
last decade and will happen in the future: August 30, 1963, 156°; April 12, 1965, 22°; Novem-
ber 9, 1966, c. 226°; June 20, 1968, c. 89°; January 24, 1970, c. 305°; August 27, 1971, c. 154°.
During the same period inferior conjunctions of Venus occurred on: April 11, 1961, c. 21°;
November 12, 1962, c. 230°; June 19, 1964, c. 89°; January 26, 1966, c. 306°; August 29, 1967,
c. 156°; April 8, 1969, c. 19°.
It will be noticed that superior and inferior conjunctions are always four years apart, and
they take place in approximately the same positions of the ecliptic. Thus the conjunctions
write two pentagons into the ecliptic. One is made by the superior conjunctions, during which
the planet is far away from the Earth, and the other is indicated by the inferior conjunctions
when the planet is much closer to the Earth. The following diagram will illustrate this. It will
be seen that the progress of the events through the ecliptic lend a hand to the idea of two
pentagrams.
The pentagrams are not equilateral, which is partially due to the variable speed of the
planet in the ecliptic, and also to the fact that they are involved in constant rotation.
This is an excellent example for once more indicating how we imagine a cooperation be-
tween the heliocentric and geocentric aspects and how they can be visualized in practice. (It is,
of course, different when it comes to working out philosophical-astronomical perspectives of
the two views.)
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Figure 17
Superior and Inferior (loops) Conjunctions of Venus
Mean maximum distance of Venus from Earth = c. 160 million miles

Mean minimum distance of Venus from Earth = c. 26 million miles
Mean minimum distance of Earth from Sun = c. 93 million miles
From 1968 superior conjunction, to

1969 inferior conjunction and loop,
to 1970 superior conjunction.
Apparent orbit of the Sun.
135
We have chosen this superior conjunction of Venus, because it can show us, with the help
of the diagram, what a tremendous breathing (systole, diastole) process takes place in the
movement from the inferior (loop) to the superior conjunction. This is a spatial reality, if we
look at it from the geocentric view, which is of greatest importance for our studies. We can
imagine it as a contraction of the sphere of the planet into a head-like quality in the event of
movement into an inferior loop phase, and an expansion into a limb-like realization of the
sphere out into cosmic space, in the case of the superior conjunction. To this we can now add
the fact that the event of January 1970 has a history that can give us useful suggestions as to
what the challenge of it might be. For instance, we mentioned earlier that this superior con-
junction of Venus can be found in the same ecliptic location (not the same sidereal constellation)
in 723 AD. It was an extremely lively time of historic impact. Shortly before, in 711, the
Islamic Moors had invaded Spain from North Africa. They soon tried to break into the area of
present-day France. Only with great effort were the Franks able to hold them back. Also,
elsewhere in the then known world lively developments happened, chiefly initiated by the Is-
lamic nation pressing forward. Later repetitions of this conjunction, particularly at times of its
ingress into the signs of the ecliptic, saw widespread political upheavals.
For instance, in 1586 this conjunction had entered the sign of from . This was the time
when Queen Mary of Scotland was condemned to death, together with many others. She was
finally executed in 1587. In 1690 the conjunction moved from the sign of into . This saw
the commencement of the Era of Peter the Great of Russia, followed by decisive political
developments and wars in Eastern Europe. In 1794 this conjunction regressed from the eclip-
tic sign of into . It was the culmination and end of the terror of Robespierre, who was then
executed.
The question still remains: What kind of challenge, if we deliberately avoid the concept of
determination or fate, might we have to expect in connection with the conjunction in January
1970? We can only say that it carries with it certain cosmic memories of happenings and
problems in the human sphere from the past. The recurrence of the cosmic event works upon
those memories, possibly deeply buried in human organisms. How the human beings con-
cerned will react, we cannot definitely surmise. The employment of the heliocentric counter
aspect can give us an idea of what is involved.
Fundamentally, the sphere of Venus is associated with the developments and destinies of
all kinds of human communities, for instance, of nations. Human souls do go through that
sphere after death in self-judgment and catharsis. They meet the conditions and problems they
have experienced in the domain of community while still alive on Earth. Thus Venus is con-
nected with association, relationship to environment, integration, and love in a cosmic sense.
This involves also social conditions, developments, and crises in our modern world. The helio-
centric perspective reveals that the series, of which the one in January 1970 is one instance, is
now especially associated with this historic background.
The Venus conjunction of January 1970 is close to its aphelion line and also to the de-
scending nodal line of Neptune. The earlier conjunction of this series, in 1954, was actually
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closest to the two lines. Here we can find an answer to our problem. The two lines are very
close together. At the beginning of the century they were only 1½° apart. Since the perihe-
lion-aphelion line of Venus is 10 min. per year faster, the two will coincide only toward the end
of the 21st century. Thus, all we said earlier about Venus will be emphasized more than ever
before, already as it has approached our present age and still more at present. The fact that this
stands out in the heavens as a challenge, demanding constructive answers of contemporary
humanity, is one of the reasons why we are moving through an age of unprecedented social
upheavals. Of course, we don’t overlook the fact that the social conditions on the Earth and
the development of human consciousness have gradually led up to this situation.
A close study of the associations of the node of Neptune leads us to a point in the far past
that is equally important for an adequate judgment. Around 1300 BC, the node of Neptune
coincided with the aphelion of Mars, which was then in Cancer. At present the aphelion is in
the direction of sidereal Leo. Thus, we have here a relationship of the sphere of Neptune to
that of Mars, similar to that of Neptune to Venus in modern times. An additional fact is that
the ascending node of Neptune at the time of Christ was situated between the perihelion of
Venus and the aphelion of Mars, and Saturn at the time of Golgotha was close to that ascend-
ing node of Neptune.
However, what is the significance of Neptune and its sphere? There are several approaches
that can lead to an answer. One is the experience of the human soul after death of this sphere.
After a long process of purification, the soul may ascend to the exalted spheres of spiritual
being. Rudolf Steiner calls this Spiritland and describes it, for instance, in his Theosophy (Edi-
tion 1965, p.102, f.). In this sphere our soul meets the real, higher “self ”. It is that eternal
“self ” that moves through the repeated existences on the Earth planet. “As the architect learns
from the imperfections that show themselves in his work, and as he brings into his new plans
only what he was able to change from imperfections, so the “self ”, in the fifth region, casts off
from its experiences in former lives whatever is bound up with the imperfections of the lower
worlds, and fertilizes the purposes of the Spiritland, purposes with which it now lives, with the
results of its former lives.” (From Theosophy).
If we contemplate this, we can understand the connection of the forces working from the
sphere of Neptune with the social evolution on the basis of the association of Neptune, first
with Mars in pre-Christian times and with Venus at present.
The connection of Neptune with Mars points to almost diametrically opposite concepts
of social order. A social order is, or at least should be, an institution on the Earth where our
immortal “self ” can grow and unfold in a community of fellow selves. But the beings working
from Mars have, so to speak, a different “opinion” on these matters from those of Venus.
Mars is a planetary sphere that was, essentially, involved in the first half of the evolution of the
planetary universe, of which our Earth is an integral part. In order to create the world of
nature, which we human beings can grasp with our senses, Mars had to precipitate the creative
wisdom of the divine world into Earth materiality. In every detail of the physical object world
is contained wisdom of a supreme divine order. One can even say that the spirit is buried in the
137
world of matter. This was the work of the beings working from Mars during the major first
part of the Earth evolution. It was a downward trend into materiality, away from the sources
of existence in divine spirituality. This can also explain why Mars was sometimes considered to
be “malefic” and an antagonist of the good.
However, these planetary impacts had and still have their task, so to speak, in the economy
of world evolution. Surely, humanity was more and more separated and emancipated from the
spiritual world. Only the external and materialized workings of the divinity and its cosmic
helpers were accessible to us through our senses. But, thereby, we became increasingly inde-
pendent and moved along the road toward spiritual freedom. Slowly, we reached a point—and
we have arrived there in this present age—where only a free inner decision, without any impo-
sition from our environment, can lead us back to a new realization of the divine spiritual world,
in loving identification of our “self ” with the aims of the spiritual world.
Naturally, this road was, and certainly still is, beset with the gravest of dangers. As long as
we have not reached a definite degree of spiritual freedom, born out of the power of absolute
thinking discernment, we are in constant danger of falling and losing our humanhood. Only
through the Christ Event are we enabled to reach out to this inner strength of higher, cosmic
egohood. Thus we can justify and rectify the great emancipation of the human race during
bygone ages of evolution.
Therefore, humanity living before the Christ Event still had to be guided by the divine
world. Correspondingly, the social orders of pre-Christian times were also of a theocratic
nature. Only a few great ones of the human race were, in the end, able to achieve direct access
to the divine spiritual world. Thereby, only these few were able to realize the great evolutionary
aims of the divinity and to transmit the essence of their insight to the people they had to guide.
This situation reached a certain climax in the Mosaic Law. This was given in the course of the
Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt, chronologically in the neighborhood of that coin-
cidence of the lines of the apsides (perihelion-aphelion) of Mars and the nodal line of Nep-
tune, which we mentioned earlier and which happened around 1300 BC.
Moses was able, as an initiate, to see events to come in history. He saw the approach of the
Incarnation of Christ, and he saw his task in the preparation of the Hebrew people for this
event. They were not yet able to guide their footsteps in freedom and full harmony with the
aims of the divine world. They had to be taught and led, which was sometimes painful for
them. Therefore, Moses had to give them the Ten Commandments, as the core of their com-
munity building and social order. Around this core a huge volume of ritualistic rules and
institutions was built. They constituted quite a practical order of social life. For instance, the
institution of the Passover Lamb, or Ram, was a yearly recurring reminder of the coming
Incarnation of the Lamb, or Ram, of God. John the Baptist, indeed, saw Christ when he
baptized Jesus. He realized Christ in the descent of a Being of a high hierarchical order into
the body of Jesus.
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Conclusion of the Superior Conjunction of Venus

A modern humanity might conceive a social order of this nature as an imposition. In
ancient times it was, of course, received by a totally different consciousness from the present.
As a matter of fact, it has survived into our age but has moved through a number of variations
and changes. One of them was the social order of ancient Rome. There the social order was
founded on the concept of Civic Law. Another form was medieval feudalism built on a hierar-
chical order of society. However, our modern age increasingly feels that this kind of social
order must be evolved into something more akin to the status of contemporary humanity. The
old social orders and institutions were necessitated by the evolution inaugurated by the forces
of Mars. The human being of the present age experiences, mostly deep in the subconscious,
that the structure and organization of the human society, or community, should be erected and
borne out of the working of the Venus forces. Unfortunately, what is all too often forgotten is
that in order to achieve this, we individuals must rise to a level of high spiritual freedom and
moral imagination, which alone is the fulfillment and justification of the independence that we
have attained.
The development toward these higher aims, of adjusting to the new requirements in setting
the “house of humanity” in order, is obviously slow in progress, tumultuous at times, and even
painful. A corresponding historical study reveals that the greater turning points on this road,
for instance, the social revolutions in modern history, are connected with events on these nodal
and apsidal lines of Neptune, Venus, and even Mars.
We have four abbreviated charts illustrated below, three of which give the heliocentric
configurations of the heavens at the time of major social revolutions:
The first shows the situation on the eve of the French Revolution (Fig. 18). Jupiter had just
passed Uranus in conjunction and was close to the ascending node of Neptune and the perihe-
lion of Venus. At the same time it was in a so-called quintile aspect, or 72° distance, to Nep-
tune. The closeness of Uranus and Jupiter to the elements of the spheres of Neptune and
Venus falls in with what we said earlier (Jan. ‘66) about the implications contained in the ap-
proaching coincidence of these lines identifying the plan-
etary spheres. Obviously in that moment, in 1789, there
was the need for reconstruction of the foundations of the
human community knocking at the door. The call for the
new Venus order was apparent in the heavens. Figure 18
The French Revolution was a rebellion against the rusty
feudal structure of the French monarchy. It had to be ex-
pected at some point of history. At the time before its
inception, there also existed a connection with certain eso-
teric, occult impulses in humanity. For instance, the great
motive to achieve Fraternity, Equality, and Liberty by this
139
revolution, demonstrates that there existed in some minds a realization of the need to build the
new order on threefoldness. The threefoldness of the human being as body, soul, and spirit—
an ancient spiritual recognition—must be safeguarded if a new social order is expected to be
built on a healthy foundation. The cognition of the requisites of the economy, the safeguard
of human rights, and the free development of the cultural life must, of course, go with it.
Very soon, however, it became apparent that humanity of that time was unable to attain
these objectives of allowing the three spheres to develop, each in unobstructed freedom. The
political element, which should have safeguarded human rights, turned into the opposite and
became the terror practiced by the very few, for instance, Robespierre. What had happened?
That humanity had fallen back into the ancient Mars order of social structures, where the few,
the monarch, the despot, the absolute leader ruled the multitudes.
Why did this happen? The temptation to fall back seems to have been facilitated by the
movement of Jupiter through the aphelion of Mars about one year after the commencement
of the revolution. Thereby the Mars forces of social consciousness raised their head again and
spoiled the original impulse wherever they could find access in human nature. There is no need
to imagine that things had to develop as they did. Principally, we have the power in our age to
resist such temptations, but it can only be done in full consciousness. Any kind of dullness and
mental lethargy can open the gates of the mind to these forces.
We have not included a diagram of the configurations at the time of the revolution of
1848-9, mainly in Central Europe. Jupiter again moved in the course of 1848 through the
ascending node of Neptune and perihelion of Venus, as in 1789. but the main feature was the
slow motion of Neptune through the aphelion of Mars. Indeed, these rebellions soon col-
lapsed, mainly into compromises with the existing monarchical structures.
The next major revolution happened in Russia on November 7, 1917. The Bolsheviks,
under the leadership of Lenin, succeeded in eliminating the Kerenski government, which ear-
lier on had superseded the Czarist regime. The configuration looks much more dramatic than
the one of 1789. Neptune and Saturn were close to the ascending node of Neptune and the
perihelion of Venus, with Mars approaching those lines very fast. Figure 19
One would expect that, in this case, the Venus principles
of social order should have had a unique chance of estab-
lishing a major breakthrough, regarding modern humanity’s
search of a congenial new construction of the community
life of humanity. In fact, the opposite happened. What
was achieved was a most thorough change of the class that
held the reins of absolute political rule. In pre-revolution
times, it was the absolutism of the Czarist regime holding
sway over Russian people, at times to the point of bondage.
The Bolshevik regime was to establish universal rule by the so-
called proletariat. In actual fact, the high officials of the Bolshe-
vik Party exercised stringent rule and domination of all three spheres of community life.
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Again we can ask: Why did this happen? One answer lies in the nature and character of
Lenin. Early in his life, at 17 years of age, his brother was executed by the Czarist government
for revolutionary activities. That was in May 1887. Saturn was then in its own ascending node
and was approaching the nodal line of Neptune and the perihelion of Venus. Lenin was deeply
shocked by this, and his reaction was one of hatred for the ruling class, the bourgeois regime.
It is said that he was overheard muttering, “I shall make them pay for this.” All through the
following thirty years of a strenuous life, partly in exile in Siberia and Switzerland, he kept this
fierce hatred alive. Then, when the opportunity came in 1917, he built the new social structure
on this abysmal “class”-hatred. Certainly a social reconstruction inspired by the forces of
Venus could not be built on this. Again, as before, the old Mars forces took over those who in
our present age promote undiluted totalitarianism, whether it is conducted by one or a group
of human beings.
Thus we see the karmic roots of that Mars in the chart of November 7, 1917. Saturn was
in the same part of the Zodiac in 1887. Furthermore, the position of Neptune in 1917 is, in
this context, highly significant. This planet and its sphere can be realized in human existence as
an expression of spiritual love in the highest sense. In that same year 1917, somewhat earlier
than the Russian revolution, Rudolf Steiner was approached by some of his friends for a con-
structive answer to the social problems that were looming up as the First World War dragged
on. They were worried about the prospects of the future. Rudolf Steiner responded to their
requests by working out with them the idea of the Threefold Commonwealth. We mentioned
earlier that in the French Revolution there rose the call for Fraternity, Equality, and Liberty.
The idea was to provide opportunities of unhampered and healthy function for each of the
three spheres of social life: for the economy, for the function of the State as guardian of the
rights of the human being, and for the cultural, educational life. In the French Revolution,
these ideas were lost in the upsurge of the terror that raised its head at a certain moment.
Rudolf Steiner worked these ideas out, down to the minutest details of the required func-
tions of the three spheres. Had it been accepted and introduced, it could have inaugurated a
true and scientific realization of a Venus order with regard to the burning social problems and
crises of our age. This would have been a manifestation of that Neptune in Cancer in the most
positive sense.
However, it also has another side that comes to the foreground, particularly if human
minds and attitudes do not meet it with world-loving constructiveness and responsibility. Then
it becomes a promoter of hate, even of world hate. This lived in the soul of Lenin, and in
1917, when Neptune was in Cancer, this class hatred—hatred of the so-called bourgeoisie—
became the foundation stone of a supposedly new and ideal “house of humanity”. However,
the challenge in heaven was answered on the Earth by a perpetuation of the broken down
bridge, the Bifrost Bridge, between the dwellings of the humans and that of the gods.
This was facilitated by another factor. When it became a matter of segregating the Bolshe-
vik party, long before 1917, from the more moderate Mensheviks, Lenin was obliged to define
the philosophical world conception of his radical party. Without hesitation he declared mate-
141
rialism, or dialectic materialism, to be the only possible philosophy for the Bolsheviks. This
became the background of the powerful, officially sponsored movement of atheism in Russia.
However, all this has a glaring historical foundation on the basis of the rhythms of that
Neptune in Cancer. One cycle of this planet takes us from 1917 back to the middle of the 18th
century. The time of one revolution of Neptune, or return to the same sidereal position, is
164.77 years. Around 1750, there were the French encyclopedists and philosophic materialists,
such as: De La Mettrie (died 1751), d’ Holback (died 1789), and Helvetius (died 1771). De La
Mettrie is known by his Histoire naturelie de l’ âme (Naturan History of the Soul), 1742 and L’
Homme machine (The Human Machine), 1745. Helvetius wrote De 1’ ésprit (About the Spirit) in 1758,
which created a mighty controversy because of its materialistic tenets. All this was also con-
tained as a heritage in that Neptune in Cancer. Lenin took the theoretical and philosophical
materialism and made a life practice of it, in a nationwide sense.
In 1933 Germany, there was a take over by the National Socialists under the leadership of
Hitler and his associates. The chart of that day is most dramatic. The Earth in that moment
was in the ascending nodal line of Neptune and perihelion of Venus, whereas Saturn was
about in the opposite portion of the Zodiac. We see here again the principal signum of the
greater social crisis in our modern age. There were, however, also other implications of a
serious nature that gave significant indications of why this historic event in the sphere of social
evolution failed so terribly. Mars had almost moved into its own aphelion, Neptune was still
close to it, and on the other side Pluto was approaching that “life-line” of modern social
impulses, the elements of the spheres of Venus and Neptune.
Figure 20 The so-called National Socialist revolution was facili-
tated by developments that had gone on previousl. On
October 23, 1929, the well-known Wall Street Stock Ex-
change crashed, throwing not only the U.S. economy into
a severe recession, but also the entire economy all over the
world suffered as well. Also, in Germany the unemploy-
ment, as a result of the recession, was very severe and
prevailed right into the time when Hitler took over. He
stepped in front of the German people and promised them
work and bread. And an utterly despairing nation accepted
his offer.
The offer was, as we know, coupled with the idea of
an absolute falling back into most ancient principles of
human community. The building up of the society exclusively on race concepts and blood ties
was made the mainstay of the new social order. It was supposed to organize every single detail
of the complexity of social life, to the extent that it even became a state religion, supreme over
all other religions—if they were not eliminated altogether. This was supposed to be achieved
by a Martian totalitarianism whose terror did more than compete with the terrorism of politi-
cal communism.
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Here we witness the full impact of the ancient Mars principle of social construction that
rejected and eradicated any trace of the Venus principle, should it attempt to come into promi-
nence in modern humanity. In the chart of 1933, we see this manifest in the positions of Mars
and Neptune near the aphelion of Mars. At the same time we perceive also how such impulses
are carefully prepared by the counter-forces working against healthy progress. Neptune was
actually quite close to the aphelion of Mars in 1929, at the time of the commencement of the
world economic crisis, and it moved actually through that line in 1930, when the full weight of
that crisis was felt everywhere. This is the whip that the anti-forces use, apart from occasional
material promises, in order to try to beat humanity back into their ancient and materialistic
concepts of the human society.
At this point it may be a constructive idea to study the history of the planetary elements
involved, such as the movements of the nodes and the apsides. We are, of course, fully aware
that objections may be raised with regard to the employment of the elements of Neptune and
Uranus. The argument may be that it is questionable whether these planets existed before a
certain moment in cosmic history. However, we contend that they did exist within the orbits
of the time we will consider. Apart from this, we have the impression that the spheres and
their corresponding elements were present in the cosmos before the planets, as visible objects,
came into being.
According to computation, the ascending nodal line of Neptune and the perihelion line of
Uranus coincided in about 8,700 BC, and were within 15° of the position of the vernal equi-
nox. We have chosen to investigate this connection with the perihelion of Uranus, because we
see Jupiter standing near this element of Uranus in the chart of 1933. Jupiter is associated with
our process of thinking, with philosophy, etc. We want to find the background of the philoso-
phy standing behind that impulse of the National Socialists. In any case, there was a lot, one
might contend, of shady occultism in the backstage of that movement that seems to be, to a
certain extent, associated with the perihelion of Uranus. (What we are considering now is, of
course, only one side of the history of the line of the apsides of Uranus.)
The date of 8700 BC provides us with an interesting key. This was about 1500 years before
the commencement of the so-called Fifth Epoch, after the termination of Ancient Atlantis.
So it was during the closing 7th sub-race of that vanished continent. Rudolf Steiner speaks
about it in his book Cosmic Memory (p. 58 of the 1959 edition, by Rudolf Steiner Publications,
Inc., Englewood.) “…they (the members of this sub-race, also called primal Mongols) reached
the conviction that what is oldest is also what is most sensible and can best defend itself against
the faculty of thought … they had lost the power over life, but they never lost their direct,
naive faith in it. This force had become their god, in whose behalf they did everything they
considered right. Thus they appeared to the neighboring peoples as if possessed by this secret
force, and they surrendered themselves to it in blind trust ...”
This is, apart from its historical context, a perfect description of what manifested itself in
many instances during the reign of those political powers in Germany during the thirties and
forties. It was the heritage of an ancient occultism that was supposed to set the “house” of the
143
German people in order. In actual fact, however, that over-aged version of Uranus forces
demonstrated most perfectly in the course of events that it could do nothing but destroy.
To the last picture we must also add the history of the apsides (perihelion-aphelion) of
Mars and Venus. The aphelion of Mars, which is at present in the direction of the constellation
Leo, coincided with the perihelion line of Venus (of course, elongated beyond the boundary
of the planetary orbit) in about 3200 BC. Both were then in the direction of the constellation
of Cancer or its equivalent. The movement of the apsidal lines of Venus is very slow, almost
identical with that of the vernal equinox. Thereby, it happens that the perihelion of this planet
stays for a very long time in the area of Cancer. Theoretically, it takes about 120,000 years for
it to traverse that constellation.
Apart from these facts, the coincidence of the two lines of the apsides is significant. The
year 3200 BC was close to the commencement of Kali Yuga in 3101 BC. This is one of the
four world ages, according to Indian Wisdom: Krita Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga, and Kali
Yuga. They coincided with the descent of humanity into ever greater involvement into the
material world until finally, in the Kali Yuga that ended in 1899 AD, humanity reached the
lowest, the dark (Kali) stage, which means final emancipation from the spiritual world. Around
the onset of Kali Yuga, the coincidence of the two planetary apsides took place. Present in
Cancer, on the one hand, was the element of the gentle Venus sphere, the perihelion end of it,
which is associated with the head part of the sphere. The spirit being of Venus would there be
“lovingly inclined” toward the concerns of the solar universe. Mars displayed quite a different
attitude. Through its aphelion, an expression of the limb nature of its sphere, it manifested the
impulse toward some degree of dissociation from the solar system. It aimed, as it were, at
consolidation of the situation accruing from the destruction of the bridge between the land of
the Gods and the humans, according to Norse mythology. This initial event of the Twilight of
the Gods was associated with the constellation of Cancer. In other words, the beings of Mars
insisted on the development and perpetuation of materialism, against the beings of Venus.
Incidentally, Cancer is connected with the philosophy of materialism.
All this accompanied the commencement of Kali Yuga. We must also take this complex
into account, when we look at those charts of the social crises of the modern age and the role
of the aphelion of Mars in them.
Finally, we have included the chart of August 6, 1945. This is not, strictly speaking, a chart
that concerns a social crisis; however, we regard it as a consequence of the preceding one. One
of the results of the developments in 1933 was the Second World War. Although it was
conducted with great fierceness, it dragged on endlessly, and grew into unpredictable global
dimensions. Eventually, the U.S. government decided to employ the atomic bomb, to force an
ending to the war in Asia. Thus Hiroshima happened. In that moment Pluto stood above the
ascending node of Neptune and perihelion of Venus, with the Earth opposite. The planet
Pluto, which can be either associated with great spiritualization or utmost destruction, accom-
panied this ominous moment. Once again the counter-forces invented another “whip” by
which they try to keep humanity away from “loving Venus” solutions of the social problems of
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all humanity. The whip of fear is used, as so often, in these contexts. Fear of the Atomic
Holocaust is supposed to keep the modern world in the fetters of obedience to the old Martian
rules of the social game.
If one looks at these historic developments, one may be inclined to despair. Will humanity
ever break through to a “loving Venus” order of social institution and yet retain the justified
Mars qualities of scientific clarity of ideas? We see no real reason for despair. The fact that the
purely Mars oriented attempts, with the rejection of the Venus perspectives, have defeated
themselves, or are constantly doing so, can, nevertheless, give us hope. The practices and
methods of the Mars qualities are invariably turning into inhuman and antihuman consequences,
and thus they are eventually rejected. The road to healthy solutions, compatible with the true,
spiritual implications of humanhood, may be long, weary, and painful, but the constructive
impulses will eventually prevail over the attacks of the anti-forces.
Figure 21
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The Countenance of the Twentieth Century

It is one of the oldest practices in the field of cosmology and astrosophy to try to discern
future historic events on the basis of star wisdom. In fact, this is older than the practice of
investigating individual human destiny on this foundation. Modern science, partly with the
help of computers, slowly discovers that the ancient cultural monuments, such as Stonehenge
etc., the ziggurats, or temple towers in Mesopotamia, and even pyramids in Egypt, were used as
observatories and giant instruments for the discernment of phenomena and rhythms in the
heavens. Only at a rather late stage, which was synonymous, in one sense, with the decadence
of the original temple science, did human egotism lay a hand on the ancient star wisdom and
thereby “betrayed” the magnificent cosmic mysteries of the past.
As much as this may suggest a regretful development, it opened up the roads, nevertheless,
to an eventual rediscovery of the correlations between cosmos, Earth, and the human being.
But this renewal must now respect the independence and spiritual freedom that we are ex-
pected to have attained during the ages of darkness and rejection of star wisdom. A time is
approaching when we will again be able to “read in the stars”. However, we will no longer ask
those dispiriting questions: What do the stars say that is going to happen to me? to the world?
etc. Instead, we will take the script of the stars as a description of the momentary conditions
of the material world, of the tools offered to us; and from spiritual courage and “moral imagi-
nation” (see Rudolf Steiner’s The Philosophy of Freedom), we will actively answer the cosmic
challenges and create spiritual, practical realities on Earth, just as we create material realities,
for instance, in the sphere of modern technology.
If we bear in inner awareness these great changes that have taken place in the sphere of our
relationship to the stars, then we can again safely try to read the cosmic configurations. In this
sense, and in this sense only, we will look at the cosmic situations at the beginnings of the 19th,
20th, and the approaching century. One can, of course, say that considerations on the basis of
the commencements of centuries seem to be rather arbitrary, and need by no means stand out
as significant points in time. However, it happened that just the inaugurations of the 19th, 20th,
and the 21st centuries carry in them remarkable cosmic presentations of the tasks of modern
humanity.
We will first look at the configuration of the commencing years of the 20th century, as we
have demonstrated in Fig. 22. On 28 November 1901 at 4:36 p.m. GMT, a Great Conjunction
took place, i.e., one of those periodic conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter, one that we previ-
ously described in the Dec. ‘69 issue. The heliocentric conjunction happened earlier, on Sep-
tember 27, 1901.
The most conspicuous feature of that geocentric event in 1901 is the fact that Saturn,
Jupiter, and also Mars and Venus were in the ecliptic sign of Capricorn, sidereal constellation
of Archer. Opposite, in ecliptic Cancer and sidereal Twins, were the Moon and Neptune
(almost exactly opposite Saturn and Jupiter).
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Figure 22
Helio.
Great Conjunction
28 November 1901, 4:36 p.m. GMT
(Pluto opposite Uranus)
ASC = Ascendant
MC = Midheaven
Helio.
This Great Conjunction in 1901 was accompanied by a series of oppositions between

Uranus (in sidereal Scorpio) and Pluto (in sidereal Taurus). The first one, geocentrically, took
place in December 1901, but there were two more in the course of 1902. The heliocentric
opposition happened in the beginning of February 1902, with Pluto in 77°48' (according to the
Pluto-Tafel by Noesselt-Hoffmann, edited by Ebertin Verlag, Aalen, Germany) and Uranus in
257°48. Pluto was still close to the (elongated) ascending nodal line of Venus and perihelion
of Mercury, and Uranus was near the descending nodal line of Venus and aphelion of Mercury.
These events reflected strongly, and still reflect, the situation in which humanity of the 20th
century finds itself. Many of the happenings in all spheres of social life (not all, some are
147
correlated to earlier phenomena) during this era, in either sense, represent reactions to the
challenges contained in those cosmic configurations. It will, therefore, be our next task to
discern objectively and historically the background that they inherited from the past.
We have already worked out, in the Dec. ’69 issue, the fact that the Great Conjunctions, as
they recur in intervals of about 60 years, move slowly on through the Zodiac. To this we add
the fact that these conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter take place in series of three and in three
different locations of the Zodiac. For instance, in the diagram in Dec. ‘69, we inserted the
Great Conjunctions that happened in 1940-1. At that time the two planets met in sidereal
Aries. This was preceded by another similar event in 1921, in sidereal Leo-Virgo, and again by
the Great Conjunction of 1901 in sidereal Sagittarius, which we are considering here. The
1901 event was then followed, after an interval of about 60 years, by another Great Conjunc-
tion in 1961 in sidereal Sagittarius.
Thus these events happen in a big triangle, which at present is lying with its three corners in
sidereal Aries, Leo-Virgo, and Sagittarius, and this triangle slowly rotates in time. We worked
out (Dec. ‘69) some of the predecessors of the corner that is now in Aries. At present we want
to discern the history of the corner that has come into Sagittarius, because this will explain the
nature of the event in 1901.
We are led right back to the year 6 BC (in astronomical counting). At that time, geocentri-
cally, three conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter occurred in sidereal Pisces. This was one of the
Great Conjunctions in 1901. Between then and now, this corner of the triangle has moved
through all the constellations, from Pisces, Aries, etc., forward to Sagittarius.
In 352 AD another conjunction took place in sidereal Taurus, associated with the same
corner of the triangle. (Of course, a number of similar events had taken place between 6 BC
and this date.) In 354 St. Augustine, bishop of Hippo, was born. Thus, the conjunction in 352
was connected with the turning of early Christianity to the Augustinian theological and philo-
sophical concepts. This happened after Christianity had become, following the long spell of
persecutions, state religion in the Roman Empire during the reign of Constantine the Great.
In 590 AD another Great Conjunction of this series took place. The corner of the triangle
had by now advanced into sidereal Gemini. In 590 Gregory I (“the Great”) became Pope. He
restored monastic discipline, enforced celibacy of the clergy, etc. During his office, St. Augus-
tine of Canterbury “invaded”, so to speak, the British Isles, which eventually led to the extinc-
tion of the ancient Celtic Church.
In 709 AD this Great Conjunction had advanced as far as sidereal Cancer. Two years later,
A1 Tarik, the general of the Moslem Berbers, or Moors of North Africa, invaded Spain via the
Straits of Gibraltar. This opened up the era of Moslem conquest of almost all of Spain.
By 1067 AD this Great Conjunction corner had moved into sidereal Virgo. In 1066 the
battle of Hastings took place, ending the Saxon rule in England and establishing the Norman
state.
In 1246 the Great Conjunction was on the point of moving over from sidereal Virgo to
Libra, and in 1307 it actually did enter that constellation. The year 1246 leads us to the time
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when Albertus Magnus, the great Scholastic, was teaching at Paris and when Thomas Aquinas
was on his way to becoming the outstanding spiritual authority of Scholasticism. Around 1306
the famous process against the Order of the Knights Templars was inaugurated, leading to the
extinction of the Order.
In 1544 the Great Conjunction had arrived in sidereal Scorpio. In 1543 Copernicus, the
astronomer, died. Soon after his death his revolutionary book on heliocentric astronomy was
published.
In 1604 and 1663 this series of Great Conjunctions was still in sidereal Scorpio. Shortly
before 1604, the book The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz was written down by Valentin
Andreae. The years around 1663 saw significant developments in the scientific work of New-
ton.
By 1782 the Great Conjunction had advanced to Sagittarius. This was the year when the
independence of the USA was acknowledged by Great Britain.
The Great Conjunction of 6 BC in Pisces has often been suspected by historians of being
connected with the Star of the Wise Men from the East, who came to visit the Jesus child (St.
Matthew, II:2). But, the great problem has always been the chronology of the birth of Jesus.
Traditional Christianity visualizes that it took place at Christmas of the turning-point from the
BC to the AD calendar. Yet, that Great Conjunction took place in 6 BC (astronomical).
We have very carefully investigated this matter over years and have come to the following
discovery, which at first may sound strange. That event in 6 BC—rather three events, because
three conjunctions happened from the geocentric view—was synonymous with the “spiritual
nativity” of Jesus. We are fully aware that we introduce, with this concept, a proposition into
astrology that many may find difficult to accept. However, we can only point out that we have
investigated it with all possible rational means and have found that it does apply in a very
practical sense. (We have introduced certain aspects of the spiritual nativity already in Star
Journal One, Oct. ’65, in connection with Goethe.)
The originator of the idea that we have a spiritual nativity, which need not coincide with
the physical nativity, is Rudolf Steiner. In a lecture-cycle entitled Human and Cosmic Thought, 20-
23 January 1914, he pointed out this perspective. Later on it was possible to discover the
practical association with the physical nativity, the so-called birth chart. (Also see the author’s
Living Universe - Studies in Astrosophy for more details regarding the spiritual nativity).
We must imagine that the physical birth of a human being is the final step down into
incarnation. If we, furthermore, visualize that our soul descended from cosmic-spiritual heights
through the spheres of the planets, then the Moon sphere would be the last (but one) station
of descent. Therefore, we take the position of the Moon at birth as a symbolic presentation of
the last step. If we now try to retrace, as it were, the prenatal path of a soul, we would have to
ascend into the spheres above that of the Moon. How can we do this in practical investigation?
In order to accomplish this, in a mathematical-astronomical sense, we need something like
a pathway or a gate. This is provided by the fact of the nodes of the Moon. We have well
established by now, the criterion of the nodes of the planets and also of the Moon. We know
149
that they are the crossing points between the orbits of planets and Moon, and the (apparent)
orbit of the Sun or ecliptic, which in the heliocentric perspective is the orbit of the Earth.
Furthermore, we know that these crossing points are not fixed but moving and oscillating
along the ecliptic. Thus, more or less long-range time elements are introduced into the essen-
tial being of the spheres implied by the orbits of planets and Moon.
As the nodes of the Moon are points of contact between the Moon sphere (indicated by
the orbit of the Moon) and the Sun-Earth sphere (implied by the ecliptic), we regard them as
gates from the one to the other. If we can accept the idea that the Moon at birth stands
symbolically as an indication of the last step on the road to incarnation, we may go one stride
further and regard it as the “gate” from the Moon down into birth on Earth. In order to
investigate the stages of descent, we would have to go in the opposite direction, out into the
cosmos. Experience has proven that in the moment when one of the two Moon nodes has
moved into this given position of the Moon at birth, the “gate” of that Moon is “opened”.
From the time perspective of a nativity, this can happen either before or after birth. One of
these opportunities represents the spiritual nativity belonging to the corresponding physical
nativity. In brief description, it reflects and circumscribes the spiritual potential of a human
being with regard, for instance, to possible practical realization of ideas.
Of such a nature was the connection between the Great Conjunctions in 6 BC and the
Nativity of Jesus. The Moon at midnight from 24-25 December of the year zero (astronomical
chronology) just passed over from sidereal Aries into Taurus. This would symbolically indicate
the “gate” from the higher planetary spheres into the Moon-Earth sphere. The ascending
node of the Moon was, in that moment, passing over from sidereal Capricorn into Sagittarius,
i.e., it was about 120° away from the position of the Moon at the birth of Jesus. In other
words, the node must have been in the place of the birth Moon a little more than six years
before. Thus we arrive at the date of 6 BC. (The nodes of the Moon move backwards, that is,
against the general direction of planetary movements. Therefore, having been in Taurus in 6
BC, at the time of the Great Conjunctions, it fell back through Aries, Pisces, Aquarius, Capri-
corn, and finally into Sagittarius.)
This was, then, the spiritual nativity of Jesus. The three Wise Men from the East, or Three
Kings, knew this and recognized in the mirror, as it were, of the Great Conjunctions of 6 BC
the individuality who was to be born about six years later. They were highly trained Initiates
who must have known of the ancient prophecies of the coming of the Messiah by the great
Zarathustra, or Zoroaster. On the other hand they still had the gift of clairvoyance and were
familiar with the practice of time discernment according to the ancient star lore. We can get a
glimpse of what they experienced if we investigate some details of those Great Conjunctions
in 6 BC, which happened in sidereal Pisces. Above that constellation today, we behold the
effigies of Andromeda and a bit further back that of Pegasus. There is evidence that the
Egyptians saw this differently. They experienced the two groups of stars as a big boat in which
God sailed. Thus the Three Kings must have realized, of course on the basis of complicated
time correlations, which we can indeed rediscover, that the Great Conjunctions in Pisces wanted
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to tell them: the God is “on the way” down to the Earth. They were even able to discern the
time when the birth of the child would happen.
We are fully aware that there are still tremendous problems lurking in this context. One of
them is the apparent discrepancy of the descriptions in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St.
Luke. It appears that they speak of different children. The Matthew child was visited by the
Three Kings and the Luke child by the Three Shepherds. Rudolf Steiner shed light on this
problem: On the basis of his spiritual investigations, he indeed confirmed that two children
were born. The one was of royal descent (St. Matthew), and the other genealogy leads back to
a line of High Priests (St. Luke). Only at a later date the two were united. (Story of Jesus at age
twelve in the Temple, St. Luke II : 41-52.) We cannot quote the details here. They must be
looked up in the various lecture-cycles by Rudolf Steiner on the Gospels.
If the child, of whom the Gospel of St. Matthew speaks, is not the same as the one of St.
Luke, and was even born at a different date, this then might appear to invalidate our suggestion
with regard to the spiritual nativity of Jesus and its connection with 6 BC. However, we have
good reason, on the basis of intense research, to suppose that the Matthew child, though
possibly born up to one year earlier, nevertheless, had a Moon in a position similar to that of
the Luke child at the moment of his birth. Therefore, he would also have had a similar spiritual
nativity.
Thus we can assume that the series of conjunctions, which had arrived in 6 BC with that
particular corner of the Great Triangle in Pisces, became associated with experiences of expec-
tation and annunciation. And indeed, it moved through history of the following centuries,
provoking, as it were, similar moods. However, we also realize that the events reflected in 6 BC
were not all of unobstructed nature. The forces opposed to the Incarnation became active
then, too. This is expressed in the story of the meeting of the Three Wise Men with King
Herod and the subsequent massacre of the Innocents at Bethlehem (St. Matthew II). Before
this happened, the Jesus child had been taken into safety to Egypt. The mood contained in
these events also played, indeed, into the historic challenges indicated in the descendants of
the Great Conjunctions of the series rooted in 6 BC.
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Countenance of the Twentieth Century (continued)

In the last issue we pointed out that something of the mood of the ancestor of the Great
Conjunction of 6 BC, connected with the Great Conjunction in 1901, participated as historic
challenges into later recurrences of the same series of cosmic events. However, corresponding
constructive reactions to these challenges are not always found recorded in broad or “mun-
dane” history. Very often they happened in some kind of historic obscurity, and what we read
in general records sometimes represents occurrences establishing apparent spiritual opposition
to the original impulse—even rejection. Several of those, which we mentioned last month in
connection with earlier Great Conjunctions of this order, seem to have been of such a nature.
The picture changes radically if one digs a bit deeper into history. For instance, the Great
Conjunction of 352 AD is such an example. This was the century of such great individualities
as St. Martin of Tours and St. Ninian, of whom we read little as a rule, in the ordinary history
books. But even so, they had a tremendous though hidden influence on the development of
western humanity. St. Martin is sometimes called the Father of the Celtic Church, a church
that especially cultivated the esoteric aspects and grandeur of Christianity. In Gaul he was an
officer in the army of Julian the Apostate, who was Roman Emperor from 361-363. After St.
Martin had found his way to Christianity, he resigned from Julian’s army and declared that he
was to serve another master. First he was imprisoned for this, but later on he was set free. This
happened around 355, near that Great Conjunction of 352. Once he gave a beggar half of his
mantle. The following night Christ appeared to him wrapped in the cloak and said to him:
“Martinus gave Me this”.
St. Ninian was St. Martin’s pupil. He worked tirelessly in Scotland and Ireland for the
introduction and cultivation of this Celtic esoteric Christianity. In a sense, the remnants of the
deep spiritual insight of the Three Magi, or Kings, lived on and manifested in the works of the
Celtic saints, although it never developed into more than a hidden side stream and apart from
the Christianity of Dogma that began to flourish in the southern parts of Europe.
If we follow up the Great Conjunctions rooted in 6 BC, we indeed find the destiny of this
esoteric Christian stream, deeply hidden, that could manifest for a time among the Celtic people.
However, we also see great transformations there. In 590 one such Great Conjunction took
place. This was the year when Gregory the Great became Pope. Shortly afterwards he sent
Augustine of Canterbury to the British Isles to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Roman Christi-
anity. After some hesitation, Augustine founded the ecclesiastical center at Canterbury and
proceeded with his mission. As an eventual consequence of this, the Celtic Church in the
north and northwest of the British Isles was slowly destroyed, because it would not submit to
the demand of recognition for supremacy from Rome.
Nevertheless, esoteric Christianity lived on in humanity, though in different garments. It
became manifest during the 8th and 9th centuries in the Knights of the Holy Grail. Although it
is difficult to estimate when the Order of the Holy Grail was founded, it must have moved
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through decisive stages of its development during the 8th century, particularly around 765-8
(see W. J. Stein’s World History in the Light of the Holy Grail and The Ninth Century). In 769 a Great
Conjunction occurred, one of the descendants of 6 BC, which was on the verge of entering
the sidereal constellation of Leo. The following one in 829 was already close to the fixed-star
Regulus in Leo.
All this leads us to the realization of significant facts. From the 6th to the 9th centuries, the
Great Conjunctions belonging to this series moved through the positions in the ecliptic that
were occupied by Saturn during the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry. The conjunction in 590
AD happened in 90.6° of the ecliptic (heliocentrically). This was close to the ascending node
of Jupiter in 86.3°. At the time, which we regard as the moment of the Baptism of Jesus by
John the Baptist, Saturn had also (heliocentrically) just moved through that nodal line of Jupi-
ter (January 31 AD).
During the following centuries, the Great Conjunction, heliocentrically, passed through
equally significant positions:
Year Position of G. C.
650 c. 100.5° Asc. node of Saturn 101.8°
709 c. 110.3° Asc. node of Saturn 102.4°
769 c. 120.5° Asc. node of Neptune 118.2°
Perihelion of Venus 115.6 °
829 c. 131° Aphelion of Mars c. 135.6°
888 c. 140.6° Aphelion of Mars c. 135.6°
It was the first time, after the events in Palestine at the beginning of the new era, that one
of the three series of Great Conjunctions moved through this part of the Zodiac. Particularly
the conjunction of 769 is remarkable as it “remembered” the latter part of the Three Years of
Christ. In fact, Saturn on April 3, 33 AD, the day of Golgotha, was in 112.5°, whereas the
ascending node of Neptune was then in about 109.8°. Some months after Whitsun, 33 AD,
Saturn moved through the aphelion of Mars.
We can say with a certain justification that these Great Conjunctions “remembered” the
corresponding Christ Events. Saturn is the planet and sphere in the cosmos that represent the
“organs of memory” of the body of the universe. This would then, in the event of a Great
Conjunction, combine with the cosmic capacity of the planet and sphere of Jupiter, which is
one of action and spiritual preparation of the future in the broadest sense.
In this sense, the conjunction of 590 AD (mentioned last month) would appear like a
cosmically announcing or facilitating “memory” occurrence of the initial event of the Three
Years, the Baptism of Jesus. According to Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual investigation, this is when
the Cosmic Christ Being entered the body of Jesus. What happened in 590 AD? A few years
later, Gregory the Great delegated St. Augustine of Canterbury to the British Isles as we said
already, which in time became the cause of the destruction of the Celtic Church. On the
surface this looks like a death experience; however, there is more to it.
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One cannot imagine that the spirituality that had inspired Celtic Christianity simply van-
ished in that event. If we sincerely contemplate the background concerning the legends of
King Arthur, etc., we can easily convince ourselves that the stream of Celtic esotericism even-
tually rose to new spiritual heights and glory in the movement of the Holy Grail and later
manifestations of esoteric Christianity. In the inner experience of the Holy Grail a, however
small, part of humanity endeavored to realize the incarnation of the cosmic-divine in the
earthly vessel, eventually experienced by any human being who spiritually responds.
According to the legend, the vessel of the Grail was once fashioned out of a jewel that fell
from the crown of Lucifer. Lucifer is the spirit-being who tempted Eve in Paradise and caused
the descent into a material corporeality, which can be regarded, from one point of view, as the
jewel from Lucifer’s crown. Our body was, and still is, prepared in spiritual cosmic heights of
prenatal existence. At the moment of incarnation it falls to the Earth. Yet, this vessel or “dish”
must, in the course of human evolution, be made to carry spiritual realization brought about by
the individuality.
Thus in Grail’s Christianity the human being was inspired not to shun the Earth and mate-
riality but to learn to use it as a means of developing and eventually manifesting our spiritual
and moral potential. The Dish of the Holy Grail was, according to the legends, the same which
was used by Christ at the Last Supper, in which the blood flowing from the Cross was col-
lected. Joseph of Arimathia was its first guardian (see Robert de Boron’s, The History of the Holy
Grail). Eventually, we hear that on every Good Friday a Dove descends from heaven and lays
a Holy Host into the vessel that feeds all the knighthood of the Holy Grail and those who take
over their spiritual heritage. Thus we are, in all this, confronted with the realization that the
“stone”, which had deeply fallen, was elected to carry the highest and spiritually most pro-
found.
This kind of positive and yet distinctive relationship of human beings to the material world
arose in the midst of western humanity. There existed a strong need for it. In the Middle East,
in the Arabic world, a stream had come up that tended to submerge itself in materiality and
lose the spiritual reality and potential of the human individuality. In 711 AD this humanity,
under the leadership of Tarik, broke into Spain on the quest of conquering the European
world for Islam. The will of resistance of western humanity seems to have grown around
hidden pillars of spiritual strength, such as that of the Holy Grail. Before and around 769, the
year of another Great Conjunction of the family rooted in 6 BC, the Franks succeeded in
containing the Arabs in Spain. Then, during the 9th century those events took place that are
described in the story of Parsifal. (See Parsifal by Wolfram von Eschenbach. Translated by
Helen M. Mustard and Charles E. Passage, Vintage Books, New York 1961, and The Parsifal of
Wolfram von Eschenbach, translated into English Verse, by Edwin H. Zeydel in collaboration with
Bayard Quincy Morgan, Chapel Hill, The University of North Carolina Press, 1960.)
With all this background, what can we visualize as the message contained in that Great
Conjunction inaugurating the 20th century in 1901? We would see in it an indication that the
essence of the story of the Holy Grail will come particularly close to this present humanity.
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The essence we see in the challenge to meet the physical material world with all its modern
scientific implications. This can be conceived as an image of the Vessel of the Grail. It must
be permeated, however, with the creative activity of the free human spirit, starting out from
the foundation of moral imagination and intuitive thinking. If this is not achieved, then the
purely physical, materialistic approach will overwhelm human beings, making them slaves and
insignificant parts of the “Big Computer”, or the (mechanized) ”Big Brother”.
Rudolf Steiner, who started to communicate his message of anthroposophy to modern
humanity at the beginning of the 20th century, was obviously fully aware of this necessity. His
great impulse was to permeate or “fulfill” the world of natural science with a science of the
spirit. He demonstrated how this can be done on many occasions, particularly in his book
Occult Science, which he himself designated as a “knowledge of the Grail”. In all that nature and
the cosmos reveals to our senses, can be experienced as the work of an invisible, spiritual world
of creative beings. And “...the knowledge of the Grail culminates in the highest imaginable
ideal of human evolution, the ideal of spiritualization, brought about by our own efforts...”
(Chapter VI).
All this is corroborated in the Great Conjunction of 1901, by the pending opposition of
the planets Uranus and Pluto. Heliocentrically, this opposition took place February 1902, close
to the nodes of Uranus and Venus and the apsides of Mercury (see Fig. 21). Geocentrically, the
opposition, related to the ecliptic degrees, occurred several times starting in December 1901.
The conjunctions and oppositions of these two planets can lead to the most fascinating
historic studies. Naturally, on account of their long orbits, they do not occur very often. There
are only two points in the ecliptic where conjunctions happen periodically. At present, the one
point is in about 166°, indicated by the last conjunction (heliocentrically) in January 1966 (see
Oct. ‘65). It was preceded by one in 1711-12, in about 150°. Thus we have here a gradual
progress of the conjunction point, similar to that of the Great Conjunctions. The oppositions
bring Uranus back to approximately the same position, with Pluto being opposite. The last
opposition took place in 1793-4, Uranus about 144.2°, Pluto about 324.2°. (We have exten-
sively written about the these two events in Oct. & Nov. ‘65.)
The second series of conjunctions arrived in 1850-1, in relation to the ecliptic, in about
29°. The next previous one happened in 1598, about 22°. The oppositions of this order do
not fall in with the conjunction points. The heliocentric one in 1902, which saw Uranus in
about 258° and Pluto in 78°, was preceded by one in about 1649, with Uranus about 249° and
Pluto about 69°. Further back there was one in about 1395, Uranus about 242° and Pluto 62°;
and another in about 1142, with Uranus about 234° and Pluto 54°.
All these events coincided with definite developments in connection with the evolution of
esotericism in humanity. We can understand this if we contemplate the nature of Uranus and
Pluto. They are, in a sense, already messengers of worlds beyond our solar universe. Thus,
they are also “beyond” our mere material frame, working into the spheres of our spirit. How-
ever, they can also be taken hold of by destructive elemental (demonic) forces, if we do not
respond constructively and by spiritual realizations to their challenges.
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Thereby, predecessors of the opposition of Uranus and Pluto in 1901-2 lead us back to an
earlier opposition in about 885 AD (Uranus about 223°, Pluto 43°). This one happened close
to the ascending and descending nodes of Mars. It was preceded by a conjunction in about 837
AD in about 355°, then close to the perihelion of Jupiter. (It is not easy to assess the positions
of Pluto in previous centuries, because the astronomical elements are still somewhat contro-
versial. We use for our calculations the Pluto-Tafel by Noesselt-Hoffmann, which seems to be
fairly correct.)
These two events during the 9th century, from another approach, lead us back to the “Parsifal
century”. We particularly regard the association with the nodal lines of Mars in 885 as being
significant. The Grail impulse intends to transform our association with the activities of the
sphere of Mars, that would amount to a spiritualization of our relationship to the external
material world that we perceive through our senses. As far as Mars is built into our organism,
it serves us to confront the physical material world. Therefore, the sciences of nature, technol-
ogy, etc., are inspired by the beings working on and from Mars. However, if the forces of Mars
are permitted to influence developments in these exclusively, without being balanced by Venus
beings, then the dangers of anti-human, anti-spiritual creations, demoniacal technocracies, etc.,
can arise. This is the danger of the 20th century, particularly of the last thirty years. This is
what the Grail’s impulse wants to help overcome by the influences that have entered the Earth
evolution as the cosmic Love impulse since the Deeds of Christ.
The latter oppositions of Uranus and Pluto after the 9th century, leading eventually to 1902,
gradually moved into the nodal lines of Venus, coming closest by 1902. Of course, the Order
of the Holy Grail no longer existed, but it had gone through several transformations. One
such stage of renewed manifestation was the Order of the Knights Templars, founded in 1119
close to the opposition of Uranus and Pluto in 1142. The Order had set itself the task of
protecting pilgrims journeying to the sacred places in Palestine and, particularly, of protecting
the Holy Sepulchre. Therein do we recognize the transformed Grail’s motive. The Grave,
from which the Resurrection had taken place, stands for the Holy Dish or Vessel formed out
of the stone which had fallen to Earth.
However, this manifestation of the Grail had also gone through a most painful transforma-
tion. The Order of the Knights Templars was destroyed, chiefly through action resulting from
the greed of King Philip le Bel of France. In 1314 the last Grandmaster, Jacques de Molay,
with a few other Templars, were burned at the stake marking the end of the Order. This event
was accompanied by a remarkable occurrence in the heavens. Shortly before the death of
Jacques de Molay, Uranus was in conjunction with Venus, both in their own descending nodes
(sidereal Scorpio) which then almost coincided. (Pluto was then in sidereal Aquarius, in square
(90°) aspect to Uranus.) In fact, the two nodal lines were identical in 1347 AD.
It would be a mistake to assume that this was the end of the impulse. The Movement that
was founded by Christian Rosenkreutz during the 15th century took over. Thus the Stone,
fallen to the Earth, was transformed into the Grail; and the Grave of the Earth, into which the
Body of Christ had been laid, was represented by the black cross of the Rose Cross. The
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wreath of Seven Roses is the realization of the power of Resurrection established by the Death
on Golgotha—that which “(full) fills” the Vessel.
The mysterious personality of Christian Rosenkreutz, whose family name we do not know,
was born in 1378, according to one tradition. Around 1395, the year of that opposition of
Pluto and Uranus mentioned above, he is supposed to have journeyed in the Middle East,
going through a kind of intensive training and initiation. After his return to Central Europe he
founded the Order of the Rose Cross, possibly in 1413 AD.
We can thus realize some of the vast background of the cosmic events in the beginning of
the present century: the Great Conjunction in 1901 and the opposition of Uranus and Pluto
close to it. As we intimated earlier, Rudolf Steiner responded to these cosmic challenges in a
most positive and constructive way. And indeed, in 1907, he gave a course of fourteen lectures
under the title, The Theosophy of the Rosicrucian. In the opening sentences he said: “The title of
this course of lectures has been announced as Theosophy According to the Rosicrucian Method. By
this is meant the wisdom that is primeval, yet ever new, expressed in a form suitable for the
present age.” More and more Rudolf Steiner evolved the message in these years that he re-
garded as an urgent necessity for our modern age, and which he called the science of the spirit,
anthroposophy, and knowledge of the Grail. Finally, in 1924, he described anthroposophy as
a “…path of knowledge that intends to lead our spirit to spirit-being in the universe”.
Thus was the 20th century inaugurated. We see this inauguration accompanied in the heav-
ens by events, which in all their apparent complication, speak quite a simple language. It can be
read if we make corresponding efforts. Rather, we ought to say, it can be read again, because
for a long time the stars have been “silent”. And now, in fact, we read what those of earlier
ages “spoke” into the stars as their human answers, born out of their spiritual-moral deeds.
Thus we are confronted here with a new relationship to the stars that can be established by
every human being.
Our next investigation will concern modern humanity’s reactions to this inauguration of
the 20th century, including obvious consequences of acceptance or denial, which lie entirely
within the orbit of our modern Freedom.
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Geocentric
We draw attention to the following, more conspicuous events:
On May: 2 - 11:29 p.m. GMT, Sun conjunct Saturn c. 12 08
9 - 8:15 a.m. Mercury inf. “ Sun c. 18 18
9 - 9:10 a.m. Venus “ Mars c. 14 02
17 - 2:08 p.m. Mercury Rx “ Saturn c. 14
20 - 11:33 p.m. Sun opposite Neptune c. 29 31 ( )
30 - 6:55 a.m. Mercury D conj. Saturn c. 15 34
Heliocentric
It is sometimes interesting to corroborate the geocentric events with the heliocentric ones.
Thus one can experience how the geocentric, angular relationships are like signposts that want
to lead us to realizations of happenings concerning the spheres, the expressions of the life of
the cosmos. The spheres are then indicated by events relating to the elements of the planets,
that is the nodal and apsidal lines.
For instance, the conjunction of Sun and Saturn on May 2 means, from the geocentric
view, that the sphere of Saturn is in a state of exhalation from the Earth, as the planet is far
beyond the Sun. In the heliocentric graph we discover that the Earth on May 1 is in the
aphelion of Neptune. This indicates that in the cosmos there will be a mood of drawing away
from the Sun-Earth solar universe, at least, as far as Neptune is concerned. Neptune is one of
the “outer” planets, like Saturn, if not one of the outermost.
This is reconciled, one might say, on May 3 by Venus stepping into the perihelion line of
the Earth. This is the line of closeness of the Sun-Earth sphere to the Sun. Thus one can,
indeed, often find consoling and rectifying perspectives in the cosmos, against others of a
different nature. Human consciousness can learn to handle these things in full awareness and
constructiveness. This is a spiritually legitimate way of human relationship to the stars.
The May 9th inferior conjunction of Mercury to the Sun will bring Mercury in transit over
the Sun, causing a Sun eclipse, though from a quantitative viewpoint it is very minor. This will
be accompanied in the heliocentric by Mercury moving through its own ascending node, which
causes its transit over the Sun in that moment. Thus Mercury will ascend above the ecliptic,
into the Northern Hemisphere.
The geocentric conjunction of Venus with Mars on the same day will be accompanied in
the heliocentric by Mercury moving, hours after the transit over the Sun, close above the nodal
line of Mars and the next day by the Earth moving through the descending nodal line of Mars.
These nodal lines of the planets are communication facilities between the spheres of the plan-
ets concerned and that of the Earth. However, we must not see them one sidedly as commu-
nication points from the planet to the Earth; the reverse is also possible as communication
from the Earth to that planetary sphere. Of course, this association depends, and will depend
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increasingly in the future, on the development of “moral imagination” and “intuitive thinking”
in humanity. (See Rudolf Steiner The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity.) In the sense of the in-
volvement of the Earth and Mercury in the above particular events, it appears to be a case of
evolvement of “cosmic intelligence” against the brain-bound, helpless and hopeless intellect.
On 17 May, Mercury will step into conjunction with Saturn, while in retrograde movement
(hair-pin curve), and the same will happen again on 30 May, after Mercury becomes rectograde
again. In the heliocentric calendar, Mars will move through the perihelion of Saturn. With
some imagination this can be conceived as a challenge concerning the sphere of Saturn, which
can manifest in us as the power of cognition, or gnosis, in all realms of life. It is also connected
with defeats in this field. People such as Copernicus, Albert Einstein, Emil Dubois-Raymond
(Limits of Knowledge of Nature) struggled in this domain. Few broke through to spiritual cogni-
tion or knowledge, as did Rudolf Steiner, Blavatsky, and others. At the moment of death of
these personalities Mars was in or near the perihelion line of Saturn. This is an expression of
the fact that they stood in life in the midst of the battle concerning the failing capacities of the
intellect and the need for the development of new and spiritual insight. Of course, the events
in the heavens, like the one we are considering now, do not carry in themselves guaranties or
affirmations that the things will inevitably happen. They only challenge us, and that they do
sometimes very harshly. But they leave us, in our present age, free to do what is required by our
own efforts. Whenever, for instance, Mars steps into that line, there sounds forth from cosmic
memory the challenges to humanity of what has or has not happened before. Thus we can,
indeed, live with the events in the cosmos and still be spiritually free human beings. However,
failing the cosmic challenges almost invariably results in the creation of vacuums that are liable
to be occupied by all manner of unclean and demonic entities.
The geocentric opposition of the Sun to Neptune on May 20 (which is, heliocentrically, a
conjunction of the Earth with Neptune) will be seconded in the heliocentric by Venus moving
through the ascending node of Neptune. At the same time Venus will be in its own perihelion.
The sphere of Neptune, which is involved here, must be considered on the level of “above the
individual”, even superhuman connotations. Only the classical planets of Saturn, Jupiter, Mars,
Sun, Mercury, Venus, and Moon are built into the human organism; whereas Uranus, Neptune,
and Pluto are outside and “above” in our greater Aura, possibly even “below”. (We would do
well to imagine them represented as kind of auric ellipses, reaching up above and down below
the human frame.) In Feb. ’70, we tried to describe some of these characteristics of Neptune,
as far as the sphere is connected with history and not with individuals alone.
This leaves us still with the question of how we could constructively meet such an event as
that opposition between Sun and Neptune. The answer lies somewhat in the moving of Venus
through the ascending nodal line of Neptune. But this is not easy to read. On such an occa-
sion, we can take recourse to the cosmic aspects of the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry, to
learn to read such a cosmic script. During those Three Years, Venus moved through the
ascending node of Neptune four times. (In fact it passed this line moving above it.) At the
same time, Saturn slowly drew close to the same nodal line. Only in January-February 33 AD
159
did it move past it. At the same time, around February 10, Venus came for the fourth time into
the same position and, naturally, was also at that moment in conjunction with Saturn. We have
reason to think that this coincided with the story of the sickness and passing of Lazarus (or
was, at least close to it), and his being raised by the Christ. This was an Initiation (see also
Rudolf Steiner’s, Christianity as Mystical Fact) in which he experienced, in a spiritually heightened
consciousness, the Apocalypse. Later on it was written down, possibly not by himself, from
oral tradition as The Revelation of John the Divine. (As one who had gone through initiation, he
received a new name, that of John, because he was “born anew”.)
Thus it may be a constructive idea, in view of the Sun-Neptune opposition, to try to look
at our age with “apocalyptic” eyes , particularly with regard to these last 30 years of the 20th
century. Many things that have happened, and are happening, will then fall into proper per-
spective and make sense.
We concluded the April issue with a promise to investigate how the inauguration of cosmic
events at the beginning of the present century played into later decades.
There exist various ways of investigation that can provide an insight into the effects of
earlier cosmic events on later stages of historic evolution. For instance, already since Biblical
times, the equation hss been known: one day equals one year (see Ezekiel IV : 6; the Lord says
to the prophet: “...I have appointed thee each day for a year...”). This means, in practice, that if
we start out from a certain event and try to discern some details of the future, we may find that
each day following that initial event pre-reflects one year, etc., in numerical succession.
Other time equations can also be detected, such as the following: one sidereal Moon cycle
(starting out from an event) corresponds to 1 cycle of 7 years, following the event, and so
forth.
This is a ratio that we discovered more than 40 years ago, and which we have since success-
fully employed in connection with the investigation of cosmic incarnation configurations of a
great number of historical personalities. If we take the moment of the so-called epoch, we
have an essential starting point. The date of the epoch can be calculated on the basis of certain
aspects at birth. It takes place about 10 sidereal Moon cycles before birth, but varies in the
individual case. Time-wise, it is in the neighborhood of the conception but not necessarily
identical with it.
We have detected that each one of the 10 prenatal Moon cycles pre-reflects 7 years of life
after birth. Thus the first cycle, up to 27.32166 days after the epoch, corresponds to the age 1-
7 years, the second cycle to 7-14 years, and so forth. This confronts us, however, with two
serious questions:
1. How does this interrelationship actually work? How is it possible that an earlier event in
the starry heavens can play into an earthly happening long after? How can this be reconciled
with our spiritual-moral freedom and responsibility?
2. If one can accept such a correlation in principle, how is it possible that time ratios, of
varying lengths, should be operative in this context?
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With regard to the first question, we remind ourselves of the fact that cosmic forces are
employed during the prenatal development that mold and force the earthly material, which is
offered at the moment of incarnation, into a human form. The destiny, or “karma”, in this
forming activity is present, which we ourselves have caused and prepared in a previous incarna-
tion and during life in the spiritual cosmic world in between. Out of this complex of associa-
tions we form, or at least help in degrees to form, the “tool” we need for the execution of our
own prenatal intentions for our life on Earth. In the bodily “tool”, the phases of our destiny in
postnatal times are incorporated, as it were, in a germinal form. If we speak of destiny, we
must realize that it is in truth our own being and doing, only seen from the other side of the
fence, so to speak, appearing like an objective and foreign entity. However, we willed that the
phases of this, our destiny, are worked out in actual life after birth, in stages one after the other.
Therefore, in the bodily “tool” there must be present an instrumentality that effects this (mostly
unconscious) self-confrontation which we, otherwise, call destiny. Our spiritual freedom would
then lie in the conscious and clear recognition of the self-imposed destiny and in the inaugura-
tion of corresponding constructive activity, redemption, and self-evolution.
Thus we can say that destiny is ever present in our very own bodily “tool”, which we willed
to be built; therefore, it is unfolded in time just as a living plant unfolds and develops in space
and time. Furthermore, we can also see that what unfolds must be prepared in the course of
the average lifetime of a human being in the space of the average nine embryonic months.
This must happen according to certain laws. One such law reveals itself by the correlation of
each prenatal Moon month to a period of seven years after birth. The embryonic development
takes place in the course of about 10 such (sidereal) Moon months. As each one pre-reflects a
seven year period, the ten prenatal Moon cycles would represent about seventy years of life,
the average life span of a human being.
With regard to the second question, we must debate with ourselves the being and essence
of time. What is time? Just in this modern age of cosmological discoveries and confrontation,
we realize that time is a very relative, and yet in the individual case realistic, element. In any
case, time is always determined by cosmic rhythms. Nothing can dispute this fact. On Earth
we take our planet’s daily rotation around its axis and the (“apparent”) movement of the Sun
through the ecliptic as the foundation of time. The daily rotation of the Earth gives us the day
of 24 hours. The movement of the Sun through the ecliptic from the heliocentric aspect,
which is the course of the Earth along its orbit and return to its original position, gives us the
year of 365.25 days. These are obviously time ratios that are practical for the conditions pre-
vailing on our planet. But it is equally obvious that on other members of our solar family,
different time ratios must be paramount.
We take, for instance, the planet Saturn. Its “year” rhythm is obviously different from ours
on the Earth, because it needs, gauged by Earth time, 29.4577 Sun or Earth years to move once
through its orbit. Likewise, the orbital intervals of the other planets are different from that of
the Earth. In other words, the beings on these planets (we need not think of beings as flesh
and blood) must have totally different time concepts from ours.
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Figure 23 Geocentric Graph
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163
To this we must now add another factor with regard to time. That is “symbolic spiritual”
representation. For instance, if we refer again to that passage from Ezekiel: “I have appointed
thee each day for a year”, it means that the rotation of the Earth around its axis in a day stands
“symbolically” for one rotation or orbit through the ecliptic. This is, of course, more than a
game with symbolism. It is a measure by which divine beings can visualize and prepare the
future prophetically.
The association of one sidereal Moon cycle, or one “Moon year”, with seven Earth years,
then, is also of this nature. Certain spiritual beings connected with the Moon are capable of
seeing how that which is prepared and embodied into existence will unfold as destiny chal-
lenges, not only in the life of the individual but also in the life of humanity. If an event takes
place in the heavens, such as that Great Conjunction of Saturn-Jupiter in 1901, this carries not
only an image of the (self-willed) destiny of individuals but also of humanity. In order to
evolve and fulfill this destiny, a “time being” of etheric nature is created, according to the
sidereal Moon cycles of 27.32166 days each. This can then unfold, in a challenging way, into
seven year cycles according to earthly time standards. Thus we can, indeed, speak of “proph-
ecy” but one leaving us “free” in the domains of our own evaluations, decisions, or possibly
denials and failures.
Why should the reflection, or deflection, occur within rhythms of seven years? These
intervals of time are basically connected with the psychological and spiritual growth of the
human being. We speak of a plant growing with and through the rhythms of the seasons of
the year. In a similar sense, these seven year periods in a human life are like signposts of inner
development along the road through the “seasons” of an individual’s incarnation or even in the
historic events of humanity. (See also, Encyclopedia of Numbers, by A. E. Abbot, Emerson Press,
London.)
In this sense, we now employ the graph in Fig. 23 on the previous page. It starts out from
the moment of the Great Conjunction of November 28, 1901, viewed geocentrically. (We
have produced the circular chart of this event in Fig. 22, Mar. ‘70). From this point we fol-
lowed the movements of the planets during the succeeding 14 sidereal Moon cycles of 27.322
days each.
At the end of each cycle the Moon would be back in its original position on November 28.
The dates when this happened are indicated along the top line, from left to right. The decades
into which these returns of the Moon are deflected, according to the seven years’ rhythm, are
indicated along the bottom line, also from left to right.
Instead of indicating the movements and gestures of the planets during these intervals in a
circular form (in which they appear to move in the heavens) we draw, so to speak, the circle out
into a straight line. We need this in order to relate the details to time. Thus the signs of the
ecliptic are indicated along the left edge of the graph (page 162), whereas the sidereal constel-
lations can be discerned on the right edge of the graph (page 163). This double relation of the
planet to space, or ecliptic, and time (Moon cycles) makes them appear to move in slanted
curves , or lines.
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How can we practically handle such a graph? For instance, we want to know when Mars
was opposite the place where the Great Conjunction in 1901 took place, which was in 14° of
the sign of . So, we want to find Mars in 14 . This position in the ecliptic and in relation to
time, we discern by moving along the sector “ ”, from left to right, until we meet the slanting
line of Mars soon after August 2. A glance at the bottom line indicates that this was related to
about 1966-1967.
(Further handling, and also the resulting implications, will be discussed in the following issue.)
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[Ed. note: This month we include the geocentric and heliocentric graphs of the daily movements
of the planets, along with the entire commentary, as an example of their practical use and for whatever
interest it might inspire as a tool for self-education.]
All major events, both in the Geocentric and Heliocentric graphs, can easily be discerned.
However, we have the impression that we ought to make sure that the practical use of these
graphs is fully comprehended. For instance, we may want to know what will happen in the
heavens on June 12 and 13. First, we must always bear in mind that on the American continent,
events fall 5-8 hours earlier than in England (GMT). At New York the time lag is, because of
the daily rotation of the Earth, 5 hours and at Los Angeles 8 hours.
In order to find the 12th and 13th of June, we move along the top edge of the geocentric
graph until we come to the partition “11”. This means that all the events indicated along the
line down to the bottom-edge will be taking place at Noon, Greenwich, England, on 11 June.
The following partition, which bears the number “12”, at the bottom-edge, refers to Noon, 12
June, at Greenwich. And again along the top-edge we find the line indicating the noontime of
13 June at Greenwich. As we go up the line referring to the 12th, we discern that the Moon will
be in First Quarter position, or 90° angular distance from the Sun on that day. On the same
day, around noon at Greenwich, the Moon will come into conjunction with Pluto, according to
ecliptic longitude. In actual fact, the Moon will be 16° below it, because of all the planets Pluto
deviates midway between its nodes up to 17.14° from the ecliptic, or apparent path of the Sun.
If we move still higher along the line of the 12th, we find an indication that Mercury will be
opposite Neptune.
As we go down along 13 June, we discover that Venus will step into square, or 90° angular
distance-aspect to Jupiter. We could actually discern these aspects by measuring their distances
along the daily, vertical lines. Thus, for instance, Venus stands at the end of the ecliptic parti-
tion of and Jupiter at the end of the ecliptic partition of . This amounts to a distance of
90°, because each of the three intervening partitions stands for 30° each. Furthermore, we
notice that the Moon moved on that day into conjunction with Uranus.
We can now corroborate this with the heliocentric graph, only here we must bear in mind
that the vertical partitions denote time (GMT) from midnight to midnight of the corresponding
day. (The available ephemerides for heliocentric positions are computed according to this
principle.) As we move up the partition of “12”, we discover these aspects: Mercury will be in
square, or 90° distance from Neptune, Uranus at 144° distance or bi-quintile from Mercury,
Venus at 72° distance (Q or quintile) from Neptune, Mars at 60° distance from Venus (sextile),
and finally Saturn at 72° distance from Mercury (quintile).
On the following day, moving down the partition “13”, we find only two aspects: the Earth
will be at an angular distance of 72° from Mercury (quintile) and a 120° aspect (trine) will
happen between Mercury and Jupiter. However, we discover something else, Mercury will
move through the perihelion-end of the apsides of Mars.
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Retregrade Direct Occultation Sextile - 60º

167
Quintile - 75° Square - 90° Trine - 120°

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With the help of these monthly graphs, we can work out, in practical terms, all positions of
the planets and events in the heavens. We can easily define the positions by referring the lines
of the planets to the ecliptic signs (left-hand edge) and to the sidereal constellations (right-
hand edge), as far as the geocentric graph is concerned. In the heliocentric graph, the parti-
tions on the left edge indicate only the degrees of the circle of the Earth’s orbit around the
Sun, whereas the partitions on the right edge are the sidereal constellations, similar to the
geocentric graph.
Thus, if we want to find the position of Mars on 13 June, we move down along sector “13”
until we come to the line of Mars. We meet it in the partition designated as , which is the
ecliptic sign indicated on the left edge. If we move to the right edge, we notice that Mars will
be in the sidereal constellation of Gemini (Gem).
This leaves us with the question: What are we going to do with all this information? We
have, now and then, tried to pick out individual events in the heavens to show ways and means
of interpreting them, mostly from historic viewpoints. Of course, we are fully aware that we
have, thereby, barely touched the many-fold possibilities toward interpretation. On the other
hand, we should also point out that a really good and proficient astrology cannot be attained in
a hurried course of introduction. It needs years of intensive practice and experience. It cannot
be achieved by the kind of “cook-book” astrology which one meets very often. The latter can
be very deceptive and lead to superficial results that can be, as a rule, obtained much more
efficiently by plain psychological means.
We must be aware, above all other considerations, of the fact that our relationship to the
stars has, within the last few thousand years, changed slowly but radically. We hear so often the
questions: What does this or that event in the heavens mean to me? How does it affect my
daily concerns? This can go so far that some human beings do not dare to attend to trivial
affairs unless they have consulted their “charts”. This is, in our eyes, a humiliating defeat and
a falling back into antiquated conditions of humanhood. Once, in ancient times, the stars were
“speaking” to us and guiding us. This has changed. Now, we are called upon to “speak to the
stars”, and we must gradually learn to do it. Indeed, one can sometimes detect in so-called
delineations of charts that the interpreter is doing just this, possibly without being fully con-
scious. We are only in the very first beginnings of learning the new “techniques” of this
approach that will, once it is more established, reveal the real value and the spiritual glory of a
reborn astrology. But, also from this viewpoint, the eventual attainment will demand tenacious
and patient work.
Apart from their association with the evolution of humanity, the stars still have a strong
connection with events in nature. This is one reason why we want to give our readers an
opportunity to follow nature events with the help of the star calendars in our issues. Modern
science has discovered, on purely statistical grounds, many correlations between cycles in na-
ture and configurations in the heavens. We have reported about these findings in earlier issues.
There is, for instance, one feature that even the so-called “layman” can easily follow, if there is
a knowledge of the phases of the Moon. In the Middle Ages and earlier, simple shepherds and
169
peasants lived in this awareness and were able to predict the weather. Moving toward modern
times, a scientific humanity regarded this as utter superstition. However, the US Weather
Bureau has collected statistical data concerning the Lunar Synodical Period and widespread
precipitation during the years 1900-24 and 1925-49. A total of 1,544 weather stations was
involved, and 16,057 maximum precipitation records, representing 6,710 individual dates were
collected. The statistics established beyond doubt that the phases of the Moon were con-
nected with precipitation. Near the middle of the first week after new Moon, that is up to the
First Quarter, the rainfall rose to a considerable maximum. During the second week (First
Quarter to Full Moon) precipitation was deficient. During the third week of the lunar month
(after full Moon) precipitation rose to a maximum that, according to the charts, superseded
even that of the first week, and during the fourth week (Last Quarter to new Moon) it became
again deficient.
These rhythms and many others in nature can easily be followed by persistent observations.
Surely, they may change somewhat in character according to continent and also according to
the aspects, that is, angular relationships that the Moon establishes to the planets, apart from
the Sun. This is one of the reasons why we include in these issues the geocentric graphs, in
order to inspire individual observation and investigation. Only by taking things into our own
hands can we expect to make any progress in this field.

In the last issue we introduced one of several possible methods of a time-wise correlation
of the Great Conjunction in 1901 to the whole century. This is one possible correlation.
There exist several others.
Even a superficial glance at the graph of 1901 and 1902 in Fig. 23, can confirm that there
are remarkable time-wise associations between the events in the heavens and those in the
history of the present century, if we apply the ratio of 1 sidereal Moon cycle = 7 years. Natu-
rally, we look out first for the most conspicuous happenings. There was, for instance, the First
World War, starting about 12.66 years after 28 November, 1901. In terms of our time ratio, we
would expect to see that moment pre-reflected close to the end of the second sidereal Moon
cycle after the Great Conjunction (12.66 years = 2 x 7 minus 1.34 years), bringing us to 18
January 1902. (The end of the second cycle, corresponding to 14 years, falls on January 22—
the Moon being back in 12 36, as on November 28, 1901. One and one-third years, the
difference between 14 and 12.66 years, finds the Moon about 68.5° further back from 12 36,
or 14 .)
The geocentric positions on that January 18, 1902, do not help us very much to identify the
reflection in them of such a major event as the outbreak of the First World War. However, the
heliocentric configurations speak another language. There Venus was in the ascending nodal
line of Jupiter. Saturn, and this is the most significant aspect, was then precisely in the de-
scending nodal line of Pluto, as far as the latter’s position has been calculated. (Saturn in 289°,
descending node of Pluto in 289°.)
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At this point we should want to say a word about calculation. Some people object to it,
finding it too bothersome. However, we firmly insist on it. This is a field that demands, apart
from the intuition approach that we certainly need too, utmost precision and correctitude.
Without this effort and attitude, we can just as well leave astrological investigation alone. We
do insist that the mathematical precision possible in this area is the backbone of confirmation,
and even correction, in all kinds of spiritual research. Therefore, we think that it is well worth
while to make the effort of exact calculation, even if it is somewhat painful. Of course, we
realize that the danger here is to solely get stuck in calculation and lose the inspiration and
intuition element through it. As much as anywhere else, balance is needed in this field.
By no means can we suggest that those events on January 18, 1902, reflecting the outbreak
of the First World War, must be interpreted as indicating the inevitableness of hostilities. The
opposite could have happened, if humanity in that moment would have broken through to a
real esoteric understanding of Christianity. This was clearly expressed in the two cosmic inci-
dents we mentioned. They “remembered” the Baptism of Jesus by John, when the Cosmic
Christ, according to spiritual research, entered the being of Jesus (for details see the author’s
Cosmic Christianity). At that moment, January 6, 31 AD, Saturn was between the ascending
nodes of Jupiter and Pluto, which apparently were then only a few degrees apart.
The fact that Saturn, in 1902, was at the opposite, descending end of the nodal line of
Pluto wants to indicate, in our view (as we suggested above), that it was in truth a moment of
cosmic remembrance. Some people might say: This is utter utopia, to expect that such factors
can be taken into consideration in the area of politics. To which we reply: A humanity that
cannot, or does not want to live up to basic principles concerning the significance of our planet
in the total solar universe, must take the consequences. And this is precisely what happened.
The nodes of Pluto are points of co-ordination of that planetary sphere into the Earth sphere.
Pluto, the latest of the new planets discovered, is far “outside” the sevenfoldness of the classi-
cal planets that are “built” into the human organism. Therefore, it is of an exalted nature,
working into our spiritual aura. However, if its spiritualizing challenges are not received by us
in constructive response, then it can become utter destructiveness. This destruction is then the
means by which spiritualization is eventually achieved in the cosmos.
The events in July-August 1914 were precisely of that nature. For instance, it has been
established that the responsible personalities at Berlin were in a state of disastrous confusion in
those days. Forces, other than human reason and responsibility, filled the human vacuum and
brought on the following disasters from which no one on our globe gained any constructive
results.
We proceed with the next significant historic event: the Russian revolution in November
1917. This is two years more than 14 years, corresponding in pre-reflection to the end of the
second sidereal Moon cycle after the Great Conjunction of 1901, plus 8 days (standing for the
two additional years) comes to January 30, 1902. In the geocentric chart the planets Mars,
Mercury, Venus, and the Sun were still in the conglomeration into which they entered earlier
(see Fig. 23). Venus had already entered a retrograde phase (loop), whereas Mercury was to
171
follow soon. Mars had two conjunctions with Mercury during this 3rd Moon cycle, and one
with Venus.
The loop of Venus in Aquarius is a descendant of one that took place in August 31 AD, in
the constellation of Leo, almost coinciding with a conjunction of Mars with the Sun. As far as
we can trace any chronology, we think that this was connected with the time of the imprison-
ment of St. John the Baptist and his eventual beheading.
Here, we keep two things apart: On the one side stands the malicious deed of the Herod
family, and on the other hand this was a significant event for St. John. That “head”, in which
was accumulated the glorious past of the mysteries of the human race, was sacrificed. We must
see it on the background of his incarnation as Elijah, and of being described by Christ as the
greatest of all human beings (see Matthew XI:11-14, Luke VII:28). Behind this stands the fact
that the old—the First Creation—had come to an end with the advent of Christ. Therefore,
St. John sacrificed that past, which was present in his head, to make room for the new.
This is what should have happened humanity-wise toward the end of the First World War.
The body social of humanity was very sick and was crying out for help and healing. This was
recognized by a number of human beings. Some asked Rudolf Steiner for advice, in 1917, and
he gave them the idea of the Threefold Commonwealth (available from Anthroposophic Press)
as a means of possible reconstruction through the replacement of worn-out, antiquated social
routine (the “old head”) by a new and intuitive thinking. It was eventually rejected. Instead,
the Russian revolution prevailed, only months later.
In that moment there entered once again, now on a humanity-scale, these two aspects on
the stage of history: the maliciousness of the “Herods”, and the willingness of those who were
ready to follow Christ to sacrifice “the old head”. And this modern situation is by no means
resolved yet.
The “old head” concluded with the so-called Peace Treaty of Versailles (29 June 1919),
which many historians came to regard as a failure. In Fig. 23, of the Great Conjunction of
1901, this refers to February 6, 1902, close to a conjunction of Mars and Venus. In the helio-
centric setting, we find Mercury in conjunction with Pluto on that day, and Venus in its perihe-
lion and in the ascending nodal line of Neptune. Also the precise heliocentric opposition of
Uranus and Pluto seems to have taken place on February 8. By recalling the implications
contained in Fig. 19, in Feb. ‘70, we can easily detect the connection with the social problems
of modern humanity. The Peace Treaty should have been concluded out of the cognition of
such needs.
The fact that it turned out differently contributed much to the disasters in 1933 in Central
Europe. January 30, 1933, the commencement of the Nazi takeover in Germany, coincides in
our chart with March 30-31, 1902. It falls in almost exactly with the conjunction of Mars with
the Sun in about 8 . It surely was an extreme “Martial” event. Also, Venus was almost exactly
back to the same position where it had been on February 6, 1902, after the conclusion of its
loop. According to the heliocentric approach, Mars proceeded to move into the perihelion of
Jupiter. One can say that there was the danger, of course only for an unaware humanity, of
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having the wellsprings of sound thinking and spiritual freedom being blocked. Mars has such
blocking capacity.
The time of the outbreak of the Second World War, September 1939, was pre-reflected on
April 25, 1902. The geocentric chart displays a square (90°) aspect between Mars and Saturn.
Furthermore, Mars was near the descending Moon node. But the language of the heliocentric
implications is quite simple: Mercury was in conjunction with Mars, and Venus in conjunction
with Uranus, close to the descending node of Venus in Scorpio. The latter event carries an
ominous memory. On 18 March 1314, the last Grandmaster of the Order of the Knights
Templars was burned at the stake. This marked the final extermination of the Order, after
years of persecution, trials, false confessions extracted by torture, and finally execution, chiefly
on the instigation of King Philip le Bel of France. His main aim was to lay hands on the
possessions of the Order. Just a few days prior to the death of Jacques de Molay at the stake,
Venus was in conjunction with Uranus, exactly in the descending nodal lines of Uranus and
Venus (the two lines coincided in the 14th century).
Although the war of 1939 was started on different premises than the Templars’ Drama,
nevertheless the accompanying circumstances, particularly the extermination horrors in Cen-
tral Europe, appear like the rising-up of similar demonic ghosts of the past. Yet, we still insist,
things could have turned out quite differently if there had been more spiritual awareness in
humanity. In our view, there lives in that particular conjunction of Venus and Uranus a chal-
lenge of transforming the remnants of the Ancient Mysteries into the New Christian Myster-
ies, as they are potentially present, for instance, in Rosicrucian Christianity. The events that
rolled across Europe after 1933 were certainly born out of very ancient, decadent mysteries,
such as those connected with blood ties, etc.
All during the time that reflected that era, Saturn was drawing close to its own descending
node in sidereal Sagittarius. In the sphere of Saturn live the Guardians of karma, or destiny—
even humanity karma—born out of world memory. If the planet steps into this nodal line, it
can be taken as a sign of cosmic admonishment of these beings, to watch out, to step carefully
with regard to destiny provoking deeds that may or may not be inaugurated in humanity during
such times. The actual position of Saturn in its descending nodal line fell on May 18, 1902,
which pre-reflected August 1945. At the same time Venus was in conjunction with Saturn and,
therefore, also in its descending node.
Obviously, this refers to Hiroshima. And as the life and community building element of
Venus is involved, it sounds rather serious. In fact, we cannot yet gauge the consequences that
the inauguration of these means of destruction will have on future humanity. We can fully
understand that many of the leading personalities of present humanity are deeply concerned
with this. It has, indeed, become karma of the Earth planet.
As we move closer to the pre-reflections concerning the present moment, we come to
August 23, 1902, which is related—according to the time ratio that we employ here—to the
beginning of 1970. On that day there was an opposition between Mars (22 06) and Saturn
(22 06), according to the geocentric graph. At the same time, heliocentric Venus moved into
173
conjunction with Mars close to the perihelion line of Saturn. Thus the sphere of Saturn stands
again as the “guardian”, calling out that the worn-out principles of the Mars origin must be
transformed, redeemed, reoriented through the essence of the Venus principles, that is, by
recognizing the spiritual apocalyptic meaning of humanhood. [Editor’s note: Willi Sucher was
born August 22, 1902.]
On October 17, 1902, a Moon eclipse took place (23 ) that was followed by an inferior
conjunction of Mercury with the Sun on October 19 in 26 , close to the ascending node of
the Moon. This is significant in so far as the nodes of the Moon are “gateways for cosmic
astrality” into the Earth sphere. In the heliocentric setting, we discover an opposition of Mars,
in about 118°, to Saturn, in about 298°, on October 21. The two were in a square (90° angular
distance) aspect to the Earth (28°) at the same time. These events pre-reflected the years 1984-
5. [Editor’s Note: Willi Sucher passed over on May 21, 1985.]
The inferior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun on October 19 was resolved in a supe-
rior conjunction on December 12, 1907 in 20 . This was accompanied by a conjunction of
Venus with Uranus on the 11th in 21 17. The conjunction of Mercury with Uranus was on the
13th and that of the Sun with Mercury on the 14th, all in 22 . They pre-reflected to the years
1998-9.
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Among the many events that are indicated in the calendar graphs, we should like to draw
attention to the heliocentric conjunction of Venus with Jupiter, quite close to the aphelion line
of Neptune. Geocentrically, Venus will then just enter the ecliptic sign of , after having gone
through a square aspect (90° distance) to Neptune. Heliocentrically, Venus will then move into
conjunction with Neptune, which has entered the sidereal constellation of Scorpio. Just by a
few hours difference geocentrically, Venus will be in quintile aspect (72° distance) to Neptune.
Thus we have here one of those coincidences where the geocentric and heliocentric views
complement each other.
How can we interpret such an event? First of all, we contemplate the functions, as it were,
of the three planets involved in the total solar organism. All three occupy intermediary, or
“middle” positions; Venus is the “middle” between Moon and Mercury, Jupiter between Mars
and Saturn, Neptune between Uranus and Pluto. We gauge their functions by what we find so
wonderfully demonstrated in the human organism as the “middle” system: breathing, circula-
tion, etc., between head and limbs and the metabolism. The middle, or rhythmic, system has a
mediating, even therapeutic task between the two extremes. To this contemplation we add the
fact that the heliocentric conjunction of Venus with Jupiter, and the meeting with the aphelion
line of Neptune will happen in the sidereal constellation of Libra, or Balance. Apart from all
this, it will be the summer season in the Northern Hemisphere, when the human being is more
inclined to fall in with the general tendency of exhalation into cosmic heights and departure
from heavy Earth pressure.
Taking all into account, we can well come to the impression that this event might be an
occasion requiring full command of soul balancing power. The fact that in the heliocentric
perspective the corresponding events will be combining with sidereal Libra and Scorpio, and in
the geocentric with sidereal Leo and Scorpio, can bring home to us that Balance will be re-
quired, particularly with regard to the metabolism and limb activity, which have their cosmic
archetypes in those constellations. The establishment of such a balance is possible, for in-
stance, by the contemplation of the great “apocalyptic” aims of present Earth evolution: 1) in
the sense of the sublime impulses of cosmic love, which have been “speaking” into Earth
existence through Venus, 2) the future of the present solar universe, being in germinal form
already present in Jupiter as “Future Jupiter”, and 3) the attainment of all this through the
“apocalyptic” spiritualization of material existence, which is the real aim of certain beings
working in the sphere of Neptune. This kind of inner work, at least genuine attempts of
approach, can take out all detriment of events in the heavens, like those we discuss here, and
turn them into beneficial road signs of humanity’s progress into the future.

On December 21, 1902, that is nine days later, seen from the heliocentric perspective, an
opposition of Mars (144.5°) and Jupiter (324.5°) occurred; furthermore, the Earth was close to
175
the perihelion line of Saturn and Venus close to the descending nodal line of Jupiter and to the
aphelion of the Earth. These events refer to the years 2000 and 2001. The Moon ratio of
time, which we employ now, equates 27.3 days (1 sidereal Moon cycle) to 7 years. Conse-
quently, 3.9 days correspond to 1 year.
What can we do with this information concerning years to come? In the case of coinci-
dences pre-reflecting events that are already past, we can at least corroborate and, thereby, train
our judgment. With regard to coming events, one can easily fall into the trap of fatalism and of
prognostication of disaster. This attitude has given much reason for the bad reputation of
classical astrology. However, things can be and must be done differently in our present age.
Against the apparently detrimental aspects expressed in the cosmic script, we must learn to
evolve positive and constructive viewpoints.
For instance, we mentioned the inferior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun on October
19, 1902, referring to 1984-5. This happened in 26 , close to the ascending node of the
Moon. Instead of giving way to possible gloom, we direct our attention to the fact that this
event took place in the vicinity of the fixed-star Spica (the Ear of Corn) of Virgo above the
star Canopus, the stern of Argo, the Ship in the southern sky and below the star Arcturus in the
constellation Bootes, the Bear-driver, or more correctly the Ox-driver. These can provoke
creative imagination and inspiration to the extent that one certainly takes this as a moment of
decision. But a decision that can be mastered on the basis of cognition of the spiritual apoca-
lyptic navigation of humanity (expressed in the Argo, the heavenly ship). Furthermore, we can
be inspired by the Arcturus Ox-driver, the Plough-man who guides the heavenly Plough (also
called the constellation of the Great Bear). This could help us to accept and regard whatever
will happen as an opportunity of “cultivating” the grounds for future harvests. The crops that
may mature only in a far future, may appear promised in Spica, the Ear of Corn. This is, of
course, only a sketchy outline of how one could turn such a cosmic aspect to the positive. It
can surely be worked out in greater detail.
The conjunctions of Venus, Mercury, and the Sun with Uranus around 11 to 14 December
1902, which we mentioned above, can be handled similarly. They took place near the fixed-star
Lesath, the Sting of Scorpio. Here we would have full opportunity to fall into gloom. How-
ever, we look at the neighborhood of Scorpio, and indeed, we find above it the fixed-star
RasAlague the head of Ophiuchus, and also its star Eta, or left knee. This leads us to the
conclusion that this Scorpio can and must be redeemed and lifted up. Ophiuchus, “The Man
who holds the Snake” (See Peter Lum, The Stars in our Heaven), is Aesculapius the great doctor
in Greek mythology. Through the serpent that he carries in his hands, he came into possession
of the healing herb that not only healed the sick but could even raise the dead. However, the
Gods decreed that on Earth the law of death must prevail, at least for a time. Therefore,
Aesculapius-Ophiuchus was removed from the Earth and placed among the stars.
Of course, we should not get stuck in the ancient mythologies of the constellations. They
are no more than signposts on the road that we must now travel consciously. Even the constel-
lations in the heavens slowly change their character. The association of Ophiuchus with Scor-
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pio can give the certainty that even the ominous nature of Scorpio will be redeemed, in the
sense of that great healing and overcoming of death standing in the background. This can also
remove any possible gloom in connection with those events in the heavens toward the end of
1902, which pre-reflected the end of the century.
At this point one of the main questions we ask might well be: What is the principle
significance of the 20th century, on the basis of its inauguration by the Great Conjunction in
1901?
That conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place in 284°, or 14 . This was, by a differ-
ence of 2°, exactly opposite the sidereal position (in relationship to the fixed stars) of Saturn
on January 6, 31 AD (Saturn 80°, or 20 , plus 26° movement of precession from 31 AD to
1900). After diligent research, we have come to the conclusion that January 6, 31 AD is, from
a cosmological viewpoint, the most probable date of the baptism of Jesus by John (see also the
author’s publication Cosmic Christianity). In fact, around December 17, 1901, Saturn was in that
opposite point, whereas Jupiter, about December 25, 1901, was in the sidereal opposition to its
own place at Whitsun, May 24, 33 AD (see Acts of the Apostles, chapter II).
Thus, we are led to the conclusion that one of the chief challenges of this century, which
commenced with that Great Conjunction, is to understand and practically implement the sig-
nificance of the Christ Events and the Christ Impulse. This could have been achieved right in
the spheres of cultural and scientific life of present humanity and also in the area of social
construction. In such realizations, the challenge of the oppositions (looking at the cosmic
“memories” from across) should have been answered.
Similar cosmic “memories” do not occur very often in history. The last time such Great
Conjunctions occurred in the opposition points of Saturn and Jupiter during the Three Years
of Christ’s Ministry, was during the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1226 a Great Conjunction of
Saturn and Jupiter took place in the sidereal constellation of Capricorn, almost exactly oppo-
site the point where Saturn was on April 3, 33 AD, the day of Golgotha. In 1226 St. Francis of
Assissi died, and also the tragic war of extermination of the Cathars, in the south of France
was under way. Earlier, during the 8th and 9th centuries, Great Conjunctions occurred in the
actual sidereal places where Saturn was during the events of the Three Years of Christ. These
were the centuries that saw the historicity of the Story of the Holy Grail (see W. J. Stein Das
Neunte Jahrhundert —The Ninth Century).
It is also illuminating to note that Rudolf Steiner, during the time when that Great Con-
junction of Saturn and Jupiter occurred, gave two lecture-cycles: one on From Buddha to Christ
(24 lectures, October 3, 1901 to March 27, 1902) and another one on Christianity as Mystical Fact
(25 lectures, October 5, 1901 to March 22, 1902, later published in book form). Rudolf Steiner,
as the great occultist, was undoubtedly fully conscious of the requirements of the commenc-
ing century.
We will now introduce another possible method of progressions emerging from a cosmic
event in 1901. The term “progression” is used by classical astrology for this process of relating
an earlier cosmic occurrence to a later moment in general or personal history. The ratio we
177
Figure 24: Geocentric Graph
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179
intend to demonstrate, as a principal exemplification, is the equation: 1 Saturn year = 29.4578

Sun years of 365 days. This ratio of progression has proven, in decades of research, to be an
efficient means of studying the impact of cosmic happenings on earthly events. For this
purpose we include here another graph of the movements of the planets during the years
following the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter on November 28, 1901, similar to Fig. 23 in
the May ’70 issue, only more extended.
In that May issue, we discussed the foundation and the meaning of such a time correlation.
We also explained the practical handling of the graphic approach. The time ratio of 1 Moon
cycle of 27.3 days equaling 7 years in times following, we said, was leading us to a realization of
what was built by Moon beings into the ether elements working in life. We participate in the
latter by our own ether, or life body. On the other hand the time correlation of 1 Sun year = 1
Saturn year, or 29.4578 Sun years is an expression of the workings and visions of Saturn
beings. They see these correlations as manifestations of karma (Sanskrit: deed, for instance, in
one incarnation determining fate in a future one). Indeed, we have discovered that this karmic
time principle is manifest in many historic correlations between past and future. It can be
detected in individual incarnation and excarnation charts, indicating the possible time interval
between two incarnations.
We have arranged the graph in Fig. 24 according to this time principle. The correlation 1
Sun year = 1 Saturn year of 29.4578 Sun years results in 12.4 days being equal to 1 Sun year.
This ratio we have inserted along the top edge. One partition, from left to right, stands for a
time interval of 5 x 12.4 days is 62 days, which equals 5 years in Sun correlation. Along the
bottom edge we have indicated the relationship to the progress of the 20th century in Sun years,
starting from 1901.
On this foundation, we now study the major events and turning points of this present
century, as we did the last two issues in connection with the Moon cycle correlation. First, we
turn to 1914, the year of the commencement of the First World War. In order to find the
related cosmic events, we start from 1911 (bottom edge), corresponding to April 1, 1902 (top
edge), add 3 x 12.4 days = 37 days to come to 1914. This brings us to May 8, 1902. However,
we must now account for the fact that we start out with our graph from November 28, 1901,
the date of the Great Conjunction. Consequently, each subsection of 12.4 days in the graph
leads us to the equivalent of 28 November of that particular year. For instance, 1911 along the
bottom-edge means 28 November 1911; another 12.4 days further on would be 28 November
1912, and so forth. Thus, by going 3 subdivisions from 1911 to the right, we have arrived on
the 28 November 1914. However, that war started in the beginning of August 1914. We must
therefore subtract four days for four months, that is from November back to August. (Of the
correlate 12.4 days = 1 year, naturally, one day stands for about one month.) Thus we fall back
from May 8, 1902 to May 4, as being the correlate of the outbreak of the First World War.
We already see in the graph that during that time there was a conglomeration of planets in
the signs and . Furthermore, Venus and the Moon (could not be included in the graph) just
entered the ecliptic sign of . On May 7 a Sun eclipse took place. Most important for our
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considerations is the fact that Mars was in conjunction with the descending node of the Moon
(calculated according to the latitude of the Moon, not mean position as in most of the eph-
emerides). We pointed out earlier that the nodes of the Moon must be regarded as gateways to
cosmic astrality. This, combined with Mars, can give us an idea of how cosmic beings pre-
visualized, in that moment, an oncoming precarious cosmo-psycho situation that would have
required the utmost care of handling by humanity in those days. This was just not forthcom-
ing, and the result was the war.
The heliocentric correlate provides us with additional information. In the course of about
24 May, Saturn moved through its own descending node. It was practically in that nodal line on
May 4. Neptune was at the same time only a few minutes of the arc away from the perihelion
line of Saturn. Thus there was truly contained, in that moment in May 1902, a Saturnian pre-
vision of the years 1914 and after. A deeper insight into the world karmic situation all-round,
in which a humanity found itself, could have prevented the catastrophe. The cosmic correlate
certainly did not pronounce that the war was inevitable.
However, what was the world karma standing in the background at that time? We can
recognize it if we are prepared to set our mind to some additional—and unavoidably—math-
ematical astronomical research. Earlier, we said that the equation of one Saturn year is equal to
29.4578 Sun years, holds the key to the mysteries of the workings of karma. This can be
verified and demonstrated in very practical and precise terms.
We said above that Mars was moving, around 4 May 1902, through the descending nodal
line of the Moon. This was in about 4° 30' of the ecliptic sign . Now, we investigate when
Saturn was moving, either through the same position or opposite. For practical purposes we
take the opposite point, that is about 4° 30' of the sign of . Saturn was there on December
18, 1894, then again in retrograde movement on April 16, 1895, and in direct movement finally
on September 14, 1895. This gives us the following time intervals, against November 28,
1901(about 1901.9):
1901.90 1901.9 1901.9
1894.95 1895.3 1895.7
c. 6.95 years c. 6.6 years c. 6.2 years
We now take these Sun-time differences, according to the “karma” time principle that we
suggested earlier, as standing for Saturn time. In other words, we multiply them by the sidereal
Saturn year of 29.4578. Therefore: 6.95 x 29.4578 = 204.73 years; 6.6 x 29.4578 = 194.42
years; 6.2 x 29.4578= 182.64 years.
Going back by this many years, starting from 1901, we expect to see some of the karmic
background of the events in 1914.
1901.90 (11/28/01) 1901.90 1901.90

- 204.73 - 194.42 - 182.64
1697.17 1707.48 1719.26
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If we look at a History Table of those years in the past, we might be amazed to read about
the abundance of war conflicts all over Europe. There was hardly a country, or part of Europe
that was not involved. With regard to Western Europe, it is at times difficult to discern who
was making war against whom and why. In the East of Europe, we see Peter the Great (since
1689) raising Russia to a significant political factor. This he achieved in a number of conflicts
around the termination of the 17th and the beginning of the 18th century. The conflicts con-
cerned the establishment of his authority with regard to his own people as well as wars against
Poland, Sweden (Charles XII), Saxonia, and Turkey.
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Mars will come into conjunction with the Sun geocentrically, and if we add to this the
information that the heliocentric perspective offers, we find that during its conjunction with
the Sun, Mars will be almost exactly in the perihelion line of Venus and the ascending nodal
line of Neptune. Logically, about the same time the Earth must be moving through the aph-
elion line of Venus and the descending nodal line of Neptune.
The conjunctions of Mars with the Sun rarely recur in the same place of the ecliptic. The
last time it happened fairly close to the perihelion of Venus and ascending node of Neptune,
was on August 8, 1923, in about 15° of the sign . There was an opposition of Mars (being
retrograde) to the Sun on 4 February 1963. The planet was then also in about 15 .
Those times, particularly in 1923, were certainly tumultuous occasions and mainly con-
cerned Germany. After effects of the First World War and unrealistic reparation demands
made by the Allies caused an inflation there of fantastic dimensions. This, in turn, resulted in
social unrest; one was the so-called Hitler-Putsch in November of the same year at Munich.
However, it utterly failed then. We can somehow understand these occurrences if we study
once more the charts in the Feb. ’70 issue. We demonstrated there how the social revolutions
in Europe, from the French revolution right into modern times, were associated with positions
of the planets in or near the nodal line of Neptune and the perihelion-aphelion line of Venus.
In spite of all this historic evidence, we refuse to spell out gloom with regard to those
events in the beginning of August. We have convinced ourselves that it is a mistaken assump-
tion to think that the cosmos deals out eternal repetitions of the same old patterns of events.
If they do recur, it is only because humanity has not comprehended the lessons it must learn.
Altogether, we regard the events in the cosmos as challenges, not caused by the stars them-
selves but as expressions of divine thinking. It is on each of us to find constructive answers in
our own domain of thinking. Thus we can grow up to that spiritual-cosmic dignity that is
expected of us by the divine plans of creation. Of course, we need tools to develop this, and
they have always been offered to us by the great spiritual leaders of humanity as means of inner
or occult development. Since the beginning of the present century, they have been pronounced
by Rudolf Steiner as a science of the spirit that is in keeping with the requirements and capaci-
ties of our modern age. By such means the dangers of astrological fatalism can also be coun-
tered, in small, individual matters as well as in the greater concerns of humanity.
What are we actually doing by employing astrological “progressions’’ based on the Saturn
type of time equations that we explained in the last issue? We are making attempts to compre-
hend the thinking of divine hierarchies concerning events that happen on this planet. The
magnitude of such an undertaking must caution us to utmost care and reverence. Also, we
ought to be grateful for any revelation that comes to us in this fashion. For even as we are
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apparently dealing with objective figures and numbers, experience proves that we very often
need the grace of intuition in order to discover real leads.
If we think, we use our brain. The brain is like a mirror against which we reflect and break
up impressions, so that we can combine them with ideas. In a somewhat similar sense, the
divine hierarchies use the cosmos of the stars like a brain. Through the rhythms and move-
ments of the planets with their relations to the Zodiac (which carry “memories” of the past),
the divine beings realize their own exalted thoughts and ideas. With these, they then permeate
the universe, Earth, and humanity.
In this sense, we would see in those progressions, where we arrived before in 1697, 1707,
1719, indications of the thoughts of certain divine hierarchies concerning the situation that
European humanity found itself in 1914. They would conceive it as a moment in history when
the entire political and cultural structures of the nations concerned represent the karmic con-
sequences of that past. They would see it as an occasion in which that past could be redeemed
and turned into progress by spiritually free and constructive deeds of the human race. Be-
cause, this is the meaning of the workings of karma: not as punishment but to provide oppor-
tunities for us to raise ourselves as independent, yet through spiritual insight, fully responsible
beings to real creative humanhood. If an individual or a whole humanity does not achieve this,
then as a rule, that opportunity is missed for the time being; but karma works on, and at a
future point another confrontation will occur.
Opportunities were surely missed in 1914. According to preserved records of that time,
there was utter confusion in European capitols and an almost helpless tumbling into the war.
The humanity of that time proved that diplomatic routine, based on intellectual capacity and
tradition exclusively, is becoming less and less capable of dealing with modern situations. It
would have needed a mighty effort to recognize the spiritually uniting, historic foundations of
Europe in order to avoid that catastrophe. A deeper understanding of the whole esoteric
complex of the Mysteries of the Holy Grail, but in a totally modern form, could have provided
the basis for a constructive comprehension of the common and uniting historic task of the
European people. Such ideas were, and still are of course, utterly despised and regarded unsuit-
able for the practices of modern diplomacy and statecraft.
The indications that justify to us the pronouncement of such ideas, which to some may
seem abstruse nonsense, are contained in the configuration of stars at the commencement of
the present century. Those Saturnian progressions that we employed before, leading us to the
beginning of the 18th century, can be followed up much further back. Already in November
1865, Saturn was in 4° 30' of the ecliptic sign of , that is, the point of conjunction between
Mars and the Moon node in May 1902, referring to 1914 (see last issue). This was 36 years
before the Great Conjunction in November 1901. We can now employ again the equation: one
Sun year is equal to one Saturn year, or 36 yrs. x 29.4578 = 1060 years. Starting from 1901, this
leads us to about 841 AD. These were the centuries, apparently, when the historic Grail’s
events took place, which were described much later by the troubadours of the 12th and 13th
centuries (see Rudolf Steiner, also W. J. Stein’s, Das Neunte Jahrhundert—The Ninth Century).
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th
We can only allude to these interconnections at present with the 9 century, but we hope
that one day we can write more about them. Our guiding idea is that the Knighthood of the
Holy Grail and their successors were, in a certain sense, the founders of the medieval and
modern Europe that slowly came into being after Charlemagne. The Chalice, or Holy Vessel,
which had been, according to the legend, fashioned from a jewel fallen from the crown of
Lucifer and was used by Christ at the Last Supper, evoked in those Knights the experience of
the harmony and unity of all religions. In the modern sense, the Holy Grail can be experienced
and, thus, re-establish the harmony and spiritual unity of a humanity having been divided into
races and nations along the path of our individualization.
The complete absence of any such or similar ideas brought on the catastrophe, because
that humanity had turned, in our view, against the road toward its own entelechy. However,
from the cosmic viewpoint, this was not just something that had been dropped and no longer
mattered after the catastrophe had run its course. Nothing is forgotten in the cosmos, not even
the smallest event. It is held in cosmic memory and therein lies, in reality, the unconquerable hope
of the divine world that humanity will eventually succeed in the attainment of its higher goals.
Such is the working of the powers of karma.
Indeed, after 1901, Saturn again moved through that point in 4° 30' of the sign of (point
of conjunction of Mars and Moon node in May 1902, referring to 1914). That was, for in-
stance, in April 1940, and this was close to the Great Conjunctions in those years that we shall
have to speak about later on in great detail.
April 1940 is 38.4 years after November 1901. We now transpose this interval into Saturn
time (38.4 x 29.4578) and come to 1131 years. Although this lies after 1901, we regard it as a
reflection of time gone by, before that year. It thus leads us to about 770 AD, which is again
connected with the history of the Holy Grail. It was probably the date of the foundation of
the Knighthood of the Holy Grail. The story of Charibert of Laon, the grandfather of Charle-
magne, seems to indicate this.
The years around 1940 bring us to the second great war disaster of the present century.
From several cosmological approaches, one can arrive at the intimation that the Second World
War was the result of the First World War. What we have described above is one of them. The
unfulfilled karma of the First World War followed humanity and again raised its challenging.
We now go on to investigate the year 1917. The time from 28 November 1916 to 28
November 1917, is indicated in the July chart in Saturnian progression as from 2 June to 14-15
June 1902. During these days Mercury moved into a loop that brought it into conjunction with
the Sun and Neptune on 23 June. Before this happened, Mercury was in conjunction with
Neptune on 29 May. On 15 July it met Neptune a third time, after having returned to rectograde
movement. Heliocentrically, Neptune crossed over, around 23 June, the perihelion end of the
apsides of Saturn, Mars was in its own ascending node on 6 June, and Venus in the perihelion
line of Mars on 12 June.
Two important events happened during the year 1917, apart from the drama of the war.
One was the breakdown of Russia and the takeover by Leninist Bolshevism on November 7,
185
1917. The other took place in the wings of public history, but it was very significant. A
number of people in Central Europe, partly involved in the political arena, became appalled by
the social conditions and threatening perspectives that the war had helped to bring into the
open. They asked Rudolf Steiner whether he could give them remedial ideas. He consented
and worked out with them the “Idea of the Threefold Commonwealth”, which was published
in a Memorandum, edited between July 14-17, 1917. It was followed later on by more exten-
sive lecturing and literature. Rudolf Steiner suggested the organization of the community life
according to the natural and yet spiritual-cosmic principles working in all existence, that of
threefoldness. All living organisms depend on the harmonious function of three bodily spheres.
In people they appear as head organism, metabolism, and limbs, between which a rhythmic
system, working through breathing and circulation, is mediating. Threefoldness can be de-
tected right up in the spiritual hierarchies of the cosmos. Its highest manifestation was always
recognized as the Divine Trinity of Father, Son, and Spirit. To bring human community life
back to healthy conditions, it would need a clear recognition of the functions of the economic
sphere, the cultural domain, including education, etc., and between them the sphere of human
rights, which has to safeguard each individual’s “place in the Sun”. Only if each one of these
three spheres can work freely, without being oppressed by the other two, can the body social
function in a healthy way. These were, in brief outlines, the guiding ideas of Rudolf Steiner’s
suggestions. The politically responsible people of those years did not accept them; however, it
is significant that he was asked to work them out at a time when a totally different kind of
thought on social problems made its way into practical realization in the East, in Russia.
The obvious main feature of the events in the heavens, during June-July 1902, is the loop
of Mercury in front of Neptune—which was in the same position on June 11, 1902 as it was on
November 28, 1901 because of its own retrograde movement.
We again calculate the retrospective Saturnian progression, concerning this point at the
ingress into the constellation Gemini, and come to the beginning of the 15th century. In June-
July 1885, Saturn moved across the place of Mercury’s loop in June 1902. This was about 16.4
years before 1901, which converted into Saturn years is about 482 years, bringing us back to
about 1418 AD. As far as Lenin’s revolution in Russia is concerned, this date is close to the
date of the Church Council of Constance, 1414-18. We described in Feb. & Mar. ‘68, what we
think is a certain karmic connection between Lenin and the presiding members of that Coun-
cil, who caused the Bohemian reformer, John Huss, to be burned at the stake for heresy. We
arrived, then, at our suggestion on quite a different astronomical pretext. To this is now added
the evidence contained in the progressed chart of November 28, 1901.
The first degrees of the sign of —near the ingress into the constellation of Gemini—
that are involved here are very pronounced (the loop of Mercury was there in 1902, Saturn in
1885). In November 1917, at the time of the Russian revolution, the descending Moon node
had arrived in that position of the ecliptic. To this is added the fact that Neptune was,
heliocentrically in June 1902, moving through the perihelion line of Saturn. The latter is also
near that point of transition from the constellation Taurus to Gemini. This provides us with a
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key for the understanding of wider concerns of humanity, not only of the issues of the Church
Council of Constance in 1414-18, which was chiefly convoked in order to resolve the Great
Schism within the Church—three rival popes were opposing each other.
This situation, nevertheless, reflected a deep change of consciousness taking place in hu-
manity. In 1413 the new Age of Pisces commenced. The vernal point (Sun at beginning of
spring) had entered that constellation earlier, according to astronomical calculation; but the
effect of it, in a broad, historic sense in humanity, was realized only after 1413 and will last till
3573 AD (2,160 years). The preceding age, which saw the Grecian and Roman civilizations,
was inspired by Aries. Thus the commencement of the Age of Pisces constituted a breaking
away from the preceding cycle of twelve, coming to an end with Aries. This became obvious
in many instances after 1413. The old union between religion and knowledge fell apart. On
the one hand the autocracy of the Church was challenged by the Reformation, and on the
other hand a science developed (and later technology) that became more and more inclined in
its tendencies to emancipate itself from the old forms of traditional faith. Also the autocratic
and feudal forms of government were challenged more and more. Human beings woke up to
a gradual realization of their individuality, of which modern philosophy became an expression.
These are only a few points among a multitude that exemplify the drastic changes that have
happened and that are taking place just at present in sometimes violent developments.
All this was accompanied in the heavens by the approximate changing over of the perihe-
lion line of Saturn from the constellation of sidereal Taurus to Gemini in 1413. These move-
ments of the elements of the planets are very slow. For instance, the perihelion of Saturn
entered sidereal Taurus from Aries in about 4800 BC, and it will enter sidereal Cancer (from
Gemini) in about 6400 AD, according to computation. We can realize that the time around
1413 was, indeed, of singular significance, which is even more emphasized by the fact that the
planet Pluto was in the perihelion of Saturn in that year, according to calculation.
The elements of the planets (perihelion-aphelion and the nodes), constitute means for the
discernment of the character and function of the corresponding spheres. We cannot see these
spheres in the same way we can observe the planets, but we do regard them as living organisms,
in an exalted sense, whose workings we can gauge by their astronomical “elements”.
Thus we would connect the sphere of Saturn, for instance, concerning its perihelion, with
the very principles and divine ordinances of all existence. We do this, because we see in that
sphere the cosmic memory of what the occultist calls Ancient Saturn (see Rudolf Steiner’s
Occult Science), the very beginning of cosmic evolution in the dim past.
Therefore, if this perihelion of Saturn changed from Taurus into Gemini, we see expressed
or announced in this a cosmic expectation of changes concerning the deeper meaning of
human and Earth destiny. Whether and how a modern humanity will react to it is a matter of
its own decision. The character of the expected, or one might even say requested, changes we
can read in the dynamic implications of the constellations concerned.
The constellation of Taurus stands representative for the cosmic Word, the Logos, which
created the universe, the Earth, and its inhabitants. It is the archetypal foundation of the
187
physiological area of sound and speech in the human body, the larynx, and the ears. This is a
mighty and powerful constellation, which is also expressed in the picture of the Bull. As long
as the perihelion of Saturn moved through it, after about 4800 BC, it inspired, among many
other things, the theocratic and autocratic social organization of humanity. Before approxi-
mately 4800 BC, humanity did not need an autocratic government. For the greater part, it was
still aware by an instinctive intuition of the spiritual ordinances of the divine world for the
human race. However, as the instinctive, spiritual insight dwindled away in the course of
development of human independence, it became necessary that the great and initiated leaders
of humanity pronounced the law. They had to do this right down to the conduct of the human
communities. Thus the theocratic autocracy was born (for instance in Ancient Egypt), which
deteriorated as time went on into mere political autocracy, even despotism.
Around the beginning of the 15th century, humanity began to move into the new era of
consciousness and independence of individuality. Now, the autocratic principles of commu-
nity are challenged in all spheres of life. It has become, during the past and the present centu-
ries, increasingly apparent that this modern age has three choices:
1. Because of the renunciation of the ancient principles, coupled with a complete lack
of new constructive vistas, the community life can fall into utter chaos, with all
manners of destructive egotism running wild.
2. The shadows of ancient autocracy, now turning into totalitarianism and dictatorship
because they too have lost all spiritual insight, can take over.
3. Humanity accepts and learns to structure its community organisms according to the
eternal principles of all healthy existence in this universe, not as commandments
but now recognized by the spiritually free individuality. These are “natural” and
constructive, because they are of divine origin—as is threefoldness. This was ob-
viously the approach of Rudolf Steiner.
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In the geocentric graph, we notice that toward the end of the month a kind of conglom-
eration will happen in the constellations of Leo and Virgo. Mercury will come close to Mars,
the Sun will move close to Uranus, and shortly after New Moon it will pass below Uranus. All
these events will also be in the neighborhood of Pluto.
We are, thereby, somehow reminded of the conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto in 1966,
which we discussed in the journal of that time. We can take, therefore, the events at the end of
September as a renewed challenge to recall in our inner awareness the historic background of
this conjunction. It happened the last time in 1712 and had a deeper connection with Goethe
and his endeavors toward a new esotericism. Prior to that the conjunction of the two planets
took place in about 1457, close to the date attached to the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz,
the foundation of classical Rosicrucianism. Figure 25
The heliocentric calendar also displays some interesting features. On 16
September, Mercury will be in bi-quintile angles (144° distance) to Mars
and Jupiter, and at the same time it will be in opposition to Uranus. On
the 18th the quintile aspect (72° distance) between Mars and Jupiter
will take place.
With regard to the quintile and bi-quintile aspect, we bear in
mind that this angular relationship is archetypally established in
the cosmos by the inferior and superior conjunctions of Venus.
In the sense of the nature of Venus, we can regard these angu-
lar features as a challenges for humanity to move closer to the
realization of the impulses associated with spiritual love, com-
passion, unity, and healing. Therefore, we would take these
aspects, around the middle of September, as a comple-
mentary suggestion with regard to the events toward
the end of the month implied in the geocentric
chart. It is not a moment to ask: What do these
happenings mean? but rather, what can hu-
manity actively and constructively infuse
into them?
Similarly, we would look at another
set of events, following the previous. The
four planets Mars, Mercury, Venus, and Nep-
tune are successively forming a big square (as-
pects of 90°) and also oppositions. The dia-
gram in Fig. 26 will reiterate the dates of these as- Figure 26
pects and also the crossings of the nodal and apsidal
lines of the planets involved.
189
We are fully aware that the square is very often regarded as one of a “bad” and malefic
nature; however, not all agree on that, and neither do we. A square is an element of a Martian
nature; therefore, we do not regard it as all “bad”. Its effects may be somewhat harsh, because
it wants to be realized by a will that comes down to earthly “brass tacks”. Such a challenge can
be beneficial if it is taken up in full consciousness. Basically, we can see in the opposition of
Mars and Venus a recapitulation of what we saw implied in the foregoing pentagram event.
Added to it is the challenge to redeem and spiritually elevate the Mars qualities by the Venus
impulses. Mercury obviously speaks up to that by its passing through the nodes of Mars and
Mercury. Finally, Neptune carries a memory of the past, because it is slow moving. In fact, it
was in the same sidereal position in 1806, and 1640. It is worthwhile to study those times. Not
that we expect any repetition or similarity of events between then and the present; yet, they
might carry certain necessary admonishments.

This new situation, represented by the transition of the perihelion of Saturn from Taurus
to Gemini, is clearly expressed by the character of the constellation Gemini. It was associated
in ancient times with division. In Norse mythology it was connected with the two divine
brothers, Baldur and Hodur. Baldur was, in a sense, the god of Light. His brother Hodur was
blind and eventually became the cause of Baldur’s death. In Greek mythology it was the twins
Castor and Pollux. The myth concerning their fate leads to the cognition of the qualitative
difference between day and night. With regard to human physiology, Gemini is the archetypal
region of symmetry, or rather, asymmetry of right and left in the body, starting in the head and
descending into arms, lungs, legs, etc. Thus it is also connected with orientation in space, with
the realization of the contrast between heaven and Earth, and eventually even with the aware-
ness of the presence of the “brothers”, right and left.
Gemini was, in the ancient conception, a constellation that reflected polarity, right down
even into electricity. Somehow, if the polarity is not resolved and made productive, disaster is
the final conclusion, as in the story of Baldur and Hodur. Where can we find the therapy?
Redeeming and healing initiative must step between the polarities. Thus the two would
become three. This actually happened in an archetypal Deed of Christ. We read in St. Mat-
thew and St. Luke that after the Baptism by John, Christ went into the wilderness and was there
tempted by the Devil. A closer look reveals that there were two tempters. (Rudolf Steiner has
spoken about this fact on a number of occasions.) They were the old adversaries, called Luci-
fer and Ahriman. The one would take human beings away from harsh earth reality, promising
them the glory of the kingdoms of the world; the other would make them masters of the
gravity forces of the Earth and all that is connected with it. But they would do it only if
humanity “worshiped” them. Thus, the two usurped the forces of Gemini, the Twins. But
Christ rejected them and, thereby, they were put back into their places. The third stepped
between the two, and thereby, the potential of Gemini was changed and redeemed. As a
matter of fact, Saturn was still in the constellation of Gemini.
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On this foundation, the “idea of threefoldness” from Rudolf Steiner in 1917, as the third
healthy solution of the social problems of present humanity, appears in a new light. Of course,
the two extremes were also present in those years. This we must expect. On the one hand,
chaos worked everywhere, borne by destructive egotism in all possible forms that can be imag-
ined; on the other hand, in Russia, the mighty shadow of totalitarian autocracy arose, now
denuded of the ancient religious connotations, denying the ego and the spirit. We see all this
pre-reflected in those events in June 1902: Neptune being in the perihelion line of Saturn in
Gemini and Mercury, geocentrically, moving through a loop in the same place. We arrived at
that date by starting out from the Great Conjunction on November 28, 1901, which we took as
the inaugurator of the 20th century.
We will now investigate the next major event of external history during the present cen-
tury. This is the twelve years of domination of Germany by Hitler and the National Socialists,
which resulted in the Second World War. The takeover was on January 30, 1933, and the
unconditional surrender of Germany was on May 8, 1945. This brings us, in our chart based
on November 28, 1901 (see July), to December 20, 1902 for the start and to May 21, 1903 for
the end. Only a superficial glance at the graph shows us that this period was dominated by a
loop of Mars near the autumn equinox and in the constellation Virgo.
On December 20, 1902, Venus and Mercury were in near conjunction at the first degrees
of the sign of and at the same time in opposition to Neptune. So, we meet here an old
acquaintance that we mentioned above: the transition from Taurus to Gemini and behind it the
perihelion of Saturn. Therefore, the problems we realized in connection with 1917 apply to
that situation in 1933 too, though in a totally different setting. Heliocentrically, we find an
opposition between Mars and Jupiter—Mars close in line with the fixed-star Regulus in Leo.
Mars became retrograde on February 19, 1903, in 16 17. This brings us, according to
Saturnian progression, to the beginning of 1938. In a sense, this was already the start of the
war. On March 10, 1938, Germany invaded and annexed Austria. On 10-11 March 1903, Mars
moved through an opposition to Venus, close to the nodes of the Moon. This refers, in Saturn
progression, to the actual start of the war in September 1939. Nothing seems to be more
illustrative for the ensuing course of events. Heliocentrically, Venus moved on the following
day through the ascending nodal line of Mars, and Jupiter was close to the perihelion line of
Mars in Aquarius. It looks as if the conflict was unavoidable. Yet, we persist that things could
and should have taken a different turn; however, it would have required a humanity in a more
positive frame of mind spiritually.
Finally, the time of May 9, 1945 is reflected in 21 May 1903. Ten days before, Mars had
become rectograde and was, according to the pattern of the preceding loop, practically out of
the loop. That 11 May 1903, (Mars being rectograde again) refers us to about July 1944. It was
the time when the Russians, who had first been pushed right back by the Germans, proceeded
successfully toward the west; and the Allies, after their landing in French Normandy, carried
their offensive successfully forward against the German flank in France and the Lowlands.
The defeat of Germany was in sight.
191
We must again ask: What was the karmic background of that fearful episode? The central
feature, which in 1901-1903 pointed to it, was the loop of Mars. The actual opposition be-
tween Mars and Sun was in about 7° 27' / on March 29, 1903. We look now for the
retrospective position of Saturn in relationship to this point. This happened on April 9, 1879.
Saturn was then in 7 27, which was about 22.6 years before 28 November 1901. We trans-
pose this into Saturn time, multiplying it by 29.458, which gives us 666 years before 1901, or
1235 AD.
The year 1235 is an important moment in Asiatic history. The great organizer of the
Mongols, Genghis Khan, died in 1227. His son, Ogotai, was elected Great Khan. Ogotai then
worked out, in 1235, an eighteen year plan for the conquest of Europe, which was acknowl-
edged by the Kurultai, the Council of the Mongols. And indeed, the Mongolian armies broke
into Eastern and even Central Europe during the following years. In 1241 the inconclusive
Battle of Liegnitz in Silesia took place. However, the Mongols withdrew into Asia, possibly in
order to elect a new Great Khan, because Ogotai had died.
Some people will ask: What have the rise and the invasions of the Mongols to do with the
events in the thirties and forties of the present century? In order to make our point more
acceptable, we go still further back in history. About the middle of March 1850, Saturn was
once before in the point where the opposition between Mars and Sun took place in 1903. This
was about 51.7 years before 1901, which in terms of Saturn transposition of time leads us back
to about 379 AD. This was a troublesome time for the Roman Empire. The Huns, who had
their settlements to the north of the Caspian Sea, pressed westward. In 375 they defeated the
Alani, a German tribe, north of the Caucasus Mountains. Then they turned against the
Ostrogoths and Visigoths who lived in the space of present western and southern Russia. All
this helped to accelerate the great migrations that had begun for some time and threatened the
northern borders of the Roman empire. In the following century, around 433, the Huns en-
tered central and western Europe, under the leadership of Attila. In 452 he moved across the
Alps and invaded Italy, but was persuaded by bishop Leo I of Rome to withdraw.
If we look at phenomena such as races, etc., we must strictly distinguish between the physi-
ology of a race and the individualities who incarnate in it for a variety of reasons. The realiza-
tion of this would make many of the race troubles of present humanity appear futile. Never-
theless, such an association in one incarnation creates karma that works into the future. We
contend that such a karma was effective in the leading people in Germany of those years. In a
sense, one can even conceive of the idea that this was a “vertical migration”, distinct from the
horizontal, geographic migrations in those earlier periods of history. By vertical migration, we
mean one through the strata of an existing society. Thus karma was perhaps stemming from
an earlier phase in history, “lived out” in the drama and tragedies of individuals as well as of
whole nations, of which those years between 1933-1945 were overflowing.
Here too, one is inclined to ask: Must the balancing of karma always take such an ex-
tremely painful course? The answer is: A deeper insight, born out of a science of the spirit,
could have avoided it and turned it into more constructive directions. It is, of course, easy to
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blame the German people for letting the so-called National Socialists take over the political
stage; however, we must not forget that the Germans were very weakened in their resistance by
the series of economic disasters to which they had been exposed: first, an inflation that defies
the imagination of one who did not experience it himself; secondly, the world economic disas-
ter inaugurated by the Wall Street Crash in 1929. Thus it was relatively easy to tempt the
German people into acceptance of the “invasion”, for its leaders promised them work and
bread, which many of them were badly in need of.
The failures in earlier years, for instance in connection with 1914, but particularly 1917,
also spoiled the thirties and forties. This is expressed in the closeness of Neptune to the
perihelion line of Saturn during the basic years of our consideration, that is 1901-1905, as
being significant for the challenges of the present century. Of course, this concerns the very
present moment as well.
We will now, tentatively, take a look at the implications concerning the present moment of
history, as far as they are contained in the chart of the Great Conjunction of 1901. The graph
gives us April 15, 1904, as the Saturn progression for November 28, 1971 (see lower edge of
the graph in July, Fig. 24). Therefore, we expect to have, in the interval from 21 March to 3
April 1904, the reflection of November 1969 to November 1970 (12.4 days correspond to one
year according to Saturn progression). We find in the ephemeris important events on 26-27
March: a superior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun in about 5 45, followed by, first
Mercury and then the Sun moving into conjunction with Jupiter in about 6 20. Mars was not
very far away from that point, in about 22 and Venus in about 9 .
We notice at once that the conjunctions of Sun, Mercury, and Jupiter were taking place
close to the opposite point of Mars during its loop in February-May 1903. Therefore, we
would assume that much of what applied to that loop of Mars also concerns the situation in
1970. (Precisely speaking, those conjunctions in March 1904, refer to May 1970). The loop of
Mars took us back as far as the time of Ogotai, and earlier still with the invasion of the Huns
during the 4th and 5th centuries AD (see above.) Indeed, we need not go too far in order to
discover certain associations with those happenings in history, if we look at the situation in
Southeast Asia. There is, however, a difference. Mars was not directly involved here, though in
the heliocentric it moved, on April 23, 1904, through its own ascending node. Jupiter, the great
thinker of the cosmos, was prominent in the threefold conjunction of 26-27 March 1904. It
was close to its own perihelion, to the “head” part of its sphere. Also Mercury, being in a
superior conjunction, would emphasize more the need for gathering-up of forces and thoughts
from the cosmos.
Certainly, the historic and karmic complications, implied in the loop of Mars at the begin-
ning of 1903, were not resolved in a healthy way in the events from 1933 to 1945. The forces
speaking through the medium of “races” etc., from which we want to strictly distinguish the
human souls involved in them, were then crushed for the time being, but they were not elimi-
nated. They work on and wait for future opportunities when they can again try to whirl up, for
instance, the destructive impulses latent in race-determined hate. This manifests at present in
193
the fearful hate that is exuding chiefly from the Mongol peoples of Asia. The association with
Jupiter and a superior Mercury, we take as a suggestion that real solutions should be sought in
the development of a spiritualized thinking that can distinguish between individuality and race,
and which can also give the so-called East a really new, progressive spirituality in the place of
ancient traditions and pre-Christian esotericisms. A good deal of the hate of the easterners
against the westerners is due to the fact that the West, so far, has not been very helpful to the
East, apart from inundating it with the dehumanizing results of a materialistic science and
technology. This is not what the East expects and needs in view of its fading cultural and
spiritual heritage. Such a vacuum created by the absence of constructive and goal conscious,
spiritual ideas offers plenty of opportunity for demonic forces and entities to wreak their de-
structive intentions.
We will now turn to the indications, referring to the end of the present century, which are
contained in the progressed chart of 1901. The events during March-April 1905, are associ-
ated with this. First of all, we see that Mars entered an open retrograde, curve. The retrograde
movement lasted from April 4, to June 18, 1905. It was not a loop like the one in 1903, and it
took place entirely in the sign of and constellation of Libra. The planets Jupiter, Sun, Venus,
and Mercury were assembled in the opposite constellation of Aries. Venus and Mercury were
also involved in retrograde movements.
These events lead us to the following retrospective Saturn correlation. We take the exact
opposition of Mars to the Sun as basis. This was in 17° 32' of - . Then, we find that
Saturn was in that position on the following dates:
Jan. 13, Apr. 12, Oct. 8, 1896 May 28, 1882 November 28, 1866
Saturn 17 32 = 1896.75 Saturn 18 32 = 1882.4 Saturn 17 32 = 1866.9
We calculate now the differences against 1901.9:

1901.9 1901.9 1901.9
years: 5.15 19.5 35.0
These we transpose into Saturn years:

x 29.458 x 29.458 x 29.458
years: 151.7 574 1031
from: 1901.9 c. 1901 c. 1901
we arrive: c. 1750 AD c. 1327 AD c. 870 AD
Thereby, we obtain most significant clues with regard to the end of the 20th century. First, we
should, however, draw attention to Rudolf Steiner’s findings on the basis of his spiritual re-
search. He pointed out that around those years, a new big impulse will have to be infused into
the spiritual-cultural life of the Earth, or else this Earth civilization will finally slide into total
decadence.
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In the cosmic pre-reflections of the moment, with which we are dealing here, we realize
that with Mars being in the constellation of Libra—the archetype of weighing and turning—
it will be a moment of a great decision. On the other hand, we see implied in the events in the
opposite part of the Zodiac, elements of thinking, we can even say, of cosmic thought. Jupi-
ter in Aries does spell out the challenge of such cultivation of thinking. Aries is associated
with philosophical “idealism”.
Can we create any imagination of the nature of that great decision? Here, the retrospec-
tive Saturn correlations that we calculated above can help us to form ideas. First, there is an
allusion, in a karmic sense, to the year 1750. This was the time of the French materialist
philosophers. One of the foremost was La Mettrie (1709-1751), who was also a physician. He
wrote Natural History of the Soul around 1747, in which he contended that our soul is material,
and matter is soulful; they grow and decay together, and there can be no doubt that they are
essentially similar. Later on (1745) he wrote Man a Machine, in which he set out to proclaim
that humans are no more than a mechanism within a mechanical material universe. These
books caused outcries of an offended humanity that was still clinging to traditional concepts
of the more spiritual nature of human beings. La Mettrie was even exiled from France for his
opinions.
Others of the same school of thought were d’Holbach (died 1789), who wrote Christianisme
dévoilé (Christianity Unveiled), and Helvetius (died 1771) who wrote De l’ésprit (Of the Spirit).
We can then boldly predict that the end of the present century will demand decisions
concerning the concept of people: Are we no more than machines? Is what we call our psyche
nothing but the reflection of a special chemical constitution of the material body? Not so
long ago, the dogma was preached that human beings are no more than animals, motivated by
emotions of purely subjective nature. This seems to be getting gradually replaced by the
concept of humans as being machines that are, so far, possibly imperfect in certain respects,
but that can be manipulated into greater, robot-like efficiency, reliability, and submission. If
such concepts would finally become universally accepted, it would mean the end of the human
race. For it would eventually destroy any meaning and purpose of the existence of humanity.
It would solely rest on the supposition that chance of evolution had created it. Whether it did
or did not exist was immaterial. Only the desire for sense experience and mere habit would
keep the psyche afloat in the body.
195
Personal Letter to the Readers of the Journal

We have decided to bring the Star Journal to a termination with the present issue. It was
never meant to go on endlessly. The original idea was to create an equivalent to the author’s
Drama of the Universe. In addition to this, we also attempted to try to work out in practice a
possible reconciliation between the geocentric and the heliocentric approaches. All this has
been done to a certain degree, and the task of the journal, therefore, is tentatively accom-
plished.
We will certainly carry on with the research work in this field, for there is still an endless
amount to be done. We intend to publish the results of this research in periodic but personal
letters to our subscribers who want to receive them in future. We will also include in these
letters, monthly graphs of the events in the heavens. Thus they will, if we can manage them
from the practical viewpoint, be about the same in form and size as the journals hitherto.
Certain facts reaching us from the outside also strongly brought home to us that the journal
had fulfilled its task. Increasing numbers of subscribers declared that the journal was too
difficult for them, that they could not sufficiently understand things, etc. It was particularly the
mathematical approach that they mostly found as being beyond their spiritual orbit.
We have introduced the mathematical approach in the journal with clear deliberation, and
we are not prepared to depart even one inch from it. To the contrary, we see reason even to
accelerate this approach. We do not believe in so-called astrological presentations like the
“Your Horoscope” columns in newspapers. Any sincere astrologer would agree with us that
they are a disgrace and a humiliation for earnest scientific astrology.
There exist in present humanity many woolly and vague occultisms that claim insight into
spiritual reality. For such reasons, we feel obliged to insist on a clear, disciplined, scientific
approach. This is the privilege, and therefore also the responsibility, of an astrological or
astrosophical science: to provide a sound and healthy support for spiritual work and research.
This it can do by an exact mathematical approach, because numbers can carry a high degree of
objectivity. They certainly cannot replace genuine spiritual research, but they can confirm and
verify the results of spiritual investigation, as we have found on numberless occasions.
Another factor, in which we see a justification—even a demand—for our approach is that
it can lead us onto the road to our own spiritual freedom. For instance, we have been trying in
the last and the present issue to work out, by calculation, some perspectives with regard to the
possible course of events during the present century. This would not have been possible
without the spiritual investigations of Rudolf Steiner and others. But we, by our approach,
were able to confirm the latter. Once this combination is achieved, we can be “free”. We are
able to answer the why and whereto of the existing karmic situation, and we certainly cannot,
without inner effort, face oncoming conditions and events with a “knowing” confidence and
preparedness. This will make us free and awaken impulses in which we will be challenged to
free deeds for the sake of the future of humanity. However, astrological prognostications
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STAR JOURNALS TWO
handed out on a platter, as it were, such as information about what “the stars are saying” that
must happen irrevocably, will throw us ever deeper into bondage and ultimately into despair
and resignation as a human being. This is exactly what certain spiritual powers want to achieve:
to lead us to this stage of total resignation, to make us an obedient, will-devoid, robot-like
appendix of an ego-less mass-humanity. We certainly cannot have any part in such tendencies.
Countenance of the Twentieth Century (conclusion)

In the last issue we tried to form some opinion about the possible situation at the end of
the 20th century, and we arrived at the conclusion that definite karmic implications, karmic
humanity heritages, may play into it. As a matter of fact, we can already detect them at work at
the commencement of the last thirty years of this present century. (This does not exclude
factual and mathematical approaches to this question of a different nature.) Thus we came to
the impression that humanity of the present and the near future faces the full impacts and
decisions concerning that materialism which has its germinal points in the philosophical mate-
rialism around the middle of the 18th century.
However, with our calculations in the last issue, we were also led back to the beginning of
the 14th century, especially 1327. This was also a very crucial time, particularly in the history of
European humanity. One can easily be inclined to think that humanity went through a kind of
total eclipse with regard to an honest realization of Christianity. Indeed, Rudolf Steiner pointed
out that the world during the 13th century went through a kind of Ice Age, in a spiritual sense,
which blotted out all insight into the spiritual cosmos. (This is connected with the movement
of the perigee of the Sun, which had then arrived in the winter solstice of the ecliptic, corre-
sponding to the Northern Hemisphere.) Only on this foundation can one hesitatingly under-
stand, for instance, the extermination of the Cathars in the south of France by the Roman
Church. The final blow against them was the conquest of their last stronghold, the castle of
Montségur in the Pyrenees, in 1244. The Cathars were obviously one of the last remnants of
the Manicheans, a philosophical, religious movement of strong spiritual-moral, and also Chris-
tian principles. It had been founded by Mani during the 3rd century, and it had spread far to the
east of Asia and to the north of Africa. Even one who does not agree with the spiritual-moral
standards of the Cathars, must grant them, at least, one thing: they managed to live peacefully
together with Roman Catholics and Jews. The rest of Europe, at that time, was constantly
whipped up by wars of contending factions. That humanity barely knew peace.
Apart from this, it appears at times simply inconceivable how the so-called Christian hu-
manity was capable of perpetrating the extinction of the Cathars, with such cruelties that seek
parallels in the rest of human history. The populations of whole cities, whether they were
Roman Catholics or Cathars, were massacred, possibly by fire. These methods, which were
then set for the elimination of “heresies”, persisted during the following centuries as the medi-
eval Inquisition.
Similar events occurred during the beginning of the 14th century. We particularly have in
mind the destruction of the Order of the Knights Templars, which we mentioned in earlier
197
issues of the journal, for instance in Jun. ‘69. This was brought about by the combination of
the forces of King Philip le Bel of France and the Papacy. It was based on accusations of
heresy and worse against the Knights Templars, which most present historians—including
Roman Catholics—consider as having been false and deliberately manufactured. On the part
of Philip le Bel, it was obviously his greed for the possessions of the Templars that guided him.
Again, it is the unfathomable cruelty with which the trials were conducted and the executions
performed that presented a shocking spectacle. The final act was the burning at the stake of
the last Grandmaster of the Order, Jacques de Molay, with a few of his associates, in 1314. The
years around 1327, which we calculated in the last issue, saw another human tragedy, which was
the characteristic for this whole age. In 1329 some of the writings of the German mystic and
Dominican Scholastic, Master Eckhart, were condemned as being heretical by the Holy See.
Among the many other ideas that he expressed were such opinions as: “Although the Divine
existence permeates all being, it is regarded by Eckhart as especially manifested in the human
soul, whose end is union with God. This union is to be accomplished through knowledge. The
soul must first understand that creatures in themselves are nothing, and then, having perceived
the continuity of its being with the divine being, it can dispense with the external means of
salvation and abandon itself to God, Who finds in it His own existence” (see Encyclopedia
Britannica).
It was obviously, among other ideas, the assertion that we can, under circumstances, dis-
pense with “the external means of salvation” that was considered to be heresy. Fortunately,
Eckhart had died already in 1327, so inquisitorial proceedings against him as a living person
could no longer be inaugurated.
However, these heritages of the past appear to come up again through the karma memory
of Saturn as we move toward the end of the century. So, much we can discern already now in
the events happening all over the world. Most powerful inquisitorial powers will again step
forth and persecute individuals who dare to practically oppose the Gospel of Materialism with
its many facets. The instruments of persecution and inquisitorial elimination of such human
beings will certainly not be the same as in the Middle Ages, but in effect they will lead to similar
results, namely, “efficient’’ destruction of human beings. It is quite obvious that it won’t be any
of the old Church organizations who will appropriate this job, but rather the new “Church of
Materialistic Sciences”.
The change-over from the old Churches, which saw reason to eliminate the “heresy” by the
introduction of the Inquisition, to the “new” is clearly indicated in the karmic implications
with regard to the end of the present century. In the last issue, we also came to the conclusion
that one of the karmic Saturn perspectives leads to the year 870 AD. This is very revealing. In
869-70 the Eighth Ecumenical Council of Constantinople took place. We mentioned it al-
ready in the Mar. ’69 issue. In the course of this Council, it was subtly decreed that human
beings do not exist in the threefoldness of body, soul, and spirit, which the ancient mysteries of
the sacred temple centers had proclaimed, but only of body and soul, with only a few spiritual
attributes, so the Council declared.
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This was a most effective decision in the history of modern humanity, in a negative sense.
Eventually, this laid the foundation for modern materialism, which dropped even the notion
that we have a soul, saying that we consist only of a material body that can and must be
manipulated to the point of robot-like reactions in life. Many of the present social ideologies
have adopted this as a guideline and dogma for the conduct and the organization of human
society. To speak of an individual human being—a carrier of an ego—will, under such pre-
texts, become an anachronism and will even come to be considered as dangerous and de-
trimental to the human family. Consequently, attempts will come to eliminate all endeavors
and foundations built on moral individualism.
These perspectives, concerning the end of the present century, could easily lend a hand to
helpless pessimism and resignation. However, we see no reason for this. We do not intend to
let our personal convictions speak in these matters. We have chosen in our astrological studies
to let mathematical computation present objective perspectives. We know that some of the
readers of the journal find it difficult to deal with mathematics, but we can only hope that we
have established by now a recognition of the fact that this is one road toward objectivity and
clarity of thought. Indeed, all three historic dates that we have calculated in connection with
the year 2000 can also give clear evidence and direction of where hopeful aspects can be
discovered with regard to the painful road of present humanity.
We start with the year 870, the year of the Eighth Ecumenical Council (see our computa-
tions in Sept.). This was also the century when the Grail-Parsifal events took place, according
to the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner. Here we see the positive counter move in humanity
against those fateful declarations of the Church Council. We need only contemplate the nature
of the Holy Grail: that it had fallen from the heavens, that it had become the Vessel for the
Holiest that the Earth had received—the Cosmic Christ Being, and that, according to one
vision, the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove descended every Good Friday from the heavens
and laid a Holy Host into the Vessel, which ever fed the knightly guardians of the Grail. Here,
the principle of our spirit, which the Council had abjured, was realized not as a vague concept
but as a fact that re-asserted our true spiritual dignity. As much as doctrinal and exoteric Chris-
tianity declined in following centuries, so much did an esoteric Christianity elevate a humanity
to the highest conceptions and realizations of the Cosmic Christ Being. Here we have one
answer with regard to the historic perspectives and implications of the present moment.
It is true that the Grail’s Movement was relatively small in numbers, though we could not
subscribe to the idea that it was insignificant and impotent with regard to the cultural and even
political concerns of that contemporary humanity. Still, as far as we can see in these original
Grail’s events a cosmic-karmic background of the present moment, we do well to visualize the
possibility that a modern esoteric-cosmic and, therefore, true Christianity will be relegated
once again “to the catacombs”. However, the figure of Parsifal, who finally became King of
the Holy Grail after many failures, long trials, and deep soul misery. This can give us the
confidence that the spiritual breakthrough will be possible for any individual who has enough
inner perseverance.
199
The spiritual inheritors of the Grail’s movement were the Knights Templars. The vision of
the Holy Grail appears completely changed externally, but in essence it remained the same.
The order was founded in 1119 on the Holy Sepulchre. After the Crucifixion, the grave which
had received the Body in which Christ dwelt and from which the Resurrection had taken place,
became the foundation stone of the Order. This was, in a sense, a transformed but true
representation of the Holy Grail.
The Order of the Knights Templars was destroyed in the beginning of the 14th century.
This tragedy, however, did not destroy esoteric Christianity. It lived on in the Order of Christ
in Portugal, which inspired the great geographic discoveries of later centuries. Also in Scot-
land it survived in the Order of the Thistle. Principally, the banner of esoteric and cosmic
Christianity was carried forward by medieval Rosicrucianism. Its fundamental symbol, the
Rose Cross, is again a true but transformed vision of the Grail’s motif. The Black Cross
represents the physical material world in which death rules. This has a deep spiritual kinship to
the Holy Vessel or Dish that had been formed out of a jewel fallen from the crown of Lucifer,
the Adversary. The seven red Roses on the Cross stand for the power of resurrection that had
been borne into the material world by the Deed of Christ on Golgotha.
This Rosicrucian Movement of the Middle Ages carried forward most effectively, though
silently and in secret, the esoteric realization of the Christ Impulse. A recently edited publica-
tion, A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology by Paul M. Allen (Rudolf Steiner Publications, Blauvelt,
New York), with its many translations and illustrations of medieval Rosicrucian authors, is a
most impressive witness of the impacts that this movement made on human civilization of the
last few centuries.
Also the time around 1750, which we calculated in connection with the karmic implica-
tions of Saturn, is not without positive aspects. Goethe was born in 1749. He was a true,
though secret, Rosicrucian. We have mentioned him and this particular aspect in very early
issues of the Star Journal. His poem “The Secrets” and, particularly, his Legend of the Green Snake
and the Beautiful Lily are witnesses of his Rosicrucian wisdom.
During the 19th century, this Rosicrucian impulse was relatively withdrawn, but in the be-
ginning of the present century, Rudolf Steiner created a new opening for it, responding to the
changed conditions and requirements of modern humanity. For instance, in his book, Occult
Science, he speaks extensively about the Rose Cross as a means and road of approach to medi-
tative practice. Furthermore, he presents his occult or spiritual science in that book as a “sci-
ence of the Holy Grail”. Thus he reveals, so to speak, the spiritual lineage of this Movement—
the essence of esoteric and cosmic Christianity—from the Holy Grail to medieval and finally
to modern Rosicrucianism.
All this has to be taken into consideration, too, if one wants to form a picture of what the
karmic pre-dispositions might be as we move toward the end of the 20th century. The principal
question that must arise is: What is the meaning of past history, both in a personal and in a
humanity-wide sense, as it is being woven as karma into the present? This is the fundamental
question concerning all astrology as well. It simply means that we are not designed to live only
200
STAR JOURNALS TWO
our small, narrow existence. We live to fulfill tasks that concern the whole Earth and even the
cosmos. By constantly battling and making decisions in facing the challenges of existence, we
insert ourselves into the greater processes of cosmic evolution. In addition to this, we have
reached a point in history where we must learn to formulate and practice the decisions out of
our own inner resources of spiritual activity and from a deeper insight than the intellect only.
Another fact, which we must always have present, is that it is not good enough to speak and
think of “those people” in the past who have caused all the karma that besets us now. “They”
may be “us”, in the sense of reincarnation. Thus, karma may provide us with the most positive
opportunities to evolve ever further all that which was good and useful for evolution, to re-
deem and atone for what may have been deviation and failure. In truth, this can raise the
human being to a realization that we are not alone, that we are in the midst of the processes of
evolution, and that therein lies our true spiritual dignity. A sincere and honest astrology can
never really do anything but help us in this realization.
201
Bibliography



P.O. Box 13
Phone: 530-878-2673
Cosmic Memory
Theosophy
PRACTICAL APPROACH III
LETTERS

(November 1970 ~ July 1974)
By
Willi Sucher
Published by

P.O. Box 13
LETTERS
ISBN 1-888686-06-5

P.O. Box 13
Phone: 530-878-2673

Darlys Turner
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

in any form without the written permission of the publisher,
except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles,
or for copies that are not for sale but for private use.

Auburn, CA
CONTESTS
FORWARD 5
PART ONE
November 1970 7
December 1970 14
January 1971 20
February 1971 27
March 1971 34
April 1971 41
May 1971 48
June 1971 54
July 1971 61
August 1971 67
September 1971 73
October 1971 80
November 1971 87
December 1971 92
January 1972 99
February 1972 105
March 1972 110
April 1972 119
May 1972 126
June 1972 132
July 1972 138
PART TWO
Chapter I: August-September-October 1972 145
Chapter II: November-December 1972–January 1973 165
Chapter III: February-March-April 1973 183
Chapter IV: May-June-July 1973 201

Elements of the Planetary Spheres 211
History of the Elements of Mercury 213
Chapter V: August-September-October 1973 218

Register I 219
Register II 224
History of the Elements of Venus 228
Register III 232
Chapter VI: November-December 1973–January 1974

History of the Elements of Mars 235
Register IV 239
History of the Elements of Jupiter 243
Register V 248
Chapter VII: February-March-April 1974

Register VI 252
Register VII 259
Register VIII 262
Elements of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto 265
Chapter VIII: May-June-July 1974 268
Bibliography 282
LETTERS Toward A New Astrosophy
FORWARD
“…each incarnation complex of a starry nature is an “individuality” in itself and

must be interpreted and handled individually. Nevertheless, the general picture can
give us a beginning, and by persistent study and practice one can gradually grow into
a kind of perception that comes close to what one may very cautiously call an intuitive
awareness. One will then realize the significance of a statement of Rudolf Steiner’s that
a true astrology will require the development of the highest spiritual capacities of cog-
nition that we of the present age can possibly attain. One will then also become aware
of the sublime nature of a true astrology, which should not be misused for superficial,
insincere, and dilettante purposes but which is a helping hand for profound spiritual
research and accomplishment. It is not a “profession” in an ordinary sense; it is a
“vocation” of humanity and world significance…” Willi Sucher
This publication is the last of our new three volume study series called Practical Approach. It
includes all the monthly letters that followed the Star Journals.
The monthly letters in Part One are published here for the first time since they were origi-
nally written.
The quarterly letters in Part Two were formerly the first part of these nine year monthly
commentaries written by Willi Sucher that were published (almost ten years later in 1983) in the
booklet called Practical Approach Toward a New Astrosophy. The examples given in the “Regis-
ters”, beginning on page 219, were not meant to be imitated, but rather, regarded as inspira-
tions. For exact positions and calculation of the planetary elements, please see Table IV on
page 161.
These letters have been reproduced in their original text and form, with minor editing. All
significant changes or additions from the editors will appear in [brackets]. Most of the monthly
calendars and commentaries have been excluded, unless they contained information relating to
the subject matter of the journal or to research information.
5
Planets
Sun Mercury Saturn
Earth Venus Uranus
Earth Mars Neptune
Moon Jupiter Pluto
Other Symbols

Old Style o.s.
New Style n.s.
Ascendent Asc Descendent Desc
6
LETTERS - PART ONE
PART ONE
November 1970
In the October issue, I announced that the Monthly Star Journal was coming to a conclusion.
I also gave some of the practical reasons for its termination, and my intention to carry on with
a personal monthly Letter of information on the star work for anyone who is interested in it.
The present Letter is the first one of this kind.
The Star Journal was meant to serve as an introduction and guide to the approaches in-
tended to lead to a new star wisdom. This was not an easy task, particularly as the methods I
applied were unusual and in some aspects far beyond traditional astrology. This had to be so;
otherwise it would have been senseless to speak of a “new” star wisdom. For an objective
observer, there cannot be any doubt that the traditional approach does not give modern hu-
manity what it needs. This, at least, has always been my personal conviction.
Why should the traditional methods no longer be suitable for our present age? They ap-
pear to be so simple and easy to grasp. Yet, we must realize that simplicity does not always tally
with the truth. The more sublime perspectives of human existence are complicated, as a rule.
Furthermore, human consciousness and even our position in the world has changed com-
pletely since the establishment of astrology, which people such as Ptolemy, in the 2nd century
AD, have summarized. This demands reassessment and fundamental changes in every detail;
otherwise, the human being is judged and treated by standards that simply do not apply any
longer.
At this point it is perhaps a good thing to describe once again the foundations and the aims
of this particular research work that claims to be a new approach.
In ancient times the proposition was quite simple: the Earth and all its inhabitants, includ-
ing the human race, were experienced as being under the domination of the cosmos of the
stars. If we go far enough back, we find an astrosophy that recognized the starry heavens as
the expression of a world, a hierarchy of divine beings who created the universe and all that
which existed in it. They ruled and constantly re-enacted the creation that expressed itself in
the rhythms and movements of the stars. Later on, when people gradually lost the realization
that the world of the stars was only the expression of the universe of creative beings, the
notion gradually gained ground that we are ruled by the external stars. This was the moment
when astrology was born, which slowly forgot the ancient astrosophy. In a certain sense, this
can even be regarded as betrayal of the ancient sacred mysteries of the great temple centers.
Thus, a knowledge gained ground over the centuries and millenniums that regarded hu-
manity as being ruled in all concerns of life by the stars. The possible reasons why this was so,
or what kind of powers were working through the stars, was simply no longer questioned. Any
doubts coming up were countered by the answer that the facts proved, in near statistical fash-
ion, the case of astrological prognostication.
7
Then came the modern age and with it the science of nature. We demanded to know. We
could not accept the ancient beliefs any longer. All this development was an expression of the
fact that we had stepped onto the road toward spiritual freedom from all bonds that had been
accepted unquestionably in ancient times. This was a justified step, although the means to
attain healthy emancipation were not always efficient.
In the course of these developments, ancient or traditional astrology also began to be
rejected. It is true; the great inaugurators of modern astronomy, such as Kepler for instance,
were still preoccupied with astrology. But it is just this kind of attachment that the modern age
holds against them.
As a matter of fact, astrology was regarded earlier, by certain sectors of humanity, as some-
thing detrimental, even godless and sinister, which had to be avoided by all means. It is docu-
mented that in 1108 AD the Archbishop of York was refused Christian burial, because a book
on astrology had been found under his pillow.
Thus we find ourselves faced with a veritable battle situation when it comes to questions of
the legitimacy of astrology in our present age. This is one of the reasons why I insist so
tenaciously on accurate mathematics in this field, to the sorrow of a few friends. I insist that I
keep these studies on an objective, scientific level, and I think that statistics maynot even be
enough for this.
It may be of some interest to know a little about the history of my endeavors in the field of
astrology. It was Dr. Elisabeth Vreede, an anthroposophist and co-worker of Rudolf Steiner,
who encouraged me to pursue the studies beyond a superficial curiosity. She spoke one day of
remarks by Rudolf Steiner concerning the configuration of the heavens at the moment of the
passing-over of a human being into the spiritual world. He had pointed out that the stars at
that moment, particularly the planets, reflected in detail the past earthly life of that human
being. This picture struck home like lightning. Here arose a perspective that no longer de-
picted the human being as a helpless object of the rhythms and movements of the stars. It was
our souls that meant something for the stars; they were even waiting for all that which the
human souls had to bring to them as the fruits of their Earth experiences. A ray of hope,
which seemed to shed light on the quest for spiritual freedom, fell on the complex of astrology.
Subsequent researches, just on the basis of mathematics and of planetary rhythms, fully
confirmed that hope. Indeed the biographical rhythms of a great number of historic person-
alities proved to coincide perfectly with the configurations of the heavens at the moment of
their passing-over. The experience that human beings were not only creatures but were on the
road to becoming cooperators, even with the cosmos, shaped itself increasingly. This also gave
hope that similar constructive views may eventually be found with regard to our association with
the stars at the moment of incarnation. Later discoveries proved that this was not a vain hope.
It is now 42 years since this lightning storm struck, and ever since I have been enabled to
carry on this research. Sometimes external circumstances were difficult, but there seemed
always to be a helping hand in the background, which often arranged things forcefully in order
to facilitate the work.
8
LETTERS - PART ONE
As I said before, the road was never easy. Suspicion and distrust acted as forceful breaks.
One can fully understand this if one views the grave dangers that beset the road right and left
toward a new, constructive astrology. Human egotism is all too easily inclined to misuse this
knowledge in ignorance and dilettantism. All through the years the shining beacon of Rudolf
Steiner’s wisdom was an unceasing encouragement and also consolation when distrust led to
direct attack. There is one passage, particularly, in Rudolf Steiner’s lecture-cycle, Christ and the
Spiritual World (28 December 1913 to 2 January 1914), which I should like to quote: “...It
became clearer and clearer to me, as the outcome of many years of research, that in our epoch
there is really something like a resurrection of the astrology of the Third Epoch, the Egypto-
Chaldean civilizations, but permeated with the Christ Impulse. Today we must search among
the stars in a way different from the old ways, but the stellar script must once more become
something that speaks to us...” (Lecture V, January 1, 1914).
On such foundations, the work was carried forward. Eventually other friends joined in as
best they could. The guiding beacon was an unceasing sense of responsibility to lay the ground
work for an astrology that clearly and scientifically recognized our connection with the stars
and yet fully respected the domain of individual spiritual freedom and dignity. Thus things
gradually shaped themselves. It became ever clearer that to speak of our connection with the
stars, in a general sense, is not enough. Wide experience showed that the human organism is,
in a deep sense, shaped by the cosmos before and at the time of incarnation. It also became
evident that one had to distinguish between the principles of the organism in order to form a
correct and efficient picture. The physical body, the life organism or ether body, the conscious-
ness organization or astral body, all have their particular connection with the starry worlds.
They must and can be distinguished sharply, although these associations need not bind us any
longer and make us un-free, as they did in ancient times. They constitute the “tools” and
“vehicles” that we must acquire in order to complete our earthly sojourn. The crucial and
decisive question is always: How will we use our “tools”? There we can and must become
“free”, just as an efficient craftsman must not be ruled by the tools if a “good job” is to be
accomplished. This capacity is not simply given to us from the outset; we must acquire it. The
eventual ability to “use our stars” properly and efficiently must be awakened in us already in
our childhood years of education—certainly not by studying the stars, in this sense, but simply
by evolving the dormant creative capacities of the child. Later in life, in years of indepen-
dence, this “working with our stars” can, and perhaps one day must, become a “scientific”
capacity. In such like perspectives, I can see the eventual justification for a new astrology. Of
course, such a new wisdom has also other potentialities. For instance, such a “tool”-science, or
wisdom can also be of great help in curative education, i.e., education of handicapped children
and adults who need special care of their psyche. This, however, is a huge field of possible
practical application which we cannot discuss here.
One of the greatest obstacles against a wider recognition of these impulses was my pre-
occupation with the heliocentric perspective of the universe, which I presented with the pub-
lication of the Drama of the Universe in 1958. Some people regarded this, and still regard it, as
9
unforgivable heresy, particularly as my approach in this field involved calculations unusual in

the sense of traditional astrology, though not especially complicated. However, this was done
on the basis of clear considerations of the issues involved. And again, it was Rudolf Steiner’s
wisdom and insight that finally encouraged the decision to go steadfastly along this road. Rather
toward the end of his life, on January 11, 1924, he gave a lecture on Rosicrucianism of the
Middle Ages (published in a collection of lectures, in English translation, on The Mission of
Christian Rosenkreutz and Rosicrucianism and Modern Initiation (republished in 1965, Rudolf Steiner
Press, London). In lecture IV, which bears the subtitle The Relationship of Earthly Man to the
Sun, he speaks of the immeasurable wisdom that still prevailed in Rosicrucianism of the Middle
Ages “...Although, as I have described in my Occult Science, the Sun separated itself from the
Earth, or rather separated the Earth off from itself, it is nevertheless the original abode of
humanity... Man has not his home on Earth, but has on Earth only a temporary resting place...
in the 15th to the 16th centuries, and even later, there was a Rosicrucian school—isolated, scarcely
known to the world... Let us say, a new pupil arrived at this lonely spot to receive preparation.
The so-called Ptolemaic system (geocentric) was set before him, in its true form, as it had been
handed down from olden times, not in the trivial way it is explained nowadays, as something
that has been long ago supplanted, but in an altogether different way. The pupil was shown
how the Earth really and truly bears within itself the forces that are needed to determine its
path through the universe. So that to have a correct picture of the world, it must be drawn in
the old Ptolemaic sense; the Earth must be for humanity in the center of the universe, and the
other stars in their corresponding revolutions be controlled and directed by the Earth. And the
pupil was told: If one really studies what are the best forces in the Earth, then one can arrive
at no other conception of the world than this. In actual fact, however, it is not so. It’s not so
on account of man’s sin. Through man’s sin, the Earth, so to speak, in an unauthorized,
wrongful way, has gone over into the Kingdom of the Sun; the Sun has become the regent and
ruler of earthly activities... And the pupil was taught that here is a mistake in the cosmos, a
mistake in the universe brought about by human sin. It is really nothing else than the expres-
sion, the revelation of human guilt. The men of the 19th century had not the power to say
Copernicus! Yes; but such a conception of the universe (heliocentric) was only able to arise
because man did not become on Earth that which he should have become, and so the Earth
was left without a ruler and the rulership passed over to the unrighteous lords of the world (the
expression occurs again and again in medieval writings) took over the leadership of the Earth,
even as the Christ left the Sun and united with the destiny of Earth...”
In my preoccupation with the heliocentric approach, I arrived precisely at this point: the
heliocentric view is a practical reality, but it is in the fullest sense an expression of the “sin of
man”, one can also say, the “sickness of sin”. This is humanity’s heritage from the Fall in
Paradise. It is senseless to ignore or deny it; it exists and comes to expression in looking at the
cosmos from the heliocentric approach. In order to help to bring about the cure, to fall in with
the great Deed of Redemption on Golgotha, we had better face the “sin of humanity” and
gradually develop ways and means of eventually healing this “reproach”.
10
LETTERS - PART ONE
These were the ideas that led me in my attempts to formulate an up-to-date heliocentric
astrology. It soon became clear that it presented a picture of the great “sickness of sin” in
which all humanity is involved. For instance, there is the story of a Czechoslovakian medical
doctor. He was a skeptic, as far as astrology was concerned. Eventually, however, he agreed to
a statistical investigation. The birth horoscopes of 50 Mongoloid children [known today as
Down’s Syndrome] were calculated and also those of 100 of their healthy brothers and sisters.
The geocentric view hardly produced any convincing results, but the researchers did get the
surprise of their lives when they examined the heliocentric charts. All horoscopes of the
Mongoloids showed definite and similar configurations and aspects at the time of their births.
Their healthy brothers and sisters did not display any of these. It is quite obvious that the
heliocentric perspective can reveal the “sickness” of the human being in the sense as it is the
result of the “sin” stemming from the Fall in Paradise.
Thus I arrived at the following conclusions: Heliocentric astrology ought to be developed
as a means to help us to get onto the road leading to the healing and redemption inaugurated by
the Deed on Golgotha. It can eventually become something like a means for the diagnosis of
human nature in a wider sense, because of the involvement of individuals in the “great sin”. A
deeper understanding of the Events in Palestine and on Golgotha at the turning point of
history, particularly with regard to its spiritual-cosmic aspects, ought to enable us to eventually
unite with the Christ Impulse, the impulse toward redemption of the “great sin”. Thus it may
even be possible in the dim future to bring the Earth back into its “righteous” position, as the
center of the universe. But to simply deny heliocentric cosmology seems to me like blinding
oneself against the consequences of the Fall and the need for its redemption.
I have never found that heliocentric astrology refutes the geocentric one. Both comple-
ment each other. The geocentric approach simply presents cosmic facts and their association
with the Earth and its inhabitants from the viewpoint of perception, or rather imaginative
cognition, presenting facts in a kind of pictorial language. The heliocentric perspective, how-
ever, shows the life of the cosmos as an expression of the “great battle” that is constantly
raging in the universe, even as it concerns every individual human being. It is the battle be-
tween the forces that endeavor to reinstate the Earth in its rightful central position, which
eventually must succeed. On the opposing front stands the “unrighteous lords of the world”, as
was expressed in the Middle Ages. These are some of the principal foundations on which I work.
Current Events
The most prominent event this month is the Great Opposition of Jupiter and Saturn on
November 18. This is the third opposition of five in the geocentric from Dec. 1969 to Oct.
1971. Heliocentrically, Saturn will be in the nodal line of Mars.
In Star Journals Two, May ’69, it was demonstrated that the Great Conjunctions recur ap-
proximately in the same position of the Zodiac in intervals of about 60 years. They are inter-
sected by oppositions occurring halfway in time. Thus the present oppositions of Saturn and
Jupiter are related to the Great Conjunctions of 1940-1 and 2000.
11
In the same issue, we also described how these conjunction-opposition points slowly move
in time through the Zodiac (see Fig. 10). Thereby we arrive at a kind of historic genealogy,
which we particularly need in order to form a judgment of the present events.
The oppositions in these series of cosmic events are like an unfolding of that which is
implied in the conjunctions. When the two planets come together in conjunction, they are like
flower buds. The planets enter into a conference together. Then, 30 years later, Saturn returns
to the place of the conference, but Jupiter stands opposite. This is like an opening up, one can
almost say like the progress from implication to application.
In this sense, we will look back into the genealogy of this conjunction-opposition of 1940-
1, 1969-70, and 2000. It may give us an idea about the cosmic battle that is indicated in it.
There was an ancestral equivalent of the conjunction that happened in 869 AD. This was the
year of one of the Church Councils of Constantinople in which it was declared that we do not
consist of body, soul, and spirit but only body and soul with a few spiritual attributes. This
abolished, so to speak, the ancient wisdom of the sacred temple mysteries, which had regarded
the human being as a trinity of body, soul, and spirit. Therefore, this was already then the
expression of a serious cosmic battle situation. It laid the foundation for the gradually increas-
ing materialism through the millennia, which eventually arrived at the notion that we haven’t
even a soul, but only a body.
We could follow up the succeeding conjunctions through the centuries. We would discover
that they were always connected with definite steps in connection with the “breaking-in” of
materialism into the concepts concerning the human being, with corresponding practices in-
variably following. The years 1940-1, when the Great Conjunction recurred, are one example.
Thus these events were an expression of the “great battle” that is raging.
However, it should be just for us, who want to study astrology on a new foundation, not to
take these events with alarm and dismay. There is good reason for it. One of the earlier
conjunctions of this series brings us to 1226, the year when St. Francis of Assisi died. He, at
the end of a life devoted to the practice of Christian love and compassion, joined the ranks of
those in the spiritual world who eventually decided to transform the aggressive, materializing
nature of the planet Mars by the loving power of Venus. This is a spiritual reality that we hope
to be able to describe in detail one day. The beings and souls involved in this cosmic task are
doing it at great sacrifice.
We should certainly look at this event, which is also accompanied by Saturn in the ascend-
ing nodal line of Mars, as a mighty challenge. However, this is a challenge that must not find us
helpless. We can have the certainty that there are also other forces working in the universe
toward the constructive attainment of the goals of spiritual evolution.
This is expressed in the inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun on November l0, also
almost exactly in the nodal line of Mars. These conjunctions of Venus with the Sun also have
their ancestry (see Jan. ’70 issue). This one can be followed up right back to the time during the
three years of Christ’s Ministry in 32 AD. With great probability it was connected with the
healing of the daughter of the Syrophoenician woman (Mark VII: 24-30). The daughter, who
12
LETTERS - PART ONE
was possessed by an “unclean”, evil spirit, represented the ancient mysteries of the temples,
which had become decadent and “unclean”, particularly in Phoenicia. However, she was healed
by the power of Christ, and the renewal of the sacred mysteries was prepared—which then
happened in the act of the Raising of Lazarus (also see the author’s Cosmic Christianity, Part
Five). So we have good reason for hope and guidance and active inner participation, with
regard to cosmic events of this nature.
13
December 1970
In the present Letter I want to report the contents of a lecture that I have lately given. The
idea was to try to discern the real meaning and the greater challenges that are working in
present humanity, not only humanity of the 20th century but of the whole, so-called Post-
Atlantean Epoch. In view of the present chaos and inherent aimlessness of humanity, such an
attempt seems to have some quite practical bearings.
First of all, in what sense do we employ a knowledge of the cosmos, a cosmography, or
whatever we call it? The idea is relatively simple, but we need definite means of “navigation”
for this purpose. In normal navigation on the high seas, we observe the stars in order to find
our position on the globe of the Earth. For the purposes of humanity-wide cultural naviga-
tion, we also must eventually employ the stars, though on a bigger scale.
The concept of “Post-Atlantean Epoch”, which we introduced above, needs an explana-
tion that can be worked out on a cosmological level. The ancient continent of Atlantis existed
long ago in the place of the present Atlantic Ocean. The knowledge of its existence has always
been, more or less, faintly alive in later humanity. Eventually, Rudolf Steiner gave, on the basis
of his spiritual investigations, an abundance of precise information about it. One principal
book on this subject is his Aus der Akasha-Chronik, which is available in English translation as
Cosmic Memory (Rudolf Steiner Publications, Englewood, New Jersey). In other contexts, Rudolf
Steiner has also suggested definite dates with regard to the events referred to.
After the final decline of Atlantis, a new civilization was inaugurated in the area of present
day India. This happened in about 7227 BC. Following onto this, four civilizations were
inaugurated. We live in the Fifth, whereas the Sixth and Seventh are still to come. The last one
will come to a conclusion in 7893 AD. Thus, this whole Post-Atlantean Epoch comprises
15,120 years, or 7 x 2,160 years.
These indications would leave us in darkness with regard to the reasons for the duration of
the cycles involved, if we did not have recourse to the cosmic correlations. The rhythm of
2,160 years is based on the precession of the vernal equinox. On 21 or 22 March of each year,
the Sun appears to stand in a place that can be calculated astronomically as the crossing point
of the circle of the ecliptic—the Sun’s apparent path during the year—with the equator of the
Earth, projected into the sky. Because of the mechanics of daily Sunrise and Sunset, we have
on that day, on all the surface of the Earth, equal length of day and night, or equinox. This
point lies in front of a certain fixed star in the depths of space. However, the relationship
between the equinox point and the fixed star background changes constantly, according to a
definite rhythm. This rhythm is the precessional movement. It is caused by the shifting of the
axis of the Earth through a circle on the fixed star heaven, thereby also moving the crossing
points of the ecliptic with the equator of the Earth, projected into the heavens.
The vernal and, correspondingly, the autumnal equinox fall back by 1° in 72 years, against
the fixed star Zodiac. This amounts to a movement of 30° in 2,160 years, or one-twelfth of the
whole circle of the Zodiac, which is the average width of one of the twelve constellations.
14
LETTERS - PART ONE
(There exist some differences of opinion on the astronomical duration of these intervals, but
the amounts involved are so small that we need not consider them in our present context.)
Thus the seven civilizations of the present Post-Atlantean Epoch would each last through
an interval of time during which the vernal equinox moved through the average width of one
zodiacal constellation. For instance, the first civilization of ancient India occurred while the
equinox point moved in the constellation of Cancer, though not throughout the 2,160 years in
which that civilization lasted. (Cancer is, in any case, relatively narrow.) However, in this kind
of correlation, we must look for the qualitative and not the quantitative-geometric time inter-
vals of the equinox movement through the constellations. As a matter of fact, in 7227 BC,
which was given as the commencement of the Ancient Indian civilization, the vernal point had
already moved deeply into Cancer. At each commencement time given, for instance, 7227 for
Ancient India, 5067 for Ancient Persia, and so forth, the vernal equinox occurred in the “or-
ganic” center points of the constellations, which are not always identical with the geometrical
center points. In other words, what happens is this: the vernal equinox enters a constellation at
a certain moment, thus in the cosmos the influx of certain forces that are necessary for the
inauguration of a definite civilization may be prepared. However, on Earth the preceding
civilization still carries on for a long while, according to the law of inertia. Only if the “quali-
tative organic” center of the corresponding fixed star constellation is reached by the vernal
point, does the new impulse break through as a general impact. Before that, it may work as a
kind of hidden sub-stream in civilization. In this sense, there does indeed exist a correlation
between cosmic events and earthly facts. Only, we should not imagine that an event in the
heavens must always be accompanied by an instantaneous reaction on Earth. Delays, inertia,
and intervals of absorption and development must always be taken into account as possibilities.
In this sense, we want to look at that interval of 15,120 years that represent the Post-
Atlantean Epoch. What is the object of evolution during this Epoch? Rudolf Steiner speaks
extensively about it in the before-mentioned Cosmic Memory, chapter IV, “...the use of thought,
which is characteristic of the people of our fifth root race (Fifth Epoch), first had to develop.
It is this root race in particular that slowly and gradually brings the faculty of thought to
maturity. In thought, we decide upon something and then execute it as the consequences of
our own thought...” This humanity had been led over from sinking Atlantis to the East by a
great spiritual leader, who is known as Manu. He gathered around him the ablest personalities
and initiated them into the wisdom of the oncoming era. “...a new kind of initiate was thus
added to the old divine messengers. It consisted of those who had developed their faculty of
thought in an earthly manner just as their fellowmen had done... the human initiates of later
times are men among men... But in all this the higher intention is to put humanity on its own
feet, fully to develop its faculty of thought...”
These deeper impulses, which permeate and guide the Fifth Post-Atlantean Epoch, are
magnificently expressed by the simultaneous cosmography. However, we can discover this
only with the help of those “invisible”, yet calculable, so-called elements of the planetary
spheres. In about 7200 BC, the perihelion of Jupiter entered the constellation we now call
15
Pisces, the Fishes. And in about 7900 AD, it will leave it and move on to Aries. This coincides
exactly with the commencement and the termination of the Fifth Post-Atlantean Epoch. We
are, of course, fully aware that the constellations of the fixed stars also change their appear-
ances in the course of long time intervals. This happens because the single fixed stars that
make the heavenly configurations are moving too, though very slowly. Thus, earlier ages, such
as the Chinese and Tibetans, experienced different effigies in the Zodiac. However, the move-
ments of most of the fixed stars are so slow that our present conceptions are spiritually valid
for a long time, before and after the present moment, and can well be employed in the context
with which we are here concerned.
We want to make sure that we understand each other when we speak of elements of the
planetary spheres. All the planets are moving in big elliptic orbits around the Sun, according to
the heliocentric conception. These orbits are indications of the spheres. (In ancient times, for
instance, the Greeks maintained that the planets were, so to speak, pinned on the inner walls of
these spheres. The spheres were imagined to be rotating, and thereby the visible planets were
taken around in circles.) We conceive of these spheres as being filled with activities of spiri-
tual, invisible beings and of the planets as “Moons” that reflect only what is happening in the
spheres. In the sense of these reflections, that part of the orbit where the planet comes nearest
to the Sun (perihelion), would reflect a particular function or attitude of the beings living in or
working with the sphere. Generally speaking, in the perihelion of the sphere, the beings seem
to conform more than anywhere else, to the concerns of the solar universe. It appears, on an
elevated cosmic level, like an element of interest, similar to the mood when human beings
express interest in their environment through the head-senses organization. The opposite
part, where the planet is taken furthest away from the Sun (aphelion), seems to present an
attitude of independence and self-will of the sphere. We recognize a faint equivalent of this in
the heart and limb organism of the human being.
All this is, of course, specially tinged by the characteristics of the particular planetary sphere.
The character of Jupiter (the meaning of whose perihelion we want to discern) is expressed
already in the external appearance of this planet. It displays a great power of expansion, as it
is the largest planet in volume of the solar system, though its globe is by no means solid like
that of the Earth. Even Saturn cannot compete with it, as it appears to have been on a kind of
retraction course, having left its rings behind in its environment as an indication of the possible
earlier size of the globe.
Jupiter seems to be more of an element of creative expansion. But what kind of creative
activity can we imagine here? Ancient mythologies can often give us more precise pictures
than we can formulate. In Greece, Jupiter-Zeus was experienced as “Omnipotent Father Ether”,
that is, the creative element of the cosmos that brings forth growth on Earth. There appears,
however, another connotation: the power and evolution of thinking. Very often, we see Zeus
depicted with Ram’s horns, which seems to suggest the convolutions of the brain, the root
organism of our nerve system. This connection with the brain, of how it must be developed
and even surmounted, is expressed in another Greek myth. Once Zeus suffered from a terrible
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LETTERS - PART ONE
headache. Then, one of his Olympian companions split his skull open with an axe. Out of the
cleft ascended the goddess Pallas Athene, who made it her task to use the capacity of thinking
as a practical potentiality in the building of the cities, the cultivation of the olive tree, etc.
Thus, we already see the connection of the perihelion of Jupiter with that great task of the
development of thinking, which is the fundamental impulse of the Fifth Post-Atlantean Ep-
och. And indeed, an historical investigation can reveal the evolution,i.e., the progress and the
obstruction of this capacity of thinking.
We mention only one example: In 1893 (about July), Saturn moved through the (extended)
aphelion line of the sphere of Jupiter. During that year Rudolf Steiner published his Philosophy
of Freedom or of Spiritual Activity. He presents in it a method and a path toward the raising of
thinking from its modern prisons of intellectualism, toward the development of moral imagi-
nation and eventually intuitive thinking. We can clearly see that this was a moment when the
development of the faculty of thought in humanity, during the Fifth Post-Atlantean Epoch,
had reached a definite stage on the road of getting human beings “on their own feet”. This
event was connected with the aphelion of Jupiter, i.e., with that part of the sphere that is more
associated with the impulse of independence and will.
We ask: What has this to do with the constellation of Pisces? This configuration is the last
one in the community of the Zodiac. If we think of the Zodiac as a sphere whose forces
intend to descend eventually into realization on the Earth, then with Pisces we come to the last
step of this cosmic “staircase”. Therefore, in astrology Pisces is often connected with loneli-
ness and being cut off from some kind of origin or setting in a greater entity, environment, etc.
This picture perfectly corresponds with the destiny of Post-Atlantean humanity: Gradually, it
was cut off, or did cut itself off from its origin, from its original union with the divine world.
This is corroborated by another association of Pisces. The constellations of the Zodiac
are cosmic regions through which forces descend that shape, for instance, the human physical
form. The human body is an organism of twelve regions that are formed by archetypes work-
ing through the Zodiac. Pisces, or Fishes, is the external expression of the cosmic-divine
archetypes that create, and ever recreate, the human hands and feet.
Hands and feet are, in fact, means by which we can make a start toward becoming indepen-
dent. The plant is rooted in the soil; it cannot move by its own will. The animal world presents
a long row of stages to become physiologically independent, starting from creeping species
right up to those that can move on four legs. Finally, humans were able to grow into an upright
position and to use our legs to move, in a corporeal sense, independently over the face of the
Earth. But, distinct from the animal, we have learned to employ our hands for all manner of
work, may it be constructive or destructive. We achieve this by getting into an upright position,
at an age when the “I” is waking up within. Thus does the “Pisces instrumentality’’ lead us
onto the road to increasing independence and freedom.
This stage of evolution reached a certain culmination during the present Age, or civiliza-
tion, inspired by the vernal equinox moving through Pisces. Thus the perihelion of Jupiter was
joined by the vernal point.
17
Here we ought to say a word about the vernal point being in Pisces at present. A number
of people contend that this is no longer true and that the spring equinox is taking place already
in sidereal Aquarius. First of all, we should point out once more our idea that the interaction
between cosmos and Earth is rarely spontaneous. Very often we have to take into account an
element of inertia and delay with regard to the effects of cosmic events on the Earth. Further-
more, we contend that the vernal equinox, in actual fact, has not yet arrived in Aquarius. We
need only study a classical star map to discover that the crossing point between the celestial
equator and the ecliptic has still a long way to go, from below the western fish of Pisces, until
it reaches the proper region of the Water-Urn of Aquarius-Waterman. Certainly, below the
vernal equinox, the “waters” that the Waterman pours into space are approaching; and with
some insistence, one can maintain that they are already below the vernal point, but this is too
close for conjecture. The medieval, traditional star maps show that it is not yet reached this
point.
The meeting, or conjunction, between the perihelion of Jupiter and the vernal equinox,
according to ecliptic longitude, took place in about 1476 AD. This is an important contribu-
tion to the complex of our discussion. The Age of Pisces commenced, in a cultural not an
astronomical sense, in 1413 AD. That was the moment when certain delaying factors had been
overcome. The old traditions and conceptions that had been carried forward, chiefly by reli-
gious faith, were moved aside, and the age of science and technology broke in. In 1473, close
to the date mentioned above, Copernicus was born, the inaugurator of the modern heliocen-
tric conception of the universe. He and particularly his followers, such as Galileo and Kepler,
regarded it as a step forward toward truth and, therefore, toward freedom. However, Copernicus
knew perfectly well that this was a “freedom” that the powers from previous ages, for instance
the Roman Church, did not appreciate. Therefore, he hesitated a long time with the publi-
cation of his views.
Certainly, this road toward freedom and independence is beset with innumerable pitfalls.
The concept of the universe as a gigantic machine and perfect computer, which has arisen in
the course of the development of Copernican astronomy, looks much more like an abdication
than a promotion of the impulse of attaining freedom by knowing the truth. However, we
regard this only as a temporary stage that, because of its inherent self-defeat, will eventually
lead to entirely new and spiritually true and free concepts concerning universe, Earth, and
humanity. In the light of this perspective, we consider the meeting between that perihelion of
Jupiter and vernal equinox in the course of the 15th century as a sign-post on the road toward
the eventual achievement of the goals set for all humanity of the whole Fifth Post-Atlantean
Epoch.
The present century seems to be particularly crucial with regard to the working impulses
coming through the perihelion of Jupiter in Pisces. Just about 1950 it had arrived, according to
its ecliptic longitude, exactly below the fixed star Alpheratz, or Caput Andromeda, which be-
longs to both the constellations of Andromeda and Pegasus. This seems to be an important
moment with regard to the materialistic impasse in which modern science and technology have
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LETTERS - PART ONE
arrived. In order to get this clear, we must study the mythology of the entire constellation
complex involved.
Andromeda was the daughter of Cepheus, a king of Ethiopia, and his queen, Cassiopeia.
The latter proclaimed one day, in a fit of vanity, that she was more beautiful than the water
nymphs, the Nereids, the daughters of Neptune. In his anger, Neptune sent the terrible mon-
ster, Cetus the Whale, to Ethiopia, who then started to ravage the country by devouring every
living creature it could find. An oracle told the king that only one thing could save his realm
from destruction, the sacrifice of Andromeda, his daughter, to Cetus. So, with great hesitation
she was chained to a rock near the sea to be devoured by the monster. This event is “memo-
rized” in the heavens. There we see Andromeda above Pisces. Below Pisces, the Cetus is just
approaching to get his prey, but as we move on in the Zodiac we see another redeeming part of
the story. Above the constellation Aries, one of the heroes of Greek mythology, Perseus,
approaches. In his hand he holds the fixed star Algol, belonging to Caput Medusae, the head
of another (this time human-like) monster, the Medusa. Whoever looked into her face was
instantly frozen into stone. Perseus was just coming back from his adventurous trip, in the
course of which he had killed the Medusa and freed the land of this calamity. He avoided the
danger of being turned into stone by approaching her while walking with his back to her and,
meanwhile, watching her in the polished surface of his shield. Thereby, he cut off her head.
Arriving on his way home, he came past the scene of Andromeda’s plight and decided at
once to rescue her. As Cetus the Whale approached, he held the head of the Medusa in front
of the monster. Instantly the monster was transformed into a mighty but harmless rock.
19
January 1971
In the last Letter, I referred to the relationship of the perihelion of Jupiter to the present
century. It arrived in about 1950, according to ecliptic longitude, below Alpheratz, or Caput
Andromeda. This is singularly significant for present humanity and is superbly interpreted by
the mythology connected with Andromeda.
Andromeda, as she appears in the heavens, is in immediate danger. She is on the point of
being devoured by Cetus the Whale. Perseus rescues her, immobilizing and freezing Cetus into
a rock, by confronting him with the decapitated head of the Medusa.
The interesting fact is that these monsters, like the Medusa and the Whale, were descen-
dents of a once glorious generation of semi-divine beings. Medusa, as devastatingly ugly as she
was when Perseus cut off her head, was most beautiful and handsome in her youth. Only later
she deteriorated. This is an important piece of information, as far as myths are descriptions of
real evolutionary, physiological facts. The decadence, at which they had arrived, suggests that
they had become atavistic powers, which means that they no longer fit the stage at which
humanity had arrived and were even unhealthy and destructive.
Andromeda was the image and soul of a humanity that was emerging and moving toward
the future. She was in danger of being destroyed by the powers of atavism. One of her most
signal features in the heavens is the fixed star Alpheratz on her forehead, which belongs also to
the wings of Pegasus. Incidentally, Pegasus was an offspring of Medusa, according to the
myth, who rose from her blood after she had been decapitated. What does this mean?
Several approaches are possible. A major one is associated with the history of the perihe-
lion of Jupiter. As mentioned in the last Letter, this is an image of the meaning and task of the
whole Post-Atlantean Epoch. Humanity is expected to develop thinking to the point of inde-
pendence and spiritual freedom, to learn “to stand on its own feet”. Out of this freedom and
power of cognition, this humanity must find its way back onto the road that will eventually lead
us to a reunion with the divine world. No other motive but “knowing love” of the divine must
lead us to this attainment.
The development of this power of thinking reached a certain decisive stage with the ad-
vent of the present century. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, brought the
message to modern humanity and also suggested practical ways and means for starting to move
in this direction. Already in 1894, he published his Philosophy of Freedom or of Spiritual Activity.
He says in the preface to the revised edition of 1918, “In this book, the attempt is made to
show that a knowledge of the spirit realm before entering upon actual experience is fully justi-
fied. The course of this demonstration is so conducted that for anyone who is able and willing
to enter into these arguments, it is never necessary, in order to accept them, to cast furtive
glances at the experiences which my later writings have shown to be relevant.
“Thus it seems to me that in one sense this book occupies a position completely indepen-
dent of my writings on actual spiritual scientific matters. Yet in another sense it is most inti-
mately connected with them...”
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Then, later Steiner gave precise instructions in his book, Knowledge of the Higher Worlds and its
Attainment, with regard to training for “entering upon actual spiritual experience”. In Part II,
chapter 1, he describes the exercises that are needed for the development of the perception
organs necessary for the attainment of spiritual knowledge, the organs that in eastern esoteric
wisdom are called “Lotus flowers or chakrams”. In the course of this chapter Steiner says,
“...these instructions are reflections of the great laws of cosmic evolution... A simple start is
made with a view to deepening the logical activity of the mind and producing an inward inten-
sification of thought... Thus a preliminary center is formed for the currents of the etheric
body... Continued practice enables the students to determine for themselves the position of
their etheric bodies. Hitherto, this position depended upon the forces proceeding from with-
out or from within the physical body. Through further development the student is able to
direct his etheric body to all sides. This faculty is effected by currents moving, approximately,
along both hands, and centered in the two-petalled Lotus in the region of the eyes...”
Through the development of these faculties, we will attain an intelligence that will be
superior to the intellectualism with which present humanity tries to manage its concerns of life.
During the last decades, it has become particularly evident that this intellectualism is incapable
of a healthy and constructive conduct of the affairs of life. The shortcomings, which are the
results of these capacities, are coming down over humanity at present in all spheres with apoca-
lyptic severity. Against this, practical “winged intelligence” must be developed that can fathom
the real needs of any situation and the possible consequences of any deed. This is also clearly
“suggested” in the heavens. Above Andromeda, seen rising out of her head, so to speak, is
Pegasus, the Winged Horse. The image of the horse in mythology suggests “intelligence” of
some kind. Pegasus, however, represents “winged intelligence”, which can fly above the Earth
and is not bound by materialistic approaches. And the effigy of this Pegasus is just above those
longitudes of the ecliptic under which the vernal equinox will move in coming centuries and
millennia.
Andromeda is threatened by Cetus, a watery, formless effigy representing atavistic forces.
This is precisely the situation facing present humanity. There does exist a more or less uncon-
scious realization that more than intellectual capacities are needed in order to cope with exist-
ing world conditions. Many occultisms are offered for the development of spiritual and clair-
voyant perception. Even drugs of most varied description are supposed to do a good or
excellent job in this direction. But the truth is, that results are achieved by a lowering, or even
elimination, of the consciousness of self. There are unfathomable dangers lurking here for
modern humanity, because by giving away our position at the helm of our ship, we cannot
know what kind of forces will be taking over instead. They can be highly destructive entities,
because what the human being of ancient times received as spiritual guidance, though in dreamy
conditions, has deteriorated and become decadent and atavistic. This is not only a blow against
our dignity, it is even threatening the very integrity and future of the human race. We of the
present age must regain an insight into the spiritual world in order to stand up to the tasks that
will undoubtedly confront us on this planet. We will need a science of the spirit, not wooly
21
mysticisms. A good start is made by the development and cultivation of thinking. Sometimes,
one feels tempted to call the new capacity “clair-thinking”, rather than clairvoyance, in order to
make a clear distinction. eventually must succeedThus events and facts in the cosmos do
indeed reflect the greater spiritual challenges that confront humanity in the course of its evolu-
tion. However, humanity needs a new knowledge or wisdom of the stars as one that, for
instance, recognizes the elements of the planetary spheres.
The perihelion of Jupiter will enter the realm of Aries, as we see it at present in the heav-
ens, in about 7900 AD. This coincides almost exactly with the termination of the whole Post-
Atlantean Epoch, and the commencement of the Sixth great Epoch, which is also described in
the Revelation of St. John, as the era of the Opening of the Seven Seals (Revelation VI and
VIII).
The constellation of Aries has a certain connection with the Phoenix (see Lum, The Stars in
our Heavens p. 130), apart from other connotations. According to the myth, this bird lives over
long intervals of time, and when its end is approaching, it is said to build its own funeral pyre
and burn itself; then a new Phoenix rises from the ashes. The life-span of each individual bird
varies widely in the descriptions of ancient authors. The longest estimate is 12,954 years,
which is almost exactly six times 2,160 years, corresponding to six cultural civilizations, or
almost one whole great Epoch, such as the Post-Atlantean Epoch. In other words, we can
imagine that one such Phoenix rose in the transition from the Ancient Indian civilization to
that of Ancient Persia and lived, and still lives, with humanity as a hope into the future; and at
the transition from the Fifth to the Sixth Epoch it will be “reborn from its own ashes”.
It is, in a certain sense, obvious that in mythology the Phoenix stands for the constant
transformation, that is, “death and rebirth” of definite cultural impulses. What would we then
expect, being connected with this particular Phoenix aspect that we have in mind here, is
associated with the constellation of Aries?
Far back in the past, around 6000 BC, the vernal equinox (the Sun at the commencement
of spring) had left the constellation of Cancer and was moving into the area of Gemini. The
winter solstice was then taking place with the Sun standing close to the ingress point to Aries,
which is the point we have in mind when we speak of the progress of the perihelion of Jupiter
into that constellation. On Earth the civilization of Ancient India had been inaugurated by the
humanity that emigrated with the great Manu from sinking Atlantis. It carried on still for a
long time. But in the secret places of the interior of Asia, where the Manu lived, preparations
must have already been made for the continuation of human evolution beyond Ancient India.
They were guided on the one hand by the cosmic aspects of Gemini, or their equivalent then,
and on the other hand by the midwinter mysteries, which we now can recognize as those of
Aries-Phoenix.
The Ancient Indian civilization was of a highly spiritual nature. Much of it is still apparent
in classical Indian literature. By no means did it descend so deeply into the material world as a
later humanity did. Yet, that descent had to be accomplished for the sake of our independence
and avowed goal of eventually “standing on our own feet”. Once we have achieved this, we are
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LETTERS - PART ONE
expected to return to the community of the spiritual world and to the beings dwelling therein,
entirely out of our free decision and guided by our knowing love for the divine. Therefore,
elements had to be introduced into civilization that constantly confronted us with the prospect
of the real existence of a divine spiritual world, even if we lost direct experience of it, or were
beset by doubt and atheism. Humanity was led into a long era of dualism, getting more and
more deeply involved in the material world and living with an ever more dimming awareness of
the divine.
The first step toward a spiritually constructive “dualism” was taken with the inauguration
of the Ancient Persian civilization, which commenced, in a broad sense, in about 5067 BC. We
have the impression that the initial decisions were already made in about 6000 BC, in the deep
of interior Asia. It was the great initiate, Zarathustra, who eventually founded the second
civilization on that cosmic imagination of the duality of Ahura Mazda and Ahriman.
Ahura Mazda means “Aura of the Sun”. It was by no means a superficial Sun-worship but
was born out of the experience of the Spirit of the Sun; one can even say, the “I” of the Sun.
Thus Zarathustra clearly recognized the One Who was coming and would descend to the
Earth, Who we realize now to be the Christ. Later prophesies of Persian-Iranian origin, which
have come originally from Zarathustra, even spoke realistically of such details as the “Virgin-
birth” (see the Gospel stories of the birth of Jesus), the redemption of the Earth and humanity
through the great Deed of Compassion and Salvation, which was to happen as the conse-
quence of the Incarnation of Christ, etc.
Opposed to Ahura Mazda is Ahriman, the powerful spirit of darkness who dwells in the
deep of the Earth. He stands for the totality of the limiting, soul-destroying, and anti-spiritual
propensities of matter, which is the expression of evil. Eventually, all this evil—Ahriman with
his hordes—will be destroyed in a Last Judgment. “The Earth will be flooded with molten
metal; to the good, this will be as a bath of tepid milk... The Evil will be atrociously burnt; ...
Armageddon will begin: the last great Fight of All…” (A History of Religions, by Denis Saurat.)
These conceptions of the universe and of human beings were not just ideologies removed
from the reality of life; they were of very practical consequence. In fact, organized agriculture
was built on this, and yet, it was a deeply religious preoccupation of the nature of a cult. By
opening up the soil with the plough, one intended to let the light, sent out into space by Ahura
Mazda, penetrate the darkness that prevailed in the Earth as the instrumentality of Ahriman
and his helpers. Thereby one gave the plant an opportunity to grow up toward the light, to lift
matter out of its prison of darkness and refine it by the transmutation into the beautiful colors
of the flower and its scent.
This was a perfect realization of the propensities of the constellation Gemini, where the
vernal equinox was when Zarathustra inaugurated the Ancient Persian civilization. An aware-
ness of it is still present in ancient Grecian sidereal mythology. The twins Castor and Pollux,
the main stars in Gemini, were unequal twin brothers. Pollux was immortal, whereas Castor
was of mortal nature. They represent, indeed, a dualism that permeates all life: the contradic-
tions of day and night, of heaven and Earth, of spirit and matter, and many more polarities.
23
In this myth, dualism was still of a high ethical quality. It had, in a metaphorical sense, the
image of a new-born “Phoenix”. Later on, as this dualism became older, it deteriorated more
and more. Finally it arrived in our present Age, where the forces of darkness had accumulated
carefully and cunningly all possible power and were able to instill into a few human beings:
“Forget the divine beings in the heights, they are dead anyway. They are only an invention of
those humans in the past who, thereby, wanted to rule the masses. Matter is the only thing that
exists. Even if you perish with matter one day, we hope to find ways and means to let you live
eternally, of course, as matter only and without that wretched invention, the ego.”
The “Phoenix of Hope” of spiritual humanity is getting old, and one day it will no doubt
build its own funeral pyre and burn itself. Then, a new Phoenix will rise from the ashes and
inspire humanity anew. How do we imagine this?
We associated the perihelion of Jupiter with the development of thinking during the Post-
Atlantean Epoch. This isn’t a “pastime” matter that a human being, for lack of something
better, may perpetrate. It is, and will become more and more, a concern of our spiritual
integrity and even of our survival. Thinking, seen from the aspects that we developed above,
finally as clair-thinking is not an object for our self-satisfaction. It will become a means of our
identification with the divine creative forces in the universe, with the Logos world. (See Gos-
pel of St. John, Chapter I: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God (the Logos)”. This is the realm from which divine beings created all exist-
ence, and humanity’s identification with it would, in the end, mean nothing less than “eternal”
existence in the Spirit.
We see in the transition of the perihelion of Jupiter from Pisces to Aries-Phoenix the
indication of a stepping-stone toward the attainment of these goals and, therefore, of a “re-
birth of the Phoenix”. It will happen at the termination of the Post-Atlantean Epoch (about
7900 AD). Then the necessary descent and preoccupation of humanity with matter and mate-
rialism, in the present form, will come to a close. The “bird of dualism” will come to the end
of its task and new vistas will open up.
Already during the latter part of this 20th century, we see certain fearful aspects coming up
that can give us an idea in what direction a misguided and decadent “dualism” will develop. It
sounds altogether nonsensical to speak in this context of dualism. Rather, it has become a
totally materialistic “monotheism”. The results are only too obvious. The unfathomable “pol-
lutions” in all spheres of human existence, not only represent deadly dangers for the human
race but for the whole planet that we inhabit. It may be that things can be provisionally
mended in the nearer future, but just as in the latter sub-races of Atlantis, the trends toward
final collapse cannot be mistaken.
Toward the end of the present Post-Atlantean Epoch, the material conditions on the Earth
will change radically. There are indications that even the cosmic status of the relationship
between Earth and Moon will alter. In any case, the human race must learn to face the possi-
bility that totally different principles of corporeal existence on this planet will have to be adopted
in order to comply with “incarnation”, or equivalent facilities of working on the Earth. In
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LETTERS - PART ONE
other words, the laws of nature, with whose provisions we now enter the physical-material
world, may let us down nearer to the termination of the present Epoch. Consequently, also the
laws referring to the end of material human existence would be radically changed.
This is precisely signaled in the heavens, as a possibility, in connection with the transit of
the perihelion of Jupiter from Pisces into Aries. Toward this event, in about 7900 AD, three
planetary elements will congregate in the constellations of Cancer and Capricorn. These are
the perihelions (and aphelions in Capricorn) of Saturn, Earth, and Venus. The three will
actually enter into “conjunctions” among themselves either shortly before 7900 AD or within
3000 years afterwards.
These open up very important perspectives for us. The constellation of Cancer in ancient
mythology was regarded as the portal into earthly incarnation. In another sense, it can be seen
as connected with philosophic materialism. Capricorn was the portal to excarnation, the portal
to the Gods. Here, then, we can see a confirmation of what we said above: that there is the
strong possibility, concurrent with the cosmic events, that our future association with the Earth
through birth and death, which we take so much for granted, is fundamentally changed. And
this can indeed be conceived as a “rebirth of the Phoenix”.
Current Events
We will limit ourselves to giving information about similar oppositions of Jupiter and Sat-
urn near the nodal lines of Mars in history. In the next Letter we intend to demonstrate the
configurations of the heavens at the time of the incarnation of P. B. Shelley, the British poet.
When he was born, Jupiter and Mars were also in conjunction and, furthermore, very close to
Neptune. In fact, this one in 1792 was an historic ancestor of the one in Jan. 1971. Thus, this
example may give us some ideas of how an earlier generation met such an event.
The last time an opposition between Saturn and Jupiter happened in the nodal lines of
Mars was in 1454, with Saturn in the descending and Jupiter in the ascending nodal line. Just
one year earlier in 1453, the Turks, under Mohammed the Conqueror, took Constantinople.
This was a signal event that gives us an idea about all the earlier history associated with cosmic
events of similar nature. They were all connected with happenings between what we now call
the Near East and the West (of Europe). It is remarkable that at present we are facing a similar
historic situation. As much as the historic correlations bear a flavor of destruction, so are
other events of a spiritually constructive nature usually associated with them. For instance, the
opposition of 1454 was followed by The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459,
which we have often mentioned.
In 1116 a Great Opposition of Saturn and Jupiter happened, which saw Saturn in the
ascending and Jupiter in the descending nodal line of Mars, just as the present one. It was
accompanied by the First Crusade and subsequent events, among them the conquest of Jerusa-
lem (1099). On the other hand, a few years later in 1118-19, the foundation of the Order of
25
the Knights Templars on the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem took place. The Knights Templars
endeavored to carry esoteric Christianity forward, for instance, as it was present in earlier Grail’s
Christianity.
In 600 AD, another Great Opposition occurred with Saturn in the descending and Jupiter
in the ascending nodal line of Mars. This coincided with events in the then Far West of
Europe as well as in the Near East. It was the era of Mohammed, the founder of
Mohammedanism, who was born around 570 and died in 632 AD. In the West, on the British
Isles, decisive developments occurred. Around 596, St. Augustine (distinct from Augustine of
Hippo) was sent by Pope Gregory I to England in order to convert the English to Roman
Christianity. He hesitated for some time in the estuary of the Thames but eventually pro-
ceeded to Canterbury, where he became the first archbishop. Soon after, a drawn-out war
started against the north, which, apart from a veil of political motives, had as a real aim the
destruction and elimination of the Celtic Church, with its center on the Island of Iona in west
Scotland. Celtic Christianity was esoteric Christianity that did not fit into the pattern of a
church as it emanated from Rome. At the same time, in 600, Columban and Gallus arrived in
Switzerland from Ireland and founded, for instance, the monastery of St. Gallen. Thus Celtic
Christianity, in spite of all obstacles, was working on in the Christianization of the European
continent.
Another Great Opposition happened in 263 AD, with Saturn in the ascending and Jupiter
in the descending nodal line of Mars, also similar to the present opposition. Around that time,
the Roman empire was in painful disorder. From the northeast the Goths threatened Rome.
In the east, on the Asiatic continent, it could hardly hold its frontiers. This opened opportuni-
ties for oriental rulers to spread their wings. In those years, Queen Zenobia of Palmyra founded
something like her own empire (267) in the Syrian desert and even conquered Egypt (270). But
eventually Rome, under Aurelian, used bare force to defeated her and destroyed Palmyra and
its empire (272). During the same time the founder of Manicheism, Mani, carried his message
into Central Asia. He came as far as Sinkiang, possibly right to the East China Sea.
All this historic background plays, of course, as memories into contemporary history and
also demands to be heard in the present crisis confronting the world.
26
LETTERS - PART ONE
February 1971
In the commentary last month, I promised to demonstrate possible implications contained

in certain cosmic events during that month by similar happenings earlier in history. And I
suggested that we study the incarnation charts of the British poet, P. B. Shelley. Here now are
the diagrams: the geocentric perspective of the planets’ movement from the astrological epoch
to birth and the heliocentric counterpart.
Figure 1
Geocentric
Birth: 4 August 1792, Fieldplace, Surrey, Eng.
Epoch: 13 November 1791 (Moon
in Desc. of birth, or 27 .)
The positions in the inner
circl are according to 1001 No-
table Nativities, by Alan Leo,
which we have checked.
The outer circle are the
movements of the planets and
Sun from epoch to birth.
Figure 2
Heliocentric equivalent, includ-

ing the planetary movements from
epoch to birth.
At epoch: Earth is close to the node

of Mars, Venus is close to its
node, Mars is close to the node
of Neptune, and Jupiter is close
to its aphelion.
At birth: Venus is close to its peri-

helion.
27
The epoch, which we employ here, is based on an ancient Egyptian rule that we found very
helpful in the investigation of the physiological, and even psychological, incarnation of the
human being. We discovered that it does not only apply to the embryological development,
but offers also a key for a comprehension of the stages in later life. The idea is simply that the
so-called astrological ascendant, the point of the ecliptic rising on the eastern horizon at the
moment of birth, indicates the last step down into incarnation on the Earth. The last-but-one
step would then be the Moon at the epoch; that is, the moment when the Moon was in that
ascendant-descendent line of the birth but an average of 10 sidereal Moon cycles, or 273 days,
before birth. The Egyptian rule, The Trutina Hermetis, discerns the exact time of the epoch
according to whether the Moon is waxing or waning at birth. If it was waxing then the Moon
at the epoch was in the ecliptic point of the ascendant, and if it was waning then it was in the
descendent, opposite. In Shelley’s chart the Moon at birth is waning in 12° of the ecliptic sign
of . (The full Moon was earlier in .) Therefore, at his epoch it was in the descendent, that
is 27 . Thus at birth it had not completed its tenth sidereal orbit, and the prenatal time was
shorter than 273 days. In fact, the Moon was in 27 on November 13, 1791, and this was the
astrological epoch.
This may bring up the question of how to calculate the rising point of the ecliptic or
ascendant at birth, etc. We shall demonstrate this in connection with another example at a later
time. The birth chart of Shelley is not a very suitable occasion for this purpose.
Both these charts, geocentric and heliocentric, present remarkable features. Mars per-
formed a loop during the embryonic development of Shelley (see geocentric, Figure 1). At
birth it stepped into conjunction with Jupiter, and both were quite close to Neptune (similar to
January-February 1971). The loop happened in the part of the Zodiac that was not touched by
the Sun during this gestation period.
Furthermore, Jupiter was in opposition to Saturn during the embryonic time. As we said
last month, this opposition was an ancestor of the present ones, in 1969-71. Only, it was then,
in 1792, still further back in the Zodiac than the contemporaries.
Venus just came, at the time of the epoch, out of a loop and inferior conjunction with the
Sun in the ecliptic sign of Scorpio. At birth it was then in superior conjunction with the Sun,
in the sign of Leo, quite close to Uranus. (The signs differ considerably at present from the
sidereal constellations and will do so increasingly in future. This is caused by the precession of
the vernal point. We can imagine the signs being stable, as in the chart of Shelley. Then we
must conceive of the constellations as slowly moving anti-clockwise “forward”, 1° in about 72
years. Thus we have to imagine, for instance, above most of the sign of Leo in the chart and
far out in sidereal space, the constellation of Cancer, and so on, all round in the Zodiac. One
can say that the constellations are at present approximately out of position against the signs by
about 27°. However, things are not made easier by our insistence that the constellations are of
unequal length, whereas the signs have a uniform extension of 30° each.)
The heliocentric also shows some interesting features. Venus started out, at the epoch,
close to its own ascending node, and at birth it was in its perihelion. Thus it appears to have
28
LETTERS - PART ONE
been quite insistent on its own elements. This is deeply associated with the sublime poetical
capacity of Shelley.
The Earth at the epoch was approximately in the ascending node of Mars. This is also
remarkable, for we know that Mars, and naturally its sphere too, is connected with our potential
of speech and the word. At birth the Earth was still close to the aphelion of Venus, which is
significant in view of what we said above about Venus. Of course, the superior conjunction of
Venus with the Sun in the geocentric, appears here as an opposition of Venus and Earth.
Mercury at the epoch and at birth was close to conjunction with Neptune. At birth it was
then also in conjunction with Jupiter. This happened in the area of the feet of sidereal Virgo,
in the neighborhood of the fixed star Lamda Virginis (left foot).
There was, of course, also an opposition of Saturn and Jupiter during the time of gesta-
tion. This took place in the heliocentric, approximately, on December 30, 1791. It found
Jupiter in the neighborhood of Spica, the main fixed star of Virgo, and Saturn in Pisces, not
too far away from the ecliptic point above which Alpheratz of Andromeda stood.
All this presents us with the question: What do we face if we investigate the configuration
at the epoch and also in the aspect of birth? The epoch falls, approximately, into the time
around conception, though it need by no means be considered as being identical with it. It is
the moment after the human being enters physical-material existence, after a relatively long
interval in the spiritual-cosmic world. Thus the configuration at the epoch would present in a
last image what the human soul had been in that world.
The birth configuration would, in this sense, speak of our meeting the physical-material
world as a physiologically emancipated being after birth. In the clash with this world we expe-
rience our destiny or Karma, in the preparation of which we were involved before birth. This
preparation is also indicated in the movement of the Sun during the time of gestation. The
chart shows that the Sun completed, during that time, a ¾ circle through the Zodiac. This
resembles almost a typically inverted embryonic form. We have, indeed, found that this is a
useful and practical idea with regard to effective astrological investigation. The last quarter of
the ecliptic, which the Sun did not touch, represents then the human head and the part from
the epoch Sun to the birth Sun stands for the body of the embryo, which is gradually devel-
oped during the nine prenatal months. The epoch events and pre-epoch reflects the disposition
and spiritual-cosmic inclination of the human soul before it combined and associated with the
world of matter.
We see, then, straight away that the pre-conception, cosmic “head” of Shelley received
remarkable impressions during the gestational development. That was the area where we found
the loop of Mars and eventually the conjunction of Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune. Many of the
problems that Shelley had to face in life are connected with these positions of Mars, as we shall
see later.
Mars is associated with the manifold confrontations of the human being with the physical-
material world through the senses and also, in its most refined form, in speech. Therefore we
can easily understand that Rudolf Steiner described this planet as an entity that may even block
29
and blot out the influences coming from the sidereal, fixed star world, that is essentially of
spiritual quality. Mars intends to do this especially when it is involved in a loop, because it then
comes closest to the Earth.
The prenatal development and its coincidence with the cosmic happenings during that time
is not only of momentary significance, i.e., only for the growing stages of the embryo. It
concerns the totality of life after birth. This fact we discovered a long time ago in the alignment
of the sidereal Moon cycles between epoch and birth with the seven-year intervals in life after
birth. For instance, we start with the epoch of Shelley (November 13, 1791) and go forward
with the Moon and its sidereal cycles, i.e., its returns to the initial position in 27 (see Fig. 1).
Each return reflects the commencement of a seven-year period in later life. Thus the cosmic
correlations were as follows: the cosmic events from November 13, 1791 to December 10, 1791
reflected the age of 1-7 years in life (one sidereal Moon cycle = 27.3 days) from December 10,
1791 to January 7, 1792, age 7-14 years, from January 6-7, 1792 to February 3, 1792, age 14- 21
years, from February 3, 1792 to March 1, 1792 age 21-28 years. The intermediate years can
easily be calculated. As one full Moon cycle consists of 360°, one seventh of it (corresponding
to the idea that the whole cycle stands for seven years) is a movement through 51.4° of the
ecliptic . For instance, Shelley died in 1822. He would have been, in the following August, 30
years old. The two years above his age of 28 years are reflected in a movement of the Moon
through 2 x 51.4° beyond its cyclic return to 27 on March 1. This brings us to March 9-10,
1791, as the moment when we would expect to see a reflection of the death of Shelley.
We should remember, however, in all this kind of correlation and reflection that no “must”
is involved. It would be utterly unrealistic to say that because this and that happened in the
heavens as prenatal reflection of later life after birth, Shelley had to die at the age of 30. What
we hope to find are the causes of his failure to master the instrument of his incarnation, the
totality of his organization. Furthermore, we may thus conceive of ways and means of “doing
better” in similar circumstances in which we ourselves or others are involved.
If we study the life of Shelley carefully, his childhood and youth, his wandering years, we
can easily come to the conclusion that something was amiss in the earthly career of this genius.
What was it? We read that already in school at Eton he was known as “Mad Shelley” and as
“Shelley the Atheist”. Those characteristics, or rather what stood behind them as an inner
cause, came to a head in 1811, when he was at University College, Oxford. He anonymously
published a pamphlet entitled, The Necessity of Atheism. It amounted to saying that “neither
reason nor testimony is adequate to establish the existence of a deity, and that nothing short of
a personal, individual, self-revelation of the deity would be sufficient” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
Shelley was eventually identified as the author and was expelled from University College.
He was then about 18-19 years old. In order to find the prenatal correlation of this event,
we move forward with the Moon from January 7, 1792 (reflecting 14 years of age) by 4 x 51.4°
(see above), and come to January 23, 1792, as the corresponding time equivalent. The Moon
was then in 293° of the ecliptic or 23° (or, 87° + (4 x 51.4°) 206° = 293 or 23° ). The
positions of the planets on that day were (all geocentric):
30
LETTERS - PART ONE
Mercury 293° = 23 (conjunct Moon) Helio: 148°

Venus 258 ° = 18 182°
Mars =
184.5° 4.5 153.4°
close to Moon node conj. aphelion Mars
Jupiter 210.7° = 0.7 (conj. Neptune–209.8°) 200.3°
Saturn 13.4° =13.4 19.1°
Uranus =
137.5° 17.5 136.7°
Pluto 321.4° = 21.4 321.9°
The Sun was in 304° (4 ) of the ecliptic. Two days earlier heliocentric Mercury was in
opposition to Pluto. In terms of time correlation, the two days correspond to half a year,
which might coincide with Shelley’s working over his pamphlet.
The most striking feature was displayed by Mars. In the geocentric, it was near the ascend-
ing node of the Moon and in the sign of Libra. This can indicate “soul turmoil” if it isn’t
mastered. Mars had not yet entered into retrograde movement, in connection with the loop (it
started on February 15), but it was already in the area in which the loop would take place. The
heliocentric Mars was close to its own aphelion, the farthest distance in its orbit around the
Sun. We can faintly associate this point with a kind of “limb-will” orientation of the sphere of
Mars. There it tends to, but actually cannot, go its own way, separate from the solar universe.
This cosmic fact can illumine the state of mind of Shelley when we hear that he developed “a
resolute repudiation of outer authority or the despotism of custom”. Also, though he was “a
shy, sensitive, mopish sort of boy from one point of view, from another he was very unruly,
having his own notions of justice, independence, and mental freedom; by nature gentle, kindly,
and retiring—under provocation, dangerously violent.” (Encyclopedia Britannica.)
For an astrosophy intending to orientate itself therapeutically, there must come the ques-
tion: How did others who incarnated under a similar Mars, moving through its aphelion,
master this proposition? We find in history quite a number of personalities who had taken it
upon themselves:
Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance artist and scientist, apparently had Mars at his
epoch moving through its aphelion (birth 16 April 1452). He died in a moment (2
May 1519) when Mars was in its own aphelion.
H. P. Blavatzky (13 August 1831), the great occultist, the same thing happened shortly
before her birth, with Mars conjunct Saturn heliocentrically.
Ralph Waldo Emerson was born with Mars in the proximity of its aphelion. Strange as
it may appear, in the moment of his death, 27 April 1882, the planet was again in
the same position, similarly to Leonardo.
Henry Ford’s birth configurations (30 July 1863) finds Mars in its aphelion.
Helen Keller, the remarkable blind woman, born 27 June 1880.
Kepler, the astronomer, born, 27 December 1571.
31
Nietzsche, who was born 15 October 1844, was the unfortunate German philosopher
who died in insanity.
Shelley perished on 8 July 1822, apparently in a boating accident in the Mediterranean Sea
near Via Reggio. One month later he would have been 30 years of age. Therefore, we turn to
March 1, 1792 as the date that pre-reflects the age of 28 years. To this we add another 103°
movement of the Moon, representing two years, and thereby come to March 9-10, as the date
during the prenatal development corresponding to 30 years.
Here we find that Mars had already entered its retrograde career. In fact, only a few days
later, on about March 15, 1792, was the opposition of Mars to the Sun, which is the midpoint of
the loop. The Sun was in 350°, or 20° of ecliptic (tropical) . (Tropical means positions from the
point of the vernal equinox, not the sidereal constellations.)
The most significant indications in that moment were contained in the positions of Mercury
and, especially, Venus. Heliocentrically, it was in its own descending node, in about 255°. We
would expect that this indicated the potential of a kind of climax for the artist, not the end of
the earthly career. For instance, William Blake, the English seer, poet, and artist had Venus in
that position at the time of his epoch, also Dostoievski, Emerson, Victor Hugo—the French
novelist, and others. We come perhaps a bit closer to the riddles of Shelley’s destiny if we look
at the geocentric Venus in that moment of March 10, 1792. It was in 313°–13 of tropical .
That was exactly opposite its position at the birth of Shelley (see Fig. 1). At the same time it was
almost in opposition to Uranus, in 15.5° of tropical . Even then it visualized a kind of crucial
point, so to speak, an attitude of “even so, it is enough”. We will understand this more if we
investigate the historic ancestry of the superior conjunction with the Sun, in 13 , at Shelley’s
birth.
Mercury on March 10, 1792, was in 335°, or 5° of tropical . That is also exactly oppo-site
its own position at Shelley’s birth.
Current Events
The question is always: What do we do with all this information [given in the ephemeris],
regarding the aspects each month? The first advice is, not to rely on the traditional interpreta-
tion, which can be misleading, almost stifling and frustrating in one’s relationship to Earth
reality. For instance, the aspects given in Raphael’s Ephemeris for 1971 (p. 31) puts a “B” after that
conjunction of Moon and Uranus on 14 February. This means that it is considered to be “Bad”
in its effects; a connotation that even some modern astrologers find inadequate and monoto-
nous. The best thing is personal, careful observation and awareness of one’s own affairs at such
moments, and also a comprehension of world events as universal as possible. Unfortunately,
newspapers are not always as universally informative as one would want them to be.
32
LETTERS - PART ONE
We have worked out another approach over the years, particularly in connection with the
heliocentric events. This has proven much more effective than any other approach with regard
to the investigation of the interconnection between cosmic events, such as conjunctions be-
tween planets, etc., and extreme weather conditions, earthquakes, etc., on the Earth. Usually
we are disappointed, because rarely can we detect instantaneous responses on our planet to
cosmic happenings. Usually, there is a momentum of delay involved in them.
For Instance, the heliocentric conjunction between Mercury and Neptune may not be felt
on the Earth for months to come. Why should this be so? We have come to the conclusion
that such a conjunction works back upon the Sun like a New Moon or an eclipse of the Sun
affects the Earth. (It may even cause the birth of a Sun-spot on the Sun, but, of course, we
have no external proof for this.) This “impression area” on the Sun would now circle with the
rotation of the Sun at intervals of about 27 days, and would return after that time to the
original position, or stand opposite the Earth. Very often the cosmic events become effective
only after one or more such rotations, and then things may start to happen on our planet. This
certainly needs much more elucidation, which we shall attempt next time.
33
March 1971
In the last Letter we set ourselves the aim of finding out about the strange, and, in a sense,
sad destiny of Shelley. We said that the prenatal career of Venus might give us some indication.
At the moment that referred to Shelley’s 30th year of life—the beginning of the 5th prenatal
sidereal Moon cycle—it was exactly opposite its own position at birth. Furthermore, at birth it
was in superior conjunction with the Sun.
These conjunctions of Venus with the Sun are a most illuminating object for study. The
easiest approach is to use an astronomical ephemeris comprising several decades. One can
then mark the positions of these conjunctions as seen from the Earth, both superior [behind
the Sun] and inferior (in front of the Sun and involved in a “loop”), on a prepared chart of the
ecliptic. Thus one will discover that these events take place in five, approximately equidistant
points of the ecliptic. And the succeeding conjunctions will always fall back by about 72° of
the ecliptic, that is, one-fifth of the ecliptic. For instance, on November 10, 1970, an inferior
conjunction of Venus with the Sun took place in about 17½° of the Sign of (227°32'). On
January 24, 1970, another conjunction of Venus with the Sun happened, this time a superior
conjunction in about 304½°. It was preceded by an inferior conjunction on April 8, 1969, in
about 18°, a superior conjunction on June 20, 1968 in about 89°, an inferior conjunction on
August 29, 1967 in about 156°, a superior conjunction on November 8-9, 1966 in about 226°.
With the last event we have arrived almost exactly in the position where the inferior conjunc-
tion of November 10, 1970, took place. Furthermore, we notice that all the intervening inci-
dents were, approximately, one-fifth of the whole ecliptic circle apart.
If we have an ephemeris that covers a longer time period at our disposal, we will realize
that the inferior conjunction of November 10, 1970, was preceded by others of the same order
on November 13, 1962, in 230°, on November 15, 1954, in about 232°, on November 17,
1946, in 235°, and so forth. We realize that these are intervals of about eight years, and that
they are falling back at the same time by about 2-2½°. Together with the intervening conjunc-
tions, they are inscribing a big rotating pentagram star into space around the Earth.
We can, of course, go back with this rotating pentagram through centuries and millenni-
ums, and would thus discover most interesting historical coincidences. According to this, the
superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun at Shelley’s birth would lead us back to the year 34
AD. Then it took place on January 8, in about 287°. This was soon after the Mystery of
Golgotha, on April 3-5, 33 AD, according to old tradition and indications of Rudolf Steiner on
the basis of his spiritual research.
It is very difficult to associate these events with definite historic dates, as we move into the
proximity of the time of Christ. This is partly due to the fact that the question of the Roman
Calendar with regard to its time relation to our present calendar is not at all solved. A number
of Roman historians disagree severely on the year of commencement of the Roman Calendar,
which was based on the year of the foundation of Rome. (Dates given vary from 753 BC to
728 BC.)
34
LETTERS - PART ONE
However, if we take the suggestions of Rudolf Steiner as a working foundation, we come

to interesting conclusions. He intimated that, according to his investigations, St. Paul lived
approximately as long as the life of Jesus Christ (that is about 32-33 years) after his conversion.
If the execution of St. Paul took place about the middle of the sixties of the first century, then
his conversion must indeed have taken place in 34 AD, that is, during the year of that superior
conjunction of Venus, the ancestor of the one in 1792 AD. (The story of the conversion of
Saul-Paul is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter IX.)
With all this information, what does it have to do with Shelley? Here we come to consider
an important point of a modern astrology, befitting the spiritual position of present humanity:
There is no guarantee whatsoever, that persons who incarnate with a descendent conjunction
of Venus, related to 34 AD, will have a destiny similar to that of St. Paul. What will most
probably happen will be that they will have experiences analogous to those that Saul had before
his spiritual meeting with the Risen Christ at the Gate of Damascus. From there they can
break through to a kind of “Damascus experience”, but this is given into the hands of each
person’s inner preparedness and initiative.
The kind of experiences that Saul-Paul had to go through are most dramatically described
in the book of Acts VII and VIII. He was present at the stoning of St. Stephen, the first
Christian martyr, and “was consenting unto his death” (VIII: 1). Furthermore, “he made
havoc of the church...” (VIII: 3). Then “he went unto the high priest. And desired of him
Letters to Damascus...”, in order to continue there with his work of persecuting the Christians
(IX: 1-2). There at the gate, he had the shattering experience which led to his conversion:
“Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” (IX: 3-6). Now he knew that the claim of the Chris-
tians—that the Christ had risen after the Crucifixion—was not a vain assertion. His world of
prejudice and violent rejection broke down and, consequent]y, he identified with that which he
now recognized as the reality.
Again we ask: What does this have to do with Shelley? Our answer is: Shelley was caught
up for certain reasons, which we must still discover, in a kind of Saul attitude, although deep
down in his being he knew better. His early pamphlet, The Necessity of Atheism, is the evidence.
From Shelley’s attitude, particularly from the description of his character in school, which
we quoted earlier, one gets the impression that there was living somehow in him, only half-
conscious, a deep grudge, possibly in connection with things that happened in the past. There
was a strange coincidence apparent in his (heliocentric) incarnation asterogram that may point
to an earlier incarnation. However, at this point I feel obliged to make the following firm
statement: My researches over decades have proven that the time elapsing between two incar-
nations is indicated in the incarnation asterogram. As foundation for this research I employed
the information that Rudolf Steiner has given in one of his last lecture-cycles on Karmic Rela-
tionships. He spoke there about the previous incarnations of a number of historically known
personalities. The intervening time is, as a rule, indicated in the epoch-birth chart in a threefold
manner, in connection with the rhythms of the Moon, the Sun, and Saturn. Furthermore,
there always exist certain planetary references between the configuration of the heavens at the
35
moment of death in the past incarnation and the incarnation asterogram of the following
descent into Earth life. Mostly, several of the planets can be found in similar positions of the
Zodiac.
By no means does this intend to imply that previous incarnations can be freely calculated
from the facts contained in the epoch-birth chart. There are always several possibilities present
in such an asterogram that can lead mathematically to varying intervals of time, and therefore
to no end of deception. Only if there is a firm foundation of an intuitive insight into karmic
relationships can the method be applied that we mention here. The indications that intuition
offers can be checked by these means and verified.
There existed a definite similarity between the incarnation asterogram of Shelley and the
death asterogram of Savonarola, who died on May 23, 1498. In Fig. 3 below we include the
heliocentric positions of the planets, in that moment, in the outer circle. In the inner circles,
the heliocentric epoch and birth configurations of Shelley are given. Saturn was almost in the
same position, the epoch Mars and Venus of Shelley were in the same places at Savonarola’s
death, whereas Mercury was opposite. Most significant, however, is the fact that in both charts
Jupiter and Neptune were in conjunction, though in different constellations.
Figure 3 Shelly: Birth, 4 August 1792
Death of Savonarola:
23 May 1498
Birth
of Shelly
Epoch
of Shelly
13 Nov. 1791
distance of
36
LETTERS - PART ONE
Apart from all this, the time elements that are contained in Shelley’s incarnation astero-
gram, suggesting the possible length of sojourn in the spiritual world between two incarna-
tions, refer to an interval of about 310-324 years. Starting from Shelley’s birth (1792), this
would lead back to the time of Savonarola (1452-1498). So, there is the possibility of a connec-
tion between Shelley and Savonarola. However, I insist it is only a possibility that has to be
corroborated by intuitive insight.
Savonarola was a strange and yet, a remarkable figure in medieval history. He was born on
September 21, 1452, at Ferrara. In 1474 he entered a monastery. The first years in the convent
he passed quietly, but the poetry he wrote during that time was “expressive of burning indigna-
tion against the corruption of the church” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Slowly he came into the
open, and eventually became prior of St. Mark’s monastery at Florence. This was the begin-
ning of what one may call his political career. He became the dictator of Florence who tried to
lead the city community out of the swamp of immorality and corruption into which it had
sailed under the Medicis. His unswerving and uncompromising attitude eventually brought
him into severe conflict with the pope, particularly with Alexander VI, who was determined,
finally, to silence this daring prophet and reformer. Savonarola was arrested, tried, and tor-
tured. The pope had decided that this man had to die, “even were he a second John the
Baptist”. On May 23, 1498, he was burned at the stake.
Such a fate, of being burnt alive, must have a tremendous impact on the soul of a human
being. The idea of this kind of execution, which was completely out of context with regard to
the modern stage of consciousness, was to eliminate by fire any “heresy”, even if it were only
an uncomfortable obstruction for the authorities. Very probably the truth is that such an
attempt of eliminating anything in this way could much more lead to a hardening of the soul
of such a human being, and what is considered to be “heresy”, may be burnt even deeper into
the inner being of that person.
If the karmic connection between Savonarola and Shelley should prove to be true, then we
have here one possible explanation of his character already as a child, being called “Mad Shelley”
and “Shelley the Atheist”, being “a sensitive, mopish sort of boy from one point of view and
from another a very unruly one, having his own notions of justice, independence and mental
freedom” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Shelley seems to have fought a bitter battle in himself to get
out of a “Saul condition”, as the result of having been burnt alive, into that of “Paul”. This
fight appears to be the background of the drama of Venus, particularly in his incarnation chart.
It is strikingly expressed in the position of Venus at the moment of Shelley’s death (July 8,
1822). The planet was then in conjunction with Pluto, in the first degree of the ecliptic, where
the Earth arrives at the time of the autumnal equinox. A conjunction of Venus with Pluto
demands, for instance, the development of conscious intuition. Unless this is achieved it can
become highly destructive for our ether forces and also the Earth.
From this whole complex of background in Shelley’s chart, we can also understand the
challenge contained in the opposition of Saturn and Jupiter during his embryonic development
(see Fig. 1 & 2, February Letter). The interesting fact is that when he died the two planets were
37
close to a conjunction. It took place, heliocentrically, in September 1821, and it was a relative
(actually the successor) of the opposition in 1792.
It was this opposition of Saturn and Jupiter that made us decide to investigate the incarna-
tion asterogram of Shelley, for the present opposition of 1969-71 is a direct descendent of that
earlier one. We hoped to gain, thereby, some insight into how a human being struggled to deal
with this kind of challenge. In the meantime, we have also discussed some of the historic
ancestry of the Great Conjunction-Opposition in the January issue—Current Events.
We can still, of course, go further back then we did in the January commentary. Thus we
are led back to important phases of the development of very early Christianity. An ancestral
conjunction of this order took place in 34 AD, in sidereal Leo. This was the same year in which
the superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun happened that we discussed above. In the
beginning of 65 AD, an opposition of Saturn and Jupiter occurred, belonging to the same
order as the one in 34 AD. This was followed up by a Great conjunction in 94 AD, belonging
to the same family.
The Great Conjunction in 34 AD is, on the basis of our earlier arguments, connected with
the conversion of St. Paul and his rise to being the greatest Apostle of Christianity in the
western world. The Great Opposition in 65 AD would then be associated with St. Paul’s last
years in prison at Rome, before his execution. We can read about it in the various Epistles of
St. Paul.
A similar karmic imagination seems to have challenged Shelley, of course, quite uncon-
sciously. It may be connected with the last experiences of Savonarola, if there is indeed an
association between the two personalities, and it may have crystallized into the challenge of the
Great Opposition at Shelley’s incarnation.
What was then expected of Shelley that would have made him respond to the challenge?
(We are, of course, fully aware that it is easy to reflect on such an aspect after a person has
completed a life’s journey, and we hope that what we say here is taken only as an endeavor to
learn, with regard to accomplishment on future occasions which may meet us.) When St. Paul
died, he passed over into the spiritual world with the consciousness that he had completed a
magnificent work of bringing the message of the Deed of Christ to humanity. During the
following thirty years, this work of St. Paul obviously received an inner consolidation, chiefly it
seems through the silent, deeply esoteric endeavors of St. John. He may have lived right up to
the time of that Great Conjunction in 94 AD, the descendent of the one in 34 AD. Through
him we have the Gospel of St. John, the most spiritual of the Gospels. It may be that he gave
it to humanity in oral presentation at first, which was then written down long after him. Further-
more, we have from him the Revelation of St. John, the great Apocalyptic imagination and
inspiration of the evolution of the world, now permeated with the Christ Impulse. Thus, the
foundation was laid for a truly esoteric Christianity, apart from the organization of the commu-
nities of the first Christians.
The span of time from 65 AD to 94 AD was “remembered”, as it were, in Shelley’s life
span. Can we detect anything that has a bearing in his earthly sojourn on those lofty aspects we
38
LETTERS - PART ONE
mentioned? The answer is not easy. In order to find it, we must somehow enlarge our perspec-
tives of our spiritual nature, not stop short at our earthly, material appearance.
The higher principles with whose help we conduct our earthly existence are of cosmic-
spiritual origin. Even our life or ether body is not taken from the Earth but is taken out of the
cosmos. What happens to these bodies when one dies early, as did Shelley? They are not
wasted; they can be taken up by later generations and possibly be evolved further. This is
evident in Shelley’s case. For instance, the conjunction of Jupiter and Neptune, which is very
conspicuous in his incarnation chart, came back in the incarnation chart of G. B. Shaw, born
July 26, 1856. Although the conjunction of the two planets at Shaw’s birth was, heliocentrically,
in about 359°, almost opposite that of Shelley, the “heritage” contained in it can be recognized.
The planet Saturn was left “unused” by Shelley in about 20.8° (heliocentric). That was the
point where it had arrived on March 9-10, 1792, which referred to Shelley’s age of 30 (see Feb.
Letter). About two months earlier it was involved in the opposition to Jupiter. This event
referred us back to the main stages of the life of St. Paul (see above). Shelley could no longer
realize this challenge as an earthly human being. Nevertheless, it was not lost. Rudolf Steiner
“completed”, so to speak, as a side effect, the potential contained in it. In 1910 Saturn was
close to the point where Shelley had to leave off (with consideration of the precession). In that
moment Saturn and Jupiter were once again approaching an opposition—a descendent of the
one in 1792. Rudolf Steiner took the opportunity on January 12, 1910, at Stockholm, against
great odds in his immediate environment, to speak for the first time about the “Second Com-
ing of Christ”. He pointed out that, according to his spiritual research, a new manifestation of
Christ was at hand, not in a physical-material body, but in an etheric form, “coming in a cloud”
(St. Luke XXI: 27) as it says in the Gospel. Thus was completed what Shelley had left, so to
speak, unfinished.
Likewise, Rudolf Steiner also “fulfilled” the drama of Venus in Shelley’s asterogram. On
March 9-10, 1792, the day in his prenatal chart that referred to his age of 30, Venus was
(heliocentric) in 255.6° and still close to its own descending node. On 18 June 1908, Rudolf
Steiner commenced with a lecture-cycle (Nuremberg) on the occult meaning of the “Apoca-
lypse” of St. John, the great description of the realization of the Christ Impulse in the course
of future evolution. Thus, the conjunction of Venus and Sun in Shelley’s asterogram of in-
carnation, a descendent of the one in 34 AD, was fulfilled. Shelley could not do it. In a sense,
his own age, in which he tried, did not give him the equipment to rise up to it.
Current Events
In the February Commentary, I promised to elaborate on the “delay effects” of cosmic

events according to the heliocentric events. As an example, we take the conjunction of Mer-
cury and Neptune on February 1. We imagine now that this event created something like a
funnel, like a source of light would cause a funnel of darkness if a dark object stepped in front
of the source of emanation. The funnel created by Mercury and Neptune is, of course, not a
39
physical darkness, though we can conceive that it contrives a kind of opposition, or resistance
against the etheric forces emanating from the Sun. It could be something like an indentation in
the sphere of the Sun. This we indicate in the diagram below. CMP Diagram
The Sun rotates, just as all celestial entities do, and
would thereby carry around that indentation too, simi-
lar to how the Sunspots rotate. After some time,
the funnel would come to stand opposite the Earth.
This is called in astronomy a “Central Meridian
Passage” (CMP), that is, the moment when a par-
ticular Sun-spot has been moved frontally, di-
rectly opposite the Earth. This concept we ex-
tend to those indentation-funnels.
Thus the indentation from the CMP of the
event of Feb. 1, reached the Earth on Feb. 20 (see
diagram). In order to calculate this, we employ the
known ratio of the Sun’s rotation. According to The
American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac (Government
Publication), the mean sidereal rotation (a given point on
the Sun returning to stand opposite a definite fixed star) is 25.38 solar days—north and south
of the equator the velocity of rotation is slower. The mean synodic period of rotation is
27.2753, meaning that a point in the CMP moves during this period to the following CMP, or
its next meeting with the Earth. With regard to our example, this will happen on Mar. 19.
What we gain by studying these rhythms of “unseen cosmic factors”, amounts to an in-
sight into the working of celestial forces into earthly nature. For instance, on 20 Sept. 1970 an
opposition of Pluto and Earth took place. The next CMP happened on Oct. 17, succeeded by
another CMP of this event on Nov. 13. (In this case, we do imagine a “two-winged” funnel of
indentation, one caused by Pluto and the other by the Earth opposite.)
November 13, was the day that brought to East Pakistan one of the most devastating
nature disasters in recorded history. A cyclone caused a tidal-wave that rose to almost 30 feet.
At least 300,000 people perished, and some sources speak of many more, possibly as many as
1,000,000. Those who survived had to go through untold misery and privation.
In this context, one is almost tempted to speak of the knowledge of these CMPs, which
very often coincide with such similar disasters, as a demono-gnosis. However, the question
remains: What can the human race do in order to counter such impacts? This is certainly not
an easy question to answer, and it surely can not be done in a few words. *Still, the idea is that
conjunctions, oppositions, etc., are not just passing events, but they make “impressions” in the
aura of the Sun, which then reach the Earth. Any provisional interpretation of these events in
the heavens will require a thorough knowledge of the happenings on Earth that accompanied
the initial incident, as well as what is occurring on the Earth at the time of each returning
rotation of the “impression”. [*Taken from April commentary.]
40
LETTERS - PART ONE
April 1971
The last Letters, particularly those concentrating on the asterograms of Shelley, surely left
some questions unanswered. For instance, why didn’t Shelley develop the potentials that be-
came apparent on the background of the great events during the first century?
To answer questions of this nature, one must study the karmic relationships extending
from previous incarnations into the present one. In this sense, we are a twofold being: on the
one hand our individuality is called upon and expected to evolve the spiritual potentials re-
flected in the complex of our incarnation asterogram, and on the other hand we must also take
along on the earthly sojourn that “brother” being by our side who carries the results and
consequences of earlier incarnations. Trying to strike a healing and redeeming balance be-
tween the two makes the colors and individual incidents of a human biography.
In order to take the quest of last January’s opposition of Saturn and Jupiter one step
further, we will now look at the incarnation asterogram of Vladimir S. Soloviev, the Russian
“idealistic philosopher, critic, and poet”, as the Encyclopedia Britannica introduces him. He was
born on January 16-17, 1853 Julian calendar, which was January 29, according to the Gregorian
calendar that we use. Before his birth, five oppositions of Saturn and Jupiter took place,
starting on November 20, 1850. (Here we meet historic brothers of the very rare fivefold
Great Opposition in 1969-71. They are ancestors of the present oppositions, during 1969-
1971). The last two happened on June 20 and September 5, 1852, which was during the time
of the gestation of Soloviev. Saturn was then in , about 14° and 18° of the tropical sign and
Jupiter was opposite in 14° and 18° of the sign of .
Once before, in the Aug. ’67 issue, we have given a more detailed account of Soloviev’s life.
However, we think it may be appropriate to recall it here, in order to have a practical founda-
tion for the investigation that we intend to carry through.
Already at the age of nine, on Ascension Day 1862, Soloviev had a deeply moving experi-
ence while he was present at divine service in a Moscow Cathedral. This was the time when the
nodes of the Moon had moved into positions in the Zodiac that were exactly opposite the ones
they had taken up at the moment of his birth. He described the experience toward the end of
his life in a poem, Three Meetings, as the first of three visions he had of the Hagia, or Divine
Sophia. Later, he experienced her as the great cosmic Mother Being and Personality of the
universe working as divine wisdom, right down into earthly nature. She was recognized in
ancient Egypt as the deity of Isis.
Soloviev was by no means just a sentimental, non-critical mystic. From the age of 14 up to
19 (return of the Moon nodes to positions similar to those at his birth), he went through a
period of atheism. He destroyed his icons. At 17 he entered the faculty of science and came
to regard Darwinism as the new religion. However, at 19 he broke away from this and began to
study philosophy. During the following year he attended lectures at the Theological Academy
of a monastery at Moscow. In 1874, at the age of 21, he wrote his Ph.D. thesis on The Crisis of
Western Philosophy, in which he repudiated philosophical positivism and materialism.
41
In 1875, in the course of his theological studies, he went to London. He was in a state of
expectancy for some significant revelation. “London, its people, sights, churches and muse-
ums, all seemed unreal and shadowy” to him. However, one day during that year, when he was
sitting in the reading room of the British Museum, the revelation that he had expected, reached
him indeed. It was again a vision of the Hagia Sophia. This time she told him, so he related,
to go to Egypt, into the desert, because there she would reveal herself to him in her great
cosmic glory and spiritual beauty.
He went straight away on the adventurous journey and into the desert. When night came
he lay down on the ground and tried to sleep in spite of the bitter cold, surrounded by baying
jackals. “Long lay I thus in anxious slumber. Then suddenly the words were breathed to me,
‘Sleep, sleep, poor friend’. I fell asleep, and when at last I wakened all aware, fragrance of roses
filled all Earth and Sky, and in the Ether-light of Heaven’s glory, Thine eyes aflood with azure
fire, Thou didst shine forth, like the first lightening of eternal Day.
“Whatever is, whatever was and will be through the ages, all, all was one within Thy silent
gaze. In the blue light beneath me, seas and rivers sparkled; then distant forests, snow-capped
mountain heights.
“All I beheld and all was One; One picture vast of fairest Womanhood. The limitless was
within its limits, before me and within me, all wert Thou:
“O light of Sunrise Glory! Thou didst not deceive me, for in the desert I beheld Thee all.
Nor ever in my soul shall these roses fade, where’er the waves of life may bear me.
“One instant only, and the vision closed. The Sun’s disk rose on the horizon. The desert
silence and my soul in prayer, filled with the song of blessing, without end.” (Translation by
George Adams.) This experience became the pillar of his whole later life and his activities.
After his return to Russia, he was appointed lecturer of philosophy at Moscow University.
Soon he lost his lectureship on account of his criticism of the government. For instance, he
opposed capital punishment in March 1881, and for this he was finally restrained from lectur-
ing in public. After that he concentrated chiefly on writing, and in 1878 he published Treatise on
Godmanhood.
We would expect that a man who had had such a deep experience of the cosmos as a
“transfigured and reintegrated” Divine Personality, could not have been happy with the tragic
splits present in the Churches of Christianity. After 1887 he tried to contact the Roman Catho-
lics in the west and work for the idea of a universal church. He wrote History and Future of
Theocracy. In 1888 he visited Paris and presented the ideas he had put down in Russia and the
Universal Church. However, he did not achieve anything. The French Roman Catholics and
Jesuits were cool toward him, and from the Russian Church he received sharp opposition. It
was particularly directed toward the third part of the mentioned manuscript, in which he spoke
about the Divine Trinity and Sophia, the Divine Revelation of the unity, harmony, and beauty
of the created world.
After 1891 Soloviev wrote The Meaning of Love and The Justification of the Good. He was
convinced that belief in a personal God implies that the cosmos also has a Personality; this
42
LETTERS - PART ONE
Personality he experienced as Hagia Sophia, or the Divine Wisdom, “Who responded by a free
act of Her own love to the creative love of Her Maker.
“This personal relation between the Creator and the creature, however, reached its full
expression only when humans appeared on the earthly scene. Cosmic life, passive and uncon-
scious at first, through a long process of evolution in the vegetable and animal kingdom, was
raised in human beings to the level of understanding of its ultimate purpose, and of respon-
sible participation in its fulfillment.” Thus he came to the conclusion that, “Each human being
can become a living reflection of the Absolute, a conscious and independent organ of the
cosmic life.” “ The root of imperfect existence lies in the exclusion by one creature of all
others. True life consists of living in another as in oneself.” “Society is the completed indi-
vidual, and the individual is contracted society.” “Without loving nature for its own sake it is
impossible to organize material life in a moral way. In order to achieve it, we must understand
that the cosmos is a person and must be cherished like the being whom one loves. Christianity
is the revelation of a perfect God in a perfect man.” “It is the task of the Christian religion to
unite the whole universe in one living organism, which is to be the perfect body of Godmaness.”
Thus we hear already of ideas that Dr. Steiner developed as science of the spirit later on.
In a course of four lectures that he gave during the Christmas season of 1920 on “The Search
for the new Isis, the Divine Sophia”, he spoke about the destiny of the Divine Isis. Ancient
Egyptian mythology tells us of the fate of the Divine Osiris. He was killed by his brother,
Seth-Ahriman, and the pieces of his torn-up body were buried in the Earth. The Divine Isis,
the sister of Osiris, was killed by Lucifer, and her body was buried in the deep of the universe
of the stars. Rudolf Steiner pointed out that we can see in the modern conceptions of a
perfectly mechanized cosmos, the grave of Isis. However, Isis must be reawakened, and this
can be done only by humanity breaking through to spiritualized perspectives of the universe, in
a new scientific approach. He summed up these sacred mysteries in the following words:
Isis Sophia, Wisdom of God.
Lucifer has slain her
And on the wings of the
World-wide Forces
Carried her hence into cosmic space.
Christ-Will Working in Man

Shall wrest from Lucifer
And on the sails of Spirit-Knowledge
Call to new life in souls of Man
Isis Sophia, Wisdom of God.
In the imagination of the re-awakened Isis Sophia in human souls, we see a closeness to the
ideas of Soloviev concerning the being of the Hagia Sophia. This is one of the reasons why we
decided to take a closer look at the cosmic configuration connected with him. We realize also
43
the responsibility that we have with regard to the “star work” we intend to promote in these
Letters. It cannot just be “astrological” interpretations of our inner-relationship with the cos-
mos. With every single step we take in this field, we are confronted with the task of reawakening
the new Isis Sophia in our soul. We must let Her light of divine wisdom fall on our greater
spiritual-archetypal being in order to recognize our true nature. Thereby, we can also hope to
move toward a realization of the possibility of the Presence of the Risen Christ in individuals.
We need Her wisdom-light to recognize His Presence.
In 1898 Soloviev visited Egypt a second time. On his return he wrote Three Meetings and
Three Conversations. From the first, we have quoted the above story of his meeting the Hagia
Sophia in the Egyptian desert. The last contains the story of the coming of antichrist, of his—
almost successful—conquest of humanity, of his overpowering a weakened Christianity that
does not recognize him, and of his final destruction. Two years later, on 31 July, Julian calen-
dar, i.e., 13 August 1900 according to the Gregorian calendar, he died. Only a few days later, on
September 22 and 29, Rudolf Steiner commenced bringing his message of anthroposophy to
this age. In the first lecture he spoke about Nietzsche, the philosopher and “Fighter against his
Age”, who had been mentally ill and had also died August 25, 1900. The second lecture was on
“Goethe’s Secret Revelation”, which was “secret” in the sense that his Legend of the Green Snake
and the Beautiful Lily is an imaginative description of the higher wisdom present and working in
the evolution of modern humanity.
We include here the incarnation asterograms of Soloviev. The one gives the movements of
the planets from the epoch to birth in geocentric fashion. The second diagram presents the
same but from the heliocentric perspective, and the graphic method is used. On the left edge
are the positions of the planets at the time of the astrological epoch. Starting from there, the
movements during the gestation are indicated by lines. Instead of drawing them up in circles,
as in the geocentric diagram, the circle of the ecliptic is elongated to a straight vertical line (see
left edge). The progress of the planets appears, therefore, as more or less vertical pathways.
We use this method in order to relate the planetary movements to time between epoch and
birth. We will need this later on in order to investigate certain life patterns of Soloviev, which
are connected with these rhythms of the planets.
The time interval from the epoch to the birth comprises an average of 10 Lunar sidereal
cycles, or 273 days. The relationship between Moon, Earth, and Sun offers the possibility of
calculating this interval more precisely. We use here an ancient Egyptian Rule, the so-called
Trutina Hermetis, which seems to be still useful for this purpose. This rule says that a waning
moon at birth (relationship of the Moon to the Sun) was, at the time of the epoch, in the place
of the descendent of birth (Earth element). This was the case in Soloviev’s asterogram. We
would, therefore, have to seek the Moon of the epoch in about 78° or in the tropical sign of .
As the Moon at birth had already moved further on (see geocentric chart), the time between
epoch and birth was longer than 273 days. Had it been waxing at the epoch, it would have been
in the later position of the ascendant of birth (tropical ) and the interval between epoch and
birth would have been shorter.
44
LETTERS - PART ONE
Thus we arrive at April 23, 1852, as the possible moment of Soloviev’s epoch. This is not
identical with the physical conception. We have come to regard it, after many years of investi-
gation, as a time that gives a picture, in planetary language, of the life and being of a particular
human soul in the prenatal cosmic world (see February ‘71 Letter).
The ascendant of Soloviev’s birth (the point of the ecliptic rising in the east at the moment
of birth, the descendent being opposite and setting) is provisional. It is almost impossible in
such a case, already so far away in history, to ascertain the exact birth time by direct informa-
tion. From the description of the appearance and character of Soloviev, we came to the
conclusion that the planet Jupiter in the tropical sign must have been rising. This we indicated
in the geocentric chart. and we used it for the determination of the moment of the epoch.
Figure 4 Valdimir Soloviev - Geocentric

Epoch: 23 April 1852
Birth: 29 January 1853
Inner circle:
positions at birth
Outer circle:
positions at epoch
45
Figure 5
Valdimir Soloviev
Heliocentric
Tropical signs of the ecliptic are on the far left and sidereal constellations of the Zodiac on the far right.
46
LETTERS - PART ONE
Current Events
There are multiple conjunctions of planets with Neptune during the next couple of months.
This will at once raise the question: What will happen on these occasions? We have pointed
out many times that we do not answer such questions with predictions, because these practices
do suggest that the human race is unalterably exposed to the stern rule of the stars, and this we
cannot support. Our aim must always be to help individuals to raise themselves to increasing
freedom and to a spiritually active attitude toward the stars. We would rather try to find similar
occasions, in order to find out how those in times gone by have handled such situations. It can
give us courage and incentive to carry forward the work of “speaking” and even executing
constructive answers to the cosmos. This we consider to be our real task toward the stars.
Neptune had entered the sidereal constellation of Scorpio during the beginning years of
the 19th century. Personalities such as Longfellow (1807), Abraham Lincoln (1809), and Tennyson
(1809) entered into incarnation at that time. Much earlier Raphael Santi, the great artist of the
Renaissance, was born when Neptune was in Scorpio (1483). It is, of course, not a matter of
copying these individualities but of learning courage and confidence from them.
A different matter is the study of events in nature—meteorology, etc.—in connection with
such incidents as those in April and May. There we are confronted with a more objective
world. For instance, the last conjunction of Mercury with Neptune happened on November 5,
1970. The Earth met Neptune the last time on May 20/21, 1970, and Mars on May 7, 1969.
All these dates were accompanied by severe meteorological incidents. The study of such coin-
cidences justifies and rewards the keeping of diaries concerning this kind of news. The last
conjunction of Jupiter with Neptune was in July, 1958. However the two planets were then still
in sidereal Virgo-Libra. In order to find a similar conjunction in Scorpio we would have to go
back to March 1805.
47
May 1971
In the April Letter, we have drawn up the geocentric and heliocentric incarnation asterograms
of Soloviev. We will now concentrate on their interpretation.
The geocentric chart presents some remarkable features. First of all, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto,
and even Mercury and the Sun, in a broad sense, were standing close together in the constella-
tion of Aries during the epoch.
Mars was in conjunction with the Sun at birth. In the epoch it was almost exactly in the
opposite sector of the ecliptic.
Venus moved through a loop (retrograde—when Venus is between Sun and Earth) during
the embryonic development. This happened close to the place where Mars started at the time
of the epoch.
In the heliocentric graph we see Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto also close together. The posi-
tions of these far planets are not much different from those in the geocentric.
Earth and Mercury in the epoch are, approximately, opposite the outer three planets. Mer-
cury was then close to the aphelion of Jupiter. Jupiter at the epoch was close to the descending
nodal line of Mars.
Furthermore, Mars and Venus were in conjunction soon after the epoch. This took place
between the aphelion line of Mars and the perihelion line of Uranus.
During the embryonic development, at the beginning of the 4th Lunar cycle, Venus was in
conjunction with the Earth. This was the heliocentric equivalent of the geocentric inferior
conjunction of Venus with the Sun during its loop.
At the beginning of the 6th prenatal Lunar cycle, Mercury and Venus moved into conjunc-
tion with Pluto, Uranus, and Saturn.
At birth Saturn was in the ascending nodal line of Mars.
The Earth was then in the ascending nodal line of Neptune and the extended perihelion of
Venus. As Mars was at the same time in opposition to the Earth (heliocentric equivalent to the
geocentric conjunction of Mars and Sun), naturally it was in the opposite points of the ele-
ments of these planetary spheres.
Finally, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter were in conjunction at birth.
The next question is: On what basis shall we proceed to interpret all this? We could, of
course, simply fall back on traditional methods of delineation, as far as the geocentric ap-
proach is concerned. However, we deliberately forego this, because we have realized that these
methods expose us constantly the stinging question such as: “Why should what you say about
this or that be so? Even if it should prove to correspond to facts of experience, we cannot
accept your connotations; because as modern and fully conscious human beings, we must insist
on being enabled to comprehend the ‘whys’.” We cannot disregard this contention, even if it
should be possible to produce a world of statistical evidence.
What else can we do? Eventually, it will need a modern, fully conscious spiritual insight
into the interconnections between the cosmic and the earthly and human worlds. Of course,
48
LETTERS - PART ONE
this is not an easy proposition. It will need intensive inner work and preparation, possibly over
a long period, and also by consciously facing the inevitable pitfalls right and left of the road;
however, it can be done. We are convinced, and have experienced, that Rudolf Steiner has
given the necessary instructions and spiritual implements for such a journey that a modern
human being may decide to undertake.
We must start somewhere. There was, for instance, that near conjunction of Saturn, Ura-
nus, and Pluto in sidereal Aries. How can we take a first step toward a cognition of this?
We can start with an effort to understand the zodiacal background of this event, i.e., the
constellation of Aries. For this purpose we may, for instance, study the mythologies that the
ancients experienced when they looked up to Aries. The ancient Egyptians obviously saw the
image of the Phoenix there, reflecting the commencement, termination, and rejuvenation of
definite cosmic and historic rhythms, such as the so-called Sothis-Period (intervals of 1461
years). The Greeks experienced an expression of Zeus or Jupiter in it, the divine inaugurator
of human brain capacity and ability to grasp the world that presents itself through the senses.
Above Aries the Greeks saw the effigy of Perseus, who had slain the Medusa, a monster trans-
muting everything that met her gaze into rock. Perseus escaped this fate by approaching her
walking backwards and watching her in the mirroring surface of his shield.
Medusa can be taken as an expression of the grave dangers that started to beset a humanity
tempted to take the physical-material world, conveyed to them through the senses, as the only
reality. The danger is that this makes the human mind static, immobile, and devoid of any
constructive and meaningful reasons for the existence of any object, including humans, in the
world of space and time.
It is not difficult to see that Soloviev battled with this danger when he tried to look up and
orientate his life work according to his experiences of the Hagia Sophia, that great being of the
invisible world. However, it must be said that it was left to Rudolf Steiner, significantly after
the death of Soloviev, to offer to modern humanity practical and methodical ways of balancing
one-sided experience through the senses by direct perception of the invisible, spiritual world.
On this basis we can now, provisionally, proceed to investigate the nature of the planets
involved. Quite obviously, Uranus and Pluto were in conjunction shortly before the incarna-
tion of Soloviev. Heliocentrically, it took place about the turn from 1850 to 1851, in 29° of the
tropical sign of , which is also sidereal Aries.
What do we see represented by these two planets? They are “outside” the domain of the
classical planets up to Saturn. The classical planets, according to ancient tradition and verified
by modern experience, are connected with the organic functions of the human body. Saturn,
the outermost in this sense, has its center in the neighborhood of the pineal gland in the back
part of the brain, from which it works into the body. Uranus stands “outside” the physical
body; therefore, it is associated with the “occult” or invisible regions of the human organism—
the so-called aura—the astral organism and the etheric or life organism, as far as they are not
absorbed into the physical-material form. This emancipation has begun in recent times. Un-
awareness or denial of its happening is causing many of the psychological problems of the
49
modern age. Thus we can also understand that this planet is involved in the development of
higher, occult faculties, which can lead to healthy realizations of Uranus.
Still “higher” would stand Neptune, eventually also working into the “invisible” organism
of the human being. Still “further out” would be the orbit of Pluto, which is involved in
Soloviev’s asterogram in the conjunction with Uranus. In a very broad sense, one can tenta-
tively say that Uranus possibly works into the imaginations of the human being, Neptune into
the inspirations, and Pluto into the intuitions, according to the definitions of these faculties by
a science of the spirit. However, we ask you not to take such a statement in a dogmatic sense.
This is only one of many aspects and possible workings.
Another approach, which we must combine with the preparatory work that we have done
so far, is trying to discern earlier conjunctions of this nature and their implications in history.
The historic line of conjunctions and oppositions of Uranus and Pluto offer magnificent op-
portunities in this sense. There exist in the cosmos only two “generations” of such events
happening in intervals of about 254-5 years each. One is the line we mentioned already in
connection with the time shortly before the incarnation of Soloviev. It was preceded by an
ancestor in 1598 AD (heliocentric), which had then entered the sidereal area of Aries. Prior to
that it had taken place, always in intervals of about 254 years, in sidereal Pisces. We have to go
back as far as the 1st century AD to see it entering Pisces.
The second row of conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto had its latest representative in Janu-
ary 1966 (heliocentric), which was in about 167° of the tropical Zodiac and close to the ingress
into sidereal Virgo. The intervening oppositions in these two generations are a bit more erratic
and not as easily assessed. They do not, as a rule, fall in with the lines indicated by the preced-
ing or following conjunctions of the same order. They simply have to be calculated in each
individual case.
As we speak of generations of these events, which are about 254 years apart, it can easily
be seen that they must happen simultaneously with definite cycles in history. For instance, the
conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in 1850-1 leads us back, after several intermediate events of
the same order, to an ancestor conjunction in 330 AD, which took place in about 338° of the
tropical Zodiac, corresponding to the sidereal constellation of Pisces.
We have chosen this particular conjunction for a definite reason. The age in which it
occurred corresponds to the date of an earlier incarnation of Soloviev, according to the find-
ings of Rudolf Steiner, entirely on the basis of his spiritual research. We don’t have authoriza-
tion here to speak in details about that incarnation; however, they can be found in the fourth
volume of a cycle of lectures by Rudolf Steiner, published under Karmic Relationships, Esoteric
Studies (Rudolf Steiner Press, London). We might mention this much, that the individuality of
Soloviev experienced, in that earlier incarnation, the Church Council of Nicaea (325 AD).
This is one background of that generation of conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto, working like
a great, active memory from out of the cosmos into the life of Soloviev.
The conjunctions and oppositions of Uranus and Pluto in the past are, as a rule, associated
with stages of the development of esoteric Christianity and attempts to frustrate, or even to
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LETTERS - PART ONE
eliminate it. Stages, in this sense, are the Christianity of the Holy Grail and the movement of
the Knights Templars. In the history of the latter Order, we can see the extreme efforts that
the opposing forces made to destroy it. Also the inauguration of the movement of the Rose
Cross during the 15th century must be seen in this light. For instance, in 1456-7 was one
conjunction of Uranus and Pluto, heliocentrically, in about 136° of the tropical Zodiac. It
coincided almost exactly with the date of The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno
1459, the event of the Rose Cross initiation.
However, we are justified to ask: What does all this have to do with Soloviev? He was
certainly an individuality who tried to break through to a deeper, spiritual Christianity, beyond
the more conventional, externalized ecclesiastical institutions. He was seeking a Christianity of
experience, not of tradition only. However, he was yet unable to evolve these, his impulses, to
the point of thinking clarity, to the level of “scientific” precision that would have made them
much more efficient instruments of conviction in this modern humanity. From a higher stand-
point one is inclined to think that in the end he bequeathed them to Rudolf Steiner, to make “a
still better job of them”. Soloviev died on August 13, 1900. Soon after that, in fact in October
1901, Rudolf Steiner commenced to speak about the esoteric history background of Christian-
ity. These lectures were later published under the title Christianity as Mystical Fact. This was
indeed an answer to Soloviev’s quest—implied in the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in
1850-1. In February 1902, the follow-up opposition of these two planets took place.
One result of Soloviev’s deep inner connection with a spiritual Christianity, was his at-
tempts to work for Church unity. This culminated in the writing of his manuscript Russia and
the Universal Church, and his contacts with the Roman Catholics in Western Europe. However,
the French Catholics and Jesuits received him with coolness, and the Russian Church opposed
his ideas altogether.
Here we can find direct biographical evidence of Soloviev’s connection with that “genera-
tion” of conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto, particularly with the one in 1850-1. However, in
order to realize this, we must gird ourselves for some “unusual” astrological approaches. As-
trology looks at the birth configuration of a human being as a point of departure that does not
remain static, as far as its reflection into life is concerned. It is seen as a developing and
growing entity. This growth is signified, according to tradition, by the movements of the
planets after birth. One aspect, thereof, is that each day after the birthday, and events happen-
ing then in correlation to the birth chart, is associated with one year in later life. For instance,
when Soloviev made those efforts to bring about Church unity, he was about 35 years of age.
That year would have been, according to astrological tradition, correlated to the 35th day after
his birth and the events taking place in the heavens.
We do not regard this as an unexplainable proposition and superstition, but as a reality that
needs to be worked out logically and scientifically in order to become acceptable. We are
convinced that it can be done, not the least on the basis of a science of the spirit. However, we
will now demonstrate another method of relating the incarnation asterogram to later life, which
is a bit more obvious and palatable.
51
The birth of a human being is the moment of entry into the material world as a physiologi-
cally independent individual. This is preceded by a period of building the foundations of an
organism that eventually is to be independent from the mother organism. We call this the
embryonic development, or gestation. A spiritual research can convince us that an incarnating
soul takes the materials that are offered by the component forces of the Earth and molds them
with the help of cosmic, formative powers into a human form. This is not an empty assump-
tion. We see it happening in the plant kingdom all the time according to the rhythms of the
seasons, which are nothing else but a general expression of those cosmic, formative powers.
That the human body does not become a vegetable in this process is connected with the fact
that into the human embryo still higher cosmic forces are working than the formative powers
alone.
Thus, during the gestation the instrument is prepared that we need in life to conduct earthly
existence. Even if we are made physiologically independent at birth, we as individuals need a
whole lifetime to grow into our instrument, to evolve its potentials, and to use it to the best of
our intelligent abilities. Therefore, the gestational life only lays the foundations, but the work-
ing out is reserved for the time when the ego can really and gradually take over.
On this basis, it should not be too difficult to see that the potentials are already created
during the embryonic development. We have discovered this fact by empiric investigation, as
far as it can be done by this method. We found in a great number of historic cases that the
prenatal, sidereal Moon cycles pre-reflect the potentials, one may even call them destiny poten-
tials, which are lived out after birth. Thus, we found the cosmic events during the first sidereal
Moon cycle reflected in the age from 1 to 7 years. (We start in this context with the so-called
astrological epoch, based on the Trutina Hermetis. This we explained and demonstrated already
in the April Letter. It constitutes a kind of cosmic conception, distinct from the physical
conception.)
Working with these principles, we find that the commencement of Soloviev’s 36th year of
life was potentially pre-reflected in the events after 6 September 1852. (The subdivisions from
left to right in the graph in the April Letter correspond to the sidereal Moon cycles of 27.3 days
each during Soloviev’s gestation.) Following this date we see Mercury and Venus moving into
the area where Saturn, Uranus, and Pluto were still close together, after they must have been in
exact conjunction before the epoch of Soloviev.
The time around 35 years and later (1888), which was reflected in these events, saw Soloviev
involved in his efforts to work for the idea of Church unity. We see that behind it stood that
conjunction of Uranus and Pluto, and its long row of earlier generations. As we said earlier,
they were connected with stages of the development of esoteric Christianity. This entered as
an impulse, though perhaps not very distinct, into the potential building up of Soloviev’s in-
strumentality of incarnation. One can call it almost an element of “organic memory”. This
was indicated by the presence of Saturn near Uranus and Pluto. In the “body” of the solar
cosmos, Saturn is something like an organ of memory, or of Akashic Records, according to
Eastern concepts.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
The foundation was then laid during this prenatal development to try to bring all this
background down into a practical reality. This was implied in the joining up of Mercury and
Venus with the others during the beginning of the 6th prenatal Lunar cycle. These inner planets
are taken more as active ingredients and tools into the spheres of earthly feeling and realization
of ideas in life practice.
Still from another angle, the whole set of events at the beginning of the 6th prenatal Moon
cycle can be related to the age of 35-36 years. So far, we have been looking at the sequence of
cosmic happenings from the viewpoint of their working and preparing in the physical form
that comes into being. We can also look back from the birth toward the epoch. This would
appear like an attempt to eventually break through to a knowledge of what the human being
has been before entering the world of matter through conception—the sojourn through the
spiritual-cosmic spheres between two incarnations, possibly even an earlier incarnation itself.
It should be easy to see that this can be done effectively only by the conscious development of
latent faculties of higher perception.
From this angle, the prenatal Lunar cycles would appear like presentations of the stages of
descent of a soul into the material world. At the same time it could convey increasing under-
standing of the reasons for the incessant battles of an individuality with this world of matter.
Eventually, we would find the spiritual reasons why we chose just the particular circumstances
of history, nation, family, etc., into which we incarnated.
In Soloviev’s asterogram, the remarkable fact is that the end of the 5th and beginning of the
6 Lunar cycle (1888), from birth toward the epoch (right to left in the graph), also leads to that
th
combination of conjunctions in the constellation of Aries, of which we have been speaking

above. The two streams, from the epoch to birth and birth to epoch met here, stressing all the
more the significance of their reflection on Soloviev’s life.
53
June 1971
In the last Letter, we investigated one particular feature of Soloviev’s prenatal asterogram
(Fig. 4, April Letter), i.e., the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto about 2 years before his birth.
We will now take a closer look at other occurrences in his chart. The events and aspects that
Venus and Mercury form are particularly instructive in such a setting, because they move con-
siderably faster than the other planets.
We notice one conspicuous feature, a conjunction of Venus with the Earth, after Venus
had been in conjunction with Mars at the beginning of the epoch. This conjunction presents
itself in the geocentric chart as the center of a loop of Venus in front of the Sun. It refers to
the beginning of the 4th prenatal Moon cycle, or to the years 1875 and 76 in Soloviev’s life.
Those were the times when he had the second and third “meeting” with the Divine Sophia.
Earlier we pointed out that all these conjunctions (consequently, also the other aspects)
have their histories, because they recur according to definite time cycles. A study of these
histories is one way of discerning the character and implications of the planets. The conjunc-
tions of Venus with the Sun or Earth recur in intervals of eight years; whereby, the conjunction
points fall back by about 2½° in the ecliptic after each cycle. Thus we find that they happened,
approximately, in the same area of the ecliptic in 1844, 1836, 1828, 1820, and so forth. Thereby,
we discover that personalities who had significant positions in the history of modern humanity
took such loops of Venus into their prenatal star configurations. On 15 October 1844, Nietzsche
was born, and during the later part of his embryonic development, a loop of Venus must have
happened similar to that of Soloviev, only about 2½° further forward in the Zodiac. On
September 9, 1828 (n.s.), Tolstoy was born, and thus a similar event took place during his
gestation. On 21 October 1772, the well-known English poet and philosopher S. T. Coleridge
was born. During that year another ancestor event of that Venus loop of Soloviev occurred.
If we study the biographies of these three individualities, we discover that they were con-
fronted with problems and questions in the sphere of religion and philosophy somewhat simi-
lar to those of Soloviev.
In Soloviev’s life we find these rhythms of Venus rather active. For instance, another
descendent event of this loop of Venus took place in 1876. By then it had fallen back to about
22° of the tropical sign of Cancer (geocentrically) and the sidereal constellation of Gemini. In
the heliocentric, Venus was in about 292° of the ecliptic and close to the descending node of
Saturn. During that year was when Soloviev had the last, glorious vision of the Divine Sophia
in Egypt.
He died shortly after another event of the same order on 13 August 1900, which was its
seventh occurrence since 1852. That conjunction of Venus with the Sun (during the loop)
took place in about 16° of the tropical sign of Cancer. This is remarkable in view of the
impression that we expressed earlier, that Soloviev handed on, so to speak, his quest for the
Divine Sophia to Rudolf Steiner, who very soon after that moment commenced to bring the
message of the “anthropo-sophia” to humanity.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
However, we can also go back to the earlier history of this particular generation of cosmic
events. The loops of Venus, which bring the planet closest to the Earth, stand out like deliver-
ies of cosmic messages to Earth reality and being. Halfway during these cycles of time, four
years after each loop, a so-called superior conjunction takes place in the same zodiacal regions.
The planet is then far behind the Sun, furthest away from the Earth. Venus appears then to
indicate that cosmic messages are prepared, which are delivered to the Earth in times of fol-
lowing loops.
In this sense, we find two significant predecessors at the time of Christ. One, a superior
conjunction of this same order, which appears in Soloviev’s prenatal asterogram, happened on
January 8, 34 AD, heliocentrically in about 287° of the ecliptic. In that moment Jupiter was
also in conjunction with the Earth heliocentrically and geocentrically opposite the Sun. Long
before that, astronomically on January 21, 6 BC, the same superior conjunction of Venus took
place, heliocentrically in about 299.2° of the ecliptic.
These two events reflect very significant stages of development with regard to the mani-
festation of Christ. We have repeatedly pointed out that the superior conjunction of Venus in
January 34 AD, appears to be connected with the conversion of St. Paul at the Gate of Dam-
ascus (Acts IX). The Death and Resurrection on Golgotha took place on April 3-5, 33 AD;
therefore, the conversion of St. Paul could have happened in 34 AD. In the Christian calendar
it is remembered on January 25.
The event in 6 BC has a more complicated background. During that year, taking it as a basis
for astronomical calculation, there was a so-called Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in
the sidereal constellation of Pisces. This conjunction, which geocentrically occurred three times,
has often been suspected of being connected with the birth of Jesus, whom the three Magi
visited by “following the Star”. However, the great difficulty in this context is the timing of
events, and to make them conform with history. If we take the year 6 BC astronomically, which
is 7 BC in ordinary historic perspective, as the year of the birth of Jesus, we get into unending
contradictions with regard to the later life of Christ Jesus. We have come, in the course of
intensive research, to quite different conclusions; the story of which still has to be written.
The three Magi were “initiates” of very exalted ancient Orders; therefore, they are some-
times called “Kings”. They were also most brilliant astrologers in the best ancient sense. They
not only had an excellent astronomical knowledge, which we in modern humanity all too easily
misunderstand, they also still had a high degree of spiritual, or clairvoyant insight. For these
reasons, they “knew” of the coming of Christ long before the New Era. There seems to have
existed in their ranks certain traditions, with regard to this event, that can even be discovered in
existing documents. In the West, the Druids appear to have had a similar insight.
On this basis and other evidence, we have come to the conclusion that the Great Conjunc-
tions in 6 BC were, for the Magi, like the early “bell signs” in the heavens, confirming to them
that the things long prophesied were soon going to happen. From the mathematical implica-
tions contained in the conjunctions, they could “know” precisely when they would take place.
This they could discover on the basis of the smaller cosmic rhythms following onto the events
55
in 6 BC, and leading them to a time about six years later, when the birth of Jesus actually did
take place. That they had a deeper knowledge than only the external astronomical, is demon-
strated by their reaction to King Herod’s suggestions. It is reported in the Gospel of St.
Matthew II: “...And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod,
they departed into their own country another way...” (after they had visited the child). This we
can take as an intimation that they had clairvoyant insight, combined with their astrological
know-ledge.
The Great Conjunctions of 6 BC were preceded by that superior conjunction of Venus
with the Sun on January 21, 6 BC. We can imagine that a combination of cosmic factors like
these gave the Magi a basis of external confirmation for their inner experiences, and on such
and similar foundations did they get to “know” the details of “timing”.
It would then appear that the sequence of these particular superior and inferior conjunc-
tions of Venus, which finally reappear in the loop of the planet once again in Soloviev’s prena-
tal asterogram, carry a message of “promise and preparation”. Thus we have arrived at a fairly
consistent characterization of this event in Soloviev’s chart that seems to match perfectly with
the subsequent correlated happenings in his later life, with those visions of the Divine Sophia
in 1875-76.
The profundity of the position of Venus, heliocentrically at the ingress to sidereal Capri-
corn, which is further emphasized in Soloviev’s prenatal chart as an inferior conjunction, be-
comes obvious in historic similitudes. The following personalities were born at times when
Venus was in that same heliocentric area of the Zodiac, though not in conjunction with the
Earth:
Rudolf Steiner, born February 27, 1861, the founder of anthroposophy and of the
anthroposophical movement.
Louis Claude de Saint Martin, born January 18, 1743, a French philosopher and occul-
tist, known as “le philosophe inconnu”. He was inspired by the writings of the
German “mystic”-philosopher Jacob Boehme.
Paracelsus, whose most probable date of birth is November 14, 1493, was a Swiss
physician and profound occultist, who had a deep knowledge of the sciences, al-
chemy, astronomy (correlation between cosmos and Earth and human beings), and
theology. The invisible beings of the elementary world were a reality for him.
The conjunction of Venus with the Earth, at the beginning of the 4th prenatal Moon cycle
(see Fig. 5 in April Letter), was accompanied by a conjunction of Mercury with Mars, followed
by an opposition of Mercury to Pluto (a little later also to Uranus and Saturn), and at the same
time by a “square” (90° distance) to Earth and Venus. In fact, there appears in that moment a
perfect cross in the heliocentric heavens, whose two “beams” were thus occupied: Pluto, with
Uranus and Saturn near it, opposed by Mercury and Earth with Venus at the second “cross-
beam”, being 90° distant from both of them (see Fig. 6).
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Figure 6
This was regarded in classical astrology as a very unfavorable configuration, though it must
be said that some modern astrologers have expressed doubts with regard to the validity of such
interpretations in modern times. Indeed, we see here that in Soloviev’s chart this “multi-square”
reflected the most profound experiences, as those in 1875-76, though he resigned his lecturing
at Moscow university in 1877. His outspoken criticism of the government and of existing
capital punishment had caused severe opposition against him. In 1881 he was even restrained
from lecturing in public. These years were reflected in the prenatal chart by the opposition of
Mars to Pluto and particularly to Uranus at the beginning of the 5th prenatal Moon cycle (refer-
ring to age 28). A little later Venus moved into conjunction with Neptune.
Toward the end of the 5th prenatal Moon cycle, we see Mercury moving into a “square”
(90° distance) aspect to Pluto, Uranus, and Saturn. At the same time Mars was in opposition to
Saturn. The corresponding 5th seven year cycle of Soloviev’s life was the time when he worked
for Church unity, though without success (about 1881-1888).
The following conjunctions of Mercury and Venus with Pluto, Uranus, and Saturn have
already been mentioned in the May Letter. Then at the beginning of the 7th prenatal Moon
cycle (reflecting the years after 42 years of age) we see Mars in conjunction with Jupiter, while
at the same time in opposition to Venus. These reflected the last five years in Soloviev’s life
(1895-1900). He completed at that time his books, The Justification of the Good and The Meaning
of Love. In 1898 he went to visit Egypt for a second time, and on his return he completed War,
Progress, and the End of History. The latter contains a short story of the antichrist (in Three
Conversations). He also wrote the Three Meetings, the story of his three visionary experiences of
the Divine Sophia, which we mentioned earlier.
57
These last writings give us an idea of how Soloviev employed and transformed that oppo-
sition of Mars and Venus at the beginning of the 7th Moon cycle. Against Mars, as the propo-
nent of aggression, disunion, even of adverse rejection of divine goals of evolution, he puts
the elements of love, reunion, and reintegration, for which Venus stands as a cosmic expres-
sion. The latter he tried to describe and to realize in all he did out of his quest of the Divine
Sophia, the creative wisdom of God. His realization of the forces working through Mars,
which was at the beginning of the 7th prenatal Moon cycle in sidereal Scorpio, found a vivid
description in his story of antichrist. Apparently toward the end of the 20th century, according
to the story, the antichrist appears to a deeply shaken and troubled humanity. He tries to take
over their lead, which is relatively easy for him, because their majority have lost all living and
realistic connection with the Christian faith. The antichrist appears in “a very attractive and
benevolent disguise”. Only a very few recognize his true nature. However, he and his vast
armies are eventually destroyed by “an earthquake of unprecedented violence” and by the
eruption of an enormous volcano.
Eventually, we see Mercury, in the prenatal chart, coming into a square (90° distance) rela-
tionship to Pluto, Uranus, and Saturn for a third time. This was still during the 7th prenatal
Moon cycle and reflected the time of around 1900 in Soloviev’s life. This was the time when
he rose to spiritual rebirth, and it was also the same time that Venus moved through the perihe-
lion line of Saturn.
Thus these square configurations of Mercury stand out rather conspicuously in the chart
of Soloviev. We cannot say that they were reflected into dismal experiences in later life, as the
square concept might suggest. For instance, the first occasion of such a square was in the
beginning of the 2nd prenatal Moon cycle, referring to the age of 9 years. Soloviev then had his
first vision of the Divine Sophia in a cathedral at Moscow (1862). Another event of the same
order referred, as we described above, to 1876 and the beginning of the 4th seven year cycle, the
third glorious experience of the Divine Sophia in Egypt.
One final event in this chart must attract our attention. It is the conjunction of Mercury
and Venus together with Jupiter (heliocentric), at the moment of his birth. One might argue
that it is irrelevant to take this into consideration, because the death of Soloviev was already
reflected in earlier happenings, during the 7th prenatal Moon cycle. However, we must not
forget that these aspects were nevertheless built, as it were, into the corporeal organization of
Soloviev. And, on the other hand, we suggested in the May Letter that one can look at the
prenatal Moon cycles, moving back from the birth toward the epoch. Certainly, this is a totally
different approach. Yet, it suggests that these events at Soloviev’s birth also had a definite
bearing on his life.
Indeed, we can see in them something like the roots of his great quest for the Divine
Sophia. And this confirms what we said earlier, that the view from birth back to the epoch can
give us an idea of what might live in an individuality as a challenge for the realization of “self ”.
However, in order to establish this in a pragmatic, mathematical sense, we must take an histori-
cal excursion.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Jupiter, which is at birth met by Venus and Mercury, started out at the epoch close to the
descending nodal line of Mars. Only a few days later, on May 10, did Jupiter actually move
through this line in sidereal Libra. In order to evaluate this, we can now look for historic
similitudes. When the following historically well-known personalities died, Jupiter was in a
similar position:
Suso (Heinrich Seuse), died January 25, 1366, one of the great mystics of the Middle
Ages, grown out of Scholasticism. His teacher was Meister Eckhart, the most
profound of the mystics of that age.
Raphael (Santi), died April 6, 1520. He is one of the great painters of the Renaissance,
especially known for his many paintings of the Madonna.
Blaise Pascal, died August 19, 1662. He combined being an efficient mathematician
and physical scientist with the career of a religious philosopher, who based his view
on real inner, spiritual experiences.
As will be realized, these are Jupiter positions at death, not at birth, and therefore carry a
different meaning. At birth and before, a soul accumulates cosmic forces in order to build up
the vessel for an earthly career. At death, the vessel hands these cosmic ingredients back to
their origin, after they have been permeated and filled with spiritual endeavors (possibly also
failures) of that human being. This fact can be relatively easily recognized by pragmatic, math-
ematical approaches.
Similar to the configuration of the heavens at birth, the positions of the planets at the
death of a human being are very significant. There appears in the heavens in that moment a
kind of biographical “tableau” of the life that has come to a conclusion. For instance, if we
take the cosmic configuration at the death of Raphael, Jupiter appears just in the point of
transition from sidereal Libra to Scorpio, near the descending nodal line of Mars. In the
geocentric perspective, the Moon was already in Scorpio, just rising in the east (10 p.m. Rome).
We now ask Saturn, Omnipotent Father Time and organ of cosmic memory, to assist us in
revealing to us that biographical tableau of Raphael’s life in the heavens.
Saturn in that moment was in sidereal Capricorn, and 29.5 years earlier it was there once
before, which was in about 1491. That was the moment when Raphael’s mother died, having a
most profound impact on his later career as a painter. Thus we can go with Saturn through all
the positions of the planets at Raphael’s death. We would find that this planet occupied these
positions earlier during Raphael’s lifetime, thus silently accumulating a kind of commemora-
tion of the details of this biography. For instance, in 1514-15, Saturn was in the places in
Scorpio that were occupied at death by Jupiter and Moon. These were the years when Raphael
was, among other things, occupied with the preparation and execution of his painting of the
Sistine Madonna—the artistic climax of all his Madonna paintings.
What does Saturn want to do with this silent building-up of the cosmic biographical tab-
leau? It prepares the ground for the living memory substance of a human incarnation, being
59
assimilated and united with the planets and their spheres. Thus, among all other accomplish-
ments, the Sistine Madonna of Raphael, which is really an imagination of the Divine Sophia, was
not lost. It was absorbed eventually into the sphere of Jupiter. And other human beings,
descending much later into incarnation, were able to pick up this cosmically substantiated
“memory” through their inner affinities. He brought it down into his own earthly organism
and evolved his quest for the Divine Sophia from it. This was Soloviev, who entered the
earthly world when Jupiter was once again in Scorpio, carrying in its sphere that great memory
of the past.
Current Events
The opposition of Jupiter and Saturn will be the fourth of five. We said a few words about
how we see these conjunctions and oppositions in history, in the Nov. ‘70 issue. More than
ever, we have the impression that they are like warning signs for humanity. They want to say,
fundamentally, that we will have to re-assess the spiritual standards of “where from, where to,
and how to do things on Earth”; otherwise, this humanity will become more and more a
meaningless chance product. It will be like leaves in autumn, blown about by the wind, and will
eventually blow itself out of existence, for having lost any significance in the process of world
evolution. Even the planet Earth might come to founder within the setting of the solar uni-
verse.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
July 1971
Lately, I had an opportunity to speak on the historic complex of the Holy Grail. The actual
title was Christianity and the Holy Grail. However, it was not possible then to concentrate on the
cosmic background of all this, which is very vast and also very illuminating. Therefore, we
shall give the facts in these Letters, as much as it can be done in this form. It will then be seen
that this is not just of possible historic interest but carries very practical implications with
regard to the present moment in history.
The very first question must be: What is the Holy Grail?
The Grail was known already in ancient times. Wolfram von Eschenbach, the author of
the medieval romance of Parsifal, gives us an account of this in Book Nine (English transla-
tions by Helen Mustard & Charles E. Passage in Vintage Books, New York, 1961, in prose; and
another translation by Edwin Zeydel and Bayard Quincy Morgan, published by the University
of North Carolina Press, 1960, in verse). Parsifal, the later King of the Holy Grail, comes to
the hermitage of Trevrizent. There he hears “...Kyot, the bard known far and wide, found in
Toledo, cast aside, set down in heathen writing, this story’s source exciting... (quoted from
Zeydel-Morgan The Parsifal of Wolfram von Eschenbach, IX, 453, 11-14f.) ...a heathen, Flegetanis
by name, in learning won the highest fame... he wrote the Grail’s adventures well... Flegetanis,
the heathen sage could predict through every stage, each star’s withdrawal from mortal view,
then its reappearance new, how long each planet goes around until its highest point it found...
Flegetanis, the heathen, saw what he described with timorous awe: The stars revealed it to his
eyes, though hidden in mysterious wise. He spoke of something called the Grail: This very
name he could not fail to read upon the starry sphere. ‘It was a host that left it here, and then
beyond the stars they flew. If then their innocence withdrew, then men of Christian discipline
must guard it now, chaste, free of sin; As noble men respected are those for the Grail selected’.
Thus Flegetanis wrote of it.”
Another tradition tells us that the Grail was a precious stone which fell to Earth out of the
crown of Lucifer. One story says that this jewel was also called the Morning Star, thus identi-
fying it with Venus.
Lucifer is the great rebel in the cosmos. He brought about the Fall in Paradise, of which we
hear in Genesis II and III: “... And the Lord commanded the man (Adam), saying, of every tree
of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou
shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (II: 16-17). Then
the serpent (Lucifer the Rebel) crept up to Eve, and made her disobey the commandment of
the Lord and eat of the fruit of that tree and also gave Adam to eat. “...And the eyes of them
both were opened ...” (III: 7).
In this event we see the description, of course in imaginative language, of humanity’s
descent to the level of physical-material existence and death. We can well conceive of the
“Stone of Lucifer’s Crown” as indicating the origin of the human perishable body. This body
endows us, though, with the capacity of having our “eyes opened”, of perceiving the world of
61
objects around us with our senses. This is the first step toward our eventual independence, but
it was bought at the mortality of our physical existence.
Eventually, we hear in other stories that the Christ identified Himself with the Grail, with
the Stone that fell out of Lucifer’s Crown. We can understand this if we contemplate that the
Great Cosmic Being, the Christ, descended into the mortal body of Jesus, which was also (like
any other human body) made from that Jewel of Lucifer. However, Christ descended into this
body in order to “take away the sin of the world”, to heal and to redeem the Fall in Paradise.
How is it then possible, for instance, that Flegetanis could “see” in pre-Christian times this
Potential Grail? We know that others, such as the Old Testament prophet Daniel, “saw” the
Christ Events approaching, though he did not speak of them in terms of a Grail’s wisdom. In
the Book of Daniel 9:24, we hear the prophecy “...Seventy weeks are determined upon thy
people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and make an end of sins, and to make
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision
and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy...”
Here we are confronted with one version of “timing technique or language” used by an-
cient prophecy, concerning the Coming of Christ, Who was identified with the Holy Grail. If
we understand this, we can also comprehend the vision and its implication as it is ascribed to
that mysterious Flegetanis. The “seventy weeks” in Daniel’s prophecy constitute 490 days.
These stand, representatively, for 490 years, which is the time that seems to have elapsed be-
tween that prophecy of Daniel and the Ministry of Christ. One day corresponds to one com-
plete rotation of the Earth around its axis. This rotation is made to signify one rotation of the
Sun (apparent rotation we say, of course, in modern astronomy) around the Earth in one year.
The representative equation of 1 day equals 1 year was used in ancient prophecy, particu-
larly star wisdom. It is still valid in our time with certain limitations. In the Book of Ezekiel
IV:5, we read of the Lord saying to the prophet, “...I have laid upon thee the years of their
iniquity, according to the number of the days... I have appointed thee each day for a year.”
With the aid of such and similar correlations, initiates in pre-Christian times, who had gone
through very intensive spiritual training in the ancient mystery temples, had foreknow-ledge of
the coming Christ Events. In the Books of the Old Testament-Prophets, we see how careful
they were in presenting their insight. Mostly they use a language of imagination. In this light,
we must also see the prophecy of Flegetanis and the imagination of the Grail therein.
We can, to a degree, understand that the old clairvoyance was able to penetrate to a fore-
knowledge of coming events. So we can ask, how was it able to gain an insight into the timing
of these? The story of the Three Kings, or Wise Men from the East, (St. Matthew II) gives us
an idea of how this happened. “...Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen
his star in the east, and are come to worship him...” That “star” that they saw had revealed to
them the facts and the timing of events.
What was the “star” of the three Wise Men? We have remarked on this whole complex
already in the June Letter, in connection with the Great Conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter in
6 BC, astronomical. In Fig. 7, we give the positions of the planets at the time of the middle
62
LETTERS - PART ONE
conjunction on September 29, 6 BC, partly according to the calculations of Hubert J. Bernhard
at the Morrison Planetarium, San Francisco. (It is noteworthy that this is the day of St. Michael,
the Archangel.) Figure 7
On that day the Moon entered the side-
real constellation of Sagittarius (according
to calculations on the basis of Planetentafeln
für Jedermann by Karl Schoch, and Tafeln zur
astronomischen Chronologie II, by Dr. P. V.
Neugebauer). Mars was, approximately, in
the same position, i.e., in conjunction with
the Moon. The position of the Moon and
its node in that moment must have provided
the information that the Wise Men needed
for the exact timing of the events to which
they were looking forward. They were initi-
ated “astrologers”, as we said earlier; there-
fore, they knew that the Moon was the cos-
mic indicator with regard to a possible birth.
The Moon is the last stage on the road of
descent into an incarnation. It is also inti-
mately connected with the prenatal devel-
opment of a human being, as the ancient
Trutina Hermetis reveals. The latter offers the possibility of finding the astrological epoch,
about 9 months before birth. We used it in connection with the chart of P. B. Shelley (February
‘71 Letter), and also in Soloviev’s nativity (April ‘71 Letter). Thus, the Moon of September 29,
6 BC, astronomically, would have given the Wise Men an idea of when the Child they were
seeking was to be born. They could surmise that it was to happen when Saturn would stand
opposite that position of the Moon in 6 BC, because Saturn is the visible representative in the
heavens of the forces of destiny and karma. This happened during the year 1 BC, in astro-
nomical definition of time and 2 BC, according to the usual “civil” calendar conception.
We are fully aware that all this poses numbers of questions. First of all, why did the Magi
choose the Great Conjunctions of 6 BC as a guiding “star”? There were two more conjunc-
tions of this order pending around those years, as Fig. 8 shows. Also, why were the Great
Conjunctions, altogether, supposed to give the signal? Judged by the scanty documentary
evidence, it seems certain that there must have existed since the time of Zarathustra, the founder
of the ancient civilization of Persia, prophecies concerning the Coming of the Messiah, right
down to such details as the Virgin birth, etc. These appear also to have given advice to look out
for such “signs in the heavens” as the Great Conjunctions. Zarathustra was the great initiate of
the Sun mysteries, who knew of the descent of the Spirit of the Sun into incarnation for the
sake of redemption of the “fallen” Earth and its humanity.
63
The Great Conjunction of 6 BC car- Figure 8

ried a particularly important historic mes-
sage. One of its ancestors (they recur in
intervals of about 60 years) happened in
482 BC, astronomically. That was still in
280.8° of the ecliptic (heliocentric), which
would, according to the precession of the
vernal point, correspond to the sidereal
constellation of Capricorn. This conjunc-
tion occurred close to the extended aph-
elion line of Venus. According to Geiger’s
calculation, based on Asoka’s chronology
(see Encyclopedia Britannica), this was the
year of the death of Gautama Buddha.
What has the death of Gautama Bud-
dha to do with the birth of Jesus?
Gautama brought to humanity the teach-
ing of love and compassion. The Christ,
Who eventually dwelt in Jesus, lifted this
teaching up to the level of the manifesta-
tion of love and compassion in the Deed of Christ. Thus, we can well say that the Gautama
Buddha was one of the Forerunners of Christ. He bequeathed to the heavens at the moment
of his death what the Christ later fulfilled in Deed. In this sense, the Great Conjunction of 482
BC and all its successors, including 6 BC, would have carried something like the Great Promise.
And it appears that the Magi were aware of this.
The conjunction of 6 BC occurred close to the perihelion line of Jupiter in the sidereal
constellation of Pisces. This perihelion line is connected with the deeper meaning of the
whole Post-Atlantean Epoch, starting with the Ancient Indian Civilization. We have described
this in the December ‘70 and January ‘71 Letters. Furthermore, the events of 6 BC happened
in sidereal Pisces (and in the same tropical sign). This is the last of the twelve constellations of
the Zodiac. One can “read” it as indicating that “the time was fulfilled”. Furthermore, above
Pisces—the two Fishes—appears the square of Pegasus. It seems that the latter was regarded
in Egyptian cosmology as “the boat in which a god crossed the sky” (see Rupert Gleadow, The
Origin of the Zodiac, Pub., Jonathan Cape, London). Thus, one can imagine that the relatively
rare event of the Great Conjunction in Pisces meant to tell the Magi that “the Boat of the God
was being built”, that is, the bodily vessel was prepared.
All this has not yet answered our question of why just the one Great Conjunction of 6 BC
should have given the “bell-sign” to the Magi? Why not the one about 60 years earlier or later,
which also happened in Pisces? To comprehend a possible answer, we must go still further
afield, and not shun seemingly complicated approaches and calculations. For this purpose we
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LETTERS - PART ONE
take recourse to the chart of the heavens at the spring equinox in 747 BC (astronomically 746
BC), 29 March, which is produced in Fig. 9. This was the moment of the commencement of
the Fourth Post-Atlantean Civilization, which harbored the Greco-Latin cultures. In fact, a
Roman historian, Fabius Pictor, placed the actual foundation of Rome in that year, distinct
from 753 BC, which is at present held to be the foundation year.
Figure 9 From the viewpoint of the occult-
ist, in a true sense, one would expect
that this “inauguration” chart would
also hold the time secrets of the great-
est event of Earth history that hap-
pened during that Age, the Incarnation
of Christ. This is, indeed, the case.
However, as we said in the beginning,
it needs some mathematical exertion to
find it.
We can look at a configuration,
such as the one of 747 BC, as a com-
mencement of an earthly development
or “birth”. In this sense, it would not
be an event that is rigidly fixed, with
regard to the future arising from it.
Rather, we would see it as an element
having been equipped, so to speak, by
the heavenly forces with everything
that is needed for its unfolding. It must
grow and change in order to employ the inherent potentials. These potentials are outlined, in
the case of the individual human being (as well as “cultural beings” in the sense of 747 BC), in
the beginning stages of the accompanying “star-complex”. Under no circumstances must this
be understood as being unconditionally applicable to modern times and to mean that the fate
of a modern being, human or cultural, is thereby predetermined. The question of how these
potentials are eventually developed and employed always remains open in modern humanity.
The answers are left to the individuals who make up the cultural phase concerned. Sometimes
it does look as if the destiny of individuals, or groups of humans, is unalterably fixed and
“comes true according to the stars”; however, we do see this, if it happens, as bordering on
defeat and renunciation of the real spiritual position and dignity of the modern human being.
We admit that this was different shortly before the turning point from the pre-Christian, to the
post-Christian Era. Thus the prophets of the Old Testament could speak with a certain assur-
ance of the things that had to come. But, already with the apocalyptic “prophecies” of John
the Divine, we see an element entering that does not give any guaranties assuring that all hu-
manity, without exception, is on a steady, prefixed, and rigid course into the future. Rather it is
65
a picture of tremendous cosmic battles to come, though one thing is certain: whatever the
decisions and eventual deeds of individuals or groups will be, it will not be possible to erase
and circumnavigate the consequences.
In this sense, we can still perceive in the configuration of 747 BC, the outline of “the
events to come” during that cultural Age. In order to determine this, we must employ time
ratios that speak in terms of the destiny potentials having been borne into the birth configura-
tions. Normally, when we speak of time in an historic sense, we think of years of 365 days
each and subdivisions thereof. A year is, in the modern astronomic sense, the apparent comple-
tion of the orbit of the Sun around the Earth, and its return to a similar sidereal position. This
orbit of the Sun can be seen as being represented, not only symbolically but realistically, in the
much shorter rotation time of the Earth around its axis within 24 hours. In this sense, we can
understand the equation we mentioned earlier: one day is equal to one year.
This is only one side of the picture. For instance, the sidereal orbit of the Moon around
the Earth, which takes about 27.3 days, can be taken as standing representatively for the yearly
orbit of the Sun. In this case, the year of 365 days can be determined as containing 13.368
sidereal Moon cycles. In other words, one Sun-year of 365 days is representative of 13.368
years in the historic process.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
August 1971
In the last Letter, we started to describe what we called representative time ratios in con-
nection with definite star configurations or, in astrological language, “progressions”.
Now, we will introduce still another such representative time ratio connected with the orbit
of Saturn. The sidereal orbit of Saturn, i.e., its return to the same fixed star in the Zodiac, takes
29.4577 years. We can say that one such orbit of this planet is represented by the yearly orbit
of the Sun, or Earth, or one interval of 365.25 days stands for 29.4577 years of 365.25 days
each. Thus we have come to the conclusion that the progress of time is projected in a given
star configuration three times, by the following equations:
1. One day of 24 hours is equal to one year of 365.25 days.

2. One sidereal Moon orbit of 27.3216 days is equal to one year of 365.25 days.
3. One year (Sun, or Earth) of 365.25 days is equal to 29.4577 years.
Thus, Moon, Sun-Earth, and Saturn are involved in this kind of “progressions”, as they are
called in astrology. We will employ the “Saturn progressions” particularly with regard to the
time potentials contained in 747 BC. It is essential to study this and the following in connec-
tion with the July Letter.
Let us now try to place ourselves imaginatively into the position of the predecessors of the
three Magi, around the time of 747 BC. From earlier prophecies and predictions, they could
know that the moment of the great event was coming closer. Their more exact knowledge was
based on “progressions” built on the birth configuration of the preceding Egypto-Chaldean
Age, which commenced around 2907 BC. This can be proven with similar methods that we
employ here for 747 BC.
Standing in the position of those ancient “astrologer” sages, we are aware that in the course
of 720 BC, astronomically (721 BC otherwise), a Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will
take place in the constellation of Sagittarius. Furthermore, we know (assisted by clairvoyant
insight, still fully intact then) that this is of the order of conjunctions that carry the Great
Promise and Annunciation since most ancient times, and that will return once again in 6 BC,
for instance. To this we add the fact that it will happen in 251° of the ecliptic, which will be
close to the descending node of Jupiter, then in about 253°. (One might argue that the ancient
sages were not so sophisticated to “know” of the elements of the planetary orbits that we
know of now, thanks to modern astronomy; however, we contend that they had a similar
knowledge by clairvoyant perception, though they may have expressed it in terms different
from ours.)
On the basis of these facts, we—who have tried to place ourselves in the position of those
ancient sages—realize that this configuration in 720 BC wants to tell us about the Great Event
to come. Here are the reasons why: First, the Great Conjunction of 720 BC will be looking
across, as it were, to the opposite part of the Zodiac, to the ascending node of Jupiter. It will
67
be looking forward to moments in history when Saturn and Jupiter will successively move
through this node, indicating that the Great Spirit of the Universe, the Head of the hierarchy
of the Kyriotetes-Spirits of Wisdom, connected with the sphere of Jupiter, or the “Lamb of
God”, will incarnate in a physical body in order to perform the great Deed of Salvation. This
happened actually during the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry. We described it in greater detail
in our publication, Cosmic Christianity, Chapter II.
We now ask (rather then, in 747 BC): When, timewise, will this happen? The planet
Saturn, the external expression of Omnipotent Father Time and the Divine Masters of Karma,
will assist us in finding an answer. In other words, we study the progressions of the configura-
tion of 747 BC (746 BC astronomically). The Great Conjunction of 720 BC is about 26 years
away from 746 BC. These 26 Sun-years we take to stand, representatively, for about 26 Saturn-
years, or rotations, which are completed in 29.4577 Sun-years. 29.4577 x 26 gives us about 770
Sun-years. Starting from 746, and going forward about 770 Sun-years brings us to about 23
AD. That was the time when the Great event was being prepared, by the experiences of Jesus,
etc. It was actually around the moment when a Great Opposition of Saturn and Jupiter, the
descendent of the Conjunction in 6 BC took place. Thus we can still stand imaginatively in 747
BC and know the approximate timing of the Great Event.
A modern, critical mind may say: This is too vague for me. The ancient minds, such as the
initiated predecessors of the “Kings” or Magi, would have an answer for this. They would say,
this Saturnian time equation is confirmed in two more ways, first by the Sun and then by the
Moon. The Sun progressions offered in 747 BC, so they would say, give us insight into the
destiny of the planet Earth, which in the dim past was united with the Sun. The Moon secrets,
or “progressions”, lead us to recognize the guidance of humanity by the divine world, in order
to bring about the final stages of historic development toward the Event.
As we are still standing in 747 BC (746 astronomically), we realize that Jupiter (see July
Letter, Fig. 9), in about 2 years time, will move into its descending node. (As we said earlier, we
may not see this in such “sophisticated” terms but in a kind of higher insight.) Nevertheless,
we recognize the Annunciation of Jupiter in its descending node “predicting”, as it were, Jupi-
ter in its ascending node at the moment of Golgotha, 33 AD. It is the same occurrence as in
720 BC, only two orbits of Jupiter earlier. Actually, in May (about 16) 744 BC (astronomically)
the planet will be in 246° heliocentrically, whereas the nodal line is then in 253°. If we now,
experimentally, take this date, we realize that it will be 779 days after the spring equinox of 746
BC, astronomically. We see in this another time correlation: Starting from 746 BC (astronomi-
cally) we arrive, if we take one day of Earth rotation to stand representatively for one Sun
(Earth) orbit of 365 days, at the spring equinox of 33 AD. (In quantity of time: 746.75 BC to
32.25 AD (April 33 AD) constitutes 779 years.)
Finally, we investigate what the Moon can tell us. We take the ratio of 779 years (746.75
BC, to April 33 AD, or 32.25), and we equate each of these years, or Sun orbits to one Moon
orbit. As one Sun-year contains 13.368 sidereal Moon orbits, we divide the 779 years by this
figure, and arrive at 58.27 years. These consist of 779 Moon revolutions.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
We go now forward from 746.75 BC, astronomically, 58.27 years and arrive at 688.5 BC
astronomically, and we find Saturn in that moment in 282.6° (heliocentric), which was then
between the aphelion line of Venus (273,8°), and the perihelion line of Mars (285.5°). This
was almost exactly opposite the position of Saturn in April 33 AD, at the time of Golgotha. As
ancient sages, we could have realized that Saturn in 688 BC pre-reflected the great Deed of
Redemption that was to come and that would happen 779 years after 747-746 BC. We have
written about the inner, spiritual connection between the spheres of Mars and Venus, which
are here involved, in Cosmic Christianity, Chapter I.
The “progressional” prophecies contained in the configurations associated with 2907-2906
BC, the commencement of the Third Post-Atlantean Age, or the Egypto-Chaldean civiliza-
tions, reveal similar pictures. This gives us additional justification to say that the Coming of
Christ was “known” in the circles of the initiated sages long before. However, we shall refrain
from further calculations. We expect that many of the readers will say that they’ve had their
full share of figures and numbers, for the time being at least. Therefore, we venture to point
out only so much: that both the Saturn and Moon transpositions of time, related to the Christ
Events on the basis of 2907-2906 BC, lead to ancestors of the Great Conjunction of 6 BC, and
the Sun-Earth progressions of the same context lead to a position of Saturn between the
perihelion line of Mars, and the aphelion line of Venus, similar to that in 688 BC, which we
mentioned above.
On the basis of all this information, the Magi could know that the expected great events
would happen during the particular cycle of the Great Conjunction between 6 BC and the one
following in order, in 54 AD. (see Fig. 8, July Letter). But how could they know what to expect
next, starting from 6 BC? This they were able to realize on the basis of the individual language
of the three consecutive, geocentric Great Conjunctions of 6 BC.
The first of these conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter took place (according to Hubert C.
Bernhard, Morrison Planetarium) on May 29, 6 BC, astronomical. The Sun had then just
entered sidereal and tropical Gemini (about 6°). Mercury was also in Gemini moving toward
an inferior conjunction with the Sun. The Moon was in that moment, as a newly waxing Moon,
also in Gemini. Thus the first of the Great Conjunctions was accompanied by a “vote of
Gemini character”. Initiates of the great ancient orders were able to read this as a pronounce-
ment that the venerated inaugurator of the Ancient Persian civilization, coinciding with the
presence of the vernal equinox in Gemini, was about to reincarnate. This was the great
Zarathustra who built that civilization on the vision of the Gemini drama of Ahura Mazdao,
the Sun-Aura in the heights of heaven, and Ahriman, the spirit of Darkness in the deep of the
Earth. He had also perceived that the Sun-Aura was about to descend to the Earth, in order to
redeem the Darkness. Now on May 29, 6 BC, the Magi became aware that their great teacher
in the past, Zarathustra, was about to incarnate in order to contribute his share in the work of
Redemption accomplished by the Spirit of the “Aura of the Sun”.
Then, at the time of the second Great Conjunction on September 29, 6 BC, the message
was that Zarathustra’s incarnation was quite close, that it would happen when Saturn was op-
69
posite the Moon at that moment. The latter was in about 240° or Sagittarius. We have written
about this more extensively in the July Letter. However, this still might have left the Magi
unclear about the actual date of the birth.
The final message came, then, with the third of the Great Conjunctions on December 4, 6
BC. This gave directions in various ways. First of all, it was 64-65 days away from the previous
one of September 29. These 65 days, in the sense of Saturn “progressions” described earlier,
stand for about 5.25 years. One Sun-year of 365.25 days is equal, we said, to one Saturn-year,
or 29.4577 years. This means that 12.399 days of the Sun-year stand for 365.25 days, or one
normal year. On this basis we go forward, from September 29, 6 BC, by about 5.25 years. This
brings us, approximately, to the end of the year 1 BC (astronomically) in calendar computation,
which is the transition, or Christmas Tide, from the year 1 to 2 BC, according to the ordinary
calendar.
Thus we have already come a bit closer to a leading date concerning the birth of the Child
whom the Magi visited (Gospel of St. Matthew). Yet, there is more. The ascending Moon
node—crossing point between Moon orbit and ecliptic—on September 29, 6 BC was in about
29° of the Zodiac. This can lead us, and must have led the Magi, to some quite profound
considerations. How can we look at those great events in 6 BC? They constitute something
like a “spiritual nativity”, not yet a physical nativity, which announces the great preparations in
the spiritual world for the events to happen on Earth.
This idea of a “spiritual nativity” is not at all so remote or only a poetic phantasy, as it may
sound at first. It is a reality that stands above any human birth. Rudolf Steiner has pointed out
its existence in his lecture-cycle Human and Cosmic Thought, particularly in lectures III and IV,
22-23 January 1914. He said there that these “spiritual nativities... are much more significant in
the life of a human being than the configurations of the external horoscope, but they do not
coincide with the latter... they can manifest before birth and also after birth. Simply, the mo-
ment must be selected which can best organize these characteristics, according to the inner
configuration, into the human organism...” They manifest chiefly in the philosophical poten-
tials that a human being can develop in life.
We have investigated in the past this fact of the “spiritual nativity”, especially in connection
with the historic examples given by Rudolf Steiner in the lecture cycle we mentioned. We came
to the conclusion that it can be found as a cosmic reality around the time of incarnation of a
human being. As we said earlier, the Moon is the last stepping stone for a soul from cosmic
realms onto the Earth. It is the last great gateway. One can even say, that where the “body” of
the Moon appears in the heavens is a place of spiritual “emptiness”, a hole. However, this
gateway has to be opened at a certain moment for the individual soul descending into incarna-
tion. This is done by the Moon nodes. They are points of contact between the ecliptic and the
sphere of the Moon, in the geocentric sense—that is, the greater being or sphere of the Sun.
The Moon sphere is indicated by the orbit of the Moon around the Earth, placing our planet in
its center. Thus the Moon nodes establish the connection between the Sun and Moon-Earth
spheres. The “gate” of the individual soul is indicated by the position of the Moon at birth.
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Therefore, the moment when one of the two Moon nodes crosses this position, either before
or after birth, is most significant. It must be regarded as a “birth” in a higher sense, as “spiritual
nativity”. This discovery substantiated Rudolf Steiner’s description quoted above.
We can also take the positions of the Moon nodes at a significant moment of cosmic
history and investigate when it coincided, either before or after, with an actual Moon at the
birth of a human being. For instance, the middle one of the three Great Conjunctions in 6 BC,
on September 29, was accompanied by the ascending Moon node in 29° of the ecliptic as we
said above. From here, we proceed and look to see when the Moon was in that same place, 29°
of the ecliptic, during the Christmas Season of 1 to 0 BC (which the cosmic configurations
pronounced to us earlier, see above). It happened on January 4, 0 BC (astronomically). We
produce the geocentric configuration on that dayin Fig. 10 below.
Figure 10
4 January 0 BC
(astronomically)
This seems to be the most likely date of the birth mentioned in the Gospel of St. Matthew,
which has also been recognized by researches conducted on grounds different from ours. The
Great Conjunction of 29 September 6 BC would belong to it as the corresponding cosmic
“spiritual nativity”, because the Moon node then “opened” the gateway from the Sun-sphere
into that of the Moon. What we call here the “gateway” is indicated by the position of the
Moon at birth.
Earlier, we said the Magi realized in this birth that the great initiate, Zarathustra, had incar-
nated again. This information comes, actually, from Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research and
insight. For instance, in his lecture-cycles on the Gospel of St. Luke (15 to 24 September 1909)
and on the Gospel of St. Matthew (1 to 12 September 1910), he describes in great detail that
71
there were two children born with the name of Jesus. The child of St. Luke, who had de-
scended from the priestly line of Nathan was, so to speak, cared for and “enveloped” by one of
the higher principles of the Gautama Buddha, the Nirmanakaya. This was experienced by the
shepherds (who came to visit the child of St. Luke) in the fields, as the angelic host.
The Jesus of St. Matthew had descended from the royal line of Solomon. In him was
incarnated the ego of Zarathustra. Thus, there were present in the two children, two great
streams of human evolution. In the Matthew-Jesus, there lived the stream of initiation wis-
dom, and above the Luke-Jesus hovered, spiritually, the principle evolved by the teaching of
love and compassion. These two united in the event described in the Gospel of St. Luke, as the
twelve-year old Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem. The Ego of Zarathustra combined with the
corporeality of the Luke-child. Thus was fulfilled, as Rudolf Steiner says, a kind of prophecy
in the so-called Egyptian Gospel (an apocryphal Gospel), “…that salvation would come to the
world when the two had become one and the outer become the inner” (cycle on St. Matthew,
by Rudolf Steiner, Lecture VI).
In the same lecture Rudolf Steiner also explained: “...the Jesus child of the Gospel of St.
Matthew... left his original body and took on the bodily sheath of the Nathan Jesus. From this
time (when the latter was 12 years old) onward, the physical nature of the Nathan Jesus was
developed by Zarathustra to such a high degree of perfection that he was able, at a certain
climax of his existence, to sacrifice his three bodies for acceptance by the One Whom we call
the Christ.”
When the St. Luke-Jesus was born, 25 December 0 BC, thus possibly nearly one year after
the St. Matthew-Jesus, the Moon was again quite close to the same ecliptical position of the
first one. Thus we would have to search for the cosmic “spiritual nativity” of the Luke-Nathan
child also in the time-wise vicinity of that of the Zarathustra-Jesus, i.e., within the setting of
the three Great Conjunctions in 6 BC.
The Great Conjunctions of 6 BC are, indeed, wellsprings of information, concerning many
details of the events at the turning from BC to AD. They can give us a lead to discern the
forming and building of the “vehicle”, or “vessel” of the Jesus in which the Christ did eventu-
ally incarnate. One principle feature that does assist us in our research, is the movement of the
Moon nodes, mentioned above, in connection with the cosmic “spiritual nativity” of the two
Jesus children.
Current Events
Two factors are connected with the opposition and loop of Mars geocentrically in 17°
Aquarius: One of them is the closeness of the Moon node. This would indicate that in such
a moment cosmic, astral forces, especially associated with Mars, can stream into the Earth
realm. (The Moon nodes are “gateways” for cosmic astral forces.) However, we are not get-
ting tired of emphasizing that this need not be of a determining and imposing nature, leaving
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us helpless. Just on such occasions must and can our spiritual, moral potential be practiced as
a counter action. Secondly, it is not easy to find an equal of this loop in recent history. The last
one, which came as close as 12° Aquarius, was in 1892. (Rudolf Steiner, for instance, seems to
have been occupied then with the preparation of his Philosophy of Freedom or Spiritual Activity,
published in 1893.)
Heliocentrically, Venus will be in its own perihelion, then it will move through the aphelion
line of Mars, followed by the Earth crossing the perihelion line of Mars, and Mars in its own
perihelion early next month.
Thus we see here tremendous challenges set in the cosmos with regard to the elements of
the spheres of Mars and Venus. They must, and can be met by us on Earth in corresponding
spiritual-moral deeds, in the sense of the redemption of the inauguration of the infinitesimally
divided material, object world by the gentle, yet fully conscious and responsible ordination of
cosmic love and integration.
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September 1971
In the August Letter, we demonstrated the significance of the Moon nodes in the study of
the incarnation complex concerning human beings, as in the case, for instance, of the nativities
of the two Jesus children.
We recapitulate: The ascending node of the Moon was in approximately 29° of the ecliptic
at the time of the second of the three Great Conjunctions in 6 BC. At the time of the birth of
the Child, according to the description in the Gospel of St. Matthew, the Moon was also,
approximately, in that same sector of the ecliptic. This was repeated at the birth of the Jesus
described in St. Luke. Thus we came to the conclusion that, as these Moon positions at birth
represent a kind of potential “gates”, they were “unlocked”, as it were, by the presence of the
Moon node in these ecliptical positions during 6 BC. On this basis we were able to assume that
the cosmic “spiritual nativities” of the two children did occur in the vicinity of these conjunc-
tions of Jupiter and Saturn.
However, we quoted Rudolf Steiner earlier, saying that this “spiritual nativity” does not
necessarily coincide with the moment of the physiological nativity, but can happen before, or
after birth. Indeed, this seems to apply to the life careers of the two Jesus children too. The
ascending Moon node was again in about 29° of the ecliptic around Easter, or Passover of 13
AD. This coincided with the time when the Jesus of the Gospel of St. Luke was 12 years old
and was taken by his parents to Jerusalem (St. Luke II:41-52). It was the moment when the
other child, the reincarnated Zarathustra, combined with the Luke-Jesus in order to further
prepare the “Vehicle” for the Incarnation of Christ (see the quotation in the August Letter
from Steiner’s lecture-cycle of St. Matthew).
The ascending Moon node returned again to that same ecliptical position approximately
during the year 31 AD, rather toward the end of that year. It is, of course, difficult to assess
what happened then. However, there is a remarkable indication contained in the Gospel of St.
John V. Christ comes to the pool of Bethesda at Jerusalem and meets “...a certain man there,
which had an infirmity thirty and eight years...” He was healed by the Christ, but in connection
with this deed we hear for the first time of the antagonism of the Jews. He had told them: “My
Father worketh hitherto, and I work… Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him, be-
cause he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making
himself equal with God” (V:17-18).
Thirty-eight years is approximately one year more than two cycles of the Moon nodes
(2x18.6 years). Therefore, we would have to assume that the man with the infirmity was born
before the Great Conjunctions in 6 BC, and had become sick just prior to these cosmic events.
We dare say that his sickness was caused by the promised, and yet unfulfilled prophecy of the
great Salvation, indicated in those conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn. Only when the Christ
stood in front of him was the promise fulfilled, and he was healed.
We have here a wonderful description of how a truly Christian relationship to the starry
heavens must and can be found by individuals. The stars build the bodily “vessel” and “chal-
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LETTERS - PART ONE
ice” in which the human being eventually incarnates; however, this alone is not enough, and
will be less and less so in future. Unless the “vessel” is “fulfilled” with spiritual-moral human
deeds, it becomes increasingly “useless”, and therefore falls into sickness. Only the Presence
of Christ in the human soul, according to the words of St. Paul, “Not I, but the Christ in me,
or my Self,” can bring about that fulfillment. Thus the healing can and must reach even up to
the stars with whom each individual is associated through the process of incarnation. There-
fore, we must learn to gradually develop a “therapeutic” astrosophy in the place of a mere
predictive one, in order to keep in step with true evolution into the future. Otherwise sickness,
in the widest sense of Earth existence, will rise to unimaginable proportions.
Thus, here we stand face to face with the real countenance of the Holy Grail, and the quest
for the spiritual “fulfillment of the Holy Vessel”. We can also, on this foundation, comprehend
the manifold stories and traditions in post-Christian times concerning this quest.
First, there is the story of Joseph of Arimathea, as it was told by Robert de Boron about
the beginning of the 13th century. We hear of the Fall of humanity since Paradise, of the
Incarnation of Christ in order to save humanity, and of the Crucifixion. Joseph of Arimathea
asked Pilate for permission to take down the Body from the Cross. Pilate agreed and also on
this occasion gave Joseph the Vessel that Christ had used at the Last Supper, which had come
into his possession. As Joseph lowered the Body from the Cross, with the help of Nicodemus,
the wounds began to bleed, and he collected the blood in the Vessel. Then they buried the
Body in the Sepulchre and went their way. On the third day thereafter, the Christ rose from the
grave, unnoticed by the guards who were put there in order to prevent the Resurrection, which
Christ had prophesized. However, as the grave was empty, the Jews grew angry and accused
Joseph and Nicodemus of having stolen the Body. Nicodemus escaped their wrath by flight,
but Joseph was caught and was thrown into a deep, dark dungeon that only had one opening at
the top, sealed by a heavy stone. Christ came to Joseph in this utter darkness and brought him
the Holy Vessel. This became his only, but most effective, sustenance of life. He remained in
his prison for forty years, until he was freed by Vespasian, the son of Titus. After his release he
established a kind of first Order of the Holy Grail. He was thus the first Guardian, followed by
generations of others.
What can this story tell us? It should not be taken only as a mythological, symbolical
presentation. Surely there existed a real Holy Vessel that the Christ used at the Last Supper and
which Christ had consecrated with tremendous spiritual forces of a healing and sustaining
nature. Yet, at the same time, we can also see it as a focus or indication of the Greater Grail,
which was the Body of Christ, eventually even the Earth with which Christ was united after the
Resurrection. In this sense, we can also look at the forty years of imprisonment of Joseph of
Arimathea. It could have been a physical reality, and yet, even so, it stood for a much larger
historic perspective, as we shall see.
We have pointed out earlier that large cycles and intervals of time can be contained like
seeds in much smaller units of time. For instance, we quoted the very ancient equation of one
day is equal to one year. This fact in ancient times had a different meaning from that in the
75
modern age and future. In pre-Christian ages it really meant pre-ordained destiny, for instance,
of the Hebrew people. This is different in modern and future humanity, when these time
equations have gradually developed into challenges to come in time, certainly unavoidable in
the sense of the procuration of evolutionary stages, but eventually left to individuals and whole
groups of the human race for free decision.
The forty years of Joseph of Arimathea in prison did not only mean the extreme seclusion
of Joseph but also of the Holy Vessel. Thus they were at the same time a “challenge”, in the
sense of whether the Vessel was not forgotten by humanity. They can be experienced as “seed”
cycles for a time element that is, in external realization, “thirty times” longer, or more precisely,
one year of 365 days is equal to 29.4577 years, or one Saturn-year. This would amount to the
“forty years” of Joseph in prison, standing in prophetic challenge, for about 1,178 years. This
long, then, would the Holy Grail have lived in “seclusion” and been a sustaining secret reality,
constantly challenging humanity to the Quest for the Holy Grail. One might even say, that this
challenge made the quest all the more urgent, yet left the individual, such as Parsifal, free.
Indeed, the history of the Holy Grail confirms this. The knowledge of its existence, of the
Castle of the Grail, of the Order of Guardians, was carried by a small selection of humanity as
a mystery-secret. It was particularly western humanity, represented by Celtic streams of civili-
zation, that preserved the tradition. About the end of the 12th and the beginning of the 13th
centuries, the movement of the troubadours made the many Grail traditions and aspects acces-
sible to humanity in general. During those decades many stories were written about the Holy
Grail, for instance, by Chretien de Troyes, Robert de Boron, Wolfram von Eschenbach, and
many others. Then Joseph of Arimathea and the Holy Vessel were released from their seclu-
sion in a much wider sense.
It is also interesting to take a look at the cosmic situation toward the end of the forty years
of Joseph’s imprisonment. In 74 AD a Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn took place in
about 251.5° of the ecliptic. This was close to the aphelion of the Earth (250°) and opposite
to the positions of Saturn around the embryonic developments and births of the two Jesus
children. Thus, from another angle, we have here the picture of the memory and the revelation
(opposition to the original situation) of the mysteries of the “vessel” into which the Christ
eventually entered.
We can ask: Why was it that especially the descendents of the Celtic peoples carried and
cultivated the Grail’s Christianity? We can find the answers if we study the basic manifestations
of these and preceding civilizations, chiefly on the British Isles. They all had a profound
orientation toward a spiritual and yet, in a sense, scientific cosmology possibly aligned at one
time to ancient Chaldean civilization. The traces can be seen from the south of England to the
north of Scotland and in Ireland. Just lately it was possible to establish the fact that, for
instance, the monument of Stonehenge was indeed something like a permanent calendar of
the rhythmic events in the heavens, and there exist still more similar places. Also the Hill of
Tara in Ireland can give one the impression that it harbors profound astronomical truths, which
we only begin to rediscover in the present age.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
The most striking feature that displays this cosmological orientation of the ancient peoples
who lived on the British Isles is Glastonbury in Somerset. It was discovered, it seems, in the
process of map making from the air and was called The Temple of the Stars. (Among the
wealth of literature on this subject, two by I. E. Maltwood are, A Guide to Glastenbury’s Temple of
the Stars, published by, James Clarke & Co, Ltd., London, and The Enchantments of Britain.) In a
circular area of approximately 10 miles diameter, the effigies of the constellations of the Zo-
diac can be seen and some neighboring configurations. The outlines are indicated by features
of the landscape, such as rivers, hills, old roads, and similar facts. The totality of this “heaven
on Earth” appears to display particular reference to the whole cycle of the stories about King
Arthur and his Round Table.
Another interesting feature of similar context is the so-called “Island of Tintagel” in
Cornwall. It was the Castle of King Arthur. There is not much left, even of traces of the
original buildings, but the shape of the “island” suggests a pentagon, an equilateral geometric
form of five corners. This is the form that the planet Venus inscribes around the Earth by its
inferior and superior conjunctions with the Sun, as it moves “apparently” around our own
planet. One can, of course, question whether the ancients were aware of these facts, though
we do think that they had a more profound and even scientific knowledge of these astronomi-
cal features than we imagine today. However, it is remarkable that just such a geographical
location should have been selected for this purpose, which displayed an association with a
planet regarded in ancient times as carrying distinct esoteric features of a Mercury nature.
The people who built these monuments obviously still had a deep insight into the intercon-
nections between cosmos and Earth. They did realize that the entities and beings in the cos-
mos do shape and organize all the objects and living things that exist on our planet. In other
words, they recognized in much more precise detail all that had been formed out of that “jewel,
fallen from the crown of Lucifer in heaven”, from which the Vessel was eventually created and
all that was necessary for the bodily existence of human beings. For them the Mysterium
Magnum—that our body was created from the ingredients of the Zodiac and the planets—was
a real experience and not just a tradition. Therefore, it doesn’t seem to us surprising that they
lived in expectation and search for what was to “ful-fill the vessel”, that is, the Quest for the
Holy Grail in the background of all Arthurian legends. In Sir Thomas Malory’s Le Morte
D’Arthur, chapters XIX - XXIII, we hear how Sir Galahad, Sir Bors, and Sir Percivale eventu-
ally find the Holy Sangreal, how they see “a man come out of the holy vessel that had all the
signs of the passion of Jesus Christ, bleeding all openly... (who said to them) now hold and
receive the high meat which ye have so much desired... Then said he to Galahad: Son, wotest
thou what I hold betwixt my hands? Nay, said he, but if ye will tell me. This is, said he, the holy
dish wherein I ate the lamb on Sher-Thursday...” After that Sir Galahad even meets Joseph of
Arimathea, the first Guardian of the Holy Grail. “...wotest thou wherefore that he hath sent
me more than any other? For thou hast resembled me in two things: in that thou hast seen the
marvels of the Sangreal, in that thou hast been a clene maiden, as I have been and am.” After
that Sir Galahad dies, and his two comrades “...saw come from heaven a hand, but they saw not
77
the body. And then it came right to the Vessel, and took it and the spear, and so bare it up to
heaven. Sithen was there never man so hardy to say that he had seen the Sangreal.” (From the
J. M. Dent & Sons Ltd., London, edition of Le Morte D’Arthur, in Everyman’s Library.)
Not much is known about Sir Thomas Malory. He seems to have died in 1471. It is
interesting to notice that shortly afterwards, in June 1474, a Great Opposition of Saturn and
Jupiter occurred, which brought the first planet close to the sidereal position where it was on
January 6, 31 AD—what we take as the moment of the Baptism of Jesus, the Incarnation of
Christ. Jupiter was then at the sidereal point opposite from where it stood at the time of
Golgotha and the Resurrection. When the preceding conjunction of the two planets took
place 30 years earlier, in 1444, they were both approximately in this same sidereal position.
These recurrences are very important in history. They happen only in intervals of about 800
years. They represent, then, a possible rise of inspiring memories in the cosmos, for instance,
of the events during the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry. Thus we can understand how a man
like Malory came to write down such ideas as we quoted.
Altogether, Celtic Christianity was of a totally different nature from that which was devel-
oped in the southeast and south of Europe, which was chiefly built on oral and later on written
tradition, feeding slowly into dogmatism. This was totally different in western humanity of the
first centuries AD. Cornelis Los writes about it in his Die Altirische Kirche. Urchristentum im
Westen, editors: Verlag Urachhaus, Stuttgart (The Ancient Irish Church. Early Christianity in the
West), “...In the humanity which lived there, had been preserved longer, and stronger than
otherwise, conditioned by the particular characteristics of the Celts, the very ancient capacity
of man for clairvoyant perception of the divine worlds. With the assistance of this soul power
was it possible for human beings living at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean to follow directly the
events which had changed and renewed the whole atmosphere of the world through the de-
scent of the Christ into the realm of the Earth and through His Deed on Golgotha.” Cornelis
Los goes on to describe (chapter II) well-known traditions of ancient Druidism that simulta-
neously experienced through clairvoyant perception the events in Palestine. For instance, a
King of Ulster, Conchobar mac Fachtna, who is supposed to have lived at the time of Christ,
was told by his Druid of the Crucifixion of Christ. The king, whose head was severely wounded,
was so terribly shocked by the tale that he died.
Cornelis Los mentions also the story of the Irish princess, Brighed nam Bratta, who grew
up on the island of Iona, which later became the center of the Celtic Church. (The story was
formulated by the writer Fiona Macleod, pen name of William Sharp.) When she was grown
up, she experienced—in the spirit—the birth of Jesus in far-away Palestine. She traveled in this
condition to the place of birth and provided for Mother Mary a night’s rest by taking over the
care of the child. There exist more stories of this kind proving that Celtic people followed the
events in Palestine with deep inner participation.
A humanity that had such a profound and deep inner insight into the Christ Event on the
one hand, and on the other the capacity to recognize the cosmic origin of all earthly existence,
was well prepared for the Quest of the Holy Grail, or Sangreal. It was urged to find the deeper
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meaning of Earth incarnation in a spiritual vision of our real purpose of life on the Earth that
would enable us to fulfill their divine potential.
We can ask, and with justification, how was it then possible that western humanity, having
such a profound background of spirituality in the past, descended in modern times so deeply
into the world of sense perception and material existence? Just in these facts, we can see a
humanity in the Quest for the Holy Grail, in gigantic, cosmic proportions, but unfulfilled.
Developments and discoveries during the last few decades have proven that these ancient
cosmological propensities are only dormant and have not completely died in western human-
ity. They seem to come to life again. For instance, extensive statistical research by the U.S.
Weather Bureau over decades has rediscovered the existing correlation between precipitation
and the phases of the Moon. Similar discoveries were made, also on the basis of statistics, in
the fields of radio communications and occurring disturbances. Many more findings in other
fields of modern science followed, chiefly in the Western Hemisphere. We regard them as a
beginning and expect much more to come. Thus we hope that a modern science will, with all
its means of investigation, meet again that “Jewel of Lucifer” of cosmic origin, of which the
“Dish” or “Vessel” of physical existence was made. However, the great problem is whether
this science has the means and the will to realize the deeper implications of all this. So far, one
can read in all the corresponding publications, with almost unfailing regularity, that no explana-
tion will or can be given concerning these correlations. It cannot be helped; in order to achieve
satisfactory explanations, it needs a science of the spirit. For an objective mind, it must be
quite obvious that these effects, for instance of angular, heliocentric relationships between
planets on the radio-atmosphere of the Earth, cannot be found in purely quantitative, material
facts exclusively; it requires a knowledge of the “invisible etheric”, or life forces in the cosmos.
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October 1971
We concluded the September Letter with a description of the latest developments in the
field of statistical cosmological science. Also, we pointed out the inevitable shortcomings of
this science, and where we see a remedy. In order to lift this new cosmological experience up
to a real science of the Grail, it would need a firm recognition of the greater, spiritual “pur-
poses” of all Earth existence, particularly of human presence on this planet. There is, at
present, precious little indication of such an awareness all over the world. Generally, humanity
is stumbling along the road of existence, following worn-out, empty patterns of “purpose”
and aim. Almost any idea of meaningful purposes is rejected outright, letting the concept of
our very being fall into the hopelessness of being a creature of chance and accident only, of
being an animal-robot and no more. This aimlessness must appear, to a logical mind, as the real
cause of the globe-wide crisis into which this present humanity has maneuvered. For such
attitudes can cause only weakness and complete lack of organizing power.
Healing can come to the present great sickness in all spheres of life if the totality of human
existence—culturally, sociologically, and economically—is oriented and directed toward defi-
nite spiritual-moral goals in the future. If the validity and the exercise of such “apocalyptic”
perspectives (in the sense of the Revelation of St. John) are denied or declared meaningless
superstition, then this human existence will increasingly lose its material foundations, on which
it stands, without being able to maintain its spiritual integrity.
To recognize the great guiding beacons of a spiritual selfhood, in the language of the Holy
Grail, would mean realizing what the “Content” is that makes the Vessel the all-sustaining
Dish. Present humanity, particularly in the West, has reached amazing degrees of scientific and
technological accomplishments. It would be utterly wrong to misjudge or even reject them.
They came out of a true and justified development of human consciousness. However, they
will overpower and enslave us to a degree where we can lose our rightful place in the world if
they are not made to carry a higher cause. All these achievements must and can be made to
serve a purpose, to support a meaningful evolution, to help us to rise to the promised spiritual
heights of which all true religion speaks. Then the external accomplishments would become
the Vessel of a humanity-Grail, and the endeavors toward spiritual evolution would be the “ful-
fillment”. At the same time, this would be a realization of the Christ Impulse in a much more
profound and universal sense than any of the Christian traditions can convey. It could indeed
unite all true religions in humanity. Thus the western world, on the basis of redevelopment of
its ancient roots in Celtic traditions, has a unique opportunity and responsibility in the history
of humanity.
All such developments demand renunciation and sacrifice of egotistical aims and impulses,
which can be painful to a degree. Celtic tradition and its Christianity moved through such
experiences too. The story of King Arthur’s death is a vivid description of a transformation in
this sense. The Quest for the Holy Grail runs like a thread through Le Morte d’Arthur. How-
ever, as soon as Sir Galahad, Sir Percivale, and Sir Bors fulfilled the quest, the decline of King
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Arthur’s court sets in and eventually the King’s death occurs in the story. This is a kind of great
symbol of what actually happened to Celtic Christianity in a historic sense.
With St. Columba, a kind of culmination of the Celtic Church, centered on Iona, took
place. In the south of the British Isles, about the same time, a war of destruction was inaugu-
rated against this greatly esoteric Church. St. Columba died in 597 AD. In 590 Gregory the
Great had become pope of the Roman Church. He sent Augustine (of Canterbury) to En-
gland. After some hesitation Augustine landed near Canterbury in 597, from where in the
following decades a gradual “Romanization” of the Christianity of the British Isles was inau-
gurated, which was at times conducted on very aggressive principles. This eventually led to the
elimination of the ancient Celtic Church. However, we see something seemingly strange hap-
pen about the same time. We see apostles of the Irish-Celtic Christianity, such as St. Columban
(died 615), St. Gall (around the same time), and others bringing the message of Christianity,
chiefly to the peoples of Central Europe.
We can read something like an interpretation of this course of events in the concurrent
configurations in the heavens. For instance, in 590 AD, close to the developments that we
described above, a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn took place in about 90.6° tropical (helio-
centric). This was quite near the ascending node of Jupiter (about 86.3° then). It strongly
reminds us of the cosmic configurations that accompanied the Three Years of Christ’s Minis-
try (see Cosmic Christianity). At the time of the Baptism, according to our chronology of events,
Saturn had just moved through the same nodal line of Jupiter. At the time of the Crucifixion
and Resurrection, the planet Jupiter was in that position. This coincidence happens rarely, it
was actually the first time after the Three Years, and it did not come back until about 800 years
later, during the 15th century.
Thus, what happened on Earth during that 6th and 7th century was interpreted in the heav-
ens as a kind of secondary simile of the Mystery of Golgotha; and indeed, something like that
did take place, according to the information of Rudolf Steiner. The leading Folk Spirit of the
Celtic peoples sacrificed his ministry and subsequently became the guiding spirit of esoteric
Christianity, of Grail’s Christianity, genuine Rosicrucianism, and so on. The ancient saga of
the Cauldron of Inspiration belonging to Ceridwen, the great Goddess of Celtic mythology
(see The Flaming Door by Eleanor C. Merry, Chapter VI), had gone through a transformation
during the centuries of early Celtic Christianity and had become the Quest of the Holy Grail.
The transmutation and humanity-wide potentization of the Celtic Spirit is also expressed in the
connection of Percivale, or Parsifal, with King Arthur’s Court.
During the 7th, 8th, and 9th centuries, the Great Conjunction of 590 AD (see above) moved
gradually through the planetary elements that had strongly accompanied the events during the
Three Years of Christ’s Ministry. In 709 AD, it had almost arrived in the perihelion of Venus
(then about 114°). At the time of the Baptism (6 January 31 AD), the Sun (and heliocentrically
the Earth) was in that line. In the course of the Three Years, Saturn moved through it. During
the Forty Days after Easter 33 AD, Mars traversed the line. In 769 the Great Conjunction, in
about 120.5°, already passed the ascending node of Neptune (about 118.2°), which had also
81
been occupied by Saturn toward the very end of the Ministry of Christ Jesus. Finally, in 829
(about 131°) and 888 (about 140.6°) that conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn was in the process
of moving through the aphelion of Mars. This reflects the first Whitsun Festival, May 24, 33
AD (The Acts II), when Mars was in its own aphelion, and Neptune opposite, in the perihelion
of Mars. The years between 829 and 888 AD seem to be connected with Parsifal’s progress in
his Quest of the Holy Grail, particularly the time around the second date (the ninth century has
been suggested by Rudolf Steiner as the time when the Parsifal events happened; there is also
other evidence).
We include here a heliocentric chart of the Great Conjunction of 888 AD (Fig. 11), also of
the configuration of the heavens at Easter 887. (Easter and Whitsun play important parts in
the Parsifal story.) Furthermore, we add the opposition of Uranus and Pluto of 889, which is
also significant with regard to its descendents in following centuries. (One may argue that it
cannot be proven that these planets, particularly Pluto, already existed then. However, we do
regard it as more than possible that they did exist, though they could not be perceived. The
positions of Pluto were calculated with the Pluto-Tafel by Noesselt-Hoffmann.)
We have chosen to add the configuration of March 25, 887 (near Easter of that year)
because the positions of Saturn and Jupiter display a striking similarity to their places during
the Good Friday and Easter season of 33 AD. This was the moment when the Holy Grail
reached its highest manifestation in the Resurrection of Christ. (We realize that the Holy Grail
manifests in varying degrees. For instance, one manifestation would be an actual Vessel that
existed and was used by Christ at the Last Supper.) Furthermore, the conjunction of Saturn
and Mars in 887 reminds us of another similar event on April 23, 31 AD, which was only
slightly further back in the ecliptic—actually near the transition point from Gemini to Cancer.
This was also a Passover-Easter season. It was preceded by the first “sign” of Christ, the
transformation of water into wine, at the Wedding of Cana (St. John II). After that, the Christ
entered the Temple at Jerusalem and drove out the merchants and the money changers (St.
John II:13-22), “...Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou us
seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple,
and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in
building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When,
therefore, he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto
them; and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said...”
This event was followed by the nightly conversation of Christ with Nicodemus (see St.
John III). Thus we see here, right in the beginning of the Three Years, the firm impulse to
establish that highest degree of the Holy Grail, and it was accompanied in the heavens by a
conjunction of Saturn and Mars, which appears also in the configuration of 887.
The Great Conjunction of October 888, was only a few degrees from the position of
Saturn on January 8, 34 AD (including consideration of the precessional movement from 33
AD to 888). Venus and Mars were in places approximately opposite the ones they occupied on
January 8, 34 AD. What happened in January 34? On the basis of the scanty evidence (partly
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Figure 11
of cosmic nature) that we have, it seems to have been around the time of the Saul-Paul drama,
concluded by his conversion (Acts VIII and IX). The actual day of “Paul at Damascus” is
celebrated in the old Christian calendar on January 25. Thus the Great Conjunction of 888
would reflect and remember events that could have become manifest in the “conversion” of
Parsifal by Trevrizent (see Parsifal by Wolfram von Eschenbach, Book IX, translated in Vintage
Books).
The third event, indicated in Fig. 11, was in about September 889. It is connected with very
slow cosmic rhythms. These oppositions and conjunctions of Pluto and Uranus recur in inter-
vals of about 253 years, with only a few degrees of difference in their ecliptical positions. The
following is a register of these events, showing that the conjunctions are, as a rule, only about
52 years earlier and further back in the ecliptic:
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Conjunctions: Oppositions:
AD 583 both planets 345.4° AD 636 Uranus 218° Pluto 38°
837 355° 889 226° 46°
1091 5° 1142 c. 234° c. 54°
1344 12.8° 1395 242° 62°
1598 21.5° 1648 249° 69°
1850 29° 1902 258° 78°
2104 37-38°
There is, however, another series of these conjunctions and oppositions, appearing rhyth-
mically in a different part of the ecliptic. We mention this in order to give the full picture.
Conjunctions: Oppositions:
AD 695 both planets 100.5° AD 777 Uranus 94° Pluto 274°
948 112° 1031 107° 287°
1202 123° 1286 120° 300°
1456 136° 1539 132° 312°
1711 150° 1793 144° 324°
1966 166.48° 2047 155° 335°
It appears that the first series of events reflects more the happenings in the domain of the
spiritual world government, of esoteric Christianity, and so forth. The second series seems to
be connected with actual results and consequences of the decisions. For instance, the conjunc-
tion of 583 and opposition of 636 AD fall into the time when the great transitions on the
British lsles, which we mentioned above, took place. The leading Folk Spirit of the Celtic
peoples then took over the guidance of esoteric Christianity in humanity. One can regard this
as a decision that was made in the spiritual world. Some results became apparent at the time of
the following conjunction of 695 AD and opposition of 777 AD. There is historic evidence
that this was the century during which the Order of the Knights of the Holy Grail was founded
and coinciding, historically, with the necessity of blocking the invasion of the Moslems into
Spain and France.
The events during the 14th and 15th centuries are even more striking in connection with
these conjunctions and oppositions. In 1314 the Order of the Knights Templars had finally
been crushed by the burning at the stake of the last grandmaster Jacques de Molay. The
Knights Templars can, in a certain sense, be regarded as the descendents of the Knights of the
Holy Grail. The Order was founded in 1119 at Jerusalem upon the Sepulchre into which the
body of Christ Jesus had been laid. This was like a transformed Grail’s motive; the sepulchre,
as the resting place of the body, was like a chalice. From it had risen the Christ on Easter
Sunday morning, indeed the archetype of the transmutation of the human, material body, the
consequence of the Fall and Great Sin, and of the Deed of Salvation.
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The Knights Templars were destroyed by evil, working through the French King Philip le
Bel. We can imagine that the spiritual government of the world had to make decisions for the
continuance of esoteric Christianity in humanity during the 14th century. Around 1378, the
personality whom we know only under the name of Christian Rosenkreutz, the founder of the
Rosicrucian movement during the 15th century, was born. One tradition speaks of a journey of
this personality to the East when he was hardly sixteen years old. He came, according to this,
to “…Damascus where he was initiated by Sages in order to find the Christ in the secrets of
Nature...” (A New & Authentic History of the Rosicrucians by Fr. Wittmans, published by Rider &
Co., London, 1938). We have, of course, no means of proving this; however, it is remarkable
that this should coincide with that opposition of Uranus and Pluto in 1395 (see above).
We can also discern the results of these decisions in connection with a conjunction of
these two planets, belonging to the second series, in 1456. Again a kind of Moslem invasion
into Europe had taken place. In 1453 the Turks had conquered Constantinople. However, in
1459, that great event took place in a hidden corner of the world, the knowledge of which has
come down to us in Rosicrucian tradition as the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno
1459. (Translation by Carlo Pietzner of an exposition by Rudolf Steiner on the Chymical Wed-
ding, and the translation by E. Foxcroft as The Hermetick Romance or the Chymical Wedding, all
contained in A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology, compiled and edited by Paul M. Allen, in Rudolf
Steiner Publications, Blauvelt, New York.)
Rudolf Steiner wrote in the introductory remarks of his exposition on the Chymical Wed-
ding, mentioned above: “Anyone who knows what the human soul experiences when it has
opened the gates into the spiritual world, need only read a few pages of the Chymical Wedding of
Rosenkreutz of the year 1459 to recognize that the descriptions given in this book are based upon
genuine spiritual experience.” And toward the end he wrote: “...For those who understand this
document, as does the author of this exposition, it is an historical account of a European
spiritual stream going back to the 15th century, a stream seeking to acquire knowledge about
that relationship of everything which lies behind the phenomena of the external world...”
Current Events
Mid month the last of the five oppositions of Saturn and Jupiter will take place, which
began Dec. 1969. We have repeatedly remarked on these oppositions in earlier issues. This last
event will see Saturn already deep in sidereal Taurus. In fact it will be close to the fixed star
Lambda Tauri, the first of the group of the Hyades in Taurus, near the nostrils of the Bull.
The mythology connected with the Hyades is very interesting (see, for instance, The Stars in Our
Heavens by Peter Lum). They were associated with rain in many places; even in China, where
they saw the background of the creation of the universe and of the Earth by the goddess
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Nukua, and how this creation was threatened by evil forces using the water of the oceans as
destructive force, and how a healthy equilibrium was eventually established between the watery
and the solid elements.
The two planets will again be moving closer in coming years, until they meet in conjunction
in 1981, then move apart into the oppositions of 1989-90. Finally, in 2000 AD another Great
Conjunction will happen, the descendent of the ones in 1940-1, of which we have spoken on
various occasions.
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November 1971
In the October Letter, we mentioned the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (written
by Joh. Val. Andreae), which gives us information about the essential character of the medieval
Rosicrucian movement.
This spiritual stream was founded by Christian Rosenkreutz during the 15th century. It was
the answer and the result of those decisions in the spiritual world during the 14th century, which
we mentioned earlier in connection with the configurations, conjunctions, and oppositions
between Uranus and Pluto in 1344 and 1395. Thus we can witness in the second series of
events—here particularly those which follow the conjunction of the two planets in 1456—the
results and consequences of the earlier decisions.
Furthermore, we see that the opposition of 1395 was a direct descendent of the one in
889, which appears to be connected with the Grail-Parsifal story. And indeed, the Rosicrucian
movement was, in a true sense, the metamorphosed continuation of the impulse of the Holy
Grail. At the beginning of the 13th century, the story of the Holy Grail had been made known
to the world by the troubadour movement; thereby, the road was opened by which the Mystery
of the Holy Grail was made accessible to all in humanity who were ready to receive it. This was
accompanied by the conjunction in the second series of Uranus and Pluto, in 1202. Then, on
the background of the following descendent of this conjunction in 1456, another step was
taken that was designed to bring all of a willing humanity eventually still closer to the Mystery
of the Holy Grail and its deep significance for the evolution of the human race.
How can an inner connection with the Mysteries of the Holy Grail be seen in Rosicrucianism?
Its great Signum, the Rose Cross, answers this question. The black cross with the glowing, red
roses on it can be experienced as the metamorphosed imagination of the Grail’s Cup and its
spirit content. To verify this for oneself, it is essential to study what Rudolf Steiner wrote about
it in his Occult Science, chapter V, with regard to meditative work. On this basis, the black cross
can become the consummate picture of our attachment to the physical-material world through
our body. We said earlier that this must ultimately be taken as the principle of the Cup that had
been shaped out of a jewel that had fallen from the crown of Lucifer. The appointed domicile,
as it were, of Lucifer is in the cosmos of old, as he persisted in the relationship between the
heavens and pre-Christian humanity. Therefore, Lucifer is always inclined and has the impulse
to tempt humans away from the present, back into ancient conditions, and especially into
Earth denying forms of existence.
However, the “seven resplendent bright red roses arranged in a circle” ( Rudolf Steiner’s,
Occult Science p. 231; 1962-3 edition, London) upon the cross can become “an expression of
passions and impulses that have undergone purification.” This can be experienced as the spirit
content of the cup, and thus the Holy Grail can be experienced as an inner fact by every human
being who makes the corresponding efforts needed to attain such a realization. By such means,
the archetypal Grail Event, the Deed of Christ, can become an uplifting experience for every
member of the human race who has the “good will” to rise to it.
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The essential configurations in the heavens that accompanied the developments in the
Rosicrucian movement suggest, from the angle of cosmic memory, this relationship with the
Christ Event. In Fig. 12 below we see the Great Conjunction of 1444 in the inner circle. It had
then arrived on its course through the Zodiac near the ascending node of Jupiter. (This has
been mentioned already in the September Letter in connection with Sir Thomas Malory.) Once
again—it happened before during the 6th century—the two planets returned with their meet-
ings to the same positions that Saturn occupied at the time of the Baptism and Jupiter at
Golgotha. Furthermore, Mercury was in the descending nodal line of Jupiter in 1444, near the
place where it had been on 3 April 33 AD.
Figure 12
Then on March 24, 1459, which was the “eve before Easter Sunday” (the First Day of the
Chymical Wedding), Saturn was in the descending node of Jupiter (see second circle in diagram).
Also Uranus and Venus were in significant places. Uranus was in the extended aphelion line of
Mars, where Mars had been at Whitsun, 33 AD, and Venus was in the aphelion of Jupiter. That
was approximately opposite the place where the Great Conjunction of 6 BC, the Conjunction
of Annunciation, in a broad sense, had taken place.
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Thus was the foundation of the Rosicrucian movement in the Middle Ages, indeed, much
more than just a casual occurrence. This has also been well attested to by the cosmic configu-
rations following onto those of the 15th century. In 1711 the descendent conjunction of Ura-
nus and Pluto, of the preceding one in 1456, took place. Likewise, in 1793 was the recurrence
of the opposition belonging to the same order, which was preceded by the one in 1535. They
belong to the second series of events (see October Letter) and are, therefore, associated with
results and executions of decisions reached in the spiritual world concerning the development
of esoteric Christianity.
The historic background of the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto of 1711-12 has been
mentioned in the Oct.-Nov. ’65 issues. It took place 37.2 years before the gestation of Goethe
(born 28 August 1749). This corresponds to two Moon node cycles; in other words, the Moon
nodes occupied similar positions in 1711 to those during the embryonic development of Goethe.
The Moon nodes are similar, in a broad sense, to the nodes of the planets, as they are
gateways for cosmic activities and impulses to work into Earth existence. In the case of the
conjunction of 1711-12, we can imagine that definite impulses active in the cosmos were pre-
pared to seek realization in the life of Goethe, who incarnated two Moon node cycles later.
This we would see indicated in the coincidence of the two Moon node positions. Did such an
impulse eventually manifest in Goethe’s earthly career?
We see this confirmed in the Moon node rhythms during Goethe’s life, following onto the
nodes’ positions at his incarnation and in 1711-12. Around the first return of the nodes to
their original positions in 1767-8, Goethe was studying at the university of Leipzig. Suddenly,
he fell ill and suffered a hemorrhage. His stay at Leipzig came to an abrupt conclusion. How-
ever, this crisis led Goethe into a new sphere of inner experience. As soon as he was suffi-
ciently recovered, he returned to his birth town, Frankfurt am Main. There he studied books
on occult philosophy and became occupied with alchemy, astrology, etc. It was an awakening
for him and an inspiration to new vistas in his life. After another cycle of the Moon nodes in
1786, Goethe got ready for a two year journey to Italy. This had a profound influence on his
character. On the day he entered Rome he wrote “I am now initiated”. A little later he wrote
“I count it as a second birthday, a true rebirth, the day when I entered Rome”. And to his
mother: “I shall come back as a new human being, and shall live to myself and to my friends
with ever greater joy.” It inaugurated, indeed, a new phase in his earthly career.
Eventually we see the inner progress that Goethe made come to expression about one-half
Moon node cycle later, when they had reversed their positions in the ecliptic, compared with
those during gestation and at birth. This happened in the course of 1795-6. Two years earlier
an opposition of Uranus and Pluto had taken place, the successor of the conjunction of 1711-
12. The time around 1795 saw one of the significant “secret revelations” of Goethe, the so-
called Legend. Its content and meaning have been described by Steiner on 22 October 1908.
He said then, “... In the Fairy Tale (the Legend) Goethe presents the evolution of the soul in a
correct and pictorial way... Goethe was aware that there is a goal for the development of the
human soul, which in ancient times was called the ‘initiation into higher secrets’...”
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In the sense of all these happenings in Goethe’s life, he can well be regarded as a personal-
ity who carried the impulse further that entered humanity in the Middle Ages as Rosicrucianism.
He was certainly aware of the Rose Cross significance, as was revealed by his poem The Secrets.
There a young man, after a long journey, comes to a lonely hermitage in which a number of
sages live. Above the portal he sees a representation of the Rose Cross and exclaims, “Who
has added roses to the Cross?”
Why do we regard Goethe’s Legend as an integral manifestation of that spiritual stream in
humanity that we saw moving through Celtic Christianity, through the Quest of the Holy Grail,
the Templars, and finally Rosicrucianism? This stream, coming to life mainly in western hu-
manity, developed an approach to the spiritual secret of human and world existence different
from those of eastern civilizations, chiefly on the Asiatic continent. The latter had and still
has, to a certain extent, from most ancient times, a natural, almost instinctive awareness of the
reality of the spiritual world. And the physical-material world was experienced as a contradic-
tion that was even despicable. We need only think of certain tenets of Hinduism and Bud-
dhism. The material existence was a state of misery. Only one thing could be done about this:
to get out of it as fast as possible.
In the west a totally different humanity grew up. It involved itself ever deeper into the
material world. Thus, modern science of nature and technology came into being, and many
more facets of life, as a result. The awareness of the reality of a spiritual world receded more
and more into the background and was finally regarded as mere superstition, or at best as a
concern of faith. However, this is only one side of the picture, which can be highly deceiving.
The other side is the ceaseless endeavor of an esoteric Christianity that manifested in such
streams as that of the Holy Grail. It did live with the descent of western humanity into the
material reality. On the other hand it raised the awareness of the reality of the spirit to new
levels of experience. Thus it held the “Cup” of material existence but always endeavored to fill
it with spirit content.
In Goethe’s Legend, this is represented by the picture of two countries or realms that are
separated by a wide and mighty river, or even a part of an ocean. The one is the domain of a
community of humans and other beings who are involved in material existence of some kind.
The other domain appears to be the sphere that, seen from the material angle, is made inacces-
sible to ordinary human consciousness, approachable only in exceptional cases and at death.
There the beautiful Lily lives. Yet, beings from the material realm endeavor incessantly to gain
access to the land of the Beautiful Lily. However, it happens that if they penetrate into it
unprepared and accidentally touch the Beautiful Lily, they fall dead.
The attempts to penetrate take on many forms and continue incessantly. Eventually, the
Green Snake, the very ancient imagination of cosmic wisdom (who, nevertheless, appears in
the Legend as a picture of humility), decides to sacrifice herself in spite of her deep knowledge.
Ceaselessly creeping through the caves of the land of material existence, she comes upon a
deep secret. In a subterranean temple she finds three Kings enthroned. The first one consists
of gold, the second of silver, and the third of bronze. There is a fourth one who is made of a
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mixture of the three metals. He cannot stand up to the requirements of that moment. Even-
tually, will-ó-the-wisps eat the metals of his body and he crumbles. In connection with these
mysteries, the Green Snake knows that the time of the great change has arrived. She has heard
that the quest of the members of the human community, involved with bringing about com-
munication between the land of material existence and that of spiritual reality, is about to be
fulfilled. So, one day she spans the gulf of the wide, wild river between the two regions with
her own body. Thus she creates a bridge, and from then on all beings are able to have access to
either of the two worlds, hitherto so fatefully separated.
In this great portrayal of a conscious, clear establishment of communication between the
material and the spiritual worlds, we see Goethe’s work in the stream of a humanity reaching
out to the realization of a new spiritual culture. The medieval stage or step was the Rosicrucian
impulse. In modern times this impulse is still strongly working, though it speaks, at least to a
certain extent, in terms of the problems and tasks of a modern humanity. We find indications
of this in Goethe’s scientific work.
About the time of the “birth” of the Legend, Goethe worked over what he conceived as the
archetypal plant. According to his experience, all plants have one common spiritual archetype
from which the thousand-fold and tremendously varying forms of material plant existence
descend. In 1794 he spoke about this to Friedrich Schiller, with whom he had entered into a
most fruitful literary production and friendship. He even seems to have drawn a kind of
diagram of what he had conceived at that time as an invisible but most potential archetypal
plant. Schiller could only see in this an idea, meaning something that existed only in a human
mind but had no objective existence. Goethe replied that if this were so, namely, that it was an
idea, then he “saw his ideas with eyes”, as realities just as significant, if not more potent, than
physical-material facts.
This conversation is supposed to have taken place on July 22, 1794. It is interesting to
study the configuration of the heavens in that moment, although we still must emphasize that
it was not the cosmic forces involved that created the situation; rather, we see it as an element
that presented itself among the many human beings living then, including Goethe and Schiller,
as a kind of challenge. What they made of it was a matter of their own inner degree of
evolution and judgment. We shall produce the positions of the more significant planets in that
moment in the heliocentric chart (Fig. 13), and carry on with its evaluation in the December
Letter.
Current Events
Heliocentrically, toward the end of the month the Earth will be conjunct Saturn and oppo-
site Neptune. If we insist on finding an opposition of the two planets in history closely resem-
bling this one, we have to go very far back. In 1648 Saturn (accompanied by Pluto) was in 72°
(sidereal Taurus), opposite Neptune in 252° (sidereal Scorpio, accompanied by Uranus). This
was the year of the Peace Treaty of Westphalia that terminated the Thirty Years’ War. It was
concluded more for reasons of complete exhaustion and depletion of the forces that opposed
each other than of anything else.
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December 1971
In the November Letter, we mentioned the conversation between Goethe and Schiller on
July 22, 1794, and we produce the configuration in the heavens at that time, below, in order to
discuss some of its details.
Figure 13
Conversation between
Goethe and Schiller
We find Uranus close to the aphelion line of Mars, which had been there between Ascen-
sion Day and Whitsun day in 33 AD. This seems to reflect the tenor of the events in 1794, at
least as far as Goethe and Schiller were concerned. Likewise, Mars was near the aphelion line
of Saturn, through which the Earth moved during the last three of the 40 days before the
original Ascension day. Jupiter was just preparing in 1794 to move through its descending
node. It was approximately opposite its own position in January-February 33 AD, referring to
the events described in the Gospel of St. John X and XI. (An opposition to the original place
in the Zodiac can offer “memories for contemplation”, though combined with different or
hidden “pretexts”.) Finally, we see Saturn in Aries in 1794, having just passed through the
ascending node of Mars. This offers various aspects in connection with the Three Years Min-
istry of Christ. The most conspicuous one was Mars moving through that node at the time of
the commencement of the “forty days” of Christ in the desert and the temptation by the
“devil” (St. Matthew IV, St. Mark I:12, St. Luke IV). The event in 1794 was a cosmic memory
having preserved what those forces would want to instill in a human being: “What Goethe is
saying here is only an idea” (unreal, possibly even superstitious). Of course, Schiller in that
moment did not fall for this “temptation”, because he had by then arrived at a high moral
estimation of the Idea, even if only in an inspiring and philosophical sense.
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It is illuminating to see how such an incident in the human realm, as that of 1794, relates
itself to the cosmos beyond the moment in which it happens. As we have pointed out so often,
this is an aspect of a modern astrosophy and astrology that we must take very realistically, i.e.,
in ancient times the stars did inspire humanity, then came the times when they became more
and more silent. However, in the background of these somewhat painful experiences of hav-
ing lost the ancient star wisdom, was the preparation of our new relationship to the stars. It
becomes more and more apparent that it is the human beings who now impart their life expe-
riences to the stars, thus “speaking” to them. This speaking can indeed be discovered as a
reality.
One area where this new relationship has become very apparent is the association that we
form with the stars at the moment of death. If we return again for a moment to Goethe’s
experiences in 1794 and their reflection in the stars, we find, for instance, the aphelion line of
Mars engaged by Uranus. This was not lost, so to speak, as a passing event; we see it again
emphasized, possibly we can even say “remembered”, in the star configuration at Goethe’s
death (see Fig. 14). There, Jupiter was close to the perihelion linr of Mars, which Saturn had
passed over within the span of a year.
Figure 14
Goethe’s death
22 March 1832
The sphere of Mars is especially connected with the development of modern natural sci-
ence, with its problems and requirements on the part of humanity. Thus Goethe’s struggle for
an evolution of science, congenial to our standing between the world of the senses and the
world of spiritual reality, was received at the moment of his death into the cosmos. It did not
simply come to rest there. The challenge was taken up by others who incarnated after Goethe.
They assimilated it into their own cosmic “tool-complex” and evolved it further. We shall
substantiate this in the next Letter.
93
Apart from this, we can also discover that the impulses that lived in Goethe had prepared
themselves before through a long line of individual human experiences associated with similar
endeavors. Just as in Goethe’s life, they were accompanied in the heavens by corresponding
star configurations, because the stars are now, as we said above, “interested” in what human
beings speak and do out of their inner moral development; and this they can hand on to others,
who follow in time.
Earlier, we pointed out obvious associations with the perihelion-aphelion line of Mars,
both at the time of Goethe’s writing the Legend and also at the time of his death (see Fig. 13 &
14). In fact, in August-September 1795, when the Legend came into being, Uranus was exactly
in the aphelion line of Mars. This is related to 1459, the date of the Chymical Wedding of Christian
Rosenkreutz, when Uranus was also in the aphelion line of Mars—four orbits of Uranus earlier.
Furthermore, it leads us back to the time soon after Golgotha when Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter
moved in turn through this line. Also, we discovered earlier that the Great Conjunction of
Saturn and Jupiter in 888 AD, happened close to the aphelion of Mars (see Fig. 11).
Why should there be these associations with the elements of the Mars sphere? We can get
illuminating information if we study, as it were, the biography of the apsides of Mars. The
perihelion of Mars entered the sidereal constellation of Aquarius in about 33 AD, coming
from Capricorn (Neptune accompanied this, standing above the extended perihelion line of
Mars). Going still further back, we find the perihelion line of Venus in conjunction with the
aphelion line of Mars in about 3200 BC. This happened in the sidereal constellation of Cancer.
In order to fully comprehend this, we must try to understand the nature of the spheres of
Mars and Venus. They hold the orbit of the Earth on either side. The elliptical path of Mars
is “outside” and next to that of our planet, whereas the path of Venus is “inside” the domain
of the Earth (seen heliocentrically) and also closest to it. This demonstrates one of the deeper
secrets of all Earth evolution. In the direction toward the constellations of the fixed star
Zodiac, representing the archetypal wellsprings of all existence, there is the work-field of Mars.
Thus Mars is the sphere from which the forces that create physical existence take decisive steps
down to the Earth. This activity is further illustrated by the fact that our soul experiences, in
the sphere of Mars after death, the spiritual archetypes of all physical being. Therefore, the
first part of the Earth evolution was called, in occultism, the Mars period of the Earth, because
during that era the creation of the physical world, which we grasp with the senses, took place.
The second part of the Earth evolution is called by occultism the Mercury era. This refers
to the planet we call Venus in modern astronomy. It is one of the more difficult problems of
a cosmology. Rudolf Steiner pointed out that, at a certain moment in the past, the names of
Venus and Mercury were exchanged in order to prevent possible misuse. In his lecture-cycle
on the Apocalypse, June 18-30, 1908, lecture III, he says: “...the esotericism of the Middle Ages
resorted to drastic measures and called Mercury Venus, and Venus Mercury... You may still find
in certain books of the Middle Ages, which describe the true state of affairs, that the outer
stars of our planetary system are enumerated thus: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Earth; and then comes
(not as it is now: Venus, Mercury) Mercury, Venus. Therefore, it says here (Revelation II:27-
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28), ‘Even as I received of my Father, And I will give him the morning star’”, i.e., in modern
astronomy, Venus.
Therefore, we call the second half of the Earth evolution “Mercury”, in an esoteric sense,
but are fully aware that it means the planet which is, on the “inside” (see above) closest to the
Earth, in modern astronomical language, Venus. Mercury, in the esoteric sense, is the planetary
sphere brought into action by the Christ Event, working in the impulse of love, healing, and
redemption. The working of the Mars sphere and the beings associated with it, has moved
evolution into the great crisis, which is also sometimes called the great Fall and Sin. In order to
achieve the physical-material “object world”, certain beings of the Mars sphere split the origi-
nally united and integrated universe into the uncountable number of objects that we encounter
through our senses. Thereby, the typically “martial” element of the planet—contradiction,
opposition, antagonism, strife, warfare—also entered the world,. The Christ Impulse intends
to bring healing and redemption to this great cosmic crisis, and this is connected with Mercury,
in the esoteric sense, the “morning star” of the Apocalypse, which astronomy today calls Ve-
nus.
At the time of the commencement of Kali Yuga, the great crisis in evolution reached a
climax. Ancient Indian wisdom was aware of four great Ages through which humanity passed,
the so-called Yugas. Later on, the first was called the Golden Age, followed by the Silver and
Bronze Ages. Finally, the Dark Age or Kali Yuga commenced in 3101 BC and lasted till 1899
AD. It was called the Dark Age because our original, natural clairvoyance and realization of
the spiritual world gradually vanished during its course, and darkness set in. This happened in
order to give humanity the opportunity to find freedom, so that we could learn to make deci-
sions on the basis of our independent thinking. This was not so in ancient times, when people
followed obediently the commandments of the spiritual world, which they recognized clair-
voyantly. Of course, this great change led us more and more into possible error and the
development of martial faculties. Eventually stemming from it were the limitations that a
modern science of nature encountered.
The commencement of the Kali Yuga Age was accompanied by the conjunction of the
aphelion line of Mars with the perihelion line of Venus (esoterically, Mercury) in the constella-
tion of Cancer in about 3200 BC, which we mentioned above. This signified that the active
part of the sphere of Mars was now definitely associated with Cancer, which by then had
become the cosmic picture of the “broken bridge”, in the sense of Norse mythology. Once it
stood for the Bifrost Bridge that connected Asgard, the land of the Gods, with Midgard, the
realm where humans dwelt. Then, in the course of the Twilight of the Gods, the Bridge was
destroyed. This imagination wants to tell us that the natural clairvoyant access to the divine
spiritual world ceased.
The sphere of Venus and its beings (Occult Mercury), contemplated (perihelion) all this at
the time of the conjunction, with the patience and preparedness for suffering, which is one of
the typical characteristics of this sphere. Their patience is demonstrated by the fact that the
perihelion of this planet falls very slowly, almost imperceptibly, back against the precession of
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the fixed star constellations of the Zodiac. It entered the area corresponding to present side-
real Cancer, coming from Leo in the dim Atlantean past, and it will fall back into the space,
which is at present occupied by Gemini, in the very distant future. As the constellations of the
Zodiac change in the course of long ages because of the movements of the fixed stars, it is
rather futile to draw any conclusions with regard to the movement of the apsides of Venus
through these constellations. However, we can realize the fact that this perihelion of Venus
(Occult Mercury), has been and will still be for a long time, with patience and suffering, con-
nected with Cancer and all the evolutionary consequences implied by it.
The apsidal elements of Mars move much faster. The perihelion entered the area of Cap-
ricorn in about 6000 BC. About the same time the aphelion was entering Cancer. The year
6000 BC brings us back to Ancient Indian humanity (7227 BC-5067 BC), which was still a
profound and spiritually guided civilization. In contrast to this, it experienced through the
senses a harsh material Earth environment. An older humanity hadn’t as yet encountered the
material world to such a challenging extent. Much of the later reticence of eastern humanity
toward the world of matter and the senses has its roots in this fact. In this confrontation,
forces were involved that found expression in the ingress of the aphelion of Mars into Cancer.
At the same time, the perihelion of Mars in Capricorn speaks a similar language. Capricorn is
an “earthy sign” in the sense of astrological tradition, which has a “decidedly physical vibra-
tion” and “denotes the awakening of physical consciousness through ambition and temporal
power” (from Alan Leo’s How to Judge a Nativity).
At the time of Christ, the ingress of the perihelion of Mars into Aquarius doesn’t yet
indicate a change of attitude of this martial planet but the dawn of its badly needed redemp-
tion. From one angle, Aquarius is describing the great chronicle of the concluding stages of
that cycle of evolution that occultism calls Ancient Moon (see Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science,
chapter IV). This preceded the present Sun-Earth universe. In its course, the precedent of the
Fall in Paradise took place on Earth, according to Genesis I. Certain rebellious forces drew a
part of that predecessor of the “Earth evolution” away from the Sun, as it had come into being
then, and led a separate, egoistic existence that is remembered, as it were, in Scorpio. Only
after a long struggle, which is reflected in the very ancient myth of the “Great Battle in Heaven”,
was that Ancient Moon united again with the Sun. This is “remembered” in sidereal Aquarius.
Therefore, it is a gateway through which we can approach and learn to comprehend the mys-
tery of the Great Sacrifice of the Self or I of the Sun, the Cosmic Christ Being, Who united
with the Earth so that He may raise it at some future point to the status of Sun-being.
As we said, we can find events and individualities in history, accompanied in the heavens by
happenings near the perihelion-aphelion line of Mars, who patiently and often inconspicuously
donate their labor toward the achievement of these aims. They descend into the Mars created
realm of material existence and try to transform it from within, through their spiritual efforts.
We see it impressively present in the Great Conjunction of 888 AD, where Saturn and Jupiter
met close to the aphelion line of Mars (see October Letter), and then again in 1459 when
Uranus was in the aphelion line of Mars. A few of the historical personalities are:
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Paracelsus died September 24, 1541, when Uranus was close to the aphelion line of
Mars, which would indicate that he was associated in life with this impulse. He was
the great physician, standing at the threshold of the modern age of science, who
broke, in a certain sense, the ties that still fettered medical knowledge and practice
to the most ancient concepts. Under very difficult circumstances, even persecu-
tion, he descended into the realm of handling material, chemical substances for
remedial purposes with a scientific approach. At the same time he combined it
with a deep and penetrating understanding of the cosmic and spiritual origin of
these substances and of the human being. It is difficult to do him justice in a short
description. The Cowles Comprehensive Encyclopedia says, “...Through the work of
such men as Ph. A. Paracelsus, (and others following him)... the cornerstone of
chemical physiology was set in place...” Paracelsus may have been directly con-
nected with the medieval Rosicrucian movement. He may even have been one of
its chief leaders, though we have no absolute proof. In any case, we must see him
as a profound occultist along genuine esoteric Christian lines. Among his many
writings, his books on the Last Supper and interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer
support this suggestion.
Jakob Boehme died 17 November 1624, when Saturn was in 146° and close to the
aphelion line of Mars (148.8°). He can be called a mystic theosophist. In his early
years he was trained to be a cobbler. Apart from this profession, he wrote a num-
ber of well-known books, such as: Aurora, oder die Morgenröte im Anfang (Aurora, the
Rise of Dawn) and Der Weg zu Christus (The Road to Christ). They had a great influ-
ence on later generations. One encyclopedia says: “The characteristic element in
Boehme’s teaching is the amalgamation of philosophy of nature and mysticism.”
It is this amalgamation, or attempt to achieve it, that seems to be especially ex-
pressed or realized in the position of Saturn in the aphelion of Mars.
Nicholas Culpeper, the English herbalist and apothecary was another person who dem-
onstrated a similar cosmic association. He died January 10, 1654 (o.s.) when Jupiter
(328°) was close to the perihelion line of Mars (about 329° then), and Saturn (143°)
opposite in the aphelion line of Mars. Although his life-span was rather short
(born 1616), he compiled a great number of books (seventeen in all) during a very
industrious life in his profession and care for the poor. The best known of them is
English Physician Enlarged, in which he describes a great number of plants that can
be used for medicinal purposes. However, he also gives what he calls the “Govern-
ment and Virtues”, that is, their connection with the planets and their potencies on
this basis. He could only have done this on the foundations of a deep esoteric
knowledge of spiritual-cosmic forces working into earthly matter, and in this we
witness a possible realization, even transformation, of those cosmic elements of
Mars.
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Thomas Vaughan died on February 27, 1666 (o.s.), and Jupiter (337°) had then—12
years after Culpeper’s death—returned to a position near the perihelion of Mars.
Uranus was also quite close (323°). He appears in the Encyclopedia Britannica as
“alchemist and mystic”. One of his most outstanding works is Anthroposophia
Theomagica. He seems to have had some connection with the Rosicrucian move-
ment of his time, though it is somewhat hazy. However, this appears to have been
a practice among some disciples of Rosicrucianism, to deny a connection with that
movement. The reason may have been that the movement had been maneuvered
by some of its adherents into disrepute, from which others wanted to dissociate
themselves publicly. His alchemical work and attempts seem to have been con-
ducted by him as a “spiritual work”, as an effort toward “the philosophical trans-
mutation of body into spirit and spirit into body”. It was not done for the achieve-
ment of “the ungodly and accursed gold-making…” (quoted from The Brotherhood
of the Rosy Cross by Arthur E. Waite).
Here we see another demonstration of a realization of the impulses expressed in the ele-
ments of Mars. They appear to challenge people of the present age to enter with full con-
sciousness into the domain of physical-materiality but to redeem it at the same time by a
knowledge, even a science, of the spirit. This would be the modern manifestation of the
impulse of the Holy Grail.
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January 1972
In the December Letter we tried to describe the significance of the apsidal line of Mars for
the evolution of modern humanity. This became particularly evident in the charts concerning
Goethe, 1794 and 1832. We also mentioned a number of historic personalities who had,
before Goethe, associated with these “elements” of Mars. This may seem strange in view of
the nature of Mars; however, it is very understandable with regard to the tasks of the age that
commenced in 1413, the age of science and technology, which is strongly connected with
certain impulses coming from Mars. Almost every day that passes demonstrates how badly a
redemption of these forces is needed at present in order to open and safeguard the roadways
of modern humanity toward evolution into the future.
Rudolf Steiner has given important information concerning all this in the lecture-cycle,
Life between Death and New Birth in Relation to the Cosmic Facts (Berlin, winter 1912-13). In lecture
V, Rudolf Steiner describes how the situation on Mars deteriorated over the centuries, clearly
becoming evident even in the lives of historic personalities of the modern age. In passing
through the sphere of Mars before incarnation, they possibly take up effects of this deteriora-
tion and manifest it in their Earth lives.
The great spiritual leaders of humanity became concerned over this, especially the indi-
viduality whom we know only as Christian Rosenkreutz. He made it his task not to let human-
ity fall into two opposed groups: those who followed the principles of a decadent, material
Mars civilization and others who tried to retreat from this into their soul life, such as St. Francis
of Assisi. Thus he turned to his great “pupil and friend” of bygone ages, the Gautama Bud-
dha, who had risen to Buddhahood in about 500 BC. This meant that he no longer needed to
incarnate on Earth. Even so, he followed the Christ Events with deep participation from the
spiritual heights, in which he dwelt, and Christian Rosenkreutz him to take over the task of
“christianizing” the fallen Mars. Thus there occurred, as Rudolf Steiner reveals on the founda-
tion of his spiritual insight, in the beginning of the 17th century, an event on Mars similar to the
Mystery of Golgotha, brought about by the Gautama Buddha. Thereby, an ascending line of
development was inaugurated on Mars.
It is interesting that in the course of the 17th century, most conspicuous events took place
in the heavens that seem to be correlated to this. In 1604 there was a Great Conjunction of
Jupiter and Saturn in about 247.4°, which was a descendent of those from 6 BC (see August
Letter), connected with the Great Annunciation. This was close to the descending node of
Venus (in ancient occult language, “Mercury”).
Furthermore, during the years 1646-1650, Pluto was in opposition to Neptune in about
68° and 248°; Pluto was in opposition to Uranus (see October Letter) in about 69° and 249°;
and Uranus was conjunct Neptune in about 255°.
All this happened close to the nodal line of Venus, which we can take as an indication that
the Venus (Occult Mercury) forces had a grand opportunity to work into the solar universe in
this moment. The Buddha Being is at home, so to speak, with those forces. The Indian
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language even calls Mercury, Buddha. The Gautama Buddha may have been especially con-
nected with these nodes of Venus (Occult Mercury). If Geiger’s calculations on the basis of
Asoka’s chronology are correct, then the Gautama Buddha died in 483 BC. During that year a
Great Conjunction took place in about 280.8°, a predecessor of the one in 6 BC. It was close
to the aphelion of Venus (277.5°) and only about 10° away from the perihelion of Mars (about
290.5°).
We worked out in earlier Letters how Goethe was especially connected with the impulses
implied by events near the perihelion-aphelion line of Mars. We also said that these challenges
were taken up by others who incarnated after him (December Letter). Some others are:
Gotthilf Heinrich Schubert (born 1780, died 1860). He was a natural scientist, phi-
losopher, and some regard him even as a mystic. His great endeavor was to find a
real science of the relation between the macrocosm and the microcosm. Thus he
wrote, on the one hand, numbers of books about the human psyche: The History of
the Soul, Ideas about a General History of Life, The Illnesses and Disturbances of the Human
Soul, and others. On the other hand he also published: The Primeval World and the
Fixed Stars, and Manual of Astronomy. He was first a medical doctor and later a
professor of the natural sciences at various German universities. When he was
born, Venus was close to the aphelion line of Mars, and at the time of his death
Saturn was in the same place.
Samuel C. Hahnemann (born 1755). During his embryonic development, Jupiter moved
through the aphelion line of Mars. He was a German physician and is best known
as the founder of homeopathy. First, his observations led him to the realization of
the “law of similars” (similia similibus). He was struck by the fact that the symp-
toms that quinine, for instance, produced on the healthy body were similar to those
which it cures in a sick organism when used as a remedy. Later on he discovered
that remedial substances, if they were potentized, or “dynamized” in high dilu-
tions, were much more effective under certain circumstances. This he called home-
opathy. Some of his findings in this field were already anticipated by others, for
instance, Paracelsus. When he was faced with the necessity of explaining the ap-
parently contradictory effect of high dilutions and triturations, he maintained that
the lowering or diluting of the material substance in a remedy, in essence, enhances
its spiritual, non-material potential.
Rudolf Steiner was born on February 27, 1861. Saturn was then, heliocentrically, in
156.3°. Therefore, shortly before birth it moved through the aphelion line of
Mars, which was at that time in 153.5°. Jupiter was in 145.3° at birth and therefore
quite close to the aphelion of Mars. However, only after birth, in July 1861, did it
actually cross over it. It was Steiner, above all, who carried the impulse, which was
accompanied in the past by events in the perihelion-aphelion line of Mars, decisively
further.
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Rudolf Steiner associated himself closely with the spiritual stream of Goetheanism. In-
deed, when Saturn crossed the aphelion line of Mars again in 1890, he joined the scientific
staff of the Goethe and Schiller Archive at Weimar. After Jupiter moved through the aphelion
of Mars at the end of 1908, he wrote down and published his Occult Science, one of his most
fundamental books on spiritual science, or anthroposophy. With this book, he gave humanity
a precise description of cosmogony and of the evolution of the universe and humanity on the
foundation of his spiritual-scientific research. What is most significant for our consideration,
which we try to present here, is the fact that Rudolf Steiner describes its essence in chapter 6 of
this book with the following words: “…The hidden Knowledge that is gradually taking hold of
humanity, and will increasingly be doing so, may in the language of a well-known symbol be
called the Knowledge of the Grail. We read of the Holy Grail in old-time narratives and
legends, and as we learn to understand its deeper meaning we discover that it most significantly
pictures the heart and essence of the new Initiation-Knowledge, centering in the Mystery of
Christ. The Initiates of the new age may therefore be described as the ‘Initiates of the Grail’.
The pathway into spiritual worlds, the first stages of which were set forth in the preceding
chapter, culminates in the ‘Science of the Grail’... And as the cultural evolution of humanity
absorbs the knowledge of the Grail, in the same measure will the spiritual impulse of the
Christ Event become effective... The ‘hidden knowledge of the Grail’ will become manifest
and grow to be a power in man’s life, entering ever more fully into all the ways and walks of
man...” From Occult Science an Outline by Rudolf Steiner, translated by George and Mary Adams,
published by Rudolf Steiner Press, London, 1962-3.
When Jupiter moved through the perihelion of Mars in the beginning of 1915, Rudolf
Steiner challenged his listeners to “practice the reading of the script of the stars”, as Dr.
Wachsmuth reports in his book, The Birth of the Science of the Spirit. He says that Rudolf Steiner
pointed out the need for reverence and devotion to the cosmic-spiritual world, which must be
carried by the power of concentration, turned toward the inner training of the individual’s soul
forces “...the world will slowly realize again that the reading in the script of the stars is, after all,
significant for the human being. Thus we try to consider the great law of human existence: to
endeavor to attain harmony between the Macrocosmos and the Microcosmos…”
Finally, at the end of the second and the beginning of the third decade of the present
century, several significant events took place in the heavens, to which Rudolf Steiner responded
in a most constructive fashion. First, in December 1919 Saturn moved through the aphelion
line of Mars. Then, at the end of October 1920, Jupiter (154°27') was in opposition to Uranus
(334°27'). This was only a few minutes of the arc away from the perihelion-aphelion line of
Mars (334°35', 154°35'). These years saw the stepping forth of spiritual science, or anthro-
posophy, into the lime-light of general civilization of the present age, making significant con-
tributions and suggestions toward constructive solutions with regard to the severe problems
facing humanity, which threaten it even more so at present.
April 1919 saw the publication of Rudolf Steiner’s The Threefold Commonwealth. Already in
1917 he was asked for advice by a few people who were deeply concerned about the social
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problems that had become threateningly obvious toward the end of the First World War. In
response to this, he worked out leading ideas that could have created foundations for healthy
reformations of the three spheres of human life-economy, politics (or rather the sphere of
human rights), and human cultural life.
On 7 September 1919, the Waldorf School was opened at Stuttgart. With its foundation,
the first step was taken toward the inauguration of new ways and precise methods in the field
of education, based on the cognition and insight into the true spiritual nature of the human
being incarnating on Earth. In his inaugurating lecture, Steiner described, according to the
report of Dr. Wachsmuth, “…the threefold sacred duty of the educator, to awaken in the
growing-up human being a ‘science which is living, an artistic faculty which can be alive, and a
religion which can come to life’...”
During the next year, 1920, was the inauguration and opening of the Goetheanum at
Dornach in Switzerland, called a Free University for the Science of the Spirit. Prior to this, a
number of scientific lecture courses took place, such as Lichtlehre (On Light) at the end of 1919,
Wärmelehre (Thermological Science), March 1920, and Geisteswissenschaft und Medizin (Science of the
Spirit and Medicine). Around Michaelmas 1920, Steiner gave the first actual university course in
the big hall of the Goetheanum building.
Toward the end of 1920 and beginning of 1921, two events happened that are rather
significant with regard to the work that we try to promote in these Letters. From December 23
to 26, Rudolf Steiner gave a short lecture-cycle known by the title In Search of the New Isis, the
Divine Sophia. He spoke there about the development of the natural sciences in human history,
especially about astronomy. The old legend of the being of Isis, whom the Egyptians still
experienced, is the pictorial description of the fate of the ancient star wisdom, which humanity
then had. We hear that the God Osiris was killed by Seth and was buried in the Earth. The
great Isis, however, was killed by Lucifer and carried away into cosmic space. This wants to tell
us that humanity lost, after a certain moment in history, the living and inspiring star wisdom of
old. Lucifer was intent to instill in humanity a conception of the universe “in which the stars
move according to amoral, purely mechanical causes, so that we can no longer connect a moral
meaning of the cosmic order with their movements.” This perspective of the universe is the
“corpse” of what was once perceived as the living being of Isis. Now the time has come, so
Rudolf Steiner carried on, when we must go out, strengthened by the power that can be within—
the power of Christ—and seek the “corpse of this modern Isis”. We must learn to develop,
within the orbit of the Luciferic natural sciences, the power of higher perception—of imagi-
nation, inspiration, and intuition. Thus we can hope to awaken again the true being of the Isis,
the new wisdom of God, or Divine Sophia, and we will need this new-born divine wisdom in
order to recognize the Christ. Even if we realize the presence of Christ, we will still need the
wisdom light of the New Sophia in order to experience Christ in our inner being. Rudolf
Steiner exclaimed: “It is not the Christ Whom we lack, my dear friends; what we lack is the
Gnosis of Christ, the Isis of Christ, the Sophia of Christ.”
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Figure 15
To this call for a new, inner, i.e., a humanized-spiritual astronomy, Rudolf Steiner gave very
vivid guidance in the beginning of 1921. In a cycle of lectures from January 1 to 18, he opened
up new vistas with regard to the interrelationship between natural sciences and an astronomy
reaching out for new perspectives. For instance, he pointed out that one cannot really study
and understand embryology without calling astronomy to assistance. However, some of the
perspectives evolved in that lecture course are so profound and far-reaching that they have not
yet been developed in a practical astronomical sense. The call for a new inner relationship to
the cosmos found a certain culmination in lectures that Rudolf Steiner gave at the end of 1922.
They are available in translation under the title, The Spiritual Communion of Mankind. Especially
in the last, fifth lecture of December 31, when Mercury was in the perihelion line of Mars
(incidentally, a few hours after it had been delivered, the first Goetheanum burned down), he
describes how we are connected through our bodily organization with the universe of the stars.
“...When we ourselves bring life into our thoughts (from Willi: by developing Imagination,
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Inspiration, and Intuition), then giving and receiving communion through our own being, we
ally ourselves with the element of Divine Spirit which permeates the world and assures its
future.” Through our solid physical body, we are linked to the zodiacal universe; through our
etheric body, living in the fluids of our organism, we are connected with the planetary universe.
“But as the world presents itself to our immediate vision, it is a dead world. We transform it by
means of our own spirit, when we share our spirit with the world, by quickening our thoughts
to Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition, thus fulfilling the spiritual communion of human-
ity...” Those who will become conscious of this will be a priest, standing at the altar of the
world, consecrating and transubstantiating by conscious permeation the physical and etheric
ingredients of their own organism. They will thus become for the cosmos what bread and
wine, consecrated by a priest at an altar, can become for a human congregation. The cosmos
will receive them as a rejuvenating element into its own being, which has been exhausted, as it
were, in past stages of creation to the point where it is only a memorial of that past creation.
“We can experience in this way in our will and in our feeling how we are placed into the world.
Surrendering ourselves to the supreme direction of the universe that is all around us, we can
carry out in living consciousness the act of transubstantiation in the great temple of the Cos-
mos, standing within it as one who is celebrating a sacrifice in a purely spiritual way...”
At the end of that lecture, Rudolf Steiner gave a meditation that can possibly open the
portals to this great act of a cosmic ritual through individuals. Whoever is interested and intent
on taking up these suggestions does best to read the lecture-cycle that has been mentioned,
because it is essential, we think, that the full context of the lectures is carefully studied.
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February 1972
In the last few Letters we have written a lot about the story of the Holy Grail and its
manifestations during the two post-Christian millenniums. The question can well arise, whether
this is only a beautiful myth that may have occupied and guided a part of humanity in the past,
or whether it is a reality that can be accepted and is significant for humanity of the present and
future ages.
Affirmative answers can be given from at least two viewpoints: the one is the guidance
Rudolf Steiner gave in a lecture-cycle Christ and the Spiritual World, The Search for the Holy Grail,
Leipzig, 28 December 1913 to 2 January 1914; the second one can be achieved by a real inner
occupation with the fact of the Second Coming of Christ in the etheric realm.
In the lecture-cycle by Rudolf Steiner mentioned first, he speaks of the preparations of the
historic Christ Event long before the turning from BC to AD. It is most important to study
these in order to come to an understanding of the Christ Jesus Being. In the 5th lecture, on
January 1, 1914, we hear of the Christ Impulse as it worked during the times after Golgotha, as
an occult, or hidden reality. This occult stream of Christianity worked in small parts of human-
ity during the first three centuries after Christ. This changed, particularly in the world west of
Palestine, at the beginning of the 4th century. Through Constantine the Great, Christianity,
which until then had been severely persecuted, became State religion and its worship lawful.
Soon after that, Augustine (of Hippo) entered the stage of Christian history. He was unable to
find an inner connection with what still existed as esoteric Christianity, and he became, more or
less, the founder of the Church built on tradition through the scriptures. From that moment
on, we see a Christian Church developing that established itself increasingly on the founda-
tions of dogma. On the other hand, hidden and “underground” forms of an esoteric Chris-
tianity still lived on that were sometimes severely persecuted by the Church of dogma. One of
the chief esoteric forms was Celtic Christianity, eventually forming its center on the island of
Iona, west of Scotland. It was esoteric Christianity, built on a deeper understanding of the
Cosmic Being of Christ. This, however, may have been one of the reasons why the Roman
Church, introduced by Augustine of Canterbury into the British Isles, insisted on its elimina-
tion during the beginning decades of the 7th century. After those events, this esoteric Chris-
tianity lived on in the western world in the carefully hidden streams of the Holy Grail.
Rudolf Steiner mentions in the above lecture that, even for him, it was difficult to “…un-
ravel the further occult development of Christianity in the West—then before my soul rose the
admonition: ‘You must first read the name of Parsifal in its right place’... Parsifal (who even-
tually became King of the Holy Grail) returns, in a certain sense cured of his errors, and again
finds the way to the Holy Grail, he is told that his name will appear shining upon the Holy
Vessel. But where is the Holy Vessel—where is it to be found? That was the question.”
Rudolf Steiner then goes on to describe how he was led in his search for answers, to a
certain realization that I have quoted already in the first of these Letters, the one of November
1970, “...It became clearer and clearer to me—as the outcome of many years of research, that
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in our epoch there is really something like a resurrection of the astrology of the third epoch
(the Egypto-Chaldean civilizations), but permeated now with the Christ Impulse... I sought to
accompany Parsifal in spirit during his return to the Grail, it was often as though there shone
forth in the soul how he traveled by day and by night, how he devoted himself to nature by day
and to the stars by night, as if the stellar script had spoken to his unconscious self and as if this
was a prophecy of that which the holy company of Knights who came from the Grail to meet
him had said: ‘Thy name shines forth in radiance from the Grail’...” (all these quotations are
from the English translation by Charles Davy and D. S. Osmond of the above mentioned
lecture-cycle Christ and the Spiritual World, published in 1963 by the Rudolf Steiner Press, Lon-
don. We cannot emphasize enough that a study of the whole cycle of lectures would be most
important and cannot be substituted by isolated quotations.)
In the following 6th lecture of the same cycle, there are given more details about the “stellar
script”. For instance: “...the name of the Grail (and Parsifal) is to be found through the stellar
script, not the Grail itself...” Rudolf Steiner describes then how it happened that the old astrol-
ogy of Egypto-Chaldean times fell into decadence. The time of the Passover Festival and
others were fixed according to the Moon and its phases, out of a realization of the intercon-
nection between the heavens and the Earth. However, this wisdom of the stars, as sublime as
it was in ancient times, was more and more misused and abused by the awakening egoism of
the humanity. “Go no further! Be content with what Jahve reveals in his Moon symbol, go no
further! The time has not yet come for drawing out of the elements anything more than is
expressed in the Moon symbol. Anything more would belong to the unlawful Sibylline forces,”
was the warning of old Hebrew tradition.
Through the Christ Event, redemption was also brought to this realm of correlation be-
tween the cosmos of the stars and the Earth with its inhabitants. This was realized by Johannes
Kepler, one of the first astronomers of the new age (1571-1630), as Rudolf Steiner described
it on that occasion. Apart from this, an esoteric Christianity would recognize that the Christ is
a Being of high cosmic order, descending from the Sun and working, as it were, as the Higher
Ego of the whole solar cosmos. Thus, when Christ incarnated in the body of Jesus, there was
present on Earth the Master and Fulfiller, in a spiritual sense, of the forces of the starry cos-
mos on our planet. Therein we can see the secret of the Holy Grail established as an archetype
of humanhood: human beings who raise themselves, through their own inner effort, to the
realization of the Pauline “Christ in me”, can find a relationship to the “stellar script”, which
will be totally different from that ancient dependent position. We will again be aware of our
association with the world of the stars through our bodily organization; yet, we will live in our
own star-created chalice as a “fulfiller”, who will eventually raise even “our stars” to new heights
of existence, in the dim future, toward the creation of a new “universe”.
Something of this is already indicated in the story of Parsifal. We hear in the Wolfram von
Eschenbach version of Parsifal (published by Vintage Books, New York), Book IX, that Amfortas,
who was King of the Holy Grail before Parsifal, was very sick and suffering severely. This
happened, “when the star Saturn had returned to the zenith.” It means that Saturn was in the
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“sign of Cancer”, which is the highest point of the whole Zodiac. This occurred after Parsifal
had been at the Grail’s Castle the first time. He did not ask the question then that he should
have asked and that would have relieved the King from his suffering. Consequently, Parsifal
was ejected from the Castle, and he wandered for about five years in dejection and aimlessness
through the world, until he came to the Grail’s Castle a second time, better prepared and ready
for kingship of the Holy Grail. Then he was also able to relieve King Amfortas.
All this is especially instructive in connection with the cosmic implications. The October
Letter contains a diagram of the stellar configurations in 887-889 AD, which were very likely
connected with the Parsifal events. The Great Conjunction (of Saturn and Jupiter) happened
then in the constellation of Leo. During the preceding years Saturn moved through the con-
stellation of Cancer. Thus the planet had indeed returned to the zenith, and according to
ancient star-lore, it would have caused great suffering, for according to these old traditions,
Saturn is “weak”, or in its “detriment” in Cancer and Leo. However, these connotations can be
overcome and redeemed by an inner identification with the Deed of Christ, which the impulse
of the Holy Grail has set itself to achieve. During the main part of the Three Years of Christ’s
Ministry, Saturn was actually moving through the constellation and sign of Cancer. Under the
aspects of Saturn in “detriment”, the greatest deed of salvation and healing was accomplished
on the Earth. (An astrologer, bent on stubbornly hanging on to the ancient traditions could
say: No wonder those Three Years turned out, from a purely material perspective, as they did.)
This we see again shining through the events in the 9th century, when Parsifal eventually brought
healing to Amfortas, who was suffering from “Saturn in detriment”.
What these aspects can teach us is the fact that we should not rely on ancient traditions but
“learn to read the stellar script again in a new form”, in a Christianized form. Only then can we
speak of an “astrology of the Holy Grail”. This would be, at the same time and in a deeper
sense, a fulfillment of the tasks and challenges of the present Fifth Post-Atlantean Age of
civilization. In 1413, at the time of the spring equinox (which is the moment of commence-
ment of the Fifth Age), there was Saturn (heliocentrically) in the ascending node of Venus in
Taurus, and Venus opposite in its own descending node in Scorpio. The challenge expressed in
this is the fact that this present Fifth Age has the task to uplift and spiritualize the heritage from
the Third Age, the Egypto-Chaldean civilizations, which were inspired by the vernal equinox in
the constellation of Taurus—where Saturn was in 1413. This brings us back to that remark of
Rudolf Steiner in the lecture of January 1, 1914, which we quoted above. During the present
age, the ancient astrology of Egypt and Chaldea must be raised up again from its deep fall, but
it must now be evolved in a Christian form.
However, we can realize that these coincidences are not just a kind of belletristic compari-
sons. Indeed, when Rudolf Steiner made that statement in his lecture of January 1, 1914,
Saturn was once again in the line of the ascending node of Venus and Venus in its descending
node, precisely similar to 1413 at the spring equinox. We cannot be certain whether Rudolf
Steiner had a knowledge of the external astronomical facts, as the kind of heliocentric cosmol-
ogy that takes into account the astronomical elements of the planetary spheres—like the nodes—
107
did not yet exist then, but we can be certain that he had a knowledge of the existing spiritual
configuration on the basis of his higher, inner perception. Thus he gave a positive and con-
structive answer to the cosmic challenges in that moment. And this in itself is of the nature of
a Grail’s cosmology, we dare even to say, a Grail’s astrology.
We have pointed out earlier that we see the archetype of the Holy Grail in the Incarnation
and Presence of the Christ in the body of Jesus, which had been built with the ingredients of
the stars. This happened once in the whole history of the Earth. It cannot and will not repeat
itself in this form. However, this event will work on as an integral element of the being of our
planet in higher spheres of existence. Also, in this sense, the Christ will be with that part of
humanity that seeks the Christ Impulse, “always, even unto the end of the world” (St. Matthew
XXVIII:20).
At the present moment of history, and for a long time to come, Christ will manifest through
the ether body. Rudolf Steiner took an opportunity to speak about this new phase in a series of
lectures between January 12 (Stockholm) and June 13, 1910 (Kristiania). As one can observe
on many other occasions, he answered directly and profoundly the challenges that were con-
tained in the stellar script at that time. Jupiter moved during the first half of 1910 into its own
aphelion. In fact, it was in that position between 10-15 May, when Rudolf Steiner gave two
lectures belonging to that series. (They are collected in a publication by Verlag der Rudolf
Steiner Nachlassverwaltung, Dornach, Switzerland., (1965) under the title, Das Ereignis der Christus-
Erscheinung in der Aetherischen Welt, 16 Vortraege [Ed: An English publication came out in 1983
called, The Reappearance of Christ in the Etheric and contains some of the material from the
German book, as well as lectures of Steiner’s from other years]).
This movement of Jupiter through its aphelion was a cosmic act of “memory” of the
Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 6 BC, which we mentioned earlier in these Letters.
At that time, it took place in the opposite part of the Zodiac, in the perihelion of Jupiter. As
we have seen, it was a cosmic act of Annunciation of the “First Coming” of the preparations
for the incarnation of Christ in the body of Jesus. In 1910, when there stoodout, in an act of
“cosmic memory”, a challenge for humanity (of which we spoke above), Rudolf Steiner gave
the Annunciation of the Second Coming.
The very first of those lectures, on January 12, is particularly interesting for us with regard
to its stellar companionship. Before the lecture, Rudolf Steiner was urged to abstain from
delivering it, because there were “dreadful events going on in the heavens”. We produce the
configuration in the chart in Fig. 16. What stood out was a major and total “square” (90°
distance) occurring between Sun and Uranus opposite Neptune, and Jupiter opposite Saturn.
This is “very bad” according to old astrological tradition. Some modern almanacs designate
such an event with a capital “B” for Bad. Rudolf Steiner insisted on proceeding and thus gave
this present humanity that profound “annunciation”. At the same time, this is a most challeng-
ing teaching for the astrologer: the traditional connections concerning the square aspect, and
also of all other planetary aspects, must and can be transformed and elevated to new realiza-
tions.
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Figure 16
The Second Coming of Christ is also connected with the very ether body of Christ Jesus.
Normally, our ether body dissolves, or rather is assimilated by the etheric cosmos immediately
after death. However, this does not happen in every case. The ether bodies of the great
spiritual leaders of humanity can be kept integrated and working on as inspiration for a long
time. For instance, the ether organism of the great Initiate Zarathustra, who inaugurated
Ancient Persian civilization (about 5000 BC), inspired Moses, who led the Israelites out of
Egypt. As an Initiate, Zarathustra had a profound insight into the evolution of the world, and
this lived on in his ether body. Moses was able to conceive through this the story of creation
contained in Genesis, which must have been carried on in oral tradition for a long time until it
was written down.
Thus, we can imagine that the ether organism of Christ Jesus was preserved in its fullest
integrity. Indeed, on a cosmological foundation, we can conceive that it was carried through a
profound cosmic evolution. I intimated this in my publication Cosmic Christianity.
Our ether or formative body carries the living memory of our entire life. For this reason,
the soul during the first three days after death is confronted with the “tableau” of the life that
has just come to a conclusion. After this the ether “tableau” is, normally, absorbed into the
planetary world. This is not just an abstract affirmation. Over many years of research, we were
able to confirm that the configuration of the heavens in the moment of death is arranged in
such a fashion that it is like a photographic negative. The planets stand ready to receive that
“etheric tableau” into their own. This confirmation happens because, as a rule, the death of a
human being is not a random event but carefully pre-arranged by karma.
In order to demonstrate this more clearly, we have chosen to reprint here and study the so-
called death asterogram of Raphael Santi (6 April 1520) from Part I of my much earlier publi-
cation [now called] Isis Sophia III - Our Relationship With the Stars. Actually, we find that Saturn
109
creates that “photographic negative”, of which we spoke above, already during the life time of
a human being. This planet was called, in Ancient Greece, Omnipotent Father Time. Thus we
can imagine that Saturn, as the universal chronologer, notes down not only general historic
events but also the events in the individual’s life. This idea need not astound us. We must
realize that this planet is much bigger than the Earth and gives residence to many spiritual
beings who work in this great cosmic “chronologer’s office”, or Akashic Records.
Thus we find in the death asterogram of Raphael (Fig. 17), indicated in the outer circle, the
calculated positions of Saturn during his lifetime. We imagine that the planet had then noted
down in the cosmic “annals” the important events in Raphael’s life. Furthermore, his death
was “arranged” by the powers of karma, time-wise at the moment when the planets stepped
into the places of the earlier Saturnian inscriptions. Through these “prearranged” coinci-
dences, the ether organism, or tableau, of Raphael could then be assimilated by the planetary
cosmos. By these interconnections, the human being actually makes significant contributions
toward the stellar world. Indeed, they are and will become in future even more important for
the life of the stars. Here it becomes obvious that we do not live an indifferent Earth existence
of chance, meaning little to ourselves and nothing to our environment. Through this correla-
tion, the cosmos is gradually transformed, and new values of a spiritual nature can be intro-
duced into it. We have been able to prove this too, in a cosmological sense. With regard to the
far distant future, we can even visualize that the universe will eventually be created anew through
such like interconnections. Rudolf Steiner has given indications with regard to stages of future
evolution (see Steiner’s, The Michael Mystery, chapter VI), “…when the divine, spiritual element
from which we descended (which lives in us) can permeate the universe with light as the cosmi-
cally expanding Being of Man.”
Current Events
Geocentrically, Pluto will be weaving back across the point of the autumnal equinox. The
same event happened far back in the past around 1724-5, when Pluto also moved through the
autumnal equinox. This was about the time of the death of Peter the Great, Czar of Russia. It
was followed by turbulent events in the Eastern part of Europe, especially in Russia. In the
West, the era of the materialistic philosophy of the Encyclopedists prepared its inroad into
Europe. One of these philosophers, d’Holbach (born in 1723), later wrote Christianism dévoilé,
in which “he attacked Christianity and religion as the source of all human evils... What men call
their souls becomes extinct when the body dies... It would be useless and almost unjust to insist
upon a man’s being virtuous if he cannot be so without being unhappy. So long as vice renders
him happy, he should love vice.” (Quoted from Encyclopedia Britannica). We can come to illumi-
nating conclusions if we compare those coincidences in the past with problems of present
humanity!
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Figure 17
Raphael - Death Asterogram
111
March 1972
Last month we started to develop a conception of the relationship of the human ether or
life body to the world of the stars at the moment of death. We chose the death asterogram of
the great Renaissance painter Raphael to demonstrate this in more practical detail.
Saturn had been before, in 1491, in the same place as it was at Raphael’s death. During
1491 Raphael’s mother died, which surely had a profound influence on him. While it must
have been a sad loss, in a spiritual sense it “opened the gate of heaven” for him. If one looks
at his many paintings of the Madonna, one can get the impression that the soul of his mother,
later on, guided his hand from the spiritual world. Thus what the ancients experienced when
they looked toward Capricorn was, in a new sense, re-established: “the gate leading up to the
heavens”. Then in 1494 his father, who was also an artist, died. Saturn had then moved toward
the end of Aquarius, exactly to the place that Venus occupied at the time of Raphael’s death.
After that we do not know much about his life. However, around 1500 he was probably in
training with the painter Vannucci at Perugia. Saturn was then approximately opposite the
places in the Zodiac where Jupiter and the Moon stood at Raphael’s death. About the years
1508-1511, Saturn moved into the places opposite Venus, Mars, Mercury and the Sun. The
planet “wrote down in the cosmic annals” most significant events in Raphael’s life, the culmi-
nating, most creative period that saw, among many others, the coming into being of the fa-
mous paintings in the Camera della Segnatura: the Disputa, the School of Athens, the Parnass.
Finally, when Saturn moved into the vicinity of the places that were occupied by Jupiter and
the Moon at death, he could inscribe in the Akashic Records the creation of the Sistine Ma-
donna, the most well-known of all the paintings of Raphael. Thus, during Raphael’s lifetime
Saturn prepared the locations into which the planets stepped at the moment of his death, in
order to stand ready to receive the spiritual richness of this etheric tableau into their own being.
The substance that is thus handed over to the planetary world and which constitutes the
fruits of our earthly endeavors is not lost or forgotten. It lives on in the planets and can even
be taken up as inspirations by human souls who prepare to descend into incarnation in follow-
ing ages. We observed this on many occasions, and we have demonstrated it in the past, just in
connection with Raphael. An intensive study reveals that the Jupiter of Raphael—at his death
in Scorpio—returned once again to the same position during the epoch of Soloviev, the Rus-
sian religious philosopher of the last century (see April ’71 Letter).
We said above that the Jupiter of Raphael was associated with his painting of the Sistine
Madonna. It is really a profound representation of the “Divine Sophia, the Wisdom of God”.
She is not an earthly being, but stands “upon the clouds of heaven” and is surrounded by
heavenly beings. The return of Jupiter to the same position, where it was at the time of the
birth of the Sistine Madonna, we would take as an indication that in that moment a human being
may have been born who, during his descent, was “inspired” by that spiritual-cosmic heritage
of Raphael. Indeed, among the many who incarnated under such a Jupiter, it was Soloviev
who seems to have received a corresponding inspiration, owing to experiences and prepara-
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tions in previous incarnations. In our April 1971 Letter, we quoted from Soloviev’s own
writings the evidence of his experience of the “Hagia, or Divine Sophia”.
Thus human life on the Earth is never a meaningless accumulation of incidents. It can
become of great significance for the cosmos and, in the course of evolution, can be raised to
ever higher levels of spiritual re-creation, even of the world of the stars. Here rises a perspec-
tive of human responsibility that present humanity can hardly yet conceive.
We ask: How much more profound then must be the connection between the cosmos and
the ether body, which participated through Jesus, in the great Deed of the Christ Being during
the Three Years Ministry? During decades of research and study, we have come to the conclu-
sion that this ether body is a much greater potential than all we meet in this realm coming from
the human being. It must also be said that the indications and results of spiritual research, by
Rudolf Steiner, provided the most profound help and guidance with regard to these questions.
In our recent publication Cosmic Christianity, we have already described some of the conclu-
sions of this research. For instance, we pointed out (see chapter VII) that, according to our
conviction and based on investigation, the “time quantum” of the life of Christ Jesus did not
only remain intact but was even magnified to cosmic time ratios. The time interval from the
birth of Jesus (according to St. Luke) to the Crucifixion and Resurrection comprised 32.28
years.
These were Sun-Earth years, of 365.25 days each. Our whole life on this planet is depen-
dent on this rhythm, with regard to seasons, etc. In the cosmos, beyond the Earth, “time” is
something different. It is “30 times longer”. We owe this information to Rudolf Steiner, from
a lecture given on December 3, 1916. Why should it be 30 times longer? This is simply a
transposition to the rhythms of Saturn. Sun-Earth years depend on one complete rotation of
the Sun around the Earth, or as we say according to heliocentric conceptions, a full circle of
the Earth around the Sun. The planet Saturn—the outermost of the solar system in the clas-
sical sense—needs 29.4577 years to complete one such circle around the Sun. Rudolf Steiner
referred to it in approximation when he said that “time in the spiritual-cosmic world is 30 times
longer”. It constitutes one Saturn-year.
The time quantum of the 32.28 Sun-Earth years of Christ Jesus, which were filled with
those most profound events of all Earth evolution, were a reality of “quality”. This is the ether
body of Christ Jesus. Normally, i.e., in the case of most human beings at death, the ether body
would have been “dissolved” or absorbed into the planetary world. This did not happen to the
ether body that was freed from the physical body at the moment of the death on Golgotha. It
was elevated to cosmic time, or Saturn-time realities. On this foundation, we suggested earlier
the transposition of the time quantum of 32.28 years of 365.25 days, multiplying them by
29.4577 = 950.895 years. Thus, when the ether body, comprising 32.28 Sun-Earth years had
arrived, as it were, on Saturn, it had been elevated to 32.28 Saturn-years, which from the Earth
perspective would be 950.895 Sun-years.
Thus the Message of the Deed of Christ was communicated to the whole solar cosmos—
first through an integrated ether body. It had “arrived” at the outer limits of the solar universe,
113
in the classical sense, in 33.25 (the time of the Death on Golgotha) plus 950.895 years =
984.145 AD. Then it became evident, in connection with historic events toward the end of the
first millennium AD, that the planet Earth and its humanity needed this revelation foremost for
its survival. (There were, for instance, prevalent in western humanity around the end of that
first millennium, wide-spread predictions concerning the “end of the world”.) Of course, in
the spiritual world this need was “known” long before. Thus that ether organism of the Deed
of Christ, which had been “magnified” to cosmic dimensions, returned toward the Earth.
According to its inherent time dynamics, it took another 950.895 years, and then it arrived in
the etheric neighborhood of our planet. Starting from 984.145 AD (see above) plus 950.895
years, this “arrival” happened in 1935.040 AD.
The year 1935 coincides, indeed, with the time which Rudolf Steiner visualized with regard
to the manifestation of the Christ in the etheric world. In a lecture on January 25, 1910, at
Karlsruhe, he mentioned the years 1933, 1935, and 1937 would be particular important. “There
will appear in the human being special capacities like natural gifts. During that time great
changes will take place and prophecies contained in the Bible will find fulfillment. Everything
will change for the souls who will live on Earth and also for those who will no longer dwell in
the physical body...” At the same time, he also gave serious warnings. He pointed out that a
new, at first shadowy, clairvoyance will be given to a number of human beings, like a gift of
nature. Yet, it could be possible, he said, that evil and materialism may in that moment be so
great on Earth, that the majority of humanity would be unable to create any understanding for
these changes. It could even happen that the human beings who have this clairvoyance could
be regarded as fools and will be put into lunatic asylums.
Nevertheless, humanity will have about 2,500 years time to develop these faculties. This is
the Age that follows the Age of Kali Yuga and will eventually lead to the time when the Maitreya-
Bodhisattva will reach Buddhahood. However, if humanity should bypass the meeting of the
Christ in the etheric world, through the development of etheric clairvoyance, it would have to
wait a very long time, possibly till another “reincorporation” of the Earth planet in the dim
future (“bis zu einer Wiederverkörperung der Erde”—to a reincorporation of the Earth).
In the same sequence of lectures Rudolf Steiner also pointed out (for instance, at Rome on
April 13, 1910, also at Palermo on April 18, 1910 [which was also the Feast of St. Paul]): “...A
small number of human beings will relive in personal experience what brought on the conver-
sion of Saul at Damascus when he became St. Paul (see Acts IX). Similar to Paul, they will
suddenly realize that the Christ has united with the Earth through the death on Golgotha. This
tremendous inner experience, which some will have in the not too far future, is what has been
promised as the Second Coming of Christ.”
The connection of the manifestation of Christ in the etheric world with the event of Saul-
Paul’s conversion at the Gate of Damascus is dramatically expressed in the sidereal happenings
around the commencement of the year 1935. We include here the geocentric charts of January
6, 1935 (about 1935.040) and also of January 8, 34 AD, which has been adjusted to the corre-
sponding sidereal (fixed star Zodiac) positions, in accordance with the change that has taken
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place through the precession of the vernal equinox since then. We have chosen the configura-
tion of January 8, 34 AD, because we have the impression that this comes closest to the date of
the actual conversion of St. Paul.
Figure 18a Figure 18b
A comparison of the two configurations shows, straight away, that the sidereal position of
Saturn in 1935 was approximately opposite Saturn in 34 AD. Also the Sun, Mercury, Venus,
and Moon of 1935 show a striking similarity to 34 AD. Mars moved into a position in 1935
opposite to that in the beginning of 31 AD, which we conclude, was the time of the Baptism
of Jesus. Jupiter of 1935 is about in the place opposite where it was around Easter 31 AD.
This seems to be connected with the commencement of Christ’s Ministry, i.e., the Wedding at
Cana (St. John II) and the following scene in the temple at Jerusalem.
With the oppositions of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars to some of the original places in 1935, or
around those years, something similar to acts of great “cosmic memory” took place in the
cosmos. These facts, among others of a more subtle nature, have led us to the conception that
we have entered a time during which those cosmic memories can be activated in the etheric
neighborhood of the Earth. Even if their origin was time-wise outside the “Three Years”, they
are, nevertheless, connected with the ether organism that was built during the life of Christ
Jesus and then elevated into the planetary cosmos. Now this ether organism has “returned” to
the environment of the Earth. The Christ combines with it, as He had united with the Body of
Jesus about 1,900 years ago. Whenever the planets return to their original (sidereal) places,
Christ uses the cosmic forces for the continuation of great Deeds of consolation and healing.
While dwelling in the body of Jesus, Christ brought these forces down from the cosmos and
brought healing through them to the physical-material plane. This is described, for instance, in
115
St. Mark I:32-35. (See also Cosmic Christianity, chapter VI.) After the Resurrection and Ascen-
sion, it happened on higher etheric and spiritual planes. However, only the few who followed
the path of initiation could behold the Presence of the Risen Christ. Now, from the year 1930
to 1940 onward into the future, it can happen to anyone who is not caught up in the illusion
that the material perspective of the world is the only reality, and who is open to the perception
of reality on the etheric level.
These manifestations of the Christ Principle, through the ether, can even be traced in
history, in exceptional cases, of course. The date attached to the story of the Chymical Wedding
of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459, at Easter time, is such an occasion. On March 24, 1459, the
evening before Easter Sunday, Saturn was in 280° of the ecliptic and in sidereal Sagittarius. If
one takes into account the precession of the vernal equinox, which amounted by then to about
20° compared with the situation at the beginning of the AD Era, we realize that this Saturn was
exactly opposite its position at the time of the Baptism of Jesus. Thus we can see here a
realization of such an “ether manifestation”. (An opposition, in this sense, is connected with
an act of cosmic memory.) Indeed, if we study the Chymical Wedding we can find this verified.
During the fourth day of the Seven Days’ Work, the three Royal couples are beheaded and
their bodies are carried to the Tower of Olympus, the great alchymical laboratory. Also, the
guests are taken there and are involved, during the following two days, in complicated alchymical
work. Only Christian Rosenkreutz, of all of them, is aware that they are really transubstantiat-
ing the bodies of the Royal couples through seven stages of work. Finally, he is witness of
their reawakening into one unified, new Royal couple. Thus the Chymical Wedding can be seen as
a realization of the Deed of Death and Resurrection on Golgotha in the human soul, for
which the Three Years of Christ were an “alchymical” preparation.
As we come closer to those decisive thirties of the present 20th century, we witness a similar
occasion. In November-December 1901, Saturn moved into a position opposite where it was,
sidereally and geocentrically, at the time of the Baptism of Jesus. About the same time (No-
vember 1901), Jupiter was in sidereal opposition to its position at the time of Golgotha. Thus
the beginning and end of the Three Years were “remembered”. All this is, of course, seen with
due inclusion of the fact of precession. In the beginning of the present century, it amounted
to about 27° from 33 AD.
In October, 1901, Rudolf Steiner commenced with the lecture-cycle Christianity as Mystical
Fact, which he carried on till March 1902. Later on it was published in book form. It is a most
significant revelation with regard to esoteric Christianity, and can be regarded as the result of a
manifestation of the Christ Principle on a higher plane.
All this can also be seen as a new revelation of the Holy Grail, in a broad human sense.
However, we shall come back to these aspects in the next Letter. In conclusion here, we
produce the diagram of the cosmic events during the time of Christ’s Ministry between the
Baptism and the Resurrection (see Fig. 19). We have adjusted it to the rate of precession,
which is at present 27°, in addition to the ecliptical positions during the time from 31-33 AD.
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Figure 19
Planetary Movements
from 6 January 31 to 5 April 33
The Roman Numerals in the inner circle represent the inferior conjunctions of Mercury
with the Sun, which coincide with the “seven signs” in the Gospel of St. John.
117
Current Events
These events of Mars in the perihelion line of Saturn, Earth in the perihelion of Uranus,
Mars (Taurus) opposite Jupiter (Scorpio), and Mercury conjunct the Earth, appear still more
remarkable when we discover that they recall similar occurrences during the weeks preceding
the three Easter Festivals that are described in the Gospel of St. John. Immediately after the
“forty days in the desert”, which followed the Baptism and Incarnation of the Cosmic Christ
(see St. John I, II, and III), Mars moved through the perihelion line of Saturn. About the same
time the Earth moved through the perihelion line of Uranus. Shortly before the second Easter
(see St. John V and VI), Jupiter and Mars were (heliocentrically) in opposition. But their posi-
tions were reversed, compared with 1972. Jupiter was in Taurus, and Mars in Scorpio. The
conjunction of Mercury and Earth is the heliocentric equivalent of the loop and inferior con-
junction of Mercury with the Sun in the geocentric. It will take place, approximately, between
the sidereal locations where similar loops of Mercury happened before the second (32 AD)
and the last Easter (33 AD), according to St. John.
Thus we have the remarkable fact that the pre-Easter time of 31 AD is “recalled”, as it
were, when the Christ transformed water into wine at the Wedding of Cana; furthermore, the
Feeding of the Five Thousand (32 AD) is “remembered”, and finally, the Last Supper with
Bread and Wine. We see a “memory” in the cosmos of the inauguration of the new Mysteries
of Bread and Wine. This can remind us of the “spiritual communion” that Rudolf Steiner
spoke of on 31 December 1922, as a step of inner development in connection with our rela-
tionship to the cosmos, which a future humanity will have to conquer.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
April 1972
In the last Letter, we gave our impressions concerning the Second Coming of Christ on the
basis of cosmological investigations. We see it connected with the expansion of the ether body
of Christ Jesus into the cosmos and then its return to the Earth. It would thus have arrived in
the neighborhood of our planet in, approximately, the beginning of 1935 and would surround
the Earth like an aura, through which the Christ manifests to human beings who are ready to
receive this experience.
Earlier we spoke of the Incarnation of Christ during the Three Years as the archetype of
the Holy Grail—when Christ was present in the body of Jesus. From 1935 on, during the
following 2,500 years, Christ will be “present” in the ether environment of the Earth. Human
beings who will recognize and experience this will vitally contribute, thereby, toward the exist-
ence and life of the whole Earth planet. Rudolf Steiner spoke in 1910, in a number of lectures,
about this aspect of the realization of the Second Coming. On 13 March he said: “...like a
spiritual veil, or cloak, will the newly developing capacity (of clairvoyance of the etheric reali-
ties) be spreading around our Earth. Oriental scriptures, particularly those of Tibet, speak of
a territory which has disappeared. They speak with sadness of Shambala, a region which
vanished during Kali Yuga (Dark Age) ...Shambala will return again. We are at present living at
a time of preparation of humanity for this development of a new clairvoyance…” (See also
last Letter.) In his lecture of 27 February 1910 he said: “…Already in the present century, and
more and more during the following 2,500 years, will human beings experience the Christ in
etheric form. They will perceive the etheric Earth from where the plant world has been sprout-
ing. Through this they will also recognize that if our inner being is good, we will have a
different impact on our environment than an evil one...” Figure 20
We can, therefore, well say that we are living
toward a time during which we can expect a new
manifestation of the Mystery of the Holy Grail.
During the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry, it
was the body of Jesus that was the elevated Holy
Grail. From now on the ether cloak around the
Earth, through which the Christ will “come
again”, can be seen as the newly raised Holy Grail
(see Fig. 20). Since the Event on Golgotha, Christ
has united with the Earth as its real meaning and
future. This Christ-Earth rests now in the “cup”
of its ether cloak, containing the active “cosmic
memory” of the thirty-three years of the life of
Christ Jesus. Thus is this story “written on the new
vessel” and working actively into the existence of Earth humanity, just as the name of Parsifal,
the expected new King of the Holy Grail, according to the story, was written on the vessel.
119
The Presence of this ether cloak around the Earth, in other words the Second Coming of
Christ, is indeed effective in the life of modern humanity, whether the individual wants to
believe it is true or not. Of course, most of these experiences of the Presence happen in the
lives of individuals, or small communities. It is fully understandable, under present conditions
and with the power of “public opinion”, that they are rarely promulgated; however, in a few
historic instances the Presence has become indirectly obvious.
Already in 1917, when the ether cloak was approaching, Saturn was (geocentrically) in
about 133° of the ecliptic (October-November), reminding us of the Saturn position at
Golgotha (see Fig. 19). These were the later years of the First World War. They were cer-
tainly grim and painful times for many human beings, but they were also epochs of deep,
inner experiences. That humanity not only had to face the personal and community suffer-
ings, but also the sufferings inflicted on the Earth by the impacts of an already highly per-
fected mechanized warfare. It offered a reminder of the deeper meaning of Golgotha, as it
concerned all humanity. However, we also see then the working of the opposing forces, who
will always attempt, at all costs, to prevent any practical awareness of these realities. Even so,
we very often witness that they promote instead, involuntarily through their violent actions,
just this kind of experience. In November 1917, when Saturn was more precisely in a posi-
tion equivalent to Golgotha, Marxist-Leninist communism took over in Russia. It operated,
and still does, on the basis of dialectic materialism, which would utterly scorn any of these
ideas that we are trying to develop here.
In 1933 the opposing forces lined up for another severe attack, this time apparently using
just the opposite kind of trump cards, though equally consistent in effectiveness. During the
beginning months of that year, Saturn moved once again through the sectors of the ecliptic
opposite to those where it was at Golgotha. This was the time when Hitler and his cohorts
took over in Germany. Again this meant great suffering and a Golgotha experience for many,
but also deep inner and positive break-throughs for some, as we have come to know.
The activation of cosmic memory, in connection with the returns of the planets to their
original sidereal places, was working in a hidden way in the events described very briefly above.
This also became evident during the Second World War in the returns of Saturn and Jupiter.
Jupiter returned to its sidereal position at the time of the Baptism, in June 1940, to a most
dramatic moment of the War (Dunkirk evacuation, etc.). In August 1942, Jupiter was in a point
of the Zodiac similar to that of Golgotha. Then, in July-August 1945, Saturn moved into the
sidereal place that it occupied at the time of the Baptism and in August 1947, into the correlate
of Golgotha. This was at the end of the war and at the time of the attempts to recover from
it. Jupiter returned to the point of its original position at the Baptism in May 1952 and to that
of Golgotha-Easter in July 1954. These years saw the concluding stages of the Korean con-
flict.
The returns of Mars, Venus, and Mercury happen, of course, much more frequently. How-
ever, here we also have to consider the returns of the original gestures—loops, superior con-
junctions, etc.—in order to come to leading conclusions. For instance, the loop of Mars in the
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LETTERS - PART ONE
constellation of Aries, in Fig. 19 of the March Letter, repeated itself in approximately the same
position during September-November 1941. During the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry, it
seems to have happened after the transfiguration (St. Matthew XVII, Mark IX:2, and Luke
IX:28). After 1941 it occurred in October-December 1958, in approximately the same sidereal
point, and it will come in September-November 1973 very close to the original position in
Aries.
This loop of Mars in 32 AD was preceded by a conjunction of Mars with the Sun in
August 31 AD. This seems to have coincided, approximately, with the tragedy of John the
Baptist, his arrest by Herod, and eventually his decapitation. Similar events happened sidereally
in August 1940 (among other things, the Battle of Britain), and in September 1957. An almost
precisely identical occurrence will take place in September 1972.
The gestures of Venus in similar places take much longer to recur. A loop of this planet in
the constellation of Leo during August-September 1943, followed by a superior conjunction in
June 1944, (constellation of Gemini), and another loop (Pisces-Aries) in March-May 1945,
came closest to it. In 1951-53 the three events repeated themselves, but by then they had
already fallen back in the Zodiac, and it will take another 240 years, approximately, to recur in
the same constellation patterns. The original events during the Three Years were apparently
associated with the evidence of the decline of the ancient mysteries and the inauguration of
the new Mysteries by Christ. The decadence of the old mysteries became apparent in the
Herod-John the Baptist drama (1st loop of Venus in Leo) and in the event of Christ meeting
the mother “whose daughter had an unclean spirit”, St. Mark VII:24-30 (superior conjunction
of Venus with the Sun in June 32 AD, Gemini). Then, following those events, the Christ
inaugurated the new Mysteries in the Raising of Lazarus (St. John XI). This was an initiation
leading to the experience of the Christian Apocalypse, as it was described eventually by St.
John the Divine in Revelation. This was accompanied by the loop of Venus in Pisces-Aries.
Events of similar nature reached some human beings during the cycle of cosmic equals in
1943-45, concerning Venus as we mentioned above. Of course, we repeat again that we can-
not expect that they are promulgated openly, under present circumstances.
The recurrences of the gestures of Mercury (loops and superior conjunctions with the
Sun), similar to 31-33 AD, are more frequent. They can easily be found in the data provided by
astronomical ephemerides of the cosmic events.
The incidents mentioned above do not pretend to be more than examples indicating the
road to further research. Furthermore, we must not be surprised if the echoes of Earth history
toward the events in the etheric cloak around our planet are at first associated with suffering,
death, and destruction. These are the inevitable reactions of the antagonistic Earth forces that
worked also during the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry. Yet, they paved the road toward the
Resurrection on Easter Sunday and the glory arising from it for future evolution. Meeting the
corresponding cosmic etheric events with constructive thinking, born out of spiritual-scien-
tific cognition, is one of the first steps to lead one to the realization of the meaning of Resur-
rection for the whole of humanity.
121
Including the heliocentric perspectives can also be very illuminating. In this context we
work with the elements of the planetary orbits, or spheres. Here we regard the visible planets
chiefly as the indicators of the events going on in the spheres, circumscribed by the calculable
planets. Thus Saturn in January 31 AD, moved into a position between the ascending nodal
line of Jupiter and Pluto. They are the points on the orbital ellipse of these two planets, where
they ascend in the course of their movement around the Sun above the extended geometrical
plane or ecliptic plane indicated by the orbit of the Earth. These points we connect with the
center of the Sun and, thereby, get the “nodal lines”. (We are, of course, fully aware that there
was no evidence of the existence of Pluto 2,000 years ago and therefore also its nodal lines, etc.
However, we have experimentally taken the presently known positions and ratio of movement
of Pluto’s elements and calculated them for the time of Christ.) We take that moment in
January 31 AD as the time of the Baptism of Jesus and the Incarnation of Christ.
We have worked over this event already in the recent publication Cosmic Christianity. Every-
thing connected with the planet Saturn and its sphere we take as an expression of the Divine
Father forces in the cosmos Whom John the Baptist heard in that moment speaking from the
heights of heaven. Rudolf Steiner suggested that the original context of these words was
different from those that are reported in the later translations of the Gospels, namely: “This is
My beloved Son in Whom I realize Myself as Self ”. The association of Saturn, in that mo-
ment, with the whole sphere of Jupiter through the latter’s node, would stand symbolically for
the Divine Father forces speaking about the Divine Son.
Then, at the time of the Mystery of Golgotha in April 33 AD, Jupiter moved into the same
position, between its own ascending node and that of Pluto. Now, the Divine Son entered the
final phase of glorious manifestation, the overcoming of the Cross and Death by the Resurrec-
tion. The sphere of Jupiter is especially associated with the Divine Son Hierarchies.
We can now also draw repetitions of these events into the orbit of our observations with
regard to the Second Coming. However, with this heliocentric approach, we must adopt a
different perspective. If we look at positions of the planets according to the geocentric con-
cept, we are actually faced with a world of rhythms, of the movements of the planets, etc. This
is associated with the world of human rhythms, that is, the human etheric organism in the
setting of the cosmic ether elements. However, if we study the cosmos from the heliocentric
aspect, we must distinguish between two factors: On the one hand, we have, here too, a rhyth-
mic background expressed by the movements of the planets and even by the elements, nodes,
and perihelion-aphelion lines. Apart from this, another reality meets us: the invisible spheres of
the planets, working into Earth existence as manifestations of the soul life of the cosmos, or
cosmic astral forces. In our present context (the connection of the Second Coming with that
spiritual-etheric “envelope” around our planet) we take them as immediate cosmic-astral elements
working into this ether reality above the Earth. Thus the “memory” element in the ether is con-
stantly enlivened and activated; with certain reservations, one can even say it is made contempora-
neous in character. The drama of the present Age is, thereby, combined with and elevated to the
grandeur of the great etheric images of the original events in the life of Christ Jesus.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Saturn moved between the ascending node of Jupiter and that of Pluto during about March
and November 1945. This year saw the temporary conclusion of the Second World War in
Europe and Asia and was connected with tremendous suffering all round the globe. It also
opened up quite new vistas with regard to the future of humanity and our planet, with the
introduction of atomic power after decades of inconspicuous preparation in the background.
As much as this brought dangers of immense, if not total, destruction into Earth existence, it
calls actively for the realization of that which came into humanity as the advent of esoteric,
cosmic Christianity—which isn’t a simple proposition. In a heightened sense, we can see one
challenge here that is present in the humanity of this Age through the Second Coming.
Jupiter moved through its own ascending node earlier, in about August-September 1942,
and through the node of Pluto around the beginning of 1943. It saw the European world in
the grip of fierce war actions everywhere. In a sense, it was the turning point. The Germans
were stalled in their wide excursions to the east and south. However, it looked on the surface
as if all that which was spiritually standing in the background as the new Revelation of the
Christ Event was submerged. Yet we know that the experience of the Presence was realized by
very small numbers. Even so, it was a beginning for events to come in future centuries and
millenniums.
After two orbits, Jupiter returned again to the same positions in the course of 1966. Dur-
ing that year another rare but significant event occurred: Uranus and Pluto came into conjunc-
tion at the tail-end of the constellation of Leo. It was a recurrence of similar conjunctions in
slightly different zodiacal positions in 1712 and 1457. In the first issue of the Star Journal, we
described how they were connected with stages of the development of genuine Rosicrucianism
rooted in the Middle Ages. Especially the conjunction of 1457, which preceded the mysterious
events described in The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459. Thus we have
come to the conclusion that also the time around the conjunction of Uranus and Pluto in 1966
saw a decisive step forward of the true impulse of Rosicrucianism, though naturally we must
expect that it happened in occult seclusion. We have the feeling that one day it will reveal itself
as a realization of the true meaning of the Resurrection of Christ and its significance for all
future evolution. If this happens, it will verify that the return of Jupiter to its heliocentric
position at Easter 33 AD, does not only carry the memory of the events in Palestine but also
the challenge to their active realization in our lives.
All these occurrences took place after the commencement of the age when human beings,
first very small and then increasing numbers, will experience the Presence of Christ in the
etheric realm, that is after about 1935. It was preceded by a significant opposition of Saturn
and Jupiter in December 1930, the first planet in 283°24' and the second in 103°24',
heliocentrically. Therefore, Jupiter was then between its ascending nodal line and that of Pluto,
and Saturn was between the descending ones. This stands out almost like a “prophecy” of
things to come, though we would not see in it a prophecy in the old sense of fixing coming
events once and for all. Certainly, the fact that Jupiter had returned to the positions that it
occupied in April 33 AD with Saturn opposite, could speak for “opposition” against the real-
123
ization of the original events that were inaugurated for the salvation and healing of humanity.
Indeed, we have since encountered determined and relentless attempts of “opposition” by the
adversaries, especially in the beginning of the thirties of the present century. However, even
more stands out in that cosmic event of 1930, which is of great significance.
During that same year, Uranus moved through the (elongated) perihelion line of Jupiter.
In this fact alone we can detect a whole storehouse of information:
1. The perihelion of Jupiter—for a long time in the constellation of Pisces and there for a
long time to come—is intensely connected with the task of the whole Post-Atlantean Epoch.
We have worked over this in the December ‘70-January ’71 Letters. It carries a reflection of the
need in this Post-Atlantean humanity to evolve thinking, first through the descent into intellec-
tual thinking and then eventually into active, or rather intuitive thinking, in order to create firm
foundations for the reawakening capacities of clairvoyant perception. If Uranus moves through
this perihelion line of Jupiter, as it did in 1930, it activates it in a special occult sense, because
Uranus is associated with occultism.
2. All this reminds us of an earlier, similar event: In 1762 (about February 18), a Great
Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter took place, close to that perihelion of Jupiter. The two
planets were joined in conjunction by Uranus in that moment with a difference of only about
4° in longitude. Thus Uranus was also in the perihelion of Jupiter, similar to 1930, only two
orbits earlier. During that year of 1762 (May 17), the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb
Fichte was born. Rudolf Steiner wrote in The Riddles of Philosophy extensively about Fichte. For
instance, he says: “To become aware of oneself in the realm of the supersensible is for Fichte
an experience which is possible for the human being. If he does achieve it, then he meets in
himself the ego... In Fichte’s world conception, thought becomes experience of self, as in the
Greek philosophers, imagination became thought. With Fichte, world conception wants to
experience consciousness of self...” In this sense, we would see in the events of 1930 a “proph-
ecy”, as we said earlier.
3. The association of Uranus with the perihelion line of Jupiter in 1930 and 1762 reminds
us also of the Great Conjunction of 6 BC (astronomical), which we described in the July ’71
Letter. It also took place quite close to that perihelion, and it was the source of the final
prophecies and information for the Three Kings or Magi, concerning the “Birth of the Child”
they were seeking. If we see this vast background in the events of 1930, we can indeed con-
ceive of it as a modern “prophecy” in a very positive sense; and from another angle, meaning
a promise of the “Birth” of the new Christ Manifestation, which may be “opposed” by the
adversaries but cannot be prevented.
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Current Events
Because of all the geocentric events taking place in the constellation of Taurus, we would
expect tremendous challenges for humanity in the sphere of traditional materialism. The con-
stellation of Taurus was associated in history with the Third Post-Atlantean Age of Egypt and
Chaldea, inaugurating the first steps toward closer association with the world of matter and
decreasing relationship to the world of the spirit. This was done in order to facilitate our
evolution toward freedom and independence. The present age, the fifth of the Post-Atlantean
civilizations, has the task to spiritually resolve this descent.
125
May 1972
In the April Letter, we pointed out that we see the Great Opposition of 1930 (16 Decem-
ber) as a “prophecy” of the events that were to be inaugurated during that decade. We say this
with all the reservations which have to be observed with regard to any kind of “prediction” in
the new age since Christ. It can only be seen like a hand stretched out, as it were, from the
unseen, offering opportunities that we can accept in spiritual freedom, or reject. Certainly,
rejection will have its consequences in an apocalyptic sense; this cannot be avoided.
The Great Opposition of 1930 does contain such “prophecies”, better perhaps “previews”,
of coming opportunities in all cosmic reality. For instance, we want to investigate whether the
commencement of the “Second Coming” in the beginning of 1935 is indicated in it. We
proceed with the Great Opposition on December 16, 1930, or 1930. For the commencement
of the Second Coming, we take 1935.05, a difference of 4.10 years against 1930.95. Now, we
seek the equivalent of 4.10 years according to Saturn progressions, which means that we let
one orbit of the Sun (365.25 days) stand for one orbit of Saturn (29.4577 years). In order to
get the ratio in days, we have to divide 365.25 days by 29.4577 which gives us 12.399 days
standing representatively for one year. The 4.10 Sun-years that elapsed from 1930 to 1935
would then be represented by 4.10 x 12.4 days = 51 days, which we add to December 16, 1930
and come to February 5, 1931. On that day we have the following heliocentric positions:
Earth 135°, Mars 130°42', Jupiter 107°50', Saturn 285°13', which were similar to the positions
on January 6, 31 AD, plus precession—Earth 132°, Saturn 110°. This is the traditional day of
the “Baptism of Jesus” or “Epiphany”. Thus the Great Opposition of 1930, and the corre-
sponding time progressions, does indeed carry a “preview” of the Second Coming expressed
in the planetary “memories” of the Baptism of Jesus.
The opposition of Saturn and Jupiter in 1930 was related to the conjunction of the two
planets on September 27, 1901. This event also carries a “preview” of a similar kind. If we
realize that this Great Conjunction inaugurated the 20th century, we would even expect such a
preview in it.
If we work with the event on September 27, 1901, with Saturn progressions similar to
those we mentioned before, we come to the following conclusions:
1901.75 – Conjunction of Saturn-Jupiter (September 27 is .75 of the year 1901).

1935.05 – Commencement of the Age of Christ’s Manifestation in the etheric.
33.30 – The years difference, divided by 29.4577, or represented by correspond-
ing Saturn progressions (1 Sun-Earth year standing for 29.4577 years, or one orbit (year) of
Saturn = 1.13 years. Add to that, 1901.75 = 1902.88 = 17-20 November 1902. On 20
November 1902, we have the following heliocentric positions: Venus 232°, Mars 130.5°,
Jupiter 321°41', Saturn 298°15'. At the time of Golgotha (3 April 33), we find the follow-
ing correspondences (plus precession) Venus 227°, Mars 125° Saturn 139.5° (opposition
point is 319.5°).
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Thus we have, indeed, also in the event of 1901, a preview of coming opportunities for
spiritual development. This poses the question of whether it would be a constructive task to
study the rhythms of the Great Conjunctions-Oppositions systematically in connection with
evolution.
Indeed, this kind of awareness of the “conferences” between Saturn and Jupiter has a long
occult tradition in humanity. Earlier, we worked out in detail how these conjunctions take
place in a big triangle. This triangle is like a threefold “hand” on the cosmic clock, because it
turns slowly through the dial-plate of the Zodiac. The conjunctions in each one of the three
corners of the triangle return in intervals of about 60 years (see May ’69 in Practical Approach II).
This rhythm is intersected by oppositions that happen halfway, i.e., 30 years after or before the
corresponding conjunctions. They bring Saturn back to approximately the same corner, but
Jupiter is then opposite. Thus we get a second triangle that is smaller than the first one, because
the orbit of Jupiter, on which we base it, is smaller than that of Saturn. The diagram in Fig. 21,
is approximately drawn up according to the relative sizes of the orbits of the two planets.
Approximate orbit of Jupiter

Approximate orbit of Saturn
Figure 21
127
It is quite understandable that observable features in the cosmos served as a kind of great
timepiece, in a historic sense. For instance, the Magi who came to visit the Child, according to
the Gospel of St. Matthew, used this timepiece. We have worked extensively on this in earlier
Letters.
The esoteric awareness of the Great Conjunctions being “timers” of evolution was always
present in ancient humanity. We find it in a magnificent fashion in the stream of Buddhism,
where we might expect it least. Later Buddhism formulated the doctrinal systems of the so-
called Tantras—teachings with regard to the acquisition of magical capacities (see: Evans-
Wentz, Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines). One set of these were the Kalachakra Tantras, which
seem to have been introduced into India from “the north, the land of Shambala”, as late as 600
AD or even the 10th century. From there the Kalachakra system was brought by the great
master Atisha to Tibet during the 11th century. Atisha was born toward the end of the 10th
century in Bengal. Early in his life his interest turned to Buddhism, and he studied grammar,
philosophy, art, and medicine. As his special protecting divinity he chose the Divine Tara, in
whom we recognize the same as the Divine Sophia, Who is venerated in Eastern Christianity.
Eventually, Atisha emigrated to Tibet and finally made a home there for Buddhism. One of his
important deeds was the reordering of the Tibetan system of calculating time, etc. This he did
on the basis of the Kalachakra teachings.
Kalachakra, literally, means “wheel of time”. It works with cycles of 60 years in which we
recognize, straight away, the rhythm of the Great Conjunctions. This kind of Buddhistic
“astrology” was eventually elevated to divine propensities and significance for salvation. (We
take much of this information from Helmut Hoffmann, Die Religionen Tibets—The Religions of
Tibet.)
Very interesting also is the “mythology” of the inauguration of the Kalachakra teachings.
The mysterious King Sucandra (the supposed incarnation of the “Lord of All Secrets”) of
Shambala asked the Gautama Buddha for a sermon, to which the King specially came down
from his “high” realm. The Tibetan sources disagree on when this happened. Some say that it
was in the year of the Buddha’s Illuminations, or rise from Bodhisattva to Buddhahood. This
sermon was then written down by Sucandra as the Mula-Tantra of the Kalachakra. And thus
it is supposed to have come, eventually, to India and finally to Tibet.
Important also is the chronological mythology that was associated with the Kalachakra.
After its inauguration, seven Religious Kings ruled in Shambala, apparently 60 years each.
They were followed by 25 Kulikas. Each one of them rules exactly 100 years. The last one,
“Rudra with the cakrin (wheel)” will inherit the throne from 2327 to 2427. He will eliminate
the “Mohammedans” in a mighty battle and introduce a Golden Age. This we must under-
stand in a purely mythological sense. The “Mohammedans” were regarded by Indian Bud-
dhism as unwanted invaders and materialists. In this sense, we must conceive the rule of the
last Kulika as being connected with the astronomical (not yet broad historic) commencement
of the Aquarius Age (the vernal equinox in the fixed star constellation of Waterman) and the
overcoming of materialism.
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LETTERS - PART ONE
The connection with 2,500 years (rule of 25 Kulikas) is significant. This is the approximate
astronomical interval that the Great Trine of the Saturn-Jupiter Conjunction (see Fig. 21) needs
for one complete rotation through the Zodiac, and this opens up a wonderful historic perspec-
tive that the Kalachakra Tantras obviously wanted to suggest. If we go back from the time of
Buddha (6th century BC) by 2,500 years, we come to the 31st century BC, the commencement
of the Kali Yuga, or Dark Age, according to occult tradition. If we move forward from the 6th
century BC by 2,500 years, we arrive at the present century. Another 2,500 years will take us to
about 4400-4500 AD, which corresponds to the time during which the Maitreya Bodhisattva is
supposed to rise to his Buddhahood. Thus we can indeed see in the Kalachakra wisdom an
inspiring union of cosmological and occult facts.
The relatively limited evidence concerning the Kalachakra nevertheless reveals that it
was a sublime timing element, on the basis of the Wheel of the Great Conjunctions and
Oppositions, connected to a certain extent with the existence and manifestations of that
mysterious land of Shambala. As we reported above, King Sucandra of Shambala was in-
volved in its inauguration. What does Shambala mean? Rudolf Steiner gave some indica-
tions in his lectures in 1910 on the Second Coming, or manifestation of Christ in Etheric
Form. For instance, on March 13, 1910, he said: “...Oriental documents, particularly the
Tibetan ones, speak extensively of a country that has disappeared. With sadness they speak
of it as Shambala, a country that disappeared during the Kali Yuga Age. However, with full
justification, it is also said that the Initiates can retire into Shambala, in order to fetch from
there what humanity needs to be helped with its progress... There exist prophecies which say
that this country will come back to humanity. At a time when the delicate manifestations of
a (new) clairvoyance will become apparent, get stronger and spread ... then Shambala will
come back … this will happen during the next 2,500 years...” Earlier in the same lecture
“...Like a spiritual cover (or veil) will this steadily developing capacity spread out around our
Earth globe...” On March 15, 1910: “...Christ will become visible to the human being in an
ether body, not a physical body...” On the same occasion Rudolf Steiner indicated that a
science of the spirit, or anthroposophy, regards it as its task to develop such faculties of
etheric “clairvoyance”, which would also mean new access to Shambala. And on March 6,
1910, we hear “...The Christ will lead humanity to Shambala...” This will prepare itself and
happen during the coming 2,500 years, and it will be an experience similar to that which St.
Paul had at the Gate of Damascus (Acts IX).
The interval of 2,500 years, which is mentioned in this context, leads us right up to the time
when the Maitreya Bodhisattva will attain his Buddhahood (5000 years after the Gautama
Buddha). This is also connected with the Second Coming. Through the development of those
faculties to perceive the reality of the ether world, we will also see the etheric Earth from which
the plant world has arisen. “...Thereby, they will also recognize that a human being who harbors
Goodness in his inner being does exert an influence on his environment different from one
who nurtures evil. The one who will possess this knowledge to the highest degree will be the
Maitreya-Buddha…” (February 27, 1910).
129
Thus we have here a whole storehouse of “prophecies” connected with the timekeeping
properties of the Kalachakra: The commencement of Kali Yuga and loss of the ancient clair-
voyance, or Shambala, the inauguration of the Kalachakra-Tantras, the Second Coming and
new access to Shambala, and finally, the impact of the newly developing faculties in people on
their earthly environment, eventually concentrated in the teaching of the Maitreya.
Modern humanity, particularly so-called western humanity, can make vital contributions to
these perspectives that seem to have been the last remnants of a once clairvoyant humanity
and which appear to be existing at present only as traditions. Of course, observation still tells
us of the Great Triangle of the conjunctions and oppositions of Saturn with Jupiter. In this
triangle or, rather, sextile (see Fig. 21), we can, in fact, see the archetype of a traditional occult
symbol, “Solomon’s Seal”. However, modern humanity, and especially the western world, has
added on the basis of its scientific astronomy the possibility of new dimensions to all this, by
the discovery of the so-called elements of the planets, the apsidal lines (near and far distances
of the planets from the Sun), and the nodes. Thereby, the far-reaching possibility to experience
the planetary cosmos as a really living universe was created. Of course, we are fully aware that
this can happen only if a future humanity firmly decides to see the cosmic facts in a spiritual
perspective. It will not happen to human beings that passively remain within the orbits of
purely materialistic concepts. A new spiritual astronomy can experience, however, in the ele-
ments of the planetary world and their slow movements, indications of the life of the plan-
etary spheres, the living space organisms in which our Earth also is embedded, both in a func-
tional sense and very impressively in a historic sense.
Why should just a western humanity create such a new approach to cosmology? This is
more than anything else a matter of experience and patient study, which can discover a deep
yearning for a real spiritual cosmology in western humanity. It is certainly not an easy task and
will require great efforts.
Rudolf Steiner has also shed light on these problems and questions. In his lecture of
October 10, 1919, he described a threefold lack in present humanity which, if it is not rem-
edied, can lead to the decay of civilization. The first is the lack of cosmogony. The impulse to
this exists in the Anglo-American people (English people included) but there is no capacity to
realize it. Therefore it needs a science of the spirit for realization. Rudolf Steiner defines
cosmogony as the cognition, of course in practical detail, that we are citizens, or members of
the whole universe. The second factor is the lack of a real spiritual freedom. The impulse to
establish this exists in Central Europe, but without the strength to realize it. The third is the
lack of a real altruism, perhaps one can call it Brotherhood. Eastern humanity has this impulse.
The evidence presents itself in contemporary events very strongly, but there is no power to
realize altruism. Thus present humanity has tremendous responsibilities; however, there also
exist means, through constructive endeavors in these fields, that the break-down of civilization
can be prevented.
With the help of the above mentioned planetary elements, we can indeed discover some-
thing like pulse-beats of the living planetary spheres, especially if we follow the movements of
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the apsidal and nodal lines in connection with historic development. For instance, we discover
that at the time of the commencement of Kali Yuga, the age during which the Gautama
reached his Buddhahood, our present Age, and the one of the Buddhahood of the Maitreya to
come, illuminating events happened. On all four occasions one definite set of Conjunctions at
one of the three corners of the Great Triangle occurred, relating themselves to the one, as it
were, selected order of planetary-spheric elements:
1) In 3104 BC a Great Conjunction took place in 246° of the ecliptic. This was close to the
descending node of Saturn, which had arrived in 249°. The “smaller” Kali Yuga commenced
in 3101 BC.
2) In 542 BC the same order of Great Conjunctions had returned, after a full orbit of the
Great Triangle. It happened in about 274° of the ecliptic. The descending node of Saturn had
by then moved into 271.5°. This year may have seen the Gautama in his younger years, before
his Illumination.
3) Our present century saw a descendent of that same Great Conjunction, after another
orbit of the Triangle, in 1901 (27 September, heliocentric) in 285.4°. The descending node of
Saturn was then in 292°48'. That moment coincided with the time when Rudolf Steiner com-
menced to bring his message to modern humanity. The same repeated itself in 1961 (15-16
April), in 293°51', when the descending node of Saturn was in 293°30'.
4) Between 4400 and 4500 AD, another rotation of the Great Triangle/Hexagon will be-
come completed. Conjunctions of Saturn and Jupiter will again take place near, or in the
descending node of Saturn, which will then be in about 315°. A significant aspect in this
context is the fact that by then the aphelion of Saturn (far distance from the Sun) will have
arrived in about 321°, after having overtaken the nodal of Saturn in about 3900 AD, (in about
310° of the ecliptic).
The conjunctions mentioned under 1 and 2 above took place in the region of what we now
call sidereal Capricorn. The conjunction in 1901 occurred in sidereal Sagittarius, and the last
one—number 4—will also be in Sagittarius. Actually, the descending node of Saturn, to which
we refer all these Great Conjunctions, entered sidereal Sagittarius as late as the 9th century A D
(approximately), coming from Capricorn.
Current Events
The beginning of the month will see some dramatic engagements of several planets with
Pluto and/or its sphere heliocentrically. Pluto will barely have past, by then, above the point
where the Earth moves at the time of the spring equinox, i.e., where the Sun appears to be
standing at the time of the autumnal equinox.
With regard to Pluto, it is good to remember that this sphere can either assist and help to
carry high degrees of spiritualization; however, if its impacts are left uncultivated, they can
easily fall into the power of beings who promote severe destruction. Much depends upon the
sincerity of the inner work, meditation, and concentration of the individual on such occasions.
131
June 1972
Last month we discussed the rhythm of the Great Conjunctions/Oppositions in connec-

tion with events of world history, and also in the perspective of the Kalachakra wisdom.
As before, we feel we must once again apologize for the abundance of the mathematics in
the last Letter. However, we also have the unswerving conviction that just this particular field
of studies needs and even demands mathematical precision. We are living in the age that has
the task to develop scientific approaches and concepts with regard to building foundations for
truth. To renounce this leads all too easily—as far as star wisdom is concerned—to mysticism
and dilettantism. Of these latter, there already exist enough hangovers from the past. It would
not serve the progress of evolution to add to it.
It is certainly significant that just those important events in human evolution, which we
mentioned, were or will be accompanied by Great Conjunctions in the node of Saturn. The
forces working in the sphere of Saturn, of Omnipotent Father Time (according to ancient
Greek mythology), were and will be presiding over those regular conferences of Saturn and
Jupiter. The planet Saturn is on such occasions standing as the exponent and guardian of the
most ancient intentions and decisions of the Divine Father World. Jupiter, as a planet, is
present as the Knower of the history and workings of the Divine Son World, the slow, some-
times very painful but, nevertheless, spiritually creative work of salvation.
The association with the descending nodal line of Saturn would indicate that the corre-
sponding “conferences” of Saturn and Jupiter are more directed toward challenging the world
of human doing, not so much receptive idealism and the like. The descending nodes are points
where the planets, in this case Saturn, move into the hemisphere below the ecliptic plane on
which the Earth orbit lies. Of course, “below”, in this context, is seen from the Northern
Hemisphere of the Earth. Nevertheless, we can regard the Northern Hemisphere as “being
above”, on the merits of the fact that most civilization is located here. It would, in this sense,
very faintly display a congeniality to the human head organism, whereas the Southern Hemi-
sphere, with which the descending nodes are associated, would relate to the heart (eventually
limb) organism of the human being.
On this basis, we can understand the great mission of the Gautama Buddha. He had, so to
speak, the task to bring certain stages of past evolution to a close and to open up new vistas for
humanity. If it is true, as some sources maintain that he was born in or around 562 BC, then
this mission would appear quite obvious in the heavenly reflection. In 562 BC, there also was
a Great Conjunction, however, belonging to another of the three corners of the Great Triangle
than the one in Capricorn. It occurred actually in about 35° of the ecliptic behind which
appeared the equivalent of our present sidereal Taurus. The event was at the same time close
to the ascending nodal line of Mars (about 30°). We see in this an indication that the “562 BC
conference” of Saturn and Jupiter was concerned with the course of developments during the
first half of the whole “Earth evolution”, as the occultist calls it. It refers to the evolution of
what we call, otherwise, our present solar system. This was chiefly guided by the forces that
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LETTERS - PART ONE
work in and from the sphere of Mars. They slowly split up the originally integrated universe
into single planets and the Sun. They also divided, or helped to divide the Earth world into the
uncountable single objects in all the kingdoms of nature. This they regarded as their task, and
they realized they had to do it in order to prepare the road toward the great goal of “Earth
evolution”, the attainment of egohood by the human race in order to facilitate future stages of
cosmic development.
This Mars activity of atomization, as it were, led eventually to excesses. It caused all the
troubles and deficiencies with which the inhabitants of the Earth are beset, the increasing
inability of creating real concord and harmony with the environment, whether in the human
realm or in nature. There the aggressive nature of Mars became more and more predominant.
Into this situation the Gautama incarnated with the intent to permeate this troubled Earth
world through his Buddhahood, with the teaching of love and compassion. For instance, the
Eightfold Path of Buddha is an instrumentality for inner development in order to re-cultivate,
re-edify, and re-harmonize the workings of Mars through human beings. The Gautama was
well prepared to do this through a long line of incarnations as Bodhisattva, until he finally
attained Buddhahood. Buddha actually means “Mercury” in the Indian language (see Basham,
The Wonder That Was India). Probably this was still the old connotation of Mercury, the planet
that modern humanity calls Venus. For definite reasons, which we cannot enumerate right
now, the names of Venus and Mercury were, at one point of human evolution, exchanged. In
this sense, we would recognize in “Buddha-Mercury” the (now Venus) impulse of love and
compassion working toward healing that which Mars might have undone.
Even a superficial investigation of the cosmic events connected with the life of Gautama
Buddha confirms this association with the spheres of Mars and (“Mercury”) Venus. There is a
wide difference of opinion, even with regard to the year of his death. However, according to
the historian Geiger and based on the Chronology of King Asoka it is probable that it oc-
curred in 483 BC. The Buddha was then supposed to have been 80 years old. Therefore his
birth year would have been in 562-3 BC.
As in 562, another Great Conjunction occurred in 482. As we worked out above, accord-
ing to our calculations, the one in 562 BC occurred in 34.3° of the ecliptic. This was close to
the ascending node of Mars, then in 29.6° of the ecliptic. Thus the Gautama’s incarnation may
have taken place within the rhythm of the Kalachakra, indicating the intention to come to grips
with the impact of the Mars sphere and the forces working from there. Around the age of
thirty, he would then have gone through his Illumination and rise to Buddhahood. Indeed, in
531 BC a Great Opposition took place, with Saturn in about 46.8° and Jupiter in 226.8° of the
ecliptic. A few months after, the two planets moved through the ascending and descending
nodes of Venus, respectively, which had by then arrived in 55.7° and 235.7° of the ecliptic. We
could see in this an impulse to introduce the (“Mercury”) Venus principle and teaching of love
and compassion into humanity. It would try to meet the Mars impacts on humanity by lifting
them out of their beginning decline and deterioration. This was indeed done by the Gautama
Buddha in the introduction of the Eightfold Path of inner development and discipline.
133
The Eightfold Path is associated with the cultivation of the sixteen-petalled chakram in the
astral body or organism, in the neighborhood of the larynx. See Steiner’s, Knowledge of the
Higher Worlds, Part II. Eight of the petals have been developed in the dim past, the second
eight must be cultivated by present humanity. This chakram is connected with the planet Mars.
This is evident right down to astronomical details. According to a definite rhythm, the planet
enters into conjunctions with the Sun, i.e., the planet appears to be standing behind the Sun, as
seen from the Earth. Thus eight conjunctions move, in the course of about 17 years, forward
in the ecliptic, occupying the eight succeeding corners of an octagon, which is, however, not
equilateral. Moreover, to make it more complicated the corners move forward. About halfway
between the conjunctions with the Sun, oppositions happen, when the planet appears to be
moving in loops and is standing nearest to the Earth. Also these oppositions move in the
course of about 17 years through an octagon, which is smaller than the first, when seen from
the Earth. We include here a diagram (Fig. 22) in order to make all this a bit more lucid. The
sixteen locations (twice eight) in the ecliptic are, in a sense, the cosmic prototypes of the
sixteen-petalled chakram, or lotus—twice eight and, therefore, belonging to different cycles of
evolution, past and present.
Figure 22
Outer circle:
conjunctions of
Mars and the Sun
Inner circle:
oppositions of
Mars and the Sun
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LETTERS - PART ONE
In the exercises of the Eightfold Path, we can easily recognize means of controlling the
Mars activity within us. For instance, of the third function, Steiner says in his Knowledge of the
Higher Worlds, “...(it) concerns speech. The student should utter no word that is devoid of
sense and meaning; all talking for the sake of talking draws us away from the path. We must
avoid the usual kind of conversation, with its promiscuous discussions of indiscriminately
varied topics...” The capacity of speech is particularly associated with the integration of the
forces of Mars in us.
The forces of Venus (Occult Mercury) work quite differently in the human being. They
can be developed consciously by exercises concerning the ten-petalled chakram, in the astral
neighborhood of “the so-called pit of the stomach”. These exercises require control of all
relationship to environment, etc. In the before mentioned book Steiner suggests, for instance,
“...it is necessary that the student should control and dominate everything that seeks to be an
influence from the outside. We should reach the point of really receiving no impressions
beyond those we wish to receive...” or “...If, for instance, we feel a particular antipathy for
something, we will combat it and endeavor to establish a conscious relation between ourselves
and the thing in question...”
The cosmic prototype of this ten-petalled chakram is the rhythm of the planet we now call
Venus. In the course of eight years it moves through five so-called superior conjunctions, the
planet standing then behind the Sun, seen from the Earth, and five inferior conjunctions, the
planet moving in front of the Sun and between it and the Earth. These twice five events
establish the five corners of an almost equilateral, double pentagon, one smaller than the other
on account of the distances from the Earth, but the first one set exactly in the second.
We mentioned earlier that there is a strong probability that the Gautama Buddha died in
about 482-3. In May 482 BC, a Great Conjunction took place in about 282.5°. This was close
to the aphelion line of Venus, then in 277.5°. If this should have been the death date of the
Buddha, we can even find in that Great Conjunction of 482 BC, a “preview” of the birth of
Jesus, according to the Gospel of St. Luke. We would have to work with the principle of Saturn
progressions, as in the May Letter, in order to demonstrate this. However, we shall abstain and
not plague our readers with those complicated calculations. Apart from that “preview” of the
Christ Jesus Events, the association with the aphelion line of Venus is most significant. It
would indicate that the Buddha had “died” (rather “risen”) into an active participation in the
promotion of the Venus (“Mercury”) impulse in following history. Indeed, this became very
apparent in the circumstances accompanying the Birth of Jesus according to St. Luke.
Rudolf Steiner gave, also in this connection, decisive leads toward a cognition of the facts
involved (contained, especially in the cycle on The Gospel of St. Luke, 15-24 September 1909). It
is almost impossible to quote here all the important aspects; therefore, a study of that cycle is
inadmissible. However, we ought to say this much: The Gautama Buddha, who, after having
attained his Buddhahood does not incarnate in a physical body, “was united in his Nirmanakaya
with the Nathan Jesus”, or Jesus of the Gospel of St. Luke. “He hovered above the head of
the Nathan Jesus,” (Lecture VI). Earlier, although the Buddha does not incarnate any more, “it
135
would be incorrect to think that such a being then withdraws completely from Earth existence.
Though he does not enter immediately into a physical body, he assumes another body formed
of astral or etheric substance, and so works further upon the world... When the Buddha
appeared to the shepherds in the form of the heavenly host, he was not in a physical but in an
astral body... the body which such a being assumes after he has passed through perfection and
in which he can work from above... is called Nirmanakaya.”
This association of the Luke-Jesus with the Buddha is also expressed in the cosmic facts
accompanying the birth of this Child. We take 25 December of the year, 1 BC (astronomically
0) and find that the planet Venus, which we associated earlier with the Buddha Event, had
arrived exactly in the ascending nodal line of Mars. Spiritual powers standing and working
within the sphere of Venus took it upon themselves to heal—even through sacrificial deeds—
the Mars stricken Earth. Earlier, around the conception of the Child, Saturn was close to the
ascending node of Venus. We see this as an external expression of the inner fact that spiritual-
cosmic powers, who lived in the highest knowledge of the rhythms of time (Saturn), recog-
nized that the phase of the working of the healing and reintegrating Venus impulses had drawn
near.
However, this was only a higher indication of what might happen in the later life of this
Child; there certainly wasn’t compulsion, only potentiality. And indeed, we find, then, in the
later phases of the Christ Jesus Being moments of realization. The most striking evidence is
connected with the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, in which we see the Incarnation of
the Cosmic Christ. In that moment—we take 6 January 31 AD as the date—Mars was in its
own ascending node in the constellation of Taurus. This would tell us that the Christ Being
met, in the body of Jesus, the full heritage of the workings of the Mars forces upon Earth,
since immensely long phases of cosmic evolution. They are present in the bodies of all mem-
bers of the human race.
After the Baptism, Christ Jesus was led “into the wilderness” for forty days where he fasted
(St. Matthew IV:1-11; St. Mark I:12-13; St. Luke IV:1-13). At the end, “He afterward hun-
gered.” He confronted the Mars built physical nature of Jesus, through which the adversaries
can manifest. This brought about the Temptation that Christ overcame, not only for Himself
but for the whole of future humanity who is ready to follow Him. After that experience, we
hear, “angels came and ministered unto Him”. (St. Matthew IV:11; St. Mark I:13.) Around
that moment, forty days after January 6, 31, Mars moved through the ascending nodal line of
Venus, whereas Venus crossed the ascending nodal line of Mars. Now the work of the re-
demption of Mars, and of the beings working from there was inaugurated. The historic phase,
during which the teaching of love and compassion was to become “Deed”, commenced.
We find similar cosmic associations in the configuration of January 8, 34 AD (Fig. 23),
which we consider as the possible date of the conversion of St. Paul, or at least being close to
it. (Acts VIII and IX.) However, on this occasion the apsidal elements (perihelion and aph-
elion) of Mars and Venus were involved. On that day the Earth and Venus were in opposition
(seen geocentrically it was a superior conjunction of Venus; see also the March ’72 Letter).
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LETTERS - PART ONE
This saw the Earth in the perihelion line of Venus, and Venus in its own aphelion. At the same
time Jupiter was in conjunction with the Earth. Saturn had moved through the aphelion line of
Mars—about 2 months earlier—and Neptune was still close to the perihelion of Mars. The
planet Mars in that moment was only 7° away from the descending node of Venus (see Fig. 23).
Figure 23
Planetary positions
8 January 34
We ought to say that this date was not chosen because of these cosmic happenings; rather,
we thought of the fact that the conversion of St. Paul is remembered in the Christian calendar
during the month of January.
We shall concentrate on the “message” contained in this configuration in the next Letter.
Current Events
Geocentrically, Venus will be in an inferior conjunction of with the Sun, in the ecliptic sign
of Gemini. The planet will then stand between Sun and Earth. This is one of those rare
features in the movements of Venus that happen only once in approximately 8 years in the
same place of the ecliptic. (In between, four more such inferior conjunctions take place but in
different positions. In fact they occur in the five corners of a pentagon, laid around the Earth,
as it were.) On such occasions the planet is retrograde; however, now it does not perform a
“loop”, rather a wide open S-curve. (In the other locations of the ecliptic, these retrograde
movements appear to be loops.) The last similar events happened in June 1964 and June 1956,
but always about 2° further forward in ecliptical longitude. Thus these conjunctions slowly fall
back in the ecliptic in the course of time.
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July 1972
We closed the June Letter with a view on the star configuration of January 8, 34 AD (Fig.
23). One of the most significant features was the position of Earth, Venus, and Jupiter in the
perihelion-aphelion line of Venus. On the one hand we see this line associated with the im-
pulse that the Gautama Buddha bequeathed to humanity, and on the other hand we find it
realized in the Jesus Christ Events.
Furthermore, if the constellation of January 8, 34 AD was in some way connected with the
conversion of St. Paul, we would expect to find it “remembered” or recalled in later history, in
the sense of the working on of the Christ Impulse in humanity.
First of all, we discover such “remembering” similarities in the star configurations during
the years that Rudolf Steiner associated with the commencement of the “Second Coming”—
with the increasing possibility for humanity, in a broad sense, to attain the experience of the
Living Christ in etheric form, similar to St. Paul at Damascus. We mentioned the year 1935
earlier as the moment of commencement, but in another context Rudolf Steiner mentioned
1933, 1935, 1937. These years, indeed, showed cosmic “memory” associations with January 8,
34, and with the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry in general.
In May 1933 Saturn moved through the aphelion line of Venus. Then in 1935, Saturn
stood in the perihelion line of Mars, i.e., in the sidereal (fixed stars) point opposite to where it
was on January 8, 34. Finally, in February 1937, Jupiter moved through its own descending
node. This is not directly connected with January 8, 34, but nevertheless, it finds Jupiter oppo-
site the position where it was at Easter 33 AD, the Day of the Resurrection. (We might also
mention that in about 1935 Pluto, according to calculation, had returned to almost the exact
sidereal opposition of the point where it was in 33-4 AD. Of course, we say this very tenta-
tively. Some people may question whether Pluto existed then as a planet and also whether the
astronomical elements for calculation can be relied on over such a long period of time.)
The event of January 8, 34 was associated, apart from the other facts, with a superior
conjunction of Venus with the Sun in the constellation of Capricorn (see chart in June Letter).
This is one of the five superior conjunctions that happen in the course of eight years in the
corners of a pentagon, drawn up around the Earth. They are seconded by inferior conjunc-
tions that take place, in approximately the same positions of that pentagon, at intervals of four
years from the corresponding superior conjunctions. However, all these conjunctions fall slowly
back, against the Zodiac, in the sequence of the eight-year rhythm. Thus the whole pentagon
of these events is slowly turning back and completing a full rotation through the Zodiac in
about 1,200 years. In other words, the superior conjunction of 34 AD happened again in 42
AD, but it was then already about 2° further back in the Zodiac, and only during the 13th
century did it return to the position in 34 AD, i.e., to the perihelion-aphelion line of Venus.
During that 13th century, events took place, indeed, that we cannot but associate with the
Presence of the Christ in the invisible, spiritual realm of existence, which had first happened to
St. Paul at Damascus. On 15 January 1225 AD, Venus was heliocentrically in 303°, and the
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LETTERS - PART ONE
Earth in 123°, thus we have here a superior conjunction. The perihelion-aphelion line of
Venus was then in about 121°-301°, therefore the conjunction was close to this line, similar to
the event in 34 AD.
This is when St. Francis of Assisi went through significant experiences. On 14 September
1224, he received his stigmatization, just when Venus prepared, as it were, the conjunction of
January 1225, by moving through its own perihelion. Sabatier, the French historian says: “he
(St. Francis) had a vision; in the warm rays of the rising Sun he discerned suddenly a strange
figure. A seraph with wings extended flew toward him from the horizon and inundated him
with pleasure unutterable. At the center of the vision appeared a cross, and the seraph was
nailed to it. When the vision disappeared Francis felt sharp pains mingling with the delights of
the first moment. Disturbed to the center of his being he anxiously sought the meaning of it
all, and then he saw on his body the Stigmata of the Crucified.”
By the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century (about 600 years after St.
Francis), this particular corner of conjunctions in the Venus pentagon had rotated half-way
through the Zodiac from the original position. On about August 4, 1800, the Sun was in about
131°, and Venus in the same degree. Therefore, this was a superior conjunction that moved,
from the heliocentric viewpoint, through the perihelion of Venus (129°). Also, this event was
a descendent of the one on January 8, 34 AD.
Those years, around 1800, saw significant occurrences, mostly in the inner recesses, so to
speak, of individual human experience, amidst an external world in political turmoil. We must
consider in this context also the preceding inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun in 1796,
which was already close to the perihelion of Venus. Just about one year before that conjunc-
tion in 1796, Goethe wrote the Legend of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily, in Conversations of
German Emigrants. Even an abbreviated description can only give a faint idea about the signifi-
cance of this legend. One can regard it, with all reservation, as the story of humanity seeking
to build a bridge over the deep gulf that separates the physical-material world from the invis-
ible world of the spirit.
Between the years 1796 and 1800, the German poet Novalis went through the most cru-
cial and painful experiences, which however, brought out the real spiritual depths of his be-
ing. The year 1796 saw his betrothed, Sophie von Kühn severely ill. According to descrip-
tions by people around Novalis, she must have been a being of an extraordinary spirituality,
though she was barely 15 years old. The following year she died, on March 19, 1797, which
was a shattering blow for Novalis. On that day Venus was, heliocentrically, in 315°, i.e., still
close to its aphelion, though not in conjunction with the Sun. But this experience awakened
in him that which was the messenger of the spiritual world, and he was indeed. In his Sacred
Songs he was able to say:
“He liveth!” unto all I say,
The Risen One is He;
He cometh in our midst to stay
There evermore to be.
139
I say to all, and everyone

Repeats it to his friend,
For Heaven’s new Kingdom now will come
And nevermore have end...”
(Translated by Eileen Hutchins, published by Selma Publications, Aberdeen.)
Since Jupiter was also involved in the configuration of January 8, 34 AD (it was in conjunc-
tion with the Earth, while the Earth was in opposition to Venus), we shall also take a look at
historic occasions when Jupiter moved through the perihelion-aphelion line of Venus:
Michelangelo died February 18, 1564, when Jupiter was in 126° (heliocentric), close to
the perihelion line of Venus. In order to define the significance of this position
more precisely, we will investigate it in connection with the biographical implica-
tions. In the February ’72 Letter, we demonstrated the following facts in connec-
tion with the death of a human being: The positions of the planets at the moment
of death are, as a rule, a perfect reflection of the biography of that person. They
represent the counter part of the so-called “tableau” of the individual human life
having just come to an end, and which is experienced by the soul during the first
three days. This is caused by the fact that the ether, or life body, has separated from
the physical body and is on its way to expand into the solar cosmos from where it
was taken around incarnation. This ether body is a formative entity at the same
time as it is a “memory time” body. Therefore, it stands out before the soul after
death as the tableau, or biographical picture, of the past life. In other words, this
“memory” ether body is reintegrated into the planetary world after death. Thus,
we can concretely take the Jupiter position at Michelangelo’s death and ask our-
selves: With which phase of Michelangelo’s life is it connected? The planet Saturn,
the cosmic historiographer, can provide the answer. At a certain moment, it moved
through the perihelion line of Venus; this was around 1534-5. Numbers of events
happened then on the Earth and in humanity, as well as in Michelangelo’s life, and
Saturn “imprinted” all of them in the cosmic memory, or Akashic Records. Then,
at the moment of the death of Michelangelo, Jupiter stepped into that place where
Saturn had earlier made those imprints of 1534-5, because he considered them
“vital” for himself. Rather, we ought to say, Michelangelo’s death was arranged in
time so that Jupiter, by its position, could pick up through the ether body of
Michelangelo that memory substance. (As we pointed out in the February ’72
Letter, this substance can even be taken up again for further development by other
human souls at later times.) In 1534-5 Michelangelo had moved to Rome and was
involved in the beginning stages of his painting of the Last Judgment in the Sistine
Chapel. This was the memory substance that was integrated into that Jupiter of
1564, in the perihelion line of Venus. If we contemplate this painting, we can
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become aware of the tremendous inner experiences that must have moved through
the soul of Michelangelo to enable him to create this supreme work of art. Par-
ticularly if we try to live with the central figure of Christ, we can become aware of
the sublime experience of the Presence that must have inspired him.
Novalis (mentioned above) was another individuality who died when Jupiter was in the
perihelion of Venus. In the sense of the life tableau, which we described, this
Jupiter received just the memory essence of the last one or two important years of
Novalis. Rudolf Steiner speaks about him in his book The Riddles of Philosophy. He
says: “...Novalis feels himself, experiences himself, within the higher realm of the
spirit. What he says, he feels as a revelation of this spirit world itself, brought about
by the geniality that lives originally in him. For instance, he writes: ‘One succeeded,
he lifted the veil of the goddess of Sais, and what did he see? He saw, oh miracle of
miracles, he saw himself ’, and furthermore (Novalis wrote), ‘The spirit world has
indeed already been opened to us, it is always manifest. If we would suddenly
become elastic enough, as much as it is necessary, we would find ourselves in its
midst.’” Here, indeed, we can see expressed by Jupiter in the perihelion of Venus,
how deeply the (astronomical) elements of this planet, in ancient times called Mer-
cury, are connected with the future of Earth existence and evolution since the
Christ Events on Golgotha.
Mathis Gothardt Grünewald (August 31, 1528) was another personality who died when
Jupiter was in the perihelion line of Venus. He became well-known as the painter
of the altar pictures at Isenheim in Alsatia. It is an altar with several layers of
panels that give vivid and highly artistic representations of events from the birth of
Jesus up to the moment of the Resurrection. Here, too, we can feel the sublimity
of inner experience that must have inspired the artist and enabled him to give
expression to it.
Rudolf Steiner, who was able to give so much of inspiring thought concerning the
Christ Events and, particularly, about the Second Coming, was connected with the
workings in the sphere of Venus. Indeed, during his embryonic development Jupi-
ter moved through the perihelion of Venus.
In many other correlations of personalities of less historic fame but of great spiritual
significance such indications can be found.
The engagement of the perihelion-aphelion line of Venus in the configuration of January
8, 34 AD was, in a certain sense, a summing-up of preceding events during the Years of
Christ’s Ministry and shortly afterward. The difficulty here is agreement on the chronology of
the happenings. However, one coincidence is rather striking: at the time of the first Whitsun
Festival, May 23, 33 AD (Acts II). Venus was moving through its own aphelion. The reinte-
grating and reuniting impulse of the beings working from the sphere of this planet, against the
divisions in humanity, came to expression in the description of Acts II:4: “...they were all filled
141
with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utter-
ance...”.
The second feature in the configuration of January 8, 34 AD, Saturn standing in the aph-
elion line of Mars and Neptune in the perihelion was also remembered very strongly in history.
We see in it a realization and confrontation of that which entered the world through the “great
sin”, already at the time of the Loss of Paradise, and which must be healed and redeemed. It
was prepared also at the time of the first Whitsun, when Mars moved through its own aph-
elion. It found expression in the words of the apostle Peter, after he had healed the “man lame
from his mother’s womb” “...But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of
all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord...” (Acts III:2 and 18-19.) On this background we can also understand
the great apostolic work of St. Paul.
With regard to similars in history to the position of Saturn in the aphelion of Mars on
January 8, 34 AD, we find interesting correlations:
Thomas More was executed July 7, 1535, when Saturn was in that place. In his collision
with the world of King Henry VIII, we see one manifestation of that heritage of
sin in humanity associated with the workings from the sphere of Mars.
However, it should not be a matter of rejecting those Mars impulses or meeting them with
antipathy. They must be redeemed, which sometimes is possible only through sacrifice and
suffering. The manifestation of these impulses is, at the present stage of human evolution,
chiefly associated with the development of the sciences of nature and technology and their
effects on the human being. There are two examples in history that show what needs to be
done in order to meet these challenges:
Swedenborg died March 29, 1772, when Saturn was close to the aphelion of Mars.
This would tell us that he was involved in such like humanity problems, which
indeed he was. During the first part of his life, he worked successfully as a scientist,
even as a technologist. We read in the Encyclopedia Britannica that after a certain
moment “…he applied himself to discovering the nature of soul and spirit by
means of anatomical studies. He traveled in Germany, France, and Italy in search
of anatomical knowledge… In no field were Swedenborg’s researches more note-
worthy than in physical science…” However, he was unable to establish a real
scientifically founded nexus between the physiology of humans and their soul and
spirit.
Finally, possibly caused in part by this disappointment, something else hap-
pened. About 1744 or 45 he renounced his scientific career and became the mystic,
or “theosophist”, as whom he is generally known. He wrote to a friend that “he
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was introduced by the Lord first into the natural sciences, and thus prepared, and,
indeed, from the year 1710 to 1745, when heaven was opened to him…” Thus, he
was unable to build a bridge from the science of nature to a science of the spirit.
This was not, so to speak, Swedenborg’s “fault”. The whole present age of human-
ity suffers from this dilemma that earlier ages did not know. Certain adverse forces
that combine with the workings coming from Mars are intent in doing their utmost
to prevent our modern age from advancing toward the “building of the bridge”.
Here is revealed the gravity of the modern situation, but also the possible dignity
of this humanity. It is entirely given into the hands of our modern age to recognize
our position amidst the challenges around us and to find the solutions out of our
free decision. Nothing forces us, against the conditions in Old Testament times for
instance; however, also nothing will save us from the consequences of our deeds;
or perhaps one might also say, from our “non-deeds”.
Rudolf Steiner brought a positive, constructive addition to this, which we see in the
fact that when he entered into incarnation (born February 27,1861), Saturn again
moved through the aphelion line of Mars. He is the modern man who faced these
challenges, developed corresponding answers, and in the course of his life untiringly
demonstrated how, in all spheres of life, bridges can be built between the natural
world, faced by the sciences of nature, and the invisible, spiritual world. There is
no field of human experience and practical work for which he has not suggested
efficient means and methods to handle these practical concerns through a science
of the spirit. And today, nearly fifty years after his death, it is more than obvious,
amidst the burning problems with which this humanity is faced in all spheres of
life, that the adoption of Rudolf Steiner’s advice and suggestions could have saved
us from many of the prevailing catastrophic perspectives. Yet, he was not a lone or
strange messenger in this field.
Novalis, mentioned earlier, was in a sense, a “forerunner” of spiritual science or an-
throposophy. Both at the time of his incarnation (born May 2, 1772) and at his
death (March 25, 1801), Saturn was moving through the aphelion line of Mars. On
the one hand Novalis is known as a poet, but he was also a scientist; one might even
say a technologist, because by profession and by heart he was a mining engineer. In
more than 3,000 diary entries, he not only pronounced seemingly highly inspired
comments on philosophical, religious, and “belletristic” matters, but also on the
sciences.
Also repetitious positions of Neptune in the perihelion of Mars, carrying active “memo-
ries” of January 8, 34, came back in history:
Leonardo da Vinci, the Renaissance painter, died May 2, 1519, when Neptune was close to
the perihelion of Mars.
143
Raphael Santi, the painter of the many pictures of the Madonna and finally the Sistine
Madonna, died in the following year (April 6) when Neptune was still in the same
position. It is not difficult to see that both men must have lived with deep inner
experiences of the meaning and significance of the Christ Events for humanity.
All this historic evidence can give us the confidence that the realization of the Presence of
Christ can come to humanity into the future in ever increasing ways. It can happen because
since the beginning of the second third of the present century, the etheric reality of the his-
toric Christ Events has returned to the immediate neighborhood of the Earth, as we worked
out earlier. Therefore, it can be helpful to watch the returns of the cosmic occurrences to their
original places during the thirty-three years of Christ Jesus.
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LETTERS - PART TWO
PART TWO
CHAPTER I
August-September-October 1972
These Letters were intended as reports on the author’s researches in the field of cosmology
and cosmogony. So far, we tried to investigate some historic perspectives of past humanity.
This has by far not been concluded. A lot is still to be done in order to bring these investiga-
tions up to a point where they can become of intrinsic significance for immediate history.
However, before we go any further, we feel we ought to study the connections of a number of
individuals with the cosmos more closely than we have done hitherto. Because it is the indi-
vidual, after all, who makes history.
Furthermore, we think that there is a need for a systematic approach to our correlation
with the universe, as we have come to see it. More and more the necessity has arisen to create
a kind of “textbook” information for this kind of work from the viewpoints of the spiritual-
scientific, and ethical background on which we have built for decades but never “summarized”,
as it were.
In this sense we will now start to work out, systematically, the star correlations of Johannes
Kepler, the astronomer of the 17th century. In connection with the centennial of his birth (he
was born on December 27, 1571—Julian Calendar), we have lately had some opportunity to
work out the history on the details of his birth chart in connection with his biography.
Johannes Kepler was not just another astronomer of the present Age. His life situation
and his destiny led him to become, so to speak, a formidable warrior for new approaches to the
whole field of cosmology in line with the requirements of modern humanity. The great battles
that he had to fight did not only concern his human, contemporary environment, it was also
himself with which he was constantly confronted: connections and heritages from the past
that were present in his temperament, his inclinations, etc. In the field of pure astronomy he
opened up new roads of approach that are even now not fully realized; and yet, he also got
involved in “astrology”. However, in this field too, his great battle became very apparent. On
the one hand he had to publish annual calendars with astrological forecasts, even in order to
make a living, and on the other hand he found strong words against the traditional astrology,
calling it “a dreadful superstition”, a “sortilegious monkey-play”, and the whole field a “dirty
puddle”. Yet, he was convinced that a renewal of astrology was possible that would discover,
as an empirical science, the truth of the relationship of human beings and the Earth to the
cosmos. In one of his writings he gave “a warning to certain Theologians, Physicians, and
Philosophers… that, while justly rejecting the stargazers’ superstitions, they should not throw
out the child with the bath water”. For “nothing exists nor happens in the visible sky that is not
sensed in some hidden manner by the faculties of Earth and nature: (so that) these faculties of
the spirit here on Earth are as much affected as the sky itself.” (Translations quoted from
145
Arthur Koestler’s The Sleepwalkers.) Thus, we see good reason for taking Kepler’s own rela-
tionship to the cosmos as a start for a systematic presentation of the approach that we have
come to consider, at least, as one of the first openings toward a new astrology, astrosophy, or
cosmogony, whichever one wants to call it.
Johannes Kepler was born, as we mentioned already, on December 27, 1571—Julian Cal-
endar, 2:30 p.m. Local Time, at Weil der Stadt, not far from Stuttgart in Southern Germany.
This information, coming from Kepler originally, is given in Arthur Koestler’s The Sleepwalkers,
published 1959, Hutchinson of London.
First we want to orientate ourselves with regard to the spatial situation in that moment,
which part of the sky and Zodiac was above the horizon and which was below, as in Fig. 1. For
this purpose we have to work with Sidereal Time.
Figure 1 Earth Equator projected into space

Ecliptic Plane
Crossing points between

Ecliptic Plane and projected Earth Equator.
For our daily requirements we employ either Local Time, or Regional Time. This means
that we divide the day into 24 hours, starting with zero at midnight and arriving at local noon,
or 12 o’clock when the Sun is culminating, i.e.,, crossing the meridian line, or half-circle starting
in the south point of the horizon, moving through the zenith, and descending to the north
point. At least, we take the average moment of this crossing of the Sun, because there can be,
in actual fact, a slight time difference according to the season. Regional Time, for instance,
Central European Time, or one of the four regions of the North American continent, is based
on an agreement that one particular meridian; for example, in this case the one of 75° west of
Greenwich that passes, among other places, through Philadelphia, is made the basis of time for
a whole region, either east or west of this meridian. The moment in which the Sun passes
through this meridian is regarded, approximately, as noon for that region and is called Eastern
Standard Time.
Sidereal Time has a different foundation. Zero of the sidereal day is the moment when the
crossing point between ecliptic—the Sun’s path during the year as seen from the Earth—and
the equator of the Earth, projected into the sky, moves through the meridian of any given
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LETTERS - PART TWO
geographic locality on the planet. The Sun appears to stand in this crossing point at the mo-
ment of the spring equinox, in the Northern Hemisphere. On that day of the year, Sidereal
Time coincides with Local Time. This is indicated in the available astronomical ephemerides
(shown in Table I). For instance, Raphael’s Astronomical Ephemeris for 1972 gives the Sidereal
Time for 22 March as 0h 0m 21s for noon of any Local Time. After that, Sidereal Time
advances every day by about 4 minutes of the hour, because the Sun moves apparently, we may
say, forward in the ecliptic, which causes the crossing point of ecliptic and celestial equator to
move over the meridian of any given locality 4 minutes earlier. Therefore, Sidereal Time on 23
March = 0h 4m 17s, on the 24th =
0h 8m 14s, which means that Zero
(or the moving over of the eclip-
tic equator crossing point) was that
amount of time before noon of
Local Time. Four minutes x 360
days (or about one year) equals
1440 minutes, or 24 hours, which
means that we have come back,
after one year’s elapse, to the be-
ginning when sidereal noon will
once again coincide with local
noon.
Table I
[This table was copied with

permission from the publisher:
W. Foulsham & Co., Ltd.
Raphael’s Astronomical Ephemeris
is available from: American
Federation of Astrologers,
Tempe, AZ.]
147
We need this seemingly complicated working with Sidereal Time in order to calculate the
position of the ecliptic and the Zodiac, in this relationship to any given local horizon and time.
For instance, we may want to know what this relationship was on May 28, 1972 at 10 p.m.
Greenwich, England. Sidereal Time on that day was 4h 24m, according to Raphael’s Ephemeris
for 1972, p. 10, for noon at that place (see Table I below). To this we have to add Kepler’s birth
time of 10h. Thus we arrive at 14h 24m = Sidereal Time for that moment, which tells us that
the crossing point of ecliptic and celestial equator passed over the meridian of Greenwich 14h
24m earlier. From this we can work out how the whole firmament of the sky was standing in
relationship to the horizon of Greenwich at 10 p.m. on that day. This can be calculated, of
course, with logarithms, etc., which sounds complicated. However, we can use prepared, so-
called Tables of Houses for this purpose, making it easier. There are such Tables printed in
Raphael’s Ephemeris, following p. 41, for London. Sidereal Time is given as 14h 24m, about 3° of
the ecliptic sign of , as rising in the east (column “Ascendent” in the Tables). The column
with the heading of “10” gives the culminating point (in the meridian of London) about 8° of
the sign of .
Of course, these prepared “Tables of Houses” in Raphael’s Ephemeris are limited. They are
given only for London, Liverpool, and New York, and similar geographic latitudes. However,
there exist Tables for almost all inhabited latitudes of the Earth. For instance, the Häeusertabellen
des Geburtsortes by D. W. Koch, edited by Elisabeth Schaeck, 668 Neunkirchen, Saar, Germany,
are available for latitudes 23°, 44°, 45°, 56° and for the equator.
Coming back to the moment of Kepler’s birth we seem to be confronted, straightaway,
with the difficulty of having no prepared ephemerides for that century. How can we get the
needed information? With regard to the Sidereal Time of his birth it is relatively easy, we must
only bear in mind that the birth still took place under the era of the Julian calendar. The latter
was changed to the Gregorian calendar on October 5, 1582. By that time the Julian reckoning
had fallen behind the actual year of the Sun-cycle by 10 days. Therefore, 5 October 1582 was
declared to be 15 October, for the sake of rectification. Since that time the calendar corrects
itself by the system of leap-year cycles.
In order to find the Sidereal Time for Kepler’s birth we take 27 December 1571, Julian
date, and convert it into the corresponding Gregorian date, which is January 6, 1572. As this
was a leap-year we can take any January 6th of a leap-year in modern times and adopt the
Sidereal Time given for it. For instance, January 6, 1972 would suit. The Sidereal Time was
then about 19h 01m (see Raphael’s Ephemeris), which means that 4h 59m after local noon, the
ecliptic, celestial equator crossing will move over the meridian of any locality on the Earth with
similar longitude (east-west divisions of the Earth globe) :
19h 01
+ 4h 59
24h 00 Midnight or Zero
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LETTERS - PART TWO
To this Sidereal Time of 19h 01m at noon we have to add the birth time, which was 2h 30m
Local. (In the case of information according to Regional Time we have to adjust the latter to
Local Time.) Thus we arrive at 19h 01m plus 2h 30m = 21h 31m, being the Sidereal Time of
this birth.
Table II
Next we have to employ a Table of Houses for the latitude of Kepler’s birthplace. Weil-
der-Stadt is 45° 46' northern latitude. The corresponding Table is given in Dr. W. A. Koch’s
Häeusertabellen, p. 165 (see Table II above). We take Sidereal Time 21h 29m 39s. The small
difference of about 2 minutes does not alter the picture very incisively. In the middle between
149
the right and left columns we find the degrees of latitude, for instance, for 49° North. The
column “A” provides the ascendent or rising point for that moment as 22 40, according to
ecliptic signs. Above this whole column is given the overall figure “M” 20 . This was the
culminating (meridian) point of the ecliptic, valid for all locations along the same meridian.
The rest of the information contained in these Tables we can, for the moment, disregard. We
draw a chart for this situation:
Figure 2
The central ellipse gives us the plane of the horizon in that moment, dividing the sky into
the visible part above and the invisible part below. On the left (NE = northeast) is the rising
point or ascendent, on the right the setting (SW = southwest), or descendent. (This is taken
from the visual approach, i.e.,, as if we were looking toward the south. It can also be done
from a contemplative angle, turning away from the visual, looking toward N = north, and thus
contemplating it.) The upright ellipse represents the visible half meridian in which the ecliptic
culminates in that moment, and down below is the invisible part of the meridian. According to
this drawing, the quadrant above and on the left seems to contain a much bigger share of the
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LETTERS - PART TWO
ecliptic than the one on the right. This is due to the fact that the ecliptic, or Zodiac, rose far to
the northeast and had to span a large portion of space until it reached above the south point of
local space, or the meridian of the birth place.
Furthermore, we include in the circle of the ecliptic signs the sidereal constellations of the
Zodiac, which do not coincide with each other because of the precession of the vernal equi-
nox. According to this, the sidereal constellation of Taurus had fully risen in that moment, and
Gemini was to follow. At the same time, the dividing point between sidereal Capricorn and
Aquarius was cutting through the meridian.
The next step is to insert into this picture the positions of the planets, Sun, and Moon, at
that moment. This is relatively easy with regard to modern times, for which we have pre-
calculated ephemerides, usually for day by day positions. For earlier dates we have to calculate
the positions with the help of astronomical Tables. There does exist, however, the ephemeris
Solar and Planetary Longitudes for Years -2500 to +2000 by 10-Day Intervals, prepared by William D.
Stahlmann and Owen Gingerich, the University of Wisconsin Press. This is a great help. It
does not contain the positions of the Moon, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto.
As we will eventually need the heliocentric positions of the planets for Kepler’s birth date,
we will now calculate the latter, and also the geocentric ones, with the help of Dr. Paul Ahnert’s
Astronomisch-chronologische Tafeln ruer Sonne, Mond und Planeten, Joh. Ambrosius Barth-Verlag, Leipzig,
1968. These are, according to our knowledge, the only available Tables for this purpose at
present.* The method employed is relatively simple: the positions of the planets, given for the
commencements of centuries, years, months, and days have to be added up and then rectified.
Thus does one obtain the heliocentric data that can be converted into geocentric data. Ex-
amples for calculation are given in the Introduction (p. 16-17) which, since they consist of
mathematical figures, can be followed even if knowledge of the German language should be
lacking.
With these Tables the positions of the Moon, Uranus, and Neptune can also be calculated,
as well as the latitudes (differences from the ecliptic, north or south) of all the planets, which
we will leave, however, in our case for the time being. For the transition from the Julian to the
Gregorian Calendar the Year 1600 is visualized. As Kepler was born still within the era of the
Julian Calendar, we need not [in this example]effect any change of date.
[*Note: Although Willi used the methods described below for all of his historical and
heliocentric research, he indicated that working in this way—spending more time and effort—
opened up many more insights than the methods that became available later. This has also
been the experience of others who have worked in this way.
Since the original publication of the Practical Approach, heliocentric and geocentric eph-
emerides for the 20 and 21st century have become available. These comprehensive day to day
ephemerides provide all the planetary positions, the nodes, and apsides. The mean and true
moon nodes, apogee, and perigee are also give in addition to other pertinent data (Sidereal
Time, etc.). With the use of these tables, the calculations on pages 14 and 15 can be eliminated
151
Table III
27 December 1571
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LETTERS - PART TWO
With these data, we can now fill in Figure 3 below
153
for the period of 1901 and beyond. The American Ephemeris (Geocentric) and The American
Heliocentric Ephemeris are both compiled and programmed by Neil F. Michelsen and published
by Astro Computing Services, P.O. Box 16297, San Diego, CA 92116. They are available
through, among other sources: The American Federation of Astrologers, P.O. Box 22040,
Tempe, AZ 85282.]
What is the reason why we insist on precise information concerning the rising sign, or
constellation? In Kepler’s case it was, as we mentioned earlier, the sign of Gemini, whereas the
constellation of Taurus had already fully risen. The sign of was rising in that moment, from
the viewpoint of the ecliptic (NE ascendent). There are several answers to this question that
we shall discuss in time. In order to work out the full perspective of Kepler’s asterogram, we
will now concentrate on one particular aspect concerning the ascendent: the prenatal epoch,
which is about 9 months before birth.
The so-called Trutina Hermetis or Hermetic Rule, according to some existing documentary
evidence, is associated with the Old Egyptian priest kings Nechepso and Petosiris, who are
otherwise unknown. The concept “Hermetic” appears to suggest that it originated with Hermes,
the mythological founder of the ancient Egyptian civilization. It indicates that a certain impor-
tant moment around the beginning of the embryonic development can be discerned: the ep-
och that lies on the average of 273 days before birth. One is at first tempted to think that the
moment of conception was meant to be identical with the epoch, but a closer investigation
reveals that this is not the case. Rather it appears to have been recognized in those ancient
times as the moment of a kind of “cosmic conception”, during the time that the descending
soul was still residing in the sphere of the Moon and not yet connected with the physical germ
of its eventual body.
The Hermetic Rule says that one can discern the time of the epoch by the mathematical
relationship of the Sun, Moon, and Earth at the moment of birth. We have worked with the
principles of the Hermetic Rule and the epoch and have found that very instructive informa-
tion can be obtained. It distinguishes four possibilities that vary the time of 273 days, or 9
months, between epoch and birth:
1. The Moon can be waxing at birth (Sun-Moon relationship) and above the horizon
(Earth relationship). In this case the Moon of the epoch was, according to the
Rule, in the location of the ecliptic which rose at birth or became the ascendent.
Then the time between epoch and birth was shorter than 273 days. [Here we have,
straightaway, Kepler’s case. His birth Moon was waxing and full Moon took place
a few days after his birth. Furthermore, it was above the horizon (see chart). There-
fore, so the Rule says, the epoch took place when the Moon was in the location
which became the rising point at birth = about 22° 40' of the ecliptic sign of .
This happened on March 31, 1571, and the time between epoch and birth was 271
days. This date does not coincide with Kepler’s own estimate of conception which
he put at May 16, 1571, though we need not to take this statement dogmatically.
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2. The Moon can be waxing at birth but below the horizon. Then the Moon of the
epoch was also in the point of the ecliptic which rose (ascendent) at birth, and the
time between epoch and birth was longer.
3. The Moon can be waning at birth and below the horizon. In this case the Moon
has been at the epoch in the place of the ecliptic which is setting at birth (descen-
dent), and the time between epoch and birth would be shorter. [For instance, if
Kepler had been born one week later, the Moon would have been in about 130° at
birth (on January 3, 1572). A day or two before the full Moon took place; there-
fore, the Moon was waning on January 3 and below the eastern horizon (about 83°
of the ecliptic). In this case the Moon of the epoch would have been in about
263°—or later descendent of Kepler’s birth—at about the 13th to 14th of April,
1571. The time between epoch and birth would then have been 265 days.]
4. The Moon can be waning at birth but above the horizon. Then the Moon of the
epoch would have been in the place which set at birth (western horizon - descen-
dent). The time between epoch and birth would be longer.
We would now have to calculate the positions of the planets for March 31, 1571, similar to
the computations for the birth. However, as the latter were produced here only as guiding
examples for future purposes, we will just give the final results for the epoch. For this reason
we will present a chart on the circular principle seen, as it were, from a point above the ecliptic.
In the inner circle we have the positions of the planets relative to the Earth at birth (of course
we neglect the actual spacial dimensions) and in the outer circle at the epoch. In between we
will insert the movements during the time between epoch and birth (Fig. 3).
Basically, we have in this picture a cosmic counter-image of the form of the embryo,
indicated primarily in the prenatal curve of the Sun. This is not just a metaphorical compari-
son. In actual practice it has proven to be a very useful addition and help in the interpretation
Figure 4 of an incarnation asterogram, and it also helps us to form a really ethi-
cal and congenial conception of the meaning and usefulness of
such a chart. On this basis our connections with the stars
present themselves as a picture of the cosmic forces that
have been woven into the physical organization. There is
no need to conceive of them as an element that unalter-
ably rules the human being, as it is so often suggested,
unfortunately, in astrological delineations. All depends on
how we learn to know and to handle this “tool complex”
that we have received from the cosmos. Here, the idea that
truth and knowledge will make us free can become an activat-
ing and truly inspiring experience. The question is: How can
we handle this in practical reality? One possibility is to go through
the features of the single planets during the epoch-birth time.
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We will make a start with Saturn. This planet is built into the human organism as the power
of uprightness. (See also Rudolf Steiner’s Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy, and Philosophy,
Oslo, June 1912, Lecture IX). In order to achieve this, Saturn creates also the human skeleton.
Thus it is the mainstay of the human body, and it is so in a deeper sense. In connection with
our earlier historical studies, we met Saturn as Omnipotent Father Time, holding the time
threads that are running through history. Saturn does this also in connection with the single
individual, holding the thread between heaven and Earth, between the past and the present.
Past must be understood, in this sense, also as the time when the soul sojourned in the spiritual
world between the last and the present incarnation. Then the will-impulses, with regard to the
present incarnation, were formulated out of the results and consequences of the earlier one.
In a broad sense, with all necessary reservation, Saturn can thus also be regarded as Father
Karma.
Saturn at the time of Kepler’s epoch was just on the border from sidereal Virgo to Libra.
In the beginning of the prenatal it was retrograde and moved once more back into the region
of the feet of Virgo, but during the last half it crossed over into Libra. This would give us an
idea of what Kepler’s prenatal impulses were as he looked forward to another incarnation.
Libra, or Scales, represents a cosmic momentum of “weighing”, of decision between two
opposites or polarities. This “cosmic mood” accompanied Kepler all through his life. It gave
him the ability of looking at himself and judging himself as if he were confronted with an-
other being. For instance, he was capable of writing: “That man (himself) has in every way a
dog-like nature. His appearance is that of a little lap-dog... He was constantly on the move,
ferreting among the sciences, politics and private affairs... His teachers praised him for his good
dispositions, though morally he was the worst among his contemporaries...” (Extract from
translations in Arthur Koestler’s The Sleepwalkers.) There is much more of this kind of “weigh-
ing of self ” in Kepler’s writings. Nevertheless, we see in that Saturn, moving back to the feet
of Virgo, also the impulse to bring the cosmic divine wisdom right down into Earth facts,
realities, and decisions.
We can look at Saturn from three different viewpoints, and these can be regarded as guide-
lines for a systematic interpretation. They cannot always be applied with the same ease as in
the case of Kepler.
First, we mentioned already that the prenatal Sun curve is a kind of cosmic counter arche-
type of the embryo. On this basis this curve can be divided into twelve equal parts. The
happenings in these sectors during the prenatal refer to the physical instrumentality of earthly
existence and the actual potentials contained therein. In Kepler’s case the Sun started at the
epoch in 19.5° of the ecliptic, and at birth it stopped at 285.5°. Therefore, the distance it
traveled was 266°. This we divide into twelve equal parts, each containing about 22.16°. The
first sector would refer to the region in the human physical organism and so forth. According
to this division, Saturn would have moved from the to the sectors of the prenatal Sun curve,
which ran from 196.78° to 218.94°, and to 241.10° of the ecliptic, whereas Saturn started at the
epoch in about 212.2°, moved back to about 206.9°, and forward to about 224.3° at birth.
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Just to make the association of the twelve prenatal Sun curve sectors with the regions of
our physical organization clearer, we give the following correlations, following the indications
in Rudolf Steiner’s Man in the Light of Occultism, Theosophy and Philosophy, chiefly in lectures
V and VI:
1. Upright posture = 7. Balance =

2. Orientation to Speaking = 8. Reproductive Organs =
3. Symmetry = 9. Thigh =
4. Enclosure within = 10. Knee =
5. Circulation = 11. Leg =
6. Motabolism = 12. Feet =
Kepler’s Saturn would then have moved through the “cosmic embryonic” regions which in
life give the human being the capability to move finally from the state of enclosure in the body
into external movement and integration in the environment. By the power of the tenth sector
( : knees, joints in a broad sense), where Saturn was at birth, we would then receive the
capacity to meet the environment, to stand up to it, possibly even to resist it. There is no
doubt, Kepler was in such a position all his life, and sometimes it was connected with suffering
and agony when he had to meet his human contemporaries.
Second, another road of access toward interpretation is an investigation of the relationship
the prenatal movements of the planets have to life after birth. In researches extending over
decades, and in connection with history and biography, we were led to the conclusion that the
prenatal Moon cycles between epoch and birth are associated with later life. Thus the cosmic
events during the first sidereal Moon cycle (the Moon starting from its initial position and
returning to it) pre-reflects, as it were, potentials, challenges, and developments during the first
seven years of life. The second cycle refers to the time from 7 to 14, and so on. As the prenatal
total consists on an average of ten sidereal Moon cycles, the whole would reflect about ten
times 7 years, or 70 years, the approximate life-span of a human being. We should, however,
firmly emphasize that this approach cannot be used, according to our experience, in the sense
of old-fashioned prediction, which presents the human being with presumably unalterable
courses of events in life. It can only be taken as a road toward the recognition of possible
potentials and challenges.
In Kepler’s prenatal asterogram we find that Saturn was retrograde at the beginning of the
embryonic development and became direct during the 4th prenatal Moon cycle. We include in
Fig. 5 a diagrammatic graph of the geocentric planetary movements during Kepler’s prenatal
development. The horizontal divisions give the time element, divided into the ten sidereal
Moon cycles of about 27.3 days each. The vertical divisions indicate signs and constellations
(left edge). By inserting the movements of the planets, related to space and time, we get the
lines and curves contained in the graph.
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Figure 5
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The moment when Saturn became direct (moving back into the constellation of Libra)
wasa pre-reflection of Kepler’s age from about 21 to 28 years (1592-1599). This was indeed a
decisive time for Kepler’s whole later career. He completed his first book, Mysterium
Cosmographicum (1596), where he expounded his idea that the universe of the planetary spheres
in our solar system is built around definite geometrical figures. In the preface he confessed that
he had come to agree with the idea of Copernicus, that the Sun must be in thecenter of the
universe “for physical, or if you prefer, for metaphysical reasons”. We see here, how an ele-
ment of decision (Libra) must have lived and been realized in Kepler, because powerful forces,
such as the Roman Church, still insisted that the Earth was the center of the universe. (The
trial of Galileo by the Church authorities for his Copernican views was a witness of this im-
pulse.) It was also not easy for Kepler to stand up to his decision, as we shall see.
In the Mysterium Cosmographicum he suggested that the orbits were made in size, etc., accord-
ing to the impacts of geometric bodies, called the Pythagorean or Platonic solids around which
they were laid out. Thus the orbit of Saturn was “made” by a cube that was inserted or
inscribed in it; inside the sphere of Jupiter was (of course, invisible but mathematically poten-
tial) a tetrahedron, a three-sided pyramid with a triangular base, inside of which was the sphere
of Mars. Then, between Mars and the Earth, a dodecahedron was active (body of twelve
pentagonal sides), between the orbit of Earth and Venus an icosahedron (twenty equilateral
triangles), between Venus and Mercury an octahedron (eight equilateral triangles). One is
almost inclined to think that such a space concept of the solar universe needed confidence in
cosmic wisdom and a special sense of balance on the author’s part. He did realize, in his own
fashion, Saturn in Virgo and Libra.
Between 1600-06 Kepler worked on his next big publication, A New Astronomy, based on
causation, or a physics of the sky. It contains the first two of Kepler’s three planetary laws:
1. that the planets travel round the Sun not in circles but in elliptical orbits, one focus
of the ellipse being occupied by the Sun.
2. that a planet moves in its orbit not at uniform speed but in such a manner that a line
drawn from the planet to the Sun always sweeps over equal areas in equal times.
(Details and diagrams in Arthur Koestler’s The Sleepwalkers.)
Later during the prenatal development when Saturn was “well established” in Libra, it was
met by Mercury. This referred to the age of about 47 years in life, or 1618 (See Fig. 5). During
that year Kepler completed his book Harmonice Mundi, or Harmony of the World. Arthur Koestler
says that the book’s motto could be, “Here we will sit and let the sounds of music creep in our
ears, and soft stillness and the night become the touch of sweet harmony…There’s not the
smallest orb which thou behold’st…But in his motion like an angel sings…Such harmony is in
immortal souls.” Elsewhere he says, “What Kepler attempted here is, simply, to bare the ulti-
mate secret of the universe in an all-embracing synthesis of geometry, music, astrology, as-
tronomy, and epistemology. It was the first attempt of this kind since Plato, and it is the last to
our day…What exactly does he mean by ‘harmony’? Certain geometrical proportions that he
159
finds reflected everywhere; the archetypes of universal order, from which the planetary laws,
the harmonies of music, the drift of the weather, and the fortunes of man are derived...Kepler
applies his harmonic ratios to every subject under the sun: metaphysics and epistemology;
politics, psychology, and physiognomics; architecture and poetry, meteorology and astrology.”
What Kepler did for humanity with his life’s work we cannot even now fully appreciate on
the basis of his publications alone. We can get an inkling of it if we consider Kepler’s Saturn
from a third possible aspect—its connection with historic similars.
When Kepler died, November 15, 1630, Saturn was almost exactly in the same position
where it was at his birth (two full Saturn orbits between birth and death), in the constellation of
Libra. Two astronomers and cosmologists with whom Kepler had a strong connection also
had Saturn in sidereal Libra when they died: Copernicus (death 25 May 1543) and Tycho Brahe
(death 24 October 1601).
The planets at death reflect the endeavors and achievements of a human being which are
then, through the dissolution of the ether body, communicated to the cosmos. Therefore, we
would see in those three similar positions of Saturn that we mentioned, a presentation of the
life essence that came from Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, and Kepler. This was quite obviously
their battle with the heliocentric world conception. Copernicus introduced it into modern
humanity, although he was inconsistent with regard to its presentation. In explaining the move-
ments of the planets according to the heliocentric, he employed certain geocentric Ptolemaic
elements. On the other hand he was afraid to publicize his views to his contemporaries, know-
ing that some authorities of the Roman Church were strongly opposed to it. Only after his
death was his book, The Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, published. Arthur Koestler, there-
fore, calls him the timid Canon in The Sleepwalkers.
Tycho Brahe was not convinced of the Copernican idea. He tried to build his own world
conception, which one might regard as a kind of compromise: the planets, except the Earth,
are rotating around the Sun, which, with the whole fellowship of its satellites, is turning around
the central Earth. This concept did not make any headway in modern humanity. However,
from the first moment of Kepler’s contact with Tycho Brahe, right through the short spell of
their trying to work together and up to his last days on the death bed, he implored Kepler to
build the new universe not on the Copernican but on the Tychonian view. Yet, Kepler did
adhere to Copernicus after Tycho’s death and even used some of Tycho’s astronomical obser-
vations to fortify his own concepts.
Thus we see that a tremendous battle was going on in the background of modern history.
We can also imagine that Kepler had to make, at certain moments, great decisions for the sake
of what he recognized as the truth, which very often turned against his own comfort. How-
ever, we do think that he made the right decisions, though we do not imagine that the pure
Copernican view is the final perspective with regard to astronomical world conception. How-
ever, humanity had and has to live with it for a time.
In Kepler’s endeavors and struggles, we can experience that it was necessary for modern
humanity to adopt the aspects of an astronomy, which at first seems to lend a hand to a purely
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mechanical conception of the universe. However, his perspective of planetary spheres with
their elements, such as perihelion-aphelion and nodes, offers great possibilities of experiencing
again, and even employing in life practice, the realization of the planetary cosmos as a living
and ensouled being.
The positions and movements of the elements of the planets can be calculated according
to astronomical information which is available. One such Table has been published in the Star
Calendar 1956, published by the Mathematical and Astronomical Section at the Goetheanum,
Dornach. We give here a translation of the contents:
Table IV
If, for instance, we want to find the position of the perihelion of Mars on December 27,
1571, we must first take the difference of time between 1571 and 1900. The date in 1571 is
quite close to January 1572, so we regard the difference as being 328 years (1572-1900). The
yearly change of the perihelion is 66.254s or seconds. Therefore, we multiply these 66.254s by
328 = 21,731s, divided by 3,600s (1°)= 6° 02' 11". This movement of 6° 02' 11" in 328 years
we must subtract from the position in 1900, because it is, according to the Table a +, or a
forward move in time: the position of the perihelion of Mars in 1900, 334° 13' 06", minus 6°
02' 11" = 328° 10' 55", the position of the perihelion in January 1572.
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In connection with the heliocentric approach (see Fig. 6 below), we shall eventually work
out more details concerning Kepler’s Saturn. We will then see that the heliocentric and geo-
centric perspectives are in no way contradictory but can be rather supplementary. There is no
need to think of heliocentric and geocentric as rivals. Each approach demands, as we learned
to know by experience, its own methodology. The geocentric view sees the planet chiefly with
regard to its relationship toward the Zodiac and the Earth and as a visible entity that follows
definite rhythms.
Figure 6
On the other hand we see the justification of the heliocentric approach in the unique
opportunity that it offers us to recognize, on an entirely new level, the spheres as realities—one
is almost inclined to say, as real beings. This we owe, to a great extent, to the life work of
Kepler, who conceived the perihelion-aphelion aspects of the planets’ orbits.
To complement our considerations of Saturn in the geocentric, we look first at the events
in the apsides or perihelion-aphelion line of Saturn. According to calculation, this was then in
84.7° and 264.7° of the ecliptic. Here we see straightaway a remarkable feature: Neptune was
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almost precisely in the perihelion of Saturn at Kepler’s birth. Geocentrically, Venus was in
superior conjunction with the Sun shortly before birth. This saw the Earth, heliocentrically,
close to the perihelion of Saturn and Venus close to the aphelion, opposite the Earth. These
events alone would suggest a possible affinity to cosmology and astronomy.
Numbers of historic personalities with similar affinities had some such correlations with
the sphere of Saturn:
Edmund Halley (October 29, 1656–January 14, 1742), an English astronomer who
became well-known for his observation of the comet which actually bears his name
and whose time of return he predicted on the basis of the calculation of its orbit.
When he was born, after Kepler’s time, Neptune had moved into the aphelion of
Saturn. Venus was at the same moment close to Neptune and the aphelion of
Saturn. Then at his death, Venus was near the perihelion of Saturn and Mercury
opposite, in the aphelion.
Sir Frederick William Herschel’s (November 15, 1738–August 25, 1822) Saturn moved
during his prenatal through the perihelion of Saturn, whereas Uranus was close to
the aphelion. At his death Uranus and Neptune had just passed through a conjunc-
tion in the proximity of the aphelion line of Saturn. Herschel also became famous
as an astronomer. He is best known for his detection of the planet Uranus in 1781.
Among more modern scientists, who were also associated with cosmological problems in
some ways, we find Albert Einstein (March 14, 1879–April 18, 1955), whose birth Mars had
come close to the aphelion of Saturn, and at his death Mars was quite near the perihelion of
Saturn:
Sir Arthur Eddington (December 28, 1882– September 22, 1944) was born when
Jupiter was in the perihelion and Mars exactly opposite, in the aphelion of Saturn.
Then at death Saturn was still quite close to its perihelion.
Also before Kepler’s incarnation we find remarkable correlations of this nature:
Copernicus was born February 19, 1473. At that moment Saturn had moved into its
own perihelion. At death (May 24, 1543) Mars was in the same place.
Tycho Brahe was born December 14, 1546. During the prenatal Saturn was in its
aphelion, 2½ orbits of the planet after the birth of Copernicus. At Tycho’s birth,
Mercury was in conjunction with that Saturn, which was still very close to its own
apsidal line. At Tycho’s death, Venus moved through the perihelion line of Saturn.
Paracelsus, whose most likely date of birth was November 11, 1493, had at the mo-
ment of incarnation Neptune still close to the aphelion line of Saturn. Apart from
having been an excellent and, in a sense modern physician, Paracelsus was also a
great “knower” of the interrelationship between cosmos, Earth, and the individual.
We would find the question, what has Saturn and its sphere got to do with cosmology?,
etc., as being justified. We referred earlier to this planet as Omnipotent Father Time. It really
holds the keys to the secrets of time, even with regard to reincarnation; however, the sphere—
with which we are concerned in the heliocentric—represents the background of Saturn’s iden-
163
tity with time. The total sphere of this planet is something like a “living memory” of the very
first beginnings of all creation. The occultist recognizes it as Ancient Saturn in the most
remote past of all evolution. (See Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science.) At that time, space in the
present sense did not yet exist, only time. With these living memories, the beings in the present
sphere of Saturn (circumscribed by the orbit of the planet) are working. They carry in their
memory the great aims of all cosmic evolution, a Presence of the stages of development
necessary for the attainment of the goals of the Divinity in the past, present, and future. At
present this is deeply hidden behind the appearances, rhythms, and manifestations of the cos-
mos of the stars, but it lives and manifests as a deep urge in all endeavors within this field of
astronomy and cosmology, or astrosophy.
In the association of Venus with the descending node of Saturn (see Fig. 6) at the moment
of Kepler’s birth, we have a further complementation of all this:
Galileo was born February 15, 1564, and around the epoch Venus was in the descend-
ing node of Saturn. Kepler had an active connection with Galieo in astronomical
matters.
Of scientists closer to the modern age:
Herschel’s Venus, around the time of his epoch, was in the descending node of Saturn.
Eddington’s birth Venus was in the ascending node (we have mentioned both already
above).
Rudolf Steiner’s birth (February 27, 1861), Venus moved through the descending node
of Saturn.
We must, of course, be aware at this point that the positions of planets in the elements of
the spheres, such as perihelion-aphelion or nodal lines, are no guarantee that the human being
concerned will actively realize impulses implied in the cosmic configurations. It can happen,
and just in the modern age, that one bypasses them for certain reasons or inefficiently handles
the challenges present in one’s incarnation asterogram. Then it can be that they are carried
forward toward another incarnation. This may present itself in the asterogram of death as a
repeat of similar events at the moment of incarnation. However, we must emphasize that such
similars should not be interpreted under all circumstances from this perspective. On the other
hand it can also happen that such challenges are more hidden and not immediately obvious in
the actual cosmic incarnation complex. We shall demonstrate eventually how such correla-
tions, if they exist, can be discovered practically.
All this can also convey an idea of where the meaning and value of such an astrological
approach, as we are attempting it, lies—certainly not in prediction. This is a hang-over from
the old, fatalistic attitude. The really modern practice must aim at a therapeutic attitude, dis-
covering the challenges and potentials in a human life. Of course, we fully realize that this
needs more than we have done and said so far. It will need much more ground work, which we
have the intention to establish.
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CHAPTER II
November-December 1972–January 1973

One of the foremost questions concerning Kepler’s life is: Why did he become an astrono-
mer and cosmologist? If one studies his family background (see: Arthur Koestler’s The Sleep-
walkers) there is nowhere any suggestion of such inclinations in a hereditary sense, rather the
contrary. One can well ask: Is there any indication in Kepler’s incarnation asterogram that can
shed light on this question?
We have pointed out earlier that Saturn carries an image of the backbone of an incarnation,
not only in a physiological sense but also as a picture of the soul background. We have men-
tioned earlier a few such associations of Kepler’s incarnation Saturn with a whole list of historic
“cosmologists”, but this fact, in itself, is not really an explanation. However, if we study the
implications contained in the orbital elements of Saturn, we can penetrate more deeply.
We said that Neptune at Kepler’s birth was standing almost exactly above the perihelion
point of Saturn’s orbit. This fact can give us significant information if we follow it up histori-
cally. When Kepler lived on Earth, the perihelion of Saturn was already in the sidereal constel-
lation of Gemini. In fact, it had entered it in about 1415 AD, coming from sidereal Taurus.
Before that it had thousands of years of sojourn in Taurus, and at one point it went through
rather interesting coincidences: In about 1850 BC, it was in line with the perihelion of Mer-
cury, and in about 1700 BC, it was, so to speak, in conjunction with the ascending nodal line of
Mars.
How can one calculate such coincidences? One can easily do it with the help of the tables
of the orbital elements in Table IV of Chapter I. There we find the present (1900) positions of
the elements and their yearly movements. The time interval from 1700 BC to 1900 AD is 3600
years; therefore, we have to multiply the yearly movements by 3600.
Perihelion of Saturn per year = + 70.503" Node of Mars per year = + 27.970"
x 3600 x 3600
= 253,810" = seconds of the Arc = 100,692"
As these are “seconds of the Arc” we have to convert them into “degrees of the
Arc” by dividing them by 3600: = 70° 30' = 27° 58'
As both elements move forward in the ecliptic (indicated in the Tables by +) we
have to deduct these figures from the present (1900) positions:
Perihelion of Saturn 1900 AD = 91° 05' Node of Mars in 1900 AD = 48° 47'
- 70° 30' - 27° 58'
20° 35' 20° 49'
Thus both elements were then (in about 1700 BC) in 21° of the ecliptic, or in near conjunction.
If we include the precession of the vernal point in this calculation, we find that the conjunc-
tion was in the middle of sidereal Taurus. The precessional movement in 3600 years is about
50°, thus 21° of the ecliptic in 1700 BC would correspond to 21° + 50° = 71° of the present
ecliptic.
165
In the association of the perihelion of Saturn with Neptune in Kepler’s incarnation astero-
gram and in its historic background with sidereal Taurus, we can indeed see his strong connec-
tion with cosmology. The time around 1700 BC, when the conjunction of this perihelion with
the ascending node of Mars took place, approximately coincided with the lives of Isaac and
Joseph among his 11 brethren. (Some sources give the moment when Joseph was sold into
Egypt as 1729 BC, which we need not to take too dogmatically.) This was, in a sense, the
culmination of the Egypto-Chaldean civilization. It was the age when most of humanity
moved away from the preceding experience of their integration in the great universe, for in-
stance, as it still existed during the Ancient Persian civilization—though it had already faded by
then. Now they first felt the growing distance and cleavage between “the heavens above and
Earth below”. It was the beginning of that kind of astronomy that finally came to see cosmic
space and the distances between the stars in those unimaginable and only calculable figures to
which the modern age became accustomed.
We can find traces of those great changes of human consciousness in some of the archi-
tectural structures of the Egypto-Chaldean Age. It has now definitely been established that
the pyramids and temples of Ancient Egypt were strictly orientated into cosmic space, even
toward definite fixed stars. In Chaldea, chiefly the area between the rivers Euphrates and
Tigris, we find today the so-called ziggurats or step pyramids, which are quite distinct from
their Egyptian relatives. They were used as a kind of astronomical observatory but strictly
within the precincts of the temples. The top platforms of these step pyramids carried a small
sanctuary from which a delegated high priest made astronomical observations. These were
used for the guidance of whole city-states as they existed in Mesopotamia. In a sense, it was
the birth of “astrology” with all the predictional implications, which had a certain justification
at the time, but only then. The ancient “Astro-Sophia”, having realized a spiritual integration
of the human being in the universe, came to an end.
Kepler was deeply connected with all this. He even had a dim awareness of it when he
exclaimed, metaphorically, in one of his writings that he had taken and appropriated from the
sacred Egyptian mysteries their temple vessels. He built and developed, thereby, his knowledge
and ideas about the stars for modern humanity. (See also Rudolf Steiner’s The Spiritual Guidance
of Mankind, 1911, Lecture II.) Thus, Kepler did realize his strong connection with Ancient
Egypt. This was implied and, so to speak, held out to him like a challenge in the association of
his incarnation asterogram, with the perihelion of Saturn together with the ascending node of
Mars, the perihelion of Mercury, and most significantly, with the vernal equinox. All these
elements were in the constellation of Taurus during the Egypto-Chaldean Age. This was fur-
thermore implied in Kepler’s star complex of his incarnation by the waxing Moon in sidereal
Taurus at birth (see Chapter I). The Moon at birth—similar position if it is waxing, opposite if
it is waning—can be regarded as an indication of the final direction of descent from the heav-
enly world onto the Earth adopted by a soul. Therefpre, in Kepler’s case the Moon would
suggest that he eventually took the road from Taurus as his individual direction of descent.
This example can also vividly demonstrate that one cannot predict from such an incarna-
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tion complex. Prediction in this sense would say that because there are apparent associations
with Taurus in the “chart”, he must have a connection with cosmology, etc. Actual experience
cannot support such an assumption. Connections of this nature can develop, but there is no
“must”. In Kepler’s case, we are obliged to assume that many human souls had similar cosmic
complexes, simply having been born at approximately the same time. However, we know of no
contemporary of Kepler, in this strict sense, who had similar inclinations. This shows over and
again that what is present in the incarnation star complex is a challenge, an offer of “tools” and
potential facilities. It will become more and more the task of a new astrology to realize this and
find ways and means of recognizing this world of tools and potentials in the incarnation com-
plex of a human being, and to demonstrate and teach methods by which we can work them out
in life. This is what we see as the curative, educational, therapeutic tasks of an astrology for the
future. We can also recognize in this a much more glorious future of such an astrology than
predictional attempts that can easily put the human being into a kind of mental prison.
All we have worked out, so far, about Kepler still leaves us with the question: Why should
just the constellation of Taurus carry such implications that were realized by Kepler? One
answer is contained in the procession of the vernal equinox and its inspirational impact on
earthly affairs. The ancient Persian Age was inspired by a vernal equinox in the constellation of
Gemini—Pollux the heavenly twin and Castor the earthly twin. This was the Age that was
inaugurated by the great teachings of the initiate Zarathustra. He taught Ancient Persian hu-
manity the contradiction arising in the universe: Ahura Mazda, the great Sun-Divinity of cos-
mic Light in the heavenly periphery, and the power of Darkness, Ahriman, opposing it from
the center of the Earth. This was a realization of the spiritual impulses working from beyond
Gemini. Then in Egypto-Chaldean times, when the vernal point was in Taurus, the lesson of
Zarathustra penetrated in some forms, and the universe had fallen into two contradictory spheres.
To this was added the inspiration working from Taurus, impulses which insisted on leading
humanity more and more away from direct cognition of the spirit and into realization of the
material world. This is indicated in the imagination of Taurus as an impulse. With his heavy
body he pounds the Earth; yet, with his horns he still receives the impacts of the cosmic world
of stars and follows them obediently.
There exists another, far-reaching background of Taurus that would suggest a deep asso-
ciation with what present humanity experiences as the world of the stars. This would describe
the whole Zodiac as an expression of the divine hierarchies and of the human being.
This goes back to a very early description of Rudolf Steiner’s of the cosmic Being of
Christ and why John the Baptist recognized in Jesus, after the descent through the Baptism, the
“Lamb of God”. (January 27, 1908, Lecture II in The Influence of Spiritual Beings upon Man.) It
should really say: the “Ram of God”, referring to the constellation of Aries. The “Lamb, or
Ram of God” was experienced as the head of the exalted hierarchy of the Spirits of Wisdom
or Kyriotetes in ancient esoteric knowledge. Rudolf Steiner points out how the Christ in It’s
highest spiritual Principle (as we speak of “Spirit-Man” or Atma in the East, as our highest
Principle) was the leader of the Kyriotetes, the “Lamb, or Ram of God”. This image had
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accompanied the Hebrew people through hundreds of years as the promise of the coming
Messiah, and it was contained in the tradition of the sacrificial Passover-Ram. The following
lower Principles of the Christ would then be associated with the hierarchies below the Kyriotetes
expressed in their associations with the constellations of the Zodiac according to the diagram
in Fig. 7. Finally, we see this cosmic Being of Christ, so to speak, descend into manifestation in
Libra, which coincides with the zodiacal representation of the principle of Life-Spirit in hu-
mans. (The association of the seven principles of the human being with the Zodiac, according
to Fig. 7 below, also follows a suggestion of Rudolf Steiner.)
Figure 7
Exusiai: Spirits of Form Dynamis: Spirits of Movement
Archai: Spirits of Kyriotetes: Spirits of Wisdom

Personality
Archangle: Fire-Spirits Thrones: Spirits

of Will
Angeloi: Sons
of Life
The study of this diagram can reveal a coincidence of its propositions with the actual facts
of cosmic evolution as they are, for instance, described in Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science. The
constellation of Pisces we see as a manifestation, we could almost say a hand gesture of the
Thrones or Spirits of Will. Through the sacrifice of their Will on Ancient Saturn, the founda-
tions for the physical body was laid. And indeed, we see in Pisces the cosmic image of the
human physical body (see diagram). Likewise, there exists an inner relationship between Aries
and Aquarius. In Aries we see a manifestation of the Kyriotetes or Spirits of Wisdom. On
Ancient Sun they created the human etheric body, which we see in our diagram associated with
Aquarius or Waterman, in terms of cosmic imagination, as celestial water or etheric forces, not
earthly water. Next we see in Taurus a manifestation of the Dynamis, or Spirits of Movement.
On Ancient Moon they created the human astral body out of cosmic astrality, which con-
sequently is in the diagram associated with Capricorn. Finally, the Exusiai or Spirits of Form
we associate with Gemini as an expression of their activities. They endowed the human being,
during the cosmic Earth evolution, with the ego, which then appears in the cosmic picture of
the human being in the opposite constellation of Sagittarius or Archer. Thus we can indeed
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see zodiacal activity in this light and get very positive directions of thought. Nevertheless, we
should not over-expand the suggestions of this Zodiac. It is one possibility that offers great
perspectives but must not be generalized.
We came to this aspect of the Zodiac through the question: What has Taurus to do with
the inclination toward cosmology? Taurus can be seen as an expression of the impulses of the
hierarchy of the Dynamis. They are associated with the astrality of the universe (astralis =
star). They live in and with the movement of the stars as the powers of inner or cosmic “soul”
movement. It was exactly this to which Kepler tried to reach out in his astronomy and cosmol-
ogy. He was not an abstract astronomer, perceiving in the universe only a big mechanism. He
wanted to break through to a cognition of the inner motivating forces in the universe of the
stars. Much of what he attempted and developed is still buried in merely intellectual terms, but
it will one day be lifted up into the sphere of cognition of the living forces in the universe.
Thus we can, indeed, discover in Kepler’s asterogram the wellsprings of his endeavors, which
were far in advance of his age but at the same time reveal mighty potentials for the future.
Next we will concentrate on Jupiter in Kepler’s incarnation asterogram. This planet is built
into the human body as the movement of thinking, or toward thinking. For this purpose it
uses, at first, the brain and the whole nervous system, but eventually it works in and through
the organic and metabolic processes. Thus the foundation is prepared for the development of
will in thinking. While Saturn is associated with time, so Jupiter adds to it the work with the
elements of space. Therefore, one can find it connected with any expansion in space, even
physiologically. In a broad sense, Saturn looks back to the past more and sees to it that it is not
forgotten or neglected in the present. Jupiter takes, in a certain sense, the present in order to
prepare in it the future. For instance, occultism calls the stage of cosmic development that will
follow the present Earth evolution, future Jupiter.
Kepler’s Jupiter was in the constellation of Pisces most of the prenatal. Only during the
second part of the epoch-birth interval was it retrograde, moving back into Aquarius, then
moving back again to Pisces at birth. All the time it was a “loner”. Only at the beginning, i.e.,
at the epoch, was Venus in conjunction with it. Once, just about the time when it became
retrograde, it seemed to have been in conjunction with Pluto—as far as the available possibili-
ties for the calculation of this latter planet go. (Noesselt-Hoffman, “Pluto-Tafeln”.)
Jupiter is the Ruler of Pisces. This is ancient wisdom, and it still seems to be valid. All the
planets have, in this sense, their domiciles, or places of Rulership in the Zodiac. We give in the
following the classical co-ordinations:
- Cancer Moon/Sun Leo -

- Gemini Mercury Virgo -
- Taurus Venus Libra -
- Aries Mars Scorpio -
- Pisces Jupiter Sagittarius -
- Aquarius Saturn Capricorn -
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These correlations are connected with human physiology but also with certain viewpoints
of evolution. With regard to the new planets opinions are still divided.
Jupiter ruling Pisces is then also associated with the Age of Pisces, particularly with the
scientifically orientated thinking during this Age that no longer relies on tradition or faith of
old but builds on empiricism, mathematical facts, etc. Eventually this thinking capacity will be
evolved to a free, intuitive thinking. (See Rudolf Steiner The Philosophy of Spiritual Activity, or
Freedom. All this lived very strongly in Kepler, so much so, that Arthur Koestler in The Sleep-
walkers could describe him as a representative of humanity at the “watershed” from the old to
the new. He says: “The Mysterium Cosmographicum is the perfect symbol of the great watershed.
The opening of the second half must have come as a shock to Kepler’s readers: ‘What we have
so far said served merely to support our thesis by arguments of probability. Now we shall
proceed to the astronomical determination of the orbits and to geometrical considerations. If
these do not confirm the thesis, then all our previous efforts have doubtless been in vain.’ So
all the divine inspiration and a priori certitude were merely probabilities; and their truth or
falsehood was to be decided by the observed facts. Without transition, in a single startling
jump, we have traversed the frontier between metaphysical speculation and empirical science.”
Kepler was not alone and did not remain alone in his efforts with regard to thinking.
Others had similar potentials, indicated by Jupiter in Pisces, though again we see they work
them out in degrees and great variety. Contemporaries of Kepler, in this sense, were:
Francis Bacon (born January 22, 1561). During his prenatal time Jupiter moved in
Pisces. Apart from everything else he did, he laid the philosophical foundation for
empirical science of nature.
Sir Thomas More (born February 7, 1478) had a similar Jupiter during his prenatal. He
also experienced the great transition to the new Age in his own fashion. It is worth
while to study his life and fate from this angle.
Johann Fichte, a later representative of the potential lying in wait in a Jupiter in Pisces,
was born May 19, 1762. He was in truth one of the fighters for spiritual freedom
through activated thinking.
Goethe, born August 28, 1749, we must not forget. At the time of his birth Jupiter had
just entered Pisces. He was also a formidable fighter in the world of the problems
and requirements of the Age of Pisces. However, it is impossible to characterize
his approach and ways of thinking just with a few words. Very illuminating in this
context is what Rudolf Steiner said about Goethe, for instance, in his Riddles of
Philosophy.
The connection of Kepler’s prenatal Jupiter with the sidereal cycles of the Moon and their
reflection in life is also very interesting. In the Graph (Fig. 5) we find, toward the end of the 6th
Moon cycle, a superior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun. Shortly before that Jupiter was
in opposition to Sun and Mercury. This refers to Kepler’s 39th year of life (1610). This was
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indeed an exciting moment. Knowledge of the existence of the telescope that Galileo had
invented came to him then. This was a mighty step in the development of astronomy as an
empirical science.
Toward the end of the 8th prenatal Moon cycle Mars came into opposition to Jupiter. This
refers to his age of 56 in 1627. Kepler then moved to Prague and became involved, as an
astrologer, with the Generalissimo of the emperor Ferdinand II, Wallenstein. This was already
during the Thirty Years’ War, which started in 1618. Life was certainly not easy for Kepler
then, for a number of reasons.
With regard to the 12 sectors (see Chapter I) of the Sun’s path and also in view of the orbs
of the other planets during the prenatal, this Jupiter was “outside” their orbs. However, it was
still related, from the opposition, almost entirely to the 7th, or sector. This is associated with
the region in the human physiology that facilitates a condition of balance between being con-
fined, as it were, in the interior of the organism and turning to the outside environment, whether
it be human or with regard to nature.
The brief encounters of Jupiter with Aquarius during Kepler’s prenatal development can
be taken as a suggestion that some of Kepler’s work was not only intended to be of immediate
significance for his contemporaries but, in a sense, for the then still distant future, the age when
the vernal equinox will have entered Aquarius. (At the moment of his death Jupiter had re-
turned to Aquarius even more distinctly.) This was present in his preoccupations with the
elements of the planets, leading to his recognition of the perihelion-aphelion positions of the
orbits and of the nodes. This can become the road to a renewed experience of the spheres of
the planets (that which is contained within the orbits) as manifestations of the cosmic life
working in them in great variety.
All this can also be corroborated by the heliocentric perspective, by a study of the involve-
ment of the elements of the orbits in Kepler’s asterogram and also by their cosmic “biogra-
phies”. Thus the descending node of Jupiter was indeed engaged during Kepler’s prenatal
development by Uranus (Fig. 6). Through this Uranus, an element of cosmic imagination
could enter the sphere of Jupiter. Dostoievski (born 1821) was able to realize in later life
similar imaginations in his writings. At the time of his birth, Uranus was also close to the
descending nodal line of Jupiter. Also at the birth (1738) of the astronomer Herschel, and at
his death (1822), Uranus arrived in the same descending node of Jupiter.
The history and biography, so to speak, of the ascending node of Jupiter is also very
illuminating. Calculated on a basis similar to that which we demonstrated on the first page in
Chapter II, we arrive at the following details:
1. The ascending node of Jupiter, since about 3100 BC, is in the constellation of
Gemini.
2. It was especially connected with the incarnation and the Three Years of Christ’s
Ministry. (Some details are in the author’s Cosmic Christianity and the Changing Coun-
tenance of Cosmology.)
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3. It falls back in the fixed star Zodiac. At present it is near the end of its traverse
through Gemini, nearing Taurus—entering sidereal Taurus in about 4500 AD.
4. On the way it will meet the perihelion line of Saturn, which is moving forward in
the sidereal Zodiac. The latter entered Gemini in about 1413 AD. And it will meet
the ascending nodal line of Jupiter in about 2780 AD.
5. Then in the very distant future, in about 11630 AD, the ascending node of Jupiter
will meet the ascending node of Saturn, which is at present also in Gemini but also
falls back toward Taurus.
6. Eventually, the ascending nodal line of Jupiter will meet the perihelion line of
Mars. However, this will be in the very distant future—by calculation we arrive at
about 16900 AD.
Most significant in connection with Kepler’s incarnation is the meeting of the Jupiter node
with the perihelion of Saturn in the relatively near future. It appears like a conversation be-
tween the forces working in the spheres of Saturn and Jupiter. Saturn would, so to speak, tell
Jupiter of all that happened when the perihelion of Saturn was still in Taurus. Earlier we
connected this with certain fundamental cultural impulses during the Egypto-Chaldean Age.
Saturn would have to point out how the still glorious cosmology of that past Age has, in the
meantime, slipped into powerful materialistic conceptions concerning the universe of the stars.
And we could imagine, speaking metaphorically, that Saturn would suggest to Jupiter to re-
deem that development. Jupiter would appear, in a sense, particularly fit to perform such acts
of redemption, because it was so deeply involved in the Incarnation of Christ and the Resur-
rection. However, during the present Age the planetary forces have come to refrain more and
more from direct interference. Instead, they try to inspire human beings to action.
Thus we can imagine that Kepler who was involved in this, though from the opposite
descending node of Jupiter, received something like mighty potential suggestions. And in their
realization as imaginations would say such things as we quoted earlier, that traditional astrology
was a “dreadful superstition”, etc. (Chapter I), but yet, a renewal of it was possible and greatly
needed.
Also the perihelion line of Jupiter was engaged in Kepler’s asterogram. During the prena-
tal, soon after the beginning of the 4th Moon cycle, Venus moved through this line. It refers, in
terms of the association of the prenatal Moon cycles, to later 7-year periods, to the year 1595.
Kepler was then involved in writing his first book, the Mysterium Cosmographicum, in which he
tried to connect the orbits (“spheres”) of the planets with the Pythagorean or Platonic solids.
Approximately three months after Kepler’s birth, Jupiter moved through its own perihe-
lion. The “biography” of this perihelion reveals also very illuminating features:
1. It entered, as far as calculation on the earlier indicated principles go, what we call at
present the constellation of Pisces from Aquarius in about 7200 BC, and will cross
over into the constellation of Aries in about 7900 AD. Thus the perihelion of
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Jupiter did and will stay in the area of Pisces almost precisely during all of the Fifth,
Post-Atlantean Epoch, which started with the Ancient Indian Age and will be ter-
minated by the commencement of the Sixth Epoch, first with the Ages described
in the Revelation of St. John as the Apocalyptic Horsemen.
2. Long before the Fifth Epoch, in about 13600 BC, (during Ancient Atlantis) the
perihelion of Jupiter was in line with its own descending node.
3. Long after the termination of the present Fifth Epoch, the perihelion line of Jupi-
ter will coincide with its ascending node. That will approximately be, according to
calculation, in 16360 AD.
As Jupiter moved through its perihelion only after the birth of Kepler, we can see this as an
indication that Kepler realized it by reaching out to things to come in the future but did not
fully succeed. The fact standing behind the movement of the perihelion of Jupiter through the
entire constellation of Pisces must obviously be seen in descriptions given by Rudolf Steiner in
his Cosmic Memory, “Prehistory of Earth and Man”, chapter IV: “...in all this the higher intention
is to put humanity on its own feet, fully to develop its faculty of thought. Today the human
initiates are the mediators between the people and the higher powers, and only initiation can
make one capable of communication with the divine messengers.
“The human initiates, the sacred teachers, became leaders of the rest of humanity in the
beginning of the fifth root race (i.e., of the whole present Epoch, which started with Ancient
India.) The great priest kings of prehistory, who are not spoken of in history but rather in the
world of legend, belong among these initiates. The higher divine messengers retired from the
Earth more and more, and left the leadership to these human initiates, whom however they
assisted in word and deed. Were this not so, we would never attain free use of our faculty of
thought. The world is under divine direction, but we are not to be forced to admit this; we are
to realize and to understand it by free reflection…The whole development of the fifth root
race is a slow road to this goal…Today progress still consists in a mixture of our conscious and
unconscious acting and thinking …”
Kepler battled deep down in his inner being all his life with these impulses. They were
inspired in him by the closeness of Jupiter to its own perihelion. They lived in him at the
border from the unconscious to the conscious, now and then breaking through. It expressed
itself also in his fight for independence, where he was not always successful.
Next after Jupiter, we turn to Mars. This planet, and the forces working in its sphere, instill
in human beings the capacity to confront the world and the environment as beings in full use
of their ability of sense perception. Then, as the highest manifestation of this capacity, speech
can be developed with the help of the innate Mars potential. This is, so to speak, the most
humanized confrontation of human beings with our environment. However, if these Mars
forces are not handled very consciously, they can develop into many forms of aggression,
which then may demonstrate the background of the name of this planet in connection with
ancient mythology—the God of War, etc.
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One is inclined, of course, to ask: Why should this be so? The answer is not too difficult.
The planet Earth is the point in the whole solar system where substance is condensed into the
heaviest matter, and at the same time, where this matter starts to be dissolved again. In a broad
sense we can imagine that substance originally comes from the depth of the universe, from the
gateways to the spiritual universe; what we sometimes very glibly call the fixed stars. From
there the Sun draws this “substance” into our solar system. As it passes through the spheres of
the outer planets, first of course through Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus, but then chiefly in
Saturn and Jupiter it is gradually condensed. Finally, it is contracted in the sphere of Mars to a
degree that makes it ready to fall into the densification of physical material objects that we find
on Earth. (This is also the background of the fact that the human soul after death is con-
fronted in the sphere of Mars with the archetypes of the physical material objects on Earth,
which Rudolf Steiner describes in his Theosophy and in Das Leben zwischendem Tode und der neuen
Geburt im Verhaeltnis zu den Kosmischen Tatsachen, 1912/13.) This happens because the orbit of
Mars is on the “outside” of the Earth orbit and is nearest to it. The nearest “inside” the Earth
orbit toward the Sun is, apart from the Moon, the orbital ellipse of Venus, which inaugurates
the de-condensation of physical material substance of Earth origin, on its way toward the Sun.
At the time of Kepler’s epoch or prenatal, Mars was in conjunction with the Sun (Fig. 3).
This took place almost in the transition from the constellation of Pisces to Aries.
It is difficult to say how the human individual works out and realizes such a conjunction,
because it depends to a high degree on each one’s character and inner strength. In a general
sense Mars rather blocks, as it were, the influxes coming from the outer planets and the sidereal
realm. One can almost regard this as a kind of technique of Mars to achieve the degree of
densification at which it aims, and of which we have been speaking above. Thus a Mars in
conjunction with the Sun could be seen initially as aiming at blocking the original sidereal
substance toward the Sun, so to speak, objecting to the eventual spiritualizing potential of the
Sun. However, it depends then, as we said, on the inner strength of the individual how this is
realized. In the case of Kepler we would rather see in it the realism, bordering on intellectual-
ism, which he tried to enact in his life’s work.
The fact that the conjunction took place near the ingress from Pisces to Aries reveals
another interesting background. It would refer to the transition of the vernal equinox from
Aries to Pisces. This concerned the change-over from the Fourth, or Greco-Latin Age to the
Fifth or present Age. However, it does not coincide strictly, because the astronomical transi-
tion took place already at the time of Christ, whereas the cultural transition occurred in 1413.
Kepler’s life was surely one big battle for the breakthrough to new approaches, in a scien-
tific sense, complying with the requirements of the new Age. However, we can even be more
precise. The vernal equinox was in that position, where Mars was at the epoch of Kepler,
during the second century AD, that century during which Ptolemy lived, the founder of the so-
called Ptolemaic system, with the Earth as the center of the solar universe. It was this system
Kepler came to refute and to replace by the Copernican perspective. Indeed, all through his
life this conception, which he adopted, was the reason that he knocked his head against the
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forces that endeavored to retain the Ptolemaic, Earth centered view, though he did not experi-
ence such a severe clash as Galileo encountered by the Inquisition of the Roman Church.
Here again we are confronted with our old question: Then was it because of this Mars that
Kepler was, so to speak, forced by the heavenly circumstances of his incarnation to adopt the
Copernican system and to obstruct the Ptolemaic view? It is here where the need for a new
astrology of educational potential in a higher sense becomes apparent. A deeper wisdom,
being capable of understanding the connection between the human being and the stars could
have told Kepler: “Try to find the deeper causes that made humanity renounce the heliocen-
tric perspective (because temple wisdom in Ancient Egypt obviously cultivated some kind of
heliocentric approach). Comprehend this, that humanity had, for a time, to live with the per-
spective of the Earth being the center of the universe, for the sake of an inner understanding
of the Christ Event as the central event of the evolution of the whole solar universe. Then you
would also discover much deeper justifications for the heliocentric view, for the range and
limits of it, without being drawn into the agonies and battles over its acceptance or rejection. It
is, of course, easy to say this in the 20th century, whereas we must also realize that Kepler was
born into a century of tumult that expressed itself, for instance, in the terrors of the Thirty
Years’ War. Nevertheless, during the 20th and following centuries, we must learn to look at the
history of past phases of history with an unbiased mind, in order to realize step by step the
new perspectives of a ‘therapeutic’ astrology.
Through such measures that we have, of course, only superficially described so far, we can
even start to contribute to qualitative changes of the cosmic world. This may sound terribly
presumptuous from the viewpoints of a modern cosmology and astronomy; however, this fact
can be proven by investigation of our connection with the stars at the moment of physical
death, and by the interrelationship between star configurations at death and at birth. This side
is also expressed in the incarnation asterogram of Kepler, especially with Mars at the time of
his epoch. Almost precisely in the same ecliptic place where the conjunction of Mars and Sun
happened, one of the rare conjunctions of Uranus and Pluto took place in 1598 AD.
These conjunctions apparently accompanied definite developments in the field of esoteric,
and in the Middle Ages, of Rosicrucian Christianity. Rather we ought to say that these move-
ments in humanity “fulfilled” the cosmic events with spiritual human answers. We note that
the event toward the end of the 16th century coincided with Kepler’s meeting of Tycho Brahe,
and their battles over geocentric and heliocentric views appears to have finally been answered
by a decisive spiritual act in connection with Christian Rosenkreutz. Rudolf Steiner, on the
basis of his spiritual research, said that the situation on the planet Mars, especially engaged in
the upcoming scientific and technological developments, had become degenerate. Tremen-
dous wars took place on Mars, which human souls descending into incarnation encountered.
This situation would have resulted eventually in a complete split of humanity, one part exclu-
sively devoted to materialistic life practices on Earth, whereas the other part of humanity
would have adopted hermit practices and monk-like retreat from participation in the physical
material world. In this situation, as Rudolf Steiner says, Christian Rosenkreutz asked his friend
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the Gautama Buddha (who did not incarnate anymore on Earth) to take upon himself the task
of redeeming Mars. This happened, around the suggested time, by the Buddha performing
certain deeds on Mars that were of a somewhat similar nature as the Deed of Christ in the
Mystery of Golgotha. We have the impression that this occurred toward the end of the 16th
century, because very shortly afterwards the young Johann Valentin Andreae was inspired to
write down the Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz which, one can read, was like a reflec-
tion of the events in the sphere of Mars. In this realm, Kepler would have found answers to
the question of the correctness of geocentric or heliocentric astronomy. He could even have,
theoretically, removed the “blocking” nature of Mars with them, because Rosicrucian secret
schools taught that the description of the cosmos according to geocentric conceptions pre-
sents what the position of the Earth really ought to be in the cosmos. However, so they
continued in their teachings, the Earth has lost its central position to the Sun, through the great
“Sin” or “Fall” (as in Paradise) which did take place on our planet.
Kepler’s Mars was in sidereal Virgo at the time of his birth. It is interesting that this was
almost exactly opposite the Mars of Tycho Brahe’s birth (December 14, 1546, o. s. [old style]).
Kepler met Tycho Brahe the first time face to face in 1600. The latter beseeched him until his
death (Tycho Brahe died 1601) to drop the Copernican conception and adopt his view, which
was a compromise between the geocentric and heliocentric. Kepler did not respond to these
pleas. After Tycho’s death he even used some of the latter’s discoveries, just referring to Mars,
to support his own heliocentric ideas.
The fundamental problem of this Mars seems to have been to find the “Virgo of cosmic
wisdom”, which this planet “blocked”, not only empirical intelligence. It is illuminating to see,
in this context, also the association of the constellation Virgo with the Zodiac of the divine
hierarchies and the sevenfold human being (see Fig. 7).
The heliocentric perspectives of Kepler’s asterogram, with regard to Mars, offer valuable
complementations. Mars was close to its own aphelion at birth, and Saturn at birth was near
the descending node, whereas Venus was near it at the time of the epoch (Fig. 6). First we will
investigate the history of the elements of Mars.
The descending node of Mars entered the sidereal constellation of Libra, coming from
Scorpio, in about 750 AD. During that year there was a Great Conjunction of Jupiter and
Saturn in Scorpio near the point where the descending node of Mars was. About the same
time, a certain Vergilius of Salzburg (we were unable to find out whether he was an abbot, or
the like) pronounced and taught the idea that the Earth was a globe, which was a novel thought
for that humanity. It was opposed by the popes Zacharius and Boniface. This sounds like pre-
events of the battles concerning astronomical world conceptions during the lifetime of Kepler.
One of the most conspicuous occurrences in connection with the aphelion of Mars was its
being in line or conjunction with the perihelion of Venus about 3200 BC. It happened in the
area of the Zodiac that we now call Cancer, and appears like a preparation of the Dark Age or
Kali Yuga, according to Eastern concepts, which commenced in 3101 BC. We see here the
perfect image of the age that came, or should have come to a conclusion in 1899 AD, after it
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had lasted 5,000 years. The earlier association (in 3200 BC) with Cancer coincides with the
culmination of this age in scientific and philosophical materialism, about the end of the 19th
century. Cancer is in a deeper sense connected with philosophic materialism. Norse mythol-
ogy saw in it the bridge between the divine and the human world which had facilitated access
from one to the other, but was then destroyed in the Twilight of the Gods.
How did Kepler realize in his life the affiliations of the planets with the elements of Mars?
The position of Saturn in the descending node of Mars offers a most dramatic picture. It was
there not only at the moment of his birth but also at his death (15 November 1630). Further-
more, Saturn was in the constellation of Libra. The latter suggests momentous decisions in
connection with the challenges caused by Mars, i.e.,, with our confrontation of our environ-
mental world, to which also belongs the cosmic world.
This perspective acquires at once a striking realism if we search for similar positions of
Saturn in history. At the moment of the death of Copernicus (May 24, 1543), Saturn was still
in Libra (228°), which was further emphasized by the position of Jupiter in 210°, also in Libra.
Then when Tycho Brahe died (October 24, 1601) Saturn was also in Libra (222.5°). Thus we
have here in cosmic language the background of that big battle in which Kepler and Tycho
were involved toward the end of Tycho’s life, the battle concerning the validity of the Coper-
nican world conception.
Obviously, this was not a singled-out incident in history. It kept on challenging humanity
with the return of Saturn to that position in Libra. When Rudolf Steiner died (March 30, 1925)
Saturn was once again in sidereal Libra (220°). He has pointed out repeatedly that humanity
was confronted with serious decisions that not only concern our relationship to the physical
material environment but, foremost, the need for discernment of the spiritual reality working
in and behind it. Rather he appealed to modern humanity to find a new spiritually realistic
relationship to the whole cosmos so that we can recognize ourselves as being citizens of the
whole universe and at the same time experience the latter as an expression, an external physiog-
nomy, of the world of Divine Hierarchical Beings. Furthermore, we can realize here, in this
particular instance, the truth of Rudolf Steiner’s spiritual research findings. He pointed out
that the great decisions leading humanity either to progress in the indicated direction or suffo-
cation in absolute materialism, will happen toward the end of the 20th century. Indeed, in the
beginning of 1971, Jupiter was in sidereal Libra, almost exactly in the descending nodal line of
Mars, and at the same time it was in opposition to Saturn. Then in June 2000, Saturn and
Jupiter will move into Great Conjunction very close to the ascending nodal line of Mars. It is
not difficult to discern that humanity of the present has moved into an era of fundamental
decisions, to which the accompanying cosmic events draw attention.
All this is still more emphasized by the fact that all three of the outermost planets were or
are moving through the constellation of Libra during the second half of the 20th century.
Neptune entered Libra in 1960 (about 218° of the ecliptic). Uranus will enter Libra in 1976,
and Pluto will do the same in 1986-7. Such a relatively close accumulation of events of this
nature is rather rare in history. One Pluto orbit earlier, in about 1738/9, this planet was in the
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ingress into Libra. A few years before that, in about 1725 Uranus was entering Libra. How-
ever, Neptune did not assist them then, but was rather, during the first half of the 18th century,
in the opposite part of the Zodiac, and only in about 1796 did it move into Libra. Thus we are
faced, during the second half of the 20th century, with unique signals, as it were, from the
cosmos. All depends now on how humanity will respond to these admonitions, as it were,
from the realm of the stars. However, we must also be conscious of the possibility that the
demons of destruction might take over if humanity should fail to react by constructive resolu-
tions and deeds. Then one would really have to speak of adverse and dominating “cosmic
influences” beyond conscious human control.
Also, historic associations of Mars with its own aphelion, similar to that at Kepler’s birth,
give us vivid pictures of what the challenges of Kepler, coming from this event, may have
been. In the Middle Ages three great painters died when Mars was in its aphelion: Leonardo da
Vinci (May 2, 1519), Gruenewald (August 31, 1528), and Rembrandt (October 4, 1669, o. s.).
As they worked in that domain where they had to represent the battle of light overcoming
darkness, we can well understand that this became manifest at their death as a redemption of
the otherwise darkening power of Mars. Rembrandt seems to have been fully aware of this.
He somewhat intimated that he was facing the mysteries of light and darkness. (See also the
connection of the aphelion of Mars with the commencement of the Dark Age of Kali Yuga,
which we indicated above.)
Among more modern demonstrations of how such a Mars challenge can possibly be handled,
Ralph Waldo Emerson stands out. Both at the moment of his birth (May 25, 1803 in 161°) and
at his death (April 27, 1882 in 151°) Mars was close to its aphelion. Emerson’s life experiences
and his work are a vivid description of what those intensive challenges of Mars can be and how
a human being mastered them in deed. Still nearer to our time is Henry Ford, at whose birth
(July 30, 1863 in 161°) Mars was in its aphelion, whereas at death (April 7, 1947 in 342°) it was
near its perihelion. Also in Ford’s life, in connection with technological development, we
witness on the one hand the challenges of Mars, and on the other hand we also see, in his
awareness of the social problems with which the technological age is beset, attempts to redeem
that Mars with its heritage of the Dark Age.
Attempts of a similar nature desiring to redeem Mars were certainly also present in Kepler’s
life. We can discern this in connection with his asterogram of death, which would show the
sum-total of his life efforts. On the background of the star configuration at death (November
15, 1630), we find that Saturn moved through the aphelion of Mars in 1595-6, whereas Jupiter
was opposite in 1630, near the perihelion of Mars. In 1595-6 Kepler wrote his Mysterium
Cosmographicum.
These pre-transits of Saturn over important points of the asterogram of death, but still
before death, are descriptions of Saturn’s endeavors to collect the items of a person’s biogra-
phy. The forces working in the planet are doing this in their capacity as helpers of the world
historiographical task of Saturn. Then, at death, this cosmic image of the biography of a
human being is present and confronts the soul as a cosmic counter image of his etheric body.
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Thus the point of the aphelion of Mars in Kepler’s configuration of death has recorded, as it
were, the etheric counter image of his deed in 1595-6, which was then handed over to the
cosmos. Such a handed-over “substance” can possibly be taken up again by souls incarnating
at a later time, so that it may be further evolved.
We must also take a look at Venus, which was at Kepler’s epoch (Fig. 6) in the descending
node of Mars. With Venus the impulse comes in to start to redeem the powerful condensa-
tions that Mars inaugurates. We have spoken of this in Chapter II). Therefore, we would see
in such a Venus a challenge not to flee the impacts of Mars but to take them and to transmute
them in harmony. These were impulses to whose realization Kepler was constantly urged in
his life, though he did not always succeed. We find in history some outstanding examples of
personalities who achieved this to a high degree, as their star configurations at death recorded.
One was St. Francis of Assisi, at whose death (October 4, 1226) Venus was near the descend-
ing node of Mars. The Mars redeeming impulse of Venus was quite evident in his life. An-
other one, at whose death Venus was also close to the descending node of Mars, was Thomas
a Kempis (death August 8, 1471). He is best known as author of the book The Imitation of
Christ. At the time of the death of Paracelsus (September 24, 1541) Venus was close to the
descending node of Mars. He was a unique medical doctor and innovator in the field of
medical science, as well as a writer on the hidden mysteries of the interconnection between the
cosmos and the human physical organization. This suggests that the healing and Mars redeem-
ing impulse of Venus was very strong in him.
Next we study the implications that were present in the Sun of Kepler. In connection with
Mars, we already pointed out the conjunction of the Sun with Mars at the time of the epoch.
We said that the Sun was possibly “blocked” by Mars against influences coming from the
sidereal Zodiac, which should have been handed on to the Earth. If we see the prenatal path
of the Sun as a cosmic counter image of the embryo (Fig. 4), this “block” would refer to the
head part of the embryo image, and it is quite possible that Kepler had to fight all his life with
a kind of hereditary, physiological imbalance or hardening of his head capacity. This would
explain why he did not always succeed with constructively meeting the challenges that were
indicated in the star configuration of his incarnation. The position of the epoch Sun in the
ecliptic sign of Aries, distinct from the sidereal constellation and related to the cosmic etheric
forces streaming into the Earth, can possibly have manifested itself as a tendency toward intol-
erance, even militancy in a general sense, a “hardening” of the inner forces. Without question,
such tendencies can be remedied by corresponding means in such a case as this, possibly by
artistic preoccupations. However, these aspects exceed the scope of the present publication.
Kepler’s birth Sun was in sidereal Sagittarius. The nearness of Mercury and Venus on each
side (Fig. 3), we would see as supports. In the cosmic picture of the embryo, this would refer
to the feet, there where he steps on the Earth. The constellation of Sagittarius we saw related
to the evolution of the ego of the human being (Fig. 7) from lower states of existence, through
egotism, rising to higher degrees of consciousness, which was obviously present in Kepler. It
can be found everywhere in his writings, apart from the empiricism which he made his aim.
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With regard to the heliocentric perspective of this star configuration, we will investigate
the events in connection with the perihelion-aphelion line of the Earth. Thereby, we hope to
get a picture of the challenges that worked in the Sun and Earth sphere. Speaking generally, we
would see in the associations concerning the perihelion more contemplative, cosmic soul forces
of this sphere, whereas in the aphelion we see the cosmic spirit-will elements of it. (The same
would apply also to all the spheres of the planets.)
First we want to investigate the essential points of the “biography” of this perihelion-
aphelion line. At present the perihelion of the Earth is in sidereal Gemini, which it entered in
about 2090 BC. This coincided with another important event concerning the elements of Sun
and Earth. Approximately at the same time in 2090 BC, the vernal equinox entered sidereal
Aries, i.e.,, astronomical, not coinciding with the cultural commencement of the Age of Aries,
which happened in 747 BC. Simultaneously, it was also in line or conjunction with the ascend-
ing node of Mercury.
In a broad sense, this was approximately the Age of Abraham, when he left the old Chaldean
civilization of star worship and started to make himself responsible for the new impulse that
was eventually realized by the Hebrew people. Abraham’s mission was to facilitate the cultiva-
tion of the intellect against the preceding modes of cognition, which became more and more
atavistic. Sometimes he is called the father of arithmetic, which would be a capacity along the
lines of the intellect. This development would well be illustrated by the coincidence of the
spring Sun with the ascending node of Mercury and also with the ingress of the perihelion into
Gemini; the latter constellation has, in the sense of philosophic world conception, a definite
connection with Mathematism.
In Kepler’s prenatal asterogram, the line of the apsides (perihelion-aphelion) of the Earth
was engaged several times. Uranus was exactly in the aphelion line of the Earth at the epoch.
That was in the constellation Sagittarius, opposite Gemini, of which we have been speaking
above. During the 6th prenatal Moon cycle, Venus and Mars were in conjunction near the
perihelion of the Earth, in Gemini. This referred to the 38th and 39th year in Kepler’s life, or
about 1610. In March of 1610, he received the news that the Italian astronomer Galileo had
practically employed the telescope for astronomical observation, a novelty in the history of
astronomy. Kepler said of this: “... I experienced a wonderful emotion while I listened to this
curious tale. I felt moved in my deepest being ...”
Earlier, during the gestation time of Kepler, the Earth moved through its own aphelion in
Sagittarius, close to Uranus. This happened toward the end of the 3rd Moon cycle and referred
to the 20th and 21st year, about 1791/2. It was a most lively moment in Kepler’s life, one in
which the astronomer and mathematician was born, one could say. Originally he trained for
the career of a clergyman. He attended a theological seminary from his 13th to his 17th year.
Then “…he graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Tübingen at the age of
twenty. After that he was, unexpectedly, offered the post of a teacher of mathematics and
astronomy at Gratz...”, in Styria (from Arthur Koestler, The Sleepwalkers). There was shining, as
it were, from the opposite part of the Zodiac, from Gemini, Mathematism as we said above,
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where the Sun was in that moment, the image of the real earthly task of Kepler into the
prenatal build-up of his physical organism.
This “innate” tendency of Kepler was further accelerated by Saturn actually moving in
1591 through the perihelion of the Earth in Gemini. The spiritual “heritage’’ of Abraham, of
the so-called father of arithmetic, came to life in Kepler then.
During the 10th prenatal Moon cycle, the Earth moved through its own perihelion. This
would have referred to the age from 63-70. However, Kepler died toward the end of his 59th
year, on November 15, 1630. Thus this event, the Earth in its perihelion, was not lived out by
him in the physical Earth realm. We could say, it was kept suspended, as it were, present as a
potential in the etheric organism, which Kepler shed and handed over to the cosmos at his
death, and thus it worked on in history.
We can even find evidence of the presence of this impulse. For instance, at the time of the
epoch of Wallenstein (September 14, 1583), who became during the Thirty Years’ War Impe-
rial Generalissimo, the Earth was in its own perihelion. Wallenstein believed in predictive
astrology, and he also employed Kepler to work out predictions concerning his life and military
campaigns. Kepler obliged with utmost caution, because he could not, as we said earlier,
approve of this side of traditional astrology. At the moment of the death of Wallenstein (he
was murdered on February 25, 1634) Jupiter moved into the perihelion line of the Earth.
Considering the circumstances of his death, one can say that in that moment he may have seen
the wisdom (Jupiter) of Kepler’s negative attitude toward predictive, traditional astrology.
Another personality who struggled with such and similar implications, associated with the
Earth in its own perihelion, was Nostradamus (born December 14, 1503), long before Kepler.
He was involved in strange practices of prediction and prophesy, which were published under
the title of Centuries. These prophecies, many of which did become true in history, were also
derived in some strange ways from the stars. However, they lack most what a modern human-
ity would need, ways and means of remedy and therapy.
Another fact of the history of the perihelion-aphelion of the Earth we must include here.
Just a few years after Kepler’s death, in about 1646-8, the perihelion of the Earth was in line
with the ascending node of Jupiter, and consequently, the Earth aphelion in conjunction with
the descending node of Jupiter. This is very important in the sense of the continued meaning
and significance of Kepler’s work for the future. On the one hand he was faced with the need
of modern humanity to live, for the time being at least, with the Copernican system, and on the
other hand there lived in him the impulse to break through to the perspective of a “living
universe”, in which we would find the possibility of integral participation. Partly owing to
circumstances of his own time, he was not fully able to strike a balance between the two
impulses. That conjunction of the perihelion-aphelion of the Earth and the nodal lines of
Jupiter points to a solution. The ascending node of Jupiter carries the living, etheric-astral
Image of the Resurrection of Christ. Jupiter was moving through its own ascending node
around April 5, 33 AD. It is this great aspect that can lead toward the solution of the living
realization in us of the meaning and continued working of the Resurrection in all human and
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Earth existence, and furthermore, its renewing radiance even into the cosmos of the stars. In
his last address in the first Goetheanum at Dornach, on December 31, 1922, Rudolf Steiner
spoke of the “Cosmic Cult”. We can eventually come to a point of inner development where
we will be able to transform, even recreate in a spiritual sense, the universe of the stars, Zodiac
and planets with which we are intimately connected through each incarnation. We will be able
to perform this act of transubstantiation only through an understanding and inner connection,
even identification with, a cosmic Christianity. Of course, what we indicate here is only a bare
outline. A lot more will have to be said about this.
(What has been indicated here as the history, or “biographies” of the elements of the
planets, will later be summed up and presented systematically. Likewise, also connections of
historical personalities with these elements will be described in detail.)
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CHAPTER III
February-March-April 1973
The movement of the Sun during the embryonic development of a human being can be
studied in relationship to the time-wise unfolding of inherent potentials and possibilities in life
after birth. This is the reason why we lay so much emphasis on the working out and charting of
the prenatal events. We will now demonstrate the practical use of this approach in connection
with Kepler’s epoch-to-birth graph (Fig. 5). As we have pointed out earlier, the left-to-right
divisions of the graph represent the prenatal sidereal Moon cycles of 27.3 days each. The
movements and events during these cycles, which can be read, for instance, by the relationship
of the planets to the signs and constellations on the left edge, and also by the planets meeting
in conjunctions, co-relate themselves to the seven-year periods in life after birth. (See Chapter
I.) We have mentioned a few items in connection with the prenatal Sun already; however, we
must over and again emphasize that these coordinations cannot and should not be used for
predictions and forecasts. Something much greater is presented here; namely, the potentials
and constructive possibilities a human being should learn to assimilate in full consciousness
and freedom.
We can study, for instance, the movement of the prenatal Sun through the constellations
of the Zodiac, apart from the conjunctions with Mercury, which we shall investigate later. At
the moment of the actual epoch, the Sun prepared to enter the constellation of Aries. This
would suggest something like the possibility of an absolutely new and unique start. For Aries
is the “first” constellation of the Zodiac. However, it is in conjunction with Mars, which might
mean that this soul has to battle against great obstructions and frustrations. (Mars easily “blocks”
the influx of cosmic essences, as we said earlier.) We would see in them mainly hangovers from
the preceding civilization of Aries (Greco-Roman, in this case we would see the emphasis being
on “Roman”), which was inspired by Mars. In spite of this, Kepler did succeed to break through
to new and potentially constructive perspectives in astronomy. This demonstrates, to a certain
extent at least, that a human being need not be unalterably ruled and dominated by the stars.
After an interval in sidereal Taurus, referring to childhood and the following years at a
theological seminary, the Sun entered the constellation of Gemini around June 4. At the same
time it moved into conjunction with Neptune. This refers to the 17th year of life, when Kepler
left the theological seminary to carry on his studies and preparation for priesthood at the
University of Tübingen. But soon, the mathematical and astronomical impulse in Kepler inter-
vened. The constellation Gemini is associated with the philosophical world conception of
Mathematism, according to the research of Rudolf Steiner. Already then, at Tübingen, he
defended Copernicus in public disputations. In the background also stood the potential inspi-
ration of Neptune in its conjunction with the Sun, which Kepler actively, though very probably
in an unconscious state of mind, adopted.
On account of these developments, Kepler was recommended for and accepted as a teacher
of mathematics and astronomy by the University of Gratz. He arrived at Gratz in April 1594.
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The Sun, corresponding in the prenatal chart to this moment, was still in sidereal Gemini. The
following years of Kepler’s life brought a resolute realization, in a cautious sense one can even
say, “materializations”, of what lived in him as the impulse to inaugurate a new astronomy and
cosmology. In 1596, at the age of 25, he published his first book, the Mysterium Cosmographicum,
in which he associated the orbits of the planets, in a heliocentric sense, with the so-called
Platonic Solids. The prenatal Sun, relating to this moment in Kepler’s life, was then about to
enter the constellation of Cancer.
After that came the dramatic years of 1600 and 1601, Kepler’s meeting with Tycho Brahe,
the famous Danish astronomer, at Prague. The latter expected Kepler to work with him for the
establishment of his own views on the astronomical structure of the solar system, which was a
compromise between the geocentric and heliocentric approaches. However, Kepler was not in
the least inclined to do this, and soon the two clashed fiercely about all kinds of minor matters.
Kepler arrived at Prague in January 1600. He was then just 28 years old. The prenatal Sun,
reflecting this moment, was in sidereal Cancer. But soon it moved into conjunction with the
ascending Moon node, connected in the sense of the prenatal correlations, with the year 1601.
The Moon nodes, about which we shall work later on more intensively, represent “gateways”
from the cosmic astral realms to the Earth. The corresponding times in Kepler’s life were
certainly tumultuous. Nevertheless, they meant a lot for Kepler’s further development. Even-
tually, it enabled him to write his great book, A New Astronomy Based on Causation or A Physics of
the Sky derived from Investigations of the Motions of the Star Mars, founded on observations of The Noble
Tycho Brahe. (Published 1609).
Tycho Brahe died on November 6, 1601. Kepler stayed at Prague as Imperial Mathematicus
from 1601 to 1612. Most of that time is reflected in the prenatal by the Sun in sidereal Leo.
This constellation is, in one way, connected with philosophical Sensualism*, which Kepler
certainly employed in composing his Astronomia Nova. From another view, Leo (the traditional
symbol b) also suggests an intensive association with cosmology, moving from the center to
the periphery. [*Note: Philosophical “sensualism”, or “sensism” concerns a philosophy based
on the use of the senses.]
After 1611 things became more difficult and trying in Kepler’s life. We shall report on this
in connection with Mercury, which was at the corresponding prenatal phase in conjunction
with the Sun. The Sun had then entered sidereal Virgo and was in opposition to Pluto. The
Sun was in Virgo from August 31 to October 16, reflecting itself into Kepler’s life from 1610
to 1622. During these years Kepler was able to complete his book, The Harmony of the World
(Harmonice Mundi, published 1619). Arthur Koestler says of it: “... What Kepler attempted
here is, simply, to bare the ultimate secret of the universe in an all-embracing synthesis of
geometry, music, astrology, astronomy, and epistemology”. Another author, Heinrich Herz,
the discoverer of radio-waves, wrote: “One cannot escape the feeling that these mathematical
formulae have an independent existence and an intelligence of their own, that they are wiser
than we are, wiser even than their discoverers, that we got more out of them than was originally
put into them”.
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Here we witness how Kepler realized and activated the potential of Virgo, in whom we
recognize the image of cosmic wisdom. In philosophical terms, we would see in this constel-
lation an association with Phenomenalism.
On October 16, 1571, the Sun entered sidereal Libra. This referred to 1622, as we pointed
out earlier. The following years were indeed difficult for Kepler. His main concern then was
the completion of the so-called Rudolphine Tables, based on Tycho Brahe’s lifelong labors.
They were intended for practical astronomical purposes. All kinds of people waited eagerly for
them for years: astronomers, navigators, calendar makers, and astrologers. They were badly
needed for computations, and Arthur Koestler says complaints about the delay came from as
far as India and the Jesuit missionaries in China. At last “in December 1623, he (Kepler)
triumphantly reported to an English correspondent: ‘video postum’ (I can see the harbor), and
six months later to a friend, ‘The Rudolphine Tables, sired by Tycho Brahe, I have carried in me
for twenty-two years as the seed; it gradually developed in the mother’s womb. Now I am
tortured by the labors of birth’”.
However, the next problem was the printing of the Tables. There was no money and
everything was in chaos from the Thirty Years’ War. Finally, he was able to set up his own
printing shop, but now the Protestant peasants laid siege to Catholic Linz, where Kepler lived.
They eventually succeeded in setting fire to part of the town, and among the houses destroyed
was the one which housed the printing shop. Fortunately, the manuscript of the Tables es-
caped destruction. Finally, the printing was completed in 1627 by a printer at Ulm.
Several more incidents of similar disastrous results happened, which must have made life
for Kepler more of the nature of a gamble for survival. One thinks of them almost being
expressions of Libra, or Scales, where the Sun was—referring in the prenatal to these years.
In 1627 Kepler returned once more to Prague. That moment was related to 4 November
1571, when the Sun in his prenatal asterogram entered the constellation of Scorpio. He met
again the Imperial Generalissimo, Wallenstein, to whom he had earlier given astrological advice
in 1624. He was asked to do the same again, and reluctantly he complied. On this occasion he
even prognosticated that 1634, ten years later, would bring “dreadful disorders over the land”.
Wallenstein was murdered in 1634.
The Sun in Scorpio, which is associated with death, meant also death for Kepler. This he
was yet unable to transform. On 17 November 1571, the Sun was in 245° of the ecliptic. This
was related to Kepler’s passing away. The Sun was then opposite the point where the Moon
was at Kepler’s birth. In this Moon we see indicated the portal of entry into the final stage of
the journey into incarnation, the entry into the sphere of the Moon before, or around concep-
tion. (We shall discuss this aspect more closely later on.) Thus the Sun, being opposite to that
portal of entry, and in Scorpio, seems to suggest that the journey, the incarnation, had come to
a certain conclusion. However, we contend that this need not to have meant physical death. It
is certainly very difficult to transform the Scorpio, because it contains the highest potential of
all possible evolution of Earth existence, that which was inaugurated by the Resurrection of
Christ. The Moon was, in fact, in that sign and constellation on 5 April 33 AD, the first Easter
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Sunday morning. Humanity can only gradually advance toward a real comprehension of this
event, which was, one could say, prophesied in pre-Christian times by the star image of Ophiuchus
(below Scorpio), the great Aesculapius who, according to Greek mythology, was able to call
even the dead back to life. He holds the Serpent, a humanized symbol of the caduceus. Fol-
lowing the Sun-Earth complex in Kepler’s incarnation asterogram we will study Mercury, the
planet nearest to the Sun.
The Sun and the Earth, as they appear in an incarnation complex, have a certain relation-
ship to the workings of Saturn. As we pointed out earlier (Fig. 4), the Sun gives us, by its
movement during the prenatal embryonic development, an image of the embryo. Thus it
helps to realize the will impulses directed toward incarnation that Saturn promoted while the
soul was still in the spiritual world. Saturn can do this because it carries in its sphere the
cosmic-memory of the so-called Ancient Saturn (see Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science), the very
beginning and spiritual foundation of all physical existence. The Sun draws this sidereal es-
sence into the solar universe through its suctional activities and gradually condenses it into
substances, eventually into the matter we find on Earth. Thus the Sun creates “space” in the
solar system, although (or just because) it is itself a non-material, even non-spatial entity. On
this background we can understand that it also creates the cosmic image of the embryo and,
therewith, the human body during the embryonic development.
Mercury is more engaged during the prenatal time, preparing this “body-image” for the
earthly activities and deeds of its “owner”. In this sense, it takes the elements of Jupiter and its
sphere and individualizes them, so to speak. Traditional astrology still refers to this when it
speaks of Mercury being associated with intelligence. Jupiter creates in the human being the
bodily capacity of thinking and promotes its spiritual development. Mercury takes all this with
the intention to lead it down to the sphere of a person’s intelligent doing. In order to build the
foundations for this capacity into the growing human body, the planet Mercury uses its move-
ments through superior conjunctions and loops with inferior conjunctions to the Sun during
the embryonic time. During the superior conjunctions, when it stands behind the Sun as seen
from the Earth, it takes up cosmic substances, chiefly from the sphere of Jupiter. Then, in the
inferior conjunctions, when it stands between Sun and Earth, it implants these cosmic “ele-
ments” into the growing body with the help of the Moon.
In Kepler’s incarnation asterogram we find Mercury, according to the geocentric picture, in
rather remarkable positions (see Fig. 5). It started out from the ecliptic sign and sidereal con-
stellation of Pisces. At the same time it was close to Pluto, as far as we can ascertain the latter’s
position with the available tables for calculation. Mercury was also not far away from Jupiter
and Venus. Apart from all this, Mercury of the epoch was in the ecliptic space above the head-
part of the embryo-image (see Fig. 3).
This gives us an idea of the instrumentality for the realization of intelligence and ideas that
was built into this body. Particularly, the conjunction with Pluto was remarkable. Pluto can
mean, in the sense that a human being can or does take up this challenge, high degrees of
spiritual capacity, even of intuition. However, it can also result in great destruction if it is not
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very carefully and consciously handled. Kepler’s life was always a tremendous struggle be-
tween the two extremes. This became particularly apparent during the last twelve years of his
life. On the one hand he was constantly and severely obstructed by the events connected with
the beginnings of the Thirty Years’ War, but on the other hand he steadfastly carried on with
his work, for instance, with the publication of his Harmonice Mundi. All the time he was a
“loner” among his contemporaries, one who came “too early” to be comprehended by most in
his human environment. This was an expression of the association of Mercury (and Pluto)
with Pisces. Pisces is the last one of the 12 constellations. Yet, there was obviously an intelli-
gence present in it that was in full accord with the quest of the modern Age of Pisces, the
impulse to go to the roots of existence. (Pisces is the externalized expression of the hierarchy
of the Thrones, or Spirits of Will, through Whom the foundation of all existence was laid on
Ancient Saturn, see Fig. 7.)
Toward the end of the 2nd Moon cycle after the epoch, Mercury was in superior conjunc-
tion with the Sun, not far away from Neptune (see Fig. 5), and also close to the point in sidereal
Taurus where the Moon was at birth. This refers to the later age of about 13 years. (The
connection of the 7-year periods in later life with the prenatal Moon cycles has been described
in Chapter I.) It was the time when he came to attend a theological seminary in order to train
for the career of a clergyman. Later on he dropped this idea and prepared to become a teacher
of mathematics and astronomy. It was, nevertheless, an expression of the impulse to build
bridges between heaven and Earth, suggested by the ecliptic sign of Gemini where this supe-
rior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun took place. The nearness to Neptune seems to point
to the whole background of the perihelion of Saturn and its association with cosmology, etc.
All this was then brought down, or at least made available for earthly capacities of intelli-
gence, in the loop and inferior conjunction of Mercury in the sidereal constellation of Cancer.
This was an especially remarkable event, because the conjunction with the Sun coincided al-
most exactly with a conjunction of Mercury with the ascending Moon node. It happened in
the beginning of the 5th prenatal Moon cycle, related to the age of 28-29 years, or 1600 AD. It
was a most significant time in Kepler’s life. He was invited by Tycho Brahe, another great
astronomer of that age of transition, to work with him at Prague. Kepler arrived there in
January 1600. As we reported already above, it did not take long for the two to clash fiercely
over differences of opinion. Even so, one has the impression that this was a most significant
moment of Kepler’s inner development, though it was very difficult. Tycho Brahe died in
1601, but Kepler “inherited” important items of Tycho’s astronomical research in connection
with Mars, enabling him to build up, later on, his own astronomical view and presentations,
though they were not in line with Tycho’s conceptions of the universe. Up to the last moment
of his life, Tycho Brahe implored Kepler to drop the idea of the Copernican Sun-centered
universe that Kepler had adopted earlier. Tycho expected the latter to accept his own idea of
the solar system. Kepler did not follow the advice of Tycho, though he later employed his
discoveries for the fortification of his own heliocentric approaches. Kepler could but see in
these moments the solar system only in the light of the divorce, the breaking down of the
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bridge between the spiritual-cosmic, and the material worlds expressed in the Norse version of
the mythology of Cancer—the place where that loop and inferior conjunction of Mercury had
taken place.
This inferior conjunction was followed by a superior one toward the end of the 6th prenatal
Moon cycle in sidereal Virgo and approximately opposite Pluto. It looks like a recollection of
the initial position of Mercury at the epoch. And indeed, the years of 1611 and 1612, to which
this event referred, were a very difficult phase in Kepler’s life. It seems that it did recall some
of the mood surrounding his birth, the difficult family situation into which he had incarnated,
etc. (see Arthur Koestler’s The Sleepwalkers, Part Four). From 1601 to the beginning of 1612,
Kepler was staying at Prague as Imperial Mathematicus, under the protection of the emperor
Rudolf II. In 1611, the latter was forced to abdicate the Bohemian crown, and he died in
January 1612. “This was also the end of the most fertile and glorious period in Kepler’s life.”
But this was not all, “The Year 1611 brought civil war and epidemics to Prague; the abdication
of his imperial provider; the death of his wife and favorite child.” (From Arthur Koestler). It
would be only too easy to say that these disasters were due to the impact of Pluto, opposite that
superior conjunction of Mercury in Virgo; however, we ought not to see it in this light, lest we
end in predictional and fatalistic astrology. What Kepler took upon himself in those experi-
ences was connected with the destiny of all modern humanity and the task to break through to
new vistas of human potential. This is also suggested by the nearness of that superior con-
junction of Mercury and Pluto to the vernal and autumnal equinox line, which would point to
the significance of the Age of Pisces—opposite Virgo. The overcoming of the “old” in all
spheres of life and its replacement by new approaches and capacities, with which humanity of
the present is particularly faced, means death on the one hand, in the widest sense, and on the
other, growing up like a child into new forms of existence.
Another experience in Kepler’s life demonstrates this struggle. About 1611 he was occu-
pied with the chronology of the birth of Jesus. We know that the commencement of the New
Era, starting with 1 AD, is based on the suggestion (originating in very early Christianity) that
Jesus was born at the time of transition from the Old to the New Era. Kepler (and many
modern historians) did not accept this. On the foundation of his astronomical knowledge and
ability to compute cosmic events far back, he came to the conclusion that the birth must have
taken place in 4 or 5 BC. The knowledge of a Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter,
occurring three times in 6 BC, astronomically, in connection with the story of the Three Kings
having been guided by “the star”, led him to this idea. Now it has been taken up by modern
scholars and combined with other suggestions and problems of historicity. Thereby, Kepler
opened up, as it were, a new era of the investigation of vital historic events in the past on a
cosmological level, not only on the basis of tradition and belief. However, we have come to the
conclusion that he was only able to touch the real problem of this whole context. It must be
mentioned that in the course of our researches, partly inspired by Rudolf Steiner’s suggestions,
we have come to the impression that the idea of the turning point from the Old Era (BC) to the
New (AD) having been the moment of the birth of Jesus is correct, and that the Great Con-
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junction of 6 BC (mentioned above) was something like the “spiritual nativity” of the Jesus.
(The latter concept has been formed by Rudolf Steiner in his Human and Cosmic Thought.) This
was then perceived by the Three Kings as part of “The Star of the Annunciation” which
guided them.
Toward the end of the 8th prenatal Moon cycle, Mercury moved again into a loop and
inferior conjunction in sidereal Scorpio. This was associated with about 1627-1629 in Kepler’s
life. He had in the meantime, after the death of the emperor, moved to a new job at Linz in
Upper Austria. In 1627, after endless wanderings, he returned to Prague where he, still being a
Protestant among Catholics, felt very lonely. He was involved in some publications, but the
end was near. On November 15, 1630, he died. Thus, we would regard the remaining two
Moon cycles of the prenatal chart as “unfulfilled”, in a certain sense. Certainly the cosmic
events had worked and had been incorporated into the body before birth, but they were prob-
ably not realized with regard to the potentials contained in them. As a kind of etheric sub-
stance, they may have been preserved for following times and generations. In this light we
could see, for instance, the final position of Mercury at birth, in the sidereal constellation of
Sagittarius and in conjunction with Uranus. The association of Mercury with the latter planet
can be taken as an indication of what lived in Kepler as an impulse to break through to the
discovery of the greater, but spiritually invisible foundation of all cosmic existence, an impulse
that he could not fully realize. It was this that made him say, for instance, “Why waste words?
Geometry existed before the Creation, is co-eternal with the mind of God himself (what exists
in God that is not God himself?); geometry provided God with a model for the Creation and
was implanted into humanity, together with God’s own likeness, and not merely conveyed to
our mind through the eyes.” Ideas like these made Arthur Koestler, the author of The Sleepwalk-
ers, remark, “...this coexistence of the mystical and the empirical, of wild flights of thought and
dogged, painstaking research, remained, as we shall see, the main characteristic of Kepler from
his early youth to his old age...” We would see in it Kepler’s struggle to build bridges from the
world of the invisible, the spirit, to the world of the senses, which must become more and
more the ideal of the present civilization.
Why should these characteristics of Kepler have been associated with Uranus? It seems
necessary at this point to give some indications of how we would see these “new” planets:
Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. We started our presentation with an exemplification of the ways
of Saturn’s workings in the human organization for good reasons. The five classical planets—
Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury—and the Sun with the Moon are implanted, with regard
to their cosmic functions, into the organism of the human being, according to genuine insight
of all ages and confirmed by Rudolf Steiner.
Saturn works from a point near the pineal gland into the whole organism. Thus it estab-
lishes uprightness by building up the skeleton, etc. Furthermore, it works through the organ of
the spleen, in order to maintain the integrity of the individual body and help to defend it
against uncongenial substances, for instance, taken in by food, etc. Eventually, it intends to
make the body an instrument for cognition and gnosis of any kind. (See also Chapter I.)
189
Jupiter has its hold on the body from a point near the pituitary gland. It regulates the
chemistry, liver and physical expansion of the organism, for instance, in the muscular system,
etc. Eventually, it wants to make the body an instrument for thinking.
Mars takes its start near the larynx and thyroid gland. It builds into the human body the
organism required to recognize its environment, as being distinct from its own being. This
creates also the capacity for speech, the ability to name and handle the objects in our environ-
ment. (See also Chapter II.)
The Sun has, obviously, the center of its integration into the workings of the human body
in the heart. Mercury, Venus, and the Moon have built their functions into the regions around
and below the heart (chiefly, but not exclusively), the Moon being the lowest function in the
human metabolism.
The newly discovered planets, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, so far, also participate in hu-
man physical existence. But they are working from the “outside” of the bodily frame. Saturn
stands, as it were, at the top-most threshold of the human physical body. We must now imag-
ine that certain forces work in and from the invisible “aura”, surrounding this body, into the
organism. These “aura” regions can be seen as the “work fields” of those outermost planets.
Thus Uranus would manifest, if it is correspondingly handled by the human being, the lowest
of the three spiritual capacities which we can attain. We can tentatively regard it as the capacity
of imaginative cognition, in the sense of Rudolf Steiner’s presentation in books such as, Knowl-
edge of the Higher Worlds, etc. Furthermore, Neptune could be seen as facilitating, with certain
reservations, the degree of higher perception called inspiration, and Pluto intuition. If we
conceive these as objective potentials, accessible only to intensive spiritual work of the indi-
vidual and existing as “seed points” in our aura, then we can even conceive this aura as sur-
rounding the whole human being, extending into the domain below our feet into the Earth.
Then the order would appear reversed: the highest, just below our feet, would be the realm
where Uranus had access, with Neptune working one stage “lower” and Pluto on the “lowest”.
From these regions they work destructively if they are not handled by our fully developed
spiritual consciousness and inner responsibility. In this context, it is illuminating and signifi-
cant that the discoveries of Uranus (1781) and of Neptune (1846) were preceded by important
developments in the spheres of electricity and magnetism. The discovery of Pluto (1930) was
preceded and followed by the entry of atomic physics into the orbit of modern history.
The position of Mercury and Uranus at Kepler’s birth in relationship to the Zodiac is
certainly important. The two planets were in the sidereal constellation of Sagittarius, repre-
sented on star maps as a centaur, half man, half horse, aiming his arrow at a somewhat distant
goal. This aiming attitude agrees well with the suggestion in the diagram in Fig. 7, in which
Sagittarius is associated with the ego. Thus this constellation is indeed a symbolic image of the
long struggle of humanity to attain egohood. The “unrealized” Mercury and Uranus (also Sun
and Venus) in the birth configuration of Kepler can, therefore, be seen as a kind of sacrifice
for the future of humanity, as we said earlier. This we need not regard as far-fetched fancy. As
a matter of fact, when Uranus was discovered in 1781, it was exactly opposite the point where
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we find it in Kepler’s birth complex; there it was in Sagittarius, as we said, and in 1781, when
Herschel saw Uranus for the first time through the telescope, it had just entered the constella-
tion of Gemini. So one could think that Kepler’s “unfulfilled” relationship to Uranus might
have inspired the actual discovery of the planet.
We will now take a look at the heliocentric equivalent of the geocentric chart. For such
purposes it is worth while to draw up a graph of the heliocentric prenatal as we did for the
geocentric (see Fig. 8). According to it, Mercury started out close to its own aphelion during
the epoch, and at birth it had returned to the same position. Meanwhile, Saturn moved toward
the descending node of Mercury.
Both these points are of great significance for the present Age, or civilization. The aph-
elion of Mercury is, and has been for a very long time, in the constellation of Scorpio. It
entered the latter, or its equivalent (the shapes and the mythological connotations change over
long periods of time), coming from Libra in Atlantean times. But its history in Ancient Egyp-
tian times is illuminating. In approximately 1850 BC, it was in conjunction with the aphelion of
Saturn, and in about 1600 BC, it was in conjunction with the descending node of Mars. As the
autumnal equinox was in Scorpio during the Egypto-Chaldean Age, we can say that the aph-
elion of Mercury, together with those above-mentioned elements of Saturn and Mars, were
witnesses of the events during that civilization. Thus we have here a strong additional indica-
tion of Kepler’s connection with Ancient Egypt, of which he was aware. There is, however,
another important perspective with regard to this aphelion of Mercury. In about 1882 AD, it
met the descending node of Venus. This was just 3 years after the commencement of the Age
of the Archangel Michael that started in 1879. Thus, we have here not only the “memories”, as
it were, of Ancient Egypt but also an orientation toward the tasks and confrontations that
humanity has to expect during the Michael Age. This concerns particularly the new relation-
ship to the cosmos that this humanity will have to create, especially with regard to a new
astrology and being aware of the great changes in human consciousness that have taken place.
We described earlier how Kepler was indeed aware of the decadence threatening this field of
knowledge and how much a rebirth was necessary.
There were other human beings, with similar impulses as Kepler related to cosmology, who
were connected with such a Mercury in its own aphelion. One of them was the English herbalist
Culpeper, born in 1616. At his prenatal epoch, Mercury was close to its aphelion. He associated
the plants that he suggested for medical use with the world of the planets. When Dr. Steiner was
speaking in 1908 (June 18-30) about the Apocalypse, or Revelation of St. John, Mercury moved
through its own aphelion during the middle of that course. This cycle of lectures gives a gran-
diose picture of the evolution of humanity in view of the accompanying cosmic facts.
The descending node of Mercury, toward which Kepler’s Saturn moved, reveals another
important perspective. It has been in the constellation of Libra a long time. However, in about
2090 BC it was in line with the spring equinox, the point where the Earth stood at the moment
of commencement of Spring, opposite where the Sun “appeared” to be at that time of the
year. This was still in Scorpio, close to the ingress into Libra. Thus this element of Mercury
191
carries also a memory association with Ancient Egypt. There is, however, also a connection with
the future; in about 2300 AD, the descending node of Mercury will join that of Mars in Libra. In
this we see the possibility of a very first preparation of the Aquarian Age during the present Age
of Pisces which, as a cultural impulse, will still carry on for a long time. However, astronomically
speaking, approximately in the middle of the 24th century, the vernal equinox Sun will appear to
stand just above the water that the Waterman seems to pour into cosmic space. The present Age
of Pisces has the task to develop the sciences to a point where bridges can be built to a science
of the spirit. Unions of this nature will be especially needed during the Waterman Age, which
will not develop sciences of its own. We can see that there lived in Kepler, through the associa-
tion of Saturn with the descending node of Mercury, an impulse to work toward the eventual
accomplishment of these aims, which will very much be needed just in the wider realm of
cosmology. Thus we can also understand, though not accept the tone of that remark of Arthur
Koestler, which we quoted earlier, that he saw in Kepler’s work “...coexistence of the mystical
and the empirical, of wild flights of thought and dogged, painstaking research...”
There is no reason to limit research to the engagements of the planetary elements, i.e.,, to
nodal and perihelion-aphelion lines, at the time of the epoch or birth only. Their activation
during the gestation can also be of significance if we relate them to the seven-year cycles after
birth, indicated by the Moon rhythms in the geocentric chart. For this purpose we employ the
prenatal heliocentric graph in Fig. 8.
For instance, we find that Venus moved through the ascending node of Mercury at the
beginning of the 5th prenatal Moon cycle. This referred to those turbulent and yet decisive
years in Kepler’s life when he was with Tycho Brahe, 1600 and 1601. Then, in the beginning of
the 9th Moon cycle, Venus was in conjunction with Saturn, and both planets were close to the
descending node of Mercury. These events became associated with Kepler’s last years, 1629
and 1630. (Here we see the reasons why we combine the geocentric Moon cycles with the
heliocentric perspective.)
The engagement of the nodes of Mercury by Venus are very interesting and instructive.
For instance, at the time of the birth of Copernicus (19 February 1473) and Tycho Brahe (14
December 1546), Venus was in the ascending node of Mercury (about 42° then). Indeed,
during those clashes between Kepler and Tycho Brahe, there stood, really, “Copernicus” in the
person of Kepler as promoter of the Copernican system and Tycho Brahe opposite each other.
On the background of the “biography” of the nodes of Mercury, which we mentioned earlier,
we could even see it as a battle associated, in a spiritual sense, with the interconnection between
Ancient Egypt and the modern Age. Likewise, also the passages of the other planets through
the elements of the spheres can be explored in relationship to the “biographies” of the latter.
One can even visualize a time in the future when these facts can be used in a kind of spiritual
psycho-therapy.
We will now proceed with Venus in the incarnation asterogram of Kepler. Venus can be
realized in human existence as an element of integration, coordination, harmony, and construc-
tiveness in any kind of environment. This potential comes to expression, for instance, in tthe
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Figure 8
193
movements of Venus in relationship to Sun and Earth. We know that the planet, moving
through an ellipse around the Sun, stands at certain rhythmic intervals beyond the Sun, seen
from the Earth, and at other times it appears in front of the Sun—between the Sun and the
Earth. These two rhythms form in the course of eight years a double pentagon, which falls
back very slowly in the ecliptic (see Fig. 9). The two pentagons are an expression of “integra-
tion”, as the inner one orientates itself almost precisely toward the outer with regard to its
corners. The geometrical forms that Mercury employs for the rhythm of its superior (beyond
the Sun, seen from the Earth) and inferior (in front of the Sun) conjunctions are different (Fig.
10). First of all, the rhythm is so fast that a definite geometrical form is completed in one year,
whereby we must also imagine that this figure falls back in the ecliptic rather fast. It is a double
triangle, but the positions of the corners in which the superior and inferior conjunctions take
place are not in contact. This is more a picture of the “handing out” of cosmic intelligence
through the instrument of the outer, superior conjunctions and a “taking on” in the inner
triangle of inferior conjunctions. Thereby, we arrive at an additional demonstration of what
we said about the potential of Mercury for the human being: the reception of cosmic intelli-
gence and its realization in the earthly activities of the human being. (The diagrams which we
produce here in Figs. 9, 10, and 11 are approximately adjusted to the relative distances of the
planets from Sun and Earth during the conjunctions.)
We said earlier that Venus has a certain relationship to Mars. It is a kind of balancing
contrast against the tendencies of Mars. Whereas Mars has the task to split up the once united
and integrated universal substance in the cosmos into the uncountable manifoldness of objects
that make, for instance, our human environment, so Venus has the impulse to reunite and
reintegrate what Mars had to split asunder. It had to be done in order to inaugurate and
facilitate the road toward egohood, even via egotism. Once this is achieved, these “tools” are
not needed any longer and have to be “countered” and eventually transformed . This is the
task of the Venus forces.
The contradiction between the two planets is also expressed in the geometrical pattern in
the ecliptic of conjunctions and oppositions of Mars in the course of 15-16 years. They form
two octagons, or intersected squares, a very large one made by the conjunctions of Mars with
the Sun, and a very small one produced by the oppositions to the Sun. However, compared
with the almost equilateral, harmonious pentagons of Venus, the geometrical forms are ex-
tremely irregular. They look as if they had been distorted in perpetual warfare, by the Martian
“temperament”. (see Fig. 11)
Venus and the forces working from its sphere can also help to re-establish a connection with
the mysteries. It was associated with the ancient temple mysteries, and it can be found facilitat-
ing, even helping to “time” the experience of the new, Christian mysteries. We can understand
this if we realize that the true impulse of Venus is to reintegrate the human soul, not only with
regard to physical matters, into the spirit of the world, to create harmony in the human soul with
regard to our relationship as a physical being to the invisible world. This was the avowed task of
the ancient mysteries, and it is the impulse of the Christian mysteries in a new sense.
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Outer
Superior Conjunctions
Figure 9: Venus
Inner
Inferior Conjunctions
Figure 10: Mercury
Inferior Conj.
Superior Conjunctions
Figure 11: Mars

Outer squares
are Conjunctions with the Sun
Inner circle
are oppositions to the Sun
195
These potentials of Venus must, of course, be worked out by very conscious action of the
human being, otherwise they might be torn down into pure sentimentality. They don’t “hap-
pen”, as it were, in the sense of “gifts” of the cosmos, open to prediction. The roots of these
potentials for modern humanity can be discerned through the associations of the events in the
present Venus pentagon with the pentagon positions at the time of Christ, and particularly,
during the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry. Earlier we pointed out that the pentagon falls back
in the ecliptic very slowly in time. This movement is very consistent and can easily be com-
puted. It takes the pentagon about 1200 years to perform one complete rotation, (about 100
years for 30°). Thus it has performed a little more than 1½ rotations since the time of Christ.
In this sense, the present events are in five corners of the common pentagon (= the two
pentagons regarded as one) “descendents”, as it were, of the same “parents” during the Three
Years of Christ. (Use Fig. 9 for identification):
1. Superior conjunc. of Venus 1965 in 19°= descended from Sup. conj. of 30 AD, 207°
2. Inferior " " 1966 306°= " Inf. " 31 AD, 137°
3. Superior " " 1966 226°= " Sup. " 32 AD, 66°
4. Inferior " " 1967 156°= " Inf. " 33 AD, 0°
5. Superior " " 1968 89°= " Sup. " 34 AD, 287°
The conjunctions on the right were associated, as far as we can chronologically identify
them, with the following events:
1. Jesus, before the Baptism by John, experienced the Essenes, a mystical sect, prob-
ably in their secluded settlement near the Black Sea. He saw their attempts to lead
a sanctified life in keeping with the ancient mystery traditions. But he also per-
ceived that their endeavors could no longer give the moral leadership to humanity
that the very ancient mysteries did. The later, Egyptian mysteries had already dete-
riorated into power propositions over the common people (from: The Fifth Gospel,
Researches in the Akashic Records, by Rudolf Steiner).
2. This probably coincided with the commencement of the tragedy of John the Bap-
tist, possibly his arrest by Herod, etc., not yet his beheading. In his last sufferings
he demonstrated actively what he had preached when he was baptizing people at
the river Jordan: That the ancient mysteries, with which he was actively connected
in previous incarnations, had come to an end and that new ones were coming,
…“Repent ye: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (St. Matthew, III). [As Willi
also suggested, the connection with the raising of the youth of Nain (St. Luke,
VII:11-18].
3. Probably the healing of the daughter of a woman at Tyre in Phoenicia. She was
possessed by an “unclean spirit”, a demon (St. Mark, VII:24-30). This was a direct
manifestation of the fact that the ancient mysteries had become decadent. It had
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become especially evident in Phoenicia, where the hang-overs of the mysteries

bordered almost on black magic. Yet, Christ healed the daughter.
4. This event coincided almost exactly in time with the Raising of Lazarus (St. John
XI). It was the inauguration of the new Christian mysteries, the initiation of Lazarus.
For, as the Christ said: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,
that the Son of God might be glorified thereby”.
5. The last superior conjunction in 34 AD was, as far as we can say in the absence of a
precise chronology, associated with the conversion of St. Paul at the Gate of Dam-
ascus (Acts, IX). Paul experienced in this event the Presence of the Risen Christ,
the representative of the spirit world to Post-Christian humanity. This is the essen-
tial center point of all new Christian mysteries.
With this background we can now investigate the Venus propensity of Kepler’s asterogram.
Shortly before his birth, a superior conjunction of Venus with the Sun took place, both being
at the same time almost in conjunction with Uranus (Fig. 5). This was a descendent of the
inferior conjunction of March 33 AD, described above under No. 4. As a superior conjunction
in 1571, it was a “reminder” of the cosmic significance of the Raising of Lazarus, standing
beyond the Sun in cosmic space. Its esoteric significance is emphasized by the conjunction in
1571 with Uranus. However, as it fell into the 10th prenatal Moon cycle, it could not be “real-
ized” by Kepler in his earthly life. Certainly, it would have worked in him as a hidden impulse,
and in much of his works one can get the impression that he tried to move toward a realization
but could not raise it to a full consciousness of initiation. The ethical undertone, so to speak,
of his cosmology and astronomy reveals in many places such tendencies, though the power to
realize them fully was lacking.
Why should this power have been lacking? Venus did not make it easy for Kepler, mean-
ing that it wanted to provoke ever greater efforts. Most of the prenatal time, the planet was
“descending” in the ecliptic, moving between summer solstice (90° of the ecliptic) and the
winter solstice (270°). To handle such potentials it needs greater efforts of conscious inner
work than the opposite, winter to summer solstice movement. It is also connected with the
concept of the “fall” season in western humanity, the equivalent of autumn.
It was only during the first four prenatal Moon cycles was Venus in the “ascending” part of
the ecliptic. This concerned the time up to about the end of 1599. During the preceding
interval, Kepler lived obviously with the idea of becoming a minister of religion. But when he
dropped this, he wrote his Mysterium Cosmographicum which betrays even by its title a realization
of the “mystery” of the cosmos. We think that it is fully justified to regard his whole life, just
because it was so trying and often very painful, as an initiation, as a Raising of the Lazarus in
him.
This was also expressed in the initial position of Venus at the epoch, in conjunction with
Jupiter. It took place still in the front part of Aquarius, in the pitcher and the water flowing
from it. The water is, of course, heavenly “water” or etheric forces. The constellation of
197
Pegasus, the Winged Horse thah denotes cosmic and not Earth-bound intelligence, is above
this sector of the Zodiac. Jupiter in conjunction with Venus emphasized this potentiality still
more.
During the 5th prenatal Moon cycle, Venus came into conjunction with Mars in about 107°
of the ecliptic, which was still in sidereal Gemini. This appears like a confrontation between
the qualities of Mars, leaning toward “dissecting”, and the reuniting impulses of Venus. It
referred approximately to the year 1604 in Kepler’s life. He solved it by working over his A
New Astronomy, which we mentioned earlier. It was built on scientific foundations, partly using
the observations of Tycho Brahe. Scientific impulses are realized chiefly with the help of
Mars. However, Kepler was able to infuse into this, traces of remedying the atomizing dangers
of Mars through the life endowing qualities of Venus. For instance, the two first planetary laws
which he introduced in the New Astronomy point in this direction. The first of these laws
promotes the idea that the planets travel round the Sun in elliptical orbits and not in circles—
one focus of the ellipse being occupied by the Sun. This idea can become the tool for a new
wisdom of the spheres of the planets as an expression of their life. Still in early Greek astro-
nomy, the spheres of the planets—that which was contained in their orbits—was regarded as
the real living element. The visible planets were conceived as being moved by the forces and
beings working in the spheres. This was all lost in later times, after Copernicanism laid the
foundation in human conception for a planetary universe that was being moved by mechanical
forces only. But Kepler’s elliptical orbits can lend a hand to finding new concepts of a living
universe, moved by the potential harmonies of the spheres. Thus Kepler laid the first founda-
tion for a redemption in the realm of astronomy of the one-sided Mars forces, which would
want to make the picture of a lifeless machine out of the cosmos. (We have repeatedly pointed
out that we came to see, by experience in the perihelion of a planet, which is built on the
elliptical form of the orbit, forces coming to expression that are more akin to the workings in
the head of a human being, whereas the opposite—the aphelion—shows relationship to the
limb-will part of the human being, of course on an infinitely higher level of power and being.)
We will now take a look at the heliocentric graph with regard to Venus. Only Mercury
engaged the descending node of Venus at birth. Venus was in the neighborhood of its own
aphelion at birth but still about 14° away from it.
The history of the descending node of Venus is interesting, especially the time of ingress
into the constellation of Scorpio from Sagittarius, which happened soon after 747 BC. (The
full story of all the events we shall relate in a later chapter.) The year 747 BC saw the essence
of the vernal equinox in Aries (autumnal equinox in Libra) being introduced as a working
principle into human civilization. The astronomical ingress occurred much earlier, but it worked
as a kind of “underground” impulse in humanity. The foundation of Rome took place at the
time we mentioned, and those hidden impulses rose up. From then on we see a steep decline of
the ancient mystery institutions, and gradually this decadence became manifest in the fact that
Roman emperors forced their way into the existing mysteries without the necessary prepara-
tion and devotion. It was no more than a question of attainment of power. This is obviously
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exemplified by the entry of the descending node into Scorpio. This deterioration became
evident, in a tragic way, at the time of the final elimination of the Order of the Knights Templars,
by the burning of the last members of the Order together with the Grandmaster Jacques de
Molay in 1314. This was accompanied by significant events in that descending node of Venus,
about which we shall report later.
This was a very tragic event, caused chiefly by the greed of King Philip le Bel of France.
Nevertheless, it had a significant impact on the developments and discoveries in the fields of
science and technology in later centuries. For instance, the discoveries and expeditions that
were inaugurated by Prince Henry of Portugal, the Navigator, and Christopher Columbus
were connected with that sacrifice of the Knights Templars. This can be proven on a cosmo-
logical basis. The souls of the Templars inspired, so to speak, those developments.
On this background we can also understand the meaning of Mercury in the descending
node of Venus at the birth of Kepler. He realized it in his never-ceasing search for scientific
truth and for confirmation of his ideas. In this sense, he stood at the gates to modern scientific
development like a great guide, who was able even to risk error as a teacher of ultimate truth.
We find Mercury twice before birth in the descending node of Venus. The first occasion
was during the 4th prenatal Moon cycle, referring to 1595 when Kepler worked over his Mysterium
Cosmographicum. Mercury was in opposition to Mars on that occasion, in the ascending node of
Venus. We can take this as an indication that Kepler was able to give Mars in that moment with
his Mysterium, to speak metaphorically, a kind of redeeming lesson. The second time Mercury
was there, during the 7th prenatal Moon cycle, became associated with the completion of his
Harmonice Mundi.
However, we must not forget that all this was born out of great suffering. This seems to
have been more associated with the prenatal events in the aphelion of Venus. For instance,
Venus was there at the end of the 2nd Moon cycle, referring to the age of 14. It is almost
pathetic to read Kepler’s own account of these years. He was then already at the theological
seminary. He says (quotation from Arthur Koestler’s Sleepwalkers): “…1585-6 (age 14-15). During
these two years, I suffered continually from skin ailments, often severe sores, often from the
scabs of chronic putrid wounds in my feet which healed badly and kept breaking out again. On
the middle finger of my right hand I had a worm, on the left a huge sore ...” He also had great
difficulties with his school mates: “February 1586. I suffered dreadfully and nearly died of my
troubles. The cause was my dishonor and the hatred of my school fellows whom I was driven
by fear to denounce...” Here Kepler took upon himself some of the karma of all humanity.
The perihelion-aphelion of Venus carries the story of the commencement of the Kali Yuga,
the dark Age, which started in about 3101 BC when the perihelion-aphelion lines of Venus
were in opposition to those of Mars (i.e.,, reversed—the perihelion of Venus in line with the
aphelion of Mars). This Kali Yuga lasted 5,000 years, up to 1899. Thus, in Kepler’s life-time it
was still in full swing. It gradually dimmed all realization of the existence of a spiritual world,
and among the many effects it had on human existence was the loss of the sense for the
understanding or the meaning of human suffering.
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Yet, Kepler was able to infuse a positive note into all this. About the middle of the 4th
Moon cycle, Mercury moved through the descending node of Venus (see graph) and Mars
through the ascending node of Venus. So, the two planets were in opposition. This referred to
about 1595-6, when Kepler wrote his first book, the Mysterium Cosmographicum, in which he
already struggled to put living concepts into the idea of planetary spheres. Although he did it
on the foundation of the heliocentric perspective, the attempt to associate the spheres with the
Platonic Solids must be recognized as an endeavor to perceive the solar universe as an expres-
sion of cosmic intelligence. Thus, he did not completely fall in with the precepts of the Dark
Age, moving more and more into materialism and denial of the spirit.
At the beginning of the 5th Moon cycle we find Mercury and Earth in the aphelion of
Venus. In terms of geocentric conception, this was the first conjunction of Mercury with the
Sun, of which we spoke earlier. It referred to about 1600 when Kepler moved to Prague in
order to work together with Tycho Brahe. However, it turned out to be a really “dark” interval
in his life. Nevertheless, in the midst of all the conflicts in which he became involved, he laid
the foundation for his later astronomical work by the “inheritance” of Tycho Brahe’s researches.
Kepler incorporated this in his New Astronomy. And indeed, while he completed this book,
about 1606, there worked into it a reflection of Mercury moving through the ascending node
of Venus toward the end of the 5th prenatal Moon cycle.
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CHAPTER IV
May-June-July 1973
We have, finally, to discuss the significance and workings of the Moon in the complex of
the incarnation asterogram.
The Moon and its sphere are connected with the last steps or stages of the descent into
incarnation on the Earth. Indications of this nature we have found already in the position of
the Moon at the epoch. In Chapter I, we have given the principles of the so-called Hermetic
Rule, which says that a waxing Moon at birth suggests that the place of the “Rising Sign”, or
ascendent at the moment of birth marks the locality in the Zodiac where the Moon had been
at the time of the epoch; and if the Moon is waning at birth then the Zodiac position of the
“Setting Sign”, or descendent at birth was occupied by the Moon at the epoch.
Thus, we have here a very potential definition of the ascendent or descendent of the birth.
They signify the very last step of incarnation, the descent of the soul from the sphere of the
Moon onto the Earth, by its union with the beginning embryonic development. Of course,
this perspective is applicable if no other factors determine the moment of birth but karma, not
if actions born out of egoistic, volatile decisions interfere. If no such interference happens,
then the ascendent/descendent can be taken as a representation of the way that a soul brings
essential parts of its heritage from the cosmos down into the commencing earthly life. We
must look at them as final gateways, and thus we can also understand the definitions assigned
to the Zodiac region immediately below the ascendent at the Eastern horizon, the so-called
First House. The well-known English astrologer Alan Leo expresses in his book How to Judge a
Nativity the opinion that to this should also be added the space above the horizon, up to an
angle of about 15°. He says of this whole spatial region: “The ascendent rules the personal
appearance and to a considerable extent also the health, mind, and disposition....”
Opposite this spatial region, below and above the descendent of birth, would then be the so-
called Seventh House, where the Moon of the epoch is supposed to have been if it is waning at
birth. Alan Leo says of it: “...The seventh house in all horoscopes are the complement of the
first and represents the unifying of all that is separated or isolated in the ascendent; it indicates
the subjective side indicated by the first house: and successfully to unify all that is denoted by the
first and seventh means an enlarged experience which can be gained in no other way...”
We return now to Kepler’s incarnation asterogram. The Moon was waxing at his birth (see
Fig. 3). Therefore, it should have been in the location of the Zodiac rising at birth, i.e., in 22°
40' of the sign of Gemini. This was, at the same time, the ingress into the sidereal constella-
tion of Gemini (indicated as Asc. = ascendent). Above this point the planet Neptune moved
during the embryonic process. Thus we have here, in all that concerns the final stepping down
of this soul to Earth plus the meaning of the First House, a further implication concerning the
movement of Neptune, in addition to its position in the perihelion of Saturn according to the
heliocentric (see Chapter I). We saw in the latter a potential disposition toward cosmology and
astronomy.
201
Along such lines the potential, concerning personal character, etc., indicated in the ascen-
dent-descendent, can be discerned. However, it would be wise to regard it as a potential only
and not in the sense of binding fate, etc. Thereby, the therapeutic perspectives can be safe-
guarded. It can be done:
a) on the basis of the “signs”, the divisions of the ecliptic, or “apparent” path of the
Sun. These can be regarded as “descendents” of the sidereal, or fixed star constel-
lations of the Zodiac, being “descended” from the latter at times when the ecliptic
Zodiac and the fixed star Zodiac were coinciding, according to the precession of
the vernal equinox. The ecliptic Zodiac, or “signs” would thus reflect on the level
of cosmic etheric forces what the fixed star Zodiac expresses otherwise. The signs
are more likely to express themselves in the sphere of habits, unconscious inclina-
tions, temperament in a broad sense, etc.
b) It can also be achieved on the background of the fixed star constellations them-
selves. However, in this case we must be aware that their language can only be
conceived on the level of cosmic astrality. Manifestations and realizations of this
nature can find expression into the sphere of, more or less conscious, psychological
potentials and capacities of the human being.
In order to get to the foundations of such possible impacts, it is not enough to rely on
descriptions given in astrological textbooks, though they may point out the direction of re-
search. One constructive approach can be found in the mythology of the sidereal constella-
tions described, for instance, in Peter Lum’s, The Stars in Our Heaven, or in G. P. Serviss’ As-
tronomy with the Naked Eye (Harper Brothers, 1908), which is probably completely out of print.
However, one cannot take these descriptions like recipes. One must live with them and their
deeper meaning, for a long time until they really reveal their secrets, especially with regard to
their relationship with the human physiology.
Another road that can lead, according to our experience, to constructive results is the
association of the constellation with the memory of world evolution. This has been described
in one of the author’s earlier publications, Isis Sophia II - Outline of a New Star Wisdom. It is
based on the experience that the constellations of the Zodiac, and their neighbors, carry the
cosmic-memory images of past stages of evolution. These are described in detail in Rudolf
Steiner’s Occult Science and other publications. We can give in Figs. 12, 13, and 14 only sketchy
indications and page references from the book Occult Science. Also in this context, one has to
live intensively with the descriptions in the latter book and elsewhere, in order to arrive at a
constructive picture of the twelve Zodiac characters.
We return now to the incarnation asterogram of Kepler and try to discern the character of
his ascendent of birth, which was also the place of the Moon at the epoch. It was in the sign
and also in the sidereal constellation of Gemini or Twins. In Norse mythology Gemini was
connected with “Breidablik”, the residence of Balder, who was accidentally killed by Hodur,
possibly at one time being regarded as the twin brother of Balder. In Greek mythology this
constellation was associated with the twins Castor and Pollux, and other “twin” characters.
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Figure 12
Figure 13
The page numbers refer to

descriptions in Rudolf Steiner’s
Occult Science, 1962/63 edition.
Figure 14
203
The stories refer always to the great division in the universe—the Earth, with death as its severe
ruler and the heavens, the realm of immortality. Much of the underlying mythological back-
ground we see realized in Kepler’s temperament and attitude of life. The very fact that he tried
to penetrate the secrets of the heavens in his astronomical approach and also in his astrology
relates to this double perspective of Gemini.
With regard to the background of world evolution, according to Rudolf Steiner’s Occult
Science, we can find very descriptive indications. In this sense Gemini would be associated with
the third great “Round” (or stage) of evolution during what is called Ancient Saturn. The Will
warmth substance that had come into being was in the beginning united in itself. Only during
that third Round was it split up and thus formed the first foundations of the present world of
greatly differentiated objects. During the following cosmic step of evolution on Ancient Sun,
there appeared for the first time two “kingdoms of nature”, the very ancestors of the human
race and another lower kingdom. This we see happen during the fourth Round of Ancient
Sun, which we regard as being remembered in Gemini. During the middle Round of Ancient
Moon, the universe split into two opposite centers of existence, a higher “Sun” and a lower
kind of “Moon”. This we see remembered in the constellation of Sagittarius, opposite Gemini.
The ancestors of the human race, which were not yet endowed with the ego, alternated be-
tween existences on the Moon-planet and on the Sun. The sojourn on the Sun (of Ancient
Moon universe) we can see as being “remembered’’ in Gemini. Thus, we would regard Kepler’s
association with Gemini through his ascendent of birth and Neptune, as an imagination of his
potential for astronomy in a modern sense, with that science having to deal with a universe
divided into many entities or “bodies”.
We will now concentrate on the position of the Moon in the birth configuration and its
significance. The Hermetic Rule, which we found useful in connection with the epoch, says
the Moon’s place in the Zodiac at birth is the locality of the “ascendent of the epoch” if the
Moon is waxing at birth. If it is waning then it signifies the “descendent of the epoch”, and the
ascendent would be opposite.
The question is: What do these concepts, ascendent or descendent of the epoch mean?
Through our occupation with the ascendent or descendent of the moment of birth, we have
acquired the necessary equipment to answer this question. The latter are, according to the
Hermetic Rule, the places in the Zodiac, in either, where the Moon was at the epoch. We came
then to the conclusion that “ascendent”, in this sense, means the final gateway of descent of a
soul from the sphere of the Moon down to Earth. Similarly did we come to the conclusion,
after many years of research, that the ascendent of the epoch, or Moon position at birth, is the
direction that the soul has taken from the cosmic world into the sphere of the Moon before
incarnation. We must get this idea very clear, in order to be able to work with it.
After the conclusion of an incarnation, our soul rises up stage by stage to the cosmos, and
expands into the spheres of the planets. This is described in great detail in Rudolf Steiner’s
book Theosophy, and the association of these spheres of the soul and spirit world with the
planets is, furthermore, delineated in his lecture-cycle Life between Death and Rebirth (Berlin 1912-
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13). As the soul starts out for this journey from the Earth, it takes up a definite direction into
the cosmos. This is indicated by the “ascendent”, or Rising Point in the Zodiac, at the moment
of death—a well-known fact still in certain occult movements. (The expression is: The soul of
the deceased has entered the Eternal East.) Soon after, this direction changes into the ten-
dency to move toward the Sun—where it appeared to be at the moment of death. Also, the
soul expands now into the cosmos of the spheres in all directions, not only into one. Thus,
while the human being on the Earth is a very tiny point in space, after death it becomes more
and more identical with the spheres, with the spaces contained within the orbits of the planets.
After a longer or shorter journey through these spheres, souls are prepared to descend into
a new incarnation on the planet Earth. At the “midnight hour of existence”, as it is called, they
turn back and move step by step again through the spheres where they acquire the implements
for earthly existence. In the course of this descent the human being contracts more and more
and eventually takes up a definite direction toward the Earth. As a rule this “direction” is
indicated by the position of the Sun at the last death, which is the “outward bound direction”,
and then again by the position of the Moon at the following birth. (This has been borne out by
intensive work and studies with karmically related death and birth configurations.) Thus does
the birth Moon signify the “inward bound direction” of the soul, and thus can we also under-
stand some of the deeper workings of the Moon. It gathers up the “harvest”, as it were, of the
experiences of the soul during the life in the spiritual cosmic world between two incarnations
and molds it into the human organism coming into being during the embryonic development.
Equipped with this perspective we can now look at the Moon of Kepler’s birth configura-
tion. It was a waxing Moon in about 64° of the ecliptic, the sign of Gemini and the fixed star
constellation of Taurus. It was also placed in the “embryo image” sector of Gemini. The
background of this is elucidated in Chapter I where we could see the potential of Kepler as a
writer—Gemini being an image of the instrumentality provided by the hands of a human
being. Therefore, the Moon at Kepler’s birth would create an imagination of his descent into
the sphere of the Moon and his gathering up of the “fruits” of his existence in the spiritual
cosmic world. We have referred to this fact already in Chapter II, especially in connection with
the striking background of Taurus and Kepler’s association with cosmology. In this sense, we
not only need to look at Ancient Egypt and Chaldea, although Kepler’s relationship to that past
seems to have been quite a special one. The Age during which the vernal equinox was in the
constellation of Taurus appears to have been generally orientated toward a still glorious cos-
mology in a much wider sense. We need only to look at the other ends of civilization of those
days, for instance, the British Isles. As we still meet today the pyramids and ziggurats in the
territories of Egypt and Chaldea, so do we find on the British Isles the remnants of Stonehenge,
among other similar structures. Stonehenge was built to serve as an observatory for intensive
astronomical observation, though on a gigantic scale. This has been clearly discovered in our
age. (See Gerald S. Hawkins, Stonehenge Decoded, Fontana Collins.) Although this monument is
very different from the Egypto-Chaldean ones, it demonstrates the general character of the
Taurus Age nevertheless: very heavy structures emphasizing the impulse to develop a sense for
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the Earth realities, and on the other hand the intent to study and experience the workings of
the stars. (Stonehenge was built between 2000 and 1500 BC, while the Taurus Age was in full
unfolding.) It is quite obvious how strongly all this lived in Kepler. Thereby we would see in
the Moon at the time of his birth, an imagination of what he embodied into his incarnation, as
the “fruits” of his sojourn in the spiritual cosmic world, the spiritual evaluations of: a) endeav-
ors, impulses, associations in previous incarnations, b) the intent to transform these “heri-
tages” into modern standards and requirements.
That this is not far-fetched and wishful thinking can easily be proven by a study of the
relationship in time of the Moon nodes to the position of the epoch and birth Moon. Similarly
to the nodes of the planetary spheres caused by the inclinations of the orbits toward the
ecliptic plane, so is the orbit of the Moon also inserted at an angle into the latter. At one point
the Moon breaks through this Earth-Sun plane and moves from the region “below” into the
upper semi-sphere. This is the ascending Moon node. In the opposite point, it descends into
the semi-sphere below which forms the descending node. These nodes of the Moon are
distinct from the nodes of the planets in as much as they move much faster through the eclip-
tic. They need only about 18 years 7 months to move once through the total Zodiac and return
to the original sidereal position, as seen from the Earth.
Rudolf Steiner has repeatedly referred to the nodes of the Moon and their significance.
He regarded them as “gateways for cosmic astral forces” to come into the Earth. We can
understand the concept “gateways” if we realize that these nodes are points of contact be-
tween the sphere of the Moon (inside the Moon orbit) and the sphere of Earth-Sun.
At Kepler’s birth the ascending Moon node was in about 122° 48' of the ecliptic, and the
descending one was, of course, opposite. From there they moved slowly backwards (the Moon
nodes move against the general “forward” progress of the planets in the Zodiac). Thus they
touched in time or “opened up” the places where the planets, etc. were standing at birth,
epoch, etc. Likewise have they been in these places before birth.
For instance, in the beginning of October 1565 (= before birth), the descending Moon
node was, approximately, in 64°, i.e., the position of the Moon at Kepler’s birth. (These ap-
proximate positions can be calculated with the help of the astronomical Tables in Chapter I,
Dr. Ahnert Astronomisch-Chronologische Tafeln ruer Sonne, Mond und Planeten. The sum-total of the
figure “K” in the Tables (p. XVI-XVIII), taken from 360° is the position of the ascending
Moon node.) The places of the planets in that moment, in 1565, are very significant with
regard to Kepler’s philosophic outlook which he employed during his life. We can even call this
moment the “spiritual nativity” of Kepler, according to a perspective that Rudolf Steiner sug-
gested in his lecture-cycle Human and cosmic Thought (January 20-23, 1914).
Rudolf Steiner opened this lecture-cycle (20 January 1914) with the intention: …“I should
like to speak about the connection of the human being with the universe from a certain view-
point...” Then he speaks about the nature of human thought… “...I myself have created the
thought, I am present in it and therefore I also know what it contains. Indeed, the thought is
our most individual possession. If we find the relationship of the thought to the cosmos, then
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we discover the relationship of our very being to the cosmos. In this we see the promise that
it is indeed a fruitful viewpoint to look at the relationship of the human being to the universe
from the aspect of thought...” He elaborates then in great detail the representation of what
appears as human philosophical thought in the universe of the Zodiac and the planets. It is a
reflection of the thinking of divine beings. They say at a certain moment: “Let there come
into existence in the world the thought of philosophical Idealism, combined with the capacity
of philosophical Logism.” This would reflect itself into the visible position of Jupiter (con-
nected with Logism) in the constellation Aries (reflecting philosophical Idealism, or realization
of the world as being of thought/idea).
Human beings, descending into incarnation, may, out of their individual karma and con-
nection with the divine world, take up such an “event”, make it entirely their own, and thus
develop on Earth their individual world conception. This would then be their “spiritual nativ-
ity”, which is also connected with the stars like their physical nativity, but distinct from the
latter. Rudolf Steiner goes on to say that this “spiritual nativity” of the human being can
happen time-wise long before the physical birth, or afterwards. However, he does not describe
any detailed relationship between the two nativities, he gives instead a number of historic
examples. (In Fig. 15 we give the relationship of the twelve possible “nuances” of philosophi-
cal world conceptions to the Zodiac, and the seven possible philosophical “moods”, related to
the planets, according to the above mentioned lecture-cycle of Rudolf Steiner.)
We have long been puzzled by the question of whether any realistic relationship between
the physical nativity and the “spiritual nativity” does exist. For instance, we investigated the
physical nativities of the historical personalities that Rudolf Steiner mentioned in his Human
and cosmic Thought. Gradually, the fact emerged that there does exist a definite connection. The
passage of the ascending, or descending Moon nodes through the spot where the Moon is at
the moment of birth, either before or after birth, can give the answer. From a logical view-
point this is understandable. We said earlier that the position of the Moon at birth indicates the
“direction” from the cosmos that a soul may have taken up when it descended to the Earth.
Thus, when one of the Moon nodes moves through this position, the “gateway from the astral,
cosmic world” may be “open” and the activities of divine beings may “shine” into the individual’s
existence.
We mentioned above that the descending node of Kepler’s Moon moved through the
location of the birth Moon in 1565. As our calculations cannot be as exact as desirable with
regard to the exact date of this event, we concentrated only on the positions of Saturn, Jupiter,
and Mars in that moment. But even these are most illuminating and appear to coincide with
Kepler’s philosophical world conception. Mars had entered the constellation of Gemini. The
latter is connected with philosophical Mathematism (see Fig. 15 below) which would, of course,
reflect Kepler’s association with astronomy, based on a concrete mathematical approach. Mars
would appear related to philosophical “Voluntarism” which, combined with “Mathematism”
would appear to stand for the “Will” element with which Kepler handled his astronomical
concepts and researches, and in this sense he was a modern astronomer.
207
In 1565 Jupiter was in the constellation of Virgo. Philosophically speaking, this would be
the potential of Logism in the nuance of Phenomenalism. Jupiter was in a “square” aspect
(90° distance) to Mars in that moment. Traditional astrology may say that this was a bad aspect
in the ordinary star configuration, though we do not fully agree with this judgment. Moreover,
in a spiritual context this can even be a “good” aspect, in as much as it may provoke inner
progress through obstruction.
Figure 15
Materialism Mathematism
Cancer Gemini Gnosis
Sensualism Rationalism
Leo Taurus Logism
Voluntarism
Phenominalism Idealism
Virgo Aries Empiricism
Mysticism
Libra Pisces Psychism Transcendentalism

Realism
Occultism
Scorpio Aquarius
Dynamism
Sagittarius Pneumatism
Capricorn
Monadism Spiritualism
In Kepler’s case it was indeed a “good” aspect, in a spiritual sense. With Mars in Gemini,
or Voluntarism combined with Mathematism, he could easily have slipped into an attitude
maintaining “I can accept only as reality that which can be put into mathematical formulae”.
(This is the description of Mathematism that Steiner gives in that lecture-cycle Human and
cosmic Thought.) Kepler had received through his “spiritual nativity” the potential of saying and
realizing: “I am aware that the world around me is the one that appears to me. I cannot say that
this world of color and sound coming into being by certain processes happening in my eyes,
appearing to me as color, and other processes in my ears, presenting themselves to me as
sounds, etc., I cannot insist that this is the true world. It is the world of the phenomena.”
(Quotation from the same lecture-cycle of Steiner as above.)
Furthermore, there appears in that star configuration of 1565, Saturn in the constellation
of Leo. This would indicate the philosophical potential of Gnosis, or Gnosticism (Saturn)
connected with Sensualism (Leo) [having to do with sense impressions and also translated as
sensationalism and sensism]. It was an additional aspect with regard to Kepler’s philosophical
world conception. Of Gnosticism Rudolf Steiner says: “Human beings can be a ‘Gnosticos’ if
they are inclined to get to know the objects of the world through certain powers of cognition,
resting in their own soul, but not through their senses only.” In Kepler’s case this was, poten-
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tially, orientated toward Phenomenalism. It would “dissociate from the phenomenon what
appears to be coming from intellect and reason only, and accepts only that as somehow being
connected with reality which the senses impart as impressions.” This seems to present a con-
tradiction when combined with Gnosticism. However, it need not be so. Rather it can be the
thought impulse to penetrate the problems that appear in connection with Sensualism with the
power of inner cognition. Kepler worked it out somewhat in this sense when he, as Arthur
Koestler in his Sleepwalkers puts it: “Without transition, in a single startling jump, we” (traveling
with Kepler in his writings) “have traversed the frontier between metaphysical speculation and
empirical science.” We see rather in these “jumps”, attempts to bring Gnosticism into the field
of Sensualism, to find a deeper understanding of what underlies the world perceived through
the senses.
This is only a tentative demonstration of the possibilities that working with the Moon
nodes related to the position of the Moon at birth can offer. Detailed information and the
possibility of precise computation, which in Kepler’s case is somewhat difficult, can produce
even more illuminating results.
The passage of the Moon nodes over the location of the ascendent of birth can also be
investigated, though this leads to perspectives different from those over the position of the
birth Moon. In Kepler’s case the ascending Moon node was in about 86° of the ecliptic in
November 1573. This was the place of the ascendent, or Rising Sign, at Kepler’s birth, and also
of the position of the Moon at his epoch. If we take everything into account that we said
about this Moon at the epoch, that it coincides with the final descent of the soul into the body,
then we can also understand the significance of the Moon node configuration related to the
ascendent of birth and Moon position of the epoch. It is a symbol of the preparation for the
final step onto the Earth, as a physiologically integrated being, onto the planet where earlier
incarnations have taken place. This kind of Moon node asterogram can possibly even give
information about the nature of a previous incarnation, both time-wise and with regard to
character. However, this is a very difficult and esoterically intimate matter on which we cannot
embark here. Only, we feel we have to mention it in order to circumscribe the significance of
this event.
In November 1573, a Great Opposition took place, an opposition of Saturn in 240° and
Jupiter in 60° of the ecliptic. These oppositions, like the conjunctions, happen in intervals of
about 60 years, and they advance by about 8°-10° within this rhythm. As a matter of fact, two
more similar events take place at intervals of about 20 and about 40 years from the first.
Thereby they occupy and operate, as it were, an almost equilateral triangle in the Zodiac which
turns slowly in the Zodiac and completes one sidereal rotation in about 2,600 years. Thus this
triangle of oppositions, and even more so of conjunctions, appears like a three-pronged hand
on the cosmic clock. And indeed, on the basis of a knowledge of its movement in time, past
and future, we have an excellent means of gauging the rhythms in history.
On this foundation we can, for instance, know that an ancestor of that Great Opposition
of 1573 took place in about 37-35 BC. However, because of the rotation of the triangle in the
209
Zodiac, which we mentioned above, Saturn moved from Aquarius to Pisces, and Jupiter was
opposite. This event was followed by a Great Conjunction in the constellation of Pisces in 6
BC, astronomically. (In fact, three conjunctions of the two planets happened during that year,
approximately in the same position, according to geocentric observation.) It was probably part
of the star complex that informed and guided the Three Kings, or Magi, who were astrologers
in the best ancient sense, (according to the Gospel of St. Matthew II), to the Child Jesus, born
at Bethlehem. Kepler knew of this event, the Great Conjunction in 6 BC, and he suggested
that Jesus was not born at the turning-point from BC to AD, but in the year 4 or 5 BC, shortly
after these conjunctions. This is a tempting proposition and many have adopted it. Thus we
can see that Kepler had probably a deeper connection with that Great Opposition of 1573,
whose ancestry leads back to the time around Christ. It is even possible that he was involved in
the events around the birth of Jesus during a previous incarnation, though we should be very
reticent affirming this. All we want to say is, that the Moon node configurations of Kepler, on
the basis of 1573, offer the feasibility of such an association of Kepler.
However, even if this were so, we have the impression that Kepler was misguided with
regard to his concepts concerning those Great Conjunctions in 6 BC and the birth of Jesus. We
do not blame him as an individual. Materialism had at his time already taken hold of civiliza-
tion to such a degree that possibly deeper feelings and a real understanding of the connection
of the human world with the stars were frustrated. We have come to the conclusion from
many years of research that the Great Conjunctions of 6 BC were associated with the birth of
Jesus, but not in representing the birth configuration of the child. Rather do we see in the
geocentric Great Conjunctions of 6 BC, the “spiritual nativity” (see description above, the
definition of this “spiritual nativity” by the passage of the Moon node over the Moon position
at birth.) of Jesus whom the Three “Wise Men” visited. They combined with an astrological
wisdom of a profundity that we can hardly imagine anymore, the last presence of an ancient
clairvoyance. Thus they could “read the message” present in the “star” of 6 BC, of the close-
ness of the events which had been prophesied long before concerning the coming of the
Messiah. With the help of a series of smaller cosmic rhythms they were then able to discern
the more precise timing of the accompanying events, like the birth of the child.
With this we conclude the delineation of the incarnation asterogram of Kepler. We regard
the preceding descriptions in the Letters from August, 1972, as an outline of how to work out
and approach such an asterogram step by step. Of course, we are fully aware that such presen-
tations can give only an initial start and only lead up to a certain point of realization. However,
eventually one faces the fact that the individual asterogram cannot be fully judged on the basis
of generalized perspectives. One discovers that each incarnation complex of a starry nature is
an “individuality” in itself and must be interpreted and handled individually. Nevertheless, the
general picture can give us a beginning, and by persistent study and practice one can gradually
grow into a kind of perception that comes close to what one may very cautiously call an
intuitive awareness. One will then realize the significance of a statement of Rudolf Steiner’s
that a true astrology will require the development of the highest spiritual capacities of cogni-
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tion that we of the present age can possibly attain. One will then also become aware of the
sublime nature of a true astrology, which should not be misused for superficial, insincere, and
dilettante purposes but which is a helping hand for profound spiritual research and accom-
plishment. It is not a “profession” in an ordinary sense; it is a “vocation” of humanity and
world significance and will become that more and more.
The Elements of the Planetary Spheres

Their History and Their Realization in Human Biographies
In the following chapters we shall give a description of the elements of the planets: the
lines of the apsides, indicated by the perihelion-aphelion points of the planetary orbits, and the
nodal lines made by the ascending and descending nodes of the planets. We have partly de-
scribed these in the previous chapters, but for the sake of easier working we will now do this in
a systematic way. Some repetitions will be unavoidable.
The working with the elements of the planets can also provide a more precise characteriza-
tion of the planets and constellations themselves, even if we approach them according to the
geocentric view. The diagram in Fig. 16 below gives the present positions of the elements in
the sidereal Zodiac.
Figure 16
211
Figure 17
The figures in the outermost circle are the starting points of the sidereal (fixed star) con-
stellations, defined according to the ecliptic divisions, or “signs”. [The positions of the planets
indicate where the aphelions, perihelions, and nodes were in 1900. The nodes are moving clockwise,
whereas the aphelions and perihelions are moving counter clockwise. The aphelion and perihelion of
Neptune is approximate, as it is so unstable.]
We have added to this another diagram (Fig. 17), showing the movements of the elements
through the constellations of the Zodiac in the course of millenniums. Certainly, we realize
that this can only be an approximation, because we do not know whether some of these ele-
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ments have gone, or will go through acceleration or are slowing down. The exact positions are
given in Table II. The list contains also the ratios of yearly movement according to present
astronomical knowledge.
Experience has shown that we also get a vivid description of the constellations. For in-
stance, Gemini exhibits a much more definite character than the traditional views, or even the
mythological approach would do. Knowing that at present the ascending nodes of Pluto,
Saturn and Jupiter are there, plus the perihelion lines of Saturn and the Earth, can give us a
profound imaginative and even an inspirational perspective of Gemini.
Apart from this we can discover also fountains of study and discernment with regard to
the planets themselves. We then learn that the elements of the planets are also moving in
relationship to the background of the constellations. Thus in time they create varying affilia-
tions with the latter and also among themselves. We realize that the character of the planetary
spheres, and of course the planets themselves, is constantly changing and evolving, and noth-
ing in this great universe is static and fixed forever. (We have kept the elements of Uranus,
Neptune, and Pluto in the diagram separate in the outer circle because they are not so easily
assessed as the classical planets, because they are rather fluctuating in the course of time. The
locations that we indicate are mean positions.)
History of the Elements of Mercury
The perihelion of Mercury is at present in the sidereal constellation of Taurus. It entered

the equivalent of this constellation in Atlantean times, and will remain there beyond the termi-
nation of the present Fifth Epoch of seven civilizations. Likewise, the aphelion moved, during
the last sub-races of Atlantis, from what we consider in contemporary astronomy as the fixed
star constellation of Libra into that of Scorpio. (We must take into account that also the fixed
stars which design the constellations do change their places in the course of long time intervals,
and that, therefore, an ancient humanity received and lived with imaginations different from
ours. Memories of these ancient imaginations are still present in the Chinese and Tibetan
Zodiacs.)
The perihelion of Mercury in Taurus can give us a vivid description of the nature of the
planet and of Taurus. We see in these near-distance perihelion lines of the planets an expres-
sion of their impulse and tendency, i.e.,, of the impulses and tendencies of the divine spiritual
Beings working in the different planetary spheres. Thus they integrate themselves into the
evolutionary perspectives of the whole solar universe, uniting with the great aims that are
pursued by the highest divine hierarchies. Therefore, we would see in this long sojourn of the
perihelion of Mercury in Taurus an expression of the forces and Beings working in humanity
since ancient times toward the realization of intelligence in the human being, in the sense of
the whole Post-Atlantean Epoch.
Details of the “biography” of this perihelion give us a profound picture of the corre-
sponding stages of development. In about 3000 BC, the perihelion of Mercury moved into
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line with the vernal equinox point, i.e., the point in the Zodiac where the Sun appears to stand
on the 20th/21st of March, the commencement of spring. This is a very important point with
regard to the life of the planet Earth. This is expressed, for instance, in the fact that this mo-
ment during the course of the year signifies the awakening of the life processes in nature—of
course, limited to the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth. Thus it has also a remarkable effect
on the life-cycles of human civilization. The time around the year 3000 BC, when the perihelion
of Mercury coincided, approximately, with the spring equinox, is of special significance. In
3101 BC, there began the long interval of time that Indian esotericism called the Kali Yuga or
Dark Age. It lasted 5000 years, till 1899 AD, and it was called the “Dark Age”, because while it
prevailed, humanity lost its ancient “instinctively clairvoyant” connections with the divine spiri-
tual world. This connection was more real for human beings, in a sense, than the physical
material reality in which they lived while being incarnated. Through the instinctive clairvoyance,
human beings had the intelligence they needed in order to master their earthly existence, but it
was an intelligence which guided, even dominated them, without giving them a chance of devel-
oping their own will. With the start of Kali Yuga these vivid but inescapable experiences
gradually subsided and “darkness” set in. Humanity was left to formulate out of its own (though
limited) intelligence, decisions, and life-standards. First the traditions left over from the pre-
Kali Yuga times guided humanity, but gradually these were darkened too. Thereby, human
beings entered a phase of their evolution where they had to learn to evolve a free spiritual
thinking, their own moral imaginations, and their own intuitive intelligence in order to manage
life constructively. For this purpose, to attain “freedom”, the darkness of Kali Yuga had to
come. Thus can we see in that perihelion of Mercury entering Taurus, the cosmic counter sign
of this great change in the sphere of intelligence with which Mercury is so deeply associated.
This is further illustrated by the later “biographical” data of the perihelion and aphelion of
Mercury. In about 1850 BC, this perihelion was in line with the perihelion of Saturn, and the
aphelion of Mercury was, of course, in line with the aphelion of Saturn. Shortly after that, in
about 1600 BC, the perihelion of Mercury coincided with the ascending nodal line of Mars,
and the aphelion with the descending nodal line of Mars. All these events happened in the
constellations of Taurus and Scorpio.
These dates coincided with significant and dramatic developments in Egypt and
Mesopotamia. In a sense, the Age of Taurus was externally still in full flower. The main
stream of human culture was still under the impression of the cosmic events in Taurus, for
instance, the perihelion of Mercury in Taurus. This manifested as the impulse to recognize the
workings of the stars on one hand, and on the other hand to descend into the material world in
realistic ways to bring the cosmic intelligence right down into the actions of the limbs. This is
the impulse of certain beings working in the sphere of Mercury. It is also expressed in the
sequence of the superior and inferior conjunctions of Mercury in the course of one year seen
geocentrically. We have demonstrated this in Fig. 10.
During the present Age this cosmic intelligence went through a decisive step of further
development, which is indicated by the perihelion of Mercury moving into line with the as-
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cending nodal line of Venus, in about 1879 AD. This event coincided with the commencement
of the Age of the Archangel Michael. The medieval abbot Johannes Trithemius of Sponheim
(1462-1516) wrote about the seven so-called Archangel Ages, which follow each other, each
lasting about 355 years. (See Encyclopedia of Numbers, by A. E. Abbot, Emerson Press.) Rudolf
Steiner has confirmed this tradition on the basis of his spiritual investigations.
Thus the Archangel Michael, who is really of the rank of the Archai, inspires the present
Age, especially in all that concerns human intelligence. (See also A Dictionary of the Occult
Sciences, by Lionel Stebbing, also Emerson Press, apart from the many references and descrip-
tions of Rudolf Steiner.) He is the Guardian of spiritual cosmic intelligence and its realization
in the human being, against the anti-forces of Lucifer and Ahriman. The latter would want to
mislead and divert present humanity away from cosmic intelligence, and to use it for material-
istic purposes only. The star events that accompanied the commencement of this Age of
Michael describe its nature and intent very clearly: The healing impulse and, particularly, the
development of the new Christian mysteries, which are indicated in the workings of the sphere
of Venus, combine with the sphere of Mercury. Michaelic cosmic intelligence is reaching out
to us of the present Age with a helping hand; however, we can take or receive only as a spiritu-
ally free being by developing the potential powers of our thinking. Thus is the language of
Taurus in the modern age. In order to achieve this, we must recognize, especially in our think-
ing, the forces of darkness, of Ahriman, who is depicted in cosmic language in the old unre-
deemed, deadly-sting aspect of the constellation Scorpio, the fallen Eagle of old. Michael can
assist the human being in this spiritual fight, because he is the one, according to old traditions
and presentations, who “keeps the Dragon underfoot”. In cosmic language this is expressed in
the conjunction of the aphelion of Mercury and the descending node of Venus in 1879 in
Scorpio.
The ascending node of Mercury was also for a long interval in the constellation of Taurus,
or its equivalent in ancient times. In about 5900 BC, it was there in conjunction with its own
perihelion. This was still during the Ancient Indian civilization (see Rudolf Steiner Occult
Science, etc.). The latter was still strongly living with the old Atlantean clairvoyant realization of
the spiritual world, though more in an instinct-like sense. While at the same time, the changed
conditions of human life demanded association with and descent into the physical material
world, which was painful. In this we see another kind of impact of Taurus, in the combination
of perihelion and node of Mercury.
In about 750 BC, the node of Mercury entered the constellation of Aries. As its yearly
movement is 42.651", against that of the precession of the vernal equinox, being 50.2564" per
year, it falls back in the sidereal Zodiac by only 7.6" (seconds of the arc) per year. Therefore, its
approach toward the dividing line from Taurus into Aries was a very slow one. Already in 2090
BC it was in line with the vernal equinox, which entered Aries from Taurus later in about 1800
BC. (The discrepancy between the astronomical ingress of the vernal equinox into the constel-
lation and the cultural commencement of the corresponding Ages in humanity—for instance,
the astronomical ingress into Aries was during the 19th century BC, whereas the cultural com-
215
mencement of the Age of Aries was in 747 BC—is due to a kind of tendency toward delay or
hesitation in humanity. As a rule, after the astronomical ingress, the new impulses are living, as
it were, in “underground movements” within humanity until they can eventually break through.)
Thus, in the background, and deeply hidden in humanity, the Age of Aries already pre-
pared itself. The conjunction of the node of Mercury with the vernal equinox and the latter’s
move over into the constellation of Aries, from Taurus, expressed itself, for instance, in the
story of Abraham and his followers. They moved away from Mesopotamia into Palestine and
then into Egypt. Abraham saw his mission in departing from the centers of star worship and
its application, right down to the concerns of community and human guidance. His impulse
was to develop the human intellect. In some traditions he is, for instance, regarded as the
father of arithmetic. He was preparing, as a kind of underground stream, the Age of Aries.
(The Era of Abraham, employed by Eusebius, was supposed to have commenced in 2016 BC,
lasting until 1822 BC, according to tradition.)
The connection of Abraham with the constellation of Aries becomes dramatically appar-
ent in the story reported in Genesis, chapter 22. At a certain moment he has the impression
that the sacrifice of his son Isaac by burnt offering is demanded of him. Eventually, a divine
Being interferes and prevents this from happening. Instead “Abraham lifted up his eyes, and
looked, and behold behind him a Ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and
took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” We take this as
a kind of prophetic imagination. The ram of sacrifice was an image of the cosmic Ram, or
Aries, beyond which is the Archetypal region of the forces that form the human head. These
Abraham acquired in the sacrificial deed and therewith he founded the impulse toward a new
intelligence that became the impulse and task of the Hebrew people in following ages.
This new intelligence, the Mercury inspirations from Aries, came then into full force during
the Greco-Roman Age beginning in 747 BC, when the ascending node of Mercury had finally
moved into the constellation of Aries. In 747 BC the foundation of Rome took place, accord-
ing to the Roman historian Fabius Pictor. The new intelligence, manifesting as increasing
intellect, was supposed to lead humanity more and more to freedom from ancient tradition,
away from its being guided and dominated by divine powers. However, it was and is the
expectation of the divine world that we would find, in full spiritual freedom and through our
own inner efforts, the road back to a new experience of the reality of the invisible world. As it
was left, and intended to be left, to our own decision to search for and travel this road, there
exists all along [the way] the “premeditated’’ risk of human failure. This possibility has grown
ever stronger, particularly in present humanity. It has developed a super-materialism and a
denial of spiritual reality unprecedented in human history, and we can get the impression, at
present, that this development has not yet reached its finale.
All this seems to be cosmically reflected in the fact that the nodes of Mercury and Mars
have been moving close together. The actual conjunction of the two nodal lines will happen in
about 2500 AD. Thus we must reckon with the prospect that a part of humanity, at least, will
accelerate materialism in all spheres of life. (This must not be taken as a fatalistic prognostica-
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tion. We can avoid such a development, but it would require very conscious efforts.) The
combination of the nodes of Mercury and Mars can mean that certain impulses associated
with Mars could get the upper hand over the “intelligence element” of Mercury. Certain
beings in the sphere of Mars very actively promote the infusion of materialism into natural
science and all that is arising from it. The discussion of the elements of Mars will demonstrate
this.
We would expect that the manifestation and development of, for instance, the Mercury
”intelligence element” must have come to expression in the lives of human individuals. There-
fore, we will discuss, as a conclusion of the planetary elements, their activation in the incarna-
tion asterograms and also in death configurations of a number of historic personalities.
In the incarnation asterograms of human beings, the associations of planets with the ele-
ments of the planetary spheres appear as potentials. They may or may not be evolved during
the life-time of an individual. Also, the circumstances of family life, education, and integration
in society greatly vary their realization. A great deal depends on the decisions and the will of
the individual human being. Thus courage and determination to seek ways and means of
individual realization of these potentials can be awakened, certainly not just in imitation but
through the study of historic human similars.
The study of similars between death and incarnation configurations can become a matter
of inspiration in degrees. At death the human being hands over to the cosmos the life’s labors
and possible achievements. They are absorbed, as it were, into the spheres of the planets,
becoming apparent in the positions of the planets, etc., at death. This is not lost. It is pre-
served, as it were, in the spheres and configurations, and can possibly be taken up, as an inspi-
rational element, by souls who descend into incarnation. This can be studied in the association
of incarnation complexes with earlier death configurations.
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August-September-October 1973
The following enumerations of historic examples concerning the passage of planets through
the lines of the planetary elements must not be taken as demonstrations of ideal accomplish-
ments only. Certainly, in some cases moral and inspiring responses had been achieved. Others
did not succeed or were only partially successful, but even if failure should be apparent, it
nevertheless can be an inspiration for carrying on with the profound task of spiritual evolution,
to cooperate as a humanity in the great Michaelic Impulse of this age: to associate consciously
with the events in the starry widths of the universe in order to help transform and elevate them
step by step toward the goals of future spiritual evolution of the world.
Furthermore, we have come to the conclusion that not only are the movements of the
planets through their own elements of significance, but also the relationships of the planets to
the elements of the other planets are important or essential. We must gradually live up to the
experience of the planetary spheres being one inserted into the others. It is only too obvious
that the perspective of single planetary “bodies”, one separated and isolated from the others by
colossal distances, is inadequate for the realization of a new astrology or astrosophy. If we can
break through to an experience of an interrelation of the spheres, then the solar universe
becomes for us a living organism, in which the spheres appear as interrelated domains of
functions similar, on a much vaster cosmic scale, to the integrated organic functions in a living
being belonging to the kingdoms of nature.
Historic Examples of Associations with the Nodes of Mercury

Tycho Brahe: At his birth (December 14, 1546, Julian Calendar) Venus (42°) was in the
ascending nodal line of Mercury. In this Venus we see the cosmic counter image of Brahe’s
karmic connection with the life of the “mysteries”, even with the ancient ones. Therefore, he
could not take, for instance, the Copernican idea which laid the foundation for the later mate-
rialistic conception of the universe. However, he had to look on, up to his last moments, while
even Kepler accepted the Copernican system. With this we can understand his last prayers,
which he said over and again: “Let me not seem to have lived in vain” (from Arthur Koestler
The Sleepwalkers). He died in a moment of weighing the significance of his life’s work of
intelligence for the whole of humanity. Thus he permeated Saturn in the descending nodal line
of Mercury with his life’s etheric substance (Saturn 223°, on October 24, 1601). This is, of
course, also associated with the fact that the descending nodal line of Mercury is, since 747 BC,
in the sidereal constellation of Libra.
Copernicus died (May 24, 1543) when Saturn (228°) was also in the descending nodal line
of Mercury. For decades he had resisted the publication of his astronomical views, because he
knew that powerful sectors of the Roman Church opposed the heliocentric perspective. Fi-
nally, those around him prevailed, and he is said to have been shown on his death bed the first
printed copy of his book On the Revolution of the Heavenly Orbs.
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Register I
219
Kepler: At the time of his birth (December 27, 1571, see earlier charts), as well as at his
th
death on the 15 of November 1630, Saturn (218.4°) was close to the descending nodal line
of Mercury. We have reported, in connection with the interpretation of his star configura-
tions, about the dramatic encounter between Kepler and Tycho Brahe over the Copernican
system.
Thus we see here in the mirror of the cosmic events the counter image of a tremendous
struggle concerning the progress of human intelligence from ancient spiritual grandeur, yet
mostly untouched by the impacts of egohood, to modern intellectual approaches, still abstract
in their beginning stages.
Isaac Newton: It is obvious that he was also strongly involved in this struggle, all through
his life. On the one hand he was a man with religious and esoteric affinities, and on the other
hand he was a great mathematician and scientist, building up his ideas on the Copernican
astronomy. All this reflected itself in a remarkable way in the cosmos. He was born on January
4, 1643 (n. s. [new style]) and died on March 31, 1727 (n. s.). Thus he reached 84 years of age,
corresponding exactly to one orbit of Uranus through the Zodiac. At his birth this planet was
in 223° and at death in the same position, 225°, i.e.,, on both occasions it was in the descending
nodal line of Mercury. This was, furthermore, fortified by Venus (49°) standing opposite at his
death in the ascending nodal line of Mercury.
Goethe entered incarnation (born August 28, 1749) with Saturn (at epoch in 222°) moving
through the descending nodal line of Mercury, shortly before his birth. He was in his own
remarkable ways involved in the problems and battles concerning the development of modern
intelligence. In the course of a long life he succeeded in laying the first foundations for an
eventual union between the science of nature and the science of the spirit.
Rudolf Steiner actively associated with Goethe’s impulse, and he practically established the
union between the science of nature and the science of the spirit in a great many details of
human life and work. When he died (March 30, 1925) Saturn (227.3°) was standing close to the
descending nodal line of Mercury. Thus we see that he imparted the spiritual fruits of his life
through Saturn to the sphere of Mercury. He contributed in very constructive ways to healthy
and harmonious solutions of that great battle, standing out in the constellation Libra, concern-
ing the development of human intelligence toward the future.
The development of modern intelligence and the intellect is, of course, associated in many
ways with the destiny and evolution of religious and philosophical consciousness. This was,
among the welter of historic information, evident at the moment of the death of Mani, the
founder of Manicheism. He died a martyr’s death for the message that he brought to human-
ity. (For more detailed information see Duncan Greenlecs The Gospel of the Prophet Mani, the
Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar.) His last days must have been accompanied by tre-
mendous intellectual conflicts, thrown at him by his persecutors. There is some disagreement
about the year of his death, whether it was February 28, 276 or 277. However, this does not
affect decisively the perspective concerning the position of Saturn in that moment, in 204° or
215°. It was close to the descending nodal line of Mercury.
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We also have evidence in connection with the history of medieval scholasticism. When the
greatest of the scholastic philosophers, Thomas Aquinas, died (March 7, 1274), Mars was in
the ascending nodal line of Mercury (38°). His teacher was Albertus Magnus. At his death,
November 15, 1280, Mars (219°) and Venus (216°) were in the descending nodal line of Mer-
cury.
Earlier, St. Francis of Assisi, the founder of the Franciscan movement, established at the
time of his death (October 4, 1226) an orbital connection with the ascending and descending
line of Mercury. Venus was in 227° and Neptune in 45°. (The nodes of Mercury were then in
about 38° and 218° of the ecliptic. )
Thomas à Kempis, who is sometimes classified with the medieval mystics, is probably the
author of the book The Imitation of Christ. The Encyclopedia Britannica says of this book:
“...(it) has been translated into more languages than any other book save the Bible, and which
has moved the hearts of so many men.” At the moment of his death, August 8, 1471, Venus
was in about 228° and Neptune in 223°, i.e.,, close to the descending nodal line of Mercury.
Incidentally, Saturn was at the same time in about 64°, close to the perihelion of Mercury.
Blaise Pascal associated through his death, August 19, 1662, with a Jupiter in 228° and close
to the descending nodal line of Mercury. He is usually described as a religious philosopher,
mathematician, and physicist. He had a hand in the development of the barometer and other
scientific work. Apart from this he had deep spiritual and religious experiences. The Encyclo-
pedia Britannica says: “...After two months of seeking God, Pascal suddenly, when alone in his
room on November 22 (1654), underwent conversion, the mystic experience suffered and
described by many of the great religious thinkers ...”
Vladimir Soloviev, the Russian religious philosopher, had similar experiences in his child-
hood and early adulthood that became the foundation of his later career as a lecturer and
writer. In a poem he called “Three Meetings”, he describes how three times he had intensive
spiritual meetings with the Hagia Sophia, the Being of Divine Wisdom. When he was born,
January 16, 1853 (o. s.), Saturn (48°) was in the ascending nodal line of Mercury.
At the death of Swedenborg, March 29, 1772, Uranus (49°) was near the ascending nodal
line of Mercury. Relatively late in his life, about 1743, he obviously went through an intensive
inner experience. It made him terminate his successful career as a scientist and technologist,
and he became the “seer”, or mystic as he is usually called. However, in his case we see also the
great difficulties that the development of intelligence, both earthbound and spiritual, has in
humanity of the present Age. In him the intelligent connection of the physical material world
with the invisible spiritual world simply fell apart. There was no bridge between the two, and it
is just these practical bridges between the science of nature and the science of spirit, which
modern humanity increasingly needs, with regard to intelligence, in order to survive:
Among others who were involved by degrees and more or less successful in this spiritual
battle were: Louis Claude de Saint-Martin, born January 18, 1743. At the moment of his birth
Pluto (226°) was in the descending nodal line of Mercury. He became known as “le philosophe
inconnu”. All his life, even while he was serving in the French army, he was searching for
221
spiritual and “mystical” truth. Eventually he was introduced to the writings of the late German
medieval “theosophist” Jakob Boehme, with whose writings (for instance, The Way to Christ) he
associated with actively. Incidentally, when Jakob Boehme died, November 17, 1624, Pluto
(47°) was in the ascending nodal line of Mercury. Here we have an example that clearly illus-
trates how such alignments of the planets to the elements of the planetary spheres must be
seen. At the moment of death one hands over to the cosmos, through the emancipated ether
body, the life substance of the incarnation, the endeavors, achievements, perhaps also the in-
complete perspectives. They combine with the planets at the positions where they are in that
moment. These “imprints” in the cosmos are not lost. They can become “inspirations” for
souls who, on their way down to incarnation on Earth, pass through these planetary spheres.
This can become apparent in the planets of their incarnation configurations, in positions simi-
lar to those by whose life-imprints they might have been inspired.
The Mercury intelligence struggle was quite apparent in two characters of the German
cultural life: Schiller and Novalis. Schiller died on May 9, 1805. The Earth (227°) was then in
the descending nodal line of Mercury. Schiller is well-known in German literature as play-
wright, poet, and philosopher. Rudolf Steiner speaks extensively about him in his Riddles of
Philosophy and he quotes, for instance, from Schiller’s Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man:
“...The human being who is involved in the senses, is lead by the beautiful to thinking; through
beauty the spiritual being of one is led back to matter and given back to the world of the
senses...” It was Schiller’s battle for the realization of freedom in the domain of thinking,
coming to expression in that position of the Earth at death.
Novalis (pseudonym of Friedrich von Hardenberg) was born on May 2, 1772. The Earth
(222°) was then close to the descending nodal line of Mercury. He was a poet and strong
representative of the older Romantic School. Rudolf Steiner mentions him too in his Riddles of
Philosophy: “...The ego solely occupied with itself can come to the highest truth: (quoting
Novalis) ‘It appears to the human being as if he were involved in a conversation and some
unknown spiritual being causing him to evolve in a miraculous way the most evident thoughts’...”
Here we have clear evidence of an awareness and presence of Mercurial intelligence in a per-
son.
Naturally, we would also expect that the history of art, and personali-
ties connected with it, demonstrate engagement of the potentials of the
sphere of Mercury. The very cosmic “instrument”, which the planet
uses in association with its yearly movement, suggests the intent to
“bring down” cosmic forces and intelligence into a “lower”, or in-
ner realm of Mercury (see figure 10 at right).
Raphael Santi died on April 6, 1520, when Jupiter (226°) was in the descending, and Uranus
(46°) in the ascending nodal line. He is best known for his painting of the “Sistine Madonna”.
Leonardo da Vinci died barely a year before Raphael, on May 2, 1519. Uranus (42°) was
already in the ascending nodal line of Mercury. His painting of the “Last Supper” reveals that
he must have had a realistic access to cosmic intelligence. Each one of the twelve apostles
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displays his own individual connection with the twelve constellations of the Zodiac through
his gestures.
Michelangelo: He was born on March 6, 1475. Uranus (222°) was then in the descending
nodal line of Mercury, and Neptune (229°) was still close to that line at the time of his epoch.
It seems almost unnecessary to assert that he must have had a very strong connection with
Mercurial intelligence, if one looks at and studies his sculptural work and his paintings, for
instance, his “Last Judgement” in the Sistine Chapel.
Also some sectors of the history of music and composition offers a similar picture:
Beethoven, was born 15/16 December 1770. Uranus (44°) was then in the ascending
nodal line of Mercury.
Richard Wagner, died February 13, 1883, when Neptune (48°) was in that line.
Anton Bruckner died on October 11, 1896, when Mars (47°) was in the ascending nodal
element, with Saturn (231°) and Uranus (234°) in the descending node of Mercury.
The history of the United States of America offers another striking example of association
with the workings of the Mercury intelligence sphere:
When Benjamin Franklin was born, January 17, 1806, Saturn (49°) was in the ascending
node, and when he died, April 17, 1790, Venus (225°) was in the descending nodal Mercury
element.
George Washington died December 14, 1799, when Neptune (225°) was in the descending
nodal line of Mercury.
Abraham Lincoln was also intensively connected with these planetary elements. He was
born February 12, 1809, and at the time of his epoch Saturn (229°) was in the descending and
Mars (44°) in the ascending nodal element of Mercury. At his death, April 13, 1865, Pluto
(43°) was close to the latter line.
When Ralph Waldo Emerson died April 27, 1882, Saturn (45°) and Neptune (46°) were
both close to the ascending element of Mercury.
Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863, when Pluto (42°) was close enough to the same
ascending element to be effective, and at his epoch the Earth (45°) was in this position too.
Finally, we want to mention two examples which seem to be connected with the develop-
ment of what one might call inspiration of healing Mercurial intelligence:
At the time of the so-called Evocation of Bernadette of Lourdes, February 11, 1858,
Jupiter (50°) was in the ascending and Mercury in the descending nodal element of Mercury.
Bernadette was then little more than 14 years old. While she played with other children near
the Grotto of Lourdes, she suddenly had a vivid vision of what she afterwards always called
“the Lady”, who told her that the well in that cave contained water with healing qualities, and
that she should make this place the goal of pilgrimage for sick people seeking healing. She did
it and Lourdes became famous. (See The Song of Bernadette by Franz Werfel).
Also Clara Barton, born December 25, 1821, death April 12, 1912, had obviously a con-
nection with that healing side of Mercurial intelligence. She was the founder of the American
Red Cross and was, all through her life, involved in actions for charity. At the moment of her
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birth, Venus (49°) was near the ascending, and Mercury (222°) in the descending nodal line of
Mercury, and at death Saturn (52°) was still close to the ascending nodal element.
The associations of birth or death configuration with the perihelion, or aphelion of Mer-
cury show also the tremendous changes and developments of human intelligence through
millenniums of history.
Rudolf Steiner’s work contains many ideal demonstrations of how a renewed spiritual
intelligence can “fulfill” the cosmic counter events. In 1900 Pluto moved through the perihe-
lion of Mercury. During the year 1901, about August/September, Uranus was in the aphelion
of Mercury. This was the time when Rudolf Steiner was given the opportunity to start with the
message that he decided to bring to humanity. On 22 September 1900, he started with a lecture
on “Nietzsche”, the German philosopher, in the Library of Count and Countess Brockdorf at
Berlin, and on Michaelmas Day, 29 September, he continued with a lecture on Goethe’s Secret
Revelation. This was followed by lecture-cycles of varying subjects, for instance, Christianity as
Mystical Fact. In the beginning of 1914, Saturn moved through the perihelion of Mercury.
Rudolf Steiner gave then—20th to 23rd of January—the four lectures on Human and Cosmic
Thought which we mentioned in connection with Kepler (see Chapter IV).
How much the character of the working out of planetary associations by us depends on
our initiative and spiritual and moral decisions, and not on any kind of imposition of the
planetary world, is demonstrated by a historic contrast to Rudolf Steiner: the interconnection
between De Lamettrie and Lenin. De Lamettrie was a French philosopher of the 18th century
and belonged to the materialistic stream of that age. An earlier book of his was L’ Histoire
naturelle de l’âme. A little later he published a more bold confession of his philosophic material-
ism L’ Homme machine (Man the machine). At his death, November 11, 1751, Saturn (255°) and
Pluto (250°) were close to the aphelion line of Mercury.
Lenin was born on April 22, 1870 (n. s.). Saturn was in 255° at his epoch and Mercury was
in 74° at his birth. Lenin was a confessed materialist. Already at a pre-revolution convention
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of the Bolshevik party, he declared “dialectic materialism” to be the practical philosophy of

that movement. Comparing the two, the death configuration of De Lamettrie and the incarna-
tion complex of Lenin, we come to the conclusion that Lenin took up at his descent the
imprint or impulse that De Lamettrie had carried into the cosmos at his death. This example
must strengthen our sense of responsibility with regard to the potentials present in the plan-
etary cosmos. It also shows us that we cannot look up to this cosmos as something where we,
all too easily, expect ready-made propensities and the like. We must learn to meet the events in
the cosmos with high degrees of individual spiritual morality. It can give us the certainty that
human life on this planet, [with its] spiritual and moral endeavors, are not meaningless inci-
dents of chance. They are and will become more and more significant for the whole universe.
It is not so that we can independently “do what we like to do”. Certainly, there is no question
of destroying the “liking” and acting as a moral automaton. But the “liking” must be born out
of an inner awareness of the meaning, even of the smallest human thought and deed, for the
cosmos. Therein is hidden the real and great dignity of human beings, their potential to be-
come in the distant future a “companion” of the cosmos, not remain just a helpless and insig-
nificant creature.
From the history of the perihelion-aphelion of Mercury it becomes abundantly clear that
this planet and its sphere has a deep connection with the story of the mysteries, both old and
new. Especially the conjunction of the apsidal line of Mercury with the nodal line of Venus
around 1879, the commencement of the Age of Michael points in this direction. Therefore,
we are not surprised that we find in the list of historic personalities who were associated with
these planetary elements, a number of medical esotericists and people who tried to reach out
to a renewal of the mysteries.
Especially the medieval Rosicrucian movement seems to have combined with these ele-
ments. For instance, Robert Fludd, an English physician was, according to his own writings,
deeply associated with the Rosicrucian movement. On the basis of his tremendous esoteric
background, he displayed a profound knowledge of the connection of the human body with
the planets and Zodiac, described in his Utriusque cosmi historia. During his year of birth (exact
dates are not known) a Great Opposition took place, i.e., an opposition of Saturn in 251°
(constellation of Scorpio) and Jupiter in 79° (Taurus), a descendent of the Great Conjunction
of 6 BC, the “Star of the Three Kings”.
Also Thomas Vaughan, born 17 April 1622 with Mars in 78°, was a Rosicrucian according
to his own writings. He was also a true alchemist, deeply “initiated” into the spiritual secrets of
matter and its possible transformation by man, rejecting however, “the ungodly and accursed
gold making”. One of his books bears the title Anthroposophia Theomagica. For a closer study of
both these personalities we suggest, A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology by Paul M. Allen, Rudolf
Steiner Publications, Blauvelt, N.Y. Also The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross by Arthur Edward
Waite contains some historic details.
Joh. V. Andreae, who died 27 June 1654 with Pluto in 75°, is supposed to have written
down, early in his life, the principal book of medieval Rosicrucianism, The Chymical Wedding of
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Christian Rosenkreutz, Anno 1459. (English translation in the above mentioned Christian Rosenkreutz
Anthology.) It describes, in imaginative language, a seven-days-work of progressions toward the
possible Christian “Soul-Alchemy”, which can take place in modern humanity as the result of
appropriate efforts.
Joh. von Goethe, born 28 August 1749 with Earth in 72° at the epoch (the perihelion of
Mercury), also had a connection with the Rosicrucian impulse, as his poem The Secrets conveys.
In others we see, at least, varying attempts to reach out for a new spirituality. For instance:
Dr. Hahnemann, the German physician, is a remarkable example. He is the founder of
“homeopathy”, which works with the idea of potentization of substances for medical pur-
poses. The Encyclopedia Britannica writes: “Some homoeopathists of the present day still
believe with Hahnemann that, even after the material medicinal particles of a drug have been
subdivided to the fullest extent, the continuation of dynamization or trituration or succession
develops a spiritual curative agency, and the higher the potency, the more subtle and more
powerful is the curative action.” Hahnemann himself expressed in his Organon the opinion “It
is only by means of the spiritual influence of a morbific agent that our spiritual vital power can
be diseased, and in like manner only by the spiritual operation of medicine can health be
restored.” Born 10 April 1755 with Pluto in 256° and Venus in 254°.
William Blake, at whose epoch Venus (255°) was in the aphelion of Mercury, was also, one
might say, a premature fighter for a renewed spirituality. A. E. Abbot writes in his Encyclopedia
of the Occult Sciences: “(Blake was) deeply religious, he fought materialism and sought his own
spiritual regeneration through struggles against self. He saw in simple every day happenings a
transcendent significance, which he transmuted into apocalyptic visions...”.
Among those who had taken up a connection with the apsides of Mercury through the
planet itself are:
Beethoven: In presenting humanity with compositions and operas on the basis of mythol-
ogy, he appealed to modern humanity to find their true, spiritual being. Jupiter at the epoch
was in 253°, with Venus in 69°, and Mercury was in 256° at birth.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux: His life’s work and his influence on following generations of
humanity is surely a proof of the presence of divine spiritual reality in him. Died 20 August
1153 with Jupiter (257°), Neptune (244°), and Pluto (65°) near the apsidal line of Mercury.
Culpeper: He was a herbalist in 17th century England. Within a life-time of only 38 years,
he compiled seventeen books in all. The best known is English Physician Enlarged, published in
1653, when Pluto was already near the perihelion of Mercury. The remarkable thing is that he
did not only give extensive descriptions of the nature and medical use of herbs but also about
their associations with the planets. Died 10 January 1654 (o. s.) with Pluto in 245°.
Kepler and Leonardo da Vinci: We have mentioned them earlier, particularly Kepler. Both
had Mercury in its own aphelion at birth (253° and 255° respectively).
Longfellow: In 1839, when his Hyperion appeared, Saturn prepared to move through the
aphelion of Mercury, and in 1855 when his Hiawatha came out, Saturn moved across the peri-
helion line of Mercury. At his death, 24 March 1882, Mercury was near its aphelion.
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Mozart: In his last composition Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) he tried to bring old tradi-
tions and some hidden elements of Freemasonry and of the ancient (Egyptian) temple myster-
ies to the experience of modern humanity. At his birth Pluto was near the aphelion in 258°,
and at his death the Earth was in 73° near the perihelion.
History of the Elements of Venus

The nodes of Venus: The ascending node of Venus is at present in the constellation of
Taurus. It entered the latter between 747 BC and about the beginning of the AD Era, coming
from Gemini. (The dates for the descending node are approximately the same, only associated
with the opposite constellations.) In about 6800 BC, it moved from sidereal Cancer into Gemini.
In the distant future, about 6700 AD, it will fall back from Taurus into Aries, all according to the
present composition of the Zodiac.
The history of meetings of this nodal line with elements of the other planets is illuminat-
ing. Far back in the past, theoretically in about 18000 BC, the ascending nodal line of Venus
was in conjunction with the ascending node of Mars. Later, but purely on a calculation basis,
the nodal lines of Venus were identical with the perihelion-aphelion of the planet Mars in
about 10000 BC. All these dates would refer to Atlantean times.
In about 6500 BC, the ascending nodal line of Venus was coinciding with the aphelion of
Mars. This was during the Ancient Indian civilization. It was the time when that humanity, still
carrying in itself the heritage and glory of an ancient clairvoyance, was faced with what it must
have experienced as a harsh and pain-causing material world.
In about 1300 BC, the ascending node of Venus was in line with the perihelion of the
Earth. This was close to the ingress from Gemini into Taurus. It was the time shortly after the
Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt under the leadership of Moses and their settlement
in Palestine. Moses, the initiate, inaugurated this by his clear awareness of the coming of
Christ, fourteen hundred years later, and the necessity to prepare the latter events, with regard
to their significance for the whole Earth evolution. Here the association of the node of Ve-
nus—being connected with the mysteries and the foresight which can be evolved in them—
with the perihelion of the Earth—in a sense the external manifestation of the contemplative
soul of the Earth—becomes apparent.
In 435 AD, the ascending node of Venus fell in with the perihelion line of Saturn. During
the preceding century Augustine of Hippo presented in his writings to Western European
humanity and Christianity, facts that were realized more and more in following centuries. He
arrived at the conclusion that the grandeur and glory of earlier esoteric Christianity, standing
on the spiritual experience of the Risen Christ, had come to an end. Practically all that was left
were the scriptures, and these had to be followed strictly in future times. On this basis ortho-
dox Christianity grew up. All else began to be regarded as heresy. Thus the Pope, Leo I (440 -
461 AD), for instance, fought Manicheism and other “heresies”. The ancient mysteries had
gradually come to the end of their workings in humanity.
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The finale of all this happened during the 14th century. In 1347 AD, the nodal lines of
Venus were in conjunction with those of Uranus. Some thirty years earlier, between 1307 and
1314, the Order of the Knights Templars was destroyed. On March 18, 1314, the last Grand-
master of the Order, Jacques de Molay, was burnt at the stake (Uranus in 251° near aphelion of
Mercury). A few days earlier the planets Uranus and Venus were actually in conjunction in their
descending nodes. The executions were performed on the basis of false accusations, extracted
from the members of the Order by severe torture. It was a deed which happened because of
the consent of the papacy and the greed of King Philip le Bel of France, who wanted to obtain
possession of the treasures of the Templars. With their final destruction another step had been
taken by the anti-forces to try to eliminate the last remnants of the ancient mysteries.
In about 1879 AD, the nodes of Venus met the perihelion-aphelion line, or apsides, of
Mercury. This coincided with the commencement of the Age of the Archangel Michael,
which can give humanity the hope that the new mysteries, standing on a spiritual comprehen-
sion of the Christ Events can be awakened and set to work for the healing of humanity from
the many forms of sickness having befallen it in all spheres of life.
The Apsides (Perihelion-Aphelion) of Venus: The movement of this line is very slow and
against the progress of the vernal equinox point in the ecliptic. It is at present a difference of
only 0.8 seconds of the arc per year. Thus the perihelion entered the fixed star space of
present Cancer, theoretically coming from Leo, and only on the basis of calculation, about
25000 BC. And it will be in Cancer for tens of thousands of years AD. In fact, according to the
present velocity the line of the apsides of Venus needs about 1,500,000 years to move once
through the whole Zodiac.)
In order to understand the language of the Venus perihelion in Cancer, for instance, we can
resort to the great imaginations of Norse mythology. Cancer was obviously there at one time
and associated with the Bifrost Bridge connecting Asgard, the dwelling of the Gods, with
Midgard, the dwelling of the human race. Then, at the “Twilight of the Gods”, this bridge was
destroyed, and no direct communication between the two realms was possible anymore. A
deep abyss separated them.
This picture wants to tell us that in ancient times humanity had a universal but instinctive
access of a clairvoyant nature to the realm of the Gods. At a definite moment of evolution the
anti-forces of the Gods succeeded in disrupting and destroying this connection. In other
words, humanity lost the ancient clairvoyance.
The increasing darkness, with regard to inner sight, that beset humanity after a definite
moment in history is clearly indicated in the history of the perihelion of Venus in Cancer. In
about 3200 BC, it met in conjunction with the aphelion line of Mars. This coincided closely
enough with the commencement of Kali Yuga, the “Dark Age”, in 3101 BC (see also Chapter
II). The gentle, so to speak, contemplative element of Venus, which is so deeply connected
with the mysteries as we demonstrated, was in constant danger of being attacked from then on
by the will element of Mars, represented by the aphelion of Mars. The mysteries promoted the
experience of our spiritual union with the cosmos, with nature and so forth. Mars had taken
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upon the task of emancipating the human being from this experience of unity. The aim was to
lay in the individual the foundation for the realization of selfhood. Mars perpetrated this aim
to the point of atomizing our relationship to any thing or being in our environment.
The Kali Yuga lasted 5000 years. It came to an end in 1899 AD; at least it had the chance
to come to an end then. It was Rudolf Steiner who offered ways and means to modern
humanity to break through to renewed experience of the light and life of the spirit against the
darkness of Kali Yuga. This was accompanied in the heavens by signs of challenge and en-
couragement. In 1899, Pluto moved through the ascending nodal line of Venus, in opposition
to Saturn which was then, of course, in the descending nodal line of Venus.
In about 1600 BC, the perihelion line of Venus was in conjunction with the ascending node
of Saturn. This was the time before the coming of Moses, described in chapter 1 of the Book
of Exodus. It saw the Hebrews in severe bondage in Egypt, and yet, their experiences were a
preparation for the task that Moses eventually bestowed on them: laying the foundations for
the Coming of Christ. This became then the Redemption of the darkness—represented in the
cosmos by all that which happened in the constellation of Cancer, the long-lasting domicile of
the perihelion of Venus, for all those who “believe in” or who find a spiritual connection with
Christ. This is the background of the words of John the Baptist who clearly recognized what
was going to happen: (St. Matthew III) “Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand...”
As a matter of fact, much of the Three Years of Christ’s ministry (31-33 AD), or the
Mystery of Golgotha, took place when Saturn was in the constellation of Cancer. During that
time Saturn also moved through the perihelion line of Venus. In other words, the cosmic
Christ descended onto the Earth with full knowledge and deliberation during a moment in the
history of this planet when the heavens “remembered” (Saturn/cosmic memory) its Fall, to-
gether with that of humanity, offering salvation and new spiritual progress toward the future,
to a humanity which was “living in the abyss”. Since that time humanity experiences increas-
ingly this abyss of materialism and the consequences of segregation from the awareness of
spiritual reality, whenever cosmic events happen in the constellation of Cancer. At those same
times there always stands out the offer and possibility of a breakthrough toward healing and
bridging the abyss. For instance, in 1917/18, during the final turmoil of the First War, Saturn
moved into conjunction with Neptune in Cancer (1917), and in 1918 it crossed the perihelion
line of Venus. Certainly, during those years the abyss opened up in many spheres of human
life. However, in 1917/18 Rudolf Steiner was enabled to offer the “Idea of the Threefold
Commonwealth”, whose practical adoption and realization would have meant healing for many
of the social ills of present humanity. In 1933 Saturn moved through Capricorn and the
aphelion of Venus, opposite Cancer. (Oppositions in this sense are also important, as they
recall, as kind of memories, the earlier events in the conjunction.) Meanwhile, Pluto prepared
to enter Cancer. This saw the social catastrophe in Germany that led to the Second World War.
At the same time, again the spiritual world offered profound help, which meant salvation for all
future. According to the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner, humanity has the opportunity to
experience the “Second Coming of Christ” from the year 1935 on toward the future, manifest-
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ing not in a physical body but in an etheric form. (We were able to verify this on the basis of
cosmological research. See the author’s Cosmic Christianity.) Toward the end of the Second War,
in 1945, Pluto moved close to the perihelion of Venus.
Similar occurrences also happen when the other planets move through these regions of the
Zodiac and through the lines of the apsides of Venus. They are connected with experiences of
the presence of the abyss, but can also awaken in the human being the experience of the Great
Deed of Salvation in its many perspectives.
The further history of the apsides of Venus, after 1600 BC, refers to the future. The
nearest event is the conjunction of the perihelion of Venus with the ascending node of Nep-
tune in 2098 AD, according to ecliptic definition. At present (1973) the two elements are only
18' of the arc apart, so we can say that they are practically in conjunction and were also associ-
ated with the events we described above. The sphere of Neptune can be used by the human
being to work in earthly deeds as a reflection of cosmic divine love. The anti-powers could
turn it into a manifestation of hate, if we do not meet it in full consciousness and awareness of
its potentials. This side of the sphere of Neptune is connected with the pending incarnation
of Ahriman, The Antichrist of Soloviev, for instance. (It may be noteworthy that Neptune will
move through its descending node in the beginning of the 21st century.) Ahriman’s hate would
want to turn us away, for all times to come, from a new conscious realization of the cosmic
spirit world.
In 5500 AD, the perihelion of Venus will coincide with the spring equinox line of the
Earth. (The perihelion of Venus will then be in 180° of the ecliptic. This is the point in the
ecliptic where the Earth stands at the commencement of spring, seen in the heliocentric per-
spective, which we have to apply in this context, distinct from the geocentric.) It will be close
to the commencement of the Capricorn Age of civilizations (in the cultural, not strictly astro-
nomical sense) and we can expect that it will have a deep impact on the humanity of that era.
Rudolf Steiner has visualized the Age of Capricorn as a time when the “great war of all against
all” will take place—a time, so to speak, when the “descent into the abyss”, reflected in the
constellation of Cancer, will play out its final consequences. On the other hand it will open up
a new era, as it were, clearing the road toward conditions where we will have less attachment to
the material world, even in a physiological sense. This is “premeditated” already at present in
the sphere of Venus by the spiritual beings working there.
The next event will be a conjunction of the perihelion of Venus with the perihelion of
Saturn in about 8500 AD. (We must refer here to our earlier pleas for caution with regard to such
far-flung dates at which we arrive purely on the basis of the presently available elements for
calculation.) It will be followed by another conjunction of the perihelion of Venus with the
perihelion of the Earth, in about 10000 AD. These events will fall into the so-called Sixth Epoch
of evolution, which is described in the Apocalypse of St. John as the Seals of the Horsemen,
with regard to the two dates, the White Horse and the Red Horse. There will be times when the
human intelligence and mind will go through tremendous painful transformations, because the
physical conditions on which our present intellect rests will have completely changed.
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All these events in the far future already reflect themselves as previews into the present, asso-
ciated with occurrences in the apsides of Venus. These previews appear very often in the life
of contemporary humanity as the great crises and catastrophes in nature and social conditions.
Historic Examples of Associations With the Elements of Venus

The nodal lines of Venus coincided with the perihelion or apsidal lines of Mercury in
about 1879 AD; therefore, they were already close to each other centuries before that date.
Thus, what we said about historic examples associated with the apsides of Mercury applies also
to the nodal lines of Venus.
The Apsidal (Perihelion-Aphelion) lines of Venus: Historical examples are usually con-
cerned with experiences, sometimes painful ones, of the “descent” and present “stay” of hu-
manity in the “abyss” of separation and isolation from the invisible spiritual world and its
redemption.
Beethoven: At his birth Saturn (131°) was in the perihelion of Venus. His life was a painful
experience of one’s unavoidable ties with the physical material world. Relatively early in his life
he lost his capacity of hearing which must have been a tremendous frustration for him as
composer and musician. Yet, his life’s work is clear evidence that this frustrating experience of
the material “abyss” can be overcome.
Copernicus was born when Mars (308°) was in the aphelion of Venus. He must have
experienced a strange kind of frustration, caused by the conditions of the civilization then. As
a priest of the Roman Church he was prevented from giving free expression to what lived in
him as astronomical conviction.
Dostoievski, the Russian novelist, entered incarnation when Mars (307°) and Mercury (309°)
were in the aphelion line of Venus, at the time of his prenatal epoch. He certainly experienced
dark aspects of social conditions present in humanity in his earlier years. Being associated with
young Russians interested in French socialism, he was arrested as a conspirator and condemned
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to deportation. At one point he was even threatened by execution. This had a lasting impact
on his later life. Nevertheless, he too mastered these experiences in his later literary activity in
a, one can well say, creative sense.
Thomas More died when Saturn (132°) was close to the perihelion, and Pluto (308°) to the
aphelion of Venus. He was one of the victims who were destroyed by the darkness which lived
in the English King Henry VIII.
Isaac Newton: At his death Saturn (308°) was in the aphelion line of Venus. Newton was
spanning, as it were, the abyss with his very being. On the one hand he was the famous
scientist, mathematician and cosmologist, who tried to contribute so much toward an under-
standing of the universe, though on the material level. On the other hand he had a positive
relationship to religion. He wrote a treatise on the Revelation of St. John and other works.
Novalis incarnated when the Earth (310°) at his prenatal epoch was in the aphelion, and
died when Jupiter was in the perihelion of Venus. He was a mining engineer who thus had to
stand on a solid material ground. On the other hand he was, in a sense, the forerunner of that
science of the spirit that, eventually, Rudolf Steiner brought to humanity. Thousands of re-
marks in his diary about all kinds of scientific subjects, art, etc., are witness of his deep connec-
tion with the world of the invisible and the spirit.
Paracelsus, the great physician and occultist of the 16th century, incarnated when Jupiter
(129°) was in the perihelion (at epoch) and Uranus in the aphelion of Venus. At his death Mars
(126°) was in the perihelion of Venus. He was in truth a selfless fighter against the darkness of
tradition in medical practice of his age. Thereby he attracted powerful enmity from his medi-
cal contemporaries. In the end he became a wanderer and martyr who had nowhere a place to
stay anymore. There exists even the (unconfirmed) suggestion that he was eventually killed by
his colleagues.
Shelley incarnated when Mars (122°) was in the perihelion at his prenatal epoch, and the
Earth (313°) was in the aphelion of Venus. He was, in a sense, also a martyr, partly due to his
own restless mind. Already in school he was tormented by schoolmates, who called him “mad
Shelley”. In 1822 he perished in a strange boating accident in the Mediterranean Sea.
St. Francis of Assisi died when Saturn (305°), Jupiter (313°), and Mars (308°) were close to
the aphelion, and Mercury (125°) in the perihelion of Venus. He resolved the “abyss of mate-
rial existence” for himself in his own unique way. In his younger years he was involved in a
military career, until he decided to move into a definite distance from the world of matter by
becoming a recluse. He did it in spite of the strong opposition of his father, who even disin-
herited him.
Clara Barton was born when Mars (126°) was in the perihelion of Venus, and she died
under the same aspect. She is best known as the founder of the American Red Cross Society.
However, her whole life was ceaselessly devoted to healing the wounds that war, strife, and
nature catastrophes caused all around the globe of the Earth. In this sense she was certainly a
devoted apostle of the healing, harmonizing, and re-integrating impulses living and working in
the sphere of Venus.
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CHAPTER VI
November-December 1973–January 1974

The History of the Elements of Mars
The nodes of Mars: The ascending node of Mars is at present in the sidereal constellation
of Aries, which it entered in about 1400 AD, coming from Taurus. This was close to the
commencement of the modern Age (1413 AD) that will increasingly be devoted to the devel-
opment of the Consciousness Soul. It gave the constellation of Aries, in which the ascending
node of Mercury was residing since about 750 BC, a new character.
The spiritual powers and beings working in the sphere of Mars were principally associated
with the evolution of the Earth during the first half of the unfolding of the Sun-Earth uni-
verse. In the beginning this universe was united in itself and integrated. The division into
single planets had not yet occurred. This happened only in long intervals of cosmic develop-
ment. It was especially the powers of Mars that worked with the impulse of slow segregation.
They were also associated with the creation of the world of physical, and eventually material,
objects on the Earth. (For this reason the human soul experiences, in the sphere of Mars after
death, the spiritual archetypes of all physical objects that were met on the Earth.) The powers
of Mars did this almost to the point of atomizing the originally integrated and harmoniously
united world, thus inaugurating the perception of the object world through the senses of the
human being. The original impulse of all this was to open the road toward egohood, to the
capacity for human beings to distinguish themselves from the material environment and to
grasp and handle it knowingly. This impulse can, and did actually, lead to all kinds of egotistical
aberrations.
Approximately since the beginning of the Age of the Consciousness Soul, these Mars
forces work toward the development of the sciences of nature and technology. This coincided
with a Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in 1404 in the perihelion of Mars, and an
opposition of the two planets in 1395, Saturn in 217° and Jupiter in 37°, close to the descend-
ing and ascending nodes of Mars.
Before 1400 AD, the ascending Mars node was in sidereal Taurus. It had entered this
constellation, close to the vernal equinox, as far back as about 4500 BC. Thus it had sojourned
in Taurus, mainly during the Egypto-Chaldean Age (Sentient Soul development) and during
the Greco-Roman Age (Intellectual Soul development—see Theosophy by R. S.). During those
times it met the perihelion line of Saturn in about 1700 BC, and the perihelion line of Mercury
in about 1600 BC. What we described, at the end of Chapter IV, as the impulse “to descend
into the material world in realistic ways” was chiefly connected with the impulses of Mars in
Taurus.
In 750 AD the descending node of Mars moved from sidereal Scorpio into Libra; whereas
the ingress of the ascending Mars node into Aries, in about 1400 AD, is associated with the
potential development of modern intellectualism (Aries is the archetypal region of the human
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head). The movement of the descending Mars node does suggest a momentum of possible
weighing and decision in history, i.e., the impulse of Libra-Scales. This was indeed the case: on
the one hand African Arabism had broken into Spain (711 AD) and came to establish an intel-
lectual orientation in the sphere of knowledge, and on the other hand European humanity had
arrived at a cross-road. This became apparent in the Church Council of Constantinople, in 869
AD, which decreed that human beings carried only body and soul but no longer the third
principle of spirit, though they were granted a few spiritual attributes. Thereby, the old
threefoldness of the human being as body, soul, and spirit was rejected. These developments
constituted, in reality, a threat against the true nature and purpose of humanity. However, the
spiritual truth was preserved and carried on into the future, not in many words but rather in life
practice by the movement of the Holy Grail that apparently came into being around the time
of 769 AD.
In about 2300 AD, a conjunction of the nodal lines of Mars and Mercury will take place.
We have mentioned and discussed this with regard to their possible effect in history (see end of
Chapter IV). Then, in about 5500 AD, the ascending node of Mars will enter the sidereal
constellation of Pisces, and before that in about 4000 AD, the descending node will move into
sidereal Virgo. This will be during the Sixth Post-Atlantean Age, or civilization (beginning
3573 AD), that will develop the aim to unfold the principle of Spirit-Self. Rudolf Steiner
described, on the basis of his spiritual insight, that this Sixth Age will not create a science of its
own but will depend on the science which the present Fifth Age will work out. For this reason
the Fifth Age will have to bring about a union between the science of nature and the science of
the spirit. In other words, the real task of this present Age is to evolve further, even redeem the
potentials coming from the sphere of Mars. The latter must be made ready to associate with
the challenges of Pisces (spiritual archetype of the human feet and hands, touching and stand-
ing upon that reality that is the invisible world) and Virgo (the exalted archetypes of all trans-
mutation, the region of the substance-transforming chemistry of the human body).
In about 6230 AD, the nodal lines of Mars will then meet the perihelion-aphelion line of
Jupiter which will still be in the constellations of Pisces and Virgo. All this will prepare the time
in the far future that will see the nodes of Mars entering sidereal Aquarius and Leo. According
to calculation with the presently available astronomical figures, this will happen in about 10800
AD, and it will coincide with a conjunction of these nodal lines with the nodal lines of Uranus.
The time indicated is, of course, far outside the present cycle of the seven Post-Atlantean Ages
or civilizations, and refers to times described somewhat in the Revelation of St. John as the
“Opening of the Seven Seals” and the appearance of the Apocalyptic Horsemen. The physical
conditions on the Earth will then radically change, which is well depicted in the ascending Mars
node being in Aquarius, or rather, the then analogous sector of the Zodiac. The present Aquarius
can be regarded as a rather ethereal manifestation: the Waterman pours water into cosmic
space, which is “cosmic water”, i.e., cosmic ether forces.
Perihelion-aphelion of Mars: The perihelion of Mars is at present in sidereal Aquarius,
having entered it in about 33 AD, whereas the aphelion is in Leo where it had moved in about
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1700 BC. In about 6000 BC the perihelion had moved into Capricorn, coming from Sagittarius,
and at the same time the ingress of the aphelion into Cancer, coming from Gemini. Before
that happened, in about 8000 BC, while the latter was still in the present equivalent of Gemini,
it was in line or conjunction with its own ascending node, and the perihelion was in conjunc-
tion with the descending node in present Sagittarius, all determined on the basis of calculation.
These latter events coincided with the final stage of Atlantis, when it perished in those
tremendous flood catastrophes of which we have heard. Before that happened the Great
Manu lead a part of Atlantean humanity over to what is now the Asiatic East and started the
cycle of the so-called Post-Atlantean civilizations. In the parting to the East we can see the
earthly manifestation of those cosmic events in what we call now the constellation of Gemini,
suggesting among other things, impulses of possible division and segregation. The Sagittarius,
or Archer with bow and arrow, appears to depict the long journey of the Manu with his follow-
ers to the East.
The ingress of the perihelion of Mars into the equivalent of present Capricorn, in about
6000 BC, would indicate that the segregating and cleaving impulses of the beings in the sphere
of Mars were checked, at least to a certain extent, by the impacts of this constellation. Capri-
corn is the region from which the spiritual archetypes of the joints, for instance, knees, etc.,
work into the formation of the human body. They are, in a sense, the gateways from the
interior of the material body to the extra-corporeal world. Thus, in Greek mythology Capri-
corn was experienced as the Gateway to the Gods. The ingress happened during the first Post-
Atlantean civilization, i.e., during the Ancient Indian culture, which carried an exalted spiritual-
ity but was faced with a painful material reality. Thus came into being what lives still in Indian
culture as the traditional endeavors to follow one of many paths toward a cognition of the
higher, spiritual worlds. The great battle started then with the increasing breaking-in of the
impacts of physical material existence upon the human being. This appears strongly pro-
nounced in the ingress of the aphelion of Mars into sidereal Cancer at the same time. Cancer
was once conceived, in Norse mythology, as the bridge that connected Asgard, the dwelling of
the Gods, with Midgard, the dwelling of the human race. It was the picture of our original,
“natural” connection with the divine spiritual world. Then, the bridge was destroyed during
the “Twilight of the Gods”. We lost the possibility of the original, clairvoyant participation in
the divine world, and fell into increasing and finally exclusive involvement in the material world.
Thus Cancer, in a philosophical sense, had to be associated with Materialism, Capricorn with
Spiritualism, a philosophy that recognizes the universe as the creation and manifestation of
divine spiritual beings, or hierarchies. (See Fig. 15.)
These developments reached a kind of climax in about 3200/3100 BC, when the aphelion
of Mars moved into conjunction with the perihelion of Venus in Cancer and the perihelion of
Mars came into line with the aphelion of Venus, in the opposite part of the Zodiac, in Capri-
corn. This moment coincided with the commencement of Kali Yuga, the Dark Age. The
forces working in Venus, so to speak, insisted on preserving that bridge, but they were ob-
structed and attacked by Mars.
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The Kali Yuga should have come to an end in 1899 AD, after having lasted 5000 years.
Thus was this moment in history prepared long before by the ingress of the perihelion of Mars
into Aquarius in about 33 AD, which coincided with the Mystery of Golgotha. Much earlier
even, in 1700 BC, the aphelion of Mars moved into sidereal Leo, leaving Cancer. This was the
time when decisive events took place in Hebrew history, orientated toward the Coming of
Christ. All these events prepared the eventual elevation and rescue of the positive constructive
potentials of Mars toward the realization and manifestation of the Christian Word or Logos in
the human being of the future—“people of goodwill”. Mars gives the human being, apart
from all else, the capacity of speech. It is indicated in the present association of the perihelion-
aphelion of Mars with Aquarius and Leo, both constellations that carry the potential cosmic
impulse to unite the forces of the universe with the being of Earth and humanity.
All this will stand as a world of challenges in front of us, until in 6800 AD, the perihelion of
Mars will enter sidereal Pisces, coinciding with a conjunction of this perihelion line with the
aphelion of Uranus. Only 200 years later, in about 7000 AD, the aphelion of Mars will enter
sidereal Virgo. These events will happen during the 7th Post-Atlantean civilization, which Rudolf
Steiner saw as an age of “War of All against All”, when catastrophes will conclude the Post-
Atlantean cycle, as nature catastrophes terminated Atlantis and Lemuria. (Another Manu will
then lead a small number of followers into the Sixth Epoch.)
The termination of the whole Fifth cycle of the seven cultures can be well seen in the
image of Pisces, the last of the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. The great transformations,
the “chemical-physiological” changes, which must be expected in the course of this transition,
we can fathom in Virgo—in the archetypal region, for instance, of the digestive and transub-
stantiating organism. The perihelion-aphelion line of Uranus would suggest a beginning de-
velopment toward spiritualization, externally appearing as a possible slow dissolution of mate-
rial conditions.
Only about 2000 years later (in about 8900 AD), the perihelion of Mars will meet the
ascending node of Mars in sidereal Pisces, and the aphelion will be with the descending node in
sidereal Virgo, of the present division of the Zodiac. This will still accentuate more what we
said above about Mars and Pisces-Virgo. It will already be in the beginning stages of the Sixth
Epoch.
In the far distant future the perihelion-aphelion line of Mars will come in contact with the
elements of the sphere of Jupiter. (Calculation results of this kind must be taken with caution,
because we cannot know whether the movements of these elements will not decisively acceler-
ate or decrease.) In about 17000 AD, the perihelion of Mars would be in line with the ascend-
ing node of Jupiter and, of course, the aphelion in the same sidereal longitude as the descend-
ing node of Jupiter. A little later (about 18600 AD) the perihelion of Mars would move into
line with the perihelion of Jupiter and the aphelion of Mars with the aphelion of Jupiter.
According to calculation, both these events would happen in the corresponding areas of the
present sidereal Aries and Libra. Shortly before, the perihelion of Mars will enter sidereal Aries
(about 14000 AD) and the aphelion of Mars sidereal Libra (about 16500 AD).
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We would see in these occurrences an imaginative, cosmic presentation of the fundamental

changes in the physical constitution of the planet Earth, even affecting the whole solar uni-
verse, during the great Sixth Epoch. We can come close to a description of those events in the
6th chapter of the Revelation of St. John, or Apocalypse, when it says (v. 9/11) “... And when
he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word
of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying ‘How
long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on
the Earth?’ And white robes were given unto every one of them, that they should rest yet for a
little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they
were, should be fulfilled...”
We can see, in the “white robes”, descriptive imaginations of existence in more spiritual
organisms rather than material ones. These totally new conditions of existence are depicted in
the correlations of those planetary spherical elements to Aries, which is the first “sign” and
“head” of the Zodiac. The associations with Libra would indicate a possible new role of this
constellation as a kind of “Gate” to the cosmic mysteries of life (Virgo), and to the mysteries
of death and resurrection (Scorpio).
Another perspective is the connection of Aries and Libra with the cosmic Christ. Aries,
the “Ram of God”, is associated with the highest Principle of the Christ as being the Head of
the Kyriotetes, and the lowest Principle, signified by Libra, would reach into the Life-Spirit
principle of the human being (see Fig. 7). Thus can the description in the 6th chapter of Revela-
tion, which we quoted above, receive a profound meaning, if we combine it with the events in
Aries and Libra, the conjunctions of the elements of Mars with those of Jupiter.
Historic human data in connection with the nodes of Mars are almost identical with those
of the nodes of Mercury. Even in the Middle Ages the two elements were only 5° apart.
Register IV
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Comments on Historic Examples
Pico della Mirandola: He is one of the most striking examples that can demonstrate how a
Mars in its own elements is associated with the historic workings of this planet. At the mo-
ment of his death (17 November 1494) Mars at 152° was close to its own aphelion, and Saturn
had already passed over the perihelion line to 344°.
Mirandola was one of the remarkable representatives of the spirit of the Renaissance. He
attempted to create a new philosophical concept of the human being, of “De dignitate hominis”,
about which he once intended to speak on the occasion of a public disputation. One of his
writings turned against the dominant astrological fatalism of his age. His aim was to save the
freedom of the human being. (Contained in In astrologiam libri XII.) We would see this impulse
of Mirandola as having amalgamated with Mars in its aphelion at death.
In the history of the perihelion-aphelion of Mars, we said the aphelion entered into side-
real Leo about 1700 BC, coming from Cancer. This was the time when the Hebrew movement
that Abraham founded established itself in history.
What was its deeper impulse? Abraham came from Chaldea, away from the places where
the stars were “worshipped”, for the sake of guiding humanity. Likewise, he could not live in
Egypt. He met tendencies in both regions that later on led into “fatalistic astrology”. Finally
he settled in Palestine, where he developed the very first foundations of human independence
in thinking, though even the Hebrew people were not yet ready for it and had to be guided by
the “Law” of the divinity.
In these events we can see something like the prototypes of developments that reached a
certain inner realization in Mirandola. Yet, it was only a stage on the road toward achievement.
Saturn was, at his death, at a point in Aquarius that will only be reached at a future point by the
perihelion of Mars. The perihelion entered Aquarius about the time of the Event on Golgotha.
Mirandola had struggled with what he seems to have conceived as a universal, esoteric Chris-
tianity which, however, he did not meet in his immediate environment, but he appears to have
seen it coming in the future.
Raphael Santi: Raphael’s Mars was in 334° at his death (6 April 1520), close to the perihe-
lion of Mars, whereas Neptune (329°) was almost exactly in that line. In these positions we
would almost see a “documentation” and verification of the fact that Raphael had a profound
connection with the esoteric and even cosmic reality of Christianity. This is evident in his
paintings and reaches a climax in his “Sistine Madonna”. It is obvious that she is not an
“earthly Madonna”, for she stands upon the clouds in heaven and is surrounded by heavenly
beings. She is really a picture of the Divine Sophia, who was called Isis in Egypt, carrying in
Horus the prophecy of events to come. This was one spiritually constructive way of infusing
new meaning into the sphere of Mars, which can so easily work destructively if it is left to itself.
Novalis: Mars in its own elements is usually closely related to the function of our percep-
tion. If another planet steps into these lines, it has mostly a different character. We see this at
the birth of Novalis (2 May 1772). Venus was in 157°, still close to the aphelion of Mars, and
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likewise it was there at his death (25 March 1801) in 144°. Venus promotes and represents,
distinct from Mars, more the element of loving reunion and harmony with our earthly and
cosmic environment, the healing of all that which Mars had “undone” in the course of its
career during the first half of the Sun-Earth evolution. This impulse came out clearly in the
life attitude of Novalis and manifested also in his writings. It was supported by a Saturn, which
was at birth also close to the aphelion of Mars; whereas Mars itself was in the perihelion
shortly before birth. This was “fulfilled” by Novalis in many of his creative publications, for
instance, in one he entitled Christianity and Europe.
Paracelsus: At the time of his epoch Saturn was in 332° and near the perihelion of Mars.
We would see in this the reflection of the fact that Paracelsus was essentially (karmically, i.e.,
Saturn activity) a Christian esotericist. The evidence of this is obvious in his writings, The Lord’s
Supper and Interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer. At the same time, the Earth in 143° and Jupiter in
151° were near the aphelion of Mars during the embryonic development. Paracelsus tried
indeed, as a professional medical doctor, to find a new, constructive perception of our modern
connection with the cosmos of the stars. In his book Astronomia Magna he wrote: “It is indeed
possible for one to get hold of and to enclose the whole of the world in one’s grasp, and this
with all its foundations and in clear perception of its perfect entirety...” or “...that science is
truly Magic that is able to bring the forces of heaven into a medium and to set them into
operation through the same... Like a physician putting his medicine into a small box, an extract
weighing little yet containing great virtues, so can also a Magus put into a small stone much of
the heavenly science and such (the said small stones) are the Magus’ boxes in which he pre-
serves the sidereal powers and virtues...” (Quoted from Basilio de Telepnef ’s Paracelsus, a Ge-
nius Amidst a Troubled World). Knauer’s lexicon, Berlin 1939, describes him: “Paracelsus: An
outstanding physician, many sided inquirer into natural sciences and mystical philosopher;
founder of the modern art of pharmacology and therapeutics... His ideas have recently ac-
quired great influence in medical science once more.” This appears like the description of the
potential gathered up in a Uranus (141°) in the aphelion of Mars, where it was at the moment
of the death of Paracelsus.
Leonardo da Vinci: Around the time of his epoch Mars was in 140° and close to its
aphelion, where it also was (153°) at his death. Jupiter was in 321° at birth and close to the
perihelion of Mars.
In the latter we can see the reflection of Leonardo’s deeper connection with Christianity,
which over and again broke through in his painting work. Eventually he was even able to
master that Mars in its aphelion. He lifted up his Christianity to cosmic perspectives in his
painting “The Last Supper”. There the apostles represent, indeed, the totality of the twelvefold
Zodiac. They do it by their gestures as a reaction to the words just spoken by the Christ: “Verily,
verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me... (St. John, XIII, 21). For instance, the
group to the left of the Christ (spectator view) represents John, Peter, and Judas. The facial
expression of Judas and the gesture of his hands is typical for the old perspective of Cancer:
withdrawal, retraction, even a falling back into darkness. Peter expresses strong emotional
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reaction, caused by the words which have come to his ears (one aspect of Leo). John displays
deep inner and loving understanding and acceptance of the inevitable (Virgo).
Goethe: He had a deep relationship to the perihelion of Mars through Jupiter in 332°
during his embryonic development and at death in 337°. This he evolved during his life as a
hidden, yet esoteric Christianity. It came out in such a saying—proclamation one could almost
call it: “...If thou hast not this (experience): to be able to ‘Die and Rise again from death’, then
thou art only a miserable guest on this dark Earth...”
Emerson: Shortly before his birth Mars was in 161° and at his death in 151°, near its own
aphelion. Before his epoch, i.e., before he touched the earthly realm, Saturn and Jupiter had a
conjunction (May 1802), near the aphelion of Mars. Furthermore, Venus was in 331° at his
birth, close to the perihelion of Mars, and Pluto (338°) was in the vicinity. He was indeed a
fighter for the spiritual freedom of the human being, even as it was painful for him. Also, he
searched for a new, in a sense, esoteric relationship to Christianity, of which he gave proof
when he spoke about The Defects of Historic Christianity in 1838.
History of the Elements of Jupiter
The nodes of Jupiter: The ascending node of Jupiter is in the sidereal constellation of
Gemini at present and the descending node in Sagittarius. It first entered Gemini, coming
from what we see as Cancer, in about 3100 BC; the descending node entered Sagittarius, com-
ing from what we now call Capricorn, in about 3200 BC. Thus they accompanied the com-
mencement of Kali Yuga. (See History of the Elements of Venus and Mars.) We could say
that the light of cosmic intelligence working in the sphere of Jupiter left Cancer, which facili-
tated the onset of the Darkness even more. A little earlier the descending node, or gateway of
cosmic intelligence into Earth existence, departed from Capricorn, the “portal to the Gods” in
Greek mythology. After that the ascending node combined with the mythology of Gemini,
the Twins, which on Earth manifested as human intelligence being confronted with the depar-
ture of the heavens (in a spiritual sense) from the Earth. It resulted in the increasing struggle
of humanity concerning acceptance of the reality of the spiritual world, or the refusal to
believe in its existence. The association of the descending node with Sagittarius-Archer would
then reflect the constant striving of humanity to find its bearings in that polarity of heaven and
Earth. The whole image of the Archer is a picture of this striving: the Archer-Centaur aiming
at rising out of the horse body, to enter the human body, and also “aiming” with the bow and
arrow at an object in the distance. Long before this, still in Atlantean times, the ascending node
of Jupiter entered Cancer, and the descending node of Capricorn.
From a certain angle, the perspectives of planetary elements in sidereal Gemini, for in-
stance, the ascending node of Jupiter may appear as a dilemma for human experience. How-
ever, this situation of humanity finding itself, eventually, “in suspense between heaven and
Earth” was an evolutionary necessity. Through this experience we have the opportunity of
finding our own “self ” and of building through this self, in full spiritual freedom and decision,
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a bridge between the two apparently contradictory cosmic propositions. In fact, it is an active
challenge toward the free cognition and acceptance of the reality of the divine world by the
human being. This was inaugurated through the Deed of Christ.
As far as we have been able to obtain dates with regard to Christ’s Ministry, through Rudolf
Steiner’s spiritual research and some historical resources, we have calculated the planetary events
during those Three Years. (See the author’s Cosmic Christianity). We certainly did not do it
because we expected these events to be ruled by the simultaneous cosmic happenings. Rather
we searched for evidence of the cosmic forces and potentials having been brought down to the
planet Earth by the Christ for the Great Deed of Healing and Salvation, and we consider our
research as successful; particularly, the planetary associations with Gemini are illuminating.
At the moment of the Baptism of Jesus by John, which we consider to have been the
incarnation of the Christ, Saturn was close to the ascending node of Jupiter. In the words of
John the Baptist himself, who beheld the event clairvoyantly, it was the moment when the
“Kingdom of Heaven was at hand” (see St. Mathew III.), when “the heavens were opened”
and “a voice from heaven said: this is my beloved Son...” The external cosmic situation re-
flected Saturn, standing for the “Father-forces” in the universe, moving through the nodal line
of Jupiter (representing the “Son-forces”). Thus that “dilemma” of Gemini was resolved for
those of Good Will and who “believe”. The heavens had indeed come down to the Earth, for
the Christ had descended from the spiritual sphere of the Sun unto the Earth.
Around the time of Golgotha and Easter Sunday the planet Jupiter moved into its ascend-
ing node. Now, the cosmic Christ had united with the Earth. This was expressed in the
heavens by Jupiter (representative of the “Son”) moving through the “gate” of its sphere down
to the Earth, through its nodal point. Thus the cosmic events were “fulfilled” anew with
spiritual reality. On this great background the historic repetitions of the planetary transits
through their elements can, and did, bring home to humanity corresponding challenges with
regard to the solving of the problems of sidereal Gemini.
In about 4500 AD, the ascending node of Jupiter will enter the area of present sidereal
Taurus, and the descending node will enter sidereal Scorpio in about 5000 AD. We can under-
stand the implications of these events on the basis of what we worked out in the preceding
paragraphs. In about 4500 AD, i.e., about 5000 years after the Gautama Buddha Event, the
one who goes now through humanity as the Maitreya Bodhisattva will rise to Buddhahood.
Rudolf Steiner has given some information on this in lectures on the 18th and 20th of Novem-
ber 1911. (Printed in The Mission of Christian Rosenkreutz—Transcriptions and Notes of lec-
tures given in 1911 and 1912). He says: “...The loftiest teachers of the successive Epochs are
the Bodhisattvas, who already in the Pre-Christian era pointed to Christ in His full reality of
being... (the new Bodhisattva’s mission) is to lead humanity to an understanding of the Christ
Impulse... (the Maitreya Buddha’s) influence will flow into our hearts as a magic, moral power...
there exists no larynx capable of producing the sounds of the speech that will be uttered
when this Bodhisattva rises to the rank of Buddha... the words of his speech will contain the
magic power of the Good...”
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It is startling that this future Buddha Event, about 3000 years hence, should coincide with
the ingress of the ascending node of Jupiter into Taurus. For Taurus is the cosmic archetypal
region of the Word, of the larynx in the human body particularly. Furthermore, if we imagine
all that which this nodal line of Jupiter carries with regard to the historic Christ Impulse (see
above), then we can realize a possible decisive step on the road of a future humanity toward
self-conscious activation of the cosmos in moral human deed.
Still further in the future, the ascending node of Jupiter would enter (theoretically, of
course) the area of present sidereal Aries (about 13700 AD) and the descending nodal line
would move into sidereal Libra (about 12700 AD). This will happen during the Sixth Great
Epoch, the Epoch of the Seven Seals of the Apocalypse. In the dim past, theoretically about
14000 BC, the ascending node of Jupiter was in conjunction with the aphelion of Jupiter.
Then, in about 3100 BC, the ascending node of Jupiter was in conjunction with the same
nodal line of Uranus. This coincided with the entry of both nodes into sidereal Gemini,
coming from Cancer, which strengthens our earlier suggestion that the moving away of the
node of Jupiter from Cancer accelerated the spiritual darkness of Kali Yuga, (about 3101 BC)
for the sake of our attainment of spiritual freedom. Obviously, this was further supported by
the same gesture of Uranus.
The nodes of Jupiter have for some time been close to the perihelion-aphelion of the
Earth. The latter is at present only little more than 2° ahead of these elements of Jupiter. The
actual conjunction of the two lines happened in about 1646 AD, a most significant moment in
the history of modern humanity. These perihelion-aphelion points of the Earth are deeply
connected with the geological and historical development of our planet. Rudolf Steiner pointed
out that their coincidences with the solstices (the Sun in 90° or 270° of the ecliptic, in the
course of the year), are associated with the geological ages of the Earth. For instance, the
perihelion of the Earth was in the summer solstice about 9200 BC and was connected with the
last Ice Age, which accompanied the final Atlantean catastrophe, the submersion of the conti-
nent. Then in about 1250 AD, the perihelion of the Earth was in the winter solstice. Rudolf
Steiner associated this event with a kind of psychological Ice Age, when the isolation of the
human race from the spiritual world had reached a climax, so that even great individualities
could not reach out to it anymore. After the conjunction with the nodal line of Jupiter, the
situation seems to have eased up, as it were, when philosophers like Spinoza, and later Hegel,
Fichte, Schelling and others, entered a new stage of realizing the Jupiter forces. They all had
significant relationships at the time of their incarnation to the nodes of Jupiter, and the perihe-
lion-aphelion line of the Earth.
The nearer future, about 2780 AD, will bring an alignment of the ascending node of Jupiter
with the perihelion of Saturn. This may well bring a breakthrough of humanity to a new-born
cosmology, or cosmogony, for instance, as we try to develop it in “embryonic” endeavors.
Kepler and others already took the first steps (see end Chapter I and mid Chapter II). The
combination with the nodes of Jupiter may then facilitate developments toward the realization
in humanity of a real cosmic Christianity.
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Already in times of the coming Sixth Great Epoch, about 12000 AD, the ascending nodes
of Jupiter will also move into line with the ascending node of Saturn. Naturally, it is difficult to
formulate imaginative pictures or concepts about these far-distant events. The best we can do
is to take the descriptions of the Sixth Great Epoch, or “the Seals” in the Revelation of St.
John, together with Rudolf Steiner’s comments in his lecture-cycle The Apocalypse, Nuremberg,
1908. The great physical changes that have to be expected at those times can give us an idea of
what the combination of the nodes of Jupiter and Saturn could mean, because Saturn is con-
nected with the very roots of all existence since the Ancient Saturn evolution.
We mentioned already that in the dim past, theoretically about 14000 BC, the ascending
node of Jupiter met with the aphelion of Jupiter; and in the equally dim future, about 17000
AD, its ascending node will come into conjunction with its perihelion. We shall elaborate on
this in connection with the history of Jupiter’s perihelion-aphelion line. (Theoretically in about
17000 AD, the ascending node of Jupiter will also be in conjunction with the perihelion of
Mars, mentioned earlier.)
Perihelion-aphelion of Jupiter: The perihelion of Jupiter is at present in sidereal Pisces,
and the aphelion in sidereal Virgo. One of the amazing features of these elements is that they
have been in these positions a very long time and will be there still for a long period, coinciding
almost precisely, at least as far as the perihelion is concerned, with the total length of the Fifth
Great, or Post-Atlantean Epoch. This happens because the movement of these elements is
only, at present, 7.7 seconds of the arc faster than the movement of the vernal equinox, the so-
called precession. Thus the perihelion entered sidereal Pisces, coming from Aquarius in about
7200 BC, and the aphelion moved into sidereal Virgo from Leo about the same time. Rudolf
Steiner put the commencement of the Ancient Indian Age, the first of the Post-Atlantean
civilizations, in 7227 BC (from the cultural, not astronomical viewpoint). The perihelion will
step over from sidereal Pisces into Aries in about 7900 AD. The last of the seven Post-Atlantean
Ages will terminate in about 7893 AD. The aphelion will move into sidereal Libra later, about
13500 AD theoretically, because Virgo currently extends much further in space than Pisces.
We have already reported on the background of these facts, as we see them, in Chapter II,
inasmuch as we see in them the confirmation of Rudolf Steiner’s description of the meaning
of the whole Post-Atlantean Epoch: “…the higher intention is to put humanity on its own feet...”
In about 1110 AD, the perihelion of Jupiter was in line with the vernal equinox and the
aphelion in the autumnal equinox. This was also an important moment in history. It saw the
founding of the Order of the Knights Templars, 1118 AD. Although this Order was destroyed
in the beginning of the 14th century, some of the souls who were connected with it worked
from the spiritual world and inspired, for one, the great geographical discoveries of the follow-
ing centuries. Thus they contributed toward the impulse “...to put humanity on its own feet...”
We can also gauge, of course very approximately, how these elements of the Jupiter sphere
prepared for the Post-Atlantean Epoch. This appears to be connected with the conjunctions
of the nodes of Jupiter with the perihelion-aphelion lines of its sphere. Such a meeting took
place in about 14000 BC, which coincided with the last “sub-races” of Atlantis (possibly the
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fifth when the aphelion met the ascending node. The very first preparations for the following
Fifth Epoch were then already inaugurated, as the faint beginnings of the downfall of Atlantis
had become apparent. (See Steiner’s Cosmic Memory, chapter III on “Our Atlantean Ancestors”.)
The far future, about 17000 AD, will bring a conjunction of the perihelion of Jupiter with
its ascending node. This will coincide, very approximately and theoretically, with the “Opening
of the Fifth Seal” (Revelation, VI:9-11.)
Inside these vast cycles of time, meetings also happened between Jupiter elements with
elements of other planets. However, before we concentrate on these, we should mention an
important event that concerns our immediate age: In about 1935 AD, the perihelion of Jupiter
was below the fixed star Alpha in the constellation of Andromeda, according to the ecliptic
longitude. This was, and still is, an important moment with regard to the faculties we are
challenged to develop during the Post-Atlantean Epoch. According to statements of Rudolf
Steiner in lectures around the years 1910-11, this is the time, and on into the future, when
increasing numbers of people will again acquire a kind of clairvoyant insight into the otherwise
“invisible” spiritual worlds. This is also deeply associated with the experience of the Second
Coming of Christ, which was patterned by St. Paul’s Damascus experience when he realized
the presence of Christ in the Earth sphere.
This challenge to modern humanity is clearly indicated in that event of 1935. The star
Alpha, in Andromeda, is in the forehead of this star configuration, pointing to the two-petalled
chakram or Lotus (see Steiner’s Knowledge of the Higher Worlds). It is one of the important organs
of “higher perception”. The Andromeda constellation has this star Alpha in common with the
star Delta of the constellation Pegasus, which is situated in the wing of the Horse. Thus it
appears as if Pegasus, the Winged Horse, is rising out of the head of the Andromeda. A horse
in mythological setting is always the imaginative picture of intelligence. As Pegasus, in this
sense, is “winged” intelligence (not matter or Earth-bound), we can see in it, when the star
Alpha combined with the perihelion of Jupiter, the challenge to develop “winged intelligence”
with regard to thinking. This seems to point to the “clairvoyance” that Rudolf Steiner spoke
of and which is expected to be developed in future humanity. Tentatively we may call it “clair-
thinking”, to distinguish it from the old clairvoyance that all ancient humanity had as a naturally
developed, dreamlike capacity. In this context it is also useful to study Rudolf Steiner’s Philoso-
phy of Freedom (1964 Edition), particularly the author’s additions in 1918 where he speaks about
“intuitive thinking”.
In about 7400 AD, the perihelion of Jupiter will be in line with the ascending node of
Uranus, still in sidereal Pisces, and the aphelion of Jupiter will be in conjunction with the
descending node of Uranus in sidereal Virgo. This will see the last stages of the seventh
civilization of the Fifth Epoch, where Rudolf Steiner saw, not a big nature catastrophe, but a
“War of All against All” as terminating this whole Epoch.
During the Sixth Epoch, in about 11000 AD, the perihelion of Jupiter will meet the ascend-
ing node of Venus, and the aphelion the descending node of Venus. This will happen in the
areas of present sidereal Aries and Libra respectively.
247
In connection with the history of the elements of Mars, we have mentioned that in about
6230 AD (Seventh Age of Fifth Epoch) the perihelion of Jupiter will meet the ascending node
of Mars already in sidereal Pisces, and the aphelion of Jupiter will join the descending node of
Mars in Virgo. Furthermore, (about 18600 AD) the perihelion of Jupiter will fall in line with
the perihelion of Mars in sidereal Aries, and vice versa in Libra.
Register V
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Historic Events in Connection with the Jupiter Nodes

We described earlier the connection of the nodes of Jupiter with the Christ Events. These
cosmic happenings, thereby, received new meaning and potentiality that will manifest increas-
ingly in human life and in history.
One striking example is the life work of Rudolf Steiner. In 1901, on the eve of Michael-
mas Day (28 September) a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn took place, according to helio-
centric concepts, in about 285.6°. This was close to the descending nodal line of Jupiter and it
carried, therefore, a kind of cosmic “memory” of the Christ Events. Whatever happened
otherwise in world history, Rudolf Steiner responded to this challenge in his own unique way.
Shortly after this event, on October 5th, he started a long cycle of 25 lectures at the Theosophi-
cal Library in Berlin on Christianity as Mystical Fact, which was later on published in book form
under the same title (1914 first English edit.). The author himself says in the preface to the 2nd
German edition (1910) “...The title indicated the special character of the book. In it the at-
tempt was made, not merely to represent historically the mystical content of Christianity, but
to describe the origin of Christianity from the standpoint of mystical contemplation. Under-
lying it was the thought that at the genesis of Christianity, mystical facts were at work that can
only be perceived by such contemplation.”
249
It is only the book itself which can make clear that by “mystical”, its author does not imply
a conception which relies more on vague feelings than on strictly scientific statements... In this
book the word ‘mysticism’ is used in the sense of the representation of a spiritual fact, which
can only be recognized in its true nature when the knowledge of it is derived from the sources
of spiritual life itself...” All this coincides with the fact that at Rudolf Steiner’s death, Jupiter at
279° was in the descending, and Mars at 95° was in the ascending node of Jupiter.
Another example is the stigmatization of St. Francis of Assisi (14 September 1224). He
had a deep inner experience: a winged seraph, nailed to a cross, flew toward him and instilled
immense pleasure in him. Afterward he discovered on his own body the stigmata of the
Crucified Christ. On that day Saturn was almost exactly in the descending nodal line of Jupiter.
In 1768 the young Goethe, who was then studying at Leipzig, went through a decisive inner
experience. He fell sick and had a severe hemorrhage. Later in that year, when he had suffi-
ciently recovered, he returned to his hometown of Frankfurt-am-Main and came into contact
with occult philosophical ideas, alchemy, astrology, etc., which completely changed his life.
About the middle of that year, Saturn moved through the ascending nodal line of Jupiter.
Goethe, as we know, was the author of Faust, of the Legend of the Green Snake and the Beautiful
Lily and many other writings.
During the years 1796-1800, the German physician Chr. F. Hahnemann reported on his
discovery of the principle of homeopathy, the method of using potentized and highly diluted
physical substances for medical purposes. Saturn moved at that time, in about 1797, through
the ascending nodal line of Jupiter, and in 1800 Jupiter did the same. Apart from this, Saturn
was in 284° at the time of his epoch and close to the descending nodal line of Jupiter.
Additional historic research can convince us of the fact that others with similar constella-
tions in the mentioned positions in the sidereal constellation of Gemini, related to the node of
Jupiter, are associated with that metaphorical experience of suspense between heaven and
Earth, of which we spoke earlier. In other words, there is no guarantee, so to speak, that
associations of a person with the nodes of Jupiter will, in all events, express connotations of
the nature that we described above. It depends entirety on the inner efforts of a human being,
whether a real spiritual connection with that great Healing and Redeeming Impulse that en-
tered the Earth through the Christ Event, and which appears associated with the node of
Jupiter in Gemini, will be found. The star affiliations of three philosophers can demonstrate
this: Bishop Berkeley, De Lamettrie, and David Hume, all of the 18th century.
Bishop Berkeley, in response to the philosophy of John Locke, said that matter does not
exist except as a form of mind. He maintained that Locke himself said that all human knowl-
edge is derived from sensation. “A thing is merely a bundle of perceptions, i.e., classified and
interpreted sensations ...All matter, so far as we know it, is a mental condition; and the only
reality that we know directly is mind...” Here, one of the two twins of Gemini, the material
Earth, is philosophically abandoned. Berkeley’s epoch Mars was in 89° near the ascending
node, while the Earth was in 271° near the descending node of Jupiter, and at death Jupiter was
in 102°, its own ascending node.
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David Hume opposed this view: “We know the mind only as we know matter: by percep-
tion, though it be in this internal. Never do we perceive any such entity as the mind; we
perceive merely separate ideas, memories, feelings, etc. ... there is no observable soul behind
the process of thought...” (Quotations from The Story of Philosophy by Will Durant, who says
also: “...The result (of the two philosophies) appeared to be that Hume had as effectually
destroyed mind as Berkeley had destroyed matter.”). At death Mars was in 93° conjunct Jupiter
in 98.7° in the ascending node of Jupiter.
De Lamettrie belonged to the French encyclopedists-philosophers of materialism. He eventually
wrote the book L’ Homme Machine (Man a Machine). In it he proclaimed that all the world,
including man, was a machine. For his pronunciations he was even exiled from his home
country.
This kind of materialism which completely rejects the existence of the “Heavenly” Twin,
spread far into modern humanity. Lenin adopted it as the gospel of the Bolshevik party—
“dialectic materialism”. One can even detect an active cosmic relationship between Lamettrie
and Lenin in this sense. At Lamettrie’s birth the Earth in 93° was conjunct Saturn in 103° and
opposite Mars in 273°—both nodes of Jupiter. At Lenin’s death Pluto was in 101°.
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February-March-April 1974
Register VI
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Historic Events in Connection with the Perihelion-Aphelion of Jupiter

Affiliations of cosmic events with these elements of the sphere of Jupiter often carry a
note of challenge, even exhortation of humanity with regard to its intrinsic spiritual tasks at
certain moments of history. We can comprehend this on the basis of the movement of the
perihelion of Jupiter through present sidereal Pisces, commencing with the start of the whole
Post-Atlantean Epoch and terminating with the end of this Epoch.
The Great Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn in history illustrate these perspectives very
clearly. Earlier we worked out facts connected with the Great Conjunction of 6 BC, which
took place in the perihelion of Jupiter. It heralded for the Three Kings the birth of Jesus and
the Coming of Christ.
In the year 213 and 273 AD, two Great Conjunctions happened close to the aphelion of
Jupiter. They coincided, approximately, with the life-time of Mani, the founder of Manicheism,
who experienced severe persecution toward the end of his earthly career.
In 848 AD a Great Conjunction and in 878 AD a Great Opposition occurred in the perihe-
lion-aphelion of Jupiter. That century brought to a part of humanity, however small, the
message of the Holy Grail and of Parsifal.
In 1762 another Great Conjunction happened close to the perihelion of Jupiter. This was
the year when, for instance, the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte was born, [who
experienced in his inner self—already then—the highest possible independence from the outer world.
He insisted that it is only the inner life that can give us the standard of who we are.] As Rudolf Steiner
mentions in his The Riddles of Philosophy: “Of himself we do not say ‘It is’, but ‘I am’. Thereby
we have not only said that we do exist, but also what we are, namely, an ego.”
253
In 2011 AD a Great Opposition will take place with Jupiter in its own perihelion and Saturn
in the aphelion. This will be followed in 2040 by a Great Conjunction in the aphelion of
Jupiter.
It is remarkable that a number of composers appear to have formed associations of the
planet Jupiter itself with these elements of the sphere of Jupiter, among others:
Joh. Seb. Bach’s Jupiter moved through its aphelion during the embryonic development.
At his death the same planet was still close to its perihelion in 22.5°.
At the moment of Beethoven’s death, Jupiter (189°) and the Earth (185°) were in the
aphelion and Pluto (57°) was in the perihelion of Jupiter.
When Mozart was born, Jupiter was in 189° near its aphelion; likewise, it was there when he
died in 196°, and also accompanied by an opposition of Saturn in 75°, still close to the perihe-
lion of Jupiter.
The two great painters of the Renaissance, Albrecht Dürer (185°) and Raphael Santi (186°)
also had at their birth, associations with a Jupiter in its own aphelion. They were truly standing
and working in line with the intrinsic tasks and impulses of Post-Atlantean humanity, as they
were expressed in the elements of the sphere of Jupiter.
At Richard Wagner’s death, Venus was in 186° and the aphelion of Jupiter.
The “prophets” of development of the modern science of nature and technology also had
connections with these elements of Jupiter:
Francis Bacon, the founder of Empiricism in natural science, was associated with a Jupiter
in its perihelion during his embryonic development.
Faraday, the discoverer of electromagnetic induction, entered incarnation when Saturn was
in 5° near the perihelion of Jupiter. When he died Neptune was in 13.5° and associated with
the same perihelion.
Also around the time when Edison, the great inventor, especially of electric devices, died
Uranus was in 18° and still close to the perihelion of Jupiter.
Henry Ford obviously created in his incarnation strong associations with these elements, as
Neptune was in 4° at his birth, approaching the perihelion of Jupiter, whereas Saturn (l87°) and
Jupiter (190°) were at the same time close to the aphelion. At his death the Earth (196°) and
Neptune (189°) were near the aphelion line.
It’s not always that members of the human race identify with the great constructive aims of
the Post-Atlantean Epoch, but use the potentials of egohood and independence for egotistical
and materialistic ends. Examples are:
Cesare Borgia, at whose death the Earth (181°) and Jupiter (192°) were close to the aph-
elion of Jupiter, and Lenin, whose Mars (17°) was at birth close to the perihelion line of this
planet.
Of the great philosophers and writers of the modern age, examples who standout are:
Goethe, at whose death the Earth (182°) was in the aphelion of Jupiter.
Dostoevski, who was associated during his incarnation process through Saturn (14°) and
Jupiter (2°) with the perihelion.
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Emerson, whose Uranus (190°) and Jupiter (186°) had at birth moved into the aphelion,
and Mercury (12°) at his death into the perihelion of Jupiter.
Victor Hugo, at whose birth Uranus (184°) had moved into proximity to the aphelion line
of Jupiter.
Mark Twain, with Saturn (199°) at the epoch still close to the aphelion and Pluto (14°) to
the perihelion, and at death Jupiter (191°) in its aphelion.
Elements of the Sphere of Saturn
The nodes of Saturn: The ascending node of Saturn since about 869 AD is in the sidereal
constellation of Gemini, and it will stay there till about 6600 AD. In about 3000-2900 BC, it
moved from sidereal Leo into Cancer. Thus, we see here the deeper connection of the work-
ings of the sphere of Saturn with the destiny of humanity since the commencement of the
Kali Yuga (3101 BC)—one could even say, the denial of these forces by the human race. One
of their highest aims, with regard to human evolution, is the development of higher capacities
of cognition, or “gnosis” (for instance, “Dia-Gnosis”, or “Pro-Gnosis”, in an ideal sense).
It was just these capacities which were gradually lost by humanity, approximately after the
ingress of the ascending node of Saturn from Leo into Cancer. We have pointed out earlier
how the constellation of Cancer was associated historically with the commencement of Kali
Yuga, with the destruction of the “Bridge” that once connected Midgard with Asgard. (See
history of the apsides of Venus and Mars.)
Then, when the ascending node entered sidereal Gemini, in 869 AD precisely, humanity
faced the consequences of what had gradually been developed while this node was still in
Cancer. In 869 AD, the Fourth Church Synod of Constantinople took place. It decreed that
the ancient idea of the human trinity, body-soul-spirit, was wrong, and that we consisted only
of body and soul, with a few spiritual attributes. With the entry of the node of Saturn into
Gemini, a great cleft between spirit and matter became apparent instead of a union between
the two, which would have been the real and constructive realization of the spiritual potential
of Gemini. As humanity moves toward the future it is challenged to rectify the negative per-
spective of the constellation of Twins. This can be done by realizing and identifying with the
meaning of the Incarnation of Christ, when the God Being descended into the material body
of Jesus at the time of the Baptism. This happened when the planet Saturn was in Gemini,
when the heavens, so to speak, declared that in this moment the “division” of Gemini had
been potentially resolved.
Once this is realized in humanity, it will make it possible to constructively meet the ingress
of the ascending node of Saturn into sidereal Taurus, in about 6600 AD. It will then be able to
rise to capacities associated with the Christian Creative Word, one could even say, with all
necessary caution, to the new Magical Word. (Taurus is associated with the Word, or Logos.)
Otherwise, that future humanity will fall into the pits of the most destructive “Wars of All
against All”, which is one of the negative alternatives of Taurus.
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All this is supported by the career of the descending node of Saturn. It entered what we
now call sidereal Capricorn, coming from Aquarius, about 5000 BC. The ingress into sidereal
Sagittarius happened about the same time as that into Gemini, and likewise will the entry into
Scorpio coincide, approximately, with that into Taurus.
The perspective of the descending node of Saturn in Capricorn was met constructively by
the cognition of the spiritual background of the “World of Matter” by the spiritual inaugurator
of Ancient Persian civilization, the great Initiate Zarathustra, around 5000 BC. He presented it
to humanity as the cosmic spiritual polarity of Ahura Mazda (the Sun-Aura) in the heights of
heaven, and Ahriman, the Spirit of Darkness deep within the Earth.
In the ingress of the descending node of Saturn into Sagittarius we can see a possible concil-
iatory note of what we described above as one of the perspectives of Gemini. Sagittarius carries,
in its higher meaning, the image of humanity in the course of evolution. Thus, it would speak of
the necessity for modern humanity to move through the temporary phase of that great split be-
tween spirit and matter, in order to attain egohood and emancipation, or spiritual freedom.
The coincidence of the ingress of Saturn’s descending node into Scorpio, in approximately
7000 AD, is a further vivid picture of what we described above as the perspectives of Taurus.
It will then be in humanity’s freedom to decide whether it wants to take the course toward
destruction, in the image of the old Scorpio which is Death, or the redeemed and transformed
potential of this constellation, implying “overcoming of Death by the Resurrection”.
The conjunctions of the nodes of Saturn with the elements of other planets speak a simi-
lar language. In about 6000 BC, the ascending node of Saturn was in line with the ascending
node of Neptune. This was when both elements were still in what we experience now as
sidereal Leo, a time when humanity (the weight of human civilization was then in Ancient
India) had a vivid awareness and experience still of the world of spiritual beings in its environ-
ment. This is expressed in the traditional symbol of Leo: , relationship of the (human) being
in the center to the periphery. Later, of course, we got “stuck” in that center and became an
“egotist”. In Chapter V we mentioned the conjunction of the ascending nodal line of Saturn
with the perihelion line of Venus. This was already in Cancer.
After this we have events of this connotation to come only in the future. In approximately
2700 AD, the ascending node of Saturn will be in conjunction with the ascending node of
Pluto—as far as we can determine the positions of Pluto’s elements at present with the avail-
able astronomical means for calculation.
In about 3275 AD, the ascending node of Saturn will be in line with the perihelion of the
Earth. This will be in sidereal Gemini. Then, in about 3900 AD, the ascending nodal line will
coincide with the perihelion of Saturn, in the same constellation. It will take place during the
so-called “Waterman-Age”, when the vernal equinox will have moved into that constellation.
Waterman-Aquarius is “ruled”, according to ancient and still valid tradition by Saturn. There-
fore, the conjunction of the two elements of Saturn will have a special significance. Condi-
tions on the planet Earth will then have developed physically to a point where it will become
increasingly necessary to sustain terrestrial existence, for instance, of human beings and of the
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environment on which we will have to depend, by conscious deployment of cosmic forces and
potentials. A new union, on a Christian foundation, between the heavens and the Earth—
Gemini, where the conjunction of the Saturn elements will take place—will become para-
mount on a broad basis of human life.
In about 7400 AD, after the ascending node of Saturn will have entered sidereal Taurus, it
will meet the perihelion of Mercury. This emphasizes still further what we said above about
this element of Saturn in Taurus
In Chapter VI we mentioned already the conjunction of the nodal lines of Jupiter and
Saturn in about 12000 AD, in times that we can barely imagine on the basis of the Revelation
of St. John, especially in connection with the description of the Second and Third “Seals”.
Perihelion-aphelion of Saturn: As the nodes of Saturn fall back, because of their slow
movement (31.503" per year), in relationship to the constellations, the apsides of Saturn move
forward, because they move faster (70.503" per year) than the equinoctial points , against the
present 50.2564" yearly precession of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
At the end of Atlantis and right into the Post-Atlantean times the perihelion of Saturn was
in what we consider now as the constellation of Aries. Only in about 4800 BC, did it enter
sidereal Taurus. In about 1413 AD, the perihelion moved into sidereal Gemini, where it will
stay till about 6400 AD and then cross over into Cancer. The dates of ingress of the aphelion
into sidereal Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn are slightly different.
These movements form an interesting background with regard to the workings of the
spiritual Beings associated with the sphere of Saturn. As much as the nodes reflect the con-
tacts of these Beings with the Earth, so are the apsides, perihelion-aphelion of Saturn, expres-
sions of the “life” of the sphere of Saturn, of its cosmic “soul” and “spirit”, we might say. In
this sense, we can see in them “echoes”, as it were, of the workings of the Beings effecting
world and human karma.
Thus we would see in the ingress of the perihelion into Taurus a phase of human karma
during which we were guided by the divine powers to descend into the world of matter, to
gradually get onto the road toward independence and spiritual freedom. At the same time we
were still supported and guided by these powers to retain an awareness and, more or less, dim
consciousness of the divine world, externally manifesting in the starry heavens. These were
the ages when human beings still had access to a vivid astrosophy. In the movements of the
stars they heard the divine world speak to them, giving advice and commandments. Then
followed a time when the rising egotism of the human being laid the foundations for an astrol-
ogy, a star wisdom that related the movements of the stars to the destiny of the individual,
finally even in a fatalistic sense. All this is expressed in the image of Taurus, the Bull, where the
perihelion of Saturn was then. The heavy body of the Bull is the picture of the world of
matter that we gradually had to face. The mighty horns of the Bull depict the connection with
the cosmic world, the world of the stars, which the human being experienced. This coincided
with the ages when the human race gradually realized the fact of the death of the individual,
depicted in Scorpio, then the cosmic image of death. Before that, death was a different expe-
257
rience. On the background of our direct awareness of the spiritual world, we took death as a
change concerning only the level of our existence.
The ingress of the perihelion of Saturn into Gemini, in about 1413 AD, indicates a funda-
mental change in all this. It coincided with the commencement of the modern age, whose task
it is to develop a precise science of nature and, eventually, combine with an equally disciplined
science of the spirit. First, it confronts this humanity with the perfect split between the heav-
enly (including the spiritual) world and the world of matter, signified by the constellation Gemini,
the heavenly immortal and the earthly mortal Twins. One of the first manifestations of the
new age was the development of an astronomy through the work of Copernicus, Kepler,
Galileo, Newton, and others, which confronted modern society with a starry world moving
away into gigantic distances, increasingly fostering the perspective of a mechanical material
universe. In the course of these developments the ancient astrology was relegated to the place
of superstition.
However, from the viewpoint of human karma, represented by the perihelion of Saturn in
Gemini, this means that the old dependence and domination that traditional astrology served,
especially that attitude, ought to be overcome and replaced by the development of a spiritually
free and “brotherly” relationship to nature and particularly to the world of the stars. This is the
“message” contained in the movement of the aphelion of Saturn through the constellation of
Sagittarius, the imagination of “one who is to become”.
The ingress of the perihelion into Cancer in about 6600 AD, obviously indicates that dur-
ing the last civilization of the Fifth Post-Atlantean Epoch, materialism must finally be over-
come, unless the very foundations of human existence on the planet Earth will be shaken.
(The constellation of Cancer is, in a philosophical sense, connected with materialism.) We
draw attention to what we described already in Chapter IV, that the perihelion of Saturn will
eventually meet the perihelion of Venus in Cancer. The latter carries all the memories of the
suffering and pain of the human race during the long, necessary sojourn in the darkness of
material existence. (It is interesting to note that it takes the perihelion of Venus nearly 100,000
years to move through the zodiacal space that for us is now the constellation of Cancer.)
However, in the opposite part of the Zodiac, in Capricorn, through which the aphelion of
Saturn will move, is pronounced the spiritually constructive perspective of all this; that is, in
the future we will be able through our own efforts to find again the “gate to the Gods”, as
Capricorn was experienced in ancient Greece.
In about 2750 BC, the perihelion of Saturn was in line with the zodiacal point in which the
Sun appeared at the vernal equinox, seen from the Earth. They were both in sidereal Taurus,
emphasized by what we described above.
Later, in about 1850 BC, the perihelion-aphelion of Saturn met the same elements of
Mercury and in about 1700 BC the nodal lines of Mars. We have described the historic coinci-
dences connected with these events in Chapter IV.
Likewise were the nodal lines of Venus in conjunction with these apsides of Saturn in
about 435 AD. The history of these events is mentioned in Chapter V.
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Times to come will see further conjunctions of the perihelion-aphelion line of Saturn.
One with the nodal lines of Jupiter, in about 2780 AD, has been described in Chapter VI.
Another conjunction with the nodal lines of Saturn in about 3900 AD, has already been men-
tioned above.
In about 4760 AD, the perihelion-aphelion line of Saturn will meet the nodal lines of Pluto,
as far as the latter can be calculated with the present astronomical means.
In about 6055 AD, these elements of Saturn will move into line with the same elements of
the Earth, and in about 6500 AD, they will coincide with the nodal lines of Neptune. All this
would further emphasize what we said above about the ingress of the perihelion-aphelion of
Saturn into Cancer-Capricorn above. Eventually, these lines of Saturn will meet the same
elements of Venus, in about 8500 AD.
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Historic Events in Connection with the Nodes of Saturn

The nodes of Saturn appear to be specially associated with significant messages to human-
ity, connecting its struggle to recognize the true meaning and the spiritual goals of humanity.
Such associations are obvious in the story of very early Christianity. During the time immedi-
ately after the first Whitsun event (Acts, II) Jupiter moved through the ascending node of
Saturn. The apostles prepared then to bring the message of the Christ Event to humanity, after
they were able “to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts, II:4).
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One personality who brought this, at least as an impulse into his incarnation, was Shakespeare.
During his embryonic development Jupiter was moving through the ascending node of Saturn.
Likewise, Richard Wagner had a similar challenge. After a long struggle, one might say, he
succeeded in formulating the message in his last composition, Parsifal, the story of the Holy
Grail that is so deeply connected with the Christ Impulse.
Goethe also had, one can say, an “inspirational” association with the element of Saturn.
Neptune was conjunct Mercury in 115° during his incarnation close to that ascending nodal
line, and at his death Neptune (295°) was close to the descending line. (Goethe lived exactly
the time of half a Neptune orbit through the Zodiac [and very close to a full Uranus orbit].)
Hahnemann, who discovered the healing capacities of highly diluted medical substances
(homeopathy) and the law of “similia similibus curantur”, incarnated (293°) and died (292°)
when Saturn was in its own descending node. At his epoch this was assisted by the Earth
(296°) being in that line.
Also the great composers Joh. Seb. Bach, with Pluto at birth in 104.8° and Neptune at
death in 117.5°; Beethoven with Pluto in 289° at birth and Uranus in 295° and Neptune in 284°
at death; Mozart with Saturn in 292° conjunct Mercury (298°) and Venus (292°) at the epoch
and Mars in 112° at birth, brought significant and inspiring “messages” to modern humanity
with these strong connections of the planets with the elements of Saturn; and William Blake
already had an association at birth with the ascending node of Saturn through Mars in 105°.
This is emphasized even more at the moment of his death with Venus in the place where Mars
was at birth, and also Saturn (101°), Uranus (296°) and Neptune (285°) join in with this per-
spective. (Positions of this nature at death indicate more a possible “inspiration” of later
generations.) As we would expect, there were also the great painters of the Renaissance, who
gave so much with their art to later humanity, who had strong connections with the nodal lines
of Saturn:
Leonardo da Vinci brought such potentials already into his incarnation through Uranus in
112° and Jupiter in 298° at his epoch. At his death they appear as inspiring capacities through
Saturn in 287°.
Likewise did Michelangelo incarnate with such capacities, through Saturn in 113° and Jupi-
ter in 295°.
Raphael brought forward to modern humanity, through the many paintings of the “Ma-
donna” and finally the “Sistine Madonna”, the mysteries of spirit birth. This found expression
at his death in the association of Saturn in 297° and Pluto in 281° with the descending node of
Saturn.
Rembrandt handled, in his many artistic creations, the deeper mysteries of Light and Dark-
ness. This found expression at his death with Neptune in 298° and near the descending node
of Saturn.
Of the great individualities who brought as writers and poets important messages to hu-
manity, apart from Goethe mentioned above, we find the following connected with the nodal
lines of Saturn:
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Novalis, who tried to bring to modern humanity a deeper realization of Christianity. Both
at his incarnation, with his epoch Jupiter in 296° and at birth with Pluto in 290°, and death,
with Mars in 116°, he had strong planetary associations with these elements of Saturn.
Walt Whitman, of whom the Encyclopedia Britannica says: “In America Whitman saw a
symbol of that spiritual pioneering which, seeking perpetually a passage to India, (i.e., Christo-
pher Columbus discovered America by trying to find this passage) links each age to a larger
one...” His connections with the elements of Saturn at birth, (Jupiter in 284°), and death
(Venus in 118°) are interesting.
Mark Twain also had exceptionally strong associations with these planetary elements at
death with Mercury in 108°, Mars in 113°, Uranus in 292°, and Neptune in 108°.
Leo Tolstoi incarnated when several of the planets were in the nodal elements of Saturn (at
epoch Mercury in 120°, Venus in 293°, and Uranus in 278°; at birth Neptune in 288°). At his
death it was Uranus in 295° and Neptune in 110°.
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Historic Eventsin Connection with the Perihelion-Aphelion of Saturn

The movements of the planets through these elements of Saturn usually reflect sublime
and in some cases crucial decisions that are not only of significance for the individual human
being but for the evolution of humanity.
Decisions of this nature were inaugurated, obviously in view of the oncoming future prob-
lems and life situations of humanity, by the Christ. After the Baptism of Jesus (the incarnation
of the cosmic Christ) by John, Christ was led into the wilderness, staying for 40 days. All the
time, but especially toward the end, Christ was tempted by the Devil and Satan. (St. Matthew
IV; St. Mark I: 1-13; St. Luke IV: 1-13.) Rudolf Steiner pointed out that there were two tempt-
ers: Lucifer is the same as the Devil and Ahriman is the same as Satan. Christ rejected their
influence, and this first Deed was accomplished to help future humanity to move toward healthy
independence. It coincided with Mars moving through the perihelion of Saturn.
A year later (about 28 February 32 AD), Mars moved through the aphelion line of Saturn.
A little later, just about the spring full Moon of 32 AD, Jupiter was standing in the perihelion
line of Saturn. All this was permeated by new meaning and “fulfilled” by the Christ in the
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preparations preceding that Passover Festival and, eventually, the “Feeding of the Five thou-
sand” (St. John V-VI). This event need not to be seen as a cheap miracle of multiplication of
material bread, but it was a “spiritual feeding” of a multitude of human beings belonging to the
Fifth, both Age and Epoch. The two fishes, which were available for the feeding, give a further
clue. It is a reference to the “two fishes” of the cosmic magnitude of the constellation Pisces.
This fixed star configuration is associated through the perihelion of Jupiter with the whole
Post-Atlantean Epoch (see p. 103). The humanity of this whole Epoch received the “feeding”,
i.e.,, sustenance for the human race was established that will come to manifestation during the
present epoch. This is not just vain phantasy, as Venus moved in that very same moment
through the perihelion of Jupiter in Pisces and was thus “fulfilled” by this Deed of Christ.
About the end of 32 AD to the beginning of 33 AD, Venus and Mars met in conjunction
near the perihelion of Saturn. This is associated time-wise with the events around the Feast of
Dedication (St. John X), after the healing of the man “who was blind from his birth”. In that
moment the severe decision was demanded from the Jews to accept the Christ (St. John X:24-
42); however, they rejected Him.
Associations of planets with the perihelion-aphelion line of Saturn usually work out as
times of decision, sometimes decisions that go far beyond the concerns of the individual. For
instance, Copernicus incarnated (1473) when Saturn (85°) was in its perihelion. About 29-30
years later, Saturn was again in the same position. Such returns of the planets to the places
where they were at birth are like memories, reflecting the intentions leading to incarnation.
Copernicus was then, in 1502-3, still in Bologna, studying canon law. Apart from this he also
attended lectures by the astronomer, Novara, and became acquainted with Pythagorean helio-
centric astronomy. Obviously, he adopted the heliocentric theory, which he worked out in
following years. We know now that this decision was not only his personal matter, but it came
to concern all modern humanity.
Likewise was the return of Saturn to the birth position (268°) of Tycho Brahe, in its aph-
elion, connected with basic decisions in his life. It happened in 1576, when Tycho Brahe was
enabled to create the foundation of his own observatory and work community on the island of
Hveen.
Johann Kepler was born when Neptune (85°) was in the perihelion of Saturn. This was
activated in events in his life around 1588-89, when Saturn itself moved into that line. He was
then studying theology at the University of Tübingen, preparing for ministry. At the same time
he had private instructions by Michael Mästlin concerning Copernican astronomy. This seems
to have brought a deep inner decision, probably not without pain, because we see him turn
away from the career of ministry, to become a teacher of mathematics and astronomy. In this
decision we witness the birth of the Kepler who had so much to give to modern humanity.
However, these kinds of “memories” are also present in star configurations at death, only
they refer to events during the life-time of individuals. Here, we must refer to discoveries we
made already long ago: the positions of the planets at the moment of the passing over of a
human being contain the full biography of that individual. It is established by the places where
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Saturn had been during the life, reverse to the returns of Saturn to the locations of incarnation.
Thus, for instance, Saturn (96°) at Beethoven’s death had returned to the position where it had
been in about 1797-8. In other words, Saturn had noted down, as it were, in the Akashic
substance of the cosmos (Saturn is the “organ of memory” of the cosmos) the events during
those latter years in Beethoven’s life. It was indeed a crucial time in his life and called for firm
decision. The first signs of the approaching total deafness appeared, the worst handicap that
could occur to a composer. Yet, by the power of his decision and insistence, he was able to
give to humanity the wonders of his artistic musical creations, in spite of his deafness.
In the course of our researches we have also discovered that such “memories”, in the
moment of so-called death, are not lost. They live on in the cosmos and can even, under
circumstances, inspire following human generations.
Elements of the Newly Discovered Planets: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

Of the elements of the newly discovered planets, the perihelion-aphelion lines particularly
are oscillating enormously in relationship to the ecliptic. Therefore, it is difficult to relate their
positions to definite events in history and in the human sphere. The apsides of Neptune are
especially difficult to define. Just to give an example: in the beginning of 1963 the perihelion
was (according to the American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac) in 32.67° of the ecliptic. From
there it moved forward to 57.6455° in March 1968. After that it dropped back to 18.5387° in
May 1972. In December 1974 it will have advanced again to 36.8738°, and will probably move
forward after that still more.
The perihelion-aphelion of Uranus (for calculation of average positions see Table IV) are
more stable, though they are oscillating also by 4° over the years. These elements have no
immediate neighbors at present. Only in about 6800 AD will they meet the apsides of Mars
(see Chapter VI). They have a significant connection with the Christ Events, which can con-
tribute toward an understanding of their character.
Between 33 and 34 AD, Uranus moved toward its perihelion. In April 3-5, 33 AD the
Mystery of Golgotha took place. In January 34 AD, according to calculation, Uranus was
actually in its perihelion. Around that time the conversion of St. Paul took place. We have no
proof with regard to the exact time, but the Christian Calendar remembers “St. Paul at Dam-
ascus” on January 25.
All this is, actually, a sublime description of the potential character, one ought really to say,
Christian “fulfillment” of Uranus. St. Paul, whose original name was Saul, persecuted the
Christians. He was “consenting” unto the stoning of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen
(Acts VIII.). He opposed the Christians, initially on the basis of the rejection of the Christ by
the Jews, by not living up to their “political” aspirations, one might say. Furthermore, Saul
could not accept what the Christians maintained: that the Christ had Risen from the Dead. He
obtained letters from by the high priests at Jerusalem to go to Damascus in order to continue
with the persecutions (Acts IX). Suddenly, at the gate of the city he was overwhelmed by a
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“light from heaven” and a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” He
realized in that moment that the Christ was alive and present in nature around him, and he
became the great apostle of the Christ Impulse in the area of the Mediterranean Sea.
This Damascus Event of St. Paul will become the archetype of the experience of the
“Second Coming” of Christ, which increasing numbers of human beings will have from now
on into the future. In the past a very few people have had similar “meetings”. They happened
in connection with events in the apsidal lines of Uranus, but they are difficult to discern. One
example is the seemingly strange story of Bernadette, who eventually brought about the foun-
dation of Lourdes in South France as a place where many sick people received healing. The
initial experience of Bernadette, the vision of the “Lady” who told her that the water in the
Grotto of Lourdes was of healing capacity, happened on February 11, 1858 (see Franz Werfel,
The Song of Bernadette). About that time, Neptune moved through the aphelion of Uranus.
At the time of the approximate epoch of Raphael Santi, the Renaissance painter, Jupiter
was moving through the perihelion of Uranus. If we look for the moment of possible activa-
tion by Raphael of the potential contained in this position, we come to the year 1508, when
Saturn moved across this point of the perihelion of Uranus. This does not mean that some-
thing had to happen under all circumstances. Such transits of planets, as they are called, over
portions at birth, or during the embryonic development, offer only possibilities of enactment.
We find that in the year 1508, Raphael started on his first painting in the Stanza della Segnatura,
the so-called Disputa. It is generally recognized that this painting “in its religious sentiment”
far excels any of the later Stanza paintings, retaining much of the sacred character of earlier
Florentine and Umbrian art” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Indeed, it seems to represent Chris-
tian humanity’s search for a real understanding of the Presence of Christ in the Altar-Sacra-
ment.
Also, a very few “memory tableaus” contained in death configurations of historic person-
alities tell somewhat similar stories from the lives of human beings. (We have pointed out
above that one can find, on the basis of preceding transits of Saturn over positions of planets
at death, that these configurations carry the totality of the life story of a human being.)
When Emerson died (27 April 1882) Uranus was close to its perihelion. In 1832, when he
went through that tremendous crisis in his life, Saturn was there. Thus Saturn “remembered”
this event and brought it to realization again at the moment of death. Early during that year of
1832 his wife died. After that he retired from his pastoral office and eventually went on a long
trip to Europe, where he came to a lasting and deep friendship with Carlyle. At the foundation
of his resignation from the ministry, may well have been inner experiences that eventually lead
to his “protest against the defects of historical Christianity” in 1838. Christianity for him was
something much deeper then the orthodox versions that had developed in that time.
Paracelsus, the great medical genius of the Middle Ages, died on 24 September 1541, when
Jupiter was close to the perihelion of Uranus. Earlier transits of Saturn lead us to the following
dates in his life: The first was in about 1524, with Saturn in the aphelion of Uranus. Paracelsus
was returning from a 12 years’ peregrination to the East. We do not know exactly where he had
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been, but he met, among other things, ancient healing practices. He might have been to the
territories of the Tartars, to Egypt, Palestine, Syria, etc. Some writers have come to the idea
that he even had been “initiated” into the mysteries of shamanism.
Then, in about 1539, when Saturn was in the perihelion of Uranus, he seems to have
written the fourth and last book of his Astronomia Magna. He says things in it that could only
have come out of a deep esoteric Christian wisdom: “It is indeed possible for a person to get
hold of and to enclose the whole of the world in his grasp, and this with all its foundations and
in clear perception of its perfect entirety”… or …“Like a physician putting his medicine into a
small box, an extract containing great virtues, so can also a Magus put into a small stone much
of the heavenly science—and such (the said small stones) are the Magus’ boxes in which he
preserves the sidereal powers and virtues.”
The perihelion of Pluto was given as being in 223.18° for January 1958. The American
Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac quotes the position of this element for February 1974 as
224.3121°. We were not yet able to discover the average yearly movement. However, it seems
to coincide with the nodal lines of Mercury and Mars, and we have the impression, therefore,
that a list of personalities with historic dates and positions would not offer much more practi-
cal help. The nodal lines of these inner planets seem to be more stable. However, they fall in
with the elements of the classical planets; for instance, the nodes of Uranus are close to the
nodes of Venus. As a matter of fact, they coincided in about 1347 AD, and are at present not
much more than 2° apart. Therefore, we do not think that it is necessary, in this instance also,
to re-list the historic personalities.
Likewise, the nodal lines of Neptune are practically coinciding at present with the perihe-
lion-aphelion lines of Venus. In about 2098 AD, the two will be in identical positions of the
ecliptic, Therefore, we can adopt these elements of Venus also for defining the historic charac-
ter of those of Neptune.
The ascending node of Pluto is given in the above mentioned ephemeris for September 30,
1974 as 110.007° of the ecliptic. (The yearly movement seems to be 48" forward.) This is
between the locations of the nodes of Jupiter and Saturn, and we think that a special consider-
ation for this element would not be of practical value for this present publication.
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CHAPTER VIII
May-June-July 1974
Practical Application of the Information Concerning
the Geocentric and Heliocentric Approach
The whole field of the elements of the spheres of the planets, i.e., their nodal lines and
perihelion-aphelion lines, is so new that we feel we must give some indications of how to use
them practically. We see in their application, roads toward constructive distinction between the
geocentric and heliocentric perspectives. There are at present very few astrologers who take
the heliocentric approach into consideration, and the few who do so, usually employ the latter
as a kind of competition against the geocentric. In years of practice we came to the conclusion
that there is no need for this attitude. Even more do we see in the one approach a most
instructive complement of the other. However, we shall presently demonstrate this, together
with other implications, on the basis of an historical example, in connection with the cosmic
incarnation complex of Ralph W. Emerson.
Ralph W. Emerson was born on May 25, 1803, at Boston, Mass., “while his father was
having midday dinner”, as one source of information says. We will now produce the geocen-
tric asterogram (Fig. 18a) for the time from the astrological epoch to birth, similar to the one
we did for Kepler (see Fig. 3).
Figure 18a
Geocentric Positions
of the Planets
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Born: 25 May 1803
Boston, Noon
Epoch: 28 August 1802
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Here we see straightaway some remarkable features: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, Moon
and its descending node were all close to the “ascendent of birth”. This coincides with the place
in the Zodiac where the Sun had been at the epoch. If we add to this the idea suggested in Fig.
4, that the path of the Sun during the prenatal embryonic time is a picture of the embryo image,
then we see in the positions of prenatal Saturn and Jupiter remarkable relationships to the head
organism. (This cosmic embryo image is, of course, a kind of compressed form of the real
connection of the physical body with the whole Zodiac. We took the passage of the Sun through
the meridian (MC), as the moment of birth.) Furthermore, we see Mars and Venus, during the
embryonic development, in retrograde (loops) in opposite parts of the Zodiac.
One way to start with the interpretation of a chart is to investigate the implications of
Saturn. This planet is, so to speak, the mainstay of the house which was built for human
habitation during one incarnation. It is connected with the building of the human skeleton
and the inherent “movement toward uprightness” (see Rudolf Steiner’s Man in the Light of
Occultism, Theosophy, and Philosophy.) Thus we can even see it as a threshold from the lower
earthly sphere in which we live, to the “heavens”. In this sense can one take it as an expression
of the karma of the individual.
Emerson’s Saturn moved, during his embryonic development, in the sidereal constellation
of Leo. In order to define the significance of this more clearly, we can employ the suggestions
in Fig. 12. There we connected Leo with the Sixth Round of Ancient Saturn. According to the
description in Rudolf Steiner’s Occult Science, we find, from the viewpoint of Aquarius (oppo-
site), the very first beginnings of a kind of “metabolism”, or relationship and reaction to an
“environment”. Thus we can say that in this Saturn of Emerson’s lived the potential of an
absolute coordination into the age and humanity in which he lived. He used this potential
indeed, finding expression in the universality, in a sense of humanity karma, in his Representative
Men. Thus Emerson can appear in modern cultural history like a “forerunner” of Rudolf
Steiner, who associated at his incarnation also with a Saturn in sidereal Leo.
This was still further emphasized in Emerson’s connection with Jupiter. It started out in
sidereal Leo. Here we would suggest a study of the Second Round of Ancient Sun evolution.
The ancestors of humanity had in the meantime received an ether or life body. In Leo we see
remembered the moment when cosmic movements—the archetypal beginnings of the present star
movements—were reflected in this ether body, thus creating the archetype of, for instance, the
circulation of the blood. In the very symbol for Leo ( ) this principle of relationship of the
center, the heart, to the periphery is still preserved. In this sense, we can say that Emerson had
the potential of a real “heart” relationship to his human environment. Altogether, Jupiter is
more associated with the development, for instance, of the muscular system, as far as it is
directed by the organism of the nerves. The ultimate aim of Jupiter is to promote in the
human being the development of thinking, from merely reflective to “intuitive” thinking, in
the sense of Rudolf Steiner’s Philosophy of Freedom (now published as Philosophy of Intuitive Thinking).
The potential of Jupiter is still more indicated in the movement of the planet during the
later part of Emerson’s embryonic development into sidereal Virgo. This we see potentially
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described in the First Round of Ancient Sun, according to Occult Science (Fig. 13), the moment
in cosmic evolution when “life” was infused into an earlier humanity. Such an “infusion of
life” we see realized in all that Emerson did for humanity of his age, particularly for the west-
ern humanity.
In Mars we can see a definite heritage of the developments during Ancient Moon evolu-
tion (see Occult Science). It laid the foundation, by the infusion of the soul or astral body into
our ancestors, for our eventual power of distinction and separation from any environment.
Through the many alleys, partly very misleading, of egotism, rejection, aversion, and even
aggression, it is supposed to lead us toward the realization of real spiritual freedom. The chief
means for the attainment of this is the development of speech. That the latter was a great
potential for Emerson is obvious in the initial (epoch) position of Mars in sidereal Taurus,
which is the cosmic archetypal region of the larynx and speech (see Chapter II).
We can, furthermore, employ this association of the epoch Mars with Taurus in the sense
of the Rounds of Ancient Moon (Fig. 14). There Taurus is opposite Scorpio, which remem-
bers the Third Round, or the moment of the Luciferic Rebellion. The “opposition” to the
latter would suggest the possible impulse to redeem that “rebellion” constructively, in the sense
of attainment of spiritual freedom, which one can certainly discover as having been an aim in
Emerson’s life work.
The “loop” of Mars, mainly in sidereal Gemini, we can potentially interpret, in the sense of
“opposition” to the Fourth Round of Ancient Moon. The latter is described as the influence,
on the one hand of the Sun (heaven) forces, and on the other hand of the coarser (rebellious)
Ancient Moon forces on our ancestors. The association of the loop of Mars with Gemini
could suggest a potentially predominant influence of the “Sun” forces. Emerson employed
this particularly in connection with the change-over and crisis in his life, around the age of
thirty. The opposition of Mars to the Sun during the loop happened around the beginning of
the 5th prenatal Moon cycle. This pre-reflected the age of about 29-30 years. Early during
1832 Emerson’s wife died, he retired from his pastoral office, and on Christmas Day he went
for a trip to Europe, where he met several well-known writers and founded a lasting friendship
with Carlyle. That crisis led Emerson to realize his “heavenly”, or Gemini potential. Finally,
the position of Mars at birth, in sidereal Cancer, we can see as potentially associated with
gradual redemption of the great split on Ancient Moon. (Cancer opposite Capricorn, i.e.,,
Round Five of Ancient Moon.)
With regard to the prenatal path of the Sun through the Zodiac we can employ a kind of
“summing-up” of the three earlier stages of evolution, Ancient Saturn, Ancient Sun, Ancient
Moon. In this sense, the present Sun-Earth evolution is the organic integration of the three
earlier ones. Thus we look at the epoch Sun in Leo, which reminds us basically of all that we
said about the Sixth Round of Ancient Saturn (opposite), the Second of Ancient Sun, plus the
implication of the Sixth of Ancient Moon (opposite). The latter saw the reunion of that
divided universe in the past. This seems to justify the remark in the Encyclopedia Britannica
about Emerson, that he emphasized “the essential unity of nature”.
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The position of the Sun during the 5th prenatal Moon cycle (referring to the age of 28-35
years) was chiefly in Sagittarius. We can look here particularly at the memory implications of
Ancient Saturn, according to Fig. 12, i.e.,, Gemini brought the separation into individual enti-
ties or “particles”, and Sagittarius brought certain hierarchical beings experiencing their own
“human” stage through these entities. Contemplating all this we can understand other remarks
in the Encyclopedia Britannica about Emerson: that he emphasized “the power and force of
the individual, ...that the purpose of life seems to be to acquaint one with oneself… the highest
revelation is that God is in every one ...”
Altogether, we can see in the Sun, during gestation and up to birth, the cosmic agent, as it
were, which would help to integrate the star events and facts into a spatial corporeality. There-
fore, we can also perceive the prenatal path of the Sun as a cosmic counter-image of the
embryo form.
We will now indicate how the inferior planets—Mercury and Venus, also the Moon—can
be interpreted. The superior planets—Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn—are demonstrating more
what has been given to the human being as potentials, coming from beings of the divine world,
also associated with karma, founded in previous incarnations. The inferior planets are describ-
ing more our own being, capacities and dispositions of soul, with which we will try to master
the problems of life.
In this sense, Mercury, the planet nearest to the Sun, depicts how the individual decided to
try to bring down cosmic intelligence into earthly intelligence and will. The prenatal rhythms
of the planet, moving through superior conjunctions with the Sun, followed by inferior con-
junctions during “loops”, can be related in connection with the prenatal Moon cycles to defi-
nite ages in life. The superior conjunctions—when the planet Mercury is “behind” the Sun,
seen from the Earth, in other words further out in cosmic space—reflect times in life when one
is possibly more inclined to “scoop up”, as it were, environmental, or rather, cosmic intelli-
gence. Later, at times which are related to the following inferior conjunction—when the planet
is between Sun and Earth—we may be able to incorporate what was “scooped up” into earthly
intelligence and deeds (see also Chapter III).
In Emerson’s chart we find that Mercury was in superior conjunction with the Sun at the
epoch. This was almost in conjunction with Saturn, and not very far away from Jupiter. We see
in it an indication that Emerson had the soul-potential to integrate and scoop up the cosmic
intelligence expressed by Saturn in Leo, of which we spoke above. This even had a connection
with a past incarnation, as our researches on the basis of Rudolf Steiner’s indications have
proved. Then he incarnated this, so to speak, as his own soul-potential at the time related to
the following inferior conjunction of Mercury with the Sun, indicated by the loop in sidereal
Libra. This refers to, approximately, the third prenatal Moon cycle, corresponding to the age
of 14-21 years, the time of graduation and attempts to grow into definite forms of profes-
sional life. Eventually, just about the prenatal correspondence to the age of 22 years, he en-
tered (1825) Divinity School at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in order to prepare for pastoral
office. This time of inner decision, which it must have been for him, we see expressed in the
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loop of Mercury in Libra, or the Scales, still further emphasized by Neptune in the Scales.
(About the outermost planets, see Chapters II and III.)
After that we see Mercury eventually moving into another superior conjunction, toward
the end of the 5th prenatal Moon cycle, in sidereal Sagittarius. As we said above, these events
refer to the possibilities offered for inner development of the individual. Therefore, we can
employ here, in connection with the inner planets, the Zodiac which is presented in Fig. 7.
Sagittarius appears connected with the ego there. And indeed, in Emerson’s life we witness at
the age of 35 (corresponding to the end of 5th prenatal Moon cycle) a preparation for a break-
through to egohood, in a higher sense. It was then that he gave an address to the Divinity
School at Cambridge that was “a protest against the defects of historical Christianity”. He was
obviously reaching out for a higher, spiritual Christianity which laid the emphasis on the devel-
opment of a greater one than the ordinary human ego.
During the 7th prenatal Moon cycle, referring to the time of about 1848, Mercury moved
into another loop, in sidereal Aquarius and close to Pluto, reflecting when he went to England
a second time in 1847-8. After his return, and partly as a result of this second visit, he pub-
lished his Representative Men (1850), English Traits (1856), The Conduct of Life (1860). What he had
gathered up earlier as independent cosmic intelligence, he brought down in these writings to
splendid earthly intelligence, in the sense of the potentials of Mercury.
Later, in the beginning of May 1803, Mercury moved through the last superior conjunc-
tion, referring to the time of 1866 and after. It took place in sidereal Aries, with the Earth
opposite, in conjunction with Neptune. It is interesting to note that Emerson delivered in
1870, at Harvard College, a course of lectures on Natural History of the Intellect.
Finally, we see Mercury at birth entering sidereal Gemini. Here we only suggest taking a
look at Fig. 7 and contemplating what it says about this constellation; and also that it is con-
nected with the Fifth Principle (compared, on a higher level, with the Spirit-Self) of the Christ.
Furthermore, we also notice that in 1872, to which this final position refers, in the sense of the
prenatal Moon cycles, Emerson went on his third journey abroad, taking him as far as Egypt.
Just to mention an approximate similar of this Mercury: At the birth of Pascal, a French-
man, (born 19 June 1623) Mercury was also in sidereal Gemini. He is well-known as a math-
ematician and scientist, but also as a “religious philosopher”. Once, when he was in retreat at
Port Royal, he had a deep inner experience, which was sometimes called “conversion, the
mystic experience suffered and described by many of the great religious thinkers” (Encyclope-
dia Britannica).
We proceed now with Venus. This planet depicts the potentials that the human being uses
to build up the feeling life. Therefore, it acts also as a kind of counter balance to Mars.
Emerson’s Venus started out from the constellation Virgo. This was similar to Goethe’s
epoch Venus. In a sense, Emerson succeeded to represent something like an equivalent of the
more Central-European Goethean life relationship to western humanity.
Mainly during the 5th prenatal Moon cycle, Venus moved through a loop in Sagittarius. It
happened almost at the same time as the loop of Mars (see above) and was, therefore, in
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LETTERS - PART TWO
opposition to the latter. These conjunctions of Venus have, on the basis of the regularity of
their appearance, a strong connection with history and can eventually be traced back to the
Christ Events, as we have previously suggested.
In order to work out these relationships, we must deduct for each century that has passed
since the time of Christ, 33.5° from the present position. Thus, to find the background of
Emerson’s Venus loop we take the position of the conjunction, according to ecliptic degrees,
i.e., 279° + 360° in order to operate mathematically = 639°. Then we deduct 17 x 33.5 for each
century since 0 AD = 570°, so 639° - 570° = 69° of the ecliptic. This leads us close to the 3rd
conjunction of Venus during the Three Years of Christ’s Ministry which happened in 32 AD
and in 66° of the ecliptic. We have mentioned it in Chapter III. Even as that conjunction was
a superior one, whereas Emerson’s was inferior, we can see a definite relationship, in the sense
of the three stages of the renewal of the Mysteries by the Deed of Christ.
We have already mentioned that the loop of Venus in Emerson’s chart coincided with the
5th Moon cycle (5th seven year cycle), or the event of that great crisis around 1832. He did
eventually break through, in all that we have indicated about that time, to a new and deeper
relationship to the esoteric meaning of Christianity, or the new mysteries inaugurated by Christ.
This was still further held out like a challenge in the position of Emerson’s Venus at birth,
which was in 27° of the ecliptic. This came close to the place of Venus (16.3°) at the first
Whitsun in 33 AD.
Finally, how do we approach the Moon in such a chart? Generally speaking, it serves as
“incorporator” of all that which is implied in the events concerning the planets into the etheric
and physical organisms. It does this in connection with the average 10 Moon cycles during the
embryonic development. We have demonstrated how these cycles reflect themselves into the
seven-year periods of life on the physical Earth. Thus we can see the “incorporating” activity
of the Moon.
At birth the Moon was almost in conjunction with Mars. This we can take as emphasis on
what we said above. At the epoch, the Moon was in the place of the ascendent of birth, which
was close to the epoch Sun, i.e., a new Moon. This too reminds us of the implications con-
cerning the epoch Sun (see above).
However, we can choose another approach with regard to the indications coinciding with
the position of the Moon, the perspectives associated with the nodes of the Moon, which we
worked out in connection with the incarnation chart of Kepler (Chapter IV).
In relation to Emerson’s chart, the descending Moon node moved through the place in the
ecliptic where the Moon was at birth in September 1804. This might contain an indication with
regard to the “spiritual nativity” of Emerson. Saturn by then entered sidereal Virgo, and
Jupiter was still in that constellation. Virgo is associated, according to Rudolf Steiner, with
philosophical Phenomenalism, Saturn with Gnosticism and Jupiter with Logism. If we study
Emerson’s Representative Men, we can come to the conclusion that it is built on a phenomenal-
ism concerning the individualities of which it speaks: Plato, or the philosopher; Swedenborg,
or the Mystic; Montaigne, or the skeptic; Shakespeare, or the Poet; Napoleon, or the man of
273
the world; Goethe, or the writer. However, these personalities are seen in the light of Logism
and yet, of Gnosticism. (With regard to possible philosophical world conceptions see Rudolf
Steiner’s Human and cosmic Thought, and our Fig. 15 on page 70.)
We shall now concentrate on the heliocentric perspectives in Emerson’s incarnation chart.
As we have pointed out repeatedly, we do not do this in order to create a competition of the
geocentric. We see in it a kind of complementation. In the geocentric we look at the planets,
Sun and Moon, and study what they do, for instance, with regard to the signs of the ecliptic,
and the sidereal constellations of the Zodiac. In the heliocentric we take the elements of the
planets, nodal and perihelion-aphelion lines as starting points, thus concentrating on the spheres
of the planets. By studying the history of these elements, the movements of the planets
through these lines, we try to discern the life that is proceeding in the spheres of the Sun
cosmos.
Figure 18b
Ralph Waldo Emerson Heliocentric Positions
We start with the perihelion of Uranus, which is independent, and the perihelion-aphelion
of Mercury (whereas the nodes of Uranus are close to the nodes of Venus). It is at present
close to the point of transition from sidereal Leo to Virgo. Furthermore, we pointed out
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LETTERS - PART TWO
(Chapter VII) that this line has a significant connection with the Christ Events. We would
therefore expect that the incidents in this line would give us, possibly, some important indica-
tions with regard to Emerson’s deeper association with Christianity. We say this not because
we expect “compelling” factors in any of these happenings, in the sense of old prediction, but
descriptions of the soul’s own decisions in the life between two incarnations and based on
individual karma.
The planet Saturn at the moment of Emerson’s birth was standing exactly in the perihelion
line of Uranus, whereas Jupiter moved through it during the embryonic development. Thus
we see the importance of this Uranus perspective impressively demonstrated. Did Emerson
work this potential out during life, and how?
Again in 1832, Saturn moved through the perihelion of Uranus and Jupiter through the
aphelion. This was, as we said earlier, the great crisis in his life, when he moved away from a
form of traditional “historic” Christianity. The events in the heavens would suggest that a
spiritual Christianity woke up in him. This is, furthermore, emphasized by the fact that Jupiter
proceeded through the perihelion line of Uranus in 1838, during the year that he gave the
address on the “defects of historical Christianity”.
All these events must have had a tremendous effect on Emerson’s inner development.
This found expression in the position of Uranus, which was close to its own perihelion, in the
moment of Emerson’s death on 27 April 1882. Positions at death present a sum-total of the
life experiences of a human being.
Thus we can also understand that we find in the description of historic similars of the
perihelion-aphelion of Uranus the name of such a “non-orthodox” Christian like Raphael
Santi. At the approximate time of his epoch, Jupiter moved through the perihelion of Uranus.
The greatness and universality of his artistic work is a sure proof of his greater-than-traditional
Christianity.
Also Paracelsus the medical doctor, at whose death Jupiter was in the perihelion of Uranus.
The radius of his inner life was so great that he succeeded in writing so-called theological
books such as The Last Supper and An Interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer. They show that here was
a consciousness of a Christianity far greater than the traditional and exoteric one.
We go on to the elements of Saturn. Both the perihelion line and the ascending-descend-
ing nodal lines of Saturn were engaged during the 5th prenatal Moon cycle, thus referring to
those decisive years in Emerson’s life, 1832-1838, from another angle.
First, the conjunction of Mars and Earth—mentioned in connection with the geocentric,
where it appeared as an opposition of Sun and Mars—happened close to the perihelion of
Saturn. Shortly after that Venus moved through that line. We said earlier that we can see in
these lines “echoes” of the workings of higher beings, effecting world and human karma.
Thus we face, with the ingress of the perihelion of Saturn into sidereal Gemini in 1413 AD, the
beginnings of the deployment of Mars and its forces in the development of a science of nature
and technology in the modern age, so to speak, as the milestones, sometimes misleading, of
humanity’s quest for freedom.
275
Thus we can understand that some relatively “independent” historical personalities were
associated with these elements:
Tycho Brahe, at whose birth the Earth was in the perihelion of Saturn and Mercury
in the aphelion of Saturn. At his death Venus was in the perihelion of Saturn.
Michelangelo had Venus in the perihelion of Saturn at his epoch.
Leonardo da Vinci had the same planet in this line at his death.
Copernicus, at whose death Mars was in the perihelion of Saturn.
Emerson obviously used this potential during the critical period of his life as a means of
achieving and sustaining his “independence”, in keeping pace with the cultural aims of the
present Age of the Consciousness Soul. Thus Emerson was “born”, whom we know in his-
tory and of whom Rudolf Steiner said “…he was one of the greatest spirits of the 19th cen-
tury”. (November 9-14, 1914, “Kalevala Lectures”.)
Events in the perihelion-aphelion elements of Saturn are often worked out in connection
with severe and crucial decisions. In this sense, Emerson indeed experienced and used con-
structively the potentials prepared during his 5th prenatal Moon cycle.
Toward the end of that cycle we see first Venus moving through the ascending nodal line
of Saturn and a little later the Earth. This is related to the years 1837 and 1838 in later life.
Mars moved through this line at the end of the 6th prenatal Moon cycle. Events in these nodal
lines are, as a rule, more connected with significant messages to humanity, and to the indi-
vidual. In Chapter VII, there are mentioned numbers of personalities who obviously had
received such messages and handed them on to humanity. However, we see also in this context
that the happenings in the heavens do not act as guarantors, so to speak. It is left to the
decision of humanity to identify with such impulses in action, or to drop them. An example is
mentioned (in VII) in connection with the ingress of the ascending node of Saturn into Gemini.
This happened in 869 AD when the Fourth Church Synod of Constantinople took place, which
decreed as postulate that the human being consisted solely of body and soul, and had only a
few spiritual attributes but no spirit. This was the beginning of a long development of psycho-
logical doctrinal systems. They increasingly prepared the grounds for materialism, and finally it
even became a question for part of humanity whether they had a soul, not to mention spirit.
Emerson, a man who wrote those essays on historic personalities in his Representative Men,
surely did not fall in with these postulates of the Council of Constantinople. In a sense, his
address concerning “the defects of historical Christianity” included in the latter “defects” also
of that Council. One who could state that the highest revelation is that God is in every one, did
not deny the spirit in the human being.
Similars in history demonstrate the complexity of these problems. When the philosopher
Bishop Berkeley died (14 January 1753) the Earth was in the ascending node of Saturn. Here
we have the opposite version of what the Council of Constantinople implied. He insisted that
matter does not exist except as a form of mind, a “thing is merely a bundle of perception; all
matter, so far as we know it, is a mental condition; the only reality we know directly is mind.”
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LETTERS - PART TWO
At the birth of Bernadette of Lourdes (7 January 1844), the Earth was also close to the
ascending node of Saturn. She experienced “in spirit”, as a child still, the presence of a Spiritual
Being, whom she called “the Lady”. This experience later gave her the impulse for the inaugu-
ration of the well in the Grotto of Lourdes as that great healing potential which it became.
In the sense of the above propositions involved here, we find also significant positions of
Venus in the nodal lines of Saturn. (It is acceptable to also include here positions in the
descending nodal line of Saturn. In any case, Venus moved through the descending node of
Saturn at the end of the 9th prenatal Moon cycle, referring to 1866, when Harvard College
conferred on Emerson the degree of LLD.)
Blavatski, founder of the Theosophical Society; Venus at birth in the descending
node of Saturn.
Mozart -Venus at epoch in the descending node of Saturn.
Claude de Saint Martin, French spiritual philosopher; Venus at birth in the de-
scending node of Saturn.
Leo Tolstoi - Venus at epoch in the descending node of Saturn.
Rudolf Steiner - Venus at birth in the descending node of Saturn.
Similars of a Mars moving through these nodal lines of Saturn are also quite illuminating. For
instance, we find them at the birth of William Blake, Byron, Mozart, and at the death of Tycho
Brahe, Novalis, and Mark Twain. They all certainly brought important messages to humanity.
We will now study the events in the elements of Jupiter. The ascending nodal line of
Jupiter was engaged during the embryonic development of Emerson, by Venus, Earth and
Mars during the incidents referring to the time of 1832 to 1838, which we mentioned earlier.
Actually, the inferior conjunction of Venus with the Sun, which took place according to helio-
centric perspective in about 99°, was exactly in the line of the ascending node of Jupiter.
Here the history of these nodes becomes most useful in discerning the potentials with
which Emerson associated. We need to take only the two facts, the connection with the com-
mencement of Kali Yuga and the time of the Buddhahood of the Maitreya in the future, in
order to come to inspiring suggestions. Considering the shortcomings of the age in which
Emerson lived, we come to the conclusion that he did as much as he could, first to overcome
the prevailing spiritual darkness of Kali Yuga, and also to orientate himself in his teaching
capacities toward an activating renewal of the Word (associated with the node of Jupiter in
Taurus at the coming Buddhahood of the Maitreya).
The most significant implications that can be seen as potentials in the nodes of Jupiter are
their connection with the Christ events during the Three Years (Chapter VI) Events in these
elements work, as a rule, as challenges in human life, to break through to the real, esoteric
meanings of the Deed of Christ. In Emerson’s life such challenges were obviously active, just
during those years when the above mentioned happenings in his prenatal development re-
ferred. It made him move away from historical, one might also say, traditional, Christianity and
seek the real, spiritual Christ Impulse.
277
At the birth of Albrecht Dürer, the German painter, who displayed a deep, inner connec-
tion with Christianity, Venus was in the ascending nodal line of Jupiter. Likewise Swedenborg
had such a potential in his epoch configuration, which returned in his asterogram of death.
Also similars of Mars in the ascending nodal line of Jupiter are illuminating. At the time of
Raphael’s birth and at Michelangelo’s death, Mars was in that line. The two had deep roots, as
their artistic creations reveal, in spiritual Christianity. We find also Mars in this place in the
death configuration of Rudolf Steiner, which can give us a lot to think about [in regard to] the
position of Emerson in modern spiritual life. The movement of Mars through this line during
Emerson’s prenatal referred to 1838, the year when he protested against “the defects of his-
torical Christianity... In the soul let redemption be sought... Cast conformity behind you, and
acquaint men at first hand with Deity…” (Encyclopedia Britannica).
In Emerson’s incarnation configuration, there was also a relationship of Uranus and Jupi-
ter, in a broad orb, to the aphelion of Jupiter. Here a study of the history of these elements can
be of great help, but especially the comments on historic events and personalities (Chapter
VII). For instance, the story of the Great Conjunctions in the aphelion of this planet can give
us an idea of what might have lived potentially in the soul of Emerson, who incarnated soon
after the Great Conjunction of June 1802, in about 158° of the ecliptic. The latter was still far
away from the aphelion of Jupiter, but for an interpretation of a chart we would nevertheless
see its significance in the aiming at the event which was to come. (The Great Conjunction of
1981 will see both planets close to that element of Jupiter.)
Next, we concentrate on the elements of Mars, first the events in the nodal lines. The most
striking occurrence was the position of Neptune in the descending node of Mars. The history
of these nodes can give a lot of inspiration toward the interpretation of the potentials con-
tained in such an event, for instance, the connection with the commencement of the modern
age that wants to develop the consciousness soul. That Emerson was deeply associated with
these impulses becomes obvious in the fact that he died when Neptune was close to the as-
cending nodal line of Mars.
Emerson’s Neptune was similar to that of Michelangelo’s epoch Neptune, which was also
in the descending node of Mars. Here we might say that in Emerson there was an “inspira-
tional” element present as a potential that was, in a sense, similar to the capacity that was
manifest in the great artistic works of Michelangelo, though Emerson expressed it in writings,
which were, in a figurative sense, “sculptures” of great personalities in human history.
The commentary on historical similars in the nodal lines of Mercury (which are the same as
those of Mars) in Chapter V, can open many avenues to an understanding and interpretation of
such a chart as that of Emerson. Even if different planets, i.e., not only Neptune, were asso-
ciated with the nodal lines of Mercury-Mars, we can, nevertheless, find here illuminating oc-
currences that eventually throw light on Emerson’s association with these elements. Of course,
the nature of the potentials of the sphere of Mars is varied according to the planets involved in
the individual historic case, but they still carry something of the fundamental nature of the
planetary sphere which is activated.
278
LETTERS - PART TWO
The perihelion-aphelion lines of Mars were also activated during Emerson’s prenatal devel-
opment. Saturn was still in orb of the aphelion line at the epoch and Mars was there itself
shortly before birth. The Earth was in the perihelion at the time of the epoch, and Pluto was
still in orb of it. In the history of these elements we find useful hints, for instance, the associa-
tion with about 8000 BC, 1700 BC, and 33 AD. In this sense, it is also helpful to contemplate
the conjunction of the aphelion of Mars with the perihelion of Venus in about 3100 BC, and
vice versa, at the time of the commencement of Kali Yuga. If we study the events on the basis
of the Register in Chapter VI, we can come to the conclusion that the Saturn of Emerson,
moving through the aphelion of Mars, carried the challenge to create the foundations for a
constructive overcoming of the heritage of Kali Yuga, as humanity moved toward its termina-
tion in 1899 AD. We can indeed see how Emerson made efforts to contribute his share toward
these endeavors. Rudolf Steiner was one of the most outstanding personalities in this regard,
devoting his whole life to these aims: constructively answering the challenge of Saturn in his
incarnation asterogram, which was in the aphelion of Mars.
Historical associations of the Earth with the perihelion-aphelion of Mars, similar to that
of Emerson at the epoch, can also create helpful suggestions. At Goethe’s birth, the Earth was
in the perihelion of Mars. Although this may at first appear as a contradiction, because Emerson
had the same event at his epoch, we have come to the conclusion in our research that such facts
can, nevertheless, be of essential help in the interpretation of a chart. In this sense, we also
refer to what is said about the connection of Paracelsus and the connection of Goethe with
these elements in Chapter VI. We feel it is not too great a suggestion that Emerson worked out
the potentials that were present in the corresponding facts of his prenatal star configuration,
and thereby became, in a certain sense, the equivalent of Goethe in the English speaking
world.
The elements of Venus were also engaged in Emerson’s prenatal star complex. The planet
itself started out from its own descending node. (The latter coincided, approximately, with the
aphelion line of Mercury and the descending nodal line of Uranus.) Therefore, we can review
the comments in Chapter V for our investigations. Here we find that William Blake and
Dostoievski had similar epoch positions of Venus. With regard to death configurations we
discover that Emerson died when Venus was in its ascending node. This we take as an indica-
tion that he did “fulfill” the potentials contained in his epoch Venus, as impulses of reintegra-
tion and reunion in the soul of humanity and all that Mars had to divide, separate, and contra-
dict in the course of its historical workings. Furthermore, we see that at the moment of the
death of Mark Twain and Albert Schweizer, Venus was in its descending node. Although we
cannot speak here of possible “inspiration” of an incarnating soul by earlier generations, we
can still take them as indications of “similars” in history.
The perihelion of Venus was engaged at Emerson’s epoch by Mercury. This planet is
associated with the impulses of bringing down cosmic intelligence, or wisdom, into earthly
intelligence. This is expressed, for instance, in the double-triangle that Mercury “writes” into
the heavens by its superior and inferior conjunctions (see 10a & 10b).
279
With regard to this element of Venus, and how Emerson was connected with it, we find it
potentially useful to contemplate the associations with the Christ Events. The only similar, and
that only in connection with birth, is Raphael Santi’s Mercury (132°) at birth, which can be
inspiring, nevertheless, if we recall Raphael’s profound incorporation of cosmic intelligence in
the intelligence manifest in his paintings. Opposite, in the aphelion of Venus, we find Mercury
in the epoch (309°) of Dostoievski and birth (310°) of Mozart. In death configurations, Mer-
cury was in this perihelion at the death of St. Francis of Assisi (125°) which, of course, offered
an enormous “inspirational” potential.
The elements of Mercury we need not to work out specially. The nodal lines of this
planetary sphere are at present identical with those of Mars. And the perihelion-aphelion lines
coincide with the nodal lines of Venus (and approximately with those of Uranus.) Both per-
spectives we discussed earlier.
What we have presented here is, of course, only a basic picture of the possibilities with
regard to an interpretation of the potentials contained in such a chart. We took only positions
at the epoch and birth. If one works out a graphic chart of the events from epoch to birth, like
the one for Kepler in Fig. 8, one can find many more opportunities of discovering coinci-
dences in the elements of the planetary spheres, especially as far as the fast-moving planets,
Mercury, Venus, and Earth are concerned. According to the prenatal Moon cycles adopted
here from the geocentric approach, we can even relate events to definite times after birth.
We will finally concentrate on another aspect of the heliocentric approach with regard to
planetary positions at epoch and birth, and during the embryonic period. This is the return of
the planets to the same places in the Zodiac after birth. These events are also called “transits”.
They can convey ideas of how the potentials indicated by the events around the time of incar-
nation may be realized in later life. However, we emphasize over and again that we see here
only potentials, not, by any means, foundations for prediction.
In 1825 Emerson entered Divinity School at Cambridge (USA), to prepare for a pastoral
office. During that year Saturn moved through the ascending nodal line of Venus and was
opposite the position of the planet Venus at the epoch. We can see here how this obviously
became a challenge arising in Emerson of working toward that spiritual reintegration and re-
union implied in the workings of this planetary sphere.
In 1826 he was “approbated to preach” which was accompanied by a return of Jupiter to
its place during the embryonic development and at birth. We witness here that Emerson did
realize, of course in degrees, the potentials contained in his Jupiter.
In 1829 he married and became more settled with regard to his vocation. Jupiter moved
then through the place where the Earth was at birth. He took this challenge, so to speak, and
realized it in “finding his feet on the Earth”, which would be indicated in the Earth-Sun posi-
tion at birth, generally speaking.
Then in 1832, the great crisis came into Emerson’s life, which seemed at first to break
down the earlier decisions and accomplishments, as far as his career was concerned. Early
during that year his wife died, and this was a deeply depressing shock for him. A short time
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LETTERS - PART TWO
later, he came into conflict with his congregation over the teachings concerning the Last Sup-
per and its application as a permanent sacrament. Consequently, he retired from his pastoral
office. On Christmas Day of the same year he started on a trip abroad, visited England, met
Coleridge, Carlyle, and Wordsworth. He entered into a most productive friendship with Carlyle,
and he returned in 1833 to Massachusetts in the US, starting a career as lecturer at Boston.
These events in their initial phase were accompanied by a return of Saturn to its positions
during the embryonic development and at birth. If Emerson had not developed the initiatives
that he actually did, he may have easily fallen into utter despondency and defeat. However, he
took the challenge and developed constructive and creative aspects. It might have helped him
to a certain degree, that Jupiter during those years (1832-33) moved through the points oppo-
site its own positions from epoch to birth, one might even say, that he managed these “opposi-
tions’’ in a positive sense.
In 1835 Emerson married a second time. He had become a well-acknowledged lecturer at
Boston by then. Here we see how a human being can constructively “handle” Mars. During
those years, 1835 and 1836, Saturn moved through the point opposite Mars during Emerson’s
epoch.
Then came 1838, when Emerson gave that famous address to the graduating class of Divin-
ity School at Cambridge about the “defects of historical Christianity”. This was accompanied
in the heavens by a return of Saturn to the positions of Neptune, and especially of the Earth, at
birth. At the same time, Jupiter returned to its place during Emerson’s embryonic time.
In 1847, till July 1848, he went for a second visit to England, and also to Europe. Saturn
had then returned to a place opposite its own positions at epoch and birth, a strange coinci-
dence if one remembers that at the time of the first visit Saturn was in conjunction with those
same positions.
These coincidences in Emerson’s life do not stand alone. They have been found in many
other historical asterograms. There exist numbers of examples demonstrating that the person-
alities connected with them were indeed able to develop the potentials contained in them
constructively, though there are also others who were incapacitated to do this for their own
reasons. All these researches demonstrate vividly how necessary it is for us now and into the
future to break through to a spiritually therapeutic attitude with regard to these matters. Only
then can we hope to create the foundations for a new astrology, or astrosophy.
With the present issue we conclude these Letters, at least, for the time being. Much more
could be said, and we are fully aware that we have given, so far, only the most necessary direc-
tions for further studies. However, we realize that too much information at this point could
easily lead to a sense of confusion and frustration. Therefore, we think it is only prudent to
insert a pause in our publications.
281
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Sun Mercury Saturn

Earth Venus Uranus

Earth Mars Neptune

Moon Jupiter Pluto

Aries-Ram Leo-Lion Sagittarius-Archer

Taurus-Bull Virgo-Virgin Capricorn-Goat

Gemini-Twins Libra-Scales Aquarius-Waterman

Cancer-Crab Scorpio-Scorpian Pisces-Fishes

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everything we experienced in those lofty spheres of spiritual existence. Now it remains to be

connection with the Fifth Region of Spiritland. As a rule it appears in us only in

STAR JOURNAL - June 1966

Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

STAR JOURNAL - July 1966

Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

Very helpful interpreters of the constellations of the Libra-Scorpio-Sagittarius complex

STAR JOURNAL - August 1966

Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

STAR JOURNAL - September 1966

Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

The constellation of Virgo or Virgin: This configuration of stars is represented on most

STAR JOURNAL - October 1966

Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

STAR JOURNAL - November 1966

Toward a New Spiritual Astrology

STAR JOURNAL - December 1966

A Spiritual Astrology in Action

STAR JOURNAL - January 1967

A Spiritual Astrology in Action

The asterogram of the birth of Copernicus, according to Geocentric conception, is shown

STAR JOURNAL - February 1967

A Spiritual Astrology in Action